Phea and her lover Saliria were cooing over the modern variety of tabletop games.
“You said you pyed these a lot?”
Kate smiled. “Not all of them and our main choice is a card game called Heroes of Sword and Sorcery.”
“A card game… we had those as well.” Phea mused. “You get a deck of pying cards and share it by pying various different games with it.”
“We have those kinds of games too, but Heroes is a so-called trading card game. Every pyer brings their own deck, made up of cards they have specifically chosen to use. You also don’t just buy every single card to start the game or actually ever really. You either go for a random selection and build something from there or buy, or trade for, specific cards you want to use. You know about the custom weaponry we use and the training we all got, right?”
“Yes. I have yet to pick something though.”
“A trading card game is simir to that, just on a purely intellectual level.”
“Fascinating. Hey, Sal? Do we want to try this game out?”
Saliria nodded eagerly. “Obviously, why do you even ask?”
“So, Kate, how do we start?”
Kate grinned. “By getting a little starter deck to learn the rules. Hey, Jimmy, right?”
The young man behind the counter looked up. “Yea, that’s me. How can I help you?”
“I need two starter packs for my friends.”
“The freebies or the new starter toolkit?”
“I haven’t tried the toolkit yet, let’s try that.”
“Alright. Do you need sleeves with that?”
“We still have some, all good. I believe there are two duel starter sets, right?”
“Uh, yes, there are.”
“I would like both then, we have even more people to introduce to Heroes.”
“Awesome! Shall I deduct that from your store credit or do you want to pay?”
Kate raised an eyebrow. Her two companions were equally confused, but for different reasons. “I still have store credit?”
“From the tournament two months ago, yes. Enough to cover the two sets and still have more than half left over.”
“Alright, let’s use that then.”
“And done. Here’s your boxes.” Jimmy handed Kate two boxes of cards.
“Thank you and see you next Friday.”
“See you then and thank you for your continued patronage.”
“What’s store credit?” Saliria wasn’t sure what just happened in the card shop.
“The store hosts tournaments where we py that card game against each other. Since we have quite a few cards already, we often ask to have our prizes counted in store credit, which is basically a voucher we can use for buying stuff at this store.”
“I see. They make sure you come back here when you want to buy game equipment by awarding you for your loyalty. Clever.”
“It is indeed clever and for us it is no negative at all. For some, who prefer shopping at multiple pces or ordering from further away, it might limit their options, but we usually buy our cards only from here. It is where we can py against humans and so we desire them to stay in business for as long as possible.”
“Do other types of shops offer that sort of system?”
“Some might. Speaking of other stores, want to get moving again? There is much to see.”
“Right, of course.”
The next stop was a toy store, much to Kate’s surprise. Both Phea and Saliria were intrigued by the prospect of small building blocks that would stick together and not just fall apart at the slightest breeze. The fact that they were made of pstic wasn’t appealing, but if they understood the system, they would be able to replicate it using a more sustainable material. Obviously, the plushie section also drew their attention.
“Hm…” Phea narrowed her eyes at a selection of local animals. “Most of these I have never seen before. You said they are native to this isnd?”
“They are! Some of them are a little bigger than the plushies suggest.”
“What’s this one?”
“That is a hedgehog. They aren’t usually that fluffy, they’ve got like spikes on their back to deter predators.”
“It’s adorable and… retable. I have to admit that I was a hedgehog in life as well… spikey and hard to cuddle.” Phea sighed. “Things change and if it is okay with you, I would like to keep this little one.”
“Of course.”
“I do not have money and you already gifted us the starter set for that card game, are you sure this is okay?”
“The cards may have come from my store credit, but everything else today is being paid for by the pandemonium. No need to worry about costs or anything, just what makes you happy.”
“Oh. That is very generous.”
“Anything to make life a bit better and plushies make life great.”
“I am sure they do. Sal, do you want a plushie as well?”
Saliria nodded. “I was looking around for something that felt right. It might not be us today anymore, but from what Kate just said about hedgehogs… It did feel like we were two hedgehogs giving each other warmth back then, didn’t it?”
Phea looked at the little plushie in her hands. “Maybe we still are… I hope we softened our spikes a bit though.”
“I think we have. I’ll take a little hedgehog too, if that’s okay.”
“Of course it is. It’s us after all.”
Kate didn’t dare to interrupt them and simply guided them over to the cashier to pay.
The two hedgehogs accompanied the group all the way through the day. The plushies saw the tailoring shop where Kate still bought accessories and sometimes a highly specific piece of clothing or two. Just a few minutes after leaving with a new pair of brass hairpins, they found themselves peering out of Kate’s purse as the three demons entered Hawthorne’s Stationery and Office Accessories.
Archibald Hawthorne was a man Kate had come to adore. The demons could of course provide any and all writing equipment she may ever need, but, just as they could also replicate any trading card from thin air, there was something special about going to a pce to get an item. Especially if those items were a slightly more special version of a mundanely summoned thing. Despite not knowing the librarians’ secrets, Hawthorne understood that.
His son did too. It took Kate a while to get back to the offer Archibald had made, for his son to take a look at her old fountain pen and restore it to its proper glory. Matthew Hawthorne was about Kate’s age and happy to indulge her unique requests in regard to the repairs. The pen wasn’t supposed to look like it was brand new, the damaged parts should only be repced if they couldn’t be fixed, and the repairs should remain visible. Matthew opted to fill the cracks on the silver housing with a bck material. The only new part of the pen was the nib itself. Kate was overjoyed with the result and now proudly dispyed it on her desk at home. It had become a work of art now.
To this day, all librarians came here to buy notebooks. Much to the immortals’ joy, Matthew had begun working at the store as well. He had pns to continue his father’s legacy here.
Archibald himself was here today to greet Kate and her new friends.
“Welcome, welcome. Lovely day, isn’t it?”
Kate gave him the warmest smile. “It very much is. How are you?”
“I am well, thank you. How are you, young miss librarian?”
“Life is good. And I have made some new friends!” She gestured to Phea and Saliria, who were carefully looking around.
“That is wonderful! Can I offer you two a good pen or just some quality paper? Or maybe you’re just taking in all the offerings for now?”
Saliria returned a smile. “We come from quite far away and writing was a bit of a privilege. Our tools were, well, primitive compared to what you have here. Maybe you can just show us what you use, how you use it, you know…”
“It would be my pleasure, come.” He stepped out from the behind the counter and led the disguised demons to the backroom, where Kate had once selected her pen of choice. A gift from Apollyon.
The old mister Hawthorne shared his love for everything about writing eagerly. Phea and Saliria got to try pen after pen of different types and quality. In the end they nded on a matching set of fountain pens, not the most expensive but they were the closest in feel to what the two had used in the past, a type of wooden cy carving tool Kate had never heard of.
Of course, the young Nightmare insisted on a pair of small notebooks to use the pens on.
