Beastly

Adam didn’t mind going to large island events. It’s just that he preferred to stay in reading or watching a film. Sure, there were some that he did want to attend and did. Battle of The Bands was one where he was neutral on going or not. He knew he’d have fun if he went but wouldn’t have any regrets if he didn’t. But, he was there and he was with Belle, which made things a lot better. He was apart from her for maybe twenty minutes as he stood in line to grab drinks for them. The beer was over priced, but he should have expected that. “Here,” he said as he found her once again. It would have been said a bit kinder but that’s just not who he was. “Drink it slow because I’m not going in that line again any time soon.”

The Little Mermaid - Would your muse change themself for love, or would they wait to find someone who loves them for who they are?

Adam isn’t changing for anyone. He’s kind of an asshole and won’t even change for himself so why would he change for someone else?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - How trusting of strangers is your muse? Would they accept a gift from a stranger?

Walking into the library on a Friday afternoon was not out of character for Camden. In fact, it was now one of his favorite times to go. Over the summer, the building received much less foot traffic in general, but no one wanted to look at books when they could be pregaming for the weekend. It allowed him the time to move slowly, look at every book on the shelf (twice), and leave with a handful of books he’s already read. Today was no exception, but along with the familiar four paranormal journals, he carried two chemistry textbooks. They were for his summer course, which he refused to buy more materials for, and he placed them down on the counter with a grin at the other guy. “Hey Adam,” he said happily, having made friendly conversation with him the many times he’d been here. They’d never been close, by any standards, but it was nice knowing exactly who you’d see when you went somewhere. He tilted the top textbook towards the brunette, raising his eyebrows. “So, question… Let’s say I wanted to check this out for the next two months… What are the odds that you could turn a blind eye on the whole renewal process thing?”

@bexstly​

Adam both liked and disliked how traffic was at the library in summer. He liked that some days he wasn’t constantly putting books back on shelves that were left abandoned throughout the building. He liked knowing which residents of the island were true book lovers that still came through when the school year was over. Camden was one of them. Adam disliked how quiet it could get. Like, sure, libraries were quiet in general but sometimes it got eerily quiet. “Hello, Camden,” he responded rather dryly. He was as friendly as he had to be but didn’t do much to get to know his fellow book lovers. He didn’t mind talking to Camden though. At his question Adam rose an eyebrow. “Two months? I’m pretty sure you’ve read at least three of those books multiple times considering your check out history on your account.” He began scanning some of the books to check them out. “I guess I can do a system over ride just this once. But only because you’re tolerable and I know you’ll return them without a scratch.”

Belle loved her friends and she loved love. She had agreed to go to the rave for Fifi and ended up staying after being convinced to take a few shots. It was really rare for her to let her guard down that much. When she had run into Adam she was already tipsy and then after drinking with him a little bit and running off yet again she had found herself dancing with some strangers. She figured she wouldn’t have a night out like this in a while so she just let herself have fun. She had forgotten about going back to the bar until Adam had found her. “Oh! Sorry!” she said with a giggle, not slowing herself down. “Why don’t you just dance with me? I have a feeling you got the best moves here!”

Adam hadn’t expected to see Belle so...incapacitated. He’d never seen her let her guard down let alone be drunk. She was odd for sure but she had always seemed to have everything in control. Maybe that wasn’t the case though. “Dance? No! I do not dance!” he yelled. The music was far too loud for his tastes. He wasn’t sure why he came. Maybe he could convince her to leave with him. But she was having a lot of fun and he didn’t want to ruin that. “Do you want to get another drink?” he asked, hoping to at least get away from the crowed a little bit.

Adam didn’t really like social gathers of more than ten people. So a rave was not his favorite place to be, which is where he was currently was. With Belle though. So that made it a little better. He at least had someone by his side that he knew. He’d lost her in the crowd for a while though and spent most of the time by the bar, drinking, while he waited for her to come back. He finally spotted her dancing, something he never thought he would witness, and couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. It was definitely a sight to see. After downing his drink and slapping a tip on the bar top for the bartender he pushed his way through the crowd and approached her, tapping her on the shoulder so he wouldn’t startle her too much. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back!’ he yelled over the music 

Belle was surprised that Adam wanted to get coffee with her. She didn’t really peg him as coffee drinker, and she certainly didn’t peg him as someone who would go out for coffee with someone like her. She wasn’t even sure if he liked her most of the time; but at the same time she hoped he did. She appreciated his company and he really wasn’t as bad as he thought he was. But she knew he wasn’t perfect. Neither was she. His temper was….something to see. And she had an awful habit of judging too early because of past interactions with people..guys especially. But she knew she needed to be more open to having more male friends. And who better to start with than Adam? At his words she chuckled, bringing her coffee to her lips. “Are you more of a tea person?” she asked, her tone hinting at the fact that she was just teasing him. “I don’t think you’re an asshole. I think you’re a little bitter…like black coffee. But you have a sweetness to you. Y’know…if you add some sugar.”

“Yes!” he blurted out a little too quickly. He quickly cleared his throat to bring back his composure. “It’s much more soothing. There’s caffeinated tea too though to kick start your day. People seem to think coffee and energy drinks are the only way to go.” Caffeine made him ornery and sparked his anger. He cracked half of a smile when she said he wasn’t an asshole. He appreciated that. “Yeah, well, I don’t have any sugar to add,” he muttered. Maybe she could be the sugar in his life that sweetened him up though. Maybe.

Adam wasn’t quite sure how it happened. He was at Belle’s bookshop, looking for a new title that had just come out and the library hadn’t gotten in yet. He knew he would see her there, not that it was a bad thing. But lately he’d gotten flustered around her. Not flustered enough to ask her for coffee yet. Or tea. He had mentioned she could get whatever she’d like. He was a bit surprised when she said yes. That’s how he ended up across from her in a cafe that seemed over crowded even though there were two other people in there aside from the workers. He’d always acted so crass around her but she had grown on him. Now he had no idea what to say though. He looked down at the large coffee in front of him to avoid eye contact. He knew he wouldn’t avoid conversation though so he looked back up at her. “You know, I’m kind of an asshole,” he blurted out. “I mean. People usually think people like me would drink their coffee black. But I hate black coffee. I don’t really like coffee much at all, to be honest. Not unless it has loads of cream and sugar. I feel like there’s some sort of stereotype about assholes drinking black coffee though.”

Belle raised an eyebrow. “Children’s books? Depends. I mean, they are cute and all. But I don’t read a lot of them.” She wasn’t going to dismiss it though. Some children book authors were brilliant. J.K. Rowling was still being praised for her series. “What is it that you have?”

“I don’t read a lot of them either but this one was recommended to me a while back. I didn’t really have anything better to do so I picked it up. An easy read but it was still good,” he told her. “I have plenty. Depends on what you want.”

“Would you look at that? We can get along,” she teased. She almost rolled his eyes when he mentioned sharing being a new thing but she knew he meant it, so she kept her face neutral. “I have definitely picked up the same books here a lot. But today I think I want a recommendation. Do you have any?”

“A new discovery. I’m not sure I like it or not yet,” he teased back with a slight smile on his face. “A recommendation? Sure, I have plenty,” he said. Adam pursed his lips as he thought about what he could recommend. “Do you like children’s books?” he asked. “There’s this one children’s novel I read before. It’s a romance story even.”

Dinah blinked at the unexpected reaction. She’d approached this man because she’d assumed he worked here, and to be snapped at seemed a bit odd. He did recover though, so maybe he was just having a bad day. “Uhh, yeah, I was just wondering if you had the book Curtain Call, by,” she hesitated, “Shoot, I don’t remember the name of the author! Uhh, I think it started with an ‘M’ maybe Margaret…Mary…Maria?” She sighed, “So sorry.” 

“There are dozens of books by that title. By multiple authors. You can use our search system on our public computers to search for it,” he explained to her. He wasn’t going to spend time picking her brain for the author’s name. He could only think a handful of authors that had written a book by that title and none started with the letter M.

Belle scoffed, but in a playful way. Adam was right; she did spend a lot of time at the library but she didn’t see it as a bad thing. “I like libraries. There the better corners of the world….” She let her words trail off for a moment as her fingertips danced across book spines. “…..Besides, used books deserve love too. And I do like finding older copies of things here…”

“I think that way as well,” he said. “And this corner of the world is all mine. I just find it in the good graces of my heart to share with others. A newer habit of mine.” His eyes glanced over the books in the section they were in. “They do. Everyone’s favorite book is old because they’ve read it so many times before.”

“For someone who owns a bookshop you sure do frequent the library enough,” Adam said as he peeped through an opening on the bookshelf. He placed the missing book back then peeked around the corner of the shelf to see Belle. “I don’t understand why you’d come here if you have all the books you could want at your fingertips. Unless, of course, there is an older book or something you’re looking for.”