Dite's Decadent Delights | Wednesday

[begmetwice]

It was entirely possible that if you were the sort of person to notice, Irene's hair was...not quite as done as it normally might have been. She'd skipped most of her jewelry, too. And she'd opted for a dress that would just slip right off, rather than anything more complicated.

It was tough to dress for work when you highly anticipated that your shift likely wouldn't last the whole time -- not to mention any distractions she might have faced while dressing in the first place.

Still. This week, it felt a bit like a public service to be open. For however long she managed it, anyway.

25% off entire store

[open!]

Comments

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden hadn't actually ever expected to end up here, and yet, here she was.

"Um..."

Oh. Oh there were many things. Oh.

[begmetwice]

Oh, look! Look! A customer! One who, no offense to you, Arden, was much too young for Irene these days, which was excellent news! It meant one of them, at least, would be able to keep her composure.

Sorry about all the dildos, though.

"Hello!" Irene called, trying to seem both welcoming and also, you know, not sexily welcoming. No need to intimidate the poor thing more than necessary, either. "Help you find anything, love?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I..." Arden was definitely looking, wide-eyed, at some of the dildos (there were many) before turning her attention almost desperately to Irene.

Who was very much too old for her, but was also very much too hot for that too matter and therefore dropping her eyes immediately to the floor.

"I'm, uh. Maybe just looking?" she said. You know. At the floor. "I don't know...err, that is...I haven't...um..."

She could normally speak in full sentences, Irene. Honest.

[begmetwice]

"You're Arden, right?" Irene offered kindly, pretending she had no idea why any eye contact might be being averted at all. (Though, yes, Arden, she was looking great, if less than made up today, thanks.) "From Rosa's detective class?"

Would it help if she came over? She was totally coming over to stand with Arden whether it helped or not, oh well.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Well, how were we defining 'help'? Her composure? No.

"Uh, yeah," she said. "And you're Ms. Adler, right? Hi. Uh. Are you enjoying class? I am. And, uh, is this your store?"

Sorry for the not-very-scintillating conversation, Irene. Arden had about six months of socializing under her belt and even that little tended to vanish under stress.

[begmetwice]

"This is my store!" Irene told her, as cheery and casual as if she sold teddy bears. "And please, darling, call me Irene."

By the looks of things, first name familiarity was likely in the cards, at the very least.

"Rosa's a friend," she added, which Rosa might have actually objected to, "and detectives have always been an interest of mine, so it's been fun, yes!"

And yes, she was a little tempted to press again and ask whether Arden needed help...you know, sussing out clues in this particular store, but she also didn't want to scare her off. This was, after all, a safe and private space to shop. (It was not fiscally responsible not to be one, if nothing else!)

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I might...be something like a private investigator when I'm out of school," Arden said, a little shyly.

Or, well, probably not like a private investigator, since she wasn't going to go back to be one of Callista's Watchers and she certainly wasn't going to find more Othersiders to join, considering what she was.

"Uh. So. Um. About this - have you noticed this week?"

[begmetwice]

Irene's eyes widened in appreciation -- and, as always, her own internal antennae perked up at that information and filed it away, just on the off-chance those skills were ever turned her way. Better to know and be on her guard than find herself caught unawares, always.

But that was less important than Arden's question, and Irene's smile softened a little.

"I've been here a long time," she offered, shrugging a shoulder and nodding. "It's annual, darling. The pollen usually hits sometime between Valentine's and prom, if knowing for next year might help?"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh," Arden said, and then as the full implication hit her. "Oh no."

That really did make her visit here all the more important, didn't it? Because. Four years of this was really a...thing to contemplate. And this was her only getting affected since this morning.

"Does it get any easier?" she asked, a little plaintively.

[begmetwice]

Irene couldn't help a small huff of a rueful laugh that escaped.

"Depends on how you choose to treat the symptoms, I think?" she offered after a moments consideration. "I think there's a few who swear by their meditation practices, and maybe that helps? But, you know, I work here, so my solutions tend to be a touch more...practical."

Namely, Irene handled this week by spending as much time as possible with one of their other classmates (though the exclusivity there was a recent development), and perhaps some select inventory from this very store.

A beat, and a gently-offered, "And I've loads of rum for the squirrels, to keep shopping trips as private as we can. If that's something you'd be interested in."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh goddess, yes please," Arden said fervently. "I do broadcasts on Tuesday and I already spend so much time trying to keep people's personal details private and the squirrels are just such jerks about everything!"

NFB from here!

[begmetwice]

Irene held up one manicured finger before darting back behind the cash wrap and reaching into a drawer for a bottle and a small set of teeny little cups.

"I don't know if I know many people on this island who'd shop here without putting out the rum, honestly," she shared, setting the cups near the entrance. "At least, not seriously. Sometimes people come in to gawk a bit."

Not, typically, during this week.

Re: NFB from here!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I think one day I'd like to not worry about it?" Arden said. "But uh. I'm not there, yet."

We weren't going to discuss how much time she'd spent walking up and down the street in front of the shop convincing herself to go in.

"I don't have, um. A lot of experience with. This."

To Irene's entire shock, surely.

Re: NFB from here!

[begmetwice]

Please excuse her while she fetched a fainting couch, yes.

"The nicest thing about a lack of experience," Irene told her, straightening up and dusting her skirt lightly back into place, satisfied with the cups' placement, "is that you, my dear, are primed for discovery. I envy you a bit, really. Now -- if you'd like...guidance, I'm here to offer it, but you're also welcome to tell me to sod off if you'd prefer to browse alone a bit?"

Re: NFB from here!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I don't. Erm. Know what I'm looking for? Exactly. Or what--how--"

Oh goddess, maybe she should just die about this instead?

Re: NFB from here!

[begmetwice]

"So," Irene started briskly, sensing a need to save Arden from herself here -- truly, no one had to die today, "I'm going to ask you some very personal things, babes, but it's just to help, okay?"

Which she figured was probably clear by now, but it also never hurt to reinforce.

"Do you have any experience," she hedged carefully, "with...touching yourself intimately? Things that you know feel good to you? It's all right if not, but if you already have preferences, we want to look towards those, yeah?"

Though Irene was totally prepared to send her off with a little bit of everything, if that was what was called for. This was the week to figure these things out, after all!

Re: NFB from here!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Nope, she was definitely going to die! She was a sylph, but by sheer force of will, she was going to transform into a dea and spontaneously combust.

But also she was nodding, goddess help her. And then, belatedly, realized that Irene was now going to ask about preferences.

She should have said no. You know. Like a liar.

Re: NFB from here!

[begmetwice]

Don't worry, Arden! It was about to get arguably worse!

"And -- clue me in if I'm making incorrect assumptions about your anatomy," Irene continued, a little too warm to be clinical, but otherwise making a sincere effort to remain neutral in tone, "but do you find you like...."

She lightly twirled the tip of her index finger in a tight, quick circle.

"Or --"

That index finger was paired with a middle one, the pair of which lightly thrusted into the air.

"Or both?"

You know what was totally less embarrassing and helped everything? Evocative miming.

Re: NFB from here!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Hang on, Irene. Arden was just going to step out and break the Detente really obviously and wait for the elves to come and murder her, okay? But she would be happy to leave her money or something so it still counted as a sale? And she wasn't going to need it when she was thankfully dead.

"Um!" she said in a very high-pitched squeak. "More...the first? But also? The...second?"

She couldn't mimic the hand gestures. She just couldn't.

Re: NFB from here!

[begmetwice]

"Sounds like a vibrator is just the trick," Irene said, because the hits were hits for reasons, you know? She reached over to give Arden a gentle little pat to her shoulder -- still no need to die, promise! -- before leading the way to a display of colorful, generally vaguely phallic devices.

(Though notably, some were not very phallic at all, but this was a 100 level course.)

"So, we'll look at a few," Irene told her, perhaps playing a little fast and loose with the word 'we' there, depending on the vibes (ha ha) she picked up from Arden. "But for a first, I would suggest something like...."

She paused, considering, before pulling a thin wand down. "This. Easy to use. Simple." She nimbly flicked the button to turn it onto its lowest setting before offering it out to Arden to hold. "Quiet."

When she'd been Arden's age, quiet had been very important, when it came to this sort of thing.

[girl you know those links are NSFW omg]

Re: NFB from here!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

From the sheer relief Arden displayed when Irene mentioned 'quiet,' it was clear some preferences transcended generation. Like, sure! Midnight could definitely soundproof her room, but also what if somebody noticed?! And then asked her why she'd done that? Midnight probably wouldn't open up a convenient trapdoor to the center of the earth or anything, so she'd probably have to answer and...

Yes. Quiet. Good.

The second...device...was an easy nod but the first one took some puzzling over as it didn't exactly fit what she assumed such things would look like. So how was she...

Irene was likely able to tell when Arden figured it out, a flush rose immediately to her cheeks, even brighter than before. Oddly enough, so did the scent of ozone and petrichor, and the kind of tension in the air that heralded a lightning strike.

Probably coincidence. Arden wasn't lucky enough to get struck by lightning right now.

"Uh. Which would you say is. Uh. Better?" she croaked.