Public movie night at the bookstore

[JC Smith]

“Nice to meet you Chris.” The man’s hand felt warm and strong. JC could see the muscles flex along the arm which seemed to almost radiate heat. The Gangrel wondered what the blood of such a specimen must taste like.

He was about to ask what the films were but then noticed the sign in the window as they made their way in.

“Looks like a Brad Pitt night,” he said with a slight smile “I’ve seen both the films but haven’t read any books.” Jennifer seemed… different. It was only a slight relaxing of her demeanor (she still had the air of a coiled snake) but it made for a big change given what he was used to.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn grinned easily at Jennifer's compliment. "Thank you, Jennifer. You are looking casually fine tonight." She chuckled softly and regarded Chris a bit, and watched recognition dawn in his eyes.

She knew he was remembering that she had also been at Nexxus, and just for moment she gloated at that. When a predator meets someone who knows what she is, it takes slight turn doesn't it? The assessing, wondering, the sharpening of the senses. Quinn was not as threatening as some of their community.

And that someone just showed up. Yet Chris didn't seem to hesitate with J.C. Quinn almost smirked at that. It reminded her that most Kine, even Kine with special abilities, couldn't see past their damn nose. "I remember you from the Club as well." She nodded once in recognition of that fact.

"Hello J.C. Thank you for joining me this evening. I was gunna buy some new books. New books, new thoughts, new actions, right?" She said with a light tone. "Let no one say I do not support local business." Yeah, Jennifer had quite a few friends with money. Share the love.

Quinn nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's." She paused and nodded to Corn inside. "Your friend is starting to look like one of those little Garfield's with the suction cups...." Quinn observed with a giggle.

[Kaze]

Kaze grins and says, "Definitely." when Jennifer says Gerrit's flower show is a hit, and they should go on a date to Sarah's tea shop next time.


He notices and tracks the interactions between Jennifer, Quinn and J.C. It's an interesting dynamic. Quinn and Jennifer do seem like they're friends, even though they seem kind of respectful too, like they know each other from work more than like being neighbors or something. More or less like peers. J.C. seems kind of on edge, but that makes, like a ton of sense being there with two predators; even if he doesn't know, he's got to be picking up danger and red flags. Kaze keeps an eye on J.C. incase he has a psychotic break. Hey, it happens.


"I had to read 'The Great Gatsby' for school." He admits. "I liked it better than 'Lord of the Flies'." Kaze says with a sheepish shrug, obviously signaling he's not really an academic type. "So I guess I like the author."


He heads inside alongside Jennifer.


"That's Jacob." Kaze says, introducing Corn. "Hey, this is Jenna." He says to Corn. "We're on a double date with her friends, Quinn and J.C." He indicates the others in turn with their names with a slight chin jut.


"Cool." Kaze says after he and J.C. shake each others hand. He seems accepting of J.C., and content and secure, without needing to fill any silence.


Kaze nods when Quinn confirms she was at the Nexus. Doesn't mean she's a vampire tho. Doesn't mean she's not. He watches her interacting with J.C. It's hard to pin down their relationship. They definitely don't seem like lovers anyway.


He laughs inside, just smiling on the outside when Quinn comments on his totally mundane, normal seeming friend, 'Jacob'.


"Yeah, he's kind of nerdy, but he's cool anyway." Kaze says, grinning at Corn. "This was a great idea! Looks like you're gonna sell a ton of books tonight, Jacob!"

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"I haven't read the books." Jennifer shared when JC shared his experience with the books in question. "This should be fun."
"Thank you." Jennifer responded to Quinn with a smile. "New thoughts, new actions. That could be interesting."

Jennifer observed that Chris's friend didn't respond when she spoke to him. She gave Jacob and then Chris a curious glance.
"I don't recall the Great Gatsby. I do remember 'Lord of the Flies'. That was very traumatic for me." She gave a good natured laugh, her Curse making it sound raspy.
"Nerdy is in." Jennifer told the group, confident in her idea. "Yeah, I definitely plan on picking up the books."

She wandered over to the book stand and perused.

[Corn]

As Kaze introduces him to the classy lady and her friends Corn nods politely.
"Pleased to meet you, Jenna, Queen and JC. I am Jacob but you may hear a couple of customers call me 'T'. It's a long story for another time." Corn said, as a couple of the customers present at the time knew him by a very different name than the one Skye gave him on a whim - his real name, Theodore - starting with a T.
Listening to @Jennifer 's voice Corn's smile didn't falter.
The poor woman, probably larynx cancer survivor or something similar. And she seems to take it so well. For all his doubts about his skills with the ladies, Kaze certainly knows how to pick them. Corn thought to himself.

Quinn stroke him a bit oddly. She didn't seem the type to be interested in books and seemed to fit better in a nightclub - and she did mention she met Kaze in a club. Don't judge a book by its cover, Corn thought to himself. Pretty cover at that. Business was certainly going well tonight and if the local book-eaters saw Classy Jenna and wordly Quinn, business would increase.
JC seemed... exactly the type of person that would patronize the bookstore. And he was so far the only one that hasn't mention buying the books. Time to earn his keep...
"JC, I assure you that the books are excellent choices that would enrich the experience of the movies. Reading a book is more... personal. Your mind forms its own images for the situations and persons described. A movie is more like the well-thought, practiced and choreographed glimpse of someone else's imagination -as constrained by budget and people available. I don't dish at movies here, I enjoy movies. But reading is different. Not better for all kinds of stories, but different.
Do not underestimate the power of one's imagination given form. And that goes also for the practiced and choreographed imag-ination of the director of a movie. But the movie would be the same each time you watch it. Reading? Not necessarily. Your Imagination may create something different depending on the situation. Perhaps the second time you read a story your current boss's image jumps in. Or you actually notice the protagonist has long hair while you have missed it the first time. That kind of thing."
There was a small pause the first time corn said the word 'imagination', one that could easily be overlooked as someone losing his train of thought or taking a breath. Fool! Don't say the world 'imago' to sleepers! Good think Winter is not here. Corn thought to himself. The 'invasion' of his mage side, even nearly causing him to slip and mention watching a movie is like practicing a rote spell (someone else's imagination) while reading is closer to improvised magic (your own will) was a surprise to him.

[JC Smith]

“No problem,” he replied to Quinn’s thanks. It felt almost like a lie. Not that it was a problem. Just… hard right now. He’d have to try to figure out later how feeling miserable was trying to be helpful. “Did you have anything specific in mind or going to browse during intermissions?” he asked, managing a small smile.

Chris seemed to be watching JC with… concern? It would be kind of flattering if the fit man wasn’t a known ‘club goer’. JC had never been to the Nexus. It sounded like court but with the added anxiety inducer of other supernatural creatures. Though if all were as easy to talk to as Chris seemed to be, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. “Can’t say I’m a fan of either. Though I haven’t read them since high school, so I might just not like homework. But I always felt that people tend to be a lot more supportive in dire straits than fiction give them credit for.” Kindred though, he could see them getting Lord of the Flies pretty quick. Just listening to Hazelton’s laugh was almost enough to make him cringe and could probably drive him insane with long term constant exposure, beast or no.

“Hi Jacob,” the Gangrel greeted the store’s employee. Who seemed very enthusiastic to explain to JC the difference in media. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to be the focus of the attention. Maybe being the least intimidating to talk to compared to the Lady Hazelton and the enticing Durant. He gave a brief chuckle “I know how books work,” he joked, though with the pause he briefly wondered if he should. It might be taken the wrong way. “But I think the two mediums require you to imagine different things. In books you get a lot more of what a character is thinking and feeling with a continuous narrative but you have to imagine environment and character appearance. With movies you can see those things but more often than not what the character is thinking and what happens between scenes is left up to the audience.”

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn nodded once to J.C's acceptance of her thanks, and then smiled. "Poetry and philosophy. I've recently been dabbling in the subject, and it goes along with some things I am working on at home. Figure I'd revisit some, and read some new." The Shadow clearly had something specific in mind, but didn't she always? "What about you? Are you going to pick up anything while we are here? If you see something especially interesting I wouldn't mind picking it up for you. After all, I took you away from your plans." She said gently. In Kindred society, favors were always repaid. Usually with interest.

She winked at Jennifer. "I need some new inspiration. I like to shake things up a bit, and I take inspiration from a lot of sources. Literature is always changing, and readily available. I have some new shelving I'd like to stock." She looked over Chris a second, and her voice dropped to decibels below that of human range. "I'm glad you picked the tall handsome one, instead of the snow bunny." She supplied, appearing as if to lean in to whisper a secret to the haunt. J.C would hear, but the others shouldn't. When she leaned away, she giggled softly. Girl talk. See.

Quinn's smile stepped up a notch when she noted Jacob looking her over. Clearly evaluating her. She was not unaccustomed to that. She knew what she looked like. She wondered what he was thinking, but held off on using her usual tricks she used with humans. She was on her best behavior after all. These were people Jennifer wanted to be around. She would play nice.
"Hi Jacob! Nice shop you got here. Do you also order for customers if you don't have a title in stock?" She asked inquisitively. "I prefer to support local business when and if I can."

[Kaze]

Kaze nods and says, "Oh wow. Sorry. Yeah definitely did not enjoy, would not recommend." When Jennifer says that reading 'Lord of the Flies' was traumatic for her. "It's so much better when you can choose for yourself what to read." He smiles. "Hey, if you end up reading the Gatsby book, we can book club it, you know? Read it at the same time and talk about it. I'm in if you are."


He watches Jennifer head over to the book stacks, hanging back a minute, apparently confident that Jennifer won't mind.


Kaze smiles as Corn lays out his story, wondering idly if the 'T' comment is a cover up or something, it kind of sounds like it might be. He considers how tricky things could get if he had real life mundane friends who know his True name mixing with Mages who could use that to establish a sympathetic connection for spell casting. Yeah, he really needs to finish up his solid, bullet proof New Identity. It's almost ready to go, and he's just kind of put it off while his next acting gig has been waiting to start shooting, so he hasn't had to actually show up and sign stuff yet. He should focus and get it all done and ready.


Kaze grins as Corn aka Jacob really goes to town on the merits of books versus movies. He sounds pretty into it. Not quite up to the level of Eulogy on buriels, but in the neighborhood, enthusiasm wise. Interesting he's focused on J.C. though, who looks kind of like someone who haunts used bookstores for budget book purchases already, but he could be wrong. Still, he kinda trusts his own instincts more than Corns when it comes to people. Maybe Corn is just more comfortable focusing on a guy than on the women, since he's engaged and all.


Kaze laughs when J.C. says he knows how books work. "So, what do you read, you know, for fun, J.C.?" Kaze asks, interested. "I mean, I read military sci fi, but lately I have been getting into some classic detective stuff, you know, like 'The Big Sleep' by Chandler or 'The Thin Man' by Dashiell Hammett?"


"Wow." Kaze says, impressed when Quinn Durant says she's getting into books on poetry and philosophy. "I read some religious stuff, but for straight philosophy, I guess 'The Art of War' and 'Hagakure' are as close as I get." His pronunciation of the second book has a definite Japanese accent, like he is a Japanese speaker saying a Japanese word.


He smiles but doesn't say anything when Quinn looks him over.


Kaze nods and says, "Definitely." when Quinn says she likes to support local businesses.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

Jennifer brought over two of each title book that had been set out to Jacob.
"Ring these up, please?" Jenni requested politely in her Cursed voice
" I think they are going to make a nice gift- the ones that are not being kept for myself, that is.
I've found literature is great for reaching across all sorts of boundaries- age, different upbringing... All sorts of differences."

A glance to Jacob. "I know that I re - read an old favorite often. Even if it's not highbrow.
You certainly see different things upon a second or tenth read through. I agree.

What about you, JC? Did you have a favorite book from school?"

Jennifer nods to Quinn. "Definitely, Quinn. I am often inspired by literature."

As she referred to Skye, Jennifer smiled slightly. She replied back in the same method as Quinn, very quietly.
"Skye was lovely. Chris and I have a connection."

Even if he couldn't overhear, she gave Chris a fond smile.
She moved closer to him naturally as she responded
" I would like that idea. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it."

[Corn]

JC had a point and Corn nodded appreciatively. "That is a very good observation, JC. Indeed, books contain much more information on what one thinks and feels while in movies it has to be carried across by actors. I will use that as a bonus on books when it comes to movies. To be fair, we need as many advantages as possible in the age of streaming whatever movie you want in your phone."
Quinn Durant 's interest was a bit of a surprise but her offer to patronize local businesses was certainly welcome. This was going very well. "Madam, of course we order for our customers if we don't have something in stock. Such places like ours try to thrive by being more personal towards our cliente. Thus, we organize movie nights - which is something Chris suggested I should say and it was a very good idea - and we have comfortable, well lit, quiet rooms for people to stop and read and such.
Furthermore we have access to more books and types than what you see on the shelves. If you want a book about ... " he makes a short pause to think "... say the cooking recipes of the Mughal Empire or something, we will try to find it. We will call other shops and do the legwork for you at no extra cost. It is our job and we like it. " well, not me. I will have uncle look for it. His shop, his legwork. Corn thought but didn't voice it. And deep down he knew that his uncle will throw the task right back at him as long as he had to take care of Aunt Sylvia.

While talking to Quinn, he fidgets around the shelf next to him and pulls a copy of the Art of War for Kaze that he passes to the mage. After finishing his pitch to the socialite/patron of the local businesses, he simply tells to Kaze. "As a thanks for the idea and the Van and for being a good guy. Probably makes a good gift for new members of the self defense class you have mentioned in the past." Kaze would always be an arrow to Corn whatever politics or personal stuff led him away.

@Jennifer brought two books for him and Corn took them with a smile. "Do you want them wrapped, madam?" he asked politely. "I could put a custom-made bow of the color you want."