STRANGER.

          ^{‘  You come in here a LOT,  you know.  I promise the selection doesn’t change that frequently.  ‘  It’s not given unkindly  –  contrary,  bright eyes light up when they settle onto the familiar figure.  An old spirit with a young face turned regular,  turned a pleasant sight,  turned to curiosity he wants so dearly to dig deeper into.  Though he feels stuck if not behind his own desk then a well standing between him and the man made up of poor circumstance. But,  he reminds himself every time when the topic arises,  someone coming back so frequently isn’t just looking for BOOKS.} 

     ^{The small handful of novels by the register serve as an excuse to stand and move a bit closer,  as though he doesn’t already KNOW  where they go.  
                               ‘  … If you’re coming in just to say hi,  I DO sometimes leave the house once the store is closed. On rare occasion.  ‘}

^{|| @faustium​}

                         _{———THE CURL OF HIS LIP AS THE OTHER APPROACHED WITH BOOKS IN TOW. he rarely found himself in a situation where another had caught on so fast. perhaps it was the fact he’d been impatient with this, the small town deprived of many things he found interesting. it wasn’t that the place was boring, of course not… he found something he’d much rather occupy himself with. pushing back a lock of hair, the man plucked a familiar title from the collection.}

     _{❝ i’ve been eyeing your goethe collection for some time ; rarely do i find it in the original german, unless i’m special ordering it. ❞
flipping to a page in the hefty anthology, he placed a finger down on a random line, reading it to himself:}

das echte bleibt der nachwelt unverloren.

❝ so tell me, when is it you leave your house? ❞