With no windows in this room, the illumination comes from discreet track lighting pointed to the shelves and the counter. The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with bookshelves made from a dark, polished wood with a heavy grain except behind the front counter and where interrupted by stairs and doors. Several freestanding, double-sided bookcases in the middle of the room add more space for the variety of new books available on this floor. On offer is a generalized selection of fiction and non-fiction along with each genre's current best sellers. All of the bookcases are carved with little details waiting to surprise the customer, such as peeking medusae, dragons and fairies. Plants are scattered about in large brass planters, some ferns, begonias and a large flowering gardenia that perfumes the air. A large, bushy marmalade tomcat named Bacchus can often be found wandering or sleeping on top of a bookshelf.
The front counter is paneled in a wood that makes the shelves and floor. It sits on the right side of the room, near the front door. Along the top are small spinners holding bookmarks for sale along with the cash register and square rug to stand on for comfort. Behind the register are locked cases for rare books as well as a small sign advertising racks with a limited selection of music CD's. In the back wall is an archway leading into the cafe and to the left is the stairway leading up to the second floor. The faces of famous authors are carved into the newel posts, turning them into literary totems.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Half (Philodox) Moon phase (52% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is mostly sunny today. The temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the northeast at 8 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.23 and falling, and the relative humidity is 54 percent. The dewpoint is 48 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius.)
Compact is the word for him: wiry, maybe 5'6" in his beat-up black combat boots, with a sense of compressed energy and imminence like a coiled spring -- or a cocked gun. Never quite still for long, balance flowing through the balls of his feet. There's a striking intensity to his narrow blue-green eyes, the colour contrasting with his fair skin and spiky copper hair; just below the left is what at first appears to be a faint mole, but closer inspection reveals as a small, long-healed scar. His features are appealing, with high cheekbones and a good jawline, but it's the confident mien and roguish smile that most often seem to draw people in.
He's in a well-worn biker jacket of the traditional sort, all fairly closely fit black leather and silvery zippers and snaps. Beneath it, he's got old black jeans with a rip in one knee and the cuffs half walked off, with a faded black band t-shirt ('Anarchy Burger - Hold the Government', parodying the In-N-Out sign) under an open dark red hawaiian shirt. There's a couple leather-and-bead bracelets on one wrist and a length of ball-chain disappearing beneath his collar; his nails were apparently painted black some time ago, since they're starting to show chips. Late teens, most likely, and when he speaks it's in a mellifluous, southern-accented baritone voice.
Thick honey-blonde hair, styled in a poofy set of curls, rings this pretty blue-eyed young woman's head. She's in her late teens, and her hair's currently left down, though it's occasionally pinned up. She stands about five and a half feet tall, and is a little on the thin side of things, though not to an extreme. She dresses mostly in informal styles, from ripped jeans and tank tops to the occasional sundress.
Currently, she wears the former, her black tank top emblazoned with a large sequined red heart, and her jeans so ripped as to be nearly indecent. About half of the heart's sequins are missing. Her feet are clad in red strappy lightly-heeled sandals that have seen better days. She wears little in the way of jewelry, just a black wooden bracelet, a stainless steel and rhinestone mood ring, and (probably fake) gold earrings. When she speaks, a fairly thick Southern accent is evident.
Felix picked Lilah up from work in the Caddy today, and did not head home, although he did bring one of her dresses if she wanted to get out of that uniform. He seems fairly cheerful, if unwilling to say where they're going; when they arrive at the bookstore he leads her in by the hand, looking around the place with some interest once they step inside. Apparently it's okay to look like you've never been somewhere before when it's the inside of a nice bookstore.
Lilah greeted Felix with a warm kiss, and she did switch into that dress, glad to be out of her uniform. She playfully poked him about where they're going, and when they do finally arrive at the bookstore, she looks positively delighted. "Why Mr. Sinclair," she drawls, and squeezes his hand as they enter. "I reckon you've surprised me again." Apparently that calls for a quick kiss to his cheek. "I love this place," she notes, and adds, "I love the creatures they carve on the shelves."
Felix beams at her delightedness, looking, well, delighted with it himself, and squeezes her hand back. "They carve creatures on the shelves? You oughta show me some," he says, "ones you like. An' then you should find some books you want. Unless you're really hungry or somethin', in which case we could insert hittin' the cafe in there somewhere."
His beaming is contagious, and so Lilah beams right back. Beam me up, Scottie! "I like most of 'em," she admits, "But I'll show ya 'round! I only been here the once, though." She glances over at him for a moment, still smiling, and then says, "You should help me pick the books, since I reckon they're gonna be read to ya."
"...well, okay," Felix says after a moment, "but they oughta be things you want, mostly. You wanna start where they keep that guy you like? Or save him for last, or...?" She's known him long enough now that she can probably recognize the effects of the approaching change of moon phase, somewhat more spillover of the energy than the last couple weeks, although not yet where it's likely to be in a day or two. He starts to lead her toward the shelves, despite the fact that she's supposed to be showing him around. Maybe that'll happen when they get closer to them?
"I reckon things I want's gonna go nicely with whatcha like hearing." Lilah smiles warmly at him, and says, "I wanna save 'im for last, if'n you don't mind." She follows where he leads, smiling still and not seeming to mind not showing him around in the slightest. "How was yer day?" she only just now thinks to ask.
Felix does actually pause when they get near the closest of the shelves, and look to see whether Lilah seems to be giving any indication of which way they ought to be going. He grins at her question, chin lifting a touch, head tilting slightly, "It was good. Productive an' shit. 'course, it did have this awful lack of you in mosta it, but we're gettin' that part sorted out now. 'bout yours?"
"It was awful. Terrible. Just terrible. I saw you in the mornin', but you were asleep, an' I didn't see ya all day 'til ya picked me up." Two can clearly play at that game. Lilah grins over at him and starts walking along the edges of the aisles, naming off which mythological creature is carved in. She does end up stopping at one in particular, noting, "Pegasus. If I gotta pick one here, that'uns prob'ly my pick. It's a horse with wings. What's not to love? Sometimes they even got horns, like a unicorn." She glances over at him, asking curiously now, "How 'bout you? Which'uns you like best?"
"We'll just hafta make sure we make up for all that lackin', then," Felix says, and leans over to kiss that grin of hers, bookstore etiquette be damned! Well, not entirely damned, maybe. It's a reasonably polite kiss, considering. For now. "That dragon," he decides, "the long one that goes almost all the way along that shelf. That's my favourite so far."
"I s'ppose you have a point," Lilah decides, and returns his kiss warmly with a squeeze of his hand. "Dragons're my second pick, far 'n away," she nods with a bright smile, "Leastways o' what I seen so far. I spent more time lookin' at the shelves than the books. Not sure if that's what they're goin' for. Then again, it became my pick for bookstore in this town right quick, so it must be workin'." She glances aside at him and asks, "So why the dragon? An' whatcha get done today?"
Felix considers. "Well, what's not to like?" he echoes, "They fly, they're powerful, they breathe fire... I'd fly an' breathe fire if I could. I like how they look, too, 'specially the long thin ones like that guy. But the big medieval-like ones are cool too." He shrugs, then grins again, wicked this time. "Made some money," he answers, "...and some music, an' some friends, but not all at the same time."
When he echoes her words, Lilah grins, and nods at his explanation. "The long thin ones're the best. Seems more subtle-like. I reckon somethin' like that'd be able to sneak up on ya. Ain't no way them medieval-like ones'd do that." She leans over to kiss his cheek after he answers, and she's forced to admit, "That *does* sound productive!"
Felix looks quite pleased with the kiss, and lets go of her hand, sliding that arm around her waist instead and pulling her closer. He still lets her lead, as long as she does; if she stops doing it, he'll end up taking over probably without even realising it. "Very," he confirms, and kisses HER cheek this time.
Lilah mirrors his pleasure with her own, particularly at being drawn closer. She smiles softly at him, and then clears her throat distractedly before starting to lead him again, slowly, still pointing out various mythological creatures. She doesn't assume she knows what he does or doesn't know the name of, so instead she just names them all. Even mermaids!
"...I like mermaids, too," Felix muses when they're pointed out, "but there's something fishy about them." Big grin. "I mean that's gettin' pretty literal for a piece of tail." He does look a little amused at having a few of the carvings named off, but doesn't protest it; the books on the shelves get glanced at as well, but not for long enough that it's likely he's registering many of the titles and authors, if any. "What kinda books you reckon we oughta be mostly lookin' at?"
His joke makes Lilah laugh, and the phrase, 'Piece of tail' results in an even louder laugh. "I reckon so," she agrees, "But if ya get tired of 'er, ya just feed 'er to the fishes ...ya reckon she's a Pisces?" She grins over at him, leaning into his space as she answers, "I was thinkin' fantasy. 'r something like that. How 'bout you?"
Felix laughs at her joke, also, and his focus flicks briefly up and to the side before he says, with earnest delivery and a rhythm that isn't quite his own, "But she said things I just couldn't fathom. She was too deep, seemed to be under a lot of pressure. Boy, could she drink. She drank like a... she drank a lot. I said, 'What's your sign?' She said, 'Aquarium.' I said, 'Great! Let's get tanked!'" He does not go into the chorus, though, stopping there and grinning back to her again. "Fantasy sounds pretty okay, yeah. And maybe... I dunno, whatever it is that one with the taxi driver was."
Lilah listens to his recitation, and it gets a pleased giggle, and a great deal of laughter. She clearly hasn't heard it before, and even claps her hands lightly. "That was great!" she praises him, laughing a bit more before she'll comment on the rest. "I reckon that's crime 'r mystery 'r somethin'. I never was good at classifications, but I betcha we could find a bunch like it if we look around."
Felix gives about half a bow, though all of the arm sweep to go with it, in response to her clap, still grinning. "Sounds like a plan to me," he says, "Lead on, I reckon you got a better idea where we'd find any of those than I do. Beyond 'somewhere in this store', anyhow."
"I don't have a clue," Lilah admits without hesitation. "But I'll happily lead f'r a change," she teases, and starts searching the aisle signs for anything remotely resembling that. As she does, she comments, "S'good t'see ya. Been workin' so much lately. We hadda gal quit."
Felix narrows his eyes at her in a way that would probably be disconcerting if he sounded less amused when he asks, "Now, is that you callin' me bossy? Anyway, I do letcha lead sometimes. Usually upstairs." And fairly often followed by a demonstration of how being in front doesn't always actually mean leading. He keeps his arm around her waist as they go. As usual, the place seems to be about half as crowded as it initially looked, at least wherever they are. "It's been an awful lot of workin'," he agrees, "They better fill that spot soon. Maybe put Bella in it."
Lilah clears her throat nervously at those narrowed eyes, amusement-paired or not, and shakes her head. "I wouldn't dream o' sayin' you're bossy." Pause. "Leastways not in a way that bothers me." She clears her throat again, this time in embarrassment. Her cheeks redden slightly, and she avoids his gaze after that comment, at least for a few moments. "I reckon it'd be strange to work with Bella, but maybe not." She shrugs. "Didn't somebody say they had a job for 'er though?"
Felix grins again at her addition, a little toothier, and takes a step toward her; since he's still right up against her side, it just about requires her to take a step away in response, and he does it again, herding her right up against the bookshelf for a rather less bookstore-polite kiss than the earlier one. "...I'll keep that in mind," he murmurs when he breaks away, and gives her waist a light tug to get them going again. "Why'd it be strange? There was talk 'bout her applyin' there originally," he says, "but I think maybe Justin said somethin' about seein' if there's an opening at Snakes an' Lattes, also."
Lilah does take a step backward, and then another, her gaze downward and her cheeks flushing red. The kiss is returned in kind, her hands clenched at her side briefly. She takes a deep breath, bites at her lower lip, and moves with him as they get going once more. She clears her throat before saying with a shrug, "Might not be. I ain't got anythin' against her, mind you. Might just be strange, workin' with someone from home."
Felix doesn't look anything like displeased with that flush, or the other effects the kiss seems to have, for that matter. For a moment he looks more thoughtful than is probably safe, though it seems to pass. "On the other hand it might be less strange," he says, "...but mostly I just want 'em havin' a full roster of folks so you don't hafta keep bein' there so much. It can be someone local, I don't care."
Lilah tilts her head at his thoughtful look, but to her credit, doesn't ask about it directly. She leans in to kiss his cheek again at that last bit, nodding her head. "I reckon even if it turned out a little strange, it'd be better 'n workin' too much. I miss ya."
"Miss you too," Felix says, "...also rumour has it someone's gotta keep me outta trouble. 'course I never put too much stock in that kinda hearsay." His fingers move casually at her waist, not quite tickling; instead they seem to be making the hem of her dress creep up, at least on that side.
Lilah's breathing picks up a little bit as the hem of her dress creeps up. She glances at him as casually as she can (not very, as it turns out) before quickly glancing away, cheeks going a deeper shade of red. "Maybe, uh. Maybe you *should* put some stock in it," she teases nervously.
Felix, on the other hand, does a great job of entirely casual, even as his fingers continue slowly gathering fabric, bit by bit. "Y'think?" he asks, all innocence, at least if one doesn't look too closely at the way he looks at that blush. "What makes you think that? And d'you reckon you're up to the job?"
Lilah's eyes widen a little as the fabric keeps rising up, and she's avoiding looking at him directly, now. "I do think," she says carefully, "...because I think if you weren't lookin' for trouble, it'd find you anyway. You just got that way about you." Despite her deeply reddened cheeks, she smiles fondly before setting her jaw and looking over at him. "I reckon I might be."