Jude absentmindedly flipped through a few biographies, crouching down to pet Buttons when he'd nudged his leg after wandering back into the room. Candles burned somewhere out of sight, and the sweet smells drifted through the little store as they browsed through the shelves of books.
Nyx picked out a few different books, tucking them under his arm so that he could keep looking around without leaving them behind.
Jude strayed over to where Nyx was walking around. "Found some good stuff?" He prompted, smiling as he glanced down at the little collection of books in his arms.
Nyx nodded a little bit, holding them up to Jude. "Uh huh!" he replied with a happy smile, looking up at the other male.
"Hmm, nice, nice," Jude quietly chuckled, nodding as Nyx excitedly showed him the books, "Did you get any classics? –You don't have to, but there are tons of older editions in this place."
Nyx blinked. "I don't know the difference, Jude." he replied slowly, taking the books back and wrinkling his nose a little bit.
"Right." Jude said with a faint wince, nodding. "Well– they're typically older, and probably a little strange sounding. I think there's a section for classical literature somewhere…" He trailed off, getting distracted by Buttons headbutting his legs, "But you've got some that you're excited about? That's great."
Nyx looked up at him, and nodded a little bit. "Okay." He replied, looking around to try and find this section.
Jude followed a little behind him, letting the eye-catching titles distract him as he moved around the bookshelves.
Nyx headed to the classics, looking around curiously with a soft smile on his face. "Jude." He said. "How do I tell which ones are old?"
Jude peeped his head around the corner. "Oh," He nodded, moving towards the long rows of books. "–Well, they kinda look like this:" Jude said as he pulled out a gilt-edged copy of Don Quixote with its cover of calligraphy and stylized patterns along the border.
"Ohh. All of them?" He asked, raising his eyebrows over at Jude curiously. "They all look like that? Or do some look different?"
"No, they're all different," Jude said, nodding as he looked down at the book, "But they all have like, this particular style that you don't see in newer ones. This place has some collectable editions around; you can kinda tell it's old just by looking at it."
Nyx frowned a little bit. "I don't understand." He replied slowly, looking at Jude. "What's…the difference, then?" He asked, cocking his head.
"Well, these are classics, I guess," Jude said, nodding as he ran a finger over the spines of the shelved books, "So, older, kind of strange looking, and held in a 'higher regard', compared to newer ones. There are lots of copies of these classics, though some are more valuable than others, just cause they're older."
He frowned a little bit. "I don't really understand." he admitted, feeling a little stupid for not knowing any of this. For not knowing anything about the world he lived in. He looked down at his feet.
"Hm? It's okay." Jude softly told him, taking a gentle step closer as he tried to meet Nyx's gaze, "What don't you understand?"
"Any of the…why are they more special just because they're old?" he asked, looking up at Jude with his eyebrows pulled together.
Jude faintly shrugged, glancing down at the copy of Don Quixote. "Cause they're rare, I guess," He told him, "These stories are famous– so it's like having a part of history."
"But– why are they famous?" He asked, still confused and hating that he was confused, hating that he didn't know jack shit about this.
"Cause they're good," Jude patiently replied, softly nodding as he put the book up on the shelf, "–A lot of people like them and think they're important; there was a cultural impact."
"But why? What makes them so important and…cultural impacting?" his eyebrows drew together as he looked up at Jude, still not understanding.
"Well, the stories are important because people read them, and liked them. Enough so that they became famous," Jude said, glancing at the shelves of classical literature, "People studied them, made movies of them, and were just…changed. They inspired people, I guess."
He nodded a little bit. "Oh. Okay." he replied simply, only sort of understanding, but not wanting to seem stupid. Even though he probably already did.
Jude smiled softly, pressing a quick kiss to Nyx's cheek. "Don't worry about it," He said with a nod, looking into his bright blue eyes, "Stuff doesn't always make sense in the world– but I think that's part of the deal. You just accept what's acceptable, and move on."