April 3rd, 1889 — Crowdy Library, First Floor

It was the weekend which was the time when Timothy usually did a sweep through the Library's contents to ensure everything was accounted for. He was on the first floor and making good progress so he had decided that it was high time for a break. Walking back towards the front through aisles of books that mainly centered on the lighter side of things, he was stopped in his tracks by someone that was carrying a few too many books than it seemed that they could handle. "Excuse me, would you like some assistance?" He asked.

  

Ben wasn't much of a reader for leisure, but he did have fairly decent research skills. He'd had to look things up prior to going out on Cursebreaking missions, and it had come up with a few prior jobs as well. He was disorganized, but he was able to get the information that he needed in record time — though he usually forgot to return the library books until months later.

The task for the day was trying to determine the name of the newest spirit in the Jewell Distillery line. The shots gave the drinker the ability to temporarily breathe fire, and they were considering some other 'monstrous' effects for further variations: large protruding fangs, snake tongues, that sort of thing. They needed a really great name in order to be memorable and catch on the way Ben was hoping they would, and he was determined to find the best name. In typical disorganized Ben fashion, however, he'd arrived at the library only twenty minutes before closing, so instead of doing any research there (or even doing some preliminary scanning of the books to see whether they would even be useful or not), Ben grabbed everything that seemed like it might be relevant and piled it up in his arms, then headed for the checkout counter.

Luckily, he hadn't gotten far before an employee asked if he needed help. "By all means," he said, holding his arms out towards the voice. "But careful the top one, it bites."

  

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"Out of sheer curiosity, may I ask as to what you are researching?" Timothy asked as he took a few of the books from the top of the mans pile, touching the spine of the one with teeth to make it go to sleep. Taking them towards the checkout counter, he placed them down and nodded towards the woman giving him an inquisitive look. The books seemed to be a disconnected sort. Perhaps the man just really loved reading.

  

Ben was impressed by the way the other man handled the biting book — he himself had essentially wrestled it off of the shelf, and then pinned it under a stack of heavier books until he was ready to head to the check out line. A librarian probably picked up a few tricks about biting books, though, as a necessary job skill. They couldn't be sending staff members over to St. Mungo's every other day and keep themselves staffed, after all.

"Monsters," he said simply. "Well, creatures, you know — the sort that Muggles would call monsters. It's for a liquor line," he continued, before reflecting that this last sentence probably obscured matters more than clarified them. "Market research. I'm trying to name them."

  

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At first Timothy was flummoxed as to how monster research connected with liquor. But then the man was clarifying what he meant. "Ah. How unique. Are any of the creatures trait or coloring going to factor in somehow?" He could not help but ask curiously. He did sometimes wonder what went through peoples minds when they named their creations.

  

"That's the idea," Ben said with a nod. "But it's a pretty complicated process, you know. I don't make the liquors, we've got people for that. So maybe I read up on some creature, come up with the perfect name, and say 'hey, I need you to make something that gives the person who drinks it a forked tongue' — or, you know, whatever effect would fit," he explained as they headed towards the check out desk. "And maybe they can make it work, or maybe they can't figure out how to do it, or maybe they can figure out how to do it but then it tastes like trash," he said with a shrug. There was also the possibility that they could figure out how to do it, but with the potential for fatal side effects, but Ben thought it best not to advertise that. They tested all of the effects out before releasing them to the public, and the formula hadn't been lethal very often. He didn't want this bloke getting the wrong idea and steering clear of Jewell products in the future.

"So then it's back to square one for me," he said lightly. "Hence the huge stack of books."

  

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As an inventor, Timothy was quite interested in how the brews were concocted. His own creations did not stem into consumption but rather other areas. But his was a mind constantly curious and thirsty for new knowledge. "That is perfectly fascinating." And he very much wanted to try out the liquors this man was researching for. "Are you allowed to share the company name?" If the company was new, after all, they likely would want to keep their methods after wraps until they were out to the public for consumption.

  

"Of course!" Ben said pleasantly. What sort of promoter would he be if he wasn't, you know, promoting the company? He even had business cards made up for the purpose, and they were probably the fanciest thing he had on his person at any given time. Unless he was trying to look posh for a party.

"Here, give me a second," he said, depositing the huge pile of books on the library counter as they reached it. He put a hand on top to steady the stack so that it didn't tumble over, then used the other hand to root around in his coat pockets until he remembered where he'd put the cards. "Here," he said as he fished one out, presenting it like a diploma to the librarian. "Jewell's Distillery. Sold anywhere fine liquors are found." He'd just made up that last bit, but it didn't sound bad, as far as catch phrases and taglines went. Maybe he'd get it added to the card when they printed them again.

  

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Timothy waited patiently for the man to procure what he assumed was going to be some sort of business card or the like. The pile of books had him feeling a little anxious, worried they would tumble over and get scuffed up. "How grand," he said as he took the card from the man and looked it over. It would be an interesting project to give each of their products a try. "I'll have to pick up one of each thing sometime. It would be interesting to see how each name lines up with the drinks attributes."

  

"We'll try not to disappoint you," Ben said with a grin. Turning his attention back to the books, he dug around in his coat pocket for an every-size bag, which was probably one of the best investments he'd made as a cursebreaker. He had less use for it in his current life, but he tended to have it floating around his person more often than not just for situations like these. With a quick muttered spell, the bag grew from one that seemed to be designed for a doll to a wide, deep bag of the sort Saint Nick was usually drawn carrying. Plenty big for a pile of monstrous books. "All right," Ben said, holding the bag open on the edge of the counter so that he could stack the books into it as they were checked out. "Let's do this."

  

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