Second Story Bookstore

"hey, dont judge the book by its cover." She grinned and put the book under her arm. "im going to buy this book. it doesnt matter if its fake or not. After all, i do need a new book to read, and this book looks and sound intresting."

"I'm not judging it by its cover," he said, sighing. "I'm suspicious with just how perfect it seem for you." And yeah, the design just looks a tad suspicious too.

"Well, Rei isn't here though," he said, looking around. "She's the bookstore owner."

"Come on, dont be so suspicious." She patted him on the shoulder. "if the book turns out to be weird when i read it, i wont follow its instructions. who know, what if it turns out to be amusing?" She laughed.

"That's your funeral, I guess," he shrugged. "Test it now, hm?"

"what a positive way of thinking, Zane." Amelia thought some and figured that, what if the book is fake? that would be a little embarassing. "hm.. nah, lets not. but... it would be fun if you could teach me some instead." she smiled.

He raised an eyebrow. "You want me to teach you alchemy?" he asked, unsure. "I'm not exactly teacher-material, Amelia."

Honestly, he didn't know how to even start teaching alchemy. It always felt natural that he never thought about it. And he didn't want to be such a fail of a teacher for this aspiring alchemist.

Amelia sighed. "Okey, if you say so." She looked around and saw a sofa. "what do you think about sitting down for a little while?"

Zane nodded, feeling a bit bad that he may have disappointed her. "Sure," they went to the sofa and sat. Zane relaxed, feeling comfortable. "What do you do for a living, Amelia?" he asked, looking at the ceiling.

Amelia sat down and put the book on a small table beside her. "well, i-..." She suddenly remembered that every time she meets this guy, she is the only one talking about her life. I dont know much about him... im starting to get curious. She looked at Zane for a little while. "Zane, why am i the only one talking about my life? I would be nice if you told me something about your life. Im curious, you know."

He looked at her with a smile. "I don't have a very interesting life or background," he said. "So, answer my question?"

She kept looking at him. "im sure you have something to tell me." She didnt feel like talking about herself. Right now, she was really curious about Zane. She tried to stay calm and not showing how much she was curious.

She was obviously curious. But he didn't comment on it and laughed slightly. "Well, everyone has something to say, yeah?" he said, crossing his arms. "But, if you need to know something about me, it's that I'm not a good guy. And everything has a price for me - if you want my help, pay for it. If you need something from me, pay for it."

He smiled at her, thinking she'd probably back away now. Anytime now.

Kinai enters the bakery and walks up the stairs into the book store. He says nothing as he starts to browse the book cases

Amelia didnt like the reply she got from Zane. All he had to tell me is that his help isnt for free? What the... She stood up and grabbed her book. "If youre not going to tell me anything about yourself, i guess there is no need for me to tell you stuff about my personal life." She did get a little mad, after all, she had been talked about herself, he must know a lot about her by now . She started to walk away from the sofa.

He smiled. He had expected that and he let her walk away. On one hand, he noticed someone going in. That guy again? He really wasn't in the mood so he ignored him.

They were just lounging anyway. Sighing, he stood up and followed Amelia. Seriously, what am I doing?

He hit her head with a book lightly and dragged her between the bookcases. "Keep your guard up," he whispered and took a random book from the shelf again.

Amelia got surprised when Zane dragged her inbetween the bookcases. But when he told her to keep her guard up, she understood what was going on. She sighed and leaned closer. She whispered "lets continue our talk some other time. Because right now, im a little mad. I want to know something about you."

He smiled at her. "If you want to know something about me, pay up, Amelia," he said, chuckling. "I don't mean to be offensive, really," he flipped the pages of the book.

"But that's how I live by and you asked something about me, yes? That's as far as you would know for free."

Amelia couldnt help but to feel a little hurt. In her eyes, this guy was a friend. But now that he said all that, it felt like he didnt care much about ehr. She looked him in the eyes and whispered. "Laugh as much as you want, but right now im serious, i want to know. Just to make sure that you know, i will never, ever, pay you for information about you." she looked closer at him and sighed. "I see you as a friend.. and friends dont pay each other for information." She put back the book into the bookcase. "But if you dont feel the same, i wont pester you anymore." She turned around and walked up to the door.

Before she could move any forward, he grasped her wrist and sighed. He didn't expect that at all. He's used to people disregarding each other, using one another and negotiating with him for his skills.

Never had he met a sincere person like her before like this.
"My bad," he said and made her turn to him. "I can't tell you much, but to make up for it, I'll tell this. I have a sister. A younger one." He said almost in a hush, his grip on her tightened. "And I left her alone."

Amelia didnt know if she should be happy or sad. it was great that he finally opened up, but what he said was horrible. "...What..?" What he told her made her surprised. She understood that she shouldnt continue this conversation here. "Uhm lets talk some more.. follow me..." She slipped her wrist out from his grip and took his hand instead, dragging him out of the store.

[Zane and Amelia OUT, changing to Ace's apartments of dreams]

[ Am I allowed back in my store? xD;; ]

Rei cleaned her store absentmindedly. It was oddly quiet and had been for some time, but she was entirely content to be alone with her books. She set aside a couple of books she had been contacted about, making a mental note to send them out later that day.

[I wanna RP here! Can I?]

Resha went inside the bookstore. She really wanted to find a good book to read. Like, about mermaids and unicorns. Resha was rather fond of those after all. "HELLOOOO?" :3

[ Go for it! ]

Rei looked up from her work and smiled. The quiet was disturbed, but certainly that would be alright for the time being. "Hello, may I help you with something?"

Resha grinned. "Ola!" she greeted and hurried over to her. "HI! I was looking for a book! It's uhm, well, any book," she paused for a while. A glint in her eyes was apparent. "I was actually hoping if there's a book about mermaids and unicorns here!"

"Ah, I can certainly help you with that, but you'll have to be more specific," Rei said, as she smiled and dusted some dirt off her pants. "I have a lot of fiction with mermaids and unicorns, and some with just the facts about them."