Books? Psychology? Wait, who are you? [Rita and Sharaku]

The streets of Penecia, a crowded place normally if in the heart of the island... though this really couldn't be called the heart of it at all... "Wait, is this the right place?" Rita stood in a deserted and tight street in front of a bookstore she heard about online, one that supposedly had the book she wanted for sale... Pushing the glass door in, Rita looked around the brown inside, walls lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with books, though mostly repeats since they were all for sale. Walking to the front desk, Rita spoke up in an expressionless tone to the shopkeeper. "Um, hi, I'm looking for a specific book for sale... Carl Jung's Collected Works, the first volume... um... "Psychiatric Studies"..." Waiting for the middle-aged man to finish processing the book in his computer, Rita leaned back on the shelf, fiddling with her phone a bit to see what time it was, also checking for any messages and such... looking as the man tapped her back, Rita nodded after seeing the section the book was at, moving to it after giving a thankful bow to the shopkeeper. Looking around the shelves, Rita saw three volumes in all of the book, though she couldn't decide if she'd get all three right now or wait until later... the volumes presented were the first, the one she was looking for, the second and the third, all costing 25 dollars each... "Tch, damn..." Checking her wallet, Rita turned a bit paler as she saw but a bit less than a hundred dollars left on her, the rest being on her savings account... all in all, she probably had about 200 dollars left in total since she didn't use it all last month... "Damn... this is grocery money too... ah well, two'll have to do..." Picking up the first two volumes, Rita noticed they were still perfectly preserved in plastic, meaning they'd have that new book smell people love so much... wondering if it was wise spending fifty bucks on these books, Rita stood there in thought for a while, sitting down on one of the small couches there...

Funnily enough, Sharaku wasn't really the type to read books often. Or at the very least, not more than once in a while. Still, it did get boring once in a while when living alone, and it was one of the better choices for entertainment. Though, as nice as the logic behind this sounded, he hasn't really bought any books in....a long time. He didn't really even have any that were written in english, most likely. Not that such a fact truly mattered, unless someone else tried to read them. That all aside though, considering how he had nothing better to do, looking around was not going to hurt. Even if he was rather confused at the amount of books...and coupling that with the fact that he had no idea what he'd even read..well, bad combination for a start up.


Which is why he managed to spent quite a bit of time just glaring at the bookshelves after walking up to a random one, not really getting anywhere. Then again, he shouldn't have expected any better. Nh, well, what can you do? In the end he pretty much gave up for now, turning around to...well, he didn't know what yet. Either way, he must have been rather distracted to not notice the whitish haired female sitting nearby with some books before. Not like he had come to look at people, but white was usually rather noticeable, mainly when on a person. ''Hello, Miss. Mind if I ask something? That is, if you're not busy.'', he would approach her eventually with a friendly expression, considering how she was the only person around right now. Anything was better than standing there doing nothing...at least until he decided what the hell was he going to actually do. And people say books aren't complicated business.

Looking as she heard the door swing open much like when she entered, Rita deviated her look just to see a dark-skinned man with long hair walk through... While he certainly stood out a bit from the crowd, nothing much more was worth mentioning about him, he looked relatively normal... Noticing he was coming her direction, Rita looked down again in a sort of fit of shyness, preferring to think now about the books than someone she didn't know at all... Examining the price tags carefully, Rita simply looked down until being called up by someone, surprised to see the man that entered before talking to her. "H-huh?! Y-yes, what is it?"
Looking obviously nervous, Rita felt a bit intimidated by the man, though he didn't seem to be aggressive... which was nice. "U-um, c-can I help you?" Blushing a slight bit, conversations with older people weren't Rita's strong point... in fact, conversations with normal people weren't either unless they were friends... a stranger talking to her out of the blue like this made her a bit jumpy, though she'd still try and keep mostly a poker face on... if she could, that is...

Trying to stay calm, Rita stopped her shivering and balanced her body, now able to calm down and think about what the man said. "A-ah, yes... okay..." Though he was quite straight-forward, it didn't seem to Rita as if he was there for something other than just asking her something... "Ah, I-I see! Well... I'd recommend... maybe some fantasy books will catch your interest? Or are you more of a sci-fi person?" Looking through the shelves, Rita's eyes could catch at least the letters on them from a distance... the ones on top, indicating the genre. "W-well, it's my first time here myself so I don't really know much..." Looking a bit shyer, Rita looked around a bit more, trying to see if she could find anything... but giving up and just showing him where she got the books she was holding. "U-um... this is actually the educational section... the psychology shelf... th-the books I have here are, um..." Giving up talking, Rita just turned the covers for him to see, them reading their respective volume titles: "I- Psychiatric Studies" and "II- Experimental Researches" "Th-these are works b-by Carl Jung... it dives into, um..." Feeling her skin turn red at her face, Rita simply gave up the explanation and just dropped to her seat, tired. "U-um... I-I'm Rita... by the way... just in case you wanted to know..." Sitting there with her hands on her legs, Rita put the books beside her since it was a wide chair and waited for his response after pointing at the desk, as if saying all he needed to know was there...

Nodding at his response to the type of book, Rita looked around to check for something that might be good, something that maybe she read before while listening to the man talk, giving a slightly flustered look at his joke... "Well, um, no... but I figured I'd tell you since I don't know where everything is here..." Trying to explain herself to the man, Rita pouted slightly while continuing to point to the front desk. Watching the man's mannerisms made Rita a bit more relaxed and open, feeling no real hostility from him... so she simply stopped hugging herself so tight and relaxed her arm, letting it fall to her side once more. "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be so tense from a just a little conversation, right?" Still a bit flustered, Rita tried her hardest to calm herself down, simply breathing a bit more calmly helped... though when he introduced himself, she was still a bit flustered to talk as straight as she wanted. "U-um... yeah... Nice to meet you, Sharaku-san... and you can drop the Miss... just call me Rita, or something..." Looking a bit embarrassed as she said this, Rita extended her arm to him, still pouting from his little joke before. Looking to him as he bowed, Rita really was embarrassed by his behavior a little bit... like he was acting a bit too whimsical for her taste... though she was like that too, at times... Standing up, Rita pointed at the desk again. "I think you'd find more information on the counter there, no?" Though his answer came quick through and Rita gave up and sat back down, looking a bit more relaxed now. "Well then, may I suggest something like... the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini?" Quick with her answer, Rita gave a sort of favorite of hers, though she'd only read a bit of the books so far, in a monotone and bored voice... "It's a fantasy action series with dragons and stuff... dunno if you're into that but I might as well throw something on the table for you..." Sitting a bit bored, Rita thought about other series she found interesting before realizing how she was acting now, immediately tensing up more just from the thought. "A-ah, sorry, I've been sort of rude there... I-I apologize for that..." Her cheeks flushing red, she was referring to how she acted when suggesting a series, realizing her tone may not have been the most appropriate... Still sitting there, Rita looked down to not let Sharaku see her blush and waited for his answer, hoping she didn't scare him away or something...

Standing there still, Rita just listened intently to Sharaku's speech, nodding when he mentioned not saying the word "where" while giving him a slight pout. "W-well, fine, but it's still a valid point!" While Rita appeared to be angry, what she really wanted to do here was laugh at how this man could handle a question so well in such short notice and give such a good rebuttal... Listening to herself, Rita noticed that she was sounding a lot like what people would call a "tsundere", which she had been described as a lot before... still a bit mad at Sharaku, though only slightly, Rita decided on retribution in a flash. "Actually, I have a better idea of what to call you..." Giving him a sly smile, Rita wasn't intending to comply with Sharaku's condition for adding honorifics to his name... though what she had in mind wasn't really the most optimal thing. "Since your name is Sharaku... I'm calling you Shara-kun from now on!" Crossing her arms, Rita gave a playful giggle before realizing how she was acting, sitting back down and returning the pout to its rightful place.
The realization that she was acting a bit weird rang in Rita's mind as she could clearly sense Sharaku trying his best not to look utterly baffled... she kinda regretted it but at the same time wasn't really willing to talk rudely to someone, regardless of their age. "N-no, it's nothing like that! I just don't like being rude to people at all... I was always thought to be polite by my brother and so polite I'll stay!" Looking quite a bit more determined, Rita looked Sharaku in the eyes to signify that she wouldn't act as skittish now, holding in her face a slight smile... and then a confused grin as he asked her... quite possibly the weirdest question anyone could ever ask someone. "W-wait, you seriously don't know what dragons are...?" Snickering, Rita tried to hold back laughter a bit, succeeding just slightly though not completely wiping the grin off her face. "I guess that happens some times... yeah, they're the fire-breathing lizards you always see in movies and stuff..." Looking a bit more relaxed, Rita took out two packets of strawberry milk, offering one to Sharaku with a gesture. "Want one? It's allowed to eat here since all the books are wrapped..." Though she had no intention of spilling her milk onto anything either... Looking around to see where the fantasy section was, Rita opened only her ears to Sharaku for now, waiting his reaction.

Sharaku's laid back response made Rita snicker a bit, loving just how whimsical this guy could get, she was able to sense that they could have a lot of fun together... though he seemed to think she was getting angry, which wasn't really the case but she didn't really want to dwell on it too much anyway... and regarding her nickname for him... she'd expect a more... animated answer from him, something that either shocked him just a slight bit or made him laugh a bit... "Aww, it's no fun if you don't fight it..." Lying back a bit, Rita looked disappointed for a second, only to return a sly smile to Sharaku... though she kinda wanted to know what these "horrifying" things were to be called... at least she was glad she didn't offend him or something and returned a cheerful smile just for him... but not for long... Sharaku's words to her and his gestures gradually made Rita cup her face more and more to a point where she couldn't hold her laughter back much more... "Wow, that was... really something..." With some snickers in between her words, Rita continued. "Seriously, I didn't expect you to come out with such a well thought-out sentence that would make anyone think you used a thesaurus right in the middle of an actual conversation!" Now laughing heartily, Rita made sure her tone wasn't that of mockery, though it could be easy to perceive it as such, and continued on. "Really, I commend you, sir! You are one of the few people who are actually able to amaze me and for that, I applaud you." Giving him an actual clap, just but a single one, Rita nodded in satisfaction at his answer, feeling now very interested in this gentleman. Though she wasn't really mocking him, Rita did find odd his lack of knowledge on dragons, something she thought everyone knew about... though she was kinda disappointed in herself as he seemed to be turned off slightly by her question... Though her spirits rose a bit when he took her offer, she really liked that people took stuff she offered as she was offering it for a reason... though she didn't know why herself... taking a few sips of the milk, Rita got up and walked a bit forward past Sharaku. "Come with me, I think I know where to find the books I told you about." Signaling Sharaku to come with her, Rita turned to her left slightly and walked straight forwards right then, reaching a shelf that read "Fantasy" on its top in medium-sized black letters over a white background... something not really noticeable at first if you were just entering the store... Looking through it a bit, Rita searched for the "P" section, being used to the surnames' initial was used when marking books... though she couldn't seem to find any of the ones she was looking for... "Ah, bummer... maybe..." Thinking a bit, Rita took a few more sips of the milk while she waited for Sharaku, thinking also on whether she'd spend that much money on the books she wanted...

Though having ignored him slightly before as she was moving, Rita now took the time to address everything Sharaku had said before, finding it the best time since she was calmer now. "Well, it's not really about the nickname, I just expected more of a reaction, I guess..." Shrugging while still looking at the bookshelf, Rita decided to try searching now in the "C" section, thinking maybe the author's first name was used in this library instead... though she continued responding to Sharaku as well, now getting into the whole ordeal of her almost laughing in his face for the way he spoke. "Hmmm... well, while I can see that you're not really that pleased in me, I don't hold it against you.. I did almost laugh at you out loud..." Though her laugh was really more of a pleased laugh, one of satisfaction once she actually let it out. "Honestly, I was serious, I find it admirable that you can use such an extensive vocabulary without needing the use of a thesaurus... and oh yeah, that's a synonym dictionary." Crossing her arms still, Rita ground her teeth in frustration trying to look for this book which should have been so easy to find... moving away from the "C" section, her eyes wandered now to the "E" one, at least it could be organised by title... right? Still listening to Sharaku, Rita replied a bit more slowly, trying to find the book that was hiding so well... so much so that she missed his first remark about someone named "Kage"... finally finding ONE of the four books, Rita searched a bit further to find the first one... "Ah, there we go!" Running to the bookshelf, Rita picked up a book she recognized, having read it before. "Here you go, read this one first and tell me if you like it, I'll point you in the others' direction." Smiling sweetly, Rita handed the book front-up to Sharaku, clearly reading "Eragon" at the front. It really was one of her favorite book series though it's been a long time since she read them... Waiting for Sharaku to pick the book up, Rita held the averagely thick book in one hand and took some more sips of her milk, something that she really had been drinking a lot lately...

Thinking back on his reactions so far, Rita could understand where Sharaku was coming from, he truly seemed to maintain a very good poker face, something she really admired about someone... "Hehe, that's fine." Giggling a slight bit, Rita gave him a cheerful smile and continued on. "I like people who can keep up a nice face in front of most things... makes me feel safer around someone who doesn't get scared easily..." Looking a bit downcast, Rita shook her head and returned the smile to her face, not wanting to make this conversation depressing... though Sharaku did not disappoint her at all, much the contrary... and then the topic she didn't really like poking at emerged again and she simply dismissed it with a short reply. "I'm glad about that." Though the subject of vocabulary was something she really enjoyed discussing and Sharaku's comment struck quite an interest in her. "So you mean to say that your extensive vocab is a gift from life itself? How... interesting... truly, you continue to impress me time and time again..." Nodding in satisfaction with a gentle smile on her face and her eyes closed as well, she truly looked cute right now if one were to look at her in a certain way... taking a few more sips from the milk, Rita was delighted that Sharaku took the book without question, hoping he believed her when she said it was good... straw still in her mouth, Rita gulped and let it drop at Sharaku's comment, giving an expression of utter surprise while imagining what she'd look like as a cat, even...
"W-wait, cat?! Wh-what do you mean by that?!" Feeling her cheeks flush a pure crimson, Rita flinched a bit and stood back in embarrassment, letting her eyes drop to the ground while a goofy smile appeared on her face. "I, uh.. cat, kitty... um, what..?" Mumbling to herself quickly, Rita really couldn't understand what Sharaku meant by his comment... did he mean she looked cute? Was he trying to hit on her? No, he didn't seem like the type to do that but there was still a possibility... and whatever the case, Rita liked women anyway but she still didn't know what to say or how to feel at such an unexpected comment, simply looking down while taking small sips of her milk...