Lost again

The day before things went wrong

 Sat in the book shop, Pin started to watch the customers walk in, find themselves a book, and walk up to them so the customer could buy it. They were stuck in a seemingly endless cycle when someone caught their eye.

He was a tall boy with raven hair and a silver cross pendant hanging from his ear. He walked as if he wasn't trying to draw attention to himself; his shoulders were slouched slightly and he didn't have a very friendly demeanour. With a hand in his trouser pocket, he walked up Pin who was hopelessly staring at him, noticing that somehow he walked elegantly and purposefully. How his eyes glistened under the thin layer of hair hanging over them. Only then did Pin notice how much taller than them he was and the fact that he looked at them as if they had said something ridiculous hadn't helped the twisted feeling they had inside. Pin realized what they were doing and apologized.

"How can I help you?" Pin spoke in the sweetest voice they could muster after making a fool of themself as they did. A butterfly feeling started to develop inside them.

The boy stood and thought for a minute before asking politely where The goddess Freyja's manuscripts were kept. His voice was lower than Pin had expected, then again they didn't really know what they had expected in the first place. He had an oval face and tan skin. Staring into his eyes was like looking at the bark of a great oak tree. Each line, each crease, and every bit of texture telling a different story of survival. His face was scarred and the most conspicuous of them all was the crimson gash across the edge of his eyebrow; that made Pin wonder what had happened to him. 

 Pin guided him to a corner of the shop with a small table and shelves of books surrounding the glass box on the dark wooden display case, where a stained and worn down book lay open on a wooden pedestal. They then pulled the ladder across the bookshelves where it was hung up on a railing. The sound was almost inaudible but still managed to break the deafening silence in the small area made of books and shelves.

"So where are you from? I don't think I have seen you around here before." Pin had grasped hold of a green bound book with a brown stripe across the middle, it was labeled 'Copy of Freyja's manuscripts'. They then climbed down the ladder and handed the book to him.

"I move around a lot, don't normally stay in one place for too long." it took him a while to answer like he was trying to hide something, formulating the perfect lie so he wouldn't be asked any awkward questions. As he took the book from Pin, he started to admire their fluffy brown hair that made them look like they had just gotten out of bed but somehow it didn't look messy, just relaxed. Their eyes so bright he could feel the warmth and positive energy that surrounded them. They were the colour of leaves and nature, but also of envy. It was this conflicting aura that intrigued him. "I'm Kace by the way." He stretched out his hand and they took it before introducing themself.

"You said that you move around a lot, why'd you come here?" Pin was curious and thought that asking couldn't hurt.

Kace moved his hand across his black button-down shirt and placed it on the chair in front of him, pulled it out from under the table, and sat down before opening the book and scanning its contents. "I had been told about this village by the next town over, a girl called Rosa from the Apothecary. She had told me that if I was going travelling that I should visit the library here as it had many books worth reading, and the people were nice" He looked up at Pin and stared him in the eye, "Also mentioned something about the peace and quiet." He said jokingly.

Pin chuckled slightly as there was a baby on the opposite side of the shop crying and thought it was ironic. W

Although what he said surprised them as Pin hadn't thought of him as the scholar type, they remembered the old saying of never judging a book by its cover, which seemed oddly fitting. They continued talking for another half hour and then they left him alone to read the manuscript he had come for.