[Incomplete]

[paper-cutting.livejournal.com]

WHO

: Yomiko (paper_cutting), Malchior (areallygoodbook)

WHERE

: Rare and used book store, shopping district.

WHEN

: 4 April, 1 PM-ish.

WARNINGS

: Yomiko's rather *ahem*

sensual

reaction to books.

SUMMARY

: Yomiko, gladly taking Malchior up on his earlier offer, is unable to resist the siren's call.

FORMAT

: Paragraph because I suck at quick-logs.

The temptation was just too great.

Yomiko simply had no willpower at all when it came to the great love of her life: the printed-and-bound word. And while she enjoyed reading in any shape or form, and loved all books great and small, there were certain

special

books that stood apart from all the others. Ones that provoked a reaction of ecstasy in her, where she immersed all five of her physical senses within their pages. And the book store she was currently waiting inside was

filled

with them.

So immersed in her reading, she took no notice of anything happening around her, even if it meant that she completely failed to notice the time.

[OOC:Changed the date due to n00bishness on my part. -_-]

Comments

[areallygoodbook.livejournal.com]

The dragon smiled lightly as he watched the young woman wander as if intoxicated among the books, and supposed, in a way, she was intoxicated by the books. They were her love, her passion, her vice. She could lose herself completely in them. Nothing quite elicited a smile or a sparkle in her eye like a story, he could tell already. He could walk right past her, perhaps even say something, and she might not even notice, unless he was reaching for a book she was interested in.

Yomiko Readman seemed so simple, so innocent, so trusting. The perfect pawn, and with a knowledge of magic tomes like the one he was so infuriatingly bound to that could not have been more fortuitous. Still, as a dragon, it was hardly his nature to trust, especially humans. He had to be entirely certain of his hold on Yomiko before he revealed to her the truth of his situation-- or at least part of the truth. That time had not yet come, especially when there seemed to be so much he didn't truly understand about her.

How could someone so seemingly clumsy and inattentive manage to match herself against sorcerers and thieves seeking tomes of the greatest power? He could sense in her no special magic, no sorcerous talent that he could bend to his purposes, though he could sense in her a different ability, one related to paper, though exactly what it was, he could not say.

Of course, there was always the possibility that this was all a front, and, in truth, she was so perfectly suited for her occupation because she was a good liar. Didn't he know all too well himself how a silver tongue in and of itself could prove as dangerous as the most potent of spells? She was a puzzle, and, he had to admit, he found himself intrigued. Still, the only way to solve a puzzle was to interact with it, and solve this puzzle he would.

Quietly, almost soundlessly he drifted through the bookshelves towards the bespectacled woman, smiling lightly, and, with a light flourish of his wrist, produced a rose, woven of paper and smelling of books, from his sleeve-- a minor spell, borne out of his affinity for tomes after being trapped in one so long-- and gently laid it across the two pages she was reading so intently.

"Well met, Yomiko."

[paper-cutting.livejournal.com]

Yomiko nearly jumped in surprise, having been startled out of the seclusion of her world. But her face brightened immediately upon seeing the wonder he had wrought with paper, scented with the very ambrosia of her being: ink and paper. Could it be that he was a Papermaster as well? She remembered that he was not from her world as far as either of them knew, but was it possible for there to be Papermasters in other worlds? The very thought excited her; the prospect that she was not alone in this strange new world.

She met him with a bright smile. "Oh! Hello! I'm...erm, I just couldn't resist! So many books, and some of them I've never seen before!"

She ducked her head, hiding her face behind her current book. "I do tend to get carried away, you see."

[areallygoodbook.livejournal.com]

He met her embarrassment with a soft, fond laugh and a smile.

"I cannot blame you. Truth be told, anything from after the first millennium is new to me, so I can quite relate to your eagerness. All of this really is quite incredible. To think of the things the printing press has made possible; in my time, even the personal libraries of the most learned sages in the land could not have compared with this one bookstores. Truly revolutionary."

It was important, he knew, if he were to learn more about this girl, to get her to lower her defenses, and the simplest way he knew, especially with someone like Yomiko, whose whole life was consumed with one thing-- reading books-- was to get them on the subject of their passion.

"Might I ask what it was you were reading?"

[paper-cutting.livejournal.com]

That question was the very fuel of her soul, and her response was immediate.

"Ah! Yes! The

Twilight of the Anarchy

first edition! I actually found a copy here...I never would have thought I would! I've only been able to find it once before, but it..."

At this, she was almost on the verge of tears from the memory. "Well...it was a casualty of my job. Poor thing...it wasn't even involved in that case."

But there was no use mourning a book that had been riddled with bullets years before she had ever set foot in this city, and she arranged her expression back into her typical cheerful smile. "I do so hope that if I'm sent back home again, I can take it with me! I don't think I could bear to leave it behind."

[areallygoodbook.livejournal.com]

"I am afraid I can't say I've ever even heard of it. Anarchy, though... a term developed in the mid 15th century, unless I'm mistaken, generally taken to mean a lack of government?"

Among the first books that Malchior had chosen to assimilate into his wealth of knowledge were the library's most recent set of dictionaries. The English language had expanded greatly in his time locked in a tome and he knew he could not play the floundering wizard out of sync with time forever and continue to expect sympathy and aid.

"It sounds rather as if that describes what many of those of us teleported here are trying to attempt, though with... limited success. Hopefully life will reflect art a bit more closely in the near future."

Malchior smiled at Yomiko reassuringly at her quick words and her mercurial change of mood at the memory of losing the book, and the thought of being able to keep it with her. To her, they were as valuable as people... perhaps even more so. Well, that, at least, was one sentiment that they truly did share, even if the rest of what she learned about him was a lie.

"I should hope so, too. It would be a fortunate book to remain in the hands of so devoted an owner."

[paper-cutting.livejournal.com]

Yomiko was certainly within her comfort zone by this time. Not only was she more than happy to expound indefinitely on her latest acquisition, but she was an eager linguist. A polyglot, she had learned to speak several languages with reading fluency before being brought to the city.

"Yes, that's right! It is the complete lack of any sort of governing personage or body, and the theme is quite prominent in many different books. For example, in

Lord of the Flies

, a group of school boys become separated from society and attempt to govern themselves, but the attempt fails and their makeshift society descends into anarchy, where it becomes a rule of that the strongest survive."

Her smile widened even further. "You're a fast learner to have picked that up so quickly! English changes quite dramatically, even over the course of a decade. There are some words coined by Shakespeare in the late 16th century that we still use today, such as the word 'eyeball', but we certainly don't use the word 'thee' too often."

Unfortunately for Yomiko, her rambling only increased the further she was into familiar and comfortable territory. "I'm sorry...I really do tend to get carried away."

Smiling gently, she brought the book to her chest, as if it were a child. "But even if I can't bring her back with me, I shall have to find a good home for her. But I almost wish that I could stay here if it means leaving these all behind."