Belle laughed at that and nodded, leading the way to the bookstore.

Once they were there, however, she went off wandering to go find various sources of entertainment, skimming through the rows of books without any particular one in mind.

Andy, on the other hand, knew exactly what she was looking for. She went straight for it, and almost immediately opened the book to start reading, right where she was standing.

Belle found a few books and started reading the first couple pages to make sure they were actually good.

Daemon had followed them, more out of curiosity and habit than anything, and looked over Andy's shoulder at what she was reading.

Andy sighed happily.

"I love these books," she said. "So much." She heard someone come up behind her and glanced back at him before going back to reading. "And apparently, you make the best scrambled eggs known to man, so you just got volunteered for breakfast tomorrow."

Daemon raised his eyebrows at her. "If you insist." he moved away to go check on Belle and see what trouble she was getting into.

Andy turned her attention back to the book, reading as she slowly made her way up to the counter to pay for it. So far, the first story in the book was the cutest thing ever, and she had to keep from squealing every couple of minutes.

Belle gathered up a handful of books before she made her way up to the counter as well, paying after Andy had. She chuckled to see Andy already ensconced in her book.

Andy was perfectly happy to keep reading. She sighed contently.

Belle snorted and steered her over to the nearest cafe, ordering food for them. She had a good idea of what Andy would and wouldn't eat by now, so she just ordered for them.

Andy paid enough attention so she didn't run into anyone, but immediately kept reading once she sat down. It would take her another hour or two to finish the book, but she would enjoy it while it lasted.

Belle got their food and sat down across from Andy. "Eat while you read." Snickering, she pulled out one of her own books.

"Uh huh," Andy replied distractedly. Then she bit her lip and grinned to keep herself from squealing and going 'awww.' It happened every few minutes or so, until she finally got to the last story in the book. Her pleased expression vanished, and she actually looked a little stunned. She kind of stared in disbelief.

By that time, Belle had steered her back to the hotel room by then, and she was lounging on her bed, flipping through the TV to see if she could find anything good on.

Andy paused, and set the book down for a moment in the middle of a page. She looked a bit dazed. After a minute or two, she picked up the book again and tried to keep reading. She ended up having to set it down again. Eventually, she got to the end, and closed it, trembling slightly.

"That was so wrong," she said. "That was so fundamentally not right..."

"Hmm?" Belle looked over at her. "What? It was that bad?"

Daemon exchanged looks with Lucivar, giving him a significant look that said 'you're fixing this, not me'.

"Yes, it was that bad," Andy replied. "The first story was great, adorable, sweet, everything. The second one was great, Falonar got exactly what he deserved. The third one was kind of creepy, but still normal. But the last one was not right!" By this point, she was starting to get slightly hysterical.

"Andy, really, it's okay," Lucivar said carefully.

"It's not okay, Yas!" Andy said. "It's not okay! It's Daemon and--and Surreal, and Saetan's just gone like three chapters in, and there's a kid and... and..." Now she was hysterical, and tearing more than a little. "This isn't okay. Make this okay."

Belle sighed. "Andy," she said firmly. "Look. Daemon's right there. There's no kid, no Surreal. See? Everything's fine. You realize she probably wrote that just to screw with her reader's heads."

"I'm trying really, really hard to forget what I just read," Andy said, trying to calm down a bit. "That was like the Breaking Dawn of the series, it was that wrong."

Belle paused for a moment, trying to think of something to cheer her up. A few moments later she dove for her bag, rummaging around for several moments before she came back over with a book. She stole the Anne Bishop book and replaced it with Howl's Moving Castle.

"Start reading, sweets," she said, patting Andy's shoulder. "Just keep reading. Soon Howl's antics will have you laughing again."

"I waited seven years for this," Andy said, shaking her head. She didn't move to take back the Anne Bishop book. "I don't know where Anne Bishop got this bullshit, but I can guarantee I'm not the only one to react like that." She didn't pick up Howl's Moving Castle. "I think I'm okay now. I think."

"I know you're not. Now read. It's too amusing to pass up." Belle gave her a look that just dared her to disobey before she went and put the book over with Lucivar so he could keep track of it.

Andy picked up the book and flipped through it a bit. She wasn't in the mood to read anymore.

Lucivar just glanced at the other book before ignoring it.

Belle settled down again and started thinking about dinner. She started looking around the room to see what she had to work with. Andy needed comfort food.

"Duo, we're going shopping. Daemon, keep track of everyone."

Duo grinned and jumped up, grabbing her bag for her.

Andy turned on the TV as some background noise and started to brush out Kaelas again to keep herself busy. She knew she would probably end up reading the book again eventually, but for now, distractions were good.

Belle and Duo were gone for nearly half an hour. Then they both returned, carrying a few bags. Belle immediately started working, humming to herself as she did.