"Well, to be fair i kind of like all there are, or were back then. Seeing as i didnt go out much, anything that let me experience the world out there was enough i guess. But for now i would say, ummm, mystery novels?" he answered after a short moment of pondering his options. Seems like having a limited collection of books for nearly two centuries made him a not so picky reader.
The boy followed her, looking up at the shelves and admiring all the artwork that he could see, being impressed by the multitude of cover art that lay on one shelf alone. From simple yet aesthetically pleasing covers to incredibly colorful ones, everything there amazed Damien. They passed by some that looked bright and happy, others that were dark with simple colorful objects in the middle - as was the case with a certain one named 'Twilight' at the very start of the Fantasy section - until they arrived at some shelves with more interesting sounding titles.
Mari nodded at his answer and turned down an aisle of the mystery section. “Well, there’s plenty of those right here. And the next few shelves too.” she smiled kindly. It was almost easy to forget how… sheltered Damien lived. But it was equally easy, and a bit shocking, to remember that same fact very quickly. Even with the sunglasses, she could picture the wide-eyed awe on his face as he looked around. It was so adorable… and a little painful too. He didn't deserve to be shunned the way he was back then. To be forced to hide. She let out a soft sigh and promised, again, that she would do everything she could to make up for what happened in his past and help him find his family if she could.
Following Mari's gesture towards the shelf, he began studying the books that were laid out before him, all neatly arranged one by one. A lot of them sounded interesting, some were a little more dramatic, such as 'The silence of the lambs' or 'Murder on the Orient express', but overall every single one intrigued him, and just as Mari guessed he was very excited and in awe.
"Theres so many of them… I dont even know what to pick." he said, looking at every title. "Which one would you recommend i pick first?"
Even though he was an avid reader, he kinda doubted they would let him take all at the same time
Mari nodded slightly as she looked at all the books. “Well, let's see. Orient Express is a classic and the author is brilliant.” she admitted since Agatha Christie was one of her favorite mystery writers. And not just because of her brief disappearance. “But I know you're already familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and he's written so many books here. Ironically, the stories he's most famous for are the ones about a character he hated.” she chuckled softly as she pointed out the 'Sherlock Holmes' books that were available.
Damien followed her hand movement and walked over to the shelf, picking up one of the books to inspect. There were far more than he had at home, but that was a good thing, because it meant now he could read more stories of the character he liked in volumes he'd missed.
"He hated?" the boy asked, looking back at her, quite intrigued and surprised. "What do you mean? How could he hate him?"
Mari shrugged at the question. “I don’t really know. But I believe that he called Sherlock Holmes an ass, at one point, and said that he would be disappointed if he was only remembered for this one character. And I'm paraphrasing.” she tacked on at the end of her explanation. Though she did find it funny that Sherlock was his most popular character. “Maybe it's easier for some people to write about characters they don’t like.”
"i dont think he's an ass, he's just interesting" Damien commented, looking down at the book in his arms as if softly trying to defend the character's honor, like it was gonna change anything. Surely he could understand that annoying characters were hard to write, but not this one, not to him at least. It was the first time he ever learned of a writer hating his own creation, an unexpected feeling of confusion and maybe a little sadness, as if the character was a child unloved by their parents.
"I do wonder what made him say that about Sherlock" he slightly mumbled, slowly moving on, to keep looking around.
Mari nodded. “I think a lot of people would agree with you, though I will admit there have been times when I thought Sherlock was a little arrogant… But not without a reason so…” she shrugged. “I still enjoy the stories. Unfortunately, I don't know why Sir Arthur called his character that, I just remember hearing that he did.” she answered, keeping pace with her friend.
"Well, i do admit he is sometimes, but thats because he knows things others dont catch on to!" the boy continued defending the book softly, as he inspected some of the other books on the shelves. He wished he could take all of these to read at home, but he doubted either of them could carry so many books at once. Therefore, frequent visits might be the go-to in this case, at least for now.
Damien decided to keep the one book he picked for now, deciding he could come back for the rest another time. He was in no hurry after all. Plus, he had just discovered a new source of entertainment for himself that would probably last him for the next century.
"i think this one will do for now" he told her once they reached the end of the shelves, turning around to show the sherlock book he was holding.
“I know. And personally, I agree with you.” she comforted as she watched Damien browse the shelves. Yes, the character could be arrogant but it wasn't unfounded. And there was that whole “Norburry” incident that she heard about but had yet to read.
Mari smiled as he made his selection and nodded. “Good choice. Do you want to look around a bit more or we can go get something to eat?” she offered, willing to check out the book for him since he didn't have a library card… And she wasn't sure how easy it would be to get one for him.
"Mmmm, i think just one book will do for now, theres so many here i can't even decide on what to choose. I can always come back for more right?" he looked down at the book and then at her, with a still very happy expression. He still had the books she gave him, so he wasn't out of reading material just yet. Just wanted to read this one particular book really bad.
"Food does sound good, i was kinda getting hungry, i will not lie…"
The mention of food made Damien's stomach squirm a little bit, demanding something to fill it as soon as possible, given he'd unfortunately skipped breakfast in his eagerness to see the town.
"Where are we gonna go?"
“Alright.” she nodded, smiling back at his cute eager expression. “Let's go up to the main desk and we can check it out. And yes, you can come back here anytime when they're open.” Mari said as she started to lead the way but not leaving Damian behind. “Honestly, I had a feeling you might be.” she admitted with a soft chuckle. It seemed like her friend had a high metabolism and she suspected it had something to do with his heritage but she wasn't going to bring that up. “What would you like to try? There’s a few good restaurants around here. Let me see… I think there's a nice Chinese place nearby or there's a more homestyle diner with stuff like fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Oh, or there's a pizza joint that's a little more of a walk as well as a good Mexican restaurant.” she informed, giving him plenty of options to choose from.
Damien followed her to the previously mentioned desk, holding the book like it was something very precious and dear to him.
"I can really do that? Any time? I definitely will be!" the boy announced softly, keeping pace with Mari. "Hmmm… Im not that sure to be fair, theres so many of them… Could i let you pick perhaps? One you think is best"
The multitude of available options with weird names was overwhelming him, so it was probably better if he let her choose for now - him for one, wanted to try all of them.
Mari smiled at him, almost chuckling at his cuteness. “Yeah. We’ll just need to get you a library card… Unless they require some kind of ID.” she hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “But if they do, I can just check out the books for you.” she assured, not minding that option. She shrugged slightly when Damian gave the choice back to her. “Honestly, I like all of them. But I think I’m leaning more towards the Chinese restaurant right now. And they have spicier options.” she added, remembering how her friend liked that kind of food.
"Uh, whats an ID?" he asked, as he walked next to her back to the counter, looking at the woman with glasses behind the desk, typing away at a strange machine - he made a mental note to ask about it later once they were outside.
"Spicier options? yea, id like that!" the boy gained an excited shine in his green eye behind the sunglasses. He'd never heard of the type of food, only of the country, and even then only in passing in some books.
“It's another abbreviation. It stands for “identification”, usually a card with your name, address, and other information like that.” she answered quickly, keeping her voice down as she reached the checkout desk. Hopefully, Damian understood her reply without the librarian hearing her since that information was practically common knowledge to everyone. And it most likely would draw more attention to both of them. Something that Damian didn't need to be under anyone’s scrutiny.
“I had a feeling you would.” Mari smiled at his reaction before turning to the librarian and placed the book on the counter.
"Oh so like, um, a document, stating who you are?" he replied just as quietly, although he momentarily pondered how unfamiliar it sounded. Yes, it was eseentially a way to avoid a case of mistaken identity like it happened a lot in his books and other stories he had read, but then again, he himself never thought of having one, since technically he wasnt even supposed to exist.
Damien patiently watched as the lady gave the book a look and then typed something into the weird machine, The boy was fully expecting her to whip out some paper or a catalogue at least, but no such items appeared, which confused him. Soon enough however, the book was handed back and the two were free to go.
"Oh? You did? Huh, i guess im that easy to read" Damien found himself smiling and looking to the side, as if he was caught in an embarrasing moment. "So where is this place?"
“Thank you.” she smiled politely at the librarian before handing the book to Damian as they walked outside. “Yeah, pretty much. But usually small enough to hold in your hand and fit in your wallet or pocket.” she told him as she reached into her bag, pulling out her wallet to show him. “Of course, it's also a little easier to lose if you're not careful. It's also proof that you're legally allowed to do certain things. Like drive a car, vote, see certain movies, or go out for a drink.”
Mari smiled a little at the adorable reaction and gently ruffled his hair. “I just paid attention to you and how you reacted to things. Plus, if you remember when we first met, you had made that delicious soup and told me that spicier foods were more enjoyable for you.” she pointed out. “And the restaurant is just down the block a little ways.”
The boy looked at the ID card held in front of him, noticing that it had a picture of Mari on a top corner along with her full name and other lined of text he assumed were her other details. It was rather small than what he expected, much more compact and short than what he thought it would be, but indeed a lot more handy - and unfortunately easier to lose.
"Why do you need this to grab a drink?" He asked as she put the ID back in her wallet.
After being ruffled, Damien smiled gently, agreeing that indeed, it had probably been easy to notice that about him. Either way, he excitedly followed his friend.
“Only certain drinks.” she corrected as they walked. “Remember when I mentioned that people can't, well more like not allowed, have alcohol until you turn twenty-one? This is proof of your age so you and the person serving you don't get in trouble.” she explained, smiling softly at him. “Normal drinks… you don't need to show an ID.”
"Uh, since when is that a thing? Isnt alcohol allowed to everyone?" Damien frowned, a little surprised by the new rule. His mother had not been a drinker or anything, but she had allowed him several sips every now and again, although aside from wine, nothing else had been to his liking. And he was definitely over that age by now in any case.
She shrugged and shook her head. “Honestly, I don't know. It's been a law for a long time… Like before my grandparents were kids, I think.” Mari explained. “And I don't know why it was made a rule but it is supposed to be a good thing. Like people driving cars while drunk is very dangerous and when kids reach high school age, they start doing really dumb and dangerous things. Adding alcohol to that is just a problem waiting to happen.”
Damien took a moment to think, analyzing the situation in his mind, before lightly nodding at his friend's words.
"I do have to admit you are right, at the very least in the alcohol mixing with bad decisions part. It makes sense now." He said, looking ahead of them. "But, i don't think only young people can make dumb decisions. Wouldn't drinking make a lot of people take bad steps?"
They continued on the side walk calmly, towards their next destination, the whole journey being mostly Mari leading the way and Damien following her lead. The boy started wandering what this place was like, curious to see a good shop for the first time.
“Yeah.” Mari nodded with a small shrug. “I think it's more to protect the younger generation. The older generation… they're supposed to be more responsible and able to be held accountable for their actions.” she explained as she walked on, leading the way to the restaurant. “But, personally, I think that their responsibility levels vary from decent to worse than the kids.” she sighed, shaking her head.
Indeed, it made sense when put like that, although it was still bewildering to know it happened. Yes he had read various scenes where the characters had too much to drink, but it was pretty weird imagining it in real life.
"How much longer do we have to go?" He asked, trying to match her pace. In a way, all of this discussion was starting to really make him hungry and he was growing ever more curious about their destination.
“Not too much farther.” she assured, pointing out a specific building. “It's just there. And they have really good food.” Mari smiled. “Hey. You wanna race? Just to the door?” she offered, getting the feeling that Damien was excited to try the new foods.
One could see Damien's eye light up once he saw the point of their destination and his eagerness seemed to peak.
"Sure! Let's see who is faster!" He cheerfully nodded before taking off in the direction of the building, enthusiasm seemingly boosting him as he went.
Mari laughed, letting Damian have his headstart before quickly running after him. Because she preferred running often it didn't take her long to catch up with him. But she didn't run ahead. She wanted to make sure he would be ok, that he was safe and happy and having a good time.
As they ran it didn't take them much longer to reach the restaurant. Though Mari may have fallen a few steps behind, giving her friend the chance to claim victory over their little race.
The little race gave Damien a small boost of enthusiasm, as he came to a stop next to the building, panting lightly.
He looked back at his friend who was also just coming to a stop next to him, giving her a big smile
"We made it!" He grinned, gathering himself and pushing the sunglasses back up on his nose.
“Yeah. We did.” Mari chuckled as she caught her breath. “You did really good.” she encouraged, holding her hand out to him.
“Are you ready to go to your first modern restaurant?” she asked, smiling at him as she gestured to the doors.
