Something More Interesting Than Books [Milo]

If there was ever one store Connor actually enjoyed going to, with his parents or alone, it was The Open Book. Why? Because books, that's why. He enjoyed reading, opening his mind to various worlds printed on ink and paper. It was an escape to help him forget his troubles, even for a time.

Of course it was also where his parents got him his work books via special order but that wasn't why he was there today. He was there to just enjoy the books. 

And so there he was, strolling through the aisles as he glanced at the spines for titles that would catch his interest. He wasn't particularly picky, though he defiantly avoided the 'romance' novels that were catered to house wives and teenage girls who wanted to feel mature. There was never much story to those.

Making his way into the fantasy section, blue eyes glanced around until they caught sight of something that looked interesting. Kushiel's Scion, he wondered what that was about. Making a little hum to himself, he reached out for it.

Milo sighed softly as he searched the shelves for a book to catch his eye. If he wanted a book to enjoy reading, the Open Book was the place. The books that he found here really kept him busy, which was presumably a good thing. Reading distracted him from the reality of life in this town. Especially after the accident with Machina industries. Sure, Milo was content with his powers...well one power actually. His psychometric powers were convenient, though were a hassle to work with. Which was the reason for his brown leather gloves. Though his control over his intangibility was easy to work with.

He rubbed the back of his head while catching the sight of "The League" series. No sight of any new addition to the series yet in stock. What a disappointment. Hopefully they had some books from the Kushiel Legacy series. He had most of the books in the series. Though he could never catch the book in time before it got sold. Maybe they had gotten it in stock today?

As Milo continued to walk down the aisles, he became lost in his search with attention solely on the books. He hadn't taken any notice of anyone ahead of him at all. Soon enough though, Milo had walked into the young man by accident. The older male had stumbled back a bit while the other person hadn't budged much really, his cheeks on fire in embarrassment at the accident. "Sorry about that! I tend to zone out sometimes" he apologized quickly, as he glanced down at his feet sheepishly. Hopefully this person wasn't an asshole. Milo already had enough dealing with a few assholes at the school that he volunteered at.

Just as his hand gripped the book's spine and began to pull it out, Connor felt something collide against his side. It had been unexpected, though it didn't really effect him physically. Turning his head to the side as he brought the book down, blue eyes blinked at the man that had stumbled backwards from the impact's shift in momentum. 

Before he could even think of opening his mouth to say anything, the other's cheeks turned a bright red and an apology was quickly given out before the man looked down at his feet in a shy manner. Feeling his own cheeks heat up a bit because if it, the teen rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his feet a bit. "It's fine." he assured the other, giving a tiny -somewhat shy- smile. "It uh happens..." 

And already he could feel the creeping up of awkwardness forming. He just was not good at talking with people. Or rather, he didn't know what to say. Did he just stop talking and go back to what he was doing? Should he strike up conversation? "Um..." Why did he have to be so socially awkward? He could feel his cheeks getting hotter as he grasped at ideas of what to do.

Maybe he should introduce himself? He did kind of did make the guy -unintentionally of course- stumble backwards. "I'm Connor." he said in a somewhat rushed manner, sticking his free hand out for a handshake as he found himself glancing down rather than making eye contact.

Milo quickly glanced up as the other male had spoke up about it being fine and such. He sighed softly in response, relieved that it hadn’t been an asshole that he had run into. He didn’t want to cause a ruckus in the Smith sister’s book shop. “It happens to me quite a lot. I’ve got my own little world going up in here.” He remarked with a light smile, bringing his hand up and tapping his forehead slightly once.

The older male tilted his head a bit to the side as the other male had gotten silent all of the sudden. At least it gave him a bit of time to admire the male’s tiny shy smile. It was a bit cute to the older male somewhat. His eyebrow quirked a bit as the male had tried to say something, but it wasn’t exactly a word much really. Then the male’s cheeks had begun to redden slightly, catching more of the older male’s interest. Looks like he just found one of those socially awkward males. He could tell with his eyes closed pretty much. Milo had been one of those before his powers had come after the accident. Though he did occasionally pull off that persona around a few people, mostly newcomers in his eyes.


Milo couldn’t help, but chuckle a bit at the male’s sudden rushed manner. He gave the other male a light grin. His eyes glanced down, making sure that his gloves were still on, before reaching out and shaking the male’s hand slightly. “I’m Milo.” He couldn’t make really any contact with the male, but he did take notice of the book in Connor’s other hand. “Kushiel’s Scion.” He murmured out loudly for Connor to hear.

Connor's shy smile grew a little bit as the older, though slightly smaller, man explained how it happened to him all the time. "I get the same way." he confessed, giving a tiny shrug. It was true. Many times he had his head in the clouds, letting his imagination run wild. Though a good portion was spent thinking over negative things going on in his life.

The heat in his cheeks grew worse when the glasses-wearing man tilted his head at Connor's silence. He really needed to say something now, his embarrassment growing worse at his failed attempt to do so and the growing silence. His relief at finally saying something was great, but sadly short lived as the man chuckled at him. He messed up didn't he? Totally screwed up. Should have just kept his mouth shut and let the silence con-

“I’m Milo.” 

Blinking, Connor looked down at his hand, where the other's gloved on was placed. So he didn't just make a fool of himself? Or at least, not terribly so? Shoulders sagging in relief, he shook the thinner, longer hand in his before taking a bit of a closer look at the man before him named Milo. His hair was a light brown, short in the back but kind of long up top. Dark brown eyes hidden behind circular frames. Like extremely circular. They were large circle glasses. Connor didn't even realize they still made such old fashioned looking lenses. But they help brought out the sort of chocolate color his brown eyes seemed to have. His jaw was a bit long and angular, his nose was also a bit longer than average but it fit against his frames nicely. And the man had a sorta sweetness to him.

In short, he was cute.

Blushing a bit at this realization, he glanced down at his feet and shuffled a bit. However, upon hearing Milo murmur something, he looked back up. Processing that what he said was the title of the book in his hand, Connor glanced down at it while holding it up. "Oh yeah. Title caught my attention." he said softly, feeling the awkwardness ebb away a bit. "Was about to read the back for what it was about."

His gaze traveled back from the book onto Connor. Milo smiled a bit as he saw that the male’s tense shoulders seemed to sag in relief and shook his hand lightly. “Nice to...walk into you, Connor.” He remarked in a delighted tone. He quickly took this short time to inspect the male before him. While his actions were quite cute, the male was seriously attractive. Looking well built as well. But it was those eccentric bright blue eyes that really caught his attention. Those eyes were literally drawing him in, Milo thought to his self. He had to glance away quickly as he felt the other male’s eyes upon his as well. Whilst not catching the other male glancing at his feet, blushing.

His attention was back onto the book quickly as he glanced up to see that the other male’s attention was back on the book as well. “It’s a really fantastic series.” His mind wandered a bit over his jumbled thoughts as he tried to remember where the book was in the series. “It’s the fourth book in the series. Though it’s the first book in the Imriel Trilogy,” Milo added, as he tilted his head a bit at the book. The Imriel Trilogy series in Kushiel’s Legacy followed the story of one of his favorite characters, so Milo pretty much had most knowledge about that certain series.



He remembered that this was the book that he had been searching for in the first place. But Milo kept his mouth shut about that. Who knew? The other male would either like what he read on the back or not. Milo would just have to hope that the other male wouldn’t like it, so Milo could get it. The male had gotten to the book first, so that was fair in Milo’s mind.

The teen gave a quiet chuckle at the man's words, who went with an unconventional way of saying nice to meet you. "Nice to.... um have you walk into me?" he said, his tone questioning as he was unsure if that was the right thing to say. Soon after saying it, his nose crinkled. "That... didn't sound right." he said apologetically. 

Starring into chocolate eyes really had did a number on him, his heart fluttering a bit as he looked away. A part of him even wanted the handshake to never end, wanting to keep come kind of connection with the older man. But it would have been weird to keep holding on, besides he was pretty sure that when he eventually got his hand back it was somewhat clammy. Upon hearing that the book was part of a series, one that Milo seemed fond of, Connor's curiosity was peeked.

Though the more the other went on about it, the order of which this book came in, a part of him began to grow anxious. Fourth? First? Trilogy? He knew what these all meant. But even still, a part of him felt uneasy as he thought about them in his head. Trilogy.... that's three. How much is three? He knew this. He should know it by now, the number was 'small' enough. And he did. But even as he knew he knew it, his fingers still twitched as if to count up. 

And all in all, one thing was clear. This book wasn't the start of the series. "Guess I should start at the beginning then." he said, lifting the book up to return it to his spot, blue eyes lingering on the cover one last time to look at the author's name. After he placed it onto the shelf, he looked around beside it. Stores normally kept books by the same author together. "What's the... first one called?" he asked, a bit of a brief unwanted hesitance before he said the word first.

Milo chuckled a bit as the male tried to return his own strange way of greeting, already sensing that the male was questioning what he had just said. “It sounded just fine,” Milo remarked with an amused smile, giving the male a slight nod of his head. As he noticed that the handshake had gone longer than expected, Milo pulled his hand reluctantly out of the handshake, with a slight tint of redness tinting his cheeks. “S-Sorry about that,” he apologized as he tried to focus his mind back onto the book that he’d been searching for.
 

He watched as the male suggested that he should start at the beginning first before returning the book back into it’s place. As much as Milo wanted to reach out and pull the book out. He didn’t think it would look right for some reason. So he kept it in his mind to as one of the sisters to save the book for him later. “Kushiel’s Legacy.” Milo replied to the male’s question with a light smile.