Of Books and Bikes [ Ink & Yui ]

[Wasteful Ink]

Life for one Jason Mauve was good...great, even. For one, he'd recently graduated high-school, despite ample missed days and skipped classes. Surprisingly enough for the dark-haired young man, his placement in class wasn't as low as he'd originally thought it was going to be. He wasn't stupid, by any means, but he wasn't technically classified as a genius, either. He was naturally a smart guy, and barely spent any time studying, which is where his initial surprise came from. Regardless, he refused to look a gift horse in the mouth, and accepted his diploma and transcript with a rugged grin and pride twinkling in his hazel eyes.

The second reason why his life was good was due to something so very different from the first, but it was nonetheless worth being happy over. His pride and joy, his baby, his ride or die...his Honda CBR...it was back from the shop, after an entire month of maintenance in his dad's old auto-shop. After an unfortunate accident, which ended with Jason breaking his right arm and left ankle, the motorcycle had been out of commission due to some much-needed engine and frame repairs. Now, however, it was back in black, and he couldn't be more satisfied with its new kit.

However, what really kept his mood high, was one thing in particular. The next book in the award-winning series, To Catch a Firefly, was fresh on the shelves of bookstores all around the world. It wasn't the only fantasy book series he was a fan of, of course, but it was easily his favorite. The series had everything - action, drama, adventure, and the type of romance scenes that would leave a nun in a coma. Back in high-school, he had to keep such interests to himself, hiding it whenever he hung around his own group of friends and acquaintances...but now, free from those shackles, Jason was free to be himself, and read whatever the Hell he wanted to read.

That was precisely the reason why he was going seventy-five on a fourty-five mph highway. It had nothing to do with his love for adrenaline and risks. Nope. No correlation.

A smirk tugged on his dry lips, his shoulder length, shaggy black hair whipping freely through the wind as the chocolate-skinned graduate revved his motorcycle's engine with a sharp turn of the wrist. He accelerated even faster, hitting the high eighties on his speedometer, but that didn't really matter when he held such masterful control over his motorcycle. Jason ignored the harsh winds whipping at his helmetless head, eyes narrowed and focused as he narrowly dipped between two converging vehicles, right hand slapping his right blinker just in time for him to pull into the highway's exit lane. The bookstore he found on Google Maps was supposedly in the downtown area of the city. Surprisingly enough, he'd never been to this specific bookstore, but that was mainly because he tended to order his books off of Amazon - less chances of him being caught by one of his friends or classmates. 'Now, though?' Jason grinned, swerving around a large diesel truck, and smoothly shifting gears with a kick of the ankle. His speed dropped down from the high eighties, and into the low fifties in only a few seconds, a testament to his baby's masterful handling. 'Now, I can do whatever I want, whoever I want, whenever I want. And I want that book.' He could see his destination clear as day, nestled at the end of the quiet little street that Google Maps gave him directions to. As he got closer, Jason lowered his speed dramatically, the revving engine quietening down to a low purr.

The bookstore was rather quaint-looking, Jason noted as he parked his bike beside a beatdown Honda Civic. Quaint, but polished and taken care of, judging by how fresh the wooden door appeared from the outside. Everything about the place screamed 'quiet' and 'well-kept', and if he were being a bit honest about himself, Jason felt a bit out of place, a fact not helped by society's usage of stereotypes. Tall, with broad shoulders and a lean, muscular physique, he wasn't exactly the type of customer you'd expect in such a bookstore. Coffee-colored skin, a ruggedly handsome face with a pale scar running down the jawline, and sharp hazel eyes completed his visage. The lightly torn jeans, boots, and gray t-shirt that hugged his physique definitely didn't do much to take away from his 'bad-boy' vibe. Almost instinctively, Jason clenched his fists, before abruptly relaxing his grip and exhaling a sharp breath. Doubting himself was stupid. He was who he was, and that was that. Like Hell he'd drop his interests because of societal views.

Subconsciously twirling his motorcycle's keychain around nimble, calloused fingers, Jason pushed open the bookstore's wooden door with a large, firm hand, the tell-tale bell jingling above his head due to his entrance. He cast his eyes around the shop for a second, lips tilting upwards into a handsome smirk.

He could get used to this.

 

[Yui_Sins]

((I’m really really sorry!! I got caught up in things over the weekend.))

Negina had gotten a job at the bookstore so she could be in a quiet place while working, surrounded by what she loved most in the world. There was no one there, though, despite the new order of books that had just come in. Everyone bought from larger bookstores. They never sold more than forty books in a day even when the next installments of new series came out, or when best-selling authors released a new book. That was why she liked it—few people to deal with.

Only two people aside from the store’s owner even worked there, leaving her alone in the shop most of the time when the owner was out. Neither of those working at the store were ever scheduled to work at the same time, so she didn’t even have co-workers to think about. It was so small that two people working at the same time would be a waste of money. Being as small as it was, it rarely attracted people, many people finding that it would be much easier to find books at a larger shop; the closest one was within a mile away, so it was hardly out of anyone’s way if they wanted to go somewhere else.

There was the loud sound of a motorcycle pulling up in the parking lot, and Negina couldn’t help flinching away from the sound. She never liked motorcycles or large trucks or any other vehicle that made a lot of noise. She assumed the rider on probably would have been there to stop by one of the neighboring stores—the ice cream shop and the pizzeria that shared the same parking lot as the bookstore were much more popular than the tiny establishment—but she heard the soft bell for the entrance and realized that they must have come into the store she worked at.

“H-hello,” she said timidly, looking around a bookshelf to see who’d just walked in. He was really cute, actually, and she couldn’t help ducking back out of his line of sight. She was supposed to greet customers, and that was already difficult as it was, but this man was way to attractive for her to string words together properly. What was someone like that doing there, anyway? “C-c-can I...h-help you...?”