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He reads the writing on the door. 'Mrs Mardot's Mystic Shop' it says and Dean just wants to turn around. He's sure Ruby and Sam are having fun on his expense. While the demon and his little brother are off researching at the local library, he's been sent to check out some drawing that this Mystic Mrs Mardot owns. From the look of crystals and china dolphins in the shop window he's sure that he's being made a fool of.
There is the chime of small bells as he opens the door and steps in. Just as he expected, the scent of Opium and Musk incense sticks. There is even esoteric music in the background. No way is this drawing of any use for them with the current case.
As he steps up to the counter he hears the sound of giggling and he looks to the right where two middle aged woman stand together and sift through a bowl of stones The taller of the two wears some kind of dress that clings to her plump body in a not so complementing way and there is a scarf wrapped around her head. When she turns to him she starts to smile widely.
"Oh dear, I didn't hear you coming in." She comes over to him and grabs his hand, shaking it excitedly. "What can I do for your?"
"Uh," Dean is somewhat distracted by the big hoops she wears as ear rings, there are little owls perched inside the hoops. "A friend of mine said that you have the best collection of books on the topic of spirits."
"Why yes, I do. I can proudly say that everything of any worth published on the topic of spirits can be found here." The woman leads him around the corner and through a door to another part of the shop. The rows of book shelves are endless and there are cushions on the floor to sit on. "Just take a look around and see if you can find what you are looking for."
Dean watches her return to her friend and browses through the rows. He soon has a stack of books from every continent, all dealing with spirits in one way or another. Ruby said something about an Arabian curse, so Dean looks through the books about Arabian lore and mythology first.
There is a whisper of clothes and he can suddenly feel another person in the room. Looking up from his text he meets blue eyes looking down at him.
"Cas?" The angel looks around and grabs a book from the shelf next to him. When he hands it to Dean it is opened on a page with detailed drawing of a spell.
"This will be of help to you." The look on the angel's face never changes but still Dean thinks that there's something like affection in his tone of voice. Before Dean can say his thanks he's once more alone in the room.
After putting the other books back he searches for Mrs Mardot and her friend. He finds her chatting with the other woman. "You know that they are immensely wealthy. Her father in-law owns the company they are both working in."
"Excuse me," Dean nods at the friend and smiles at the shop owner. "Is it possible to copy something out of this book?"
"Alas, I don't have a copy machine." She frowns at him. After a couple of seconds of studying him closer she nods. "Why don't you take it with you and return it after you are done?"
"Sure, thanks." His reply earns another nod and then the two women are back to talking about the wealthy friend. Dean still thinks this shop to be weird, but he finds that he likes Mrs Mardot a tiny bit.