The Other Real World (open)

[Indigo Noble]

"Just online," Indigo said, keeping his gaze down. He pulled out the galleons and offered them to the girl at arm's length. "Iblogandstuff." Not that he showed anyone his blog. He hoped his parents didn't realize he had one. They weren't really computer people beyond checking their e-mail and Facebook once a day. He was pretty sure his dad still thought AOL was a browser. "Do you work here a lot?" Maybe he could come in at another time and just stay until she got here.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle took the coins as she tried to figure out what he'd said. I blonde staff? That doesn't make any sense. She gave up momentarily as he changed the subject and diverted her attention. She wasn't sure why he'd asked, to be nice or... Annabelle turned back to the counter to put the money in the till and to hide the blush that had appeared. Is he asking because he hopes to be able to come back when I'm working? Is that why he wanted the unlimited internet? She felt crazy even thinking the thought, people didn't like her like that. She was the quiet bookworm that most people forgot even existed. "Um, yeah. I'm the owner, so I'm basically always here. When I'm not at school of course."

[Indigo Noble]

"You own it?" Indigo asked. He looked up reflexively, and when he saw that she was turned away, let his eyes linger a bit, hoping if he could get used to looking at her a little, maybe it'd make it easier. She had really nice hair... He caught his gaze slipping lower and looked away before she could turn and catch him. "Um, so you go to school too? Are you a seventh year?" Probably, and she probably had some big Quidditch Captain boyfriend.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle was used to the shock of someone so young owning the store, but she usually heard it from the older customers, not the students. They usually thought it was cool and tried to con her into giving them discounts. She reached the counter and turned around it, hoping that he would attribute the color in her cheeks to the warmth of the fire. "Ah, yes. Seventh year. Ravenclaw." Still. Annabelle caught herself standing there frowning at the counter and quickly busied herself with putting away the coins. It was hard to not feel a stab of pain at the thought that she should have already graduated. She was almost positive Indigo was new so he wouldn't know, but she felt like a failure around some of the other students. "You?"

[Indigo Noble]

"Gryffindor," Indigo answered. He didn't want to admit to being a sixth year, no matter if he had a chance with her or not, so he tried to think of something else to say and hoped she wouldn't notice. "I'm not really sure about the Houses or anything, I can hardly remember what they're called. Salem didn't do it like that. They just had boys' dorms and girls' dorms." Of course, it was a lot smaller school than Hogwarts.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Oh, so you're new this year? I thought maybe I just hadn't seen you around since I....reopened the store." Annabelle recovered after a short pause, then went on hoping that he hadn't caught the uncertainty in her voice or question why she'd paused. "Which school is in Salem? I have a couple of friends that came from a school in America a few years ago."

[Indigo Noble]

"Salem Institute of Magic," Indigo answered. "It's in Massachusetts. I don't know anyone else who left, though." He was pretty well defrosted by now and turned slightly to look into the store. He still intended to buy a book, so he tucked his hands into the pockets of the checkered hoodie he was wearing and headed toward the nearest shelf. "Where are your friends from?" he asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Well they're all from SWIM, I've forgotten exactly what the acronym stands for, but I think it was in California. Markise and his sister are actually from New York though, which is close to Massachusetts isn't it?" Annabelle hadn't ever had a reason to memorize each of the united states and their locations, but she knew the main ones. She was pretty sure she remembered Massachusetts being a little dot on the globe. "That's the tiny one isn't it?" She'd finished ringing up his order and pretended to look through one of her ordering catalogs as she watched him browse the shelves. It wasn't that she expected him to steal, more that she was interested to see what books he'd be looking at.

[Indigo Noble]

"Close enough," Indigo said. He kept his head down as he wandered slowly along the row of books, scanning the covers. "There's really people from New York and everything, though," he wondered aloud. He'd been so sure that he'd be the only American, and it had driven him crazy that he couldn't jump online and check out the demographics. Wizards just didn't have websites. "You got any books about Hogwarts?" he asked. "I mean, I've got a History of Magic book, but like, I was thinking I could give something to my mom for Christmas."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"The only book I know of is Hogwarts: a History. I haven't seen any others, I guess everyone thinks the thousand pages pretty much covered it all and there's nothing new to say. I can show it to you if you want to take a look at it?" Annabelle closed the catalog and moved from behind the counter before he answered. It was always easier to pull the books herself then to try and call out directions for the customers to find them. The book in question was along the back wall with the textbooks because that seemed most appropriate.

[Indigo Noble]

"Yeah, I'll look at that," Indigo said. He waited until she passed him, testing himself to be sure he remembered her name, but unwilling to say it in case he was wrong. And maybe if he followed her he could check her out just a little more without her knowing. He felt guilty doing it, so he didn't take much more than glances down, but it was well worth the heat in his cheeks and the slight discomfort in his low-slung jeans.

He forced himself to speak, hoping that if he said something she wouldn't think he was doing anything. "Uh, does it have like, a ribbon bookmark or anything? My mom really likes that stuff and Muggle books don't really have them." She'd been excited just by his textbooks, with their heavy covers and elegant writing. He didn't get it. They were textbooks.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle let out a light laugh. At least I'm not the only one that gets excited about little book-related things. She'd never gone gaga over a ribbon, but old leather covers had been known to give her the chills. "I can appreciate that. I'm pretty sure it has at least one ribbon. Ah yes, here it is. Look there's three." She had walked up to the bookshelf and pulled out one of the massive books without having to search. She would have pointed to them while she turned around, but really the book was heavy and she needed both hands to hold it out to him.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo raised his eyes to an appropriate level just in time. Most of his face was hidden by hair at this point, but he hoped she couldn't see anything in what showed. He let his eyes rest on the book, which was safe, rather than stray anywhere else. "Yeah, she'll like that," he said, though he wasn't entirely sure. It looked expensive. Maybe he'd just give it to both his parents together.

He reached out and took it, looking over the cover, but not opening it. He wasn't really interested in a book this big, or in the whole history of his school, for that matter. "How much is it?" he asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna reached out and turned the book so she could see the price sticker she'd placed on the back. Her hand brushed against his in the process and she quickly withdrew it. "Sorry, it's um.." Annabelle struggled to regain control of her mind before hastily rattling off the proper amount. She was surprised at how warm his hand had felt, and hadn't been expecting the touch that sent a shiver up her arm. She couldn't deny having noticed his unique style or his attractive looks, from what she'd seen that his hair didn't block at least.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo pulled a sharp breath and nearly dropped the book, which slipped precariously toward his fingertips. He caught it at an awkward angle with one hand, then quickly brought his other around, mentally berating himself for being so clumsy. She'd just touched him, that was all, it was an accident, and he was making a complete idiot of himself. "Sorry," he stammered. "It's um, heavy. I mean, for a book. And I... how much was it?" He remembered the sticker and heat flared further into his face as he turned the book over in his hands. "Yeah, I'll buy it. I can afford that." And yet he really had no clue what the sticker had said.