One word writing prompts: SIL

Word Six: Bookshop [r]

I was debating romance or what THEN I REALISED I COULD BRING BACK THOSE TWO PPL FROM UH WORD FOUR SO LETS DO ITTT HISTORY TIME

Tw: HISTORY HEHE >:)))

Third person POV: (This is their trademark rn idc anymore)

We bringing back characters bc we love them (I DO AND IM THE WRITER MWAHAHA WRITER POWER)

Songs I listened to:

https://youtu.be/Adfk3qNAErM?si=kvftw7tB6BGOPtu3

https://youtu.be/uTSl_UpJy4k?si=h-uqgOHuei5wiXFx

--ш--

This time, she is the one waiting at a bus stop. The rain pours down around her, but she finds it comforting.

He arrives, an umbrella in hand.

"Sorry I'm late, had some uh... problems."

Said problems are his roommate somehow losing his pants, so he had to search it out. Then his mother called, and that took a while.

She laughs. 

"Լավ է! (It's fine!)"

He smiles crookedly. She thinks its adorable, how genuine he is. 

"So uh, shall we go?"

The smile fades from her face. Urgh, words cannot describe how much she loathes history. But... if he's the one teaching her... maybe she can give it a go...

They enter a cozy bookshop. He breathes deeply, savouring the smell of old books. The young woman at the cashier lifts her head from her arms to look at them, before going back to sleep. She has to admit, she'd never come her on her own, but it seems like his kind of place.

"Okay! This way!" He half-drags her to a shelf, and she can't help but laugh at his infectious energy. Pulling out one of the thicker books, he flips through it enthusiastically, while she surveys her surroundings. Books stare at her from all corners, some old, some new, some with gold embossed covers, others paperbacks. The smell of freshly-brewed coffee is coming from somewhere, likely the counter. She really likes this place.

"Found the page!" Excitedly, he points it out to her. She looks upon the mass of words, and stares at him blankly. He sighs jokingly, and goes to a bench.

"Here," he says, pointing out the paragraph to her. She stands behind the bench, trying to comprehend anything printed on the page.

He laughs, patting the seat beside him. Her heart flutters as she takes a seat. Immediately, he plonks the book on her lap, leaning over to point out phrases she should take note of.

She can't concentrate, not with him basically leaning into her, talking fast with his eyes shining in that cute way.

He notices that she isn't listening.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She blushes, and is glad the dim orange lighting of the place covers it up.

"Yeah, I'm good. Tell me about something... other than school history?"

He lights up again.

"Oh! Wait here," he says, dashing away, leaving the book on her.

She decides to flip through the pages, even though she probably won't read it. One passage catches her eye, and she decides to see it.

'She had word sent to Antony that she had killed herself, knowing that he would soon follow. According to Plutarch, when Antony was told of his partner's death, he uttered the immortal words:

O Cleopatra, I am not distressed to have lost you, for I shall straightaway join you; but I am grieved that a commander as great as I should be found to be inferior to a woman in courage.

After his attempted suicide, a distraught Cleopatra had Antony brought to her. Seeing what she had done, she was heartbroken but resolute.'

He arrived, holding a somehow thicker book, with a Chinese title she couldn't read.

"So not many people know this, but I'm actually invested in both the Zhou and Qin dynasties of China!"

She blinked. Those names sounded familiar.

"Why those two?"

"The Zhou dynasty was when all the famous philosophy things came about! And the Qin dynasty was the most well-known and the last, actually. Stupid of them to make a 6-year old emperor. But it also succeeded the Zhou dynasty, and the story is so so interesting!"

"Really? Tell me about it."

--ш--

Credits to: https://www.biography.com/royalty/cleopatra-mark-antony-love-story-death (for stolen paragraph haha)

Was this secretly a way to promote China? Yes. Did I want to bring history into this? Yes. Do I have names for them? Yes.

Also the counter lady is done with the excited chatter, she's only here bc she got fired from her last job