Logs:Donuts & Diaries

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Content Warning

Discussion of dementia & death

Cast

Line Ritmo,
Mearcstapa,
Nevermore Usher,
Ripeka Carpenter

Setting

Book's Bookstore

Log

Book's - a small, unobtrusive storefront bookstore on a small unobtrusive street, currently staffed by a large, quite obtrusive medium. Behind the desk squeezed into the opening corridor of the store, Nevermore holds a dusty old book, reading with such intensity that she might well be drooling. She's also wearing a dress today, in contrast to her previous trouser outfits - something that echoes victorian elegance, but much much simpler. The everpresent coat is draped over the desk beside her. She doesn't even seem to hear the bell as the door opens for Line.

Her head pokes in, the jaw length hair bobbing as Line turned her head this way and that, looking at the store. "Oooh, it smells of grand tales and adventure in here," she comments before emerging fully into the bookstore. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt that was entirely to big for her frame, the bottom coming down almost to her knees. The shirt itself was a cataclysm of colors, roughly depicting a night sky as if drawn by a four year old. She wore tights that one leg was white, and the other purple, and sneakers that looked oddly capable and out of place for her otherwise haphazard attire.

Line practically skipped into the book store and the first aisle, flinging a wave and a smile at Nevy as she did so. "Hey!" she called out, then stopped, and poked her head back out from the aisle to take a second look. "Oh, hello! It's you, from the diner at the end of the world!"

Nevy turns a page, rapt. She might as well be lost in her own world. Metaphorically. Probably?

Accidental rudeness didn't bother her. Heck, rudeness usually slid off Line like an unsecured tire coming of its axle. And it was an easy debate as to whether this was rudeness, so Line just shrugged, snagged a random book of the shelf, and moved to position herself opposite of Nevy. She opened the book, and did her ever best to try and match Nevy's demeanor, joining in the spirit of adventure. Fortunately, C. Tingle's latest foray into the romances of Dinosaurs and cavepeople was just such an adventure.

It’s probably a good fifteen minutes before Nevy glances up from her book, and when she does, it’s with a start that’s almost a full body flinch. “Holy shit when did you sit there?!”

Line glances up at the clock. "Fourteen minutes, seven seconds ago. Eight. Nine. Well, you get th picture!" she said, grinning at Nevy. "How are you doing? Line! Once again. How cool is it to run into you at this awesome bookstore. I like the stock," she says, holding up the Tingle book.

“Oh... heh... Sorry.” Nevy puts down the book. “You ever start reading something that you just can’t put down?”

"Oh yes. The owner's manual for the Honda Accord 2015 Hybrid SE was a must read," line says with a nod. She tilted her head and glanced to the book in Nevy's hand. "What are you sucked into ?"

“It’s a journal.” Nevy glances at the plain leather cover. “The author doesn’t give a name, but they were a medium like me.” She grin. “But more. they knew so much... it’s fascinating.”

"A medium?" Line blinked at that. "Oh, like, spirits and ghosts. Right right. Is it talking about the nature of haunting?" She leaned on the counter, interest in the jounral mounting as the Tingle book was forgotten. "I always wondered if ghosts were actually souls, or just like...an imprint of a person left like a scar on the world."

“I’ve never been sure. Even they didn’t know,” Nevy gestures to the book. “Although they believe that ghosts are a remnant of the person in question. They actually talk about a romance with a ghost named Emma. I’m not sure if it’s a metaphor or if they’re being literal, but it’s pretty romantic all the same.”

The Elemental blinked at that, then stooped her head some. "You sure that isn't Chuck Tingle's journal?" she asked, then grinned. "A romance, so that means the ghost was thinking, and not just like...well..not programmed, but operating from a set of pre determined responses. It would imply ghosts could past the turing test. I...have never talked to a ghost. Have you?"

Nevy nods. “All the time. And they’re not programs. Some of them are....” she reaches for the word. “Fuzzy. I tend to liken it to dementia.. but some are about as vibrant as some of the living.”

The interest Line carried shifted from the journal to Nevy. "Do you have regular ghost acquaintances? Or are they too transient for that?"

Nevy nods. “There’s a couple dozen ghosts around town I talk with from time to time. I think you’d like Lewis. He was around when the earliest computers were being developed, but never got a chance to really make what he wanted.”

Her eyes widened, and if Nevy could see past the Mask, they would see Line's black skin practically exploding with multicolored lightning. "Niiiiice. Your instincts are spot on, I would love to talk to that ghost. Gosh, you could literally be the best historian ever with that ability. All those primary sources? Whew." She paused. "Or would that be...exploitative?"

Nevy smiles at that. “That’s the question. Some ghosts want to have their stories told - I use them as inspiration for art and poetry. Some others would rather not.” Their smile goes lopsided. “As for history, it’s kind of hard to cite “conversation with a ghost” per the APA.”

"I..that's...well....sure, okay. Not a cite-able source, right. But it certainly would lead you to other sources and evidence that would back up what you discovered," Line noted. "If you have an interest in such things. Maybe this is some prejudging, but it seems like anyone who has an interest in ghosts would have an interest in history. Ghosts are literally history." She grinned at Nevy. "Do the ghosts that don't want their story spread avoid you, or do they still want someone to talk with? Like...do ghosts have social needs?"

Nevy chuckles. “History is always so... big. So high-view. I’m interested in people.. Their stories, their wants and needs, their emotions.” She shrugs . “Plenty of ghosts of all kinds avoid me. I’m a bit of an aberration, really, and that’s scary. But... yeah, ghosts have needs. They’re people. Heck, they have extra needs compared to the living. Some are trying to figure out what’s keeping them here so they can move on. And that’s not even discussing rumors of necromancers or ectophages.”

"Okay, you made up that last word. I know what a necromancer is, thank you table top gaming, but ectophage? Like..ghost diseases?"

Nevy shakes her head. “Ghost-eaters. People who use up ghosts for power.”

"That's a thing?" Line asked, very incredulous. "Who would eat ghosts? They're nothing but energ-oh oh ohyeah. I can see why something might eat them. That kind of life force would certainly be a delicacy for some things that go bump in the night, if you know what I mean, if they're equipped to do so. Sheesh. And you help them with that?"

The door opens, and there’s this moment when everything seems to pause. There’s a soft rustling sound that heralds Mearc’s arrival, and a sensation of not just eyes on the back of one’s neck, but the warm breath of some predator that’s just about to pounce.

But nothing does pounce, and the fellow who walks in seems more nerd than predator (until he smiles. There’s something rather too sharp about his teeth). Mearc’s carrying a cup holder with two coffees in one hand, a box of donut holes in the other.

“I haven’t had occasion yet. I’m.... not sure what I’d do, if I ran into one. But I’d have to do something.. These are my friends.”

She shivers, then smiles as she sees who’s entered. “Hey, Two-Face.”

Line nods to Nevy. "Cross that bridge when you get to it. Well, you know, if I am around and you see something like that going down, I'll help however I can. Not sure what that would be, but hey, I'd try!" She felt the finger down her spine, and turned to look at the door. A moment of study, and she whispered- "Oooh, the Scrivner. Come to Scriven us all."

She grinned at Mearc and spotted the doughnuts. "Halt!" she called leaping up from her seat. "This is a checkpoint, and I must thouroughly inspect your...luggage."

"Line. If I'd known you were here, I'd have brought an extra--actually, no, you don't need caffeine in your system." He chuckles. "The luggage contains some very important secrets I was planning to share with..." glance "...Ms. Usher, but if she's alright with it, there might be enough to go around."

“What kind of host would I be if I didn’t share?” Nevy grins. “Thanks!”

"A reasonable one!" Line started to warn Nevy, frolicking over to Mearc with hand's outstretched. "It takes a lot of sugar to power me!"

And he hands over the whole box. "Well, let's get us all powered up for the day."

His gaze moves past Line to Nevermore. "How formally have you and Line been introduced? Just so I don't step in it."

“We met at Maddy’s. I’m... pretty sure I know what’s what, and we’ve been talking ghosts for the last 5 minutes.”

"I accidentally fixed her phone because I had to," Line said, her excitement over the doughnuts flagging for a brief moment before she picked right back up. She gave Mearc a knowing look at 'had to'. "I don't mind her knowing if she knows, which..." The Elemental glanced between Mearc and Nevy, a powdered going into her gullet. "Sheemsh wike itsth shomthingth known."

"I suddenly feel less bad about all the times I've nagged vampires into upgrading their phones." He chuckles warmly; that warm breath-feeling on the back of their necks recurs. "Line, you'd hate seeing what some of them are carrying."

“I’m guessing if you’ve been chugging along steadily since 1790, upgrading every 5 years might be a Thing.” She takes a chocolate donut hole and pops it in her mouth

She shudders at the thought. "I wonder if any of them still have those bricks..." There was another shudder, and Line placed the box on the counter before Nevy, and reclaimed her seat. "So yeah, it seems like you two know each other well. And you," she nods to Nevy, "were at the Diner, which means you at least know we're not mainline humans. I can only infer the combination means you know what The Scrivener is? Cause if so, that's a meeeee tooooo." Line dragged that out as she selected another doughnut treat. "Has Nevy seen you in the buff, Scrivener?" She made a motion across her face as if scrubbing something off, to indicate she did not mean 'naked'.

"No, not yet. And here's not the place for that. Too many doors. And my freckles are cuter as she sees them." He gives Line a stern little look. "But yes, Nevermore has a pretty solid awareness of some of my history."

“Enough of one that I’ve taken to carrying self defense jars with me, just in case,” Nevy says, nodding to her purse.

Line took a moment to both chew a treat into nothingness and ponder what that meant. Finally she asked. "A ....self defense jar?"

Mearc grabs his coffee and salutes with it before taking a sip and letting out a contented sigh. "Nevermore's a scholar of the occluded and the arcane, as you might guess if you've been talking ghosts with her."

Nevy nods and rummages through her purse, pulling out a small jar filled with course powder - enough to make a circle big enough to fit two people. “Rock salt, iron filings, dried yarrow, dried St. John’s Wort, yew shavings, and poppy seeds. Enough for a defensive barrier, or if I need to, I can toss it in something’s face and run in the other direction.”

The Elemental whistles. "That is indeed quite the collection. Yeah, they've been showing themselves to be quite the sharp cookie," Line notes. "Iron filings...that's unpleasant. Salt is supposed to be for spirits and the like, right? Whats the rest for?"

"Poppy seeds are for entities with a counting compulsion, that's traditional in folklore, that much I know. Something like that might catch one of us with a strong taboo, honestly. The herbs, I'm less familiar with."

“They’ve all got a strong tradition of protection against evil magic. St. John’s Wort shows up as a bane against the, erm, Friendly Neighbors, almost as much as iron does.” They shrug. “Worst case, my purse is a bit heavier. Best case? I stay safe for another couple seconds.”

"And if all else fails, a glass jar to the face IS rather not enjoyable," Line notes with a chuckle. "So yeah, ghosts! Philadelphia is pretty old as far as cities on this continent go. I bet it has some major collection of ghosts."

Mearc claims one of the jelly-filled donutholes, grinning as he bisects it with his teeth. "I bet older ghosts are harder to deal with, though. Less rooted in the reality of the present day."

Nevy nods, tucking the jar back away. “They can be. Although some of the sharpest ones I’ve met have been the oldest.” They put one hand on the journal. “They thought something happens in the underworld that lets some ghosts stay sharp longer, and even grow and change in ways ghosts usually don’t. It makes sense.”

"Whooh...I bet some of those old codgers are reall full of themselves. The Underworld? That's actually a place?" Line tapped her chin. "Have you ever been anywhere else, Nevermore?" The inflection suggests Line isn't talking about just outside of Philly.

Mearc bristles slightly at the question, but doesn't say anything, busying himself with coffee.

Nevy shakes her head. “I had a friend- one of the, uh, Gandalf crowd? - who was planning to go on an expedition to the underworld, but I got the impression a Mere Mortal would just have slowed them down.” They consider Mearc’s reaction for a few moments, frowning thoughtfully.

Line nods at Nevy's answer. "You know, I thought I new a lot about all this, but you're really turning a new page on what I don't know. You got anything I can brush up on to start expanding my knowledge? I'll...uh..trade ya!" She looks to Mearc and tilts her head. "What's up The Scrivner? Did I do something wrong again?"

As the three talk, the door opens again, this time admitting a rather tall brown woman that Nevy might at least vaguely recognise. The other two probably not.

"I'm pretty protective of Nevermore, but I acknowledge that this gets grating to her, because she is not some innocent delicate flower going into completely unknown territory. She's a competent, intelligent, skilled..." Whatever else he was going to say cuts short when the door opens, a soft rustling sound audible even to Kotahi, along with the sensation of someone, something, watching from right behind herself.

Nevy smiles a bit wryly at Mearc. “If something happens, I promise you’ll get a chance to say you told me so. Just keep telling me where it’s most dangerous, all right?”

She looks at Line. “There are a couple bloggers and a couple books I can recommend.” She glances at the journal, and forces herself to say “honestly, when it comes to ghosts? This one here would be a good source. I’ve never read anything that explained these concepts so clearly.”

When Ripeka enters, Nevy straightens a touch - putting a bit more of the Retail Face back on. “Hi! Here for something specific, or...?”

She peers at the journal hopefully, but then laughs. "Aww, well hold on to it to your heart's content! I can start with something more beginner level," Line tells Nevy. When the door opens and everyone looks at the entrant, Line perks up and waves. "Hi! Welcome to...ah..." She glances to Nevy. "What is the name of this place again? Sorry, I didn't get a good snag of the name."

Rīpeka blinks slightly at the sensation of being watched, but doesn't say anything about it. "Yeah, uh, I got an email saying my order had arrived. Copy of Karnstein's Spirits of the Rus, for Rīpeka Carpenter?"

Mearcstapa gives Line a crooked grin. "It's called Book's. Which looks wrong on the sign, but the owner is a gentleman with the surname Book. Only too fitting."

Nevy chuckles. “I’d swear he changed his name so the apostrophe would be grammatically correct. He’s like that.” She nods. “Absolutely! Should be right back here. Mearc, Line, this is Ripeka.” She ducks behind the desk for a moment with a quiet grunt, rummaging for the requested book.

"Hi Ripeka! I am Line, pleasure to meet you!" she exclaims. Then she leans towards Mearc. "Book's? I thought the sign was missing something. Like...Great Books, or Book's Books..."

"Nice meeting you, Line," Rīpeka replies, smiling at her slightly. "Could just be a case of nominative determinism. It's not that common, but you do see it from time to time."

"Ripeka?" He checks his pronunciation before offering the mage a hand. "Janus Mearcstapa. Mearc if that's easier."

Nevy rises with the requested book. “Have you read this?” She says. “I’ve been wanting to learn more about the spirit world and such. I wonder if it’ll be a good resource.”

"Close. That first vowel should be a long one, though," Rīpeka says. "Do you prefer Mearcstapa over Janus, then?" She glances at Nevy then. "Not yet, but I've heard it's a good text for those with at least a basic level of understanding. Focused geographically, hence the title, but there's not that much variation between the more elementary spirits, as I understand it."

"I do favor Mearcstapa, but I'm not very pushy about it? Names are complicated, and there's other people who have a harder time getting theirs taken seriously than me, so it's not a realm in which I feel a need to take up space being demanding? Does...that make sense?"

Nevy finishes ringing up the book and hands it to Ripeka. “You’re not being demanding, two-face,” Nevy says, grinning.

"Exceedingly demanding," Line insisted, still grinning. "So you're a spiritualist too, then, Ree-peka?" It was a little bit of exaggeration to get the name just right.

"Of sorts? It's never been my focus, but recent events have left me wanting to learn more about the topic."

Mearc tilts his head to one side slightly, considering Ripeka. "Recent events?"

Nevy leans back against the wall behind the desk, rubbing her chin and considering Mearc thoughtfully.

"Oh! Tea! Dish!" Line insisted, leaning towards Ripeka.

Rīpeka considers Mearc for a long moment before speaking. "I went on a rather long trip that left me awakened to things I'd... not so much been unaware of, as been leaving to other people to handle." Time to see if he spots the code word.

He does, both eyebrows lifting as she mentioned becoming 'awakened'. His gaze goes past her to Nevermore, before he nabs another of the donut holes, again favoring the jelly-filled.

"At least you're aware now. Must feel a little magical, coming around to a realization like that."

Nevermore smirks and stops rubbing her chin. "I suspect it was. That kind of trip usually is."

"You could say that, yes," Rīpeka agrees blandly. "Have you ever been on a trip like that, Mearcstapa?"

"No. Nothing like that. Instead, I once got myself lost. I'm not sure I'll ever really find my way back home, to where I started from." His turn to lay down buzzwords, testing her understanding.

Nevy stays quiet, her expression amused and exasperated in equal measure.

Line looked back and forth between the two, and then leaned towards Nevy. "They knoooow," she half whispered to the storekeeper. She snags a powered hole. "We should flee while we can!"

"But it left you with a significant mask, at least?" Understanding displayed. Probably. There's a glance towards to Line, then. "And what makes you think you could ever outrun me?"

"Even if you were able to overtake her, you wouldn't be able to keep her if you caught her, Ripeka. Nor would it be kind to try." He finishes his coffee, and pull out his phone to glance at it. "I've got other business to take care of today. Will you all take care?"

Nevy snorts. "I guess it's okay to tell everyone here I've met up with everyone else here at Maddy's then, huh?" They shake their head. "And lets not start a measuring contest, okay? We're all terrible creatures out of the shadows, let's leave it at that." She considers Mearc, then hugs him. "Text me if you're free later, okay? I'd love to hang out."

"If we're talking about actually running, there isn't much that can outrun me! I'm quick like lightning, zap!" Line said with a grin. "And The Scr- er, Mearcstapa has a point. Haven't had to worry about that in a while." She frowned a bit at Nevy. "I'm mostly harmless," she said quietly. Then she perked up. "I want to hang out too, even if you are a bit grumpy!"

"Just don't forget your towel," Rīpeka says to Line, smirking slightly, before glancing back towards Mearc. "I will if you do, whatever it is you need to do."

"Grumpy?" He blinks a couple times, then chuckles. "You've hardly seen how grumpy I get, Line."

He pauses to offer Nevermore a hug, and then makes his exit.

Nevy waves farewell, then looks to the others. "So! Either of you need any other books?"

"Oh, no thank you," Line says. "I don't think you have what I am looking for regarding spacial manipulation anyways. But it was super fun talking with you again!"

"Not right now," Rīpeka shrugs one shoulder. "Especially if that was meant to be a hint for us to leave so you can go on break."

Nevy gives an embarrassed shrug. "There's donuts."

Line was in the process of filling a hand with as many of the doughnut holes she could carefully stack. "There are indeed! I am going to go on. Got an appointment to fix a car in a couple of hours. Was just dropping by. I'll swing by again, Nevermore. This place is great!"

"I'll leave you to them, then," Rīpeka grins, slipping the book she'd come for into her bag. "See you around, Nevy, Line."

"Have a great evening! Tell me how the book is. If it's good enough I might look into a copy for myself." She picks up the journal, but waits until the others have made their goodbyes before she returns once more to the realm of eldritch lore and ghostly romance.