Books books book... (Open RP in, yes, the library)

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

With the knowledge that L is willing to pay for any computer equipment he might need (which is a relief - he hadn't been looking forward to attempting to get his hands on someone's credit card while shopping with the world's greatest detective), Matt had gone to Hogsmeade and used the last of his money to purchase a wand.

Now he needs to find out what to do with it.

So, he's heading for the library. What he understands of wizarding culture suggests there isn't going to be much on cybermagic, but Matt isn't against figuring out things on his own.

Comments

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Which is a relief to Matt. There's a map directly in front of them as they go through the automatic doors, right next to the first in a series of escalators.

"Okay... there's a Dixons -" he recognises the store from his years living in England "- and an Apple Store. For lego, there's a couple of toy stores on the first floor... Might as well go to one of those first."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"Alright. Everywhere is bound to at least have some lego."

It's faintly endearing, that Near is twenty three and still plays with it.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

As they step onto the escalator, Matt asks, "Did he specify a certain type or anything? I can see him being very into get specific numbers in specific colours..."

Matt sometimes finds it a little worrying, that none of them seem to have ever grown out of the things they did as kids. It probably Says Something about them.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

L just thinks that because of the pseudo isolation they had no one to socialize them out of whatever habits they picked up. He doesn't find it particularly troublesome.

"There were no specifics, no. So I think the answer is as large a set as can be comfortably carried for the rest of the trip. I do not want the inconvenience an overly large parcel."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Sounds good. I don't mind carrying it, if you like."

There's three toy stores in a row on this level; a teddy bear workshop, a shop selling science and nature themed toys and sets, and a fairly average toy shop. It's this last one Matt heads for.

"So. Sugar, sitting weird, and no shoes. Any other quirks?" He grins at L, making it clear he doesn't need to answer if he doesn't want to.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I don't like to sleep. But that has not hampered me in making a second friend." He sounds faintly proud of this. Going from zip to two in only a few days is quite the accomplishment, he figures.

The lego isn't hard to spot. There's a wide selection, and L looks for something relatively generic.

"Why did you start smoking?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"A second? Anyone I know?" Matt's smiling, browsing through the buckets and boxes of lego (castles, ships, space stations, fortresses... or maybe Near would want something he could create anything out of?).

"I thought it looked cool. And I like having to fiddle with, you know? I never know what to do with my hands otherwise."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"He is a major. Major Briggs." L will have to keep it in mind to continue to frequent the sorting room.

"This looks acceptable." It's a simple house-style one. "Do you have any other quirks that should be known?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I don't think I've met him. What's he like?" Matt really ought to, too, but the lure of his PS2 is too great.

He holds up one gloved hand and wriggles the fingers. "I don't really like feeling stuff against my skin. Certain textures only... I couldn't do that whole barefoot thing, no way." L probably already knows this, but whatever.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"Some sort of sensory defensiveness is common among bright students. It is not unexpected, that you should experience it. I don't wear socks for much the same reason. I don't like it when the seams fall wrong."

The cashier is giving them a weird look, but L doesn't particularly care. All he wants him to do is to ring through the purchase.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Really?" The thought of wandering around with the soles of your feet completely unprotected is enough to make Matt wince - it's strange to think that it comes from the same minor neurosis.

Lego bought and paid for (Matt notices the cashier's look too - it's stuff like this that makes him dislike going out), they wander back to the escalators. "Third floor for computers."

Glee!

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

L is very careful not to get his shoelaces caught in the escalator (because that would end very, very badly for all concerned, wouldn't it?)

"And then we find our way back to a fireplace?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"That's the plan," Matt agreed. "It'd probably be easiest to just go back to that one we arrived from, it was only five minutes away."

Oblivious to lace-induced dangers (his own boots were more buckle-and-zip affairs), Matt hummed happily to himself as they ascended. Computers! And with this whole magic thing... it'd be interesting to see how he could combine the two.

"Oh - I didn't tell you, did I? I got myself a wand."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"That is next on my list of things to acquire," he admits, "Have you practiced magic yet? Is it as simple as saying the words?"

The textbooks suggest that he should be able to pick it up in no time, but he thinks it's probably more complicated than that.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I was just heading to the library when I bumped into you," Matt admits. "But when you get tested for the type of wand you need, you don't even need to do that - you pick the right one up and it just goes mad."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"That could be dangerous." The next set of escalators, and if he's not mistaken, he believes he can see the shop at the top of them.

"I trust it is not harmful?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"... a stream of leaves flew out of mine. It was a bit weird, but not harmful - though I can see how it could be."

And there it was, an electronics store - not purely computers, but still. There would be computers on sale in there, and that would do him for now until he earned enough money to get the kind that would suit his needs.

He contains his excitement, though, saying instead, "I was speaking to a guy who's been at Hogwarts for a while. He says as long as you pronounce everything correctly, it really is as simple as all that."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I will prepare myself for it. Here we are."

L wants in a computer... something light weight and quick. Other than that, he is not particularly picky. Matt, though, knows his electronics, so L will probably follow his lead.

"What are we looking for?" he asks, brushing straight by the overly helpful salesperson, leaving her looking just a little put out by the dismissal.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Anything," Matt says, fervently. He isn't even planning on insisting on a decent IGP; L's doing him a favour by paying for a computer at all.

... which is lucky. Matt spends a moment boggling slightly, then laughs. "Fuck - this is 2008, isn't it?" He scans the closest desktops.

"At least I don't need to worry about being out of the loop."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"...and obviously not when I am from."

L is also boggling, but for the opposite reasons.

"I probably do not know how to turn half of these on."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"... okay, how about this: I get something mid-range, just about capable of doing what I need it to do for this job, and you get the best thing I can find and I run through how to work it with you? I mean, it's not like you're going to have any trouble with it."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"There is no point in getting you something frustrating or inadequate."

L taps experimentally on one of the keys of a laptop out for display. It beeps at him, cheerfully. He does not look particularly impressed.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"It won't cost as much. I'd buy myself a new one as soon as I get paid - and even then, it might not be so bad once I get to fiddle with it for a bit."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"Matt. I promise that I can afford it, and I sincerely do not mind."

His tone is more than a little wry.

"Which ones are the better ones?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt looks a little embarrassed. "Uh, if you're sure..." He clears his throat. "I mean, it depends on what you want to do. But in general, for laptops... Probably these ones." He indicates a rather slick-looking (for 2008, sigh) model. "I'll have a quick double-check with everything else, but I'm pretty sure..."