Book Enthusiasts?

Who: Dorian and Zed
Where: NMU Book Faire
When: Mid-day

Dorian generally wasn't one to go out of his way to promote his shop, but sitting at the book faire gave him time to think on heavier issues that he needed to address. He wanted to get his 'rules' written down, but he didn't want to spend days sitting around the house in order to do so. A change of scenery was welcome, even if it meant he had to answer questions from time to time. Talking to interested buyers had never been the issue when it came to his shop. In fact, he enjoyed seeing what peaked everyone else's interest. Nevermore's table was covered with the books Dorian was willing to part with, not one of from the back half of the store. These were books with less specifics, books in mass production that still followed the theme of Nevermore. If someone was really looking to dig into the supernatural, they needed to visit the store itself and look through the books that weren't up for sale or trade.

One material possession that Zed was truly fond of was books. He'd amassed a decent little collection since he'd moved to Marquette and was always looking to add to it. He liked to read books on any subject so long as they held his interest. Yet there was still no sentimentality attached to the little papery things. Words and ideas on paper, it was fascinating in the same way it fascinated him to pen his own thoughts down in various journals strewn about his apartment. Ideas were fleeting, chaotic, and humans were obsessed with attempting to put them all in order. Tables of contents. Indexes. Appendices. Bibliographies. It made him want to rip pages out of books and stick them in the wrong ones, which he'd taken great relish in doing when he was younger. That and writing cruelties in self-help books had been entertaining early exploits, but he hated that he couldn't be around to see people's reactions to such delinquency.

So as soon as Zed got wind of the book faire he made his way there. The weather was changing too fast and making him feel old. His Buick was having the same complaint, but he was going to push it has hard as he could to run and spare himself from too much of the elements since they were getting increasingly bitter. Potential car troubles aside, he made it over to the university with little trouble. He'd browsed several tables without finding much of interest, then happened upon Nevermore's display of wares. The name alone caught his attention as he was a fan of Poe's work. The guy had written some great stuff even if he was just another drunk sentimentalist.

"Interesting selection," Zed commented offhandedly to the guy sitting at the table. He liked looking up what humans thought of the supernatural. It was all so hilariously skewed that he had to think demons had a hand in writing most of it, just to throw them all in different directions. But a lot of the titles he was seeing he either knew weren't complete tripe or they didn't look to be complete tripe. Then again you couldn't always judge a book by its cover.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?" Dorian asked, looking up from his notebook. The guy before him looked closer to his own age than a college student, but he knew anyone could take classes and the book faire wasn't only for the student population. Anyone was welcome, though this guy seemed... off. He couldn't say exactly what it was, but it put Dorian on guard, just in case. "That one's decent," Dorian said, pointing out the book on the corner, "If you're looking for a good story, but if you're looking for factual information then it's a poor source." Hence the reason he was selling it, but since some people didn't believe any of it, then some people wouldn't mind the mistakes.

Zed picked the book up and looked it over, then thumbed through the back of the book, scanning the pages for anything eye catching. "Mostly browsing. I don't think I could ever have too many books," he said as he replaced the book on the table. There was something in the guy's voice that made Zed take another, better look at him, but it was easily shrugged off. "Do you have a store here in town?" If it was there, then he'd missed it. Likely it was on the lake side of Marquette, which would explain how he'd missed it. The university was close enough. Almost too close to the hospital for his tastes as well, but far enough away that he wasn't in danger of feeling ill.

"You sound like me," Dorian said, still watching Zed carefully. Nevermore was almost just a reason to collect books for himself and house them somewhere public, especially now that he wasn't selling the books that were rare and unusual. He could make his money elsewhere. Nevermore was just for fun. "I've got a shop down on Washington and 6th. The books in the back aren't for sale, but it functions like a library, if you're looking for something out of the ordinary. We've also got candles, tarot cards, and other items of the occult." When had it become so easy for him to talk about something that made people look at him like he was crazy? Somewhere in the last few months, he'd just stopped caring what they thought.

"Tarot, too, huh?" Zed said with a thin smile. He alternated his attention from scanning book titles to looking up at the book seller. Divination was just another human hilarity. It was fun to screw with gullible people's minds over it. Yes, let me read your future, the almost absolutely unknown, and I'll pin it down for you in this nice, neat little box. Humans believed almost anything. "I used to have a deck but I'm not sure what happened to it. Do you have a wide variety, or just the standard decks?" The cards were probably hidden under the stacks of books, tabloid rags and clothes in his apartment. Or maybe he'd left them the last place he'd stayed before Marquette. Either way it was no use looking for them. They'd been boring anyway. He'd seen much more colorful ones. They made good dart board targets too.

Since all Nevermore sold was occult oriented wares, they had a collection of tarot cards in almost twenty different styles. Dorian's personal cards were kept at home, a set he'd acquired in college that had more sentimental value than actual worth. As far as he was concerned, they were a cheap circus trick that really only told the subject what they wanted to hear. It was about perception, not actual divination. "We've got a good amount to choose from. Maybe twenty different sets, depending on if you want something cheap to learn on, or want one more for decoration," Dorian answered. "I can also special order a set if you'll let me know what you're looking for."

"I'll have to swing by, see what you've got in stock. Do you have a business card?" Zed said, intrigued. The guy had said the shop was on Washington, so it probably wasn't too close to the water. Probably. He was interested to see if the library-like section of the store was just a collection of the owner's or if the books had any genuine merit to them. Though he liked human misinterpretation, it was always fun to see when and if they really had their stories straight.

"No, but I can write it down for you," Dorian said, scribbling out the shop name and address on the corner of his piece of paper then tearing it off. It wasn't professional in the least, but until he had someone to take over the business side of things, they were just going to have to be run his way. "Here you go," he said, handing the piece of paper over to the guy. "I'm Dorian, by the way. I run the shop, but I don't work on a daily basis. If you have any questions, just let whoever's working know and they'll pass the word on to me."

"Thanks, Dorian," Zed said, saying the name for himself to help remember it. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket, a beat up looking snakeskin one that was partially held together with electrical tape, and tucked the piece of paper in there for safe keeping. It shared the space with some of his tips and random other pieces of paper and business cards. Most of it he probably didn't even need anymore. Then he put his wallet back and smiled at Dorian, his usual smirky smile that wasn't anywhere close to a grin. "I'm Zed. Maybe I'll see you there when I stop by."

"Nice to meet you, Zed," Dorian said, though he still wasn't sure about that. The man made him uncomfortable, and for that reason he hoped he was the one working if Zed came in. He didn't like the idea of Alexis or Seph dealing with this guy. "I'll see you around." Maybe. Possibly. He never knew who might stop by Nevermore or what they'd be looking for.