Ethereal | (X-Men: First Class)

2. Establish

To make stable or firm; to confirm.

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French Translations

Comment ça va : How are you

Mieux, maintenant que je suis ici : Better, now that I'm here

(I know no French and used Google translate so tell me if I've made a mistake)

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Her fingers ran over the edge of the page, running down the sharp corners of the pages. Books were one of her true loves - the feel of them, the smell of them, the sight of them, all were enough to make her happy when she was alone. It is a shame, she thought every day, not everyone thinks the same. But what could she do? She could hardly force people to love reading as she did. (A hopeless cause, anyway; no one could love reading as much as she did.) All she could do was continue to sell her books and hope each book made a difference to someone; each book would be the one to change someone's life.

She knew for a fact one book she had sold had changed two people's lives, for the better.

The bell on the front door jingled as the door opened, followed closely a cheerful voice calling, "Hey, Mrs. O!"

A grin formed on her beautiful face, and she looked up to see her favourite customer turning a corner around the bookshelf at the front of the store. "Good morning, Sean," she greeted him. "Comment ça va?"

"Mieux, maintenant que je suis ici." The redhead grinned cheekily at her as he finally reached the front desk. He leaned against it, managing to find somewhere on her crowded desk (stacks of books; papers; a basket of green apples; a bell to ring for assistance if she couldn't be found) he could place his elbow.

"Flatterer," she scolded, though her deep blue eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Only stating the truth," Sean said, shrugging his shoulders.

"That does bring up an interesting question, though," she said. She made sure to place the ribbon she used as a bookmark in the book before she closed it and placed it beside her on a stack of more books. She looked back to Sean, eyes narrowed. "Why are you here today? You have classes, don't you?"

Sean suddenly found it hard to make eye contact with her. He took an apple from the basket on her counter, making a big show of shining it on his shirt. Marianne frowned at him.

"Sean," she said, "you are so lucky to be able to have an education. Other people do not have the same luck as you. Surely you realize that."

Sean nodded, taking a bite of his apple. He still wouldn't look at her.

"I don't care if the class is boring - you have a class and you should take it. Take advantage of being able to learn."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sean mumbled, a chunk of green apple in his mouth. He was looking down at his shirt now, playing with the hem.

He looked abashed, and she sighed. "Why are you gracing me with your presence today, then?" Marianne asked, her voice gentler now than it had been before.