Theres a smile deep in there some where. (AL)

[Gerda Schmidt]

Gerda stood in the book store looking at the titles. It amazed her there were no bans here. Back home they'd ban any and everything. If it showed a picture that was not what they wanted, then it was gone. So now she stood here with a million choices, and looked for the cheapest one. she was poor. She had thought maybe life would be more fun with the subtraction of her family. And while it was better, it wasn't more fun. She was singing for a adult....oh lets just say it it...she was singing for a strip joint. If anything life became more serious without Kay there to cheer her up.
Honestly a few days ago she had laughed for the first time, thanks to Al. As much as she thought he was a little to free with his hands, and by that she was talking about his habit of pick pocketing, but he was funny, and it had felt really good to laugh for the first time in a while. But even now she had returned to the serious version of her. The her that was forced to grow up the moment she ran from home.

[Albert Aldein]

Al strolled around inside the bookstore, looking for nothing in particular. He was just waiting for some of his work buddies finish up what they were doing over at the mall nearby and since he had nothing to do there, or more accurately, no money to buy anything, he decided to just stay over at the quaint bookstore and browse through the collection. It was a relatively small place, but it was flooded with books. It was a wide collection, ranging from some of the best mystery novels to some lame vampire-romance titles.

The boy walked around the rather empty store, situating himself in front of one of the shelves, looking through some of the James Patterson books, picking up one and flipping through the pages. He couldn't remember the last time he had bothered to read a book. He often found himself moving that he couldn't even sit down and appreciate a good story. He took a mental note to start, as soon as he got some spare cash to buy some books. Or maybe...

The rundown young man looked around carefully, checking to see if anyone else could spot him from where he was. He turned his head, checking to see whether a mirror was present from behind him. None. So far, things seemed all good. He picked up a book, just a small one, enough to fit inside his work vest. He clasped the book tightly, securing it in place, before he made his way to walk outside. It was then when she spotted her. The girl who he had once tried to pickpocket.

Smiling sheepishly, grunting at his miserable luck, Al froze on the spot, unable to do anything. Maybe she wouldn't notice him, right? Highly unlikely, seeing as he stood in the middle of the store like a dazed animal. Deciding that it was a lost cause, he just waved over at the girl.

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[Gerda Schmidt]

Gerda looked up and saw Al wave at her. She gave him a polite welcoming smile and walked over. "Well if it isn't the pick pocket himself. Nice job the other night in at the bar, I mean besides the fact that you didn't know the words, or the melody, or the rhythm." She said with a smirk on her face. "and then having to run out because they were about to catch you with their money in your pockets. Tell me, do you often get caught or have you just been having a bad month?"

[Albert Aldein]

As Gerda walked closer to Al, the boy fidgeted, making sure that he didn't seem too suspicious. He returned her smile with one of his one and listened to her rather lengthy greeting. He didn't like that he called him a pickpocket. Sure, he was a thief, but that didn't mean that everyone knew of his...hobbies. And that didn't give her particularly any right to say it out loud. Letting it go, he acknowledged the girl. Even though her sarcasm and her teasing was still ever present. Al just rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact. The girl was sort of nice to him during their first encounter, so he figured that he sorta owed her about that.

"Hah! It's not my fault. How the heck was I supposed to know what A Whole New World was? I never got to see that movie. Was never really a fan of Disney movies anyway either, so sue me!" Al excused. "Plus I don't sing, so sue me. 'Bout you? Never pegged you as a singer..."

Then she spoke about his methods and about being caught, and Al couldn't help but roll his eyes. Was it his fault that Gerda and that weird scarred guy were all Jedi-like, feeling even the subtlest hint of his hands moving. Not likely. In fact, only the two seemed to have noticed that he had picked something from them. Everyone else was oblivious.

"Yeah, bad month. Right," the thief muttered in a bit of an annoyed voice. Wanting the focus out of him, Al turned to the girl and threw her questions.

"So, what are you doing here? You don't look like much of a reader either."

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[Gerda Schmidt]

"I know I don't seem like the type of girl who would sing, but...i like it, I like singing, and fencing. Guess I'm just weired that way...as for me being a reader...I read some. But to tell you the truth, I've never seen this many books. Mostly I read because my village banned a lot of books and I hated my village, so I went out of my way to read them...but...here...are there really no banns here? Like you guys can read what ever you want? she said, her voice filled with honest to god wonder. This was a new concept to her. The idea of freedom, the idea that big brother wasn't constantly watching over shoulder as you went about your life, it was like she had just saw the face of God and didn't know what to do about it. All she really could do was think back to her village.

She remembered sneaking out late at night, climbing out her window to go to a man who would make trips to the outside world, and bring back books and music and exotic foods and ideas. And she would just sit there and listen to him talk. She remembered the hope it gave her, some where out there...she wouldn't fit in...but she would fit in a hell of a lot better then back in her village.

[Albert Aldein]

"Well, that's good to hear. That you're doing something that you like." Al was glad that Gerda was finally getting to do something that she liked doing. Even though it was singing in a place like the Outlands, where people were shady, it was still something that she liked. Plus it wasn't like she was forced to do more than sing. He thought everyone should be doing whatever pleased them. But he was never that lucky. He was forced to take on whatever job was available. All in due time, he figured.

He slipped in one of the aisles, tracing his finger across the spines of the various books neatly stacked together. True, the place had a wide collection, but he had never heard of a place where they banned books. In the orphanage, he was forced to read them, not that he didn't enjoy reading, though. But he was sure that a number of people in the orphanage would have jumped at the chance to skip out on reading.

"So, you read to get back at your village?" he asked, letting out a laugh. "That's kinda weird. But hey, whatever floats your boat, I guess." He raised a confused eyebrow as she began to clarify whether it was true that they could really read anything they wanted. Man, her village was starting to freak him out. I mean, no internet and a ban on books. It was like an Almish nightmare. "Yeah, um, you can go and read anything here. That's the beauty of it. Hey, it's your time you're using up anyways."

"So you really have no idea how things are here in Faraway, do you? That village of yours, sounds like it was built during the time of the dinosaurs. Everything, all the rules, they're just oh-so-ancient. How did you survive to be eighteen?"

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