The Magic Box, Tuesday

[angelo_wings]

It occurred to Rinoa that she had been in town for days, now, and she had yet to actually open her store. She'd be more upset with herself if it wasn't that she'd been a little distracted. Like with her strange little feather-girl. Of course, the absolute best way to deal with sadness -- like over missing that same strange little feather-girl -- was to make yourself busy.

So today seemed like a good day to start cleaning, and doing inventory, and all of that boring stuff. She wasn't quite ready for the store to be open, but she could at least air the place out and make it presentable.

She didn't bother dressing up all Sorceressy -- that could wait until the grand opening. Besides, feathery dresses were the hardest to clean.

She did have the lights on, and the door unlocked, in case anyone was curious enough to peek in. Maybe she could get an early start on hiring some employees.

In the mean time, she was going to be sniffing skink root with a decided frown. How exactly could you tell if skink root had gone bad? Ugh. Her magic didn't need ingredients, so she had no way of knowing if skink root needed to be fresh. This job might be harder than she'd thought.

(rinoa has in fact bought the MAGIC BOX, woo! no ocd, because the store is not OFFICIALLY OPEN yet, but people are totally welcome to pop by. disclaimer: my work has no internet, so please be willing to roll with the SP from about 3-8ish.)

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[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia had noticed the shop before, of course, but this seemed like the first time there was a hint of activity in there. Exhausted though she was from the weekend and the run (ugh, the run) in class this morning, she was still curious.

So what had started as a trip into town for coffee and sustenance now found her peeking hesitantly through the front door. "Hello?" she called, feeling moronic.

[angelo_wings]

"Hello!" Rinoa called out, brightly. She bounced over to see who it was standing in the doorway.

(Okay, the bouncing made her seem less Sorceressy, too, but seriously, she was in jeans today. That ship had already sailed.)

"You can come in," she said. "We're not open yet but I don't mind company. Hey, do you know if skink root goes bad?"

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Isn't a skink a lizard?" Celia asked, frowning as she stepped in and let the door close behind her. "I imagine it probably expires but I don't know about the root."

[angelo_wings]

"See, that's what I thought," Rinoa said, rolling her eyes. "Lizards don't exactly have roots, so who knows what this is supposed to be. There's a pile of this stuff that's just been sitting here since the last owner, and I've never used skink root in my life. Probably safest just to toss it out, right?"

She sighed and leaned against the counter. "People would probably get upset if I sold them expired skink root. Not to mention their spells going all weird."

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"I would," Celia said, her nose wrinkling. "It'd be thrown out if it was a grocery item at a store, right?"

The rest of what Rinoa had said registered, though, and she eyed the older girl curiously. "Wait -- spells? This is a magic ingredient?" She hadn't yet met anyone who needed...well, eyes of newt or anything, for their magic. Fascinating.

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa guessed wrong, about the source of the girl's confusion.

"Okay, very quickly," she said, "yes, magic is real; no, it's not anything to worry about. Your home world might not even have it. Fandom just likes messing with people."

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no no." Celia rushed to correct her, trying not to laugh. "I know about magic. I have magic. We just don't -- use ingredients, generally. I didn't realize that was what was sold here. I thought it might be...well, doves and cards and top hats. Maybe a locking trunk. That sort of thing."

All of which had their purposes, too.

[angelo_wings]

"Oh, wonderful," Rinoa said, beaming at the girl. "Then welcome. There might be things you find useful in here, even if you don't need ingredients. My magic doesn't use them, either. It's just ... me, you know?"

It was part of her. It had been part of her even when she was just an unknowing Potential, laying dormant and waiting.

"I think we stock some of the novelty stuff near the front," she offered. "If not, I'll be sure to order some in. I mean, who doesn't love magic tricks?"

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"My father always makes sure we have a back-up, at home," Celia said with a small smile. "People want to believe you're not really performing magic, and that the rabbit was in the hat the whole time, that sort of thing."

She knew what she meant, about the magic just being her. Magic was as much a part of Celia has her hair or blood or fingernails. Magic coursed through her with every heartbeat. It was why she couldn't comprehend people being afraid of their own power.

"I'm Celia, by the way."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

All Elsa really wanted today was to go for a walk, to process that she'd had a son for three days who appeared to have a normal life, ice-powers aside. To get some fresh air and clear her head and try not to miss home, now that her only connection to Arendelle was gone.

There was a light on in one of the shops in town that she hadn't seen open before, and suddenly she found herself curious... She didn't want to learn magic, no. She had plenty of her own and no interest in honing it whatsoever. But if there was anything about self-control, perhaps...

A little timidly, she peered into the shop.

[angelo_wings]

Well, the store might not, but its owner could certainly write a book or two on the subject.

"Come in, come in!" Rinoa called, hurrying out from the back. She'd been knee-deep in inventory, but that would wait. "We're not really open yet but that's just because the place is a mess. Hi! Welcome!"

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Oh, um... hello," Elsa replied, blinking wide-eyed at the cheerful girl who was running out to greet her. She was... enthusiastic.

It kind of made her miss her sister. A little.

"If you're not open, I can come back. Really, it's no trouble. I live near here."

Because if you were on the island, of course you lived near here. Good job, Elsa.

[angelo_wings]

"Don't be silly," Rinoa said. "I'm just apologizing for how dusty I am, that's all. And because I don't know if it's okay to sell the skink root. I'm probably gonna toss it. Do you know anything about skink root?"

Too late, Elsa. You were in Rinoa's tractor beam. Resistance was futile.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Try though she might, this conversation was impossible to escape! Phasers had clearly been set to stun, here.

"... I'm not entirely certain if I ought to know what that even is," she admitted, lingering in the doorway. "What does it look like?"

[angelo_wings]

"Ingredient, used in spells," Rinoa said, as if she'd even heard of it before today. She picked up a few of the dried leaves and smelled them, although she couldn't say what she was smelling for. She had no idea what they were supposed to smell like, after all. "I'm trying to figure out if it's gone bad or not. I mean, people probably want fresh ingredients for their spells, right? But some things don't go bad no matter how long you leave them out. Maybe skink root is one of them."

She was probably going to end up tossing it. Err on the side of caution, and all that.

And then, because it had come up with Celia, "You know magic's real and all that, right? Like, I'm not freaking you out by discussing spells, am I?"

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no, talking about spells isn't half as strange as the fact that skink root is a leaf," Elsa replied, shaking her head and eyeing the odd ingredient. "Magic is..."

She ducked her head a little.

"Well, there are plenty of people who believe in magic, where I'm from. And it would be difficult to live here for any length of time and still deny it, I think."

[angelo_wings]

"I totally thought skinks were lizards," Rinoa said, nodding enthusiastically. "Plenty of people don't believe in magic until they have a reason to. Like someone showing off spells or it happening to them. That's a pretty big eye-opener."

She huffed as she turned her attention back to the root. "But my magic doesn't involve any of this stuff," she said. "So it's hard for me to say whether it's still good."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall stepped inside the door and lurked. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked. "I can carry things."

[angelo_wings]

"I'm sure," she said. "But I wouldn't mind company. What have you been doing all day?"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Looking over the games store." Squall shrugged. "It's mostly comics, but it'll do. Lots of storage space that can be converted."

[angelo_wings]

"You should probably keep the comics," she said. "People who buy them would be upset if they just went away."

By this time, she'd made it up to the front of the store. Which meant he was getting a somewhat dusty hello kiss.

What? She'd been in the back, doing inventory. Dust came with the territory.

"What do you need the storage space for?"

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall had no problem with dusty kisses.

"I'm not going to get rid of them," he promised. "Just... they don't need to take up so much of the floor space. There's not enough room to display rare cards in." Priorities, Rinoa!

"I'd want the space for game rooms," he added. What else would it be for? "Maybe run a weekly tournament, or whatever."

[angelo_wings]

"Oh, man, am I about to lose you entirely to games tournaments?" she laughed. "I remember my boyfriend Squall. That was before the week-long dungeon raids and Magic tournaments. Now he just pops in to grab food and shower and then poof! Off again."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I promise you no dungeon raids, unless they're the real-life kind," Squall told her. "And a Magic tournament will only take a few hours, unless there are more players on the island than I realize."

[angelo_wings]

"I'm teasing," she said, looping her arms around his waist. "I'm glad you found something you can get into. So long as you're not going to make me play."

Whenever Rinoa played Magic, it ended badly. Usually with her overturning the table and declaring that as the Sorceress, she was going to burn down all of Squall's monsters and salt the earth.