Keeper of Words and Worlds

"Toby?!" Basil called, breaking into a light jog with a caustic sigh as he strained his eyes to try and spot where the dog had got to this time. "Oh come on buddy," he chastised, mostly to himself. He should have seen the warning signs, when Toby suddenly started sniffing and staring off into the distance like that. He'd got a scent of something. Exactly what, Basil would have to find him to know.

"There you are!" He cried, seeing the dog pawing at someone's leg rudely. "Toby! Sit! Stop that-" He ran over, slipping the leash back onto the dog's collar.

"I'm terribly sorry," he said, shaking his head as he looked up at the person apologetically. "He got a scent of something and then just was off-"

What if someone was mad that she put her hand on their dog even if he was the one that put his paws on her first.

His owner grabbing his collar made her finally take a breath.

"No worries, I just wasn't sure what to really do?" Sylvia questioned lowering her arms and as such her container of carrot muffins.

"Does he like carrots? It's a new recipe so I was going to kind of use the students at the library as taste testers.... if they wanted to."

With some bad new that it had not arrived he decided to mozy around the shelves killing some time. Wrapping around to a cluster of tables he noticed a semi familiar face. It had become a custom to recognize everyone in the community now that he had a seat on the council.

"Ms Marpole!" Jasper raised a hand to signal a wave. "Hope the afternoon is treating you well."

She had struggled a bit to bring herself into society in this town. Mostly she had been doing her own thing. And then of course her lack of control... which actually did worry her more than she cared to admit.

"Oh it's alright. The thing is... my family and I were exposed as vampires years before. I personally... since that is the case I see no use in pretending or trying to hide it even with people newer to the area." It didn't do much good. And Veronika wasn't ashamed of who she was.

Very eye opening. But nothing she could actually admit to.

"I'm so sorry. I can only imagine what that could have been like. But I appreciate your openness to it."

But call him booboo the fool for doubting her, he supposed!

"Glad your feet are flat on the floor now."

"What's up by the way? Did you need something from the library?"

There was a small humpf as she thought about the fictional romance. This honestly was must be a sign she should pick up a copy herself.

Just as she was about to speak a car rushed by on the street sending up a puddle. “Oh dang you!” Collette screeched using her umbrella to block them.

“People have no regard when they drive crazy around here!” Collette rolled her eyes shaking off the muddy rain drops from her umbrella. “Honey we better get off the street! How far do you have to go we can share my umbrella!”

Toby tilted his head, having to squint in order to read it at the distance he stood. He didn't recognize the title, but that wasn't really a surprise. There were so many books in the world, one could hardly be expected to be familiar with all of them! Especially someone who couldn't remember a good chunk of time and whatever books might have come out during those years, like himself.

"Wow, sounds like you're set for a while," he smiled. While it was true that he wasn't necessarily a common reader in the romance genre, he also held no judgement– Toby loved stories and he thought people should be able to enjoy whatever they wanted, so long as it wasn't harming anyone.

"Do you usually like long series?"

"What do you choose to read?"

"Thus I am quite comfortable in this environment," she added. The night was now a lot more her domain than the day time. Sometimes she missed the joy she felt on a warm sunny day and how she experienced those things. But it had been a long time since she had been human.

She glanced over at the woman. "I hope that doesn't unsettle you. I promise I won't harm you."

Note to self.

"No no worries at all. I'm more scrappy then I look if I ever got myself into a situation but I highly doubt I'm in that situation when you're so open about it. I just wasn't expecting the openness. So sorry about being shocked."

He set the box down right on top of the pile and reached for his keys.

“But lesson learned for next time. Good thing this wasn’t the book box.”

He opened the door, revealing his sparsely furnished apartment. He had the bare essentials — couch, TV, table and chairs, etc — already, but not much else. It was going to be a work in progress, he knew. 

“I’d apologize for the mess, but there’s not even enough inside for it to be a mess yet,” he said, grabbing the top most box and heading inside. 

The apartment wasn't all that different than hers. layout wise. At this point Sylvia's was filled with booked and piles of books and honestly quite a few clothes piles as well.

"Tell me when I can turn around."

"Okay all safe and sound. And mission accomplished." Sylvia grinned showing the book she had managed to grab. Some desperate student would be thrilled.

It was a good way for him to have some company before he locked himself in with his work. "You want to join? I can let the group know. Everyone's pretty great about new people joining in."

Since the cafe was currently empty, Cass could afford to chat with ehr current guess and not worry about anyone else. Especially with the rain stopping other people from coming in for a little while. "Here, this table is a little closer to the heat so you can dry off. Do you want anything? Something to eat or some tea?"

"Thank you for the refuge and the company by the way. I promise you don't have to take pity on me if you're busy."

Well, it could be argued it was the least safe hour when around a vampire such as herself. But she wouldn't say that. She was trying not to be a threat to others like that.

"It's not so much about knowing something unusual or different. This town is simply full of unusual magic and things can be a bit less settled at night. But in general it is still very safe at night. I just know that humans tend to be a bit more hesitant staying out this late."

Focusing in on the other she could see it now the faint magic surrounding her. The books called it perception, they didn't really train her on how to use it.

"I've been in it for about... I don't know... almost three years?" Shang was pretty sure he'd joined right around when he'd arrived in town, in August or September of 2023.

Toby pressed closer to the window, nose scrunching as he squinted out at the quiet violence of the change in weather. How the trees in view shuddered, the rivers forming in the crevice between street level and the sidewalk that was sweeping away any loose debris along with the water flow.

He glanced at the stranger briefly and then looked at the door, giving a little sheepish, airy bout of laughter.

"Ah, yeah– it's not usually. I'd left it opened while I was in," he said, gesturing to it with a fidgety point. "Good timing, I reckon."

Seeing as that topic of conversation had run out (at least to him,) he searched for another. He looked back to her, eyeing the books. "What're you reading?"

"Honestly its a romance book. Interconnected stand alones. So you can read them by themselves but I love reading them all together in the right order. I saw this one clip for the third book so I guess im in for the long haul. Plus I just found out one of the books released this year with another coming out next."

He might not have been interested but Sylvia judged no books.

Watching her try to balance her stack of books for a second, Hera asked, "Would you like a hand? I'd hate to see the rest fall into a puddle."

"Honestly sometimes I get so distracted I forget I don't have to drop things. But thank you."

Hearing of the possible damage Collette moved a little further into the space. “Oh here get away from the rain some more! All we need is someone to drive by a bit too quick and splash us!” Being a bit nosey she did peer over to Sylvia and her hooks. One did look familiar.

“Oh I think I saw something about that one when I was aimlessly scrolling a few nights ago! Is that about the long lost overs or do I have my covers mixed up!”

Maybe she should look into it too? Collette would be able to recommend something at least.

He looked her over, agreeing that she seemed fine but mostly admiring her. "I'm glad that you'll remain with us. I'd hate for such a lovely lady to depart so soon." Scott winked, stepping half a step forward. "I'm Scott."

Sylvia grinned at his eyes trailing but she couldn't say she didn't mind it.

"I'm too young to let this world take me out. I still need to create some history to be recorded first."