Lores and Legends

Who: Dorian and Nate
Where: NMU, Book faire
When: Afternoon

Nate had felt unusually fresh when he woke up, considering how wasted he'd been the night before and after showering he headed out to get something to eat. He'd heard about the book faire at the college and while he wasn't a huge literature fan, he did enjoy the odd book here and there. After eating he drove up there since who knew, there might be something interesting for him and books at faires tended to be cheap.

He browsed for a while, leafing through book after book and ending up buying a couple of horror novels; Koontz and King. That didn't mean he was done, it was a big area full of books and he had nothing better to do than keep browsing. He recognized some faces from school but nobody he really -knew- so he remained alone and then one table in particular caught his interest. It was probably the werewolf title that first got to him, Lycanthropes - The Word. Next to that another book about vampires and just in general some very interesting titles. Of course most books got things wrong but they could still be fun to read. So he headed on over and picked up the former book, leafing through it curiously.

Day three of the book fair and Dorian was bored. Again. But this was good advertising for the store, and he busied himself with other things while people passed, occasionally stopping to answer questions. He never left the table up the whole day, just long to make a difference. He didn't notice that someone new had stopped in front of the table until they picked up a book, at which point his eyes rose to see what was probably a high school kid. "That's a good read, but it's kind of limited," Dorian said, nodding towards the book. "If you want something with a little more depth, drop by the shop later this week and I'll set you up."

"Oh yeah?" Nate asked, setting the book down again. "What, like the real deal?" He added with just enough humor to his voice to not out himself as someone who knew about these things. Believing in werewolves and vampires didn't exactly go down easy for most people, they'd just brand him as insane. And those who didn't would wonder why he believed in them and what that made him. So, lose/lose situation all around.

Dorian didn't see it as a lose/lose situation due to his profession-- he owned a bookstore based on the supernatural, and what was the point if he didn't believe in it? He'd gotten used to making up reasons why he started believing, and he found that most of the people that were interested already believed something about it themselves. Both parties liked to keep their secrets. "Sure thing," Dorian smiled. "Though the best books are more for rent than for sale. I run it like a library, since they're not in mass production. Books like that one," he gestured towards the book Nate had set down, "are made for the public. It sounds like a reference book, but it's missing a lot." Hence it being on sale.

Nate chuckled as he looked down at the book again, though in the back of his mind he had a bit of alarm bells going. Of course the guy was selling this stuff so it might just be a part of his sales pitch, this is all real, for more truth come to my store. But generally when people believed... Well, the real supernaturals tended to say they didn't buy into it at all, so there was that. "So this is more like... The White Wolf system or something, huh?" He asked, setting the book down. "I'd think you'd want to sell these, rather than just have people come borrow books at the store."

"These are more like... people that try, but didn't get all the details right," Dorian said with a crooked smile. "Well, not all of them That one is. Most of the others are supernatural fiction, which isn't really what I'm selling at this point. I've kind of revamped the shop, so I'm selling the stuff that doesn't fit with the rest." Anything he had more than three copies of, he was selling, and anything that could be found in Barnes & Noble was on the table. "The store makes money off the magically oriented merchandise," Dorian explained. "I've found most of the books are out of people's price range. Plus, I like to collect," he shrugged. "Anything specific you're looking for?"

"Nah, I've been reading a lot of zombie fiction lately, thought it might be time to try something else for a change," Nate replied easily, tapping the werewolf book. "Like werewolves or something. Too bad there isn't a lot of good fiction out there about those." He wanted to ask if he had anything about Dreamwalkers but that was a little too specific to get away with, he thought. "So, magically oriented merchandise? What's that all about?"

"I can't remember the last good werewolf book I read," Dorian said thoughtfully. He was probably too harsh a judge. He compared what he knew to be factual against the fiction and found it lacking. Maybe if he read a fictional story that got the facts right, he could enjoy it, but those didn't seem to be common. "Most of it is geared towards witchcraft," Dorian said. "Candles, chalk, tarot cards, oils, just about anything. And I can special order, if there's something specific you need. We've got a pretty eclectic selection."

"You're really into all of this stuff," Nate said with a small grin. "Chalk... is that for like, witch stuff or something?" He leafed through the book, genuinely curious about Dorian's bookstore now. Maybe he'd have to go there and see if any of that stuff was really as accurate as Dorian seemed to think it was. In which case, maybe he could find some information about his own condition, it wouldn't hurt in any case.

"Yeah," Dorian chuckled. "Comes with owning a bookstore on it. Or maybe it's the reason I own the bookstore," he shrugged. Or maybe it had been a part of his life for so long that he might as well make use of it. "I'm not really into witch craft, but chalk is common in spells that require drawings on floors and stuff. Most people prefer that to marker, I think. Though maybe it has to be chalk..." He really didn't know, his experience with spellwork poor.

"You need to read up on this stuff," Nate said with a teasing tsk. "And say stuff like, you have to buy this special sort of chalk or your spells won't work." He grinned easily at Dorian and busied himself with looking over the books. His attention was elsewhere though as he thought about just how much of that stuff at the store was the genuine thing and if Dorian -knew- it. "Where is your store anyway? I may just have to check it out sometime."

"I'm not a very good salesman," Dorian grinned, knowing it was very much the truth. What sold was the information, not his ability to talk it up, but people's belief in it. They either had enough experience that they were curious, or they'd think it was all bullshit, and what he said wasn't going to change their minds either way. "It's down on Washington and sixth. The store's Nevermore."

"Oh, cool name," Nate said and picked up another book which kind of looked interesting, even if it was probably all bull. "See, you may not be a good salesman, but you definitely should be in advertising," he added. "Though mysteries like that are a sure fire way to get people's interest. The occult and all, it's all pretty exciting and all. Or whatever." He grinned a little crookedly and shrugged one shoulder.

"Thanks," Dorian smiled. He'd always liked the name, the reference from one of the only poems he knew word for word. Occasionally he could be quite the literary geek. "It either peaks people's interest, or it drives them away. Depends on their experience in life thus far. You haven't looked at me like I'm crazy yet, so I just continue to run my mouth," he grinned. He'd have shut up long ago if Nate didn't seem the slightest bit interested.

"A lot of unexplained things in the world," Nate said with a shrug. "I don't know any science to disprove most of it so I'd be a hypocrite to pretend I could. Doesn't mean I'm a blind follower of the occult or anything, just curious." It wasn't a lie, so he didn't feel bad. After all he wasn't a blind follower, he could see things pretty damn clearly, probably more so than he liked if judging by the odd happening of seeing someone strolling around while obviously dead and his entering dreams and whatnot. Definitely not blind.

"I don't think you have to be a follower of the occult to believe there's more out there than we realize. It's good to ask questions. Blind followers are the ones you have to worry about, who think they know more than they do," Dorian said. "Sometimes I don't think science has any explanation for it. Doesn't mean it's not real. Science can't explain a lot of things that they do know about."

Nate nodded, already liking the guy. "Yeah, but of course it might turn out like, twenty years from now that things that have no explanation right now will then, and by then it'll be something so simple because they'll have scientific explanations we don't right now." He let out a quiet laugh, barely more than a huff really. "Or we'll still be chasing our tails and jumping at bumps in the night."

"Hey, I think we'll be doing that even when we do have an explanation," Dorian laughed. He didn't have to understand something to know it was dangerous. In fact, knowledge sometimes made him feel less safe, rather than more. "I think an open mind is the key. That way when something does turn up, you're able to accept the possibility and deal with it accordingly, rather than sit and panic."

"As opposed to sitting in front of a murderous ghost with your eyes closed, chanting There's no such things as ghosts," Nate chuckled. "Yeah, an open mind helps." He picked up a book on werewolves in lore, checking it out for a moment before shrugging and holding it out to Dorian. "Think I'll take this one. Looks interesting."

"Great," Dorian said, checking the back before giving Nate the price. There was a quick exchange of money, leaving Dorian pleased that he'd gotten rid of another book that hopefully Nate would enjoy. "Let me know if you come across murderous ghosts, though. That would be something new for me to look into."

"I'll try to haunt you for long enough to let you know," Nate replied with a smirk. "Though I think that type might be better to steer clear of. Just stick to the chatty, harmless types. You know, the ones who won't try to murder you." He took the bag and decided to ask Kavin about this guy, maybe he was a part of the hunter community, after all, they were flocking to Marquette.

"I guess that would be the problem with finding a murderous ghost, wouldn't it?" Dorian laughed, sitting back in his chair now that the sale was done. "You have a serious issue once you know they're gonna kill you." They'd been talking so long that Dorian almost wished he'd asked his name, but he figured he'd probably see him again, if he came by Nevermore. That was the thing about the book faire, it introduced the shop to new customers.

"Better bring a ghost buster or two along," Nate agreed with a chuckle. "I'll see you around, man. Thanks." He raised the book-bag and gave Dorian a smile before heading on over to the next table. This had been fun and he was definitely going to Nevermore on Monday if he could swing it.

He texted Kavin as he browsed but on the other boy's last reply, the letters blurred together briefly. "Fuck," Nate whispered to himself, hoping against hope that it didn't mean anything but then it happened again. It was time to get the hell out of there and go home and he slipped his phone in his pocket and walked out of there. By the time he walked past Dorian's table it was starting already, the pain like someone was drilling through his skull. So Dorian didn't get the friendly wave he would otherwise have gotten as Nate stalk past there.

He barely made it outside before he had to sit down and without much attention to his surroundings he made it a few feet away from the door, up against the wall of the building where he sat down and fumbled for his phone. He wouldn't be able to drive, damn why was it coming on so fast! He ended up curled up with one arm around his knees, the other wrapped around his head, holding the phone against his ear. "Dad? I need you to come get me," he said and the whimper in his tone prevented any questions from Frank. Just a simple Where are you and stay there and his old man was on his way.