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Safekeeping [Ivan+Arthur]

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Post  Ivan Braginsky Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:02 pm

Dust puffed up in little clouds as experienced, gloved hands held books aloft while a breeze of breathe pushed the particles away. It was impossible to keep the dust from all of the books, no matter how hard he tried. With unending shelves of books to sort through, he would never be finished. He'd have enough books to dust for several lifetimes. The owner of the hands sighed as they stacked the books back on their shelves, all the while keeping a little white index card firmly between his fingers. If he lost that card... He'd never get out of there without someone performing some sort of summoning ritual. They'd need that wizard to do it probably, not that it hasn't been fluked before when a customer got lost.

The calling card allowed his to walk to the end of the aisle and back up to the front desk of his shop where he kept the card catalog, register and what looked to be an old leather-bound book on a thick, heavy chain. Ivan, the man with the gloves, slid the card back into its place in the catalog file. The tall man reached out a hand and patted the thick book, which purred in response. "Xорошо, Руслан~" he said to the tome.

(( "Good, Ruslan," he said. I may have borked the spelling of the name though as I never saw it written out, only heard. ))


Last edited by Ivan Braginsky on Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
Ivan Braginsky
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:26 pm

Arthur pushes his hood back and stepped into the shop, Theban resting on his shoulder. He glanced around and leaned his staff against the door, reaching into his bag and pulling out a few books. "Good afternoon, Mr. Braginsky." He called, still struggling with the clasps on his bag. He finally finished fussing with it and came over to the counter setting them down. "How is Ruslan, today?" He asked cordially, smiling at the purring book.

Arthur tapped the book pile. "I'm here to return these. Very informative, but not what I was looking for."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:39 pm

Ivan looked up when a familiar customer walked in. He forced a smile onto his face, while actually feeling rather dreary inside as he tended to while essentially living amongst the books in his shop. He patted Ruslan once more. "Everything is good, Mr. Kirkland," he said, voice still heavily accented, regardless of his time in the town. It took him a long time to learn English once he had actually landed in the damn place anyway.

The tall man picked up the books that had been brought back into his care by one of his more loyal customers. These were library books specifically and borrowing was free, after all. He would check them back in using his sorting chutes a little later, instead currently leaving them just on the desk... far enough away from Ruslan that the book wouldn't decide these were a treat.

"I am sorry to hear your search was unsuccessful," he said, trying to keep a friendly smile in place as he clasped his hands together behind his back. "How may I be of use to you, then, Mr. Kirkland?" The wizard was always searching for something, but never actually told him what it was since he'd been taught how to use the card catalog to look for things on his own.

The procedure was simple. Someone would just open the filing cabinet and look alphabetically for the card that had the keyword they wanted. Then they'd walk out into the shelves and the appropriate sections would sort themselves out and come to you. As long as you let go of the card, you could grab what you wanted and walk back out.
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:34 pm

"Well . . . I have a book that I was wondering if you'd take a look at." Arthur reached into his bag, digging around. "It was given to me a long time ago and, while informative, is relatively useless to me. Ah, here it is!" He pulled the large tome out of his bag and set it down. Almost as an afterthought, he plucked a pamphlet from the bag as well and set it in front of the monstrous book that lived on Ivan's desk as a treat.

"It's called the Grimoire, and is one of a kind." Arthur set it down carefully, patting the black cover with its green embellishments. "It . . . is fascinating, but, as I said, useless."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:59 pm

Ivan smiled as he watched Ruslan snap up the useless pamphlet Arthur had brought for him. What a good guard-tome, he had. He was lucky to have acquired it. In fact, he'd found it one year while collecting some rare books out in some ruins on Earth. It tried to bite his hand off for the longest time after he captured it in a cage. He was going to sell it, but then he did the dumb thing of naming it and feeding it until it got used to him.

"A book, huh?" That almost felt silly for him to say, considering this was a bookstore... and a library. He smiled stupidly, feeling a little bit foolish. Ivan picked up the tome after Arthur had set it down for him. It looked like any other classic book of spells. It was lovely, but ordinary looking. "Is called the 'Grimiore'?" he asked, turning it over in his hands. "Anything in particular you wish for it? Selling? Lending? Hiding?" He did wonder though, what exactly made it useless. Weren't all magical texts useful in some manner?


Last edited by Ivan Braginsky on Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:08 pm

"Considering its extensive knowledge, and the detailing of some of the more dangerous spells . . ." Arthur pondered this. "Either safekeeping or lending to someone who you can trust with the information. To someone with unstable magic, this is a lit match on gasoline."

"I'm a potions mage, so my spells are already as powerful as can be." He gave Ivan a smile. "I trust your judgement. I'm sure you can identify someone who would abuse the power of the Grimoire."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:33 pm

Ivan carefully weighed the book in his hands. It was thick and heavy. He never really knew much about magic. He'd contracted out to others all of the spells used to make his store function as he wanted it to many years ago, before he'd even met the mage. He could probably use simple magic, considering he had managed to curse himself, but he never bothered to work with it. It simply didn't interest him as actually keeping all of the information organized and accessible did. He nodded knowingly as he set the book back on the counter, away from both Ruslan and the books Arthur had just brought back.

"I shall hide it then," he said calmly, stroking the aging cover gently without noticing. "How much pay did you say you were requiring for this book?" He went around the back of the desk to where he kept some personal belongings, such as a drawstring pouch where he kept ruble coins.

Picking it up and setting it down gently on the counter, he smirked, glad to use currency to his advantage. He knew people were more likely to take lower payments if they were paid immediately and in cash. "Give me your price. Is a nice book, Mr. Kirkland, and if what you say is true, it will need to be in my hands~" He giggled ever so slightly, "Да~?" The bag jingled as it was pushed in Arthur's direction.
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:46 am

"You're the only being in Mythos that I trust to control such a book." Arthur confessed, eying the Grimoire for a moment. "Mmm . . . I'd say five hundred. Just because it's so very powerful if placed in the wrong hands." He looked back up and smiled. "However, should you want to name a different price . . . I suppose I could be open to it. Since you're so reliable."

Arthur leaned against his staff, glancing around himself for a moment. "Also, I was wondering about a book . . ."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:55 am

Ivan weighed the price in his head. It was reasonable considering the supposed power of such a book. He could keep it safe for that and Arthur was a good customer of his. "I think... your price is good, da?" He waved a hand almost flippantly as he opened his drawstring bag. He quickly counted out stacks of ruble coins, each coin worth ten. Five stacks of ten would give Arthur five hundred rubles. Ivan pushed them towards his colleague with long nails, smiling oddly, as though he knew he had the advantage. Whether he actually did or not was a different story.

"Here," he said, motioning to the coins. "It will be safe with me."

There was a pause when Ivan heard more about further book inspection. He pulled "Grimiore" underneath his desk to sort in a moment, along with the books Arthur had just returned. All the while, he kept his gaze locked on Arthur's. "Tell me... of this... other book, my friend..." A look of dreaded seriousness passed over his face, killing the lying grin.

(( Got lazy, no more Cyrillic for now ))
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:00 am

"Mr. Bra- Ivan." Arthur locked eyes, switching to a familiar name to show how important this was to him. "It is not a human book. It goes by many names, but the most common one is the Sinsar Dubh." He rested his hands on the counter, lowering his voice so that, despite there being no other customers around, only the bodark would be able to hear him. "It is a Sidhe book. Specifically, it is an Unseelie, Dark Sidhe book."

Arthur cast a glance back at Theban, watching the rabbit lay contentedly in the sunlight, before looking back at Ivan. "I need this book, and I will pay you whatever price you ask for information on it. I will pay you triple what you ask for the book itself."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:10 am

Ivan leaned closer to Arthur, propping himself up on his side of the counter with his elbow, hand under his chin. Arthur was being... familiar with him. This must have been rather serious indeed. "Arthur," he whispered, knowing that this was probably a conversation that could be potentially hazardous if overheard, not that there was anyone else in the store at moment. "Why would you seek such a dark book?" he asked, not wanting to pry, but needing to know why he should potentially risk himself or Arthur for such a dangerous book. The dark Sidhe were not to be... tampered to with. Ivan knew that. He'd actually many new books on the Sidhe in lately, but he had not read their titles. He didn't even remember where he'd put them on the shelves. Some may have ended up in keeping, some may have ended up in the generic section on Sidhe lore. He really could not recall.

"I rather like your terms so far, but... why is the price so high?" If a book was this... dangerous, he'd probably charge several thousand rubles to have it taken away from his care. He knew Arthur could be trusted with more information available in the archives, but he still... wasn't sure whether it would be worth the potential risk. If he didn't have the book, he'd have to go looking for it and that was the risky part.
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:45 am

Arthur pondered the question, wondering how to answer. There was the complete and honest truth, but, unfortunately, that revealed too much of himself to use, despite his friendship with Ivan. His eyes slid out of focus, and he stared off into the distance for a short while, before the green eyes snapped back in and looked Ivan in the eye. ". . . I seek revenge." He answered simply, nodding to himself.

"The price is high because the knowledge is valuable." Arthur explained, before nodding at the door, causing it to shut and lock. This prevented anyone from entering and overhearing the conversation. "And because I know that for the right price, you'll keep mum about my possession of it."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:04 am

Ivan nodded at the word "revenge." He supposed he could understand such a thing and respect Arthur's wishes. Perhaps that was worthy of risking himself for this book. He was sure it was not in his possession, but of course he would double check. However, once the door was locked and Arthur's tone turned almost... threatening, Ivan narrowed his eyebrows and rapped his nails against the counter-top once more, rather signaling that he was getting a bit on edge with the way the conversation was heading.

"That is not needed," he said. Of course he would take Arthur's money, he would gladly take Arthur's money. Money put food on his table and paper scraps in Ruslan's mouth. Money kept a roof over his head when he paid for supplies for repairs. Money kept his enchantments charged. Money kept him feeling like he would always have enough and never be in want again, like when he was but a boy. Arthur was also... dare he say, a friend. He would have kept such a dark secret regardless. "Your pay is welcome, but I would hide such a thing for you... without threats."

There was a pause before the bodark filled it with a sigh. "I will search for you in records... I tell you what I find... say... next week? One hundred rubles for the search... Three thousand rubles minimum when I have book in hand for you... only for you, otherwise I hide it..." He tapped his nail against the counter-top repeatedly as a gesture to make sure Arthur knew he was serious. "I will find book... eventually, for you. You are good customer... Good neighbor... I do this thing for you."
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Post  Arthur Kirkland Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:10 am

The slightest smile quirked Arthur's lips. "There are no threats. Never a threat against you, my friend." He fished around in his bag once more and pulled out the small bag that held the rubles he kept aside solely for use in this establishment. He counted out a hundred and pushed them towards Ivan. "The hundred up front then, another hundred when you present me with your information."

With a glance and a nod, Arthur unlocked the door, accidentally startling his familiar. He coaxed Theban over to him and scooped the white rabbit up. "As always, a pleasure doing business with you. Do come by the Apothecary. You know I enjoy your company, Mr. Braginsky."
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Post  Ivan Braginsky Tue Oct 04, 2011 3:22 am

"Ochen xorosho," he grinned, pulling the coins towards himself with the thick nails. "Always so generous, Arthur~" Ivan said as he leaned back and put the coins in his little drawstring bag. That would be more than enough motivation for the bodark to engage in his search for the fabled "Sinsar Dubh". He'd find it, no doubt, finding lost or rare books was something he was good at. It was one of the ways he stayed in business besides merely dealing in books and lending.

"Of course I will visit your establishment later, perhaps have some tea heated?" he said, as though they'd merely had a friendly chat instead of discussing potentially grave business. "Pleasure working with you, old friend~"

Ivan had a long search ahead of him, he just knew it. Luckily, he felt, this would be a lucrative endeavor. Money did not rule his life, he was not greedy, but when he could get rubles out of something business related, he most certainly would. It was just how this... capitalism thing worked. It was still a bit foreign to him, so he tended to be more... aggressive in deals than need be, but damn if he didn't end up with the upper hand in many a deal!

(( -end thread?- ))
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