Nocturnal Me (Nameless Ghoul Rain/Water x Reader)

Chapter 11- A Crushing Confession

     Your last stop was at a bookshop you had often frequented since your time staying here. All of the novels were second hand, which made them cheaper than the new ones. You'd often get the surprise of the previous owner's annotations and notes in the margins of some pages and read them whilst you added your own. You'd sometimes laugh at their words or debate their stances by yourself, and it was one of your favourite past times. It made you smile to know that the books were so loved. The shop smelled of old paper, rotting binding, and light dust. This setting, you've discovered from experience, is where all of the good books are found. It was important that the shelves weren't too dusty. That would be a sign of a lack of customers, which pointed to a poor selection/no rotation of novels. The shop owner, Mrs. Duda, was fond of you and knew you by name. She waved a hand in your direction and flashed you her warm and cheery smile. Your smile tried its best to match hers. 

     "Salutem, (Y/n). Lovely to see you again!" Her accent was thick and sweet. 

     "Salve, Mrs. Duda. It's a pleasure to see you too!" After some small talk, you began your search for anything you might find interesting. Your eyes skimmed through hundreds of spines stacked stiffly next to and on top of each other. It took some self discipline to not take every text you found interesting off the shelf, but you somehow managed to pick only two as you made your way to the last row. It mainly contained young children's books. This section was a favourite to many collectors and lovers of nostalgia. You have found a couple of stories that were read at bedtime by your grandfather and grandmother here before. 

     Your fingers brushed past familiar titles, occasionally pulling out some and opening them to view the pictures. It was absolutely shocking, really. You've found a couple of signed books in the shop before, but nothing this high of value. You nearly dropped the two books already in your hand as you struck gold. 

     One of Rain's favourite authors/illustrators was Maurice Sendak, the creator of famous books such as 'Where the Wild Things are' and 'The Sign on Rosie's Door'. He often reminisced on how his mother would read him and his siblings bedtime stories with Sendak's artwork when he was really little. Rain said it influenced his work and personality and how he viewed the world. 

     It was just your luck. You became elated with the book you had just found. Not only was it from his favourite author, but the inside cover was also signed! A little drawing of a monster waved its paws at the reader, the speech bubble above it reading 'Boo!'. It was such a rare find, especially since Sendak had been deceased for nearly a decade and his signature went for hundreds these days. Rain was going to flip his shit. Your heart pounded with excitement as you checked out and made your way to the post office. 

     Passing by multiple little shops on your route, you observed the windows to see if there was anything else that you'd found interesting. You couldn't resist and decided to quickly stop into a jewelry store as their pins and bracelets caught your eye. You hadn't forgotten Air's brief mention of her love and desire for the messenger pins, so you decided to search for one. Your pupils constantly kept flitting down to the vulture on your breast and then back to the contents of the glass counters to compare. Instead of finding what you intended to get for Air, you saw a bracelet that reminded you of Rain.

     It was a simple dark-brown leather braided strap with two deep blue polished lapis-lazuli stones on either side of the barrel clasp. The clasp had intricate norse designs carved into its shiny metal dermis. It was a beautiful bracelet that you were positive the bassist would cherish. You'd have to hide it from the rest of the ghouls so they didn't think you were really picking favourites and give it to him at a separate time. You asked the shopkeep to reserve it for you so you could continue to search for the vulture.