[Closed] A Very Good Influence

[Euthalia Iordanou]

24th, Ophus, 2719
A. Borna Rare Books, Peregin Dist. | Early Afternoon

It was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that Euthalia had snuck away from the celebrations. They didn't make it very hard to sneak off, no one ever paid attention to her, and it was hard to see her in a crowd due to her small stature. She had been hiding out in one of the parks over the lunch hours, not wanting to get spotted by anyone who might know her, and know that she had technically agreed to certain group festivities that day, and, now having successfully avoided getting spotted during lunch, she was on her way through Brunnhold to shop.

Quite happily, she was on her way to one of her favorite bookshops, and perhaps after she bought herself some new books, she would go buy some candy or something... She shrugged to herself, skipping a bit as she rounded a street corner and made her way towards a familiar shopfront.

The bell above the door jingled as she slipped in, and made a hasty beeline for the shelves. She looked around briefly for the stepstool, and found it, nudging it over to the shelf with her foot. She hopped up onto the stool, stood on her tiptoes, and gently pulled a book she had been contemplating purchasing from the shelf.

She had been reading through it for a few days, mostly jumping from section to section, but was resolved to finally make her decision today. Euthalia stepped off the stool, examining a few more tomes on the shelf, and then reappeared from where she had run off to upon entering the shop.

Euthalia hadn't even said hello to the shop owner, and when she realized that, a brief look of horror crossed her face, but it was gone in the next instant. Her father wasn't there to scold her for being rude, no one could tell her she had to be polite and sweet and all of that crud! "Hello, Mr. Borna." She said, choosing to use her manners anyways, but didn't curtsy or anything of the sort.

She went to go plop herself into one of the armchairs, hugging the book to her chest. As she opened it, flipping through a few pages lightly before settling on a section she hadn't yet read, it occurred to her that perhaps she should have spent more time in one of the parks first, the shop owner was a father, and would probably scold her for avoiding making friends-- something she had a serious lack of, but, Euthalia sank into the chair a bit, and decided to just bury her face in the book.

Euthalia relaxed after a few minutes, comfortably nestled into the chair, her feet dangling just a few inches above the floor, nose buried into the book, completely oblivious to the rest of the shop. She swung her legs a little, engrossed in the book, she hadn't even noticed if Taniel was around, and likely wouldn't unless he physically entered her space. She only paused in her reading to shuffle a bit and check a pocket on her skirt for her coinpurse, which was indeed still there, and then was right back to reading.

[Antranig Borna]

Ophus 24, 2719

A. Borna Rare Books, early afternoon.

It had been a quiet day, as was the norm at the bookshop. Ophus was a slow month. It always had been. Most of his business came from researchers and professors and the odd collector, and Winter Holiday was a time when the majority of them had better things to do than meander around a bookshop. It also meant that there were fewer students on the campus, which in turn meant less traffic in and out as they came in to see if there was something in Antra’s catalogue that could help them with some paper or another. It was getting a bit late in the afternoon, and Antranig had considered closing the shop a bit early, as it was a nice day out. Cold, but sunny, it would have been good weather to go out for a walk with his young son, who had retreated somewhere into the house behind the shop in search of both their bander and another book to read.

He was pulled from his musings as the bell over the door rang, and a young girl walked in. He recognized Euthalia by now. She came in often, and had, on more than one occasion, abused his policy of holding books for students to use as research materials to read some old, odd volume or another. Usually during classes, and often for several hours. She didn’t even stop to say hello, but by this time Antranig was used to it. If he was to be honest, he didn’t mind her coming in. She was polite enough, quiet enough, and got along well with his son when they crossed paths. Although he did think that she could, perhaps, stand to skip class less, he was not her father, and didn’t think it his place to tell her how she should spend her time. He knew she wouldn’t listen to him, anyways. He doubted she would listen to her actual father, and he was only the owner of the shop she liked to loiter in.

He watched her quietly as she made her way to one of the shelves and fetched down a book she had been thumbing through for the last few days. It was when she passed him on her way to one of the armchairs under the window that she finally acknowledged him, with a warm hello before she made herself comfortable.

“Hello Euthalia,” he replied, “back again, I see.”

He gestured idly to the book in her hands. “I don’t suppose you’re going to buy that one today, hm?” he asked with a faint smile. “You seem to like it.”

[Euthalia Iordanou]

24th, Ophus, 2719
A. Borna Rare Books, Peregin Dist. | Early Afternoon

Euthalia peeked out from behind the book, feeling just slightly judged. "I think I will." She said, but made no move to get up from her seat, quite comfortable to take up the space. The purchase could wait, she had things to read, and possibly other books to look at that remained on the shelves.

It hadn't occurred to her that Antra might want to close the shop for holiday festivities, but remembering the hassle she'd gone through that day, dodging other girls from her classes -- who were all done up in seasonal outfits, off to partake in some nonsense or other... She shifted a bit, perhaps she should make her purchase and retreat to the safety of her dorm room. "Have you got any plans?" She asked instead of doing anything sensible, like getting out of the mans hair and space and letting him spend time with his son.

She was half-reading the book now, if Antra did have immediate plans, she would make a hasty escape with her book, and then perhaps slink around the library, although she was quite sure she had spotted one of her professors there shortly before making her escape, one whose classes she often skipped or slept through, so perhaps it wasn't the best idea... He'd probably tan her hide if he spotted her. Euthalia turned a page in her book, holidays were always so boring, not to mention harder to get out of than classes.

At least when classes were on, people were confined to rooms and the halls were empty, that made it much easier for her to gallivant about and do as she pleased.

[Antranig Borna]

Ophus 24, 2719

A. Borna Rare Books, early afternoon.

As Euthalia replied that she thought she might actually make a purchase today, Antra smiled slightly. He’d believe it when he saw it, he thought. He went back to what he had been doing when she came in, drafting a letter to a client whose books had arrived for pickup. It was quiet for a bit, before Euthalia spoke up again. She asked if he had any plans. He considered for a moment, then shook his head.

“Not today,” he replied, “though I should tell you that the shop will be closed for a few days near the end of the week, so you’ll need to find somewhere else to read.”

He looked up as the door attaching the shop to the house opened, and the family bander loped into the room. She was followed shortly by his son, Taniel, a boy of nine, with curly white hair and ruby eyes behind large, round glasses.

“Dad—” he began, before he caught sight of Euthalia, “oh! Hello, Thalia!”

Antra smiled, watching as Darcie made her way over to Euthalia and lightly plopped her large, white head in the girl’s lap, a very pointed demand for pets. It amused him to see that the wolf was almost as big as Euthalia herself. She was also almost as big as Taniel, but the boy was nine and still had a lot of growing to do, especially considering how much he was taking after his father. He was already taller than some of the shop’s shorter adult patrons. Anaxi people were quite small, and even after all these years, it sometimes still surprised Antra how small.

Antra turned his attention back to his son. “What did you need, love?” he asked.

“I was just wondering if it would be okay if I took Darcie out again,” Tan replied, “since it’s such a nice day.”

Antra nodded. “If you wait a bit, we can all go,” he replied.

Taniel nodded and made his way over to another of the armchairs, sitting down next to Euthalia. “What are you reading?” he asked.

[Euthalia Iordanou]

24th, Ophus, 2719
A. Borna Rare Books, Peregin Dist. | Early Afternoon

She sat up a bit when Darcie trundled in, and held the book up a bit as a large wolf head was plopped into her lap. Euthalia giggled, closing the book so she could rub Darcie's head. She always enjoyed seeing the bander, not having pets at home, and no pets allowed at school, and Darcie was a big goober. "Hi!" She smiled at Taniel, soon she would be utterly dwarfed by the actual child, but that fact no longer bothered her. Most of the time, anyway. She had long since accepted her height, or rather the lack of it.

Euthalia was still patting the bander, and shuffled a bit, a little embarrassed she was reading a fairy tale, specifically a collection of them, most of them had a theme of romance, intrigue, clandestine meetings between star crossed lovers... "It's a bunch of romance stories, classic ones." She admitted, "This is the only place I can find the older anthologies." She smiled at Antra, deciding not to run her mouth about how another book shop she had been to a few times seriously over charged for thin, cheap books, filled with 'modern recreations' or 'modern re-imaginings' of old stories.

She had set the book down on a nearby table to rub behind both of Darcie's ears, trapped by the bander, although not really upset by that. Thankfully she had not yet been bowled over by the massive wolf, though she was always braced and ready for it to happen when she was walking around the shop.

Euthalia wondered if the 'all' included her, although if Antra was going to close the shop she would have to go anyhow, and would have to fish out her money and buy the damn book already. Hanging out with Antra and Taniel, and Darcie, sounded much better than retreating to her dorm room to properly read her book-- the book could wait, obviously, at least for a few hours.

Although... She glanced at the book, it was a great selection of relatively short romance stories... She intended to devour the entire books contents in one sitting... And the earlier she could get started on that, the better, maybe.

[Antranig Borna]

Ophus 24, 2720

A. Borna Rare Books, early afternoon.

Darcie was more than happy to accept any pets that Euthalia was willing to give, plopping down to sit in front of her and closing her eyes while her thick tail thumped happily against the floor. She had a good memory for which customers were good for scritches and which ones were wary of her, and she certainly remembered Euthalia was one of the good ones. Taniel’s nose scrunched up slightly as Euthalia mentioned that the book she was reading was love stories, which prompted a soft snicker from his father’s direction.

Antra watched as the two of them chatted about books, and other things. Though Euthalia was nearly ten years older than the boy, she was always very indulgent and very willing to chat with him whenever she came in. It was good for him to get to talk to someone other than his father. Outside of the school year, there were not many children for him to play with. Most of his friends were students who didn’t live in Brunnhold year round, and returned home to their families on breaks. Antra supposed he was thankful that Taniel was good at amusing himself, or didn’t mind simply passing time reading a book. As he watched Euthalia and the boy, a thought occurred to him.

He was still in need of someone to watch Taniel and the bander the following week, as he was to be going on a business trip that would see him be away for several days. Euthalia, he noted, got along well with both. It was also still winter break, though the tail end of it, so he knew that she did not have any classes she would need to worry about. She seemed responsible enough, and he doubted that she would turn down an opportunity to make money to spend on even more books and other things, especially with something as simple as minding a very good-natured nine year old.

“Euthalia,” he said, “This may seem like a strange question, but are you busy next week?”