Mallside 9: Waaagh!

[ThirdEmperor]

[Small Wonders]

No answer from within. Only a faint shudder in the alligator's belly, the slow and muffed beating of a heart.

[Halae]

[Concourse]

And the someone Trick has been waiting for shows herself. Sophie, wearing a rainbow-coloured t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts reaching to her knees waves to the tiefling from a distance before quickly approaching.

[Concourse]

When Sophie gets close enough, Trick will give her a quick kiss, "Hey there, good lookin'. I was sure I was late."

She's nervous about something; covering it up well, but Sophie knows her well enough by now to see it. even if it's not in her face, it's in the way her tail swishes from side to side.

[Morty]

[Concourse]

Sophie happily kisses Trick back and takes her hand. Then, however, she notices the tiefling's nervousness.

"Is something the matter, honey?"

[Halae]

[Concourse]

Trick shakes her head, "It's nothing important, really." She breathes out, "So... do you know exactly where the shop is, or will we have to ask someone?"

[Morty]

[Concourse]

"I know where it is. I've been there before. It's where I bought my one-piece swimsuit. But I have a feeling you'd rather see me in less than that, hm?" Sophie says, winking and stretching, sticking out her chest a little more than is strictly necessary. If Trick is on edge, she'll try to get her mind off whatever it is.

[Halae]

[Concourse]

Trick's dark red skin actually darkens slightly in what Sophie may recognize as a blush. The tiefling looks down towards the floor for a moment before regaining her composure, "Definitely looking forward to that. Lead the way, then."

Now that's interesting; the swishing of Trick's tail has picked up, suggesting she's more nervous than before. Did that just make it worse?

[Morty]

[Concourse]

Sophie frowns a little as she leads the way towards the shop. Unfortunately, or perhaps rather fortunately, Trick ended up dating a very perceptive woman.

"You know, it doesn't look like nothing important when my showing off can't cheer you up. Are you sure I can't help?"

[Halae]

[Concourse]

"It's... embarassing. Not really important, just awkward." Trick says, smiling, "Promise, it's nothing really important."

[Morty]

[Concourse ==> Beach Party Parlour]

"If you say so. Just remember I'm here to listen if you change your mind," Sophie says, slipping an arm around Trick's waist and squeezing. At that point, they reach the swimsuit store. "Hmm. Do you want to try something on first, or should I?"

[Lex-Kat]

[Small Wonders]

No answer from within. Only a faint shudder in the alligator's belly, the slow and muffed beating of a heart.

Katrina frowns. Something doesn't feel right. Pulling out her wand, she walks carefully toward the back. "H-hello? I-I think your gator is hungry."

[ThirdEmperor]

[Small Wonders]

The ancient scales begin to creak, dust sloughing from the ridges and wrinkles of an ancient eyelid. The eye is dead marble, ocean blue full of milky veins, but the sunburst center of clouded pink rolls to follow the girl as she walks through the dust and gloom. The jaws begin to twitch. There is a narrowing of the shadows, the shelves bending close to loom, and the light spilling out from the open door is a thin path through.

There's a muted sort of music beyond, and in the corridor of light little soapfleck sparkles of rainbow slip through from beyond. Beyond the tinted glass of the storefront, people are only shadows passing by, the ones that stop to gawk, easily mistaken for the silhouette of another silent mannequin.

[Halae]

[Concourse ==> Beach Party Parlour]

"If you say so. Just remember I'm here to listen if you change your mind," Sophie says, slipping an arm around Trick's waist and squeezing. At that point, they reach the swimsuit store. "Hmm. Do you want to try something on first, or should I?"

[Beach Party Parlour]

"You first. I'll sit and watch," Trick says with a grin.

[Morty]

[Concourse ==> Beach Party Parlour]

Sophie picks something from the shelf, disappears into a changing room and emerges wearing a swimsuit. Bearing in mind she's got a rather different body shape than the woman on the photo.

"Well? How do you like it?"

[Halae]

[Beach Party Parlour]

"That zipper seems like a terrible idea," Trick says with a grin, "Wouldn't want some horny guy coming along and undoing your top, would you?" Still, it's clear from her expression that she likes this one, "Also, you have really nice legs."

[Morty]

[Beach Party Parlour]

"Thank you, dear," Sophie says. She turns around to give Trick a good look from all directions. "And I suppose it is a bit of a weird place to put it, isn't it? Convenient, though, both for me and people I'd want to take it off. Is there anything in particular you think I should try?"

[Terumitsu]

[Erin's Emporium]

"Effects included rapid decay, transmutations, or falling into pieces," Dorota says. "An exchange of notes could be useful for us both. But I don't think I got your name," she adds, looking at Riss above her glasses.

"Clarissa Heln-Gelter." Riss said, giving her legal name rather than the short-form nickname she used with those she was familiar with. "I will mirror the same question back with an additional query: Do you have a preferred format of media that you find the easiest to digest?" the muse asked, fairly certain that Dorota probably didn't have the same kind of access nor familiarity with the tools that she used on a regular basis. It wasn't really the alchemist being lacking so much as the likelihood of exposure given the muse's experiences with what was considered to be the technological standard for the area.

Still, backwards compatibility and the like did tend to be useful to support in many cases anyway..

"You mention both rapid decay as well as transmutations.. Though I believe that these things are more adequately addressed in your findings, could you perhaps elucidate more on the subject? Is this a case of.. Shall we use the term 'toxicity' of buildup from a singular source used multiple times or does each case lend itself to singular use and the consumption of multiple sources? Are there patterns to each that you have found?" she asked, ever greedy for more information.

[Lex-Kat]

[Small Wonders]

There's a muted sort of music beyond, and in the corridor of light little soapfleck sparkles of rainbow slip through from beyond. Beyond the tinted glass of the storefront, people are only shadows passing by, the ones that stop to gawk, easily mistaken for the silhouette of another silent mannequin.

Katrina looks behind her at the creaking, and frowns. ~What have I gotten myself into?~ she wonders as she backs into the room, watching the crocodile warily.

[Morty]

[Erin's Emporium]

"I'm Dorota Brońska. A pleasure," the alchemist says, before continuing. "When creating potions for common use, I find direct consumption to be simplest and safest. As for the decay, I have not found any consistent pattern. Which is, in itself, troubling. Well, I suppose there is one emergent rule. The more magic-saturated a test subject was, the more likely it was to transmute instead of simply fall apart. But the substances themselves didn't appear to have a direct effect on the result. Maybe I simply don't have a large enough sample."

[ThirdEmperor]

[Small Wonders]

The room beyond is expansively, impossibly large, the ceiling lifted up on pillars that sprout like trees into the upper reaches, a forest of wooden beams. And from the reaches comes that wonderful light, the 'branches' hanging with shining bubbles of clear glass, and clouds of thousand-colored light within. People walk inside the bubbles, surrounded by shadowy drifts of background - the phantom bits of potted trees and signs vaguely recognizable as the Mallside concourse.

And in the center of the room, an ancient television sets sputters static and garbled words. In front of it sits an ancient armchair, sagging on three legs and a pile of books, the back turned to the door and the girl standing there. The man in the chair turns, reaching an arm over the back, with a pointed glance to the watch on his wrist before turning his gaze to Kat. "Well," His smile is terribly thin. "You certainly took your time."

[Lex-Kat]

Katrina looks around at the fascinating room, particularly fond of the shiny bubbles. She looks to the man n the ancient chair, an eyebrow raising at his accusation. "Oh? Was I expected?" she asks, keeping her place at the entrance.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Small Wonders]

"Not at all. But you took plenty of time deciding whether you'd let that stop you." The old man reaches the cane besides his chair, with the silver hawkshead for a grip. It takes a creaking groan of effort for him to haul himself up. A withered hand brushes the dust from his suit, rich velvet black and jaunty red beneath, bridged by golden clasps and buttons polished bright as stars. "Now, you wanted an interview, maybe a job."

Three of the glittering spheres descend to his outstretched arm, circling like stars of glass. "Have you ever played a game where you watched a person go by, and imagined what terrible crime they must have done?"

[Lex-Kat]

[Small Wonders]

"First, how'd you know I was looking for a job? And second, no. Why would I assume such a thing." Katrina says, keeping her distance from the now creepier old man.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Small Wonders]

The man glances at her then, at her instead of in the vague direction, and his look is not an impressed one. "That's your question?" With a flick of his hand he tosses one of the brilliant glass spheres, the bubble drifting slowly through the air. It's her. Caught within the rippling spills of oily rainbow light, there's Katrina, and the shadows of the room around her. "Obviously I must be sticking my nose in others business, and here are my means all around you. Ask a good one instead."

[Lex-Kat]

{Small Wonders}

"Okay." Katrina looks into the small bubble, and frowns. "Hey! How long have you been spying on me? And... and... What kind of job are you offering?" She asks, a little subdued, as she still would like the job... maybe.

[Halae]

[Beach Party Parlour]

"Thank you, dear," Sophie says. She turns around to give Trick a good look from all directions. "And I suppose it is a bit of a weird place to put it, isn't it? Convenient, though, both for me and people I'd want to take it off. Is there anything in particular you think I should try?"

[Beach Party Parlour]

Trick can't help but smile at the mental image, and says, "How about the blue one here?" she asks, indicating another bikini.

"I'll admit, though... I'm not very good at fashion."

[ThirdEmperor]

[Small Wonders]

"That's two." The man says sharply. And then, shrugs. "I suppose I didn't warn you to word them carefully, either. I'll answer the one I like. We are in the business of selling wishes and lessons. One comes with the other."
"If you're not a fan of mystery, the works of Steven King, Bruce Coville, maybe? The concept might be familiar." She stares back at herself, bent wide and strange in the fisheye lens of the glass. In the play of light beyond, the starry clouds, there is a shape. A sort of man-shaped scar of brilliance.

[Morty]

[Beach Party Parlour]

"I do like to dress up sometimes. I just haven't had many opportunities before we started dating," Sophie says, before kissing Trick on the cheek and disappearing into the changing room once more. She emerges, clad in the suit Trick chose and once more stretches, turning around to give a full look.

[Lex-Kat]

{Small Wonders]

"Oh. So we help people, by giving them what they think they want, to show them what really matters. Right?" Katrina asks, trying to push the bubble away from her. It makes her very uncomfortable.

[Hexblade]

[Arcane Threads]

X strolls into the shop, and he asks Kaz'than if he could purchase some nice, loose adventuring clothes. He smiles as he waits for a response.

[Azik's Enchantments]

X walks into the shop and greets Azik with a warm smile and a question. "Excuse me, I would like to know if I could buy a suit of armor. Nothing too fancy, I just want something to protect me. Preferably non-magical, but masterwork could be nice." He smiles and stares off into space while waiting for an answer.

[Barkhouse Bestiary]

X runs into the shop, panting, and says "I heard you have pets!" He grins, and sits down, still panting. After he catches his breath, he says "Do you do cyborg psuedodragon?"

[Recaiden]

[Unsullied Bazaar]

A customer. Arlem has long since dispensed with the ethereal being disguise and currently looks like a short muscular human man with a bristly mustache and a shaved head, eyebrows constantly furrowed in distaste.

He takes a while to browse the shop and look at all the illusionary catalog offerings, only slowly looking around at the enchantments on the store and at the thoughts of the shopkeeper.

[Arcane Threads]

In just the space of a breath Zan'than should hold up a bundle of adventuring clothes for inspection. Tunic, cloak, belt, gloves, thick warm socks...All rather drab in color but quite functional. For those other stores, X might be waiting a while.