“Definitely.” Elle squealed with delight and kissed him on the cheek before running to the nearest aisle and starting at the bottom, scanning the books. She pulled one off the shelf and flipped through the pages while inhaling.
"Oh boy." Thor sighed. Maybe he should have brought her on her day off.
After following Elle for close to an hour, with his arms full of books, Thor walked to the lounge area and set the books on a table while he dropped into a plush, cobalt velvet chair. He sat for a moment, trying to calculate how long it would take Elle to go through the whole store. At the rate she was moving, they might be done by his three thousandth birthday. But then she would want to start over because there would be so many new books.
Thor smiled, glad he'd done something for her that she truly loved. It did bum him out about sushi, though. He’d have to take her to Chinese food next time.
He scanned the stack of books Elle had picked. They were all nonfiction books about gems, jewelry-making, and geology.
Elle walked up beaming, arms full of another stack of books. "I've finished the first row."
"Did you leave books for anyone else?"
Elle's eyes narrowed. "Ha-ha."
She set the second stack next to the first and began looking through them.
Thor picked up a book. "Do you really want all these?"
She shrugged. "I want to read them. I'm not sure I want to keep them all, but learning about geology, rocks, and metals on Midgard is fascinating."
"Why buy them if you aren't going to keep them all?"
Her brow knit. "I'm not going to steal them."
Thor shook his head. "I should have taken you to the public library."
"Public library?"
"A place where you can borrow books for free, and when you are done reading them, you return them."
Elle's eyes widened so far he thought they might pop out. "Is... is anyone allowed to borrow the books?" she whispered.
"As long as you have a library card."
Elle stared at him as if trying to comprehend the idea.
"Can we go there next?"
"Sadly, they're closing soon. We need your ID as well. Loki gave you papers, I assume."
She nodded.
"Well, we'll need those. Then you go in, fill out a form, and they give you a library card, and you're all set."
Elle continued to sit, unblinkingly, as if envisioning all the books.
"For free," she mused.
Thor chuckled. "Okay, okay, don't hurt your brain. Why don't you pick out a few books to tide you over until we can go on your next day off?"
Elle nodded and thumbed through the stacks of books. She separated them into three piles and picked up the largest, of about fifteen books. "I'm ready."
"Is your next day off in six months?" he chided.
"I haven't taken a day off since I got here. I'm not sure how often I have them."
"Once or twice a week."
