[color=82ca9d]Endre woke up with a groan even though the sun had not yet risen. Halfway through the work-week and he was already sore from running large stacks of books and other side-tasks he had to do to make sure his friend Kharlee didn’t accidentally starve herself to death. Speaking of which, he went down a short ladder to his kitchen, and quickly fixed something for the ‘lil harpy to eat when she showed up for work, and bundled it into a brown paper sack as a surprise… Although if she could actually smell, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise he was packing sushi with extra wasabi and a side of lemon. From there, he took off through the rooftops of the west-end to the book-store, swung gracefully in through an half-open window, and celebrated showing-up to work on time with a long draught of cognac from under his desk before going out-front to unlock the door and greet the early-arrivals and start unloading fresh inventory. [/color] [color=6ecff6]By the time he made it to the front door, a rather scantily clad female was standing there, blue furred arms crossed under her chest as she waited, delicate looking fingers toying with a scarf around her neck. Upon seeing the Drow, she offered him a toothy grin, her canines flashing slightly as she did so. “Well good morning Endre,” she said as the Drow unlocked the door, leaving it for her to push open, “Where’s the Mistress? I would have thought she would be here already considering it is opening… unless she has slept late again?”[/color] [color=ec008c]Kharlee woke up to the sound of birds, or she thought she did. Whenever she did wake up she didn't hear anything, and she made a mental note of it in her head to ask Endre about the sound of birds. Or dreaming of birds. She wasn't really sure was dreaming. She didn't have dreams like what he told her dreams were. She sat up and then stretched, her wings arching out. Her left wing pulled a little down and her right stretched outward as she ran her hand through her tangled hair. It took her close to twenty minutes to get her hair untangled with just her fingers, by which time she was thinking of food. She didn't have a clock to tell the time, and just somehow knew that somehow she would be on time if she had to be. But she never had to be on time. After her parents died, she downscaled from the mansion to a two bedroom studio, cut her past times down to one job, and only had Endre looking after her. The money was in the banks, in the stock markets, other than of course the money that was stored in gold just laying about. She didn't need to work. She did anyway. It gave her things to do other than spending money. She got out of her room and immediately the smell of fresh fish wafted through the house. She didn't see it anywhere though, and slowly felt he had taken the food with him. She frowned a bit before going to brush her teeth. Listerine. It was hard as a carnivore to maintain good teeth, and she had to constantly work at it. Her parents had insisted as a child and it was something she did automatically now. She stepped out to the tiny balcony, where Endre had put a dying plant in a pot. She stared at the drooping twigs and then decided to throw some wine on it. There was always a half glass or so of wine lying about. She then leapt off the roof and flew up through the skies, before swooping down to the shop. She walked in, wearing nothing as she usually did. Her breasts bouncing a bit as she came in and sat at her desk. She found her little bag of sushi and hunted for a minute or two till she found her special chopsticks. She ate ravenously, enjoying the fresh fish, and then looking around at the patrons. They knew of her. They knew of her reputation. She didn't speak to them, instead writing a sign that said, “No enquiries.” She sat there the whole time though, not wanting to be disturbed as she partook in an oak smelling leather covered copy of Star Wars fantasy novel. She had her legs up and her wings spread menacingly out on her comfortable chair. She sat with her legs folded and then slowly looked through the updated inventory. She didn't know where he got the more expensive sets of books from, but he always seemed to know who to contact for things like this. She didn't much care for what he did around the time she needed to be fed or interact with humanity. She only hoped he didn't gamble as she got deep into her book, flipping through chapter after chapter quickly. [/color] [color=6ecff6]Watching the harpy enter her shop from her place between the shelves, Azura couldn’t help the small smile that caused the corner of her mouth to twitch upward. “Good morning to you Ms. Kharlee,” she said as she walked over to the other female, a few books in her hand. As always, she ignored the sign the woman had set up, mainly because she rather enjoyed speaking to her despite the Harpy’s dislike for social interaction. “I take it you slept well?” As she set down her books, she glanced over at the Drow again, curious as to what the male was doing. “Oh, I also have some books to bring you when I return tomorrow, I’ve had them for a hundred years or so, so they may be of value to you in this shop if you would like to take a look at them?” Finishing her sentence, she started to rummage around the folds of her scarf to pull out some money to pay for the titles she had chosen. [/color] [color=82ca9d]Endre had finished sorting and stacking books upon the rows upon rows of shelves, only to see one had already gone missing and two were already misplaced and out of order… What he also saw was one patron already leaving so soon after opening...yet the only one to offer paying for anything so far was Azura; it took very little time or effort to get ahead of this pesky human, and even less effort to see he was trying to steal some little book on being calm, written in german, in all capital pink letters: [i][color=f6989d]NICHT PANIK[/color][/i] all across the cover, larger than the actual title which was actually quite unreadable. Pulling the book away, he shoved the poor beggar-boy out into the streets to hitch-hike a bit more with little more than just his scarf for a towel before setting the book back upon the shelf. He then caught a side-glance of Azura, still staring at him, still judging him. He decided to try and make himself look more busy than usual by trying to figure out where the book he’d just recovered actually went… the title suggested non-fiction… Somewhere in the back… [/color] [color=ec008c]Kharlee looked up at Azure and then took the books from her hand, writing down the names of the books so that she could tell Endre which one she had sold today. She shrugged about the sleep question. “My kind doesn’t need the amount of sleep I get. It’s probably going to kill me sooner or later.” She looked up at the girl’s canines and then said, “Probably not good for anyone.” She said, putting the books in a neat bag and giving it to the woman. It is not that Kharlee minded it. The social interaction was good for her, but she had had enough of it already and was ready to rest again after a big meal. She looked at the woman and said, “Of course, your continuous support and patronage is what keeps my business running.” Though it was meant well, it was a well rehearsed line when she didn't want to say anything of use to anyone. “We look forward to seeing you again.” She said after she had made a bill for the books and given it to her. “Seeing you very soon.” She said, somehow missing the glances she took at Endre. “Endre! Come help Miss Azura.” She said, rolling away from the table so the conversation would cease, and now Endre had to deal with the woman. She always knew Endre disliked little human thieves, even though she paid no attention to them. One out of four loss wasn't that bad. But mathematically it upset Endre and she let him do as he pleased. “And get me some tea.” She said, sitting back and getting her book out again. “Good day to you, madam.” [/color] [color=82ca9d]Endre’s shoulders slumped-forwards as he stopped mid-stride on his way out of the main-room, when he heard his name being called by Kharlee; his ears did perk-up slightly when he heard it was to help Azura, though. Could be worse customers in need of assistance. But first, tea… A happy mistress is a complacent one, it was really only on her particularly bad days that she really nitpicked every non-obvious thing he did; a good thing, since much of what he did had obviously nothing to do with books. He simply left the book for pan-galactic germanic hitch-hikers on the desk next in-line for Kharlee to read as he fetched the ready-made tea that was conveniently-enough warmed-up on a hot-plate before giving a bit fuller, more direct attention to lady-Azura. “May you be in need of any service?” He enquired with a wide grin as he tilted his head to the side, lowering his perspective just enough to determine whether or not Azura’s lips were curled into a smirk or a scowl.[/color]