Comic 1183 - Enter the bookstore
Posted on 10th Apr 2019, 9:50 PM
in Like a Bullet from Behind
Average Rating: 5 (5 votes) /
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Author Notes:
You... also don't see any kind of Open sign. If it's not suspicious, it's certainly a bad way to draw in customers.
You maneuver your nearby portal, sliding the blood under a nearby dumpster to hide it from any passersby.
You take a breath... and you enter the bookstore.
At first glance, it's... pretty much what you expected from a used bookstore. There's more books than there is room and shelving, and most of the books are old, tattered, and worn. The store has the strong scent of dust and aged paper. It's cramped, but you're not picking up any strange, alien vibes just yet.
"Yo," Caius proclaims loudly, "anybody home?"
You hear some faint shuffling in the back room...
before a small old lady emerges, hobbling about on a wooden cane.
...Followed shortly by two other figures.
The first of her entourage has the build of a tube cop--albeit with bad posture, a more sickly complexion, and... uh... a face best addressed delicately. He looks as though his face was smashed in at some point, leading to bulldog-esque features.
The other is a younger girl in thick framed glasses--much younger, probably in her late teens. They're both dressed pretty casually... save for their matching combat boots. The old lady seems exceedingly calm in their presence, though, leading you to suspect they may be in her employ.
Bodyguards, maybe?
"Oh, hello dears," the old lady begins. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in--I was in the back getting ready to close, and my hearing's not quite what it used to be. I like to be out of here before it gets dark--it's getting dangerous out there, these days."
She starts to approach, and the girl in the glasses puts a hand on the older woman's shoulder. The woman lifts one hand, and very lightly shakes her head... and her 'assistant' lets go. The old woman continues, carefully drawing nearer to you.
"I'll stay open as long as you want, though. I don't get too many customers, especially not this late in the evening. Let me know if there's anything I can help you with."
All three of them fix their gazes on you intently, though in very different ways. The two... guards...? Seem to stare straight through you, watching, waiting for you to do something. Possibly wanting you to do something--you don't suspect they see much action, watching over an elderly bookstore owner.
The old woman, on the other hand... it almost feels like she's analyzing you. She squints at your features, adjusting her glasses as she looks over Caius and Pierce. You have trouble reading her expression, though it's... almost as though she's looking for something.
She turns and begins to hobble back toward the counter, giving you room to browse.
Also, even if it does take forever (and doesn't stop Thale), getting the process started to buy Mine's house back would be a good thing.She seems polite, her "help" is not really aggressive or anything, and she's got a good deal of confidence. We like her, let's be up front.
I wonder if we can engage some low-grade shenanigans with it to let her know that we know some things.
That blue thing looks like a half-melted candle... about the same color as for the Tradesmen's info ritual. If we want to be indirect about asking for magic, we can "angle" our questions around that candle-- and the fine folks that like to do business in their presence.
And we don't want to come across as menacing or threatening. Don't underestimate an old-timer in a profession where many die young... and this city's government is out to seek and destroy magicians.
And we can buy some normal (or even magical) books for Pierce while we're here, of course. Let him browse and point out anything that particularly interests him.
Also, apologize for keeping her, and don't browse for *too* long.
Hasn't seen a rag in ages
So you know we're gonna step it
Talking to the mystic sages
Gettin' late and you're all hangin'
With nobody at the counter
Could it be that you were waitin'
For a pre-foretold encounter?
(Verse in case they fire back, tempo change)
Now don't be shy, we're not the fuzz
Not coming here to wrangle ya
Just to blow your 'verse with rhymes
'cause Our flow's geoangula'!
Continue observation of the trio while browsing.
I half expect the old woman would be disappointed if we didn't.
They look rather... Old, for a tube cop.
Might be on their last legs, an older/less specialized model, or just former military.
Most curious, most curious indeed.
As for what to do, I agree with everyone on asking for a book about communication, and for any suggestions. Best to be nice about it, they seem to be as suspicious about us as we are of them.
Side note: everyone step back from your up-to-date familiarity with our main cast, just for a second, and think about what this old lady sees entering her shop. Minus the way Mine looks (but everything about what she is), consider that we are flanked by a towering hulk of a man by normal standards, dressed in a death metal shirt, and a bald, red-robed cultist with a scarlet visor covering his eyes. We're totally every villain ever, especially since we're some kind of Sephiroth-esque abomination. But hilariously, these two scary m-fers are accompanying a short, cute nurse who likes cats. Can you imagine Final Fantasy doing that with their main villain? Just a lil' QT3.14 who's all smiles and warm hugs?
In all seriousness, a mildly oblique mention of the Tradesmen and what we are looking for would be a good idea. "Sorry for popping in so late. Some knowledgeable acquaintances of ours were trading ideas and they mentioned your store might have a useful book on communications that we might find useful/enjoy"
I propose that we ask them if they have any hard to find books on benevolent blood gods. We expect it's only a few pages, but the authors seem to have put a lot of effort into them, and we've appreciated their work when we've been able to get a hold of it.
Maybe also ask if they've traded any CDs lately. :3
Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
I would start by saying you have some ghost friends that you thought you'd get some books for. See where that goes. It's casual, could be laughed off by "Sure thing crazy lady", but it's an opening to more conversations.
Alternately, you ask for recommendations.
Oh! you could go for the amusing angle, and say, "oh hey, this one is about magic, you want to see a magic trick?" (even to one of our troupe - so it doesn't seem antagonistic), and then pull some basic blood related showing off.
But at least stating what you're after would skip the frivolities and get to the point.
!! It may be a good chance to check if they can say Thale's name too.
Opening with ghosts is good, even if it's laughed off. Checking to see if they can say Thale's name is better. But do we know if he's still keeping up that strategy?
More seriously. These people seem Important, for more than just the messaging ritual. They may know other things, or other *people*, that we would be very interested in. Which, like, that's maybe a bit self-serving for Mine? But also see above—my gut reaction was "FRIENDS hughughug", that ought to count for something.
I do hold out hope that we get some porn eventually tho. :-P
Obviously I wouldn't charge a commission since they're MM's characters, but I'll accept a trade of any other kind of fan work in return. I'm open to options.
Anything we initially ask has to be at least not a blatant reference to anything completely off standard normal human level.
First, I’m a fan of mentioning the candle. It’s a nice candle, one of your favorite colors! You have a few yourself!
We’re looking for spellbook supplements for our game, books on trading, y’know, like pricing guides for antiques? Books on hematology, especially anything new in the field.
And on side tangent, (seconding) children’s books, especially cat books, or anything else she recommends for parents of foster children.