Vellichor: The strange wistfulness of used bookstores.
Deeks inhaled deeply, just taking everything in. He was in a bookshop. A used one in fact. It was a guilty pleasure of his that he'd kept secret until Kensi actually followed him here once without him knowing.
She'd laughed at his embarrassment of it but didn't really find it odd, pointing out that her America's Next Top Model obsession was stranger than used bookstores. Which was true. That acknowledgement had got him a jab but also a heartfelt grin and kiss. Oh, and a promise that if he found any decent looking books on yoga and meditation that didn't involve 'chakras' or 'spirit animals' he'd bring them home.
He could do that. Rummaging around these stores was almost all of the fun. Though nothing quite beat the success of finally finding an awesome book.
He almost felt guilty about being here this afternoon. The sun was shining high in the sky and they weren't at work. But Kensi had all but chased him out saying that they both needed a break from wedding preparations and she was going for a jog before her head exploded. Well, who was he to argue with that?
He had dropped Kensi off at the beach and walked it to here, it's closeness to the beach had attracted him to it in the first place. Of course, he detoured down tree different side streets and did a loop around the building before approaching the door. Sam's evasive training still being a paranoid reflex.
Now he was here, surrounded by all these books. All these possibilities. There was adventure waiting for him in every corner. Literally. The owner of this place didn't organise the books in any meaningful way that Deeks could discern. And he'd tried. Multiple times. It had given him a headache. So, he'd just given into the fact that you could find adventure books over by the biographies as well as shuffled in between the romance novels. He supposed it made the finding more exciting.
A satisfied sigh escaped him as he picked up another stack to rummage through. This one looked more promising, he recognised some of the authors. A smile stretched across his face as he dove in. Even surfing didn't provide him with the same escape as a good used bookshop did. Surfing gave his mind too much opportunity to wander back to the seemingly endless lists of wedding prep. Rifling through literal stacks of interesting literature kept his mind occupied enough to unwind.
He had pointedly ignored the shelf of books that the stacks were piled on top of. They were all wedding related, from cake decorating to flower arranging. He couldn't avoid thinking wedding even in this sacred place. Deeks didn't even want to think of the connotations of wedding books being abandoned in a dingy store like this. Only positive thoughts were to be associated with his and Kensi's wedding he had long ago decided. A bit naive? Probably. But Deeks was a great believer in starting as you meant to go on.
Oh, look, this one had dragons in it. Deeks was always a sucker for a good dragon tale. Young Deeks had always dreamt that a dragon would come and burn his father to a crisp and flying him and his mother to safety. In those days only dragons were scary enough creatures to defeat Brandell. He frowned and shook his head before setting the book to the side to select another. Maybe no dragons today. Which was a pity, it would remove a good portion of the fantasy novels -not to mention all the prince and princess ones that couples liked to compare themselves to. Like the next one he found. Its cover had a prince in his shiny armour, riding a white horse with a princess with streaming blonde hair seated behind him. A large dragon bellowed in the background.
The snort was loud. He clapped a hand over his nose, looking around apologetically before realising that no one had heard it. Too engrossed in their books.
He held the book by the corner of the spine, a derisive look on his face. Those books were bor-ring. Who needed princesses that just stood around waiting to be saved? Not him. Where was the action? The awesome teamwork? The kicking ass? Nowhere, that's what. Because there were no partners. Stupid and boring. Who said princesses had to be all pathetic and helpless? His certainly wasn't.
Another sigh escaped him. This one more exasperated and he threw the book onto his discarded pile.
Maybe he'd have more luck with the biographies. Deeks could vaguely remember Sam and Hetty raving about this philosopher...
[xxxxxx]
The bell over the door jangled, abruptly dragging him out of his adventures with Confucius, as someone left the store. His head shot up, all senses on high alert.
How long had he been here? Time passed strangely in bookshops, he always maintained. That, and the piles of books blocked most of the light coming in from the window. Made it a bit difficult to tell the time.
"Getting anything?" the bored teen at the till asked. "Gotta lock up soon."
Deeks shook his head and gave the place a longing glance behind him as he emerged from the shelves, this time empty handed.
Twisting the door handle, he slowly opened the door, not wanting to break the spell just yet.
"Bye, Mister," the kid said pointedly.
He nodded a goodbye and pulled the door back, blinking in the sunlight. Why was the light never good in these stores? It clicked behind him and he was out. Back into the real world.
Seeks glanced up and down the street. It all looked rather unexciting compared to what he'd been completely engrossed in for the past hour or so.
Next time he returned some his stories will have had their happy ending. That's how fairy tales worked, after all.
Good thing there was another book for him to pick up.