Demon Marcus, Sunday

[myownface]

Sparkle was having one of those days at Demon Marcus today. That kind of day where he wasn't certain if his recent ongoing bout of being utterly scatterbrained was what had contributed to him coming in to find that there was absolutely no footwear in stock - though he could swear he had just gotten in an order of rainboots a few weeks ago - or if that was the island being mean.

He was going to err on the side of caution and order in a bunch of new shoes and boots for the summer season, while also cursing the island for what he was pretty certain was one of its dumb tricks.

And hope that nobody needed shoes today.

[OOC: Open! OCD-free!]

Comments

[crimson_sister]

Lucille was feeling lonely. Not that she was ever to admit such a thing. Her brother was still at school and Allerdale Hall was empty except for whatever animals had settled there while it had been standing empty and that ghost in the bathroom, and the damp smell and echoing rooms hadn't yet become familiar again.

She still had a phone. Lucille had considered calling Cassandra, but she had no excuse to do so and she suspected her friend wasn't one for idle chatter on the phone. Perhaps she would call her later about that poem she had found. She did have the perfect excuse for calling Sparkle though. He owned a clothes' shop and she needed a new pair of boots.

Bad timing.

[SP?]

[myownface]

Somehow, Sparkle would vote with the timing!

"Hey there," he said as he answered the phone. "Sparkle speaking!"

Of course it was. It was his phone.

[Sp!]

[crimson_sister]

"Good morning," Lucille said. Hopefully she had got the time right. At least it didn't sound as if she had woken Sparkle up. "It's Lucille. Am I calling at an inconvenient time?"

She still wasn't used to talking on the phone.

[myownface]

"Nah, not at all," Sparkle replied with a little laugh. "I'm at work, but if it was a bad time I would have just let it go to voicemail. How are you doing, Lucille?"

[crimson_sister]

"Oh, I'm quite fine," she said. "Home is a little quiet without my brother, but spring is finally here."

A very bleak spring that had made the paths turn even muddier. And it was lonely.

[myownface]

"God, I missed spring," Sparkle sighed​. "You'd think I'd be used to winter forever, but, like, there isn't much better than new leaves, you know?"

[crimson_sister]

"There aren't many trees here, but the grass is perhaps a little greener." Whoever chose to build Allerdale Hall must have done so only because of the clay mine.

"But at least the draught isn't as cold as it was a few weeks ago. There is a hole in the roof and it makes whatever fire I make useless."

[myownface]

"Oh, jeeze," Sparkle said, hissing between his teeth. "You don't have somebody there who can patch that up, huh?"

[crimson_sister]

"I will find someone."

She couldn't afford it, but she didn't want to mention that.

"There is a reason I am calling today. I am in need of a new pair of boots, and I would prefer to order from you rather than a shop in town. You know what suits me,"

[myownface]

"I do," Sparkle replied after a kind of worried pause. Holes in the house, he was familiar with. And the current shoe situation... "You want something that you can wear into the summer, or just something to keep your feet dry through the spring?"

[crimson_sister]

"It is rather muddy here," Lucille replied. "Even in the summer, when it rains. So I will wear them in the summer too."

She could only afford one pair. And it might be a good thing that Sparkle couldn't see the state of her home.

[myownface]

"I think we can find something," Sparkle mused. "I'm a little short on stock at the moment," there was some understatement, "but I can order in something good for you, if you like."

[crimson_sister]

"I trust you know my taste by now," Lucille said, and she meant it. "As well as something that will suit the weather."

[myownface]

"Finding something to your taste that can handle spring mud and summer heat," Sparkle mused. "Yeah, I think I'm up to that challenge. And if there's anything else I can do for you, let me know. You want me to have the boots shipped right to you, or would you rather I deliver them, in case you need something different?"

[crimson_sister]

There was a brief pause. "You would deliver them?"

[myownface]

"I mean, it's just a portal trip, right? Worst that can happen is a stopover along the way," Sparkle pointed out. "Hell, maybe I can do something about that leaky roof while I'm there. It isn't like I never had to live with one of those myself. It sucks, I know."

Shut up, Lucille. He worried about you.

[crimson_sister]

"That is very kind of you. You are welcome anytime that suits you."

Lucille was lonely, and Sparkle was one of the few people she felt oddly at ease with.

"I have guest rooms should you want to stay. Feel no obligation to repair the roof, although if you have a good suggestion it would of course be much appreciated."

There were many people Lucille wouldn't mind seeing falling to their death from the roof, but Sparkle obviously wasn't one of them.

[myownface]

"Well, I'm not really a repairman," Sparkle admitted after a pause. "But hey, we might be able to figure something out. I'm not afraid of heights, at least."

He tended to get into places he wasn't supposed to be by climbing trees to open upstairs windows.

He'd spent a lot of his childhood hanging out on rooftops.

[crimson_sister]

"It would be very kind of you to try," Lucille repeated. "The floor beneath it is almost ruined. The rug is probably beyond saving."

Lucille hadn't got around to examining it properly yet.

[myownface]

"Okay, so... fix the ceiling, get a new rug," Sparkle mused. "Maybe I'll bring, like, a tarp or something to lay down to save the floor until you can get the roof fixed, while I'm at it."

[crimson_sister]

A new rug? Lucille would have left the ruined rug on the floor. Sparkle sounded as if he knew how to do this though, so she decided to trust him.

"That would be helpful. I don't think we have a tarp." If there was one, she had never seen it, but it was a large house.

"If the weather permits we can also take a walk on the moor." That was about as exciting as it got in Allerdale Hall. Unless Lucille tried to murder you, but that wouldn't happen to Sparkle, of course.

[myownface]

"So I'll bring a tarp along," Sparkle decided, huffing a bit of a laugh. "They're cheap enough, maybe it'll save the floor from getting ruined more before you can get the roof fixed, you know?"

He dreamed big.

"What's the moor like?"

[crimson_sister]

Lucille considered her answer for a moment, then said: "Windy."

[myownface]

"So I'll dress warm," Sparkle surmised. "Got it."

He was actually kind of looking forward to this now. Hopefully his boot order would come in quickly.

[crimson_sister]

"You are very welcome," Lucille said again.

She was looking forward to this too, more for Sparkle's company than for the boots, and she hoped he would enjoy the stay.