6528/A Meeting Between the Covers

A Meeting Between the Covers
Date of Scene:	11 June 2021
Location:	The Strand Bookstore
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Nazo Sarwani, Joseph Gardner

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Nazo Sarwani has posed:
How do you spell 'happiness'? A book, apparently, if Nazo is anybody to go by. Having used her limited funds in the used book store, and seeking solitude to read them, she found a way up to the top of the store without using any doors, sitting cross-legged out in the sun, canvas bag of books spilling over by her side and reading with an intensity that some might find offputting.

Or scary.

Traffic noises: smaller. Loud talking of obnoxious neighbours: absent. Fresh air and sunlight: present.

This is as close to heaven as she's been in a while.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
What is Heaven without some angels? Mind actual Biblical era angels would be scary as all... Heaven. Even the Medieval era angels were warriors, bearing arms and kicking demonic ass, not standing around in sheets singing those depressing Psalms. The figure flitting overhead, and spoiling Nazo's light is a Medieval era Angel, bearing a mighty mace to do the Lord's work.

Wait, it's Hawkman. He's no angel for sure. He touches down lightly, no longer blocking the light and holsters his mace. then he folds his arms and waits for her to pause in her reading.

Nazo Sarwani has posed:
Well that happens almost instantly, the pause, given that large shadows flitting overhead tend to attract attention even of the focused reader, doubly so when said reader thinks she's alone. She clutches the book to her chest tightly, peering up into the sky to see what caused the interruption, relaxing somewhat upon seeing Hawkman.

"Oh. It's..."

Her eyes focus into the distance.

"...Joseph Gardener." The wrinkles at the edges of her eyes suggest she's smiling. "Because we met near a park beside a flower box." Explaining her mnemonic devices apparently.

"How are you?" she finally asks as if working out how the conversation is meant to go from there. Eyes cast down briefly and a swift step covers up the book that had spilled out of her bag, concealing it under her abaya.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman isn't having that. "What're you reading, Habub?" he asks in a curious and mischievous voice. He gives a playful flap wings as if to blow it out of concealment. He doesn't respecting the tradition embodied in that garb. It's like trying to pull his mask off or... pull on Superman's cape. You might as well spit into the wind. To prove his good intentions he folds the wings back.

Nazo Sarwani has posed:
Being the honest person that she is, without even a slightest deceitful bone in her body, Nazo holds up the book she was actually reading. An old history of New York, out of date by about 20 years (so marked down to under a dollar).

"I'm trying to learn about this city's history," she says, with perfect honesty, answering exactly Joseph's question exactly as he asked it. "I find you can learn a lot about a place when you see how it came to be."

Still covering the mouth of the bag and that one book that spilled out, mind.

"What sorts of books do you read? Before this I read only the Qur'an and Hadith." Her body practically radiates pride with the next statement. "I am a Hafiza!"

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman glances at the book bag but... he isn't that nosy. He's a hawk by nature, not a shoe bill.

"Uh-huh. Nice day for it. Do you want a lift back home? I mean if you can't carry your books when you're sand? I suppose I could carry them for you instead of carry you." Pretty sure bare chests and arms are not covered in the Qur'an, or are forbidden. "Let's see... my own books... I read the Egyptian Book of the Dead a lot, I like the Iliad, the Odyssey and that Aeneid. I reread a lot. I also read Louis L'Amour a lot. 'Flint', the Sacketts. I like Westerns."

Nazo Sarwani has posed:
"I can carry them if I'm very careful," Nazo says. "Or I can go down the way I got up: drop the books, then follow down."

This implies she threw them up somehow. And she doesn't seem to have the strength to throw up two floors, so ... in stages?

Crouching, then, she sweeps the offending book into the bag, putting the history book on top. Unfortunately Hawkman's hawk eye got a good glimpse of the cover in that swift move.

A romance novel.

The potboiler variety.

"There. I don't really want to go back home just yet, though. Perhaps we can go somewhere that makes good french fried potatoes? I like those a lot, especially with mustard condiment."

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman is taken aback. "Mustard on... okay to each her own." He considers a moment and arrives at a decision.

"Nathan's of Coney Island. World famous for their fries and hot dogs. And the hot dogs are all beef. Or you can get a hamburger. Mmmm do you need an assist with you or the books. Pity if you lose a rare find." He holds an arm out. The wings snap out, ready to fly and he lifts a little to balance on his toes.

Nazo Sarwani has posed:
"If it is halal or at least kosher, then I have no objections. I found from my book that there is a long tradition of kosher goods in New York such that a good Muslim can easily find food to eat here even of unexpected kinds."

After carefully arranging the books in her bag, and zipping up the top, she hands the canvas carrier over to Hawkman. "You lead. I will try to follow." Once the tote is in the Hawk's hands, she rapidly becomes her namesake and waits.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman takes off. "Well not Kosher but not pork," he calls over his shoulder. He flies up and then South. "Worth it for the french fries alone. Actually..." He does a very unheroic thing. He pulls a phone out of his bandolier and begins typing into it. "Delis generally have great fries. Ah of course. Katz's Deli. Come on." He veers Westward and backtracks a bit, holding the phone for GPS. Then he drops down.