any way the wind blows

❝ and how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods… ❞ MELROSE carraway. 32 years old. child of athena. owner of icaria books. rollerskater.

[melrosec]

It felt so Count of Monte Cristo, so Phantom of the Opera, so 90s masquerade romantic movie, that Melrose was thoroughly enjoying himself. There was a kind of freedom with the mask; somehow, it felt like it gave him permission to be more 'out there' and start conversations and meet people when usually he'd stick with the people he knew, or wait until someone said something to him. Tonight, he was going to have fun. And fun just meant saying hello to absolutely everyone.

And fun also meant: changing his voice to an American accent.

"Absolutely amazing, isn't it? Absolutely marvellous!" Okay, so even with the accent change he was still very much himself. "Did you know, masquerade balls actually began as a Carnival season for Christians in the middle ages. It would be a party they'd hold before their fasting season, and the word 'carnival' is actually derived from the Latin 'carne vale' which means 'farewell to meat'. Fascinating!"

( @icariastarters​ / event starter / open to all !! )

[melrosec]

ICARIA’S VALENTINE’S DAY MASQUERADE: melrose’s outfit

melrose splurged and ordered a custom-made blazer, and it’s about the only thing he spent any money on (#treatyoself2020). he wears white trousers, old brown suede shoes, and a simple black mask. also, he combed his hair and wears nice-smelling cologne.

[melrosec]

daughtersofthegods‌:

“Oh no, I don’t dance.” Siofra hadn’t even been to a party in years. The idea of getting up and dancing wasn’t one she reacted to well. She hadn’t even wanted to attend, only going at the insistence of her friends.

He was getting good at guessing who the people behind the masks were, but in any case he wanted to meet and interact with as many people as possible. And though he made no efforts to hide himself (there was only the black mask covered the top half of his face), there was something freeing about wearing the mask. He was usually quite introverted.

“Just a short one, I promise. It’ll give you something to do, at least,” Melrose smiled.

[melrosec]

forrestation‌:

“You’re whole family is ever so charming.” He remarked to the other, hoping to pass it off as if he wasn’t completely affected by it. He brushed away the concern quickly and instead looked around as the other attempted to find the box. 

Looking down, he was happy to have something to do rather than having the other continue to talk about his poetry. “Well, who am I to argue with the dictionary.” He breathed before clearing his throat. His eyes went to focus on the box. “Oh, wow…these are beautiful. Are you sure I can take one?”

Melrose just smiled, content with the compliment about his family. If there was anything more to it than that, the man didn’t notice. 

“There have been others before you who tried. You’re not the first writer I’ve met,” he said pointedly. He watched as Forrest looked over the notebooks, smiling proudly over the moment. “Of course. As sure as the sun will set and rise tomorrow. The next time you publish something, however, I will expect a little shout-out to Icaria Books. Helping small business, and all that,” he nudged.

[melrosec]

forrestation‌:

Forrest felt like mush for a moment at the other’s words. How often do people know lines from the book you are buying? “Oh please, you can’t do that to me again. Think it put me in a bit of a trance there.” The male said, blush burning on both of his cheeks. “Though spending time sick in bed is no fun…” he remarked. 

Forrest began following after the other as the books were lifted out of his hand. He looked around the delivery zone with curious eyes. He always loved getting to see the other side of things. Forrest walked along before feeling his feet stumble in time with the other’s words. “You–You know it’s that that many poems…would hardly call myself a poet, yet…not established enough.” He replied as he followed, coming alongside the other male.

Melrose looked confused for only a second, before finally catching up and chuckling. “Mum was a daughter of Aphrodite, after all,” they joked. “How else do I get people to buy books after they walk into this minefield?” Regarding his time spent sick, Melrose just shrugged. “Just a bad case of the flu when I was thirteen. I didn’t get to visit the store for weeks, it broke my heart.”

Once they reached the delivery zone, Melrose went to work trying to find the box. Contrary to the rest of the store, the delivery area was actually neater. Finally, he found a box near the door and pulled it out from under another one. Inside were thin leatherbound notebooks, along with old memoirs and history books. “Well, according to Merriam-Webster, a poet is one who writes poetry. Maker of verses. I’d say you fit into that pretty well,” he enthused. “So. You see anything you like?” he moved aside so Forrest could see the box.

[melrosec]

forrestation‌:

Forrest felt a light blush creep over his bashfull smile at the other’s reaction. The elder was just so kind that forrest couldn’t help but feel like a nuisance to him all the while. “I don’t know if I deserve any thanks…” Forrest mumbled as he double checked the safety of the pile. Seeing the other bend down, he joined him in a crouch, picking up his books. Leaves of Grass, 1984, Othello…– He was going over in his head before the other’s comment cut through. “Oh, but I couldn’t take some. I’m not a child anymore.” He said with a shake of his head, warm smile still stuck to his face. “I’ve got to pay my way forward to helping my favorite local businesses.”

“Yet here I am, thanking you,” Melrose laughed. He looked through the books and smiled upon seeing Leaves of Grass. “Great are yourself and myself / We are just as good and bad as the oldest and youngest or any / What the best and worst did we could do...” he recited, tapping the book’s cover. “I once memorised the entirety of ‘Great are the Myths’. It was a very long winter, spent sick in bed.”

Then Melrose laughed again. “Are you refusing a free notebook? Someone donated a pile of unused notebooks along with their books. Here, I’ll show you...” He took the books from Forrest’s hands, placed them on the counter, and walked to the back of the shop, towards the delivery entrance. “Surely a poet could find something to do with a few blank pages?”

[bob-belcher]

Henry Golding has all the makings of a textbook Hollywood heartthrob — sweet eyes, charming accent, a million-watt smile that belongs super-sized on the side of some big city building - Bustle.com

[melrosec]

latinoblood‌:

His kid would need textbooks to go through school, so there he was, on the library, to get her what she needed. He opened the door, and when he got inside, the books ended up falling down off the counter, he was able to run fast enough to stop them from falling down on the ground. They were covered in plastic, so no damage would happen if they had fallen down, right? But he would prefer not to risk it, as he could tell that the men was very desperate about them touching the ground. It costed nothing to help, so why wouldn’t he? And maybe he was wrong, maybe if they had fallen, it would be ruined.

He placed them on the counter again, and smiled at the other, “There you go, safe and sound back on the counter,” he was always a very kind person, and always up for helping people whenever they needed.

No wonder he was a firefighter, he became one, because he wanted to make a difference somehow, to help people the way he could.

“My hero,” Melrose breathed out a relieved laugh, clutching his chest to calm the panic in his heart. “Goodness, it all happened so fast -- really, thank you so much, and I’m sorry for yelling at you like that, I promise, I don’t often yell in the store,” he joked. 

He started taking books off the pile, slowly processing them and placing them somewhere safer, for later when he would have to place them in their proper shelves. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

[melrosec]

reiignes‌:

— “NO worries at all, I would have hated to see any of the books get damaged,” she responded truthfully. The mess and noise did not bother her too much and frankly, she never had the patience to sit down and finish novels. She would often begin one but get bored of it three chapters in. Regardless, she still loved visiting the book store, knowing how much adventure is written along the pages, so she suggested, “Do you need some help around here? You don’t even have to pay me, I can just volunteer like once or twice a week,”

“Some help?” Melrose couldn’t help but echo. His mouth gaped open a little, looking around the store again. Something had slipped his mind earlier that day...and then there it was -- a green post-it note on the register’s screen that said ‘POST AD FOR ASSISTANTS’. “You know, funnily enough, I am looking for some new assistants. My previous ones have all had to shift careers, and this would definitely be a paid position, for whatever hours you’re able to do. Would you be interested?” he said with a hopeful smile.

[melrosec]

elainhughes‌:

“I’ve always preferred these kinds of cameras.” The blonde smiled, looking at the picture she had taken. The man seemed to be quite impressed with what she had done, and she always took pride in her work. “Then it’s yours!”

“Marvelous! I’ll treasure it forever,” he grinned. “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind --” Melrose looked down at the books in his hands, and then pointed his head towards the bookshop. “My shop’s just a little way down here, I possibly have a tiny frame I could put it in. And I’d have the artist sign it, of course,” he said with a dramatic flair.

[melrosec]

forrestation‌:

Forrest had a tendency to spend his free time in the book store. It kept his mind busy to look through all the old book and some of the newer ones as well. He had just reached for his fifth book when he heard the shrieks behind him. Quickly, Forrest had to decide between his own books, and the ones about to fall on him. Luckily, he wasn’t up for being squished that day. He dropped his own stack, allowing them to scatter in favour of the massive tower before him. “I uh…I stopped it…” He said with a scrunch of his nose. “But, I caused another mess, I’m afraid…” He said as he slowly pushed the stack of books back to its original position. 

Melrose winced at the other loud SLAM, though he was thankful the pile didn’t end up falling. “-- oh, Forrest,” he let out a breathy laugh, clutching his heart, which was still beating fast. “No worries, just gave this old man a fright is all. Thank you very much for your help.” Melrose hopped out from behind the counter and hurried over to help Forrest correct the pile, and then he bent down to pick up the fallen books. “I can throw in a notebook with this, or a dozen bookmarks, your pick,” he offered with a smile. 

[melrosec]

gearsandvines‌:

That day wasn’t going to be too far off but Micah shrugged regardless, accepting it as just another of his friend’s strange little quirks. It was one he shared with the man, so he couldn’t judge him too harshly. Not that it’d ever stopped him before. He glared momentarily at the napkin but accepted it regardless, wiping the worst of the grease from his fingertips before he popped the rest of the sandwich into his mouth.

“Not really. Was just gonna head back to the apartment and work on a new project of mine. Why?”

He didn’t think there was anything else around the house that needed fixing- at least, Melrose hadn’t said anything to him about it.

Melrose fought a smile at the short glare that was shot his way, not at all fazed by it, though he allowed himself to show a little apologetic smile when Micah cleaned his hands. 

“Oh, I was just thinking we could catch up. Would you mind if I walked with you to your apartment, at least? Give this the whole test drive,” he said, patting the handles of the bike. “And then I’ll leave you afterwards. I ought to get back to my work as well but...we’ve both been terribly busy the past few weeks and...I dunno, I feel like there’s much to talk about. What with the island getting a lot of new people, I’ve been wondering what’s going on out there.”

[melrosec]

sweetgroundcoffee‌:

Of course he had to spill coffee on the nicest guy in the room. The people here hadn’t been overly rude to him since he arrived- a community this small didn’t allow for that sort of thing. But he was still so used to dealing with angry patrons and impatient jerks from the library he’d worked at before coming here that it was always a surprise when someone didn’t automatically erupt at him for making a mistake.

Giving in to the request, Sebastian threw his paper towels down and set himself on the chair as though he’d never rise from it again.

“You’re too nice to someone who just gave you a shower,” He joked, running his hand through his hair to dislodge the drops of coffee hanging there. “You probably won’t have to talk to my boss, they’re pretty lenient and it’s not like we’re super busy.”

As soon as they sat down, Melrose’s smile warmed even more. He inhaled slowly and exhaled as well, hoping that would help the other breathe a little easier too. 

“As someone who fumbles a little with the things I handle daily as well...namely books, if you’ve passed by Icaria Books before? I almost had a pile of new books fall in the hallway. I’m a mess,” he laughed. “Icaria seems to be full of natural disasters. Torrential rain --” he gestured at their wet selves, “or rockslides with books. Have you been here long? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

[melrosec]

reiignes‌:

— AMONG all the places that Reigne loved to discover and snoop around at are bookstores. Even back in New York, she would often find solace surrounded by books because they provide stories of adventures that eventually inspire her. Thus her presence at Icaria Books. She was visually browsing through the literature in the fiction section when she heard the other speak up. She simply went back to looking through the books until she heard him again, this time in alarm.

And whether it’s the genes from her mother or just plain skill, in a matter of four seconds, Reigne had ran over and fixed the entire stack of books neatly as if it hadn’t wobbled in the first place. “Well that was close,”

“Oh, phew --” His arms had been reaching out to the pile, but as soon as he saw it was saved, they flopped down with a relieved sigh. “Thank you so much, if that had fallen, that would’ve been the second time today that’s happened and I absolutely cannot take loud noises or messy books.” 

Melrose looked around the shop, with the four coffee mugs on the counter (all his), the overflowing paper bin, and the other books and boxes everywhere. “Well...messier books. I owe you one,” he said with a grateful smile.

[freshmoviequotes]

Last Christmas (2019)

[melrosec]

riegodamirez‌:

Diego crouched in front of a book shelf finger running along the spines with his head tilted slightly as he took in all the names of the aliens and conspiracy books. At this point he had read most of them, but was always happy to look for another.

 At the sound of someone panicking he quickly jumped up, eyes darting around he saw the teetering tower and took the two strides to close the distance and grabbed it, successfully steadying it he smiled in satisfaction to himself before addressing the person who made the noise, “I got it.” He made sure it was stabled and then slowly let go, “I got it.” He turned to face them now and with a teasing smile said, “just maybe don’t slam anything else.” A good natured chuckle lacing his words as he spoke.

“Oh, my goodness, thank you.” Melrose breathed out a sigh of relief, clutching his heart. He let out a short laugh. “Thank you so much, oh, that would have been monumental.” He waded out from behind the counter, avoiding all theo ther piles of boxes and books. 

“Promise I won’t,” he chuckled. “I’m usually quite quiet and not so Elizabethan with moving about. If you’ll pardon me...” Melrose stepped past him to start taking books from the dangerous pile, two books at a time. “And to whom do I owe my deepest gratitude? I’m Melrose, uh, Melrose Carraway, owner of the store,” he introduced himself with a warm smile.

[melrosec]

hiqhflying‌:

as karine amused herself with the children’s section – the many books with colorful illustrations along with the toys strewn about – matthias decided to peak at the books more suited to his age. he still had his eye on his daughter but he knew she was safe. he could be at ease on this island. no one was going to come in the middle of the night to steal her like before. 

as he flipped through the pages of an adult thriller, he heard melrose’s exclamation. his blue hues snapped up from tiny black letters, instantly narrowing on the wobbling stack of books. with reflexes as quick as his father’s thunder bolt, he was able to steady it.

“bit of a hazard, isn’t it?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, gingerly pulling away from the books to make sure they didn’t fall as soon as he wasn’t supporting them. “it might be time to reconsider your organizational system.”

melrose let out an impressed whistle after matthias practically zoomed in. “more than a bit of a hazard,” he admitted, shaking his head at himself. god, if karine had been there, on the path of the falling books...melrose wiped his hand across his brow. he made his way around the counter, steadying the smaller piles of books and boxes near the wall as he went. “thank you for your help,” he said sincerely. “and, trust me, this isn’t permanent. the older piles, of course,” he pointed, “are going to need some work, but they’re stable. i’m already thinking of how to move around the shelves and....get in some new ones,” he sighed, looking around. “these newer books will be gone and shelved properly by the end of the day. i was planning to have it all done sooner, but all my assistants are sick or have already left for the day...” 

he looked to the clock to stop his ramble. just an hour and a half until closing time. 

“are you and karine all right?” melrose smiled. “found something to your liking?”