The Search Starts

who: lullaby and dorian
where: nevermore
when: noonish

Lullaby had gone around to several book stores in the area, though nothing quite got her what she wanted. She'd crossed several off of her list, and Nevermore was the next on it, so she walked up and entered the shop. Reaching up to shrug her backpack more firmly onto her shoulder, she looked around the shop then immediately for whoever might be working. When she saw the man, she smiled at him, and walked over. "Hello." she greeted, trying to speak clearly enough in her soft, quiet voice for him while she signed as well. "I'm looking for some specific kinds of books, can you help me please?" she asked.

And now for the part where she hoped he didn't look at her like she was nuts! She'd already been stared at like a total nutter several times today. But oh well. This was incredibly important to her, so she was damn well going to be putting up with a look or two. Anything if it would help her boys.

Dorian looked up as someone approached him, and when she started to sign, he watched her lips as closely as possible. He didn't know sign language, but he could hear just fine. The advantage to her signing was that he now knew he needed to face her when he was talking, just in case. "I can help," he smiled. "What are you looking for?" So long as it wasn't the newest hit in paperback fiction, they just might have it. He hated having to turn customers away that thought Nevermore was a normal bookstore, but they just didn't carrry Harry Potter or any of that shit.

"I need any information on curses you might have, specifically breaking them." Lullaby said clearly, then smiled at him hopefully. "I'm not crazy." she added, because yes, she'd gotten that look a few too many times. "Do you have anything? And I don't mean like, crappy lame pretend fiction books, or 'how to be a witch and hex stuff!' stupid lamer b.s. stuff either. I'm looking for the real deal, do you have anything?"

"Yes, I think I have something," he said, smiling warmly, then coming out from behind the counter. If she'd been frequenting the general bookshops, she'd have been out of luck and frustrated, but this was something he could actually handle. "Some curses aren't breakable," he said, turning backwards to look at her as he spoke. "Some are, but only through ritual. It depends on how the curse was placed, or on who or what. Let me see what I can pull," he said, then turned towards the bookshelf, scanning for books that might interest her.

"What if you don't know how it was placed, or who did it?" Lullaby asked. "I um...okay hypothetically speaking, say you were cursed, and it was like a family cursed passed down type thing?" she asked. "Can you break something or go around it even if it's really old? And thank you very much for helping me, and for not looking at me like I'm a nutbar." she added, giving him a grateful, shyish little smile.

Dorian had to stop and think, a pile of books in his hands. "Family curses are harder to break, especially if you don't know how they were placed. It's in the blood. It might not even be a curse, unless you know specifically. Like, say, you inherit blue eyes and blond hair. It's part of who you are and not something that can be removed or changed," he said, then carried the books over to the table. "And you're not nuts. You're also in a bookstore that specializes in the supernatural, which should help quite a bit."

Lullaby blinked at that, looking at him. "...can you help me get stuff to um...to learn about what's really there?" she asked hesitantly. "I just found out not long ago..." she held up her hand with her black and blue fingers. "I was attacked by a--" she sighed, and rolled her eyes at herself. "It still sounds stupid to me. Sorry. A demon, I guess. And I really want to protect my friends, and I know some people who're cursed...I'm new at all of this. Any help you could give me I'd love you forever for."

Dorian frowned slightly. "You're the third person today to come in looking for demons because of an attack," he said, and that count included him. That was never a good sign, though hopefully it was all the same demon. If it was multiple demons, then the surely he'd have heard word from outside the shop. Still, Lullaby and Tensiel were both young girls, even if Lullaby's injury was not as severe. "Do you want to know just about demons? Or everything?" he asked, realizing this was probably a rather broad subject to dive into. "We've got a ton of books, so... it just depends on where you want to start."

"Um...I don't know? You seem to know about things. What do I need to know?" she asked. "I'd kind of like to find out as much as I can as quickly as I can, though I'm sure there isn't like, an encyclopedia of 'stuff that's for really out there'. Which would make everyone's lives easier, but for some reason I think they might have trouble publishing it..." She gave him a crooked smile. "Anything that'll help? I still wanna know about the curses though, and if I can't break them if there's a way to go around them or something. I--people are important to me and I don't want to sit back and do nothing." she explained.

The amount of information Dorian knew about the supernatural could not easily be contained into a twenty-minute discussion. It wasn't even fit for an eight-hour discussion. Not only was he brought up with it, but he'd spent four years of college studying it, then two more for his masters. Still, he needed to tell her something. "That's a little broad," he smiled, pulling out a chair for her to take a seat at the table. "There are a lot of things that are out there, but I don't have an introductory book that covers them all. What I can do is tell you where to start in the subjects you're interested in. As for the curses, I'd suggest looking through those books," he said, indicating the ones he'd set on the table. "Each curse is different, so you probably won't find specific rules for any one sort, but there's a lot of theory in there that you might be able to apply."

Lullaby sat down, and gave him her undivided attention, watching his lips carefully as he spoke, so she didn't miss anything. She nodded. "Thank you." she said. "I know this'll prolly cost me a lot, but I've got money." She was spending from the account that was supposed to go towards college, but she didn't care. This was far more important to her. Journey and Joshua were. "I've been told that there are demons, and that there are angels. After that I really don't know that much though. Oh! And ghosts. I know they're there." What with having spoken to one.

"Well, I wouldn't suggest buying all of the books," Dorian chuckled. "Look through them and see what actually applies." He really wasn't fit to be a salesman. He was just too nice. He probably should have let her buy them all, but books of this sort weren't cheap. "There are demons, and angels, and ghosts," he agreed, smirking a little at the thought of Michael's visit that morning. "And there are werewolves and vampires and fairies and witches. There are things that you might never find, even if you were looking for them, and there are creatures that you might know and see on a daily basis without never knowing what they are."

She listened attentively, taking it all in. "Are there things to worry about here? Um...vampires and werewolves and all that stuff you mentioned...are they bad? Do I have to worry about them, or are they okay? I'm pretty sure the movies are kinda...crap when it comes to stuff."

Dorian really, really hated to scare her. She was young and didn't need to spend every waking moment being afraid. "I don't know if there are any werewolves around, honesty. Vampires, well... I'd just suggest not wandering around alone at night. There are different sorts, and different rules apply to each one, but they're kind of hard to document because of it. Most fae are mischievous, but not evil. Demons are pretty high on the scale of things to worry about," he said, discouraged by how bad that came off. "There's usually not a high population of any of them, especially in a town this small."

She nodded, obviously hanging on his every word. Lullaby was pretty trusting, really. "What about ones that...well it was kinda like...there was this deer, and he had kinda strawlike hair, and he was scaley...really really strong and fast? With claws on his hands and feet." she said, making a claw with her good hand since she couldn't with the other. She still had bruises on her chest and side along with gouges in her thigh because of it. Stupid demon-thing. "Do you know what that is and if there's anything i can do to protect people from it?"

"A deer?" he asked, trying to put the clues together. Claws were fairly common, unfortunately, but straw-like hair sounded familiar. "Did it have a tail? Horns? What color was it?" he asked, prompting her for the things he'd need to know to give her a better answer. "If I can figure out what it is, maybe. I have a friend that was attacked recently as well. I'm starting to wonder if it's the same thing." Because if it was? Damn did the creature get around. If it was in demon form that often, it shouldn't be that hard to catch and kill.

"Um...I'm sorry, it was really dark, and I was really scared. I think it said something to me, but I couldn't hear it." she said apologetically. She wracked her brain, trying to pull up details. It had been night, and really dark, and she didn't have much because she'd been positive she was going to die. "I'm really really sorry. Just...long arms, really nimble, claws, um...animal like I guess."

If it was the same demon, Dorian couldn't tell. There were too many inconsistencies. It could very easily be a different one and he wouldn't want to lead her in the wrong direction. "I don't know. I can tell you general things about demons though, and that might help," Dorian said, deciding that was the best route to go. "They can not walk on blessed ground, no matter what kind of demon they are. Blessed objects will burn them. They all have a tell of some sort, but that's something you'd see in their human form. It's usually their demon form that's dangerous."

Lullaby thought about that. "How do you get blessed things? Or bless ground?" she asked. "Like...holy water? Does it have to be Christian stuff?" she asked. She had on a pentacle necklace herself, something her father had sent to her ages ago. "I was told to wear religious symbols, so I've been giving those to people, because I want to protect them too."

Dorian thought about that before answering. He'd never put a ton of work into this area, considering the demon blood in him. Protecting other humans hadn't been high on his radar. "Holy water is blessed," he said with confidence. "Holy ground, or church ground, is blessed. It's not Christian stuff, exactly. Just wearing a religious symbol won't keep a demon away. Your best bet is to have holy water on you, unless you know an angel. Angels can bless objects, and then they act as protection, in a way."

Lullaby bit her lower lip and nodded, nibbling at it. She wondered just how lame it would be to ask September to bless things, or even if she would. She was still sick, she couldn't ask her to do that, could she? She didn't think so. Not really. Oh well, she nodded either way. "I understand. I'll figure something out."

Dorian certainly hoped he was right on this. He'd really hate to mislead her when it seemed so important. Generally people didn't dive into areas like this unless they'd had some form of contact like she had, an attack that left her feeling like she needed to know things. It was unfortunate that there wasn't an easier way to tell her. "Well, does it help to know they're mortal? They can die," he told her. "So at least you're not dealing with something eternal."

Lullaby looked slightly pained. "...so there are immortal things? But good to know, okay they're not. Is there anything that kills them specially? Like..um...stakes for vampires or sliver bullets for werewolves?" She winced because she didn't know if those were right, but figured that he'd correct her if she wasn't.

"There are, but only in the sense that they can live forever if nothing kills them. Demons age, though slowly, and will eventually die on their own. Vampires, if nothing kills them, can last eternally. I can't think of anything that's completely unkillable," he said, pondering that. It was possible that a ghost fell into that category, being already dead, but there were probably ways to get rid of them as well. "Nothing specific, to my knowledge. They'd die if they drank holy water, but most would also die from normal things, like... they could bleed to death. Shooting them would kill them, and it doesn't have to be a silver bullet." Dorian frowned. "I am in no way encouraging you to get a gun though."

She gave him a little half smile. "I don't really like guns." she said. "They're kind of scary, and I think I'd just drop it and then whatever I was up against would have a shiny new gun to shoot me with." She didn't think she'd be able to use a weapon period, though. She simply wasn't a violent sort really so the concept made her uncomfortable.

Good. He would have felt awful if he thought he was encouraging a high school girl to carry an illegal weapon. But it made him think of a better suggestion, one he never thought he'd use, considering he'd had it used against him in a similar manor. "What you could do is get a water gun and fill it with holy water. It would be suitable protection and it wouldn't hurt anyone but a demon. I'd suggest getting one that doesn't look even the slightest bit like a real gun, just so people don't think you're carrying. They make them rather small these days. I'm sure you could find one to fit in a backpack or purse."

She brightened at that suggestion, then smiled widely at him. "Really? I hadn't thought of that...yeah, that's really doable! Thank you!" Water guns for everyone! Or well, maybe. She didn't know how she'd justify giving those out with the clause 'use against evil'. That she definitely couldn't explain. People would look at her like she was totally crazypants. "I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me."

"You're welcome," he said. Dorian was just glad to see her smile. She'd seemed so distressed, but apparently water gun were a step in the right direction. He knew how it was to worry about those he cared for and could easily see how she'd gotten herself in this situation. As probably the only one believing in what was out there, it was up to her to ward against it. Ward. Oh, yes. "There's also white magic," he said, then looked towards that section of the store, then back at her so she could read his lips. "I've never done it, but you can put up wards to keep demons out." He could just imagine his mother's fury if she came to visit and couldn't set foot in her son's home. No, he'd never attempted those, even if he knew they existed.

"Is there um...wards for other things too?" she asked. "If there's other bad things out there?" She rolled her eyes at herself and laughed a touch. "I sound really dumb to myself, I hope you know. But thank you, yes, wards. White magic? Can anyone do that? I don't think I have anything magically going on with me..."

"Demons can't do white magic, so unless you're a demon, you should be good," he grinned. Dorian had always believed that it was his demon blood that made him shit at white magic, but he couldn't know for sure. It wasn't something he'd pursued with great interest, after all. "Generally, normal humans can pick up magic. You don't have to be magically inclined. You don't need a ward to keep a vampire out. Like the movies say, they can't enter without an invitation, and their fangs are always present. So don't let pointy-toothed people into your house. Werewolves aren't dangerous in their human form. I don't know of any wards to keep them off, but they're allergic to silver."

Lullaby nodded as she took that in. "Check." she said. "Um--this might sound dumb, but are they evil? You say werewolves aren't dangerous in their human form, but are they all weird and evil? Do they know they're werewolves, or are they um...victims? What about vampires? Some movies have them all evil and stuff, and others they're angsty and whiney but not really evil." She cracked a little impish smile. "Unless you count emo angsting as evil. Which it so might be!"

"Lycanthropes of any kind are not evil, but cursed werewolves-- the kind that are bitten, not born-- have no control over themselves in their wolf form, which makes them dangerous." It didn't seem like a good time to go in the different types of weres, since that really wasn't what she needed to worry about. "Vampires aren't evil, per say. But they're undead. They're... well, they feed off human blood, and even the nicest of them still need to feed. Their personality is based off their personality as they were as a human, at least in some sense. Some of them lose their minds, I think. Some angst over the fact that they're living while everything else is dying, even if that's not really the case. It wouldn't surprise me if emo vampires really did exist," he laughed, "Unfortunately, it's hard to tell. They don't go about giving away vast amounts of information and some purposefully try to confuse the rest of us."

She gave him kind of a scared look. "There's different types of werewolves? Oh my." she sighed. "I have a lot to learn, huh?" She smiled again, however. "Guess I better get reading. Um, if it's not too much trouble for you, do you think you could set books aside for me when you get time or something? Like ones that I might need to read? I'll probably come back at least once a week to pick up more, depending on how fast I can get through stuff. But you seem to know what you're talking about, so you'd know what I would really need. You don't have to, but if you did I'd appreciate it." She beamed at him. "I could offer cookies or something in compensation!"

"There's the cursed type, like you see in movies, and then there's the sort that you really don't need to worry about unless they're evil people all around. And you can't go worrying about all the evil humans out there too," he told her, hoping she'd narrow this down a little. Yes, there was a ton to learn. Werecats, Werebears, and Wereravens were the least of her concern at the moment. "I don't mind at all," Dorian smiled. "I'm here till two every day except Sunday. Any questions you have, I'd be happy to answer. I might not be able to answer them all, but I'll try. And I wouldn't turn down cookies," he laughed.

She smiled at him, a sweet, grateful sort of smile. "Thank you, I appreciate that." she said honestly. "Um, what time do you open? School won't get out until after that once it starts. Unless I just get really really industrious and decide to do years of research in like, a couple weeks." Hey, she may actually try.

"We open at nine, but I may move around the schedule a bit. I'm not doing so well at this getting up early thing every day. I just have to talk to my co-worker and see what I can work out," he told her. If he could manage it, he'd hire someone else and balance out the hours a little better. He just needed to see. "If I'm not here, you can always leave me a note. I'm Dorian, by the way," he said, offering a hand. How had he not done that earlier? He knew he hadn't, as he didn't know her name either. "You can always catch me on Saturdays, if school prevents."

"Lullaby." she answered in return, shaking his hand. "Or Lulu. Whatever floats your boat." she said with a smile up at him. "Dorian, okay. I'll leave you notes if I can't catch yo, but Saturdays might work fine! I'll try to catch you when you're around. Again, thanks so much for helping me."

"You're very welcome," he said, pleased to have been of help. It wasn't often that someone came in and really needed to know what was going on and had the ability to believe. Most just wanted a sugar coated truth, or planned to play with magic without really understanding it. "Look through the books till you're ready and let me know if you have any questions," he told her, rising from his seat to move back to the front. "No rush."

"Thank you." she said, turning her attention to the books so she could pick out the ones she was going to be buying that day. She had a direction to go now, some active thing she could be doing. It made her feel a million times better, even if it probably wasn't going to amount to much. It was something. She was trying, and that was the point.