Re: The Ye Old Shoppe o' Curiosities (An OpenBook Production)

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: Shaking my head, I began to pour out the drinks.
"No, you didn't do anything," but then I lowered my voice, "It's just that my mum hates it when people call me Oliver. It just reminds her of my dad... It's stupid really, but it gets to her. She never really got over him leaving."
And with a shaky sigh, I screwed the top of he juice back on before taking a sip from one of the glasses. To be honest, it was hard for me to watch my mother act like that and to not be able to do anything about it. It was quite horrible actually.
"But, y'know, it's ju--"
"Out the way! Hot! Hot! Hot! Coming through!"
And from the kitchen, armed with a dish full of dinner my mum placed down the lasgane in the middle of the table, parting the two of us to get to the middle quicker.
"And we're done... Apart from those plates. Oli be a dear and fetch them for me, please," she grinned sweetly as she slipped off the oven mitts, "Take a seat anywhere, Lila. There's no name cards."

Robin: Pulling out of his arms, I just nodded, grinning like a bit of an idiot.
"Knock yourself out," I smirked, looking down to my feet, "but, yeah thanks. Fuzzy socks would be toasty."
After fluttering her eyelids slightly, I peered around what I could see so far of his place, which was his own place, which was slightly impressive to say the least. I didnt think that I wouldn't have my own place until I left for college, and Oli hadn't got a place yet. In fact, no one I knew did.
"You live here by yourself?" I asked, not seeing any signs of more than one person living there.

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I smiled back and picked a chair, with the least amount of grace I put the napkin in my lap. I tried to seem less... Ah... Elflike I guess, and more human. Internally I felt a bit bad about saying the wrong thing, because I obviously had, no matter how many explanations Oli gave me.
"Thank you again for inviting me to dinner, it smells absolutely delicious." I said, a smaller smile on my face.


Johnny: I smiled and shuffled to the set of drawers nearby. I pulled out some brown and green striped socks and tossed them to her with a wink then began searching through the other drawers for a shirt. I pulled out a white one and slipped it on quickly, a last shiver vibrating my bones.
"Ah.. Yeah, I live alone... My mom and family had to move a few months ago regarding some stuff in the elf kingdom. I asked if I could stay back and they said it was fine..."

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: Walking back in, I caught sight of her blushing, "It's nothing, you're too kind. But thank you, dear."
Taking the seat next to Lila, I carefully passed around the plates. It indeed did smell delicious, but it was mostly because lasagne was the only thing that she could properly cook without burning it too much. It turned out that it was always the dish that she made whenever people came around. When our aunt stayed over for a week or so, we had so much lasagne it was unbelievable.
"So, Lila," she began, serving out salad on her plate, "Help yourself. But remember to keep some room for desert. I'm fabelled for this."
She was? How come I never heard the story? Then again when I put something in the bin earlier there was a box for a frozen raspberry cheesecake in there. Though I had to give it to her, it was one of the better brands.
"Your cheesecake? Lovely," I grinned, shooting her a look of 'I know the truth' before piling on the lasagne onto my plate.

Robin: Fair enough... I guess. But him talking about that was did feel a bit weird. 'The Elf Kingdom'.
"Must get lonely then..." I semi-blurted, not really thinking about what I was saying that much.
Leaning against the wall for support, I slipped on the socks, trying not to fall over as I did it. That would be the last thing that I wanted. Wriggling my toes, the socks felt huge on my feet.
"I'll have to ask what shoe size he is later," I muttered to myself as I continued to stand in the corridor, "I'm a size seven and these seem huge."

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I gave a look of 'Wow! That's my favorite!' and put a medium sized portion of lasagna on my plate. It wasn't that bad, as lasagnas go, but I made it seem like it was the god of all pasta dishes.
"Wow, this is really delicious!" I exclaimed.

Johnny:I laughed, she had tiny feet! "I'm size thirteen and a half, s that might explain a few things." he murmured in reply.
I grabbed the book from the desk and tried to ignore the lonely comment. Sure, I got lonely, who wouldn't? The only way to not be lonely is act like you weren't and trick your mind into believing it was so.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: I guess that it was extremely fortunate that she could put on a fake smile.
"Oh, you're too kind, Lila," my mum fluttered, waving her hand if to excuse the thought, "It's nothing, really."
In my mind, I just rolled my eyes at them both. Honestly, I never knew that my mother was so gullible... And she was a DI. Typical.
"So, how long have you two been friends for? Oli hasn't mentioned you before."
And so it begins: the questioning. It was bound to happen sooner or later, wasn't it?

Robin: Wriggling my toes again, I just laughed. That did indeed explain a few things. But seriously, thirteen and a half?
"No way," I smirked, shaking my head, "How the hell did your feet grow that much?"
Then I realised.
He was an elf.
But then I peered back at his face again. I knew that I could read people reasonably well, but you didn't need to be a genius to realise that I may have accidently hurt him, just a tad.
"Sorry," I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck, "I didn't mean to..."

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I smiled, and here the testing goes, "Oh, it's a funny story actually. We used to be in a few of the same classes in high school, math and english I think, and we'd always be put together in seating plans. I finally, I think it was about the third week in school or something, well, I finally decided to introduce myself and try to be friends. We didn't really become friends that well, having little in common, but just a few months ago I saw him again while out on the town. We started talking and reacquainted ourselves, well.. here we are. I think that's all.."
I smiled and glanced at Oli with a 'have anything to add?' look, one that a friend might give another.

Johnny: I gave her a sad smile, "No worries, I just get lonely sometimes.. that's all."
Truth was that I got homesick too, a lot less than missing my family but enough so that I noticed it. The only reason I was staying here was Robin, Molly, and poor clueless Fergie. My friends, it was funny to think that for only a few months ago I didn't have a clue who any of them were, well, aside from Molly that is.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: Dapping my mouth with the napkin, I hid the grin that was growing on my face. At this rate my mum would be begging for me to stay with her forever. But as she gave me the look, I cleared my throat and continued.
"And even though we initially thought that we had nothing in common, it turned out that we did in fact have a few similar loves. Like Marvel, steak house angus burgers and how Tom Cruise is completely overrated."
With a laugh, I looked back at my mum who seemed to be rather impressed with the pair of us, though she too tried to hide her wide grin behind her glass of juice. So, at least it seemed that if I was chosen then she wouldn't have minded.
"How nice," she commented, placing her glass down, "I think that's lovely."
And with a mumsy chuckle, she scooped in mouthful of lasagne. As she did, I gave a quick smile to Lila; she deserved that.

Robin: After letting out a sigh, I decided that it was probably best to try and move on from that awkward moment pronto.
"So, those notes..." I said, walking towards him, "Can I see them?"
Trying on a smile, I tried my best to swiftly move on from my tragic mistake. My mouth blurted it out before I could think... I needed to learn how to control it better before it turns into the reason why we break up.
Bad thought.
Shaking it out of my head, I peered back at Johnny with a small, not too OTT grin; just a little something to help him find his smile again, and to stop the nerves that were churning in my stomach from exploding everywhere.

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I sent him a raised brow back, what was the smile for? I simply shrugged though it was barely noticeable, this guy was so confusing to me.
"We decided that it'd be nice to hangout and get to know each other better and here we are." I sent him a sweet smile then took a bite of lasagna.
All this story telling was making me hungry.

Johnny: I smiled back and held them in front of her face. "If you want them you have to kiss me." I said, a wicked grin appearing on my once forlorn face. I had no right to feel sorry for myself, and I shook the sad thoughts from my head.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: Ha, I was confusing her was I? Maybe she wasn't used to getting compliments from a human boy that she just met and may have to wed... Then again, not too many people would be used to that.
"Fair enough," my mum nodded, pushing my lasagne onto her fork.
Good. She was convinced. If only she actually knew what was going on, I wonder what her reaction would be.
Shock, for one, but would she be able to accept it?... Who knew, but for now it seemed to be a thing that Future Oli would have to deal with whilst Present Oli enjoyed his meal.

Robin: My eyes rolled as I pushed the notes from out of my face and out of the way. Draping my arms around the back of his neck, I began to titter slightly.
"If I must..."
With the grin still wide on my face, I gently pressed my lips against his; not too hard but not too soft either. And as I pulled myself away again, that grin didn't disappear.
"Happy?"

[bookcrazI]

Lila:We ate in silence, it was a companionable silence nothing to awkward, smiles were occasionally sent to one another between bites. There really wasn't much else to say, unless I wanted to tell Oli's mother about how I was an elf and that didn't seem too bloody likely.

Johnny: I smiled and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her back. "Never..." I murmured.
I kissed her again, as sweetly as I could remembering why I chose to stay here rather than leave with my family. I remembered all the good reasons.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: After the last few scraps of pasta had been scraped off the plate, my mum couldn't help but smile.
"Would you like anymore, you two?"
"No thanks," I smiled, shaking my head, "I've had more than enough. It was very good, though."
After dabbing the corners of my mouth with the napkin, I folded it neatly back onto my lap, quite contented with the quality of that meal. It was one of the best ones that she had ever made, and that was enough to make me grim wide enough.

Robin: Letting out a small chuckle as he drew me back in, I couldn't help but grin madly against his lips. I had to say, he was definately the best kisser that I had ever had the pleasure of...well, kissing. I didn't mind at all that he wasn't quite satisfied.
And as my mind continued to blur, the thoughts of why I actually came to his place seemed to disppear, as my mind always seemed to do whenever he was around. Briefly, I forgot about the notes, I forgot about Molly being trapped under Lilith's guidance, I forgot that Oli was currently at home with an elf for himself. All I could think about was this and, despite everything around me being one hundred percent mystical and fantasical, this was just so...normal.

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I replied similarly as Oli but I added a "One of the best lasagnas I have ever had. Without a doubt."
I smiled gratefully at her then glanced carefully at my cell phone for the time. I grimaced realizing my limo would be back very soon.

Johnny: I broke the kiss with a smile and nuzzled her neck, "Would you like the notes now?" I murmured into her ear.
I smiled, she was so cute when it came to things like kissing; smiling and even humming to herself at times, although I doubt she knew that she did it.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: And with that, she stood to take the leftover food out to the kitchen, humming happily to herself. It had really been a while since we actually had people around for dinner. I guess that she missed that, what with Robin no longer bringing friends around almost every single night like she used to.
"And that smile was one of 'I'm pretty impressed'. You're very good with impressing the parents," I murmured, just loud enough for her to hear only, "and I'm sure that we can cut you a slice of cheesecake that you can take home."
Raising a brow at the girl with a cheeky smirk, I began to sip my juice again. Hopefully, that would have freaked her out, just a little bit. Ever since a little while ago I was able to do that. I just never had used it properly, outside of work at least.

Robin: And he had to break it with that burst of reality.
"Mmm... Wha-- Oh yeah... If I have to," I muttered, acting like a reluctant little girl.
Actually, beneath my chest I felt my heart's beats go a little quicker than usual, but I that could have easily been the neck nuzzling. He was good, what could I say? Whether it was because of the fact that he was an elf, I didn't know, but he was very good at doing that.

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I frowned at his look, it made him look, surprisingly, quite cute. What was he going for?
"Thank you for the offer but I have to go, like now.. or my driver will come waltzing in and ruin our whole charade. Tell your mom thank you for dinner but I have leave because of... I don't know... a family emergency. I'll try to get you out of this the best I can."
I said quickly, the end bit sounding slightly desperate.
I stood and hurried out of the house before Oli could fit in another word. I couldn't ruin another life.

Johnny: I kissed her neck, not really wanting to stop, and backed her up to my desk to grab the notes.
"Here." I murmured breathily into her ear.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oli: "Alright..."
So, she decided to leave so quickly? Without even saying goodbye to my mum? How rude.
"She has important things to do; you're just a lazy bloke that really does nothing except fix computers."
"Popped to the toilet, has she?"
Glancing up from her place on the table, the look on my mum's face was quite a happy one. In her hands, produced on a crystal glass platter was indeed the cheesecake, looking rather nice.
"No, unfortunately," I sighed, trying to sound a bit somber, "Her parents just called; Granny Jackie has just been rushed to hospital and they waiting outside in the car for her so she had to leave immediately. She said thank you and that the dinner was delicious, but she also said sorry for having to leave so abruptly."
With a small frown on my face, a similar look grew on her face as she put the dish down on the table. Her eyes drifted off into the distance as I tried not to ask her what was wrong.
"That's two guests today..." she murmured, putting down the pudding forms, "Two that have had to leave...plus your sister."
Ah, I could see where she was coming from. It must have been hard for her. She didn't like to be left alone and that had happened twice earlier today. She must have felt great.
"Don't worry Mum. Now, how about we go put on a movie and eat the desert in the living room, eh? They're missing out on your cooking skills."
And with a large grin blossoming on her face, the woman seemed to dash to the TV set, cheesecake platter in hand. I was a good son, wasn't I? 

Robin: Taking a seat on the edge of his desk, I looked down to the notes as he continued to caress my neck. I held in the emotions that were in me, all because I didn't want to get distracted by his touch, however gloriously amazing it felt.
Why does he have to be so amazing?
Taking myself away from him, I quickly planted a kiss on his cheek. And glancing him with slightly serious eyes, I flipped open the notes to look at the first page.
My heart stood still.
"You know more about me than I do."

[bookcrazI]

Lila: I let myself be strapped into the car, my wrists handcuffed to the hand bar, and my seat belt done up by the driver. It was normal precautions so I didn't run away, again.
I sighed, I had left my cell number in Oli's jacket on my way out of the house, I had to keep in touch with him in case my parents tried to do a secret checkup on him. I had to be able to warn him.
I didn't want him to end up dead, or worse.
I allowed myself to be steered out of the car once we reached the destination and into our home. Our family's home; my prison.

Johnny: I grabbed my reading glassed from their case on my desk and looked over her shoulder at the notes.
"I do, that's the first basic step to being a stalker, seriously, I thought you knew me better, well not better than I know you.." I joked, knowing that what I had to say was hard for her to hear.
She had to find out about her father, the one her mother never talked about and the one she knew so little of.
It had to be hard on her.

[OpenTheDoor]

Robin: Scanning the page with my eyes, a small frown decided to grow on my face. There was so much on this page that I couldn't even take it all in. My birthplace, my Mum's hometown, previous housing records... If he ever wanted a job as a DI then I'm sure that he would be perfect for the job.
My lips felt dry as my eyes started to get a little blurry, making the pages harder to read, not that I was going to remember the whole book by any means.
"Whoa..." I croaked, my breathing heavier than it had ever been before as I looked up to him, "I-I... Reading glasses? Really?"
An ever so tiny smile sprouted on my face. Usually I would have just giggles my butt off at that, but I wasn't in the best mood for it, unfortunately.
"You're meant to be an almighty elf that transforms into something twice it's size when it faces danger, yet you can't read small texts? I don't know what's more startling."
Maybe I should have warned him before hand; whenever I get into a bit of a bad or sad mood then I tended to get blunt and a tad mean. But maybe he knew that already as he already knew everything else about me?... There was an example.

[bookcrazI]

Johnny: I laughed, "I know, strange isn't it... evolution created an elf, but left out good vision. At least I can see you, and you're worth it."
I kissed her cheek tenderly, it must be hard for her, I didn't mind the sarcasm or the insult. I probably would've reacted in the same way, luckily I didn't have to go through that.

[OpenTheDoor]

Robin: "Thanks," I murmured, giving him a quick attempt of a smile.
But as I peered back to the notes, I quickly, but very carefully, turned over the next few pages, skipping out the things about me that I didn't fully care about knowing all too much. I just wanted to see what was on the next page.
And there it was, all in his neat scrawl.
"Lance Kendall Redawn, born 12th September 1972. White British. Hometown's Stublington, Dorset. Current address...blank."
It was just like a form, one filled in with basic, yet very important, information. Just little things like his birthplace and stuff like that, all things that I knew nothing about until that moment that you would expect to know about your own father. Damn I didn't know his name a couple of hours ago.
"H-how did you find all of this?" I asked, quickly glancing up to look at his face, "Sure the Internet is huge but..."

[bookcrazI]

Johnny:
"Elves have a larger database than you guys, plus I am a trained hacker." I shrugged the last part, saying it really fast so it was barely able to make out.
I went through a rebellious stage.
Everyone does.
Mine just included hacking into military websites and rick rolling them.
Lets just say my parents weren't too proud, but Robin could hear about that later.

[OpenTheDoor]

Robin: So I was dating an elven hacker now? One that knew a whole lot more about everything about me than I did?
This is getting a bit too much.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I just looked over the same bits again and again, studying them as carefully as I could. My mind wasn't working properly...and then I saw cut out piece of paper, a small square.
Is it?
Flipping the sheet over, my hand shot straight to my mouth to cover it. A photo. A passport-style photo.
My knees quaked, though it was extremely fortunate that I was sitting down, otherwise I would have fallen to the freezing floor. My eyes began to well up as I leant against the wall, slumping down the side.
"Oh shit..." I winced, my voice quite a lot higher than it had ever been before.
We all knew that I didn't look like my mum all too much, but it was obvious that we were related. The hair, the eyes, the nose... Almost everything.
"Could I have a glass of water...please?" I asked slowly, my throat croaking.

[bookcrazI]

Johnny: I nodded and rushed over to my kitchen, which was like two feet away, and poured her some water out of my filter. I handed her the glass, worried that I might have sprung a bit too much on her too soon.
Would she be okay?
"Would you like to lay down or something? I have pop tarts... and some Mr.Noodles..."

Molly: I read the ancient text for the thirtieth time, it's knowledge being absorbed into my head as fast as I could process it. I threw the book down and stomped over to Lilith.
"I need to make a deal with you."

[OpenTheDoor]

Robin: Carefully, I put down the photo upon the notebook, being cautious not to ruin it. As far as I knew it was the only photo of my father that I had seen. I took the glass tentatively, raising it to my lips to hastily slurp it down.
"I'm not hungry, thanks," I muttered, wiping away my water tashe with the back of my sleeve, "But yeah, a comfier seat would be nice."
Putting the glass down, I tested how my knees were, putting my feet on the floor. As I put a bit of weight on them, I didn't think that they would be too bad to walk on...hopefully.

"Two jars of cat claws... Check. A vile of Phoenix blood... Check. Pot of potted shrimp... I ate that. Fu fu fu."
The old woman didn't look up from the book of inventory at the sound of Molly's voice. She didn't have to, not another deal. She had had enough of them. And Molly was meant to be preparing for her next test in a couple of days time.
But she did wonder what deal it was that she wanted to make. And she did have a lot of spare time.
"A deal, my child?" she asked, her thin grey brow raised, "What sort of deal?"
Her voice wa calm, but slightly bored, just like she had heard it all before. It wasn't just that either: Lilith was still furious that she didn't get her that Chimaera pelt that she requested Molly to fetch. They did sell for a fortune on the Market.
"But do be reasonable. If want cable television you'll be paying for it."

[bookcrazI]

Johnny: I nodded and at a glance I could tell that her legs weren't the sturdiest I had seen them. I quickly picked her up, bridal style, and carried her to my bed/couch. Currently it was a bed, The apartment didn't have enough room for both a bed and a couch thus I got a pull out couch.
A really exciting explanation.
I placed her on it and sat down beside her, ready for anything.

Molly: I snorted, Lilith had been bugging me about television all week, wondering if I wanting it but yelling I had to pay for it after. I was beginning to think it was she who wanted it.
"No, it's not cable I want, we've gone over that already. I want two days of freedom if I get them I promise to get those dragon scales you need."
I kept my face plain and my voice steady, a week with her taught you to always be aware of what your face says. I was beginning to learn how to read faces, it was a handy tool although almost useless when it came to Lilith.

[OpenTheDoor]

Robin: "Thanks," I murmured again, trying on a small smile, "Thank you very much Johnny."
Flipping onto my side, I gently planted a kiss on his cheek, being careful not to move too much just in case the sofabed decided to break in half. My hand rested lightly on his chest as I put my head over where his heart was. I guess it was a time like this that I really needed some comfort from him rather than anything else. But, at the same time, I didn't want to be that girl that always used her boyfriend when she was down but didn't really lay attention to him when he needed it, and that was the way that I was feeling at that moment. Basically, like shit.
Letting my swollen eyes close, I snuggled deeper into his chest, all whilst tugging my legs up closer to my chest. And after a short breath, I opened them again.
"I haven't seen or heard anything from my dad since I was about four or five. He left when Angie was still in diapers. I don't really have much memory of him, and nor does Angie, but Oli had known him for the majority of his childhood, growing up with him. I think it was hardest on him out of us three."
I kind of blurted that, but I needed to say it. I had wanted to say it for so long it was unbelievable but I had no-one to talk to. I guess Molly would have been my best guess but...circumstances were never right, I suppose.

Lilith then proceeded herself to snort. Freedom? Really? She didn't need dragon scales that much...or did she?
"And where do you think that you will find dragon scales, Molly? Dragons aren't in the local proximity in case you haven't realised."
The old woman looked back down to her catalogue, a new smile on her face. She couldn't believe this child. Dragon scales? Freedom? She much be mad!
"And two days of freedom? With a weekend coming up? I don't think so."

[bookcrazI]

Johnny: I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, letting her story spill out.
"Don't be sorry, don't ever be sorry, it wasn't your fault. I... I love you and you can tell me anything."
I said pausing before dropping the "l" word. I grimaced, I had hoped to tell her somewhere better in better circumstances, it was too late.
But I really did love her.

Molly: I leaned onto one leg and crossed my arms, my bargain face on. "I know that fact very well, I also know that the scales you want are the rare kind. I know that the only way to successfully brew your potion you need them. I know that if you don't get them before this next full moon you'll have to wait another twenty years, and we both know the man you're trying to get them from won't sell at a low price. All I'm asking for is two days of freedom, the night included, in what way is that a bad deal for you?"
I raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips, waiting for her next garbled mess of words. I would get what I wanted, somehow I would get it.

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