( open ) nov/dec catchall - the bells have started singing

[benedicus]

WHO: Aziraphale (benedicus) and you!
WHAT: Nov/Dec catch-all.
WHERE: Various.
WHEN: Mid Nov through december.
WARNINGS: Language, maybe.



(( will match to style. wildcard tag-ins always welcome. ))

Comments

late nov ✦ media store

[benedicus]

( there is something particularly annoying about the sudden appearance of a mass media store. months have gone past already with nothing to read except for the books that aziraphale took to penning himself. for himself.

. . . although, he did originally intend to share more of them.

he just got lost in the euphoria of making books.

unlike what he had written, of course, which were near exact copies of the original—the store stocked nothing of the like. shelves among shelves of titles that aziraphale had never heard of and certainly didn't recognise. he had already started to read through several of them, searching for anything that might stand out. might feel familiar.

but mostly they're forgettable. underwhelming in the worst ways. )

This feels something like a monkey paw's wish.

( mostly to himself with a quiet little laugh before he snaps the book in his hand shut. )

[excaliburden]

[The media store is full of fascinations and wonders and despite not knowing much of how anything works, aside from the books, Altria finds herself going there again and again anyway, spending ages just poring over the shelves and admiring just how many books are here.

It's unfamiliar. It's new. It's exciting.

So she's there, not touching any of the books but admiring her way through the science fiction section nonetheless, when she hears someone else huff out a laugh.

...?

She peers around one of the shelves, and because she's never learned to be polite, sticks her nose into his business immediately.]

What is?

[benedicus]

( politeness is a prison.

and one that aziraphale is entirely beholden to. when a curious face peeks out from behind one of the shelf rows, aziraphale greets her with a soft nod and a smile first. )

The inventory here, my good lady. Have you perchance read through any of these yet?

[excaliburden]

[The inventory is a monkey's paw...?

Altria puzzles over that as she comes closer properly, rather than just poking her head around a shelf. She peers at the books, and then picks one off of the shelves--it's something very standard and derivative, a pretty classic fictional story where the bad guys lose and there's a perfect happy ending.]

I haven't read any of them yet, but this one looks nice! Surely they're not all monkey's tails.

[Nailed it.]

[cupperty]

Why would a monkey wish for 'Perils in Peru'?

[ Muriel, much like Aziraphale, has a habit of just... turning up suddenly, when you least expect them. They've found what looks like some cheesy, old-fashioned harlequin romance novel, and are staring at it in confusion. ]

... Wait, was those one of those 'idiom' things that Mr. Crowley likes to use?

[benedicus]

( it's simply part of being an angel™.

the more worrying part is just how quickly muriel seems to be picking up on things. )

Yes. It's a reference to a story from a couple years ago.

( from his perspective anyway. )

In it, a family is given a mummified monkey paw that is capable of granting them three wishes. Every wish that the paw grants also comes with terrible consequences.

[cupperty]

[ They're a scrivener, attention to detail is part of the job! ]

It certainly did for the monkey.

[ They go back to browsing the shelves, poking through the hardcovers with great interest. ]

Have you found anything familiar in here? I know it isn't the bookshop, but it must be nice to have some books around again!