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Trying Something New [Ivan] [Closed]

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Post  Former Iberia Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:38 pm

Squirming, Aleta practically bounced around the bookstore. She had a not so secret love of mystery novels, and this was the only place where she could get them and not worry about the water damage that was bound to happen. More often than not, she read after she went swimming for a while, and she often completely forgot to dry off. Which meant that her fingers were all wet when she opened the book. Which lead to the pages getting wet and the ink running and it was just a mess. And she wasn't allowed to return those books to the library, so Aleta was made to pay for them and they were generally more expensive.

Not that any of that was relevant to this moment. At this point she was looking for books she didn't have copies of and/or hadn't read yet. It was actually pretty difficult. Aleta had been around for a long time, before books were being printed. So when they started, she had gotten so excited that she made sure to get her hands on any that were made. She hadn't thought of the consequences of doing that. Once she figured out her preference for mysteries, she had focused there. There had been few books that made it past her.

It was those few that she was looking for. It didn't seem like she was going to find them though, which did bring a small almost unnoticeable pout to her face. It was disappointing, not to have anything new to read. She could try branching out away from mysteries... Aleta glanced at the shelves containing those books, humming in thought. It was worth a try.


Last edited by Aleta Carriedo on Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:00 pm; edited 2 times in total

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Post  Ivan Braginsky Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:16 pm

Ivan had paid minimal attention to that woman who came through his bookstore and pilfered the mystery section. He dreaded letting her "borrow" books, considering the times when she'd ruined many by getting them wet. He knew it was unfair to charge her for the copies she wanted, but it really had been the only way, he felt, to keep her from unintentionally laying waste to his entire inventory. He had nothing against her... other than she needed to dry off entirely before handling his babies. Unless she found something she wanted, he wasn't going to really put excessive effort into socializing with her. ... What was her name again? Oh, right... Ms. Carriedo.

At the moment, Ivan was preoccupied with preparing the packet of information he'd promised to give Arthur this week on that book he'd wanted. He'd poured over many volumes and collected so much data. Entire chapters and passages had been magically copied and bound together with references to give to his wizard friend and customer. No, Ivan couldn't do magic... not from scratch. He had little booklets on a shelf behind his desk that held little useful incantations for day to day functions, such as synthesizing out parts of books. Humans had something like that... didn't they? They called it... a... xerox? What a weird word...

Ruslan merely snored lightly as he master worked nearby.
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Post  Former Iberia Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:50 pm

She didn't like the owner here. Not because he was a bad person, nothing like that. It was just because she knew he did not like her, and so she developed her dislike of him as a defense against it. It wasn't her fault, that she got the books wet; books should be better at staying dry, especially when they live in a town where they could find a witch to put protective spells on the books. Surely there was some way to do that.

Unfortunately for the both of them though, Aleta had to interact with him. He was the only way she was able to get books. She had thought, the first time that she came here, that it was a book store and that she would be able to physically buy the books and keep them. It had been a surprise to her that she had to bring them back. At this point though she was used to it, even if she thought it was still a weird system for an independently owned institution.

Shaking her head, she grabbed a random section of books from the shelves and went up to Ivan. Watching him, she stayed quiet. She didn't want to disturb him when he was working; she was sure that wouldn't make him like her any more.

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Post  Ivan Braginsky Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:23 pm

The incantation he was reciting from the leaflet merely made a little pinging sound as the result when he completed them. "Mat!" he swore, slamming down the leaflet, which only crackled a bit against the desk. Ivan had to get the damn things re-enchanted... again. It was understandable considering the magic was weak and would wear off after awhile, but that didn't mean he liked it.

Actually, the store doubled as a library and a bookstore. Borrowing books was free as long as they were returned in their original condition (like any Earthly library), but some books could be bought for keeps... In Aleta's case, it was because they came back rather worse for the wear and were unreadable. It wasn't really that he disliked her either, so much as he disliked what she did to his books.

After his little outburst, Ivan looked up to see Aleta standing there with books, waiting seemingly patiently. He flushed with color for a moment, embarrassed that he'd been caught less than verbally appropriate.

"Prostitye, Ms. Carriedo," he apologized, clearing the objects on his desk to the side somewhat. She had books with her... and he could only assume that meant a purchase, which meant he needed a clean counter. "These are ones you want, da?" he asked, smiling in his usual faux manner and extending his hands to take them from her so they could be rung up. At least she paid for them, so he couldn't really fault her too badly. Once cash changed hands, what she did with them was her business.

(( "Mat" is a general swear word bad enough in Russian to bleep out on television and the radio. It should not be confused with the word for "mother" with is "mat'" where the apostrophe stands for the "soft sign" that changes the pronunciation of the consonant before it. "Prostitye" just means "Excuse me". ))
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Post  Former Iberia Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:25 pm

Aleta jumped slightly at Ivan's outburst, stepping back and giving him a wide eyed look. It wasn't that she was actually scared of him, it was just that she knew he was dangerous and having him do something like that so suddenly was very startling. Though she supposed he wasn't at fault, as she had noticed the way the spell had failed. It just made things a bit more difficult, when trying to do business with him.

Absently stroking the back cover of whatever book was on the bottom of her pile, Aleta waited for Ivan to notice her. Of course she made sure to not look scared of him, because that was bad for making deals and she didn't want to do that with him. She bounced on her heels lightly, a small hum making it's way out of her throat. She tried to keep quiet, again not wanting to bother or upset Ivan. He was her major source of books after all.

She smiled at him as he finally turned his attention to her, pretending that she hadn't seen his outburst. "Hello Mr Braginski!" She nodded, giving the books to him. "So... how are you?" It was always smart to be polite. Nothing was hurt when one was polite.

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Post  Ivan Braginsky Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:20 pm

Ivan calculated the totals with a quill and some special paper that looked like a tablet of receipts. It didn't take very long considering he liked keeping his book prices rather constant, unless a book was especially rare or cheap. Even then, he at least used round amounts of currency. Nothing like fifty rubles and two kopeks. That would just be absurd. Although, apparently some economies on Earth liked pricing things at some number of dollars and ninety-nine cents to make the customer feel like they've saved a buck. It was just nonsense.

"Quite good, and yourself?" he asked, stacking the books neatly with her copy of the receipt on top. At least she was courteous. That was one thing he did like about having her as a regular customer. She could at least be pleasant to deal with. For instance, Gilbert wasn't always the easiest person to do business with. Aleta Carriedo was more like dealing with Arthur, even though every now and then deals would be struck in whispers with Arthur. It was almost funny how no one else figured out they could potentially barter or make secret requests.

"Four hundred and fifty rubles for all of them," he said, since these books were of moderate value. They weren't dirt cheap but they wouldn't break the bank. This kind of book ran between seventy-five rubles and one hundred fifty.
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Post  Former Iberia Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:38 pm

Aleta watched Ivan as he worked, bouncing lightly from foot to foot as she waited. It wasn't that he was taking a while to do it, it was just that he was being so quiet! Even if she did enjoy quiet time, she liked talking with people and being friendly with them. And even with her issues with Ivan himself, she was sure the two of them could become actually friendly if they got the chance to actually talk with each other without being quite so polite with one another.

She blinked and came out of her thoughts as he actually started talking, giving him a smile. "I'm doing wonderful, thank you." She nodded, pulling her wallet out of her purse. Aleta was ever so reminded of the human world when she bought books, as it was the only place where she actually had to use her wallet. She caught her food in the lake and cleaned in that as well. And clothes were easily made out of the clothes that she 'borrowed' from her son.

"That's quite a lot for a few books." Not that she was really complaining, but it was a lot for books. Of course, she was used to the lower priced books. Not like these ones, with their apparently high prices. Aleta quickly paid for the books and pulled the pile off of the counter. "Have a nice day Mr Braginsky." She nodded and started to leave.

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Post  Ivan Braginsky Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:04 pm

Ivan took the rubles from her, counting them out quietly to himself to double check he had the right amount. Yes, all four hundred and fifty were there. He slipped the coins into his till-bag and slid the bag back underneath the counter. "They are good books~" he said, substituting this explanation of price over a potentially long rant about supply versus demand versus quality. If he wasn't paying close attention, he sometimes went off on lectures like a professor.

"Have nice day, Ms. Carriedo," he said in response, almost like it was pre-programmed. He gave her a wave as she headed towards the door of his shop. At least she was polite, otherwise they'd probably never do business at all. She also seemed to not have a problem paying in rubles. Some residents of the town thought it absolutely absurd, but it wasn't like they couldn't just see a mage about getting their currency changed into the equivalent amount. Mild inconvenience, you say? Find a bodark that cared.

"Enjoy those books!"
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