It stood, waving back and forth in front of the window, and it was blue. Very blue. There isn’t much of a way around stating that the thing that stood and waved was very blue. And quite possibly, a badger. Yes. It was a blue badger, and it waved. It looked like it had been cobbled together by a five-year old.

Its hands were round and cartoony, as if someone had designed them with a box cutter and an elementary-grade compass. Its joints were simple cardboard rectangles and screwed-on squares. Its head… looked like a cross between an egg and a court jester. One corner of the hat was hastily duct taped on. Its face was smudged with a blue handprint, and as it gyrated, it swung its hands like opposing windmills, each turning a different direction as it trailed a flag.

On the flag were the words ‘Full Circle’, and if one were to rate this little gyrating blue badger whose hips waggled as he danced to a cheery clip of music, they might rate it ‘horrific’. It serves as no surprise that to Shin, it was a massive point of pride and the best thing ever.

Yup.

“Thank you for shopping at Full Circle, home of the Blue Badger. We hope your every book is a Badgertastic one. My name is Shin. How may I help you?” He grinned as another customer walked in off the street.

“Um… I’m looking for book three in the Man’s Life series.” The boy scratched the back of his head with a weak laugh.

“Ah, A Man of History? We just got that in. Check the display table right over there.” He shifted a finger to point across the room to the table. Books were stacked neatly on a fresh table. The replacement for the table Dominic had broke had just come in that morning. Shin had set that display up too. The customer nodded and hurried over to the display, grabbing a copy off the stack. He ran right back to the front counter and set it down with a pint of excitement.

“I-I’ve been looking forward to this one all m-month. It’s supposed to talk about all the manly men throughout history, and how they got to be so courageous. K-kinda a…” He blushed and quickly looked away.

“Kind of a what?” Shin gave an understanding wink.

“S-s-s-s…” He made a sound like a deflating balloon.

“Spit it out. You’ve read the first two books, right? What’s it kinda?”

“Kindalikeaselfhelpbookformetogetsomecourage!!” He spat out in a stream of letters. Shin nodded courageously, giving a noble bow.

“Indeed. I see it’s already helping you now. That’ll be $10.50.”

“H-here,” the boy set a handful of coins on top of a few folded dollars. Shin slid the money over to his side of the counter, and counted it.

“9, 10, 11… and here you go.” He handed back two quarters, then scooped the book into a plastic bag and handed it back to the boy. “Thank you for shopping at Full Circle. Enjoy your book~”

Nodding, the boy hugged the book to his chest and rushed out the revolving doors. The Blue Badger gyrated to him as he passed by. You see, in Badgertalk, that's a wave 'good bye'.

And Badgertalk is a lot like the language of Hawaii, for you see, good bye in Badgertalk is like Aloha. It can also mean 'hello.'

Another customer approached to revolving doors of Full Circle. The badger said hello.

Keeping a positive outlook on life was something that Kealey had learned early on was absolutely essential to her living a sane, normal life. That’s what she’d been doing since she’d left the Sanctuary, trying to keep a positive outlook. The people she’d met there had been helpful, really helpful, but none of that changed the fact that the monster she’d stumbled upon in the subway had her ID. That meant he knew where she lived. As positive as Kealey managed to stay most of the time, that single thought made her blood run cold. What if the man decided he’d made a mistake letting her walk away? All he had to do was look at the ID. For that reason, Kealey had avoided being in her apartment as much as was humanly possible.

Moving was out of the question. Kealey had been lucky to find the place she was living in the first place. She’d thought about calling Jacen and asking him what to do…but his line of work put her in direct violation of the assassin’s terms. So she hadn’t talked to him. In fact, she’d been avoiding him, the eye looked bad. Garrett had definitely been being nice when he’d told her in the cab that it, ‘didn’t look good’. Frankly speaking, it looked like hell, black and blue spread from the stitches that marred the space above her eyebrow and extended down over her eyelid and to the corners of her eye. There was even bruising underneath. It had been a few days and she could still barely see out of it, though she’d been told her vision would be just fine.

Down a new street Kealey walked, minding the shadows and feeling almost too relieved that it was only early afternoon and the sun was shining brightly. There were people out, so she was bathed in an almost constant swell of emotions, but just like any other time she was having trouble dealing with her own emotions, Kealey reveled in the distraction. It was so much better than the fear and pain that were nearly overwhelming sometimes when she was truly alone.

Kealey looked as she walked, peering in shop after shop and only stopping when she stumbled upon what had to be the most interesting window display she’d ever seen. There she stood, in front of the window for a few moments, trying to figure out what exactly it was that she was looking at. People walking by were feeling varying degrees of amusement and disgust at the thing and Kealey alternated between the two with the ebbing and flowing emotions of the passersby. It took her a few moments to decide that she really did like it, only then did Kealey examine the shop more closely. It was a book store.

To a librarian, especially one with a sincere love of books there was almost nothing in the world more interesting than independently owned book stores. There was something special about them. The owners always injected their own special brand of individuality into the selection. This owner obviously liked imaginatively colored animals with excellent rhythm. Into the shop Kealey went, more on a whim than anything and actually managing to forget her troubles even more completely if only for a moment. The transformation was even more complete when she made her way fully into the shop and within a few feet of who had to be owner of the creature in the front window. Nobody would look on such a thing with such pride and enthusiasm, and as Kealey watched his exchange with a young customer she had the feeling that this was someone who actually enjoyed what it was they did.

The next few minutes were spent checking out the inventory and browsing. Kealey was of a mind to buy something, but she really didn’t know what. It was one of those things, Kealey had always felt that a book needed to call to a person in order for it to be right. So on and on she looked, still not picking anything, but not wanting to leave the shop. She felt so comfortable, so safe here. So she stayed, picking around, looking at book after book wondering just how long she could loiter before someone made her leave.

The register door swung shut with a ‘ding!’ Two black-and-white tufts of furred ear shot to alert. They twitched twice, turned, and a mouth opened in a yawn. From its perch, it watched a blond girl with a bruise wander into the shop. She scoped out the inventory with a hint of uncertainty. The cat’s lips drew into a devious grin.

“Mrow!” It hopped onto the register. Paws mashed buttons.

“Caylee! You aren’t supposed to do that!” Shin scooped the cat up and set it back in its bed. A paw batted at Shin’s hand as the cat rolled onto its side playfully. “Seriously, you’ll get me in trouble…”

The cat’s nose wiggled with good-natured glee. One of the customers by the bar glanced up from their newspaper and stared.

It seemed book stores always had a cat. It was the lovable mascot of librarians and book enthusiasts everywhere, and Full Circle had been more than happy to fill the bill. Black and white, with a pair of inquisitive yellow-green eyes, the little Caylee-cat had been picked out by Ghost herself. In the few weeks since opening, the workers in the store had mostly gotten used to the childish pranks the cat would play.

Be it dragging its squeaky toy across the shop, curling up in the chairs, or playing tag with various shop-goer's feet, it was always up to something.

And now it wanted attention.

Kealey checked out book after book, trying to decide on simply one or another to actually buy. There were too many people around though, every time she thought that she had decided on something that she actually wanted, someone would move towards her or away from her and their emotions would convince her that her feelings about the book had been contrived. Looking at the book in her hand, Kealey sighed and set it back on the shelf, moving on to another one.

Ten minutes later, she still hadn’t found a single thing that she wanted to buy, though she was pretty sure if that jerk who’d been standing next to her hating on the romance novel section hadn’t been there…she might have found something in the historical fiction section that was right up her alley. Apparently it wasn’t to be though. Kealey thought about taking a seat at the coffee bar that was part of the shop and maybe getting some coffee, but everywhere she looked people were staring at her. Even worse, Kealey could tell what they were feeling when they saw the large bruise on the side of her face.

Pity, something Kealey really hated. It was such a useless emotion. The worst part was that depending on the person the pity was stained by something else. Whether it was disgust or general concern for her well being, Kealey didn’t want to have to deal with it. She was just about to leave the shop when she heard what she thought was someone calling her name.

Turning quickly, eyes slightly wide with surprise and found the source of the voice. It was the man working behind the counter. He was the same man who had been so proud and happy about the monster jiggling at people from the window. Did he somehow know her? As Kealey approached the sales counter, trying to block out the other people in the shop, she noticed the cat sitting on what appeared to be a custom made perch. It’s ears were twitching, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it was smiling at her.

”I’m sorry…but were you speaking to me? she said to the young man, ”I didn’t mean to loiter in here so long…I’m just having a horrible time picking something out. I can leave if you want…I could have sworn I just heard you call my name.”

“Eh?”

A row of fangs set in on Shin’s index finger in the momentary distraction of him looking up. His face cinched into a twinge of pain. Little paws tugged playfully at his sleeve; Caylee was having too much fun with this. She tugged and she tore. Her tail swung left and right… then stopped. It flicked impatiently against the side of the register as she rolled onto her side. Realization sunk in. Shin’s attention wasn’t on her anymore. His eyes were locked on a whole other animal…Long blond hair, pretty blue eyes. Caylee stretched to her feet, abandoning the sleeve in favor of a new target on the ground. She flopped down on the carpet with a silent ‘whump’, strutting her way up to rub against her rival’s leg.

Shin glanced from cat to woman in a stunning moment of realization. “Oh, yeah. You must’ve heard me talking to the cat…! That’s Caylee. She’s the Full Circle feline… she means well, but she likes to get herself into trouble sometimes.” He laughed weakly, cupping a hand to side of his mouth and leaning forward as if to share some dark secret. “We think she just likes the attention.”

Caylee paused in her rubbing to shoot a murderous glare at Shin. The triangle mutant totally missed the look animals should not give, though. His attention was still tuned to the lady with the not-so-natural eye shadow. “Anyways, don’t worry about the ‘loitering’ thing. We get lookers and window shoppers in here all the time. It wouldn’t be a book store if we didn’t give them the time to browse. My name’s Shin, by the way.” A friendly smile flew Kealey’s way. “And you?”

Kealey was tuned into the shop boy’s emotions now and when the cat sank its teeth into his finger, she nearly jumped at the pin pricks too. Instead, she just discreetly rubbed her finger as she stood and waited for the man to address her question. Kealey really hoped he wouldn’t kick her out, to be honest she didn’t want to go home. She’d have to be alone if she was home…Kealey was staring at the cat as she worried and she couldn’t help but smile as it played. Then it jumped down to twine around her legs. Kealey almost bent to pet it, but the man on the other side of the counter was looking at her, slightly confused. Then he spoke.

Ahh…KAY-Lee…the cat’s name was Caylee. Kealey’s eyes shut and she nodded her head slowly, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth, ”Ahhh, I see..” she said, tuning into the rest of what the shop boy was saying. The kitty was still there at her legs, and Kealey broke into a full blown grin at the description of the cat’s apparently uncanny ability to get attention. The young man was absolutely exuding friendliness and good will and as always, the emotions were infectious. Kealey was glad that she’d picked this place.

”Well she does seem like the friendliest of things… Kealey said, finally bending to scratch the cat behind the ears, an action that encouraged her to once again flop onto her side. Kealey had heard once that when a cat showed someone its belly, that meant that it trusted them. Somehow, that made Kealey feel better and she reached to scratch the offered belly, only to have furry paws wrapped around her hand and a gentle nip to the hand before the cat was tearing off around the shop. Kealey laughed and stood, just in time to hear the assurance that her loitering was not in violation of any of the shops rules. When he put it that way, it made Kealey feel silly that she’d ever thought otherwise. Oh, and his name was Shin. Kealey wanted to say it, roll it around, it was a nice name, a different name, and he wanted to know hers as well.

”Kealey…” she said, withholding her last name for the time being as she held out a hand for Shin to shake. ”It’s a pleasure to meet you Shin, and the shop is lovely.” she added and cast a look around the book store, her eyes once again falling on the monster in the window. That reminded Kealey of the feelings Shin had projected about the thing when Kealey had first entered.

”I have to admit…” she said, nodding her head in the direction of the thing, ”It was that thing in the window that stopped me in my tracks as I was walking by. He’s a jolly fellow, isn’t he?”

Shin shook his head as Caylee ran off. He couldn’t help but laugh. First, she wanted attention, and now she was fleeing? Maybe the cat knew something Shin did not? Or perhaps she was only biding her time, ready to pull the next prank when their backs were turned. Yes, Caylee’s eyes peeked around the corner of a book shelf, green and devious for sure. A customer bent down to scratch behind her ears with one hand. The little cat jumped, tearing off again.

Behind the coffee bar’s counter, a blond-haired man smirked. “Your order,” he set a cup down in front of an elderly man. Scrunching up his bespectacled eyes, the old men examined the cup. He replied slowly, like his tongue would turn to dust if he spoke too fast.

“Yes……… yes, it is…” He scooped it up and added a packet of sugar. “Thank you.”

“You have good taste,” Aurum replied with a lighthearted spark of a smile. “It was an honor serving one such as yourself.” The old man’s chest welled up at the compliment. He opened his mouth to say something further, but his wife tugged at his sleeve.

“Herb, we have to go. Luke’s recital starts in thirty.”

“Ah… yes,” Herb scratched his beard. “Most unfortunate. Ah well, good day.”

The woman held him by the crook of the arm, leading them both out the door. They passed Kealey on their way out. A wave of weathered trust wavered in their wake. Years of sunrises, weddings, funerals… excitement and breakfasts in bed, warm spring rains. The old woman rested her head on her husband’s shoulder as their taxi pulled away.

A warm grip wrapped around Kealey’s extended hand. Shin gave her a gentle shake. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to share the compliment with Ghost later. She always loves hearing nice things about her shop.” His eyes followed hers over to the badger as he spoke. They lit up even further, if that was at all possible. “Ah, yes! The Badger. Mr. Badger always has a gyration for this alien nation. The goal with him was to shake good cheer out into the streets, draw in good business from beyond. Took a lot of hard work and hot glue to get him to do that dance… kind wish I knew a bit more electronics, though. Poor thing. I set him up to do the dance whenever he has a few AA batteries inserted into his backside… never quite knew how to set him up to stop…”

His voice dropped a little on the last part. He scratched the back of his head aimlessly. A sad image, indeed. Dancing, dancing, dancing… until he dropped.

As always in a busy place, Kealey was slightly distracted by the things going on around her as she tried to have a conversation with Shin. The slightly pulsing headache over her eye that had been a somewhat constant presence over the past few days returned with a vengeance as people ordered their coffees, held their conversations, and browed for their books.

Someone, somewhere behind her was confused, then startled, then proud and Kealey shook her head slightly, trying to shake off the feelings. She hadn’t slept very well the night before, it was hard to concentrate on anything other than what everyone else was feeling. That made holding a conversation difficult. It was interesting though, and as the older couple passed by, Kealey couldn’t help but smile at the warm wash of feelings that accompanied them. That was the very picture of contentment. Kealey hoped she could manage that some day.

Shin grasped her hand and Kealey actually jumped at the contact as she came back to herself and out of the happy haze the older couple had been in. Who would be happy? Oh, right, Kealey had complimented the shop. She smiled and nodded, happy that her compliments would be passed on to the owner of the shop. It was nice when the employees cared about their employer enough to make sure they heard good things about the place that they owned.

There was the pride again, and Kealey grinned. It wasn’t harmful pride, it was pride in a job well worked on and a job well done and she could hear in his voice as he explained how arduous the process was and Kealey laughed. Not a mocking laugh, but a true tinkling laugh that hadn’t left her mouth since before she’d walked down into the subway several days before.

”Perhaps a motor with an ‘off’ switch so that the poor things hips don’t go out. Kealey said as Shin’s mood actually deteriorated at the thought of the mon…badger dancing itself quite literally to death. ”And it did send joy out into the street. I couldn’t stop looking at him, he drew me in here. Any shop with that fellow in the windows has to have character. “

Kealey released Shin’s hand and looked around the shop for the cat, who was now perching herself on one of the shelves , surveying all that she could see and seeming to lord over it. ”And I was right, it does have character. Tell me Shin…” she said, trying out his name again with a grin, ”Do you always take so much pride in your work? It’s refreshing to see.” Kealey probably should have walked away. Shin was working, after all, but he felt friendly and Kealey needed friendly. Kealey needed distraction. Kealey needed to not go home right now.

“Not always…” Shin shifted titles uncertainly in a rack of books next to the counter. A comic seemed to jump out at him as he sorted and browsed. Flipping through it, he went on. “Usually, I try and keep my pride in check. You know, too much pride can be a bad thing. Gets you a big head. But with this guy,” he looked up from the comic, jabbing a thumb in the badger’s direction. His eyes seemed to spark.

“Was so much fun making, I just can’t help but smile when I look his way. Maybe I’ve got a lot to be proud of over the badger, yeah, but he still needs work. Maybe a few repairs and a new motor could help to that end, get me the points for the badger I need to clear it with the manager and make him more of a permanent thing. But thanks. I appreciate the compliments.” He set the comic back down, turning to eye the line that was piling up behind her.

“Hey, do you think you could shift over here while we talk? I can ring people up and hold a conversation just fine. Is that ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ you’ve got there? Awesome book.” The customer thrust the hard-backed copy around Kealey for Shin to scan. He shifted over to the other side of the front desk and slipped it under the infrared gun. It beeped. He read off the price and completed the transaction.

As he slid the register shut again, the customer waddled off. Nose buried in science fiction, he barely managed to squeeze through the revolving door. The next customer stepped up, handing him a lovingly-bound copy of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’. Shin rung it up.

“So tell me, what sort of books are you into, Kealey?” Dune slid back to the customer. Another held out ‘So Many Dynamos’. “Palindromes? Poetry? Romance, Science fiction? Laminated E.T. animal. Here you go, sir.” The mustachioed man harrumphed. “Live not on evil!” Shin called after the man with a wave.

“May a moody baby doom a yam.” He chortled back to Shin.

“No sir -- away! A papaya war is on!” With a sword-drawing motion, the man charged into the street. Shin shook his head with a laugh. “Poor Dan is in a droop, but he’s got a great sense of humor to go with the attitude.”

“Yo, banana boy!” Aurum called over to Shin from across the shop. “I’m on break. Take care of the shop while I’m gone, and…” He paused, looking Kealey up and down. A cautious addition tacked onto the thought. “Step on no pets.”

“On break? Nobody to guard the mugs? Won't I panic in a pit now? Okay. Have a good one. Later.” He turned back to Kealey with a stupid grin on his face. “Oh, palindromes~ You slay me.”

Caylee jumped from the shelf onto Aurum’s back as he made his way to the break room, balancing on his shoulder. The blond stared at the cat silently. His patience was being tested… “Senile felines.” He set Caylee back down.

Kealey just grinned and nodded at the honest frankness in Shin’s voice, it was refreshing to meet someone who was so unafraid to simply talk about their personal characteristics. Kealey settled into the conversation and felt some of the heavy tension of the past few days slough off, at least for the moment.

Shin pointed out the line behind Kealey and she actually jumped a little as she realized that paying customers had stacked up behind her while she stood there gabbing away like this was some sort of social event. Shin seemed to think it was alright, though, and he didn’t feel irritated or annoyed, so Kealey did as he’d asked and moved to the side.

A few moments later, one thing was really obvious, Shin enjoyed his job. Kealey grinned at exchanges going on between him and the shop patrons and even chuckled a few times at the things they were saying. People walked up to the counter dour, and left uplifted. He was so charismatic, Kealey found herself momentarily jealous of his natural ability. Then he asked about the books she liked. He really was focusing on more than one thing at a time.

”Classics.” Kealey said simply, smiling and speaking quietly, ”I’m an Austen freak in particular. She was a genius at writing political commentary when it was absolute scandal for a woman to do such a thing. Pride and Prejudice basically gives a timeline for that whole period of time in the War with the French.”

Kealey realized she was rambling a bit and stopped, Shin’s enthusiasm had bubbled over again and Kealey was infected. Then, the oddest verbal exchange she’d ever experienced began to take place. There were bananas, papayas, and yams and it took Kealey a few moments to figure out exactly what was going on. Shin had mentioned palindromes and Kealey grinned as she tried to pull one from her brain to add to the conversation. Then the guy who ran the coffee bar approached.

Kealey’s brow wrinkled in distaste at the look, and the feelings that came along with the look filtered her way from the man. Did men always have to be so transparent? And the palindrome he used was accompanied by a tone that suggested caution along with feelings to support it.

”Well I never…” Kealey said, only halfway under her breath as the man apparently went to his break. Kealey was glad he was gone, the last thing she needed was one of those who ogled first and talked later.

Shin brought up the palindromes again and Kealey nearly eeped in excitement as one popped into her mind, ”I think the real question here Shin, is, ‘Do geese see God?’ “ she was proud of herself for her use of the palindrome, but didn’t want to end her side of the conversation there. The line was dying down a bit, so she took the opportunity to speak for a moment.

”You asked about my book tastes…what about yours? What would you recommend to someone who doesn’t have a clue about what she wants and needs something to get her mind off of much more serious issues?” Kealey hadn’t meant to get that deeply into her real reason for being in the shop, but it had happened, so she waited. For some reason, Kealey had a feeling this was going to be good advice.

“You know, I’d never considered that one… geese seeing God, Huh?” Shin thought about it for a moment. He held his chin, forehead crinkled in deep meditation. Geese seeing god… geese seeing god. A gaggle of geese approached him in white robes within his mind as a finger tapped on his cheek. They held up an 8x10 glossy of Terry Salvalas, signed by Kojak, ‘Who loves ya, baby?’ Highly irrelevant, but deeply theological. Some men interpret nine memos, but there were so many dynamos to ponder in the world. He turned the question over in his mind again, and the geese reached a consensus.

“Perhaps the answer to that question is ‘never odd or even.’ Are we not pure? "No sir!" Panama's moody Noriega brags. "It is garbage!" Irony dooms a man; a prisoner up to new era…. But now I’m stumped. That’s the last palindrome I know offhand, and… I feel we’re getting a little too philosophical for my tastes.” He laughed, and eyed her with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. The whole conversation had left him feeling the power of intense poetry recitations. With each added verse, the prose grew more complex. Such a strange conversation… he wondered whether philosophy was a major topic of her flock.

It was a good time to change the subject, before the ‘amen enema’ of conclusion; Sins removed in an uncomfortable and embarrassing fashion. Philosophy was a mystery to him, but book talk he could do. She said she liked Austen? He never was much for political commentary when it came to literature (although sometimes, comic books came close).

“Maybe something slice of life? Personally, I'm a big fan of comic books. Kiyohiko Azuma has a few good series about kids growing up in worlds of their own. Yotsuba, Azumanga Daioh... I'm a bit partial to the former myself. What do you think? A comic about a little girl with no knowledge of the world around her, and an unnatural fear of air conditioners... befuddling friends, eyes lighting up at the drop-gate at a train intersection, riding it to fly... good, strange... stuff. And the over-the-top reactions keep you on the edge of your seat. That'd definitely keep your mind off your troubles. And..."

He held his chin, thinking again. If she wasn't into comic books, maybe... "Or Hitchhiker's Guide? That's a classic of a different sort, y'know. Written by Douglas Adams, a book about insane alien hitchhikers and improbability drives, solving life's mysteries and finding the answer, but not knowing what to do with it when you have it. Preaching the universal values of a towel."

He supposed he gravitated more towards humor than fine literature when it came down to it. "So, what do you think of those suggestions? The line seems to be dying down a bit now. Maybe I could help you find a good title on the shelves? Might even find something I haven't read yet while we're at it."

He smiled at her, and waited for her answer.

It was simply raining palindromes by the time Shin hit his stride with the word games and Kealey could only look on in impressed amusement as he continued reciting one after another…and somehow managing to make them all make sense in the context of the conversation. Kealey was giggling by the time Shin stopped. Shin was simply fascinating, his emotions continually fluctuated from deep concentration to exuberant excitement to what Kealey assumed was the task at hand. He was a dreamer, at least that’s what Kealey assumed based on her interactions with other people prone to fits of similar emotion. There were far worse things to feel, or be in the presence of someone feeling, and Kealey shrugged her shoulders at his worry that the conversation was waxing too philosophical.

“I don’t think there’s a single thing wrong with this type of philosophical conversation. In fact, I’m a fan of anything that makes me think in a way outside of the proverbial box.” She commented, “I think that we had better stop though. I used my palindrometic vocabulary with my only contribution.” Was palindrometic a word? Kealey didn’t know, but it sounded good in the context of their conversation.

Shin changed the topic of conversation and began to suggest different types of reading materials to get her mind off her troubles. She started out grinning at his obvious knowledge of subject matter, but found the smile fading quickly as he described the first author and series he had in mind. Kealey didn’t mind the idea of comic books, they were something she hadn’t really ever had a chance to experience in the convent, most of their reading materials being geared towards the obvious topics of interest to nuns. The problem was, Shin seemed to be describing a book that was written about Kealey, right down to the part where the character befuddled her friends with her over-the-top-reactions. A certain memory of a diner and hamburger surfaced and Kealy scowled at herself, shaking it off.

Shin hadn’t known, and he was trying so hard to help her out that Kealey simply had to smile at his second suggestion. Something about the description of Adams’ work tickled at something in Kealey’s distant memory. Had her father been a fan of those books…her mother? She didn’t know, but the name definitely rang a bell. Shin was waiting now, and Kealey could feel his patient expectance as she pondered over the options he had given her, and his offer of help. Kealey considered cutting Shin loose so that he could continue with his work, but his cheerful and witty presence was lifting the disturbed melancholy that had shaded her for the past few days.

”I think maybe the Adams books..” she said softly, ”I don’t have anything against the comics, but it sounds like the plights of the main character strike a little too close to home to get my mind off of the things I’m trying to run away from in here.”

Kealey smiled, ”And I’d love it if you came along to help me look.”

"Ah, I see. Adams it is, then. Although if you like philosophy, there might be some other books we can find in the same section..." He held his chin a moment, thinking. "Follow me." A hand skipped across the counter as he led her proudly to the science fiction section and spread out his arms as if to say 'welcome to my world'. Crouching down near the bottom shelf, he pondered what she'd like beyond Adams.

"Maybe Foundation? Asimov's always good with creating vast worlds of logic and characters. Or perhaps I, Robot?" The cover was slick against his hands as he bent down to extract it from the shelf. "Robots, trying to discover the nature of humanity. Pondering Reason and using logic to give understanding to their world... or maybe We? That's a good one, about a society built like a machine where people are raised in a communistic One State. It's the story of one man as he finds out about the world outside numbers... and somehow, learns to love."

Ideas whiz-banged by like rockets, dueling over the surface of swiftly-tilting planet. SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET!! "Oh oh oh! Or maybe something by Madeline L'engle? She blends religion and science fiction in really interesting ways, and..." He drifted off, thumbing past a page. The stack was quickly rising at his side. Now, it was a mountaintop, perfect for yodelers at its highest peak. Goats might take up residence amongst the stacks. He set Swiftly Tilting back down, and picked up a pinkish book. "Maybe Cat's Cradle? If you like Vonnegut. He's awesome when it comes to humor, but his messages really cut deeply philosophical. And there's this short story called Nightfall by Asimov that really made me... huh?"

He blinked at the pile. It was a good thing he wasn't handing the books to her as he let himself loose. Surely, she would've been a bit shocked to have her line of sight cut off by prose. He took a breath and held the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I should just suggest an anthology sampler to get you started...?"

Caylee stuck her head from between two stacks. "Mrowr!"

Kealey grinned as Shin thought behind the counter, he was still concentrating as he stood. He mentioned philosophy and the blond nodded her head, ”Philosophy is kind of my thing, actually. I kind of have dominion over the Religion and Philosophy section at the Main Branch of the Public Library. Most of the stuff in there is non-fiction though, all of it in fact. I’m definitely looking for fiction right now though. ”

Shin verbally beckoned and Kealey followed like a happy puppy, ready to see what he had to offer in the world of philosophical fiction. They reached what appeared to be the Science Fiction section and Shin spread his arms, his delight in this area of the store obvious in both his feelings and his actions. Kealey wanted to ask him how he did it, took so much delight in where he was and what he was doing. Instead she just smiled and kind of basked in the warm glow of the feelings as Shin started going through the books on the shelf.

Shin crouched down to better examine the bottom shelf of books and Kealey followed, bringing herself to eye level with him as he pulled book after book from the shelf and commented on each one. Kealey wondered idly if he’d read all of them, but was overwhelmed by his enthusiasm and started picking up the books as she pulled them, reading the backs.

Foundation looked interesting…establishing a colony to safe the knowledge of a species…faced with certain death in the face of barbarians. Robots, trying to discover humanity. Kealey knew the church’s standards on non-humans and immortal souls, it would be interesting to look at it from a character’s point of view. Shin was still pulling books, more and more, but Kealey forgot about them momentarily at the emotions flowing from him when he looked at some of them.

The feelings were warm for some of them, giddy for others, and with a certain few it felt to Kealey like Shin actually loved the books. Those were the ones she paid special attention to, already feeling a special draw from them that wasn’t there in the others. Kealey wondered if this was what people would feel if they could tap into her emotions at the library. Shin paused in his pulling of the books and something subtle changed in his emotions, he was a little overwhelmed and Kealey looked at him intently as he pinched the bridge of his nose and suggested an anthology. She chuckled softly and shook her head. The pile that he’d amassed was rather impressive…and they’d only really been at this for a few moments.

”I do work at the library Shin.” she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially as if she were afraid her next words would get him in trouble. ”I know it’s not great for business, but if I promised to become a loyal customer…could you write some of this down for me?”

Kealey looked at the precariously piled stack of books and selected two that Shin had felt particularly strong about. Those two and a third, the L’engle book that Shin’s verbal outburst and the surge of delight at its discovery had made Kealey want to snatch it out of his hands at that very moment. The others were We, and the very first book Shin had picked, Foundation. It was no coincidence that the books she'd picked had been ones that Shin felt particularly strong about, and she wondered if she'd be as interested in them when she was away from him as she was now.

”I think I’ll take these today, though…” she said quietly, still crouched down and eye level with Shin. ”Can I ask you something that’s going to sound strange?” Kealey said, tilting her head slightly then going ahead and asking without waiting for permission, ”Are you always this happy with what you're doing? The badger...the customers...these books...you're simply overflowing with feeling. How do you do it?"

”I do work at the library Shin.” she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially as if she were afraid her next words would get him in trouble. ”I know it’s not great for business, but if I promised to become a loyal customer…could you write some of this down for me?”

He supposed he had gone overboard, hadn't he? "Sure thing." Shin replied with a smile. Extracting a pad of post-it notes and a pen from one pocket, he started jotting down titles. "Wouldn't expect you to buy them all. I'll be happy if even one of them makes your day. If you work at the library, I'm sure you've got access to the classics like We. That's one of the very first science fiction stories they ever made. A Dystopian satire response to the Russian revolution of 1905. Zamyatin got kicked out of his own country over the controversial nature of it, so you know it's good. Another one I'm putting down for you to check out is William Gibson's Neuromancer. Have you ever seen The Matrix or Ghost in the Shell? Neuromancer was the original Cyber Punk novel. Some people even postulate it helped create the concept of the Internet. "

Even in jotting down titles, he was adding to the list. "And if your library has any anthologies, there's a Rabkin anthology I really like. It has all sorts of stories by good authors like Poe and Le Guin and Mary Shelley. You'd think Edgar Allen Poe didn't write science fiction, what with his fame coming from things like The Raven and that story about the guy who built someone into a wall, but… he actually had a real knack for pondering questions of science, like whether hypnosis could let one survive death. I didn't like that story as much as The Raven, but it's still worth reading once." He wrote the title, Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology, by Eric S. Rabkin, underlined it twice. He looked up at her, tore the note off the pad, and handed her the paper. It looked like she'd decided . He nodded at the selections. "Good choices."

He gave her the note and started scooping the stacks back onto the shelves. "As for feelings… I dunno. That kinda reminds me of my favorite story from the anthology. It was about this guy who got caught in a vicious cycle of input/output. He was an Empath with pale white skin through which you could see veins, on a deep-space exploration trip with a group of astronauts who hated his guts. Interesting paradox, because they hated him because he knew they disliked him, and he responded by giving them reasons to do the disliking… " His face cinched at the sad nature of the thought. It really was a sad story, wasn't it? He slipped the pen and pad into his shirt pocket, tried to laugh it off. "I actually wrote a paper about that one in school, comparing it to the monster in Frankenstein and how people brought the monster title onto him themselves… really interesting stories, those were…" He smiled at her as he finished putting away books.

"As for me, I guess it's just a matter of being inspired. You know how it is, right? Being a member of the bookshelf cloth yourself. You can't not be inspired by all these things." A wistful look crossed his face. "The emotions just sort of flow off the writer and into the pages… then into the reader's heart. You turn a page, and it rages in like a bull and hits ya. Takes your breath away, makes you think. I like that. It's one of the reasons I love working here. And every time I touch a book, I think of the memories connected to the pages. Maybe I've read it, maybe I haven't. Either way, someone will, somewhere, and…" He dropped off, looking at the clock. "I guess I should ring you up now. I hope you'll enjoy these three."