Libri di Inizio // Iva - solo AU
Prompt: AU Willara
Thank you, Anon, for giving me an excuse to write this thing down.
The bookstore was never crowded.
Clara always passed it on the way to her new school for the last month and she had never entered it even once. For the brunette girl, it was a node. It was the only old building on the street, making it easy to spot. At the intersection right after the dusty green windows, she had to turn right. That's it. It could've been a dodgy place; she had never seen anyone enter or walk out of the wooden door. Unless in that particular freezing afternoon there was someone walking back and forth in the shop. It could easily be a shopkeeper, but the anomaly was enough to invite the foreign girl in.
A loud clang resonated throughout the room. She stepped in and looked around, absentmindedly looking for something that might interest her. The alleys between each shelves were not as tight as she thought they would be, the placing making it well-lit by the natural lighting coming through the glasses. Her emerald eyes wandered to the stenciled bindings, her fingers tracing the letters, only stopping when she spotted a navy blue cover that stood out. It looked new. It looked like someone else just bought it somewhere else and put it there just for the heck of it. She was about to pull it out when the book jumped towards the opposite direction. Clara raised her eyebrows and bent a little to peek through the shelf.
A pair of blue eyes stared back at her.
She blinked. The shopkeeper didn't look as old or crippled as she expected. Might not even be older than her. After a few seconds of observation, the person on the other side of the shelf broke the silence.
Clara jumped. 'Sorry,' she blurted, 'I was - the book, I was just looking around.' Clearing her throat, she stood up straight and hid her face behind the other books, feeling ridiculous for poking around. She heard a chuckle, but this time it came from the end of the alley. She looked up and saw the source of voice standing by, holding up the book she noticed earlier. Indeed, he was probably a little bit older than her, but far from a grandpa she used to imagine every time she passed by. He was well-built, with light brown hair and what seemed like... not a shopkeeper's uniform. Oops.
'Are you looking for this book?' he asked.
'Like I said, just looking around,' she shrugged, 'What is it? Is it any good?'
He raised his eyebrows, looking a bit surprised by her answer. She merely smiled sheepishly. What a weird moment. But she had no idea how weird it could get at the end of the day, because that person looking back at her was William.
And there was nothing normal about William Nott.