'cause wings are made to fly [dominic]

[Addie Beaumont]

Addie narrowed her eyes at the row of books in front of her, debating whether to pick up a pretty, sweet-smelling purple tome on the language of magical flowers or a dustier-looking red velvet book on the usage of phoenix feathers in wand cores. Kneeling down so she could touch the spines of the books and get a feel for them, she shook her hair back from her face and finally decided to pick the purple one. She already owned seven books on wandmaking, after all.

With a not-so-great deal of effort, she clambered up to her feet and turned to peruse a neighboring aisle because, after all, just one book was never enough. She also needed to search through the myths and folklore section to see if any such book like the kind she'd been talking about with Lily the other day actually existed. It'd definitely be useful for her interests, to have a book detailing the history of wizarding fairytales prior to Beedle the Bard.

Lost in her musings on various books about the wizard world, she turned the corner into the next aisle and nearly bumped into a very tall, very male figure standing in the aisle. "Oh, sorry!" she said automatically, even though she hadn't actually hit him, having stopped herself in time. "I was just -- " She paused, studying his face as he turned to look at her. He appeared familiar, like she was pretty sure she'd seen him around the bookstore in her prior visits. He seemed to hang around here quite a lot actually.

"Do I know you?" she asked, tilting her head and frowning thoughtfully at him. "Do you work here or something?" If he did, she needed to ask him some questions.

[Dominic Foster]

Dom scanned the row of cookbooks idly. Technically, he was only visiting, but since his mother had hurriedly demanded that he take care of the store while she went on a lunch date with Dom's stepdad, he was actually trying to keep an eye on the few stragglers in the store to see if anyone needed help. And considering Dom had practically been raised in the shop, he was probably more qualified than most of the employees actually working there.

It seemed like most of the customers were sufficiently absorbed in the shelves, so he resumed looking at the cookbooks. It had always been a little embarrassing to talk about with other people, but ever since he'd starting living alone, Dom had developed an unexpected enthusiasm for cooking. Luckily, it didn't seem like anyone who knew him was around, so he pulled out one of the books (Easy Dessert Recipes for the Single Witch!) just as a girl turned the corner and stopped abruptly.

"No, no, it's all right. You didn't actually hit me," Dom said, somewhat amused by the girl's unnecessary apology. Dom raised his eyebrow at the girl's next question, and took a closer look at her while he thought over his answer. The girl looked a good bit younger than him - closer to Caleb's age than Dom's - and Dom wasn't surprised he couldn't put a name to the face, despite the girl's distinctive red hair. "No, I don't think we have met," he said, and then smiled, "But I'd be glad to help you if you need anything. I don't actually work here, but I'm kind of watching the store until the manager is back."

[Addie Beaumont]

"Oh, I know," Addie laughed, brushing hair out of her face and offering him a smile, "my mouth just works on autopilot sometimes." She blinked and focused in on his face -- was she certain she didn't know him? She couldn't figure out a name to place to his face, but she'd definitely seen him around somewhere before. Deciding to ignore the feeling, she brightened her smile and added, "Well, it's nice to meet you! My name's Addie."

He was holding a book about cooking for single witches, she noted amusedly as she took in the rest of him beyond his face. Though he had the appearance of a tough, masculine sort of guy, he was clearly a lot softer than he seemed. Which was nice, as she had no particular fondness for tough, masculine guys anyway. "I was just wondering if there's a section on wizarding fairytales and history around here? I know there's a history section and a children's section, but I was hoping to find some research on wizarding fairytales and their history, specifically. Do you know where I could find that?"

She tilted her head, taking in his last statement. "If you don't work here, how come the manager trusts you to watch the store?" she found herself asking, though it occured to her belatedly that this may be considered mildly impolite to ask a stranger. Still, she was curious. He seemed interesting and helpful, so she didn't think she needed to be on her guard around him.

[Dominic Foster]

Dom smiled at the girl's quick response, and then held out a hand before introducing himself as well. "Dom," he said, "Nice to meet you, too." He was glad that the girl - that Addie - seemed so friendly and sociable. He'd been around the store long enough to know that often the customers who came in alone tended to be either shy or actively aggressive when spoken. Then again, those solitary wanderer types tended to be much older. He took another look at her and debated asking whether she'd maybe met Caleb at Hogwarts, then decided it'd be a bit too awkward if it turned out she hadn't.

He frowned a little as he thought about her question. He knew enough about the shop's layout to know that a book like the one she was requesting would be under History, but wasn't sure if they actually had anything relevant. He shrugged after a second and then looked back at her. "Well, it'd be under History, but I can't remember if we have anything like that, exactly. I could go and look for you, if you'd like," he offered. Of course, he should have just told her to go and look herself, but it had been years since he'd worked at the bookstore, and he was rather enjoying taking on the role again. In all honesty, almost everything seemed more enjoyable than his current job, really.

"Ah," he said in response to her last question, after waving at her to follow him through the stacks. "Well," he said trying not to sound like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Not that he was ashamed of his mother or anything, he just always felt a little like he was intruding into his her domain when he was in the store without her. "My mum runs the store, actually. So she does trust me here by myself, though it's taken me a few years to convince her." He smiled again at Addie.