piece by piece (Dare)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna opened her shop to find her latest order waiting by the counter. Her schoolbag was unceremoniously propped against her stool. She was normally excited about any order, whether it contained books for the business or her own personal reading. Now she just wasn't in the mood.

She opened the parcels one at a time, marking each item off of the inventory sheet. It was a small order since she really hadn't opened her shop much in the last few days.....or weeks. Anna really had no idea how long it had been since she'd met with Storm that day. It seemed like it was just yesterday yet at the same time it felt like ages had passed.

The shop held memories of times with Chase, and every time she was alone here, she couldn't help but remember them and feel the loss as if it were a fresh wound. It probably hadn't helped that she'd locked herself in to cry right after she heard about the engagement. Ever since, there had been a gloom about the place that Anna just couldn't get over.

She gathered the paper wrappings and put them in a container by the hearth before beginning the task of putting away the books. She was nearly done when she heard the chime of the door. "I'll be right there." She called out as she filed a book in one of the back shelves.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare didn't call out a response, but started looking around. He was under no delusions that he'd get out of this without seeing Annabelle, but the faster he could find what he needed and have it ready, the less time for awkwardness there would be. He'd let the drama club die for his own personal drama, so there hadn't been enough contact to smooth away what had happened that day at the lake.

He glanced at the books in each section, moving on when he identified wizarding books, until he found the Muggle section. It was larger than he might have expected, but there still wasn't enough to make scanning for self-help or health and fitness books at all difficult.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"What can I help you fi-" Anna called out as she rounded the corner of a shelf. She stopped mid-word when she saw her customer. It took a second for her to recover from her shock at seeing him before continuing as she approached. "Oh. Hi Dare. Can I help you with something?"

She didn't know if he was there for something business or otherwise since she had never seen him at her shop before. She couldn't think of any other reason for him to approach her though so she tried not to let her mind imagine possibilities until she heard what he was there for. She knew the prophet was 90% exaggeration and lies, so she wouldn't credit anything it might have said about either of them as a reason for him to seek her out.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare tossed his head slightly as he turned to look at Anna, his fringe shifting, then falling back into place across his eyes. "I'm looking for a book," he said, though he hoped it was obvious. He hoped she didn't read the Daily Prophet, since whatever Dahlia had written had apparently been pretty bad. This was more awkward than he'd expected, despite the fact that Anna was being polite. He'd seen that moment of shock.

Dare's left hand rose of its own volition to rub the back of his neck almost sheepishly. Something about Michael's reaction had told Dare that it was an American thing, if not a California thing. He already knew it was a Muggle thing. "Do you have anything on yoga?"

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I thought you already knew yoga?" Anna cocked her head to the side in confusion. The question had popped out of her mouth without her even thinking that she only knew about from secondhand information and not from Dare himself. Markise had mentioned Dare and his mom when he had explained about Yoga and Pilates. The mention had been brief but it was enough that Anna just assumed Dare wouldn't need a book to do yoga.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare blinked, confused surprise lighting his eyes a moment before he looked at Anna warily. How in hell did she know that? He'd forgotten that one brief moment when he'd seen Markise and Anna leaving the Great Hall together. He hadn't been in his right mind then. For a moment, maybe only a heartbeat, there was only silence.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna was surprised by his reaction for a split second before she realized that since they weren't friends, her knowing that would normally be weird. She quickly explained, not liking that he was looking at her like she was a weird stalker. "Markise told me one day when we were talking." She chewed at her lower lip, hoping he didn't think it was too odd anymore now that Dare knew the source of her information.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Oh," Dare said, "gotcha." Was Markise telling everyone everything? First Mano, now Anna. He shifted slightly on his feet, looking over at the closest shelf before he remembered what she'd said in the first place. He looked back at Annabelle. "I'm out of practice," he said. That was definitely true. Dare had a brief thought for his mother. He hadn't learned from a book, but he thought it would all come back if he had a push.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I only have one book, it's used." Anna gestured for Dare to follow her to the front of the store and walked behind the counter. She crouched down to a shelf she kept the books she was reading and would sell as used when she was done. When she appeared again she placed 2 books on the counter; Idiot's guide to Pilates and Yoga for Dummies. She grinned sheepishly as she admitted, "Markise thought Yoga might help me, but it's hard to follow the diagrams when you don't have a clue what you're really doing."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare stood on the other side of the counter, but leaned slightly forward, tilting his head to see. "For Dummies?" he read, obviously skeptical. He'd never heard of either series of books, so the titles didn't click in his mind. "Maybe you should try one for smarter people," he suggested. By the titles, he wasn't interested in either of them. He turned the yoga book toward himself and flipped it open. "This is way too much info. I'm looking for intermediate, anyway." His eyes paused at Chapter 19, Sex and Yoga Make Good Bedfellows. There was something he'd never thought of. He went on, giving a light sigh. Less than three months, but it felt like forever!

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna had been watching Dare flipping through the book. She had been about to explain that it was only the muggle company's name for the series and didn't relate to how smart the person was reading it. His pause while flipping distracted her when she caught the upside-down title of the chapter; then she heard the sigh. She started choking in shock, thinking that maybe the Prophet had gotten something right for once. She turned away as she coughed, her face turning red with her thoughts.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's head shot up at that first sound, and for a split second, he tensed to jump the counter. He waited a moment to see if it got better or worse, and when her coughing fit began to die down, he looked at her with concern etched on his face. "Anna, you okay?" he asked. He'd been looking at the book rather than at Annabelle, so he didn't make any associations, didn't even realize she'd been looking at the book when he'd paused. And he knew nothing about the latest issue of the Daily Prophet.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna nodded, reaching under the counter for a bottle of water and taking a sip before looking at Dare. He apparently didn't know what had caused the reaction from her and she wasn't about to enlighten him. "Sorry." She offered, trying to remember what she was going to say before the incident. She glanced at the book, not able to think of anything other than Chapter 19's title.

"Oh, Right! The title of the book." She said after a moment of staring at it. She felt a sense of relief at having a different topic even if her face still showed signs of her embarrassment. "The publishers made a whole series of 'how to' books. They just titled them that to catch attention to sell more."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare wasn't so sure that was everything, but he had no right and no real desire to press for more. He looked appraisingly at Anna for just a moment longer before dropping his gaze back to the book. "And people actually buy these things?" Dare mused, resuming his browsing. "From the look of it, it's not for Dummies, but it'd sure make you feel like one."

There was so much information in the book that he was interested in, but he knew he'd never read through it all, not even if he brought it to work every night. It was so technical, and that wasn't how he saw yoga. It wasn't what he needed. He wished he could somehow pull out Chapter 19 and leave the rest of the book behind, but he wouldn't even think of asking, and he wouldn't buy an entire book for one chapter. Maybe he could find a better book that would have some of the same information.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I can order something else for you. I just didn't know what to get when I bought it, and there isn't much demand for books on muggle exercises around here." She pulled out the catalog from one of her muggle suppliers and found the section on exercising that she had marked before sliding it over to Dare. "The movies are mixed in, so you have to weed through them."

She thought about it a moment before voicing the offer that was going through her head. She didn't usually lend out books, but it was a used copy anyways. "It'll take a week or so for a shipment to arrive. If you wanted, you could borrow that one in the meantime. It didn't help me any, but it might do you some good since you already know what you're doing. The front part had the poses or whatever they're called. I doubt anyone else is going to come in looking for a yoga book anytime soon." She tried not to think that he might be interested on the chapter he paused at, but her cheeks still heated at the failed attempt.