ArchivedLogs:Nice Stack

Nice Stack
Dramatis Personae Elliott, Gabriel
In Absentia	2013-08-12 '
Location <NYC> Strand Books - East Village
The Strand manages to pack a whole lot of character into one bookstore, but they have a lot of space to fit it in. They advertise themselves as having eighteen miles of books, and whether or not that is true, it certainly is true that they have an enormous number of shelves packed into their rows and rows and rows of books. A book-lover's haven, this East Village landmark boasts an enormous collection of volumes of all types among their stacks, crammed into the narrow aisles. Well-known for their rare and out-of-print collection, they have many hard to find volumes tucked away in their labyrinth of shelves as well. Mid-afternoon on a Monday is not the busiest time for finding people Out and About; the aisles at Strand are not packed, at the moment. Perhaps that is why Elliott feels at ease making herself /comfortable/ in one of them. She's nestled on the floor in an aisle of graphic novels, a number of books taken off the shelf and piled neatly behind her. Her legs stretch out across the aisle, a book -- /Chew/ -- in her hands already and her backpack on the floor on her other side. Dressed casually today, she's in olive green cargo pants, sneakers, a grey v-neck t-shirt, her hair pulld bak into a low ponytail and her eyes scanning the pages of her book with a small smile on her face. Meanwhile, Gabriel is slowly trotting down the aisles with a stack of various books in his hands. Wearing a nice blue shirt, jeans, and his converse, Gabriel is dressed well for the weather. His stack of books does not fit any single genre, with stuff varying from chess strategies books to cook books to young adult novels. Possibly the strangest thing in this shack, is Fifty Shades of Grey, Braille edition. He heads into the Graphic Novel sections, searching amongst various DC brands, for several moments until he spots Elliott. "Oh, hello there! Almost didn't spot you!". He smiles, as he begins flipping through a Heroes graphic novel. "Nice stack you got there? Is that Chew? Good read, if I say myself.". Elliott, at least, definitely spots /Gabriel/ heading towards her; she drags her legs in towards her chest slowly, tucking her knees upwards and resting her book against her thighs. "Eh, the call of a good comic book can blind the best of us." She hasn't looked up yet, only doing so once she reaches the end of the page. She glances over Gabriel, and then over his stack of books. "Weird premise, I didn't know what to think. S'good, though." A small smile pulls at her lips as she looks over Gabriel's mix of books. "Eclectic." Gabriel chuckles a slight bit, as he continues going over graphic novels. "Some of these are gifts, but I guess I do have quite a broad range.". He looks over her for a few moments, scratching his temples. "Have we..met before? You seem very familliar.". Suddenly, as he is pulling out a book at the bottom of a stack, his eyes flash slightly, as the stack begins shaking. It almost topples, as he grabs it, putting it back up. "Okay, that's probably going to kill someone.". He slowly pulls out a Batman graphic novel, flipping through it, mumbling slightly. "Wait, I think I've read this one.". "Met?" Elliott tilts her head to the side, looking over Gabriel. "I don't think so, no. I just," her smile curls up wider, kind of wry, "have one of those faces, I think. Woah there --" She pushes herself upright more, reaching towards Gabriel's stack as it wobbles. "Hey, man, you alright there?" Gabriel puts the Batman one back on the stack, and begins splitting into several stacks as to prevent this from happening again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Stack was uneven, almost crushed me I guess.". He stares at her for a moment, before shaking his head back, smiling. "I'm Gabriel, by the way. Nice to meet you.". He goes back to picking through graphic novels, pushing his stack over slightly with his foot. After finding one, he looks towards his stack. "Do you mind if I sit here and read? I understand if you want your space, I can go!". He smiles, slightly awkwardly. "I think you'd have lived," Elliott answers with a quick laugh, settling back down into place. "Elliott. Feel free. I wouldn't want to stand between someone and comic books. Never really did get into Batman much, though, I admit. Interesting stories but sometimes hard to -- actually find anyone in them worth rooting for." Smiling slowly, Gabriel laughs slightly. "I think Gordon's decent, atleast.". He sits next to his stack, flipping through graphic novels. "Elliott..wait, were you on TV? The news maybe? I might be mistaking you for someone else though, so feel free to correct me.". He smiles, reading at a pretty fast pace. "Not that it matters, anyways. Mystery is always apart of the fun of meeting people, I guess.". The smile fades slightly, just for a moment, and then Elliott's teeth flash brighter. "I've been on TV here and there recently," she agrees. "Slowing down a little bit now, thankfully. At least for the moment. I'm sure it'll stir back up again soon." Gabriel begins flipping pages, as his phone vibrates in his pocket. He checks a message, before putting it back in. "I guess it bothers you, then?". He smiles again, as he flips forward in one hand, replying to the message with the other. "I mean, when you're the center of attention, it must be pretty difficult to get any privacy. I know I wouldn't like it.". "I don't know if it bothers me, exactly," Elliott muses, shrugging one shoulder. "I think I got used to the press long before I was ever in it. Political family, kinda comes with the territory. Now --" Her head shakes indecisively from side to side. "It's for a good cause. If God's blessed me enough to hand me the microphone, I'll use it to try and do something /right/. Be lying if I said it didn't sometimes wreak /havoc/ on my schedule, though. Just want to get some homework done and there's a million other things pulling a million other ways, you know?" Gabriel listens, looking up from the graphic novel for a second. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't know anything about this.". He smiles again, as his phone vibrates. He picks it up, reads it, and slowly lifts himself up, grabbing his stack. "It was nice meeting you - Elliott, right? - but family calls. Maybe I'll see you around again some time.". He smiles, slowly heading to the check-out. "Have a nice day". "You too," Elliott answers Gabriel cheerfully. She gives him a quick smile, but it fades as she looks back downwards, immersing herself in her book once more.