fandomtownies | Magic Box, Sunday, 03/22

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Magic Box, Sunday, 03/22

Anders got to the shop a little later than he did on most Sundays, and more haphazardly groomed. It was hard to think about things like jobs and toothbrushes and combing your hair when everything you ever dreamed of was held so neatly in the palm of your hand. It took a lot of mental struggle to make himself leave his dorm room and go to work; finally he had convinced himself to slide on his shoes and head out the door on the theory that there might be something useful about phylacteries in the shop.

Which .... he was going to look for anytime now. After he made certain the shop seemed secure from Cassandra or anyone else who might want to steal the phylactery. He left the door locked against unwanted invaders and hung up a small, neat sign: Please ring bell for entry.

He'd let in customers, probably, but anyone who didn't look like they belonged stood a good chance of getting a fireball to the chest. Anders didn't feel like he could be too careful.

[OOC: Open if you ring the bell.]

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Hanna had decided she was going to need magic to hide her record, and the player, but always have them where she wanted them. Unable to bear letting them out of her sight, she'd put them into a huge carrying bag, and gone into town, heading for the magic shop she'd seen a couple times.

She rang the bell, then patiently waited, clutching the bag to her chest.

Anders looked at her through the window, then undid the lock and pushed the door open just enough to talk. Hanna didn't pose an obvious danger, but there was really no such thing as being too careful.

"Hello," he said through the crack. His hand hovered over his shirt, brushing his phylactery through the fabric. "What did you need?"

"Does this shop sell any spells for hiding things?" Hanna asked hopefully, knuckles white on the bag. "Hello. Sorry. I am all distract." And her English was breaking down a little too.

Anders eyes darted from side to side as he considered the request, and whether it might be some kind of trap. "Yes," he finally said, almost a whisper. "I can't promise any of them will work for you,but you never know until you try, do you? Come in."

He opened the door to let her in,seeming anxious to do it. He was "all distract" too.

"Danke. So much," Hanna whispered back, catching his air of unease, multiplying by her own as she ducked inside as quickly as she could. "Are they very hard? Or cost very much?"

Edited 2015-03-22 23:40 (UTC)

"Depends on what exactly you get," Anders shrugged, and locked the door behind her. "Do you do magic already? Or were you looking for something ~~moddable~~ more like an enchanted box? We don't get many things that do actual magic, but there are a few here and there."

"I don't do magic." And she should! A thing to find out more about... after she had her album safe. "Yes! A magic box? That only I can open, maybe? Maybe it shocks other people? Or bites them?"

That might be another English break-down, or might not.

If they had biting boxes, Anders would have already bought out the entire stock.

"We have some that put curses on anyone who pries them open without the key," he offered apologetically. "And some puzzle boxes with hidden locks. I'm not sure about the socking but I'm sure someone on the island could rig up something like that..."

He bit his lip. "You must have something very precious, to need a box like that."

Hanna hugged the bag to herself, feeling tears prickle at her eyes. "Only to me. I swear. You wouldn't want it. No one wanted it. It's mine, it's important." It was everything. It filled in all those empty imagined spaces her mother should have occupied. She could dream of the future they should have had, when she listened.

"A curse? Would that cost very much?" Hanna looked at Anders with desperation.

Edited 2015-03-23 00:26 (UTC)

"No, but I can't guarantee it'll work," Anders admitted, leading Hanna toward the section of the store where the boxes and cases he was thinking of were kept. "I can tell some of them have real magic on them, but not what exactly it does."

He smiled briefly. "Seeing as how it's so important -- we can call it a gift today."

In part because he didn't want to haggle. Haggling took time he could spend looking at his amulet.

Hanna was near tears with gratitude, but she managed not to fall apart. "You understand."

"I have .... some precious possessions too," Anders hedged. "I'd want to kill anyone who tried to take them. And with how strange the island's being lately, we can't be too careful."

"Ja." Hanna felt light-headed with relief. She opened the box in question, and carefully put the bag inside of it. "I owe you a debt, Anders. Thank you." She picked it up, and smiled, feeling stretched thin but a little more centered.

"Don't worry about it," Anders told her, smiling faintly. Her accent reminded him just a bit of his mother's, and that helped him feel even more secure about the decision. "Have a good night,Hanna."

She heard it. She heard it. A few days ago she hadn't heard anything, she had just been absorbed into the book, but something had changed. Because the book was too valuable. She knew it now.

The book kept talking about secret notes, and hiding messages, and being watched. Sorceresses were watched. Nobody trusted them, and nobody trusted their books. So she had started jumping at every noise in the store, every time something called her away from the book.

Was it Squall? Was he sneaking in again? She was going to box his ears if he was. Wait, he might have brought food, if he did come back, and she liked food.

She peered out of the back office with narrowed eyes, before spotting who it was who was IN HER STORE. Oh! Anders. Right! Right, he worked here. He was one of her students.

He was probably not here to take away her book. Right?

"Hi," she said. She might have felt sheepish, if she wasn't still halfway convinced he was up to something.

Anders almost jumped out of his skin at the voice before he realized it was Rinoa, Rinoa who owned the place and had magic herself and almost certainly wasn't in league with Cassandra.

He thought. His hands would stay close to the amulet while they talked, anyhow.

"Hi," he returned, cautious. "You normally aren't here Sundays."

Sunday? It wasn't Sunday, was it? ... Maybe it was. She hugged her book closer to her chest and eyed him suspiciously.

"I like it here," she said, defensively. "No one comes into the back room."

Unlike her house, full of people who kept trying to talk to her.

"Is the store open?"

Please say no, Anders! Customers sounded like they'd be nosy.

Anders scrunched up his nose, as much at the question as at the obvious suspicion. ".... yes?" he said, hoping that was the right answer. "Only, I left the door locked. It sounds from radio as though there's a lot to worry about on the island lately. I put a sign so people will know to ring the bell if they need us."

Edited 2015-03-23 02:41 (UTC)

"Good thinking," she said, quickly. "We can't be too careful. This store is full of priceless treasures. With thieves about, we'd be an easy target."

Had she said too much? Did he guess now that the book she was holding was valuable? She should cover, try to be more natural.

"Though I suppose I'm being a bit paranoid," she said, trying to sound like she was laughing it off. Ha ha, really. "Fandom's a nice town. You can trust people here."

Usually.

"You can," Anders agreed. "Most people, anyhow. But it only takes one person out to ruin it for everyone for things to get bad."

He forced a laugh of his own. "Now look at me being paranoid, too. Anyhow, I think the store is safe."

"Of course it is," she said, a shade too quickly. "Why wouldn't it be? You locked the door."

And they were the only two in here. She totally trusted him. Really.

"So, I was just going to -- go back," she said, gesturing vaguely. "I'm doing important research. It might help with -- what's going on."

She was only vaguely aware that something was going on. Squall had mentioned something, blahblahblah, she tried not to listen when he talked. But her research was important anyway, so it was a well-intentioned lie.

"Oh, with the -- plants and animals and everything?" Anders asked, trying to sound as interested as he knew he should be. "Let me know if you find anything. It seems to have a lot of people all upset."

Mainly, he wanted to find a solution so Nathan and Karla would stop worrying and leave him in peace with his phylactery.

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Magic Box, Sunday, 03/22

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