Just About Done [Emmy/Charlie]

[mina pandora oliveira]

@emilia

Whoops. She had gotten a little too comfortable with the customers again. Thankfully the boss wasn’t around at this time of day. He would have heard that laugh from the other side of the store. Mina didn’t really see what was wrong with being frank about things around people. Some thought it was obnoxious, or something equally silly to that. Her boss wasn’t a fan of it at all. It was always kept at a ‘if you need any help I’ll be right over here’ or ‘did you find what you were looking for?’ Stupid, boring dry stuff like that. She had come to realize over the last few months that working under the watchful eye of her manager was worse than she had initially realized. He was great when it came to giving time off and being flexible with hours, which her drunk ass needed a couple times each week. But dealing with customers was a completely different thing, and if anything, was probably how she would lose the job eventually. Today he wasn’t here though, so anything was game when it came to chatting away. She was a real person after all, and desperately needed human interaction, seeing as her sister liked to pretend she didn’t exist nine times out of ten when they were both home at the same time. To make up for that, Mina was going to talk this woman’s ear off if possible.

Mina nodded her head as the woman talked about how the book she was holding was considered a classic already, even though it was relatively new. Compared to some of the stuff in here, calling it that was laughable at best. Some of the books were hundreds of years old. Long outdated, sure, but they remained untouched from their original form unless further advancements had been made. “In that case, then it must have a decent following,” Mina pondered. Which would be funny, because she couldn’t remember the last time someone had purchased it while she was on the clock. If ever. “Do you know the author? Since it’s a mystery and you write them too?” It seemed logical. She had become relatively friendly with the other shopkeepers in Diagon Alley, even though most had told her to stay out and never come back after one late night ordeal. They seemed to forget that they were young once. Hopefully she didn’t end up like those crazy old bats.

The woman seemed to have some kind of attachment to the book though, which Mina could kind of understand. She had a favorite bottle of tequila. It was always a sad day when she poured out the last few drops. “That makes sense,” she agreed. “You’re probably in these sections more often than I am. Can’t say we sell as much fiction as we do textbooks and research materials.”

[Deleted]

Emmy shrugged her shoulders when Mina said that the book must have had a decent following. That was such a subjective term, especially when one considered who the book was written for. Was a ‘decent following’ just a certain percentage of the target audience, or was it a large percentage of the entire populace? Everything was made even more complicated by the fact that Emmy had been selling to two different markets – the American magical community and the British magical community. Books that were popular in one could be less notable in another. It had already happened once before, and Emmy was sure that having vastly different levels of popularity would happen again. In any case, Emmy hadn’t ever really liked to judge herself based on her popularity. She was satisfied with the books that she wrote, and they made her happy, on the simplest level. The fact that they made other people happy was a bonus, and she didn’t see a point in equating her success to how many people liked the books. When Mina asked if she knew the author, Emmy couldn’t help but laugh. “I am the author.” She corrected. Emmy thought that she had made that obvious, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Mina didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would beg her for an autograph, which was part of the reason Emmy had been so open with her identity. She didn’t like to hide from fans, but Emmy could get overwhelmed by people, and if someone shouted that she was inside a bookstore… she shuddered. She had other things she wanted to do today, after all.

Emmy was surprised when Mina said that the author was probably in this section of the store more often than the shopkeeper. Apparently the shop sold more textbooks and research-related items than they did novels. “That’s a shame.” She said with a sigh. “People are always talking about how reading is going out of style.” Emmy said with a roll of her eyes. She didn’t think that something as foundational to society as reading and writing would ever go out of style. It wasn’t a fad. Sometimes people forgot how good it felt to be alone in your own head with a story, but they would remember eventually, Emmy was sure.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@emilia

Mina wasn’t exactly expecting the answer that the woman gave to her question. She didn’t just know the author of the book, she was the author. “Cool.” Mina was starting to feel good about herself for not criticizing it for being a fiction book in a store that was mostly comprised of text books and sought after research. Who was she to judge though? She had never read the book, and probably never would. Picture books and comics were her jam, even if all the other kids still made fun of her and called her illiterate. If she couldn’t read, why on earth would she work in a bookstore? That would be signing her death certificate. At the end of the day though, movies were a way better medium than books were these days, at least when it came to the entertainment industry.

Despite being glad that she hadn’t made a fool of herself in front of the author, Mina knew she still had a look of disbelief on her face. Most of the authors that came into Flourish & Blotts acted all high and mighty – like they owned the store or something, or the store owed them. They were simply mass distributors, not personal salesmen that went door to door trying to sell something that was more than likely garbage. In that sense, she was rather happy that the woman didn’t try and throw her weight around like most did. “Sorry if I’m staring. Even though I’ve met my share of writers already, it still gets me every time.” Mostly because they were far smarter than she was or ever would be.

She nodded her head in agreement that it was awful that reading was going out of style. That happening meant she wouldn’t have a job in the future, should she decide to stick to Flourish & Blotts for an eternity. “I think bookstores will go before books ever do. Just don’t wish for muggle technology to creep in. They have devices that let you read thousands of books in an instant,” Mina shook her head a little bit. “Even though I get tired of reading because I’m surrounded by this,” she spun her hands around above her head, “Losing interest in books will never happen for me. I’d have to be stupid to work in a bookstore if I felt otherwise.” Actually, it just paid really well. She didn’t really care whether it was a bookstore or a diner.

[OOC: I think this makes sense? Only half asleep writing it]

[Deleted]

Cool. Emmy smiled a little bit at that response. It lacked any sort of awe, which was great, but it also wasn’t a harsh or otherwise negative response. It was just a statement. Maybe Emmy was overthinking this, but she was taking a shining to the bookstore employee, despite the other woman’s… quirks. Mina seemed the kind of person who would tell the truth no matter what, and Emmy appreciated that in a person. Hopefully the other woman wasn’t also stubborn, though, because Emmy was sure that would ruin any potential friendship. When Emmy dug her heels in, she got what she wanted, and other stubborn people always seemed to be exasperated by her – mostly because they lost when it came to battles of wills, and any fool could tell you that stubborn people did not like to lose.

Mina looked slightly shocked by the development, but Emmy didn’t particularly care about that. Shock was still a better reaction than mindless squealing or hatred. Apparently the employee realized that she was looking at the author a little strangely, and apologized for it. “It’s fine.” Emmy said, brushing off the other woman’s concern. “I would rather you stare than try to tackle me.” The fans that were overzealous and handsy were not Emmy’s favorites. She could appreciate excitement, but Emmy had a healthy respect for personal space, and didn’t enjoy when hers was violated. Mina implied that she had met other writers before, though, which meant that she definitely knew that touching was on the no-no list unless it was the author who initiated it.

The other woman seemed to have a strong concept of how she thought books and bookstores would look in the future. It was interesting that she thought that bookstores would be the first things to go. In the Muggle world, that was more true, since the Internet allowed books to be purchased from the safety of one’s own living room, but owl order services weren’t quite that sophisticated yet. “Muggle technology would make our world infinitely more interesting.” Emmy mused. Maybe one of her novels could be about the marriage of the two… It would certainly be interesting to see which groups of people resisted the change the most, though Emmy’s money would definitely be on purebloods refusing to assimilate. “I think that once you catch the reading bug, it’s hard to shake it.” There were people who read casually, of course, and could easily stop if they wanted to, but people who made reading a large part of their lifestyle – like Emmy and, presumably, Mina – found it harder to quit.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@emilia

“People actually do that?” she blurted out. That definitely sounded like it would get annoying after a while. “Like, I have my own share of jumping on people when I get excited, but that’s…I don’t know, rude?" These were certainly strange words that were escaping her lips. Her sister would be crossing her arms right about now, and probably be on the verge of criticizing her for being one of the worst offenders of personal space. Wasn’t her fault that she liked to get all up in people’s business. Obviously Mina knew how to read a room and wouldn’t tackle-hug someone that was having an awful day unless she thought it would fix all of it. She wasn’t that stupid. Even with alcohol in her system she knew when to tone down the intensity. Some people weren’t capable of that. She wasn’t one of them, at least not anymore.

Mina pondered the idea of merging muggle tech with magic. There were most certainly advantages and disadvantages of having it around. She had a phone, which was necessary for numerous reasons. For whatever reason, she decided to pull it out of her pocket to show the other woman as she talked. It wouldn’t work while in Diagon Alley due to magic, but it would be sufficient enough to get her point across. “I think everyone should have a phone regardless of magic or not,” she stated as she flipped it around in her hand. “It helps me stay in contact with my muggle friends, and my sister knows where to find me at all hours too.” Sometimes she wondered if the phone was better at finding where she was located than magic was. Her sister certainly had the knack for dragging her home from virtually everywhere. “Maybe once I don’t work at a bookstore, I’ll give it a really serious try again,” Mina laughed. She didn’t live and breathe stories like this woman did, so it would be silly to devote hours of her time to it, which could be spent drinking and partying. “Right now it’s just a good way to pass the time here when it’s slow…” She glanced around the store, making a mental note that they were still the only two people in it. Some things never changed.

[Deleted]

Emmy gave Mina an amused smile when the other woman asked if people actually tried to tackle her. Once upon a time, she would have thought the same, but what she had learned was that when you had a large group of people (and her fan base was large) you were bound to get a few that had lower than usual inhibitions when it came to physical contact and what was socially acceptable. “It is rude, but I honestly think that sometimes people have a hard time of thinking of their favorite celebrities as people, and not objects.” It would explain why some fans thought they were entitled to hugs or autographs or any number of things that would be considered rude to ask for or take. It was one of the things that Emmy was pretty sure people just had to accept, if they were going to be in the public eye or interacting with fans or whatever.

Emmy looked on, slightly surprised, when Mina pulled a phone out of her pocket. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen any witch or wizard with a cellphone. It wasn’t exactly unwelcome, just surprising. Mina said that she thought that everyone ought to have a phone, and Emmy nodded. The other woman went on to explain that the phone helped her stay in contact with her Muggle friends – which was another surprise, since there seemed to be very little mingling between the Muggle and wizard words anywhere Emmy had visited – and that it also allowed her sister to find her… which meant that said sister must have had a phone, too. “My aunt and uncle are Muggles, and they live in America.” Emmy explained. “Sending owls over there works, but it also takes forever to get replies.” Crossing an ocean wasn’t exactly easy for the birds, either, so Emmy sometimes felt bad sending them on the journey. She was fairly certain that there was too much magic in the air where she lived and that a phone wouldn’t work… but it was worth a try. Emmy laughed when Mina said that part of her reading hobby came from working in a bookstore. That was fair, considering she could read on the job without it being out of place… and reading was probably more interesting than interacting with customers. “Is it always slow?” Emmy asked. She was surprised that in the time she had been at the store, she had only seen the one man, and then Mina.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@emilia

Mina nodded her head as the author explained the degrees of rudeness that people had towards celebrities. She knew that meeting one of her favorite musicians probably would have elicited a different response than the one she had towards this woman. Though she also didn’t know the author, Emilia Pond was her name (courtesy of the book still in her hands), prior to today. Thinking about it more, Mina realized that it was probably because of Koda. Having a sibling be famous made a lot more sense when it came to the treating them like humans part. She was pretty sure she had gotten along with his teammates during their few encounters over the last few years too. “No need to worry about me doing that,” she smiled. “Older brother plays professional Quidditch, so I see a lot of famous people.” That wasn’t totally true, though if she could sell Koda in the right manner, maybe Miss Pond would be interested and snag him away from Ophelia. It was a pipe dream, especially with a baby coming now, but anything to get him away from her. Even though Ophelia was Im’s friend and seemed like a great person, she wasn’t the best. At least not the best for Koda.

Was pulling the phone out the wrong thing to do? Surely there weren’t those kinds of magical folk that still refused muggle tech, and Emilia was an author, so she practically had to buy into technology at times. But her reaction almost said otherwise. Maybe it was the fact that Mina had whipped it out so fast. Some people liked escaping technology in Diagon Alley, and while it was nice, she would kill to have a laptop or television during her shifts. Anything to pass the time other than spinning in circles in her chair or reading dusty old books. “Yeah…I was in America for a little while,” Mina sighed more dramatically than usual. She loved telling everyone about her adventures over there. “So having a phone made more sense to keep in contact with my siblings than sending and owl back and forth all the time.” That and she had barely stayed in one place more than a month at a time.

“Unfortunately,” she responded to the question about business. “As you can imagine, it gets busier with the school year and holidays. Let’s just say that on days like today, it would be more interesting to watch paint dry.” Even more interesting to get some attractive customers that weren’t here simply for business. “A dozen people walking through the door a day is busy this time of year,” Mina added as she handed the book back over to its author.

[Deleted]

Emmy nodded when Minna said that her older brother played Quidditch, so she interacted with more than her fair share of famous people. “I still haven’t seen a Quidditch game.” Emmy mused. Quadpot was all the rage in America, and since she hadn’t learned she was a witch until she was over there, it made sense that she hadn’t the faintest idea about the popular British wizarding sport, other than what one could glean from vague references to it in magazines and the like. “I’m disappointed that Quadpot isn’t as popular over here.” In fact, a lot of the people Emmy had spoken to hadn’t even seemed to have heard of the game, or acted like she was strange for liking it. Then again, Emmy had a rather low opinion of British wizards thus far – they all seemed to be rather elitist. Emmy had loads to say on that subject, but she was distracted by Mina’s declaration that she had been in America for a while. That was definitely interesting.

Mina moved on to talking about the business in the store and how a dozen people a day was busy. As if on cue, the bell above the entrance chimed, announcing the arrival of another customer. Emmy gave Mina a sympathetic look. “I suppose I should let you handle that.” She said. Emmy was a little disappointed that she didn’t get to talk to Mina more about her American adventures, but she knew where the other woman worked, so if she really wanted to, Emmy could return to tease the stories out of her. And Emmy didn’t want to be the reason for anyone getting fired. Her business here was done anyways. Emmy lifted her hand in a wave goodbye, and made a beeline for the exit so that she could leave Mina alone with the new customer.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

@emilia

She tried to keep her jaw from dropping as Emilia said she hadn’t seen a Quidditch match yet. How was that possible? That was like, her life-blood! That and alcohol. They went well together. That was no surprise, of course. Mina knew how to play it smart at matches though. Last thing she needed to do was make Koda look like an idiot in front of teammates and fans alike. That and paying attention was kind of important as the leader of his personal fan club. All the details had to be correct for the masses. She couldn’t disappoint them. “If you ever want a few tickets, I get them in droves. Sparing a few won’t kill me,” Mina offered. Callisto always seemed too busy to go, so Mina ended up with extras all the time, not to mention that they were also both given tickets for guests if they wanted to bring them along as well. In short, finding tickets to a Quidditch match was a joke for her. Emilia continued on about Quadpot, and Mina vaguely remembered the name. She couldn’t recall if she ever saw one while in America, since a lot of that time had been spent either buzzed or nursing hang overs. “Tough competition with Quidditch I’m sure.” That made sense to her.

If all words held magical potency, than jinxing herself with customers was definitely one of them. The author was lucky that she didn’t have to be subjected to the America story. That would have easily gone until closing. Made things simply for Mina at least. “I suppose so,” Mina repeated. “Nice chatting with you. If you ever need a book or those Quidditch tickets, you know where to find me.” With that, Mina returned the wave and headed back to the front of the store to help the new customer. While the chat had been nice and worth it to kill time, both Emilia and the man that had entered before her hadn’t bought anything. Maybe third time was the charm today.

[THE END]