Mari almost jumped a little, her eyes widening, as she caught sight of the simplistic cover art of the well-known book. She hadn't realized that she had wandered into the horror section! “Uhh… Well, if you want to… But I would suggest checking out the synopsis first. It’ll be on the back cover or the inside of the front cover.” she warned. “Especially since that's a… Well, I guess it's popular but that book is also a horror. Actually, that author is famous for his horror stories.” she added, not wanting Damien to be caught off guard.
"A horror book….?" his voice trailed off, as he carefully flipped the book around, looking at the back where he did indeed find a synopsis. He began reading it and the further he got through it, you could see a crease form between his eyebrows as his expression became more questioning.
"So its about a monster? People read this kind of thing? Why? Doesnt it just make you feel scared?" Damien finally raised his gaze again towards his friend, genuinely intrigued but also confused
“Yes. And yes.” she nodded, answering all of his questions at once. “Personally, I’m not a fan of horror but there are some people who really enjoy “the rush” of reading a book like that.” Mari explained. She wasn't really sure why people liked triggering their fight or flight instinct this way… but then again she was a little biased since she preferred to get her adrenaline from exercise and running.
Damien continued to glance down at the book in his hand, asessing the cover art and the information he'd just been fed. In all honesty, his life had been a mess, with him being the so called 'monster' of it. Surely whatever this book contained wouldnt scare him too much. In the end, he decided to hesitantly slide it back to its place, thinking to himself perhaps another time he would check it out.
''Maybe its not exactly what i want for a first pick. Do you have any other suggestions?'' he asked, looking up at her, with an expression that he hoped would come off as hopeful, yet was slightly obscured by the sunglasses.
Mari smiled encouragingly at his decision, hoping that she hadn't influenced it. If anything she just wanted to warn him since… Damien had been scared too many times in his life already. “Let’s try this way.” she suggested before leading him more toward the educational section. Though they would still pass some fantasy and mystery shelves. “Uhh… Could you remind me which kind of books you normally like?” she asked, hoping to get a better idea of what to recommend.
"Well, to be fair i kind of like all there are, or were back then. Seeing as i didnt go out much, anything that let me experience the world out there was enough i guess. But for now i would say, ummm, mystery novels?" he answered after a short moment of pondering his options. Seems like having a limited collection of books for nearly two centuries made him a not so picky reader.
The boy followed her, looking up at the shelves and admiring all the artwork that he could see, being impressed by the multitude of cover art that lay on one shelf alone. From simple yet aesthetically pleasing covers to incredibly colorful ones, everything there amazed Damien. They passed by some that looked bright and happy, others that were dark with simple colorful objects in the middle - as was the case with a certain one named 'Twilight' at the very start of the Fantasy section - until they arrived at some shelves with more interesting sounding titles.
Mari nodded at his answer and turned down an aisle of the mystery section. “Well, there’s plenty of those right here. And the next few shelves too.” she smiled kindly. It was almost easy to forget how… sheltered Damien lived. But it was equally easy, and a bit shocking, to remember that same fact very quickly. Even with the sunglasses, she could picture the wide-eyed awe on his face as he looked around. It was so adorable… and a little painful too. He didn't deserve to be shunned the way he was back then. To be forced to hide. She let out a soft sigh and promised, again, that she would do everything she could to make up for what happened in his past and help him find his family if she could.
Following Mari's gesture towards the shelf, he began studying the books that were laid out before him, all neatly arranged one by one. A lot of them sounded interesting, some were a little more dramatic, such as 'The silence of the lambs' or 'Murder on the Orient express', but overall every single one intrigued him, and just as Mari guessed he was very excited and in awe.
"Theres so many of them… I dont even know what to pick." he said, looking at every title. "Which one would you recommend i pick first?"
Even though he was an avid reader, he kinda doubted they would let him take all at the same time
Mari nodded slightly as she looked at all the books. “Well, let's see. Orient Express is a classic and the author is brilliant.” she admitted since Agatha Christie was one of her favorite mystery writers. And not just because of her brief disappearance. “But I know you're already familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and he's written so many books here. Ironically, the stories he's most famous for are the ones about a character he hated.” she chuckled softly as she pointed out the 'Sherlock Holmes' books that were available.
Damien followed her hand movement and walked over to the shelf, picking up one of the books to inspect. There were far more than he had at home, but that was a good thing, because it meant now he could read more stories of the character he liked in volumes he'd missed.
"He hated?" the boy asked, looking back at her, quite intrigued and surprised. "What do you mean? How could he hate him?"
Mari shrugged at the question. “I don’t really know. But I believe that he called Sherlock Holmes an ass, at one point, and said that he would be disappointed if he was only remembered for this one character. And I'm paraphrasing.” she tacked on at the end of her explanation. Though she did find it funny that Sherlock was his most popular character. “Maybe it's easier for some people to write about characters they don’t like.”
"i dont think he's an ass, he's just interesting" Damien commented, looking down at the book in his arms as if softly trying to defend the character's honor, like it was gonna change anything. Surely he could understand that annoying characters were hard to write, but not this one, not to him at least. It was the first time he ever learned of a writer hating his own creation, an unexpected feeling of confusion and maybe a little sadness, as if the character was a child unloved by their parents.
"I do wonder what made him say that about Sherlock" he slightly mumbled, slowly moving on, to keep looking around.
Mari nodded. “I think a lot of people would agree with you, though I will admit there have been times when I thought Sherlock was a little arrogant… But not without a reason so…” she shrugged. “I still enjoy the stories. Unfortunately, I don't know why Sir Arthur called his character that, I just remember hearing that he did.” she answered, keeping pace with her friend.
"Well, i do admit he is sometimes, but thats because he knows things others dont catch on to!" the boy continued defending the book softly, as he inspected some of the other books on the shelves. He wished he could take all of these to read at home, but he doubted either of them could carry so many books at once. Therefore, frequent visits might be the go-to in this case, at least for now.
Damien decided to keep the one book he picked for now, deciding he could come back for the rest another time. He was in no hurry after all. Plus, he had just discovered a new source of entertainment for himself that would probably last him for the next century.
"i think this one will do for now" he told her once they reached the end of the shelves, turning around to show the sherlock book he was holding.
“I know. And personally, I agree with you.” she comforted as she watched Damien browse the shelves. Yes, the character could be arrogant but it wasn't unfounded. And there was that whole “Norburry” incident that she heard about but had yet to read.
Mari smiled as he made his selection and nodded. “Good choice. Do you want to look around a bit more or we can go get something to eat?” she offered, willing to check out the book for him since he didn't have a library card… And she wasn't sure how easy it would be to get one for him.
"Mmmm, i think just one book will do for now, theres so many here i can't even decide on what to choose. I can always come back for more right?" he looked down at the book and then at her, with a still very happy expression. He still had the books she gave him, so he wasn't out of reading material just yet. Just wanted to read this one particular book really bad.
"Food does sound good, i was kinda getting hungry, i will not lie…"
The mention of food made Damien's stomach squirm a little bit, demanding something to fill it as soon as possible, given he'd unfortunately skipped breakfast in his eagerness to see the town.
"Where are we gonna go?"
“Alright.” she nodded, smiling back at his cute eager expression. “Let's go up to the main desk and we can check it out. And yes, you can come back here anytime when they're open.” Mari said as she started to lead the way but not leaving Damian behind. “Honestly, I had a feeling you might be.” she admitted with a soft chuckle. It seemed like her friend had a high metabolism and she suspected it had something to do with his heritage but she wasn't going to bring that up. “What would you like to try? There’s a few good restaurants around here. Let me see… I think there's a nice Chinese place nearby or there's a more homestyle diner with stuff like fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Oh, or there's a pizza joint that's a little more of a walk as well as a good Mexican restaurant.” she informed, giving him plenty of options to choose from.
Damien followed her to the previously mentioned desk, holding the book like it was something very precious and dear to him.
"I can really do that? Any time? I definitely will be!" the boy announced softly, keeping pace with Mari. "Hmmm… Im not that sure to be fair, theres so many of them… Could i let you pick perhaps? One you think is best"
The multitude of available options with weird names was overwhelming him, so it was probably better if he let her choose for now - him for one, wanted to try all of them.
Mari smiled at him, almost chuckling at his cuteness. “Yeah. We’ll just need to get you a library card… Unless they require some kind of ID.” she hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “But if they do, I can just check out the books for you.” she assured, not minding that option. She shrugged slightly when Damian gave the choice back to her. “Honestly, I like all of them. But I think I’m leaning more towards the Chinese restaurant right now. And they have spicier options.” she added, remembering how her friend liked that kind of food.
"Uh, whats an ID?" he asked, as he walked next to her back to the counter, looking at the woman with glasses behind the desk, typing away at a strange machine - he made a mental note to ask about it later once they were outside.
"Spicier options? yea, id like that!" the boy gained an excited shine in his green eye behind the sunglasses. He'd never heard of the type of food, only of the country, and even then only in passing in some books.
“It's another abbreviation. It stands for “identification”, usually a card with your name, address, and other information like that.” she answered quickly, keeping her voice down as she reached the checkout desk. Hopefully, Damian understood her reply without the librarian hearing her since that information was practically common knowledge to everyone. And it most likely would draw more attention to both of them. Something that Damian didn't need to be under anyone’s scrutiny.
“I had a feeling you would.” Mari smiled at his reaction before turning to the librarian and placed the book on the counter.
"Oh so like, um, a document, stating who you are?" he replied just as quietly, although he momentarily pondered how unfamiliar it sounded. Yes, it was eseentially a way to avoid a case of mistaken identity like it happened a lot in his books and other stories he had read, but then again, he himself never thought of having one, since technically he wasnt even supposed to exist.
Damien patiently watched as the lady gave the book a look and then typed something into the weird machine, The boy was fully expecting her to whip out some paper or a catalogue at least, but no such items appeared, which confused him. Soon enough however, the book was handed back and the two were free to go.
"Oh? You did? Huh, i guess im that easy to read" Damien found himself smiling and looking to the side, as if he was caught in an embarrasing moment. "So where is this place?"
“Thank you.” she smiled politely at the librarian before handing the book to Damian as they walked outside. “Yeah, pretty much. But usually small enough to hold in your hand and fit in your wallet or pocket.” she told him as she reached into her bag, pulling out her wallet to show him. “Of course, it's also a little easier to lose if you're not careful. It's also proof that you're legally allowed to do certain things. Like drive a car, vote, see certain movies, or go out for a drink.”
Mari smiled a little at the adorable reaction and gently ruffled his hair. “I just paid attention to you and how you reacted to things. Plus, if you remember when we first met, you had made that delicious soup and told me that spicier foods were more enjoyable for you.” she pointed out. “And the restaurant is just down the block a little ways.”
The boy looked at the ID card held in front of him, noticing that it had a picture of Mari on a top corner along with her full name and other lined of text he assumed were her other details. It was rather small than what he expected, much more compact and short than what he thought it would be, but indeed a lot more handy - and unfortunately easier to lose.
"Why do you need this to grab a drink?" He asked as she put the ID back in her wallet.
After being ruffled, Damien smiled gently, agreeing that indeed, it had probably been easy to notice that about him. Either way, he excitedly followed his friend.
“Only certain drinks.” she corrected as they walked. “Remember when I mentioned that people can't, well more like not allowed, have alcohol until you turn twenty-one? This is proof of your age so you and the person serving you don't get in trouble.” she explained, smiling softly at him. “Normal drinks… you don't need to show an ID.”
