RO > call me out; a forever open RP post, version 2

[midvalley]

NEW OPEN RP POST

Comments

[arbitrated]

[ A few silent seconds pass, and Sandon exhales slowly before turning back to the table. ]

Let's hope so.

[ He doesn't quite smile, but there's something like it in his eyes -- slightly sheepish, for having brought down the mood again. He clears his throat quietly. ]

But the high schoolers. They're visiting your store often? I'm guessing they must come to ogle the good looking almost-81-year-old gentleman.

[animated]

[ Charlie props an elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand. ]

You think I'm good looking?

[ Let it never be said that Charlie turned down an opportunity to flirt ]

[arbitrated]

[ He hesitates, a bit of color rising to his cheeks. ]

I-- I was actually quoting. What you said earlier, that is.

[animated]

[ Oh no. That was adorable. ]

Oh. Well. You should swing by the store one day. Then they can also ogle the good looking 83-year-old.

[arbitrated]

[ Another near silent laugh, and he shakes his head. ]

Tempting as I'm sure you intended that to be, I'm afraid I'll have to pass.

I would hate to pull attention away from you, in any case.

[animated]

Believe you me, after forty years, I could do with a little less attention from teenaged girls.

[arbitrated]

What kind of way is that, to speak about your adoring public? And your primary clientele, it sounds like.

[animated]

Wow. I let you into my house, and this is how you treat me? Talk about rude.

[arbitrated]

Rude? To say you should speak nicely about young women?

For someone who owns an apparently successful bookstore, your definition of "rude" doesn't seem to match up with how it reads in the dictionary.

[animated]

Okay, that was rude.

And don't give me the dictionary line again, mister fancy pants lawyer.

[arbitrated]

[ There's amusement in his eyes, and he concedes with a slight nod. ]

You weren't wrong on that one.

... Although-- "fancy pants." You have thesauruses in that store of yours, don't you?

[animated]

Would you stop. You're killing me here.

[arbitrated]

[ He holds up a hand, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. ]

Alright, alright. I didn't realize this was a sensitive topic. You have my apologies.

[animated]

[ It is... really good to see Sandon smile. His visits have always been so grim. ]

Thank you.

Also, just so you're aware, the plural of "thesaurus" is "thesauri".

[arbitrated]

[ He arches an eyebrow at that. ]

I feel like you're making that up to spite me.

[animated]

I am not. Would you like a dictionary? I sell those.

[arbitrated]

Do you? And here I thought that was only a rumor.

[animated]

Oh goodness, no. I do, in fact, sell books at my bookstore.

[arbitrated]

Now, that is surprising. I always assumed they were cardboard facades. The type you find on shelves in furniture stores.

[animated]

I actually think that's my worst nightmare. An entire bookstore full of fake books.

[arbitrated]

... Really? Not-- I don't know, spiders? Standing at the top of a very tall building? Things that go bump in the night?

[animated]

Nope. Fake books. [ he shudders ] Creepy.

[arbitrated]

[ ... Alright, that manages to surprise a genuine laugh from him. ]

Is it all the blank pages that scares you? Or the possibility that they're hollow inside?

[animated]

[ That laugh is a surprise, and Charlie actually beams a little for getting one out of him ]

I dunno. I mean, if it's got blank pages I guess it's still technically a real book.

[arbitrated]

[ He hums thoughtfully, folding his hands on the table. ]

Have you ever seen that episode of The Twilight Zone, where the man has all the time in the world to read, only his glasses break?