Lamesville, USA

naryanotherthought:

‘No idea, really. Uh…’ Nary swallowed, suddenly nervous. What had happened was comepletely bugfuck crazy, and she didn’t deny that. But it wasn’t a dream. Couldn’t be a dream. She had the dress! She had proof! …to herself, since anyone else would think she had just had an off day. ‘Why were you reading it? Any particular reason?’ Surely someone who didn’t know the first thing about preservation and gloves wasn’t just in the habit of reading old books.

Realizing that this might actually take a while, she held up her hand and went to get two of the director’s chairs she used for customers going over her Big Book O’ Fabric Choices and a box, hmm…medium latex gloves. For herself she retrieved one of the many pairs of white cotton ones she had made. Washable, breathable, and actually fucking fit her hands.

“I work at a library, dude,” he said Leonard with a laugh, “I love books. And especially books about supernatural stuff and folklore. I guess you could say that the reality most people live in isn’t enough for me.”

He grabbed a pair of latex gloves, waggling his eyebrows suggestively when he slipped them on. He snapped them a few times for effect.

“I kind of live every day hoping that the maps and catalogues of the world are incomplete, that there’s more out there than meets the eye,” he said, somewhat self-consciously. With a sigh, he tried to distract her from his sudden moment of silliness by flipping to the index of the book and reading the contents out loud.

“Regions knowne to be inhabited by faeries

Characteristics of faeries

Kinds and classes of fae

Elementals

Aelves

Trolls

Trows

Hobs (Brownies, Bowies, Hobgoblins)

Boggarts

Bogles

Kelpies

Selkies

Pixies

Nixies

Spriggans

Redcaps

Leprechauns

Sprites

Ways to ward off malevolent fae

Ways to attract Seely Fae

Trooper Fae and their customs

A Warning to them who seek.”

naryanotherthought:

Nary looked up to see the boy leaving. ‘Wait!’ She held a hand reverentially over the wrapped book, having laid out the rest on the main table already (less crowded and less liable for disaster than her workroom). ‘You were reading this, right? The old book? You know about this stuff already, right? I’ve got boxes and boxes of latex gloves, if you want to help…’ She trailed off hopefully, absentmindedly picking at the wrist-button of one of her own gloves.

He looked over his shoulder at her with a puzzled smile. Really? He had thought she hated his face. But perhaps she really wanted help, no matter from whom. Nodding, he turned towards her, walking to the table. He figured he could just tell his supervisor that the lady lived farther than he had expected, or some other lame excuse like that.

“I’ve only gotten to, like, the middle of the book,” he said, “the vocabulary the author uses can be a bit confusing, sometimes. What is it you’re looking for?”

naryanotherthought:

She had to smile at the trouble with his glasses. Still a kid, and she shouldn’t have gotten so mad. ‘It’s cool.’ After he finished cleaning the lenses, she turned to lead him the rest of the way to the shop and her apartment.

Reaching the front door of the shop, she paused a moment after getting her keys from the pocket in her skirt (all her work had pockets, even the fancy stuff. it was a matter of principle) to check the horseshoe freshly nail above the door. It seemed…innocuous enough, she supposed, and nothing seemed to have changed. Regardless, after carefully setting her two bags and what was left of her drink down on the front counter, Nary searched through the shop and her workroom. She paid special attention to the quiceanera dress, although she was still unable to bring herself to actually touch the thing again.

Nothing but the embroidery and a her scratch. Nothing else to say she wasn’t being foolish, and yet she was still afraid.

Leonard looked up curiously at the horseshoe, still chewing on the last bits of his bagel. He walked inside timidly, putting his half of the books next to where she had set down hers.

“Is the horseshoe for luck? ‘Cause if it is, it’s supposed to be used, and that one doesn’t look very used. I could be wrong, though,” he said, shrugging. “Anyway, come by the library as soon as you’re done with the book. The rest are due for the weekend. Have a nice day.”

He turned to walk out, feeling as though he’d forgotten something. 

naryanotherthought:

Nary raised her eyebrows at him as they reached the Starbucks, this time opening the door for him. ‘Perceptive little brat, aren’t you? Yeah, I made them and the dress. And yeah, I make clothes.’ She tended to avoid the word seamstress, leery of what it used to be a euphemism for. If there’s one thing Nary could be described as, it was extremely monogamous.

She caught the face twitch and eye-roll, though. ‘Yeah, Starbucks. Not a native New Yorker, so you can suck it.’ She ordered a large salted caramel hot chocolate and a brownie, using the proper ‘venti’ just to piss the twerp off. Snobbiness was one of her pet peeves, if not her biggest. It had developed almost entirely after she moved to the city, and it was not coincidental in the least.

After getting her order, she waited by the door for him.

He pursed his lips, keeping his mouth shut at her commentary. He told himself he had no need to defend himself. He was only there to help her, after all.

“Hey there,” he said to the over-enthusiastic cashier, “I’ll have a bagel.”

He paid and took a few seconds to spread cream-cheese on his bagel, before heading over to her at the door. His glasses fogged up at the change of temperature outside, and he laughed.

“Sorry about that,” he said with an embarrassed smile, stopping to wipe them off.

naryanotherthought:

Nary frowned, tapping the cover of the book again thoughtfully. She glanced at the boy hands, and her frown deepened. ‘If it’s as old and valuable as you say it is, then you really shouldn’t touch it bare-handed, kid. Oils on a person’s hands are stupidly destructive.’ She should know. It had taken one very expensive, very delicate, and very white bolt of silk for a cousin’s wedding dress to teach her that lesson. Nary had taken to wearing gloves all the time after, although she switched to cloth when she was working. Leather wasn’t a material made for delicacy, but it was probably better than nothing. She tried not think about the damage the walk home could do. Nary needed this book, if nothing else than to put her mind at ease.

She had to grin at the kid’s response to her assumption. ‘Sorry. I figure it’s better to nip stuff like that in the bud.’ That way the douchebags would have less reason to get pissy. Nary sighed dreamily: ‘Yeah…I am…’

Setting the old book down, she snagged two bags from where she could see them just behind the counter. One, she wrapped around the tome to protect it before putting it carefully in the other bag after the rest.

Nary nodded her thanks to him as she walked through the door. ‘Nary Renato. Helpful to meet you and all, but I’m still calling you a kid. And if you burn my place down, I’m gutting you, fyi.’

Spotting the Starbucks down the way, she grinned and checked her phone. Hours to go ‘til lunch yet, and Des hadn’t texted her yet. ‘But first, coffee!’

Leonard made a mental note to buy some gloves on the way home. Subconsciously he wiped his hands on his jeans as he walked behind Nary. Kio had never told him about the hands thing. He figured she really should have.

“Did you make those gloves? The ones you’re wearing, I mean,” he said. “I mean, it’s obvious you made the dress, because nothing in retail would fit you that well. So I’m guessing you’re a seamstress, right?”

He tried very hard not to sneer when he saw her head to the Starbucks. He managed to turn the potential sneer into a subtle eye-roll. At least they’d have decent bagels, in there, he thought.