i just wanna dance

sawyer hathaway. he/him. nineteen. works at a new chapter.

[sawyerhxthaway]

alex wolff, bisexual, male + he/him ― hey look, it’s sawyer hathaway! they’re nineteen years old, they’ve lived in shrike heights for their whole life, and they’re currently working at a new chapter. i heard they’re pretty nebbish, but i think they’re so giving at the same time. can they make it out alive? 

> sawyer grew up in a commune on the outskirts of town (with leaf wozniak!) and had a charmed childhood. he loved the way he grew up and the people who raised him. he’s had a hippie mentality from day one and he has no intention of giving it up. 

> his mom and his three dads—that’s how he referred to them, considering he didn’t know who was his real dad, and it didn’t really matter to sawyer—treated sawyer like the golden child. all of them loved him equally, and he loved them in turn. 

> he would have stayed on the commune forever, gardening and taking care of younger kids and treating everyone as he was always treated himself, but he has a hunger for the outside world. he wants to spread the love that he always received to everyone, and he figured that shrike heights was a good place to start. with everything going on, he figures they need it. 

> not to mention, he grew up thinking leaf was the coolest person in the world. it only seemed right to work at the mall too—sawyer wanted to be exactly like leaf. 

[sawyerhxthaway]

retrocuts​:

Ryanne glanced over the back of the book as she listened to the description. The words haunted and spooky stuck out to her the most, but she tried to reassure herself that it probably wasn’t that bad. She wasn’t someone who believed in the supernatural, even despite some of the rumors that went around about the attackers. “I’ll have to check it out then.” Especially when the worse case scenario would possibly lead to a free book. “I’ll have to come back when I finish it to hear your theories too.” Again, even if she didn’t enjoy it, it’d be nice to still have a conversation about something as normal as a book for a change. “If it’s as good as you say it is, I might be able to finish it during the rest of my shift. As long as we’re not super busy at Snapshot or anything like that.”

///

“Please do, and let me know what you think. And no lying to get a free book!” Sawyer made a gesture that said I’m watching you. “I’m great at picking out lies, and I will totally be able to tell if you’re actually hating on the book or if you’re just trying to pull one over on me.” Sawyer paused for a moment. “Not that I think you would be that deceitful and intent on hurting my feelings, but I would also do just about anything to get a free book out of the dummy teenager at the bookstore, so I wouldn’t blame you for trying. This is just me saying not to try in the first place and things will just go a lot smoother.”

[sawyerhxthaway]

urdamage​:

               though valentine could recognise that sawyer was only trying to make light of the situation , and though he thought the other’s energy was quite uplifting in it’s overall entirety , valentine couldn’t help but shiver with fright at the thought of someone like annie wilkes hiding out in the woods - their woods . valentine had already acquired more trauma in this town than what he would ever wish for ; he didn’t need to create more villains for his nightmares . it wasn’t sawyer’s problem , however - even if he had been the one to bring her up - so valentine wasn’t about to make him feel bad about it . “ sci-fi is good too . ” he told the other with a simple nod , sharing a little smile with him as he did appreciate the help . 

the book recommendation sounded fine until the mention of ghosts came . valentine had enough ghosts from his past ; he was hoping to find a novel that would take him away from all of that , not bring them back to the front of his mind . the thought of having to pass it up caused a bright blush to rise on his cheeks . “ it sounds neat , i love books like that … ” he started , his tone of voice laced with embarrassment . “ i think it might … it might be a bit too much for me though , you know ? ” he began feeling self conscious over how hot and presumably red his blush was . “ i’m a baby , i know . ” he said it before sawyer had the chance to , passing the book back . once upon a time it would have been the perfect pick for valentine , but he’d been through far too much in the past couple of years to brave it . “ maybe i should just go to … to the kids section or something . ” he kept joking in hopes that it would save him from his own embarrassment . 

///

sawyer cocked his head to the side as he thought about sci fi he had read recently. “come with me,” he said, gesturing away valentine’s embarrassment. “no, no, no, if i can’t find the right book for you, that’s embarrassing for me,” sawyer said. “i’m always bragging that i can find the perfect book for anyone, and i can’t let this be the moment that i fuck it all up.” sawyer stood in front of the sci fi novels for a moment before plucking a couple off the shelf. “this one is an oldie but a goody,” he said, gesturing at the lime green cover of neuromancer. “and there’s carl sagan’s book, which i really liked because sagan just, like, knows what he’s talking about, you know? the science in the book actually made me interested in real life science, which, as my old home school tutors will tell you, is no mean feat.” sawyer pulled out one last book. “and this one.” he held up dawn by octavia butler. “this one is just—” he kissed the spine of the book. a show of theatrics, sure, but this was also just generally how sawyer behaved even when he was off the clock. it was probably why he had a pretty good handle on getting these books flying off the shelves. “this one is a new classic, i can already tell. people are going to talk about it for decades.” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

ianfm​:

“Yeah, King’s, well, the king of setting tone if you ask me. It’s wild he keeps the momentum all the way through. I think that’s why I wasn’t able to put it down when I read it the first time,” he explained. It was a good horror and it definitely did nothing to curb his fear about nurses that’s for damn sure. Not that he turned to King’s works of fiction to get over fears– quite the opposite, he sought his work to indulge in them that was why it’d been some time since he picked up one of his books. His mind had enough scary things swirling around in it he wasn’t about to add any more willingly now that he was finally getting into a better spot. Ian glanced at the cover one more time of the book in Sawyer’s hands adding it to his growing list of must read titles next time he came in with extra money in his pocket.·“I don’t know how much more fast paced puzzles are compared to reading,” he said not wanting to completely burst his bubble but Ian had finished books faster than he had puzzles in the past.·“You should hit up the arcade. I think that’s the type of brain engagement you’re looking for if you’re not like… trying to rollerskate,” he suggested in hopes that it might help Sawyer on his quest of new things to do. Ian could only shrug when asked what he’d been up to. Ian had fallen into his daily routine again back at home after all the shake ups last year. He was excited he didn’t have much to report.·“Ehhh, not much really. It’s too cold to want to do much of anything still. Been watching movies and playing video games more than anything else. I’m sure that’ll change when I don’t have to spend ten minutes every morning scrapping ice off my car.”·

///

Sawyer was the kind of person who would read anything and everything just to give it a shot. He’d slogged through Ayn Rand, even though he hated it, and he would still tell people to read it. He wanted to know anything and everything, learn as much as he could from everything he read. He’d had a thirst for knowledge ever since he was little—it was part of the reason why he decided to get a job in Shrike Heights proper. He wanted to travel far and wide, and it seemed like the best place to get started with that was the town that had always been there, but never truly an integral part of Sawyer’s life. He couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of rollerskating. Sawyer was notoriously uncoordinated and it could only prove to be disastrous if he went to the roller rink. He was fairly certain he would get banned from the roller rink in an instance. “Yeah, I might have to give the arcade a try. I don’t know, I’ve never really played a ton of video games.” Sawyer bent the book back and forth in his hands a litte then, in an effort to keep from wrecking it before it ever got bought, he put it down on a nearby shelf. “Yeah, I’ve been riding my bike everywhere, but lately, I’ve really just been pushing it through snow that’s too deep for me to actually ride through. Upsetting.” 

[insporp]

[x]

[sawyerhxthaway]

wastcfm​:

          elliot was far from being a creature of habits. they didn’t have enough, and the ones they did have were hardly considered healthy by the majority of the population. whenever they were on a break from the entertainment store, they would take it as a chance to meander around the mall. they had a morbid curiosity when it came to the murders and was actually attempting to find out a bit more about shrike’s history── which came off as strange for most of the people, as well. perhaps a bit too lost in their own mind, elliot wouldn’t really say it out loud if they were asked, but once the boy started speaking next to them, they were a bit startled, to say the least.  ❛ for fuck’s sake, ❜  they muttered under their breath and put a hand on their chest, feeling their heart thundering against their rib cage as the other went on and on about what they might want from the bookstore.  ❛ wow you got all three incredibly wrong, ❜  there was obvious sarcasm behind their voice and if it wasn’t obvious in their voice, it was obvious on their face and the way they looked at him.  ❛ how about not today, ew and i don’t even know who that is? ❜   they said, a small smile now appearing on their lips. it’s not that they found the excitement annoying, it’s just that they’d rather not be approached at all.  ❛ i was actually wondering if there was something on shrike? a history book, mayhaps? someone who used to be famous here and written an autobiography of the town? i am avoiding with everything in me to go to the public library, so, can you help me there, joey gladstone? ❜

///

sawyer couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the nickname, shaking his head. “fair enough, fair enough. i know not everyone is completely won over by my charm all the time.” he gestured for elliot to follow them, walking through to the back of the store. “there aren’t a lot of books on shrike, just this one big one written in the 50′s,” sawyer said, pulling a tome out from under a counter and dropping it on top for elliot to look at. “this guy was totally convinced that this whole region was haunted, which is why i’m glad they’re keeping this book around. usually if a book’s been sitting here this long we sell it off at half price to thrift stores and stuff.” sawyer opened the book up to the middle, where black and white images were printed on glossy photo paper. “see that?” he pointed to an amorphous blob in the background of one of the pictures. “the author swears that’s a ghost. i think it looks like a lima bean, but who says ghosts aren’t lima-bean-shaped?” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

screamy-tracks​:

Jesse nodded his head as he took in the other options that he was given. It figured the guy listened to Willie Nelson. He looked like the type. “Did you ever do that shit where you listen to Dark Side of the Moon and watch the Wizard of Oz? “ That was just genuine curiosity. He’d never tried it personally. 

His eyebrows raised closer to his hairline as the other man kept rambling. Jesus. He just got a record player. Jesse couldn’t even imagine that. “I think the only Hanukkah song I know is that one about the dreidel or whatever.” He shrugged his shoulders. “But yeah. It helped.” He glanced around. “Alright so if you listen to Willie, you’re probably going to like someone like Johnny Cash. Especially his live album from Folsom Prison. That shit was ground breaking. If you’re into Woodstock stuff, try the Grateful Dead too. They aren’t terrible.” He motioned for Sawyer to follow him as he started walking through the aisles. “You ever listen to Hendrix? Or the Doors?” He thought for a second that he probably shouldn’t suggest so many at once but fuck it. He was going to blow this kids musical mind and make pretty good commission off of it too.

///

“No, is that a thing? I had no idea.” Sawyer reached his hands up to hold onto the straps of his backpack—a beat up little rucksack from high school that certainly looked its age—and pulled the straps forward off his shoulders slightly, now holding the weight of his backpack by the counterweight of his arms pulling downwards. “I haven’t watched the Wizard of Oz in, like, a long time. Is there some sort of connection between them? Because that would be super creepy.”

Sensing that he might need to make a few trips to the store to get his music taste up to speed, according to the man in front of him, Sawyer patted down his pockets until he found a pen and jotted down a couple of notes on the back of his hand. “Um—I don’t know if I can listen to that much music all at once. Though, I do like Jimi Hendrix. I think it’s so cool how he played his guitar upside down—like, can you imagine just being able to listen to and figure out an instrument like that? Play it completely wrong but also, like, totally right at the same time? It blows my mind. I have no fucking clue how anyone can be that much of a genius.” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

ofmarygilinsky​:

it was near closing time and mary was still staring face to face with the broken washing machine. she let out a huff, blowing her bangs off her forehead before the sprawled messily across her face. her hands started to shake as she reached out to press the buttons, hoping the right combination of button mashing would make the machine run. working in the mall this late made her nervous, when she applied for a laundromat she never thought her life would be at risk. 

mary crossed her arms and pressed them tightly against her chest to hide her panicked shaking. “god, i will not hear the end of it from opening shift if i leave this broken.” she attempted a laugh to keep herself in calm spirits. “happen to know a washing machine repairman wandering the area this late?” mary asked, only half joking.

///

sawyer groaned. “so, you’re saying that we’re not going to make the movie on time. damn! i was looking forward to the trailers for this one.” sawyer leaned against the wall next to the machine. “hey, i have no idea how these things work. i mean, if you’re looking for someone to help bring your plants back to life, i can absolutely do that, but i’m a fuckin’ luddite when it comes to this stuff.” he dusted off the front of his corduroy jacket, wrinkling his nose at some stubborn lint that had stuck itself to his lapel.

“are you going to be stuck here until it’s fixed? because that’s shitty. and i could totally try to fix it, but i think i’d break it more—but then maybe you can get a repair guy out here faster?” he looked around. “maybe we should flood the place.” he looked up at her. “just a little! just enough to be an emergency.”

[sawyerhxthaway]

screamy-tracks​:

–closed starter @sawyerhxthaway​ {for sawyer hathaway}

It was pretty easy to run through the motions of helping a customer when you knew music like the back of your hand. Just ask them what shit they like and hold back your shitty comments on their taste in music until you got them to the counter so they couldn’t back out of a sale. He’d last too much commission from that bullshit before. 

Jesse was rarely stumped. He’d heard mention of the Beatles so he was already halfway through leading Sawyer to the appropriate section when he stopped dead in his tracks. He spun around quickly on his heel with his hands in the air. “Hold on, hold on. If I’m going to help you find something I’m going to need a little something more than just The Beatles. Those guys dabbled in like a million genres by the time they called it quits. What other shit do you like?” It wasn’t that he didn’t respect the other man’s music taste. In fact, he kind of did. It was just fucking hard to recommend new music with only one thing to go off of and he was only one dude.

///

Sawyer’s eyebrows popped up as the other asked for more information. He was usually just able to pick apart someone’s book taste by looking at them, though, honestly, that was probably just a lucky guess more often than not. he was thoughtful for a moment, trying to put his finger on the songs that he heard warbling from his parents’ old radio when they were out gardening in the sun or eating a meal with everyone else in the commune. It was difficult, if only because Sawyer only half-remembered the tunes. 

“Ooh! Okay, I like Willie Nelson, too. And Pink Floyd? Are those too different from each other? I don’t know! I haven’t listened to a lot of music. Honestly, I only just got a record player of my own for the first time and I have, like, one Christmas record and that’s it. And I don’t even celebrate Christmas.” He paused, already starting to check out of the current conversation and get lost in a train of thought. “I do love a good Christmas carol though. Do other religions have carols? I think I could jam out to some Hanukkah carols, if they exist. Do they exist?” He shook his head. “I’m getting off track. Right. Did that help? Should I think of more?” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

retrocuts​

Ryanne often found solace in the quiet aisles of the bookstore, which is why it threw her off when she was approached. “Um—” Before she could tell the employee that Stephen King novels were far from what she wanted to read, especially when it felt like the town now lived in a horror novel, he continued on and on with suggestions that almost overwhelmed her. She fiddled with a loose thread on the sleeve of her sweater as she stared at her feet and waited for Sawyer to finish. “I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, but maybe I’d like that book?” She lifted her head to give him her attention. “What’s it about?”

///

Sawyer held it out to her. “It’s about this family of former slaves who move into a house in Cincinnati that might be haunted. Though, I have a few theories on that one, but I don’t want to spoil anything! It’s a little spooky, it’s super raw, and I think it’s a brilliant book. I’m sure they’re going to have people start reading it in English class, it’s that good.” He grinned at her. “I have a bit of a knack for figuring out what people want. I take one look at ya and I know—so, I promise, it’ll be good or your next book is on me.” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

urdamage​:

✧ closed starter ; sawyer @sawyerhxthaway​​ ✧ location ; a new chapter

               eilonwy had always been the kind of person who could easily get overwhelmed even at the best of times , being extremely reactive and sensitive to the people and the things in her surroundings . it was how she had been her entire life , and even though she had once been in a position where she handled things better due to working on building herself up , the attack she was a victim of had pulverized her previous progress and it had left her in a state worse than what she had ever been in before . eilonwy couldn’t live through an entire day now without having a moment where she was more than completely overwhelmed , but some moments with some people were still alright . 

working two jobs was a lot to handle , especially when the pace of donna’s roller disco was completely outside of her comfort zone - and had been even before she was so drastically changed due to brutality . despite this , when working at a new chapter eilonwy could finally find a bit of peace ; only during the quiet hours , and only with her favourite co-workers present to bring her comfort , but even though there was such strict criteria for the good days she was more than happy , appreciative and thankful for it . sawyer was on her list of favourite co-workers , and eilonwy’s face absolutely lit up upon walking into a new chapter and seeing his face . “ morning , ” she greeted him , placing her bag down underneath the front counter for safe keeping . “ i haven’t been rostered on with you in a while ; i’ve been missing you . ” she told him honestly , having no issue with breaking her regular silence as no customers graced the store just yet . 

///

sawyer was ducked down behind the counter stacking up the boxes of pens and tape and price stickers that had somehow gotten even more disorganized than the last time he had been here. sawyer could have sworn there was a goblin breaking into the store at night and messing with their stuff—or, it was stupid kevin, their absolute hurricane of a coworker who always seemed to put everything in exactly the wrong spot, leaving sawyer to try and put it all back when he came in afterwards. perhaps, sawyer thought, he was just as hated by kevin, who he didn’t actually share many shifts with, who had a very idiosyncratic way of ordering things in the store and thought sawyer was an absolute menace for messing with it. 

he was considering this hypothetical as he stood up, counting post-it pads in one hand when he heard eilonwy’s voice. he looked up with a bright grin, nearly dropping what he was holding as he threw his arms apart. “eil!” he exclaimed, dropping his hands to his sides. “thank god it’s you. i mean, nothing against julie, but she’s, like, eighty and we never have anything to talk about.” he grinned and bumped his shoulder against hers as she joined him behind the counter. “i’ve been missing you too, it’s been a hot minute. how’s the morning shift been treating you?” sawyer worked exclusively in the afternoon—he knew that he was absolute crap in the morning. 

[sawyerhxthaway]

crystallini​:

─ they turned the moment that lydia heard the voice call out to them, offering to help them find the book that was top of their reading list. it didn’t help the small smirk moving over their painted lips, nod causing the volumanic hair to bounce ever so slightly. “close but nope.” lydia confessed with a soft chuckle as they moved to lean back against the shelves that were behind them. “postcards from the edge.” lydia confessed pushing off the shelves once more before offering a small smile.

///

“dammit!” he snapped his fingers before holding onto the paperback he was carrying with both hands, bending it a little between his fingers as he tried to remember where the book they requested was. “if you don’t mind following me on a little jaunt across the store, i think we still have it. miss carrie’s pretty popular, considering those space movies she was in,” he said with a little wink. “if we don’t have it, i’d be more than happy to put in an order for you, too!” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

stigmcta​:

─ rowena couldn’t help but chuckle as the person walked up to them, words falling from their lips. nodding along before scrunching their nose. “stephen king.” ro offered back before taking the book from their hand. it was not something they would even consider reading unless someone basically handed it over, which they practically did. “and any art books would be pretty neat.” they confessed before holding the book back out for the other. “not my type.”

///

sawyer squinted their eyes at them. “i’m going to get you out of your comfort zone one of these days,” he said, shaking a finger in a cheesy gesture. “just you wait!” he walked back through the store, ducking into a couple of shelves before coming back with a stack of books that he dropped with a thump on a nearby stool. “okay, so,” he said, handing them the books one by one. “we’ve got one here on picasso, one on van gogh, and i’m pretty partial to this volume on impressionism. it’s a two parter, if you want both parts.” he finished off by handing misery to rowena. “and that’s the last stephen king. spooky! i’m not gonna lie, it gave me nightmares for, like, a week.”

[sawyerhxthaway]

louavery​:

she wasn’t looking for a book. it wasn’t that she didn’t read, more so that she didn’t read for FUN anymore. still, it was fun watching him try to guess, amusement spread onto soft features, arms crossing over her chest. “i know i’m going to break your adorable-ly nerdy heart.” lou teased, tilting her head, “but i’m actually not here for a book.” she finally declared, head tilt, “sorry.” brief pause, “i actually came to see if you wanted a coffee.”

///

sawyer paused, holding the book in both hands in sheer disbelief for a second. most of the time, people didn’t seek him out to hang out, but the other way around—not that he minded or anything, but he was a little dumbfounded to think that someone would actually pay enough attention to even notice him. he checked his watch. “can you wait, like, five minutes? i’m totally on break then and we can definitely get coffee. if you don’t mind me rambling about all the books you should definitely look for,” he said with a grin. 

[sawyerhxthaway]

ianfm​:

Ian didn’t need another book, far from it in fact. He had stacks of pulp fiction fantasy and sci-fi littered precariously throughout his apartment. Most of which half read or weathered by spilt drinks and the occasional dip in the tub. No, he had plenty of beloved books he returned and more books than he could count that he already had on his ever growing list of books to read. Still he was drawn to the bookstore anytime he walked by and it wouldn’t hurt to window shop a bit. Just because he was in a bookstore didn’t mean he had to buy something, right? … Right? Ian had be consumed scanning titles and book spines that caught his eye that he jumped when he was approached by one of A New Chapter’s friendliest employees. Unfortunately he read him pretty well, go figure. None of the titles being rattled off at him were on his purchase list right now. “I’ve read Misery twice now, really good,” he recommended lightly. He didn’t really feel in the mood for horror so much these days. “I’m just looking right now. I’m trying not to leave with a book right now,” he admitted. He knew Sawyer cared more to chat than he did to sell him anything. “What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you in a while,” he added. Ian used to be a frequent visitor down at the commune but lately he hadn’t been visiting Leaf as much. Most interactions he had with people happened when he was at the mall or not at all. 

///

“yeah, misery was sick. i mean, the beginning, starting with the broken legs? like, you knew that he was in totally deep shit from the start. and it only got crazier from there! i think this is my favorite book of his.” sawyer laughed and held the book in both hands, as if to keep it safe from ian before he got too tempted. “okay, well, when you are ready for a book, i think this one would be right up your alley. it’s a family drama, but it’s also, like, about a haunted house. i’ve never read anything like it, it’s so good.” he leaned against one of the shelves, tossing the lanyard around his neck so it rested over his shoulder so he could more comfortably cross his arms in front of him. he shrugged. “i’m trying to find a new hobby, but i don’t know what to do. i pretty much just come here and go home these days, but i want to try something different. i thought about picking up, like, arts or crafts or something, but it doesn’t really seem my vibe. i need something more fast paced. and something that really challenges my brain, like a puzzle or something.” he glanced around the store. “maybe we have a book of puzzles around here or something...” he trailed off, his mind already wandering far from the conversation at hand before he snapped himself back to reality. “anyway, what’s up with you? i was starting to think you forgot all about little ol’ me.” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

urdamage​:

               valentine felt like he needed to find a new hobby , especially when most of his favourite activities were ruled out by the cold of the winter and the snow on the ground that he didn’t want to subject his dog to ; merry didn’t like to wear the little dog snow boots available to purchase and valentine refused to go anywhere without his service dog . he had tried out a bunch of different activities that would keep him busy over the winter ( completing puzzles , organising his belongings , watching films , teaching merry new tricks etc. ) but next on his list was reading . he had always enjoyed reading , though admittedly he had always believed that he could read more than what he did ; he was happy to make a start on that , and happy to be in a new chapter looking for the book that he could do that with . in all honesty , valentine was a little lost while looking around the store ; he had no idea what book he was after , and no idea how to narrow it down when the bookstore had so many titles available to choose from . sawyer was a blessing to come out from seemingly nowhere , bringing such good energy along with helpful suggestions . “ i think stephen king is a little too scary for me right now . ” living alone - not including his dog that sat at his feet currently - and having been attacked during the summer by criminals who hadn’t yet been caught brought enough of a scare to valentine’s life . but he appreciated the suggestion anyway , and wore a smile on his face regardless . “ try more … lord of the rings . ” he informed the other of his general taste in literature once he had paused speaking . he took the last book that was suggested to him , the one that was held out to him , and he scanned the cover . it looked quite different to anything stephen king , but still , valentine couldn’t be too sure . “ what’s it about ? ”

///

“understandable. i mean, misery was super good, but it did give me nightmares for a couple of days. it features an incredibly crazy lady in the woods, and this town is surrounded by woods! what if the crazy lady is hiding out in there?” sawyer said it goofily, trying to make light of the very serious situation in town then. it was like there was something cursed about this town, drawing all the killers in when they would have a much easier time going unnoticed and have a much more ample hunting ground in a larger city. there was something about it that piqued sawyer’s interested, that scratched at the part of his brain that devoured jigsaw puzzles and completed the sunday crossword in pen. sawyer loved puzzles, and the more he thought about the plight of shrike heights, the more he started to see it as a puzzle that needed to be solved. 

sawyer was thoughtful for a moment. “fantasy only, or do you like sci fi too?” he chuckled. “i mean, for either, i’m going to recommend something from our little collection of ursula k. le guin. she’s got some really good one! i’m on the second earthsea book now and it’s got me totally hooked.” he tapped the book he handed to valentine. “it’s about a family of former slaves who move into a house that, like, might be haunted, though the ghosts might really just be the ghosts of their past, y’know? it had me by the throat until i finished it.” he felt a warmth rush to his ears at the embarrassing admission he was about to make. “actually, like, three nights ago i stayed up all night finishing it. i totally regretted it the next day at work, but i just needed to know what happened at the end!” 

[sawyerhxthaway]

flosxhortus​:

― everleigh’s brows knitted together as she looked at the books on the shelf. eyes scanning over the titles and authors rather slowly. she was trying to find a book but for some reason, she was having a hard time. when she heard the voice, her head snapped tot he side. a few moments passed quickly before a smile moved over her face. she couldn’t hold back the small laughs that fell from her lips as she listened to all the words that came from them. hand moving to take the book that was offered to her before nodding her head. “i was actually looking for the bonfire of the vanities by tom wolfe.” she confessed before flipping through the pages of the book she was holding. “but i’ll try this one as well since you gave it such a good recommendation.”

///

sawyer bounced back on his heels with a cheeky grin. “you can feel free to thank me later.” he peeked around into another row of shelves and popped back around with the tom wolfe novel she’d asked for. “and here’s what you were looking for.” sawyer leaned in conspiratorially, a mischievous glint in his eye and til to his head. “and, if you keep it on the down low, i’ll try and swing you a good deal,” he added in a hushed voice, as if keeping a huge secret. technically he wasn’t just supposed to use his employee discount willy nilly, but he was always breaking the rules to get people a good deal. no one could have too many books, in sawyer’s opinion, and he never saw the reason they needed to be so expensive. it just felt wrong to hold onto all these beautiful stories, just out of reach for someone who might be a couple of bucks short.