| Face-Off! | ||
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The floating catboy sneezes, then flails around in the air. "There's so much DUST in here-nya!" he complains. "What are we even doing in here? Easter doesn't have any magical stuff-nya." "Exactly," Ikuto replies quietly. "If they have none, they have no defense." "Oohhhhh... I guess that makes sense-nya," the fairy-thing replies.
This place sure looks deserted and awfully dusty. Does anyone even work here? The sign out front said OPEN and signs never lie, so it must be! Besides, despite the apparent lack of clerks and costumers, this place is nearly overflowing with books and other wares, enough to make any geek make several flips of excitement and then some. Anyway, Twisted is a weird place, so maybe its one of those self served places with only a disembodied voice to help people out. You know, like the Eat or Die place, who knows if there's actually someone attending that place. "Hi there!" At least Ray's Occult Books seems to have a much friendlier disembodied voice. A girl voice calls out to Ikuto and his cat boy fairy companion from behind the counter. But wait! That's no disembodied voice, it's actually a little blonde girl wearing an apron. "Welcome to Ray's Occult Books. Can I help you with anything??" This girl can't be much older than 13 and yet she's manning the desk. Heck, she's even clearly having to stand on a stool to look over the counter. Bear in mind though that just like Ikuto is no normal high school student, this girl doesn't seem to be entirely human either. Her bright red crimson eyes and multicolored wings sprouting from her back might allude to her true nature.
However, he approaches the counter with the girl behind it. "I'm... browsing for now," he replies. "i've never actually been in an occult bookstore that was... actually occult books and not just a bunch of horoscope papers."
That's why she simply smiles in a very winsome manner up at Ikuto and nods. "Oh yes, we have lots of magical items." She assures him, before tapping her chin in thought with one dainty index finger. "Hmm.. although they are pretty mundane in comparison. We don't carry super duper world shattering spellbooks here. Or at least I think so! I haven't looked through all of them. Not by a long shot!" Some clerk she is. "Heey, we also have comics and manga here if you're interested."
"Actually! We do!" Oh, guess she knows what she's doing after all. "We have some snazzy miko guarding amulets like the one my friend Reimu used!" She jumps down behind the counter and then comes back up to slide traditional japanese amulets to ward off evil spirits. "And we also have a.. monkey paw!! Oooh!" The girl lifts a severed monkey hand and wiggles it up at Yoru, specifically trying to scare the fairy cat boy. "It's not for sale though since it's super super cursed and I'm not supposed to touch it!" Umm.. "Oh, but I guess I'm doing that now, woops!" She slides it back behind the counter. "No one saw that."
The 'miko guarding amulets' get his attention, though. He looks at them, and gets an idea. "...What about a more... active defense?" he asks. "Like fighting to defend yourself against a lot of people. That sort of defense."
It's a good thing that Ikuto knows about them because Flandre appears to have no clue! She was only told its cursed and she probably shouldn't wave it around at the costumers, which of course means that she's going to do just that! "Active defense?" Another chin and around long pause to think about things, Flandre process things very very slowly. Although it may be curious that she's not accessing any data files or anything, the girl simply seems to remember what she's seen by browsing through the books herself. "You mean, like martial arts?" She wonders, lips forming a childish o. "If you do." She reaches under the counter which is apparently where she keeps all the important books "We have the Karate-do Kyohan and this book called the Sweet Science."
"Ne, Ikuto." This from behind Ikuto's shoulder. "Maybe you should give some details. Not everything, but just a little-nya." Ikuto emits a 'mmn'. "...I'm expecting a lot of people that are going to make my life very difficult if they arrive. I want to be ready for them if they show up." Not a lot of details, but there they are.
The girl hmms and tilts her head the other side, giving Ikuto and Yoru a very odd look. She somehow doesn't look like a childish teenager anymore, something about the way she looks at the duo speaks of countless centuries, like if she were much older than she actually is. Then, in a strange moment of soberness from the younger sister of the Scarlet Devil, Flandre quirks a blond eyebrow up in realization and says, "It sounds to me like you should go to the police."
Yoru has popped up from behind Ikuto, but he's quiet for the time being. Maybe he's still listening, or maybe he's getting a better feel for the situation.
Flandre doesn't look particularly offended when Ikuto turns down her advice that he should just go to the police. She actually just looks a little annoyed, red eyes narrowing and glancing at the taller boy sideways. That strange maturity from the girl showing ever so lightly. Something about the girl isn't right, which is fitting considering where she works. Still, there is something on those red eyes of hers that allude she might know more than she pretends. "Well.." The glimpse to her true heritage doesn't last long and she's back to being a child again. "We don't.. really.. carry weapons here, since it sounds like that's what you're looking for." She rubs her nose and looks at the counter in thought. "Like I said, mostly just comics and manga." "Maybe.. you can call the singing lady that gives out candy. She's the one that helped me get this job." Yep, it's clear that this girl is just insane.
Though the expression doesn't fade when she speaks. "...Singing lady who gives out candy?" he inquires. This place is weird...
When it comes to Flandre its definitely the latter. She is quite eager to give out as many details as Ikuto might want to know. Problem is she doesn't know better herself and has a lot of problems explaining just about anything, hence why she's giving Ikuto such a hard time right now. "Yeah!" Flandre nods enthusiastically. "The singing lady with the candy. Her name is Morgana." Well, at least it looks like this isn't just some made up character from Flandre's imagination. "She's very nice, and very pretty! She lives out in Zeku-Kari Beach with her husband. If you tell her you have problems she'll help you out and maybe she'll sing and give you candy too!"
The catboy fairy, however, sees a problem with that. "The beach?" he whines. "There's a lot of water there, and not a whole lot of cats-nya." Ikuto gives a look in Yoru's direction but doesn't say anything. However he does note, "That's an odd place for a person to stay. Does she have a house there?" He's thinking one of those big expensive beachfront property sort of things.
"I've never been to her house actually." Flandre looks rather pensively when Yuro spurns Ikuto on to question her. "She just grows a fish tail whenever she wants to go sleepies and then dives underwater. Her husband can't grow a fish tail though, I don't know how he does it." Then she's smirking again. "But it's okay, it's not like I can try to go to her house anyway since I'm a vampire. I can't cross moving water." Oh, did Flandre forgot to mention that tiny detail? That'd explain her crimson red eyes and visible fangs.
And then the blonde girl says something ELSE that makes Ikuto pause. A vampire? Ikuto blinks. Interesting. He thought all vampires had yellow eyes. At least, they do in anime. Then again, this is hardly anime. "...I'll keep a look out for her. What does she look like?"
"Oh, she's very easy to spot, trust me! She has very long black hair that reaches to her waist. She has very black eyes too, like balls of darkness with no pupils. She's almost always wearing a shirt that's way too big for her. Hmm.. what else?" "Oh! Oh! She has very sharp teeth like mine, see?" Flandre sticks her finger inside her mouth to pull on her cheek. Sure enough, those are some remarkably sharp canines. Exactly the type that a vampire would have, and they don't look fake either.
No, he can tell that Flandre's teeth aren't fake. And so can Yoru. But he pokes fun anyway. Not at the teeth, but at the comical way Flandre's pulling on her own cheek. By doing exactly the same, with muffled, "Nyaaaa~!" It's muffled because his handpaws are pretty big.
"Nyaaaaah!" The girl mimics Yoru and goes to stretch both her cheeks. Not only does this show just how sharp her teeth actually are, but she goes to stick her tongue out too and make faces at the fairy kitty boy. Hey, she's just a little girl. How else was she supposed to react when someone makes faces at her.
And in response, Ikuto smirks, but doesn't stop Yoru from participating in the, uh... 'face off'. He does note, "If you keep that up your face is going to stay like that." It's not immediately apparent whether he's talking to Yoru or Flandre.
Very used to being chastisied by people who look older than her, Flandre just immediately assumes that Ikuto is talking to her and stops stretching her cheeks. "Hee!" She gives a giggle, though she glances up at the boy with a closed eye in slight curiosity and maybe just a little childish huffiness. "Eh, you sound just like my sister." From her tone of voice, its safe to assume that its not entirely a good thing. "I hope I was able to help you at least, mister. Will that be all you'll be needing?" Oh, right. This is still a shop, and if Ikuto's done browsing then he should be moving along. Flandre doesn't get paid for talking to the costumers you know??
Flandre's words, though, get Ikuto to look back. And he nods. "I'll come back, once I'm more sure of what I need," he replies. "Thank you. Have a good day." He turns and heads for the door. Yoru waves at Flandre. "Bye-bye!" he offers, and then follows ikuto out the door.
"Thank you! Come again!" She peers to the sides to make sure no one is in the shop again before she starts messing with that monkey paw again. Its like a trainwreck waiting to happen, and the train is full of explosives. | |
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