[PRP] Knock-Off Knickknacks! [Atiqua x Vremea]

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w - where . . ? ;;

New Hemisect City!

w - when . . ?

Around 2:20, 2:30 am.

w - why . . ?
As she wandered the streets of New Hemisect City, Vremea met a young tealblooded girl who sold her stuff... that may or may not work.

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

There were two shopping ‘districts’ in the city really. Well, three if you counted the whole factor of five fingered discounts in which case the city itself was its own shopping district but no there were two ‘legit’ areas in which a troll might make some purchases. The first was obvious enough. Lit signs, advertisements, trolls in weird costumes at times trying to get other trolls to come in and but things they probably didn’t really need but hey the guy in the lusus costume outside was dancing who could pass that up it had to be good.

Then there was the shopping underbelly. The places you went to get things that were more or less, illegitimate. Fake. Knock-offs were popular with some lowbloods. Especially good quality knock offs. Why did low blood like em? Because they were affordable and looked like the real thing. Why did higher bloods like them? Because the real thing was too mainstream. Or something. And for Atiqua, this is where she’d set up shop one day. Shop being likely a suitcase of stuff, or a moving stall. After all, sell a bad fake and getting some trolls on your case? Not good. Especially if they were highblood.

Still, Atiqua was not in her dream part of town. Currently, she was looking at the real deal. Seeing just what was the it thing right now. Keep up to date to her fakes would always be in style.  

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Vremea was both happy and relaxed, for once in a while.

Taking a day to just walk around New Hemisect felt way better than just sitting in the library all day. She could finally get some fresh air, take a well needed rest...

And look for new fabrics to send to Athene when they found the cure to this putrid potion.

Vremea couldn't help but wear a pleased expression on her face as she walked around the park, spending a moment just standing there, feeling the moons shine down and the light wind graze her face. She kept putting her fingers through her tied up hair, and although she wasn't anxious or anything of the sort, it seemed to make her relax even more. Sure, there were other trolls walking around and spending their blissful night in the park, having a picnic, going on hate or love dates, or just hanging around suspiciously, but she just wanted to take a night to just do whatever she wanted.

And that included shopping.

Exiting the park, Vremea looked from side to side, and walked into a part of town deeper than she usually went. She clutched the small bag of beetles in her pocket— this was the money she had put aside from the amount she had been putting together for the reconstruction of her lusi's hive. It was just a bit, and little by little, she had enough to buy Athene some good, durable cloth for new clothes she could create for her— although there weren't many material shops around the nice part of the city. She was anxious— what if, because she was a kid, someone would take advantage of her and rob her of her money? Thankfully, highbloods didn't walk around these parts frequently, but some lowbloods were just as rough...

No— stop it. If she thought about it, it'd happen.

Vremea huffed— and suddenly stopped. She let out a small, soundless whimper.

She didn't know where she was.

Ah gosh damnit, why did she have to let her mind wander?? She always seemed to be lost in thought, it was horribly unsettling and it completely ruined whatever she had been trying to do! She was lost now, and it was all due to her minds fau— STOP. Gosh. She closed her eyes and exhaled. Yes, the most probable thing that would happen would be her getting robbed from her small wealth, or abducted. But she had to try and think positively. Maybe she could ask someone for directions? Surely not everyone was as bad as she thought. She turned around to look for someone who might be able to help her, but all she saw were busy trolls rushing through the streets in a hurry, as if they didn't want to be seen in this area. If she tried to ask, they'd just shove her away. She fiddled with her thumbs, moving out of the way of the trolls before hopelessly exhaling in defeat.

This was hopeless. She should have come here with someone— Athene, Odette, Hazzan— hell, even Belife, even if he couldn't see what was two feet infront of him. She pursed her lips.

Suddenly, a large amount of trolls passed by in a rush, shoving her into another troll. After a few milliseconds of dazed stupor, Vremea started pulling out her apologies to whomever it was, turning around to face the troll she almost trampled while talking—"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry, that was by accident, I honestly didn't mean to hurt you, um, uh..." She rubbed her eye and looked at the colors on the young girl's outfit. "...Highblood." She pursed her lips, and looked down, already hearing the young trolls screams and shouts, how stupid she was, how she was a filthy lowblood, how she was nothing more than filth on the floor— she inwardly sighed.

She was never going to buy the materials with all these disturbances happening.  

[iStoleYurVamps]

A rush of trolls going by was nothing new to Atiqua. All Atiqua did was put a hand over the her pockets, keeping the beetles hidden. Don’t use one hand, use both. That way they’d have a harder time figuring out which pocket she kept them in. She’d like no one sticking their grubby finger nubs in her pockets thank you very much. Uncolored eyes narrowed at a few of the trolls that passed. The running of the lowbloods. At the least there wasn’t any trollcops running behind them of some half crazed high blood. No, they were just moving in a pack, meaning the shops were likely moving in the area. Taking mental note which direction they came Atiqua found self quickly the victim of something else.

An assault of apologies from some lowblood she’d never seen in her life before. Well, she dressed in a lowblood’s color, so, eh, it was better than nothing to go off of. Sometimes the highers liked to mask themselves in the area to avoid the shame of being cheap. Or avante garde. Really, it wasn’t but like she was about to judge a blue. Not in public anyway. “If you meant to hurt me, you did a poor job of it. Besides, attacking in public? I’d give you some credits for guts, even if they’d be across the pavement shortly after.” She smirked, hands dug back into her pockets.

The girl looked like a right sucker. A sucker of the caste system, and no doubt- “So what? You running with a shop? Looking to get a deal? Or scouting for some other shop.” She paused looking at the store they were in front of. “I’d give it four of five. They tend to mark stuff up when they do sales rather than down. A good scam if you know, it wasn’t obvious.”  

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Vremea waited, but all she heard was an acusation of trying to rob her from her beetles. She first stared at the other troll confusedly, then blinked— "I wasn't trying to attack you, I give you my word— The sudden influx of trolls pushed me into you." She clutched on to the strap on her bag and rubbed the strap with her finger in an anxious matter. What did this girl mean, running with a shop? She looked up at the shop they were in front of, then looked back at the teal blood in slight surprise. It seemed she was very knowledgable about the shops in this area. Vremea looked back up to the shop in slight awe. "Neither... I had been looking for this material based shop, to be honest. I just cannot seem to find it...!" Vremea looked around, peeking at the signs of every shop and wrinkling her eyebrows in distress. "I've been looking for a few minutes and I haven't found anything even remotely similar to the shop I've been looking for." She pursed her lips and continued her search, stepping up on her tiptoes to see if she could find it.

Nope. Vremea sighed in defeat. She blinked at the girl and looked her over, this time more throughly— wow, her clothes were just adorable! She adored the vest, and the puffy sleeves were a perfect touch. Although she didn't feel comfortable around her due to her caste, she felt slightly relaxed at the fact that she also liked to wear nice clothes, although hers were somewhat old from past use. "Excuse my being rude, highblood, but... you seem to know a lot of this area." Vremea wanted to see if she had seen any type of material shop around here. She was absolutely sure she had gone the correct way!

iStoleYurVamps

sorry I took so long!

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

‘A likely story’ was what Atiqua wanted to say but the fact was that it was actually a pretty legit statement really. Trolls got pushy, what were kids like them supposed to do? Just get trampled? No because that was one, painful, and two, kind of deadly if the older more higher bloods saw you all prone on the ground getting squashed. You might go squish in that event.

“Material shop huh?” A customer for another shop could mean a customer for her. Stealing customers was easier than stealing beetles or stuff. Not that she knew about that. Nope, her stuff was legit. Legit as mindhoney pie but yeah. It was… she’d just sell it. Not like she’d suffer if someone didn’t bother to check out their sources.

“Sounds legit. But don’t think you’ll find a good shop over in this part of town. Nah, you’re better suited to some of the other shops. Same quality materials, lower price.” She grinned, thinking to the small place she had set up not far off. Maybe she could sell a few things herself. “And yeah, of course I know it. Have to when you’re in the business. Speaking of….” Unfilled eyes looked the lowblood up and down.

“You look pretty good for one on the low rungs. For that, I’ll give you an extra discount. So what ya say? Wanna shop and not pay out the rump?”

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Ahhhh delay on my end as well q-q sorry! Belated merry Xmas and happy new year <3

 

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"Lower... price?" The yellow bowed girl asked curiously, fiddling with a few stray strands of hair and pursing her lips. Same exact thing, just lower price? Was that even possible? Was she sure it was made with 100% real things, like sheep-beast fluff, or, or, moo-beast skin? It had to be good materials, she didn't want to waste her money for a fraud.

Vremea eyed the girl suspiciously. It was possible they were good materials— actually, she might have been wearing those materials at that moment. She eyed the outfit again, looking for any fault she might've found in it, maybe she wore the materials as well?

But no. They looked nicely made. Vremea looked around hesitantly. She still felt kinda scared about this, going off with a random troll she did not know... But as she knew her way around, maybe she could trust her judgement? And either way, maybe she could accompany her to help her find the other shop? She could try to persuade her, after she took a look at the supplies...

"Alright. Which way?"

iStoleYurVamps

sorry I didn't reply till now u vu

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

The grin that swept over Atiqua's face said a lot about her in some ways. More than happy to help, provided that she would benefit from helping. Freebies are nearly nonexistent from the teal blood. Not without the promise of her own freebies in return. But then that negated the whole free point. Fair trade and all. Or almost fair trade but not really, close enough.

"Lower price and on par with the name brand stuff. Just follow me, and we'll get you all hooked up." Hands in her hips, Atiqua strut her way down the street, taking a few turns down the occasional alley and stopping to make sure her possible customer slash companion was still following. The glaces from some of the scrap kids and the dealing adults was paid no mind by the young troll who was perfectly in her element.

The walk came to a halt in front of what looked like a run down shoe shop. "It's a front." She explained. "The good are inside. They actually might have some new stock in..."

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The yellowblood stayed a few feet away from the girl, keeping sight of the confident tealblood, trying to walk with the proud girl but instead being left behind, only finding her from the times she stopped to wait for her. Her hand stayed in her satchel, keeping any prying hands away by slapping them away and glaring at the thieves with a piercing gaze. "Why is this shop so deep in the area...?" Vremea asked, a nervous expression sliding onto her face the deeper they went. Following this girl was just making her become even more lost than she was. She was so nervous, anyone could literally see her paranoia rise. Her hands were fidgety, her eyes were searching all over the place, her body was visibly shaking... She felt like a fluffbeast surrounded by hundreds of rabid wolfbeasts, waiting for her to let her guard down.

Well, she wasn't going to!

The well-dressed troll ran toward the teal girl, her only 'savior' in this pit of, well, danger. She didn't feel wanted here, she didn't feel like she belonged. She tried not to act too clingy, but it was getting hard...

She felt pathetic. Relying on someone so much. Vremea stood up straighter, trying to appear more dignified.

Finally, they arrived. The shabby shop looked like a place where they'd jump her as soon as she stepped into the place. She hesitated when she saw it, tempted to ask her to take back. But she could at least take a look at what was there...? That way her journey wouldn't be in vain.

Wait a second. She didn't even know this trolls name, for Gods sake! And vice versa! "Um, uh, I could not help but realize I never asked for your name. My name is Vremea Everai. And yours?" Wow, what a way to introduce yourself.

iStoleYurVamps

WOW SORRY I TOOK SO LONG AHGKAL: ;;;

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

Atiqua giggles, trying to muffle it behind her hand and failing. "The good shops gotta keep it on the down low. I mean, if you just blasted the news everywhere, people would swarm and then you'd run out of goods." It made little sense, but the teal didn't care. So long as it all worked out.

"And it's Atiqua Cifica! Nice to meet you Vremea. Now step into thei- er, my store store." It was totally her store. Granted she was just tolerated setting up shop in part of the larger shop, but hey, a teal kid that brought it some business was better than none at all.

The shop itself was rather clean, various materials and repaired items lining shelves. Some shelves lines with what appeared to be brand new designer goods.

"So what do you want exactly Vremea?"

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It happens!~

 

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The yellowblood sniffled a bit, fighting away the itch to sneeze. The girl did have a point, albeit a weak one. But she couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious... She would have at least heard from someone about this place! There weren't many material selling shops in Alternia to her knowledge. Vremea exhaled, pursing her lips in slight suspicion.

"Atiqua? It is a nice name," Vremea said, turning her head to look at where the tealblood led her to. Looking at all the trinkets and very well designed items on the shelves, Vremea's mouth scrunched up slightly. "And where did you get these items? Surely you could not have made them, or found them. There are too many." Thankfully she knew how to control herself— if she didn't, she would start buying little trinkets and adorable things, even though she knew she didn't need them. On closer inspection...Were those... The materials!! Vremea tried to keep calm, but when she was asked what it was she wanted, she made a beeline toward them. "I... These!" She touched the cloth to check if it was durable. Unfortunately, she didn't have Yakmom here to help, but she could try and do it herself.

One of the materials was supposed to be soft to the touch, but felt just a bit rigid, as if it wasn't smoothed out enough. Then another felt fluffy soft, a bit too fluffy soft, like the fluff was going to fall off. The teen-turned-kid reached out to two other different materials, each having a different texture than their actual form. Hesitation creeped through her skin. She wasn't going to voice her concerns, because if she did and this was a scam, the girl would just assure her she was imagining it and she knew she definitely was not!

"Um, I am just going to buy one material today, and it is this one." She said, showing her the fabric— one similar to the one used in the dress she wore when she was older. "How much does it cost per yard?" Vremea asked, a quizzical look on her face.

iStoleYurVamps

it seems all my ooc messages are apologies for how long I've taken!! unfortunately, here's another. I'm so so soo sorry!!
summer has been a bit too... horrible. i haven't been feeling too good. sorry I hadn't replied until now!

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

Atiqua was nervous. Very nervous. She was so close to a sale she could nearly taste it. Though, licking a potential customer wasn't probably a very smart move, granted.

"I have my sources." She replied, running her hands over one sham that had a bit of a run in the thread and whoops just hide that under a fold yes nothing to notice just casually making sure her wears looked good thanks.

Vremea was inspecting, Atiqua was hoping that yes, she'd get beetles. Money money money- So close, yet so far. "That's fine." One was better than none after all. Anything would bring in the beetles was fine by her.

Pulling down the fabric pin, Atiqua checked the price she'd set on it.

".....a beetle a yard. I got a steal on it." Quite literally at that. "So it's not a bad deal on my end." Going from free to a profit. "Good for you?"

Yeah yeah come on so close.

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"I have my sources."

The young yellowblood narrowed her eyes suspiciously at that, but sighed. Really, at the rate she was going, the young troll wasn't going to leave the shop without buying something-- after asking and coming into the shop, leaving empty handed would be extremely rude. And also liable for her to get culled on the way out due to her blood color. Vremea eyed the material again, then touched it again, huffing. I guess one beetle is not too bad... Eyeing the girl's quick fingers, Vremea pursed her lips again. "Okay. Could I please get 4 yards of this? It equals to 4 beetles." It was way cheaper than in the other store-- maybe Athene could work with it...? She honestly didn't know.

Oof, she really needed to learn to sew properly. Eyeing Atiqua expectantly, the female opened her bag, digging around for the beetles and pulling them out, holding them tight in the palm of her hand.

iStoleYurVamps

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

A steal from swill- okay not swill at all or even close but still Atiqua knew every beetle mattered and it all added up at the end of the day. It was just going to come from an unlikely source.

"4 yards?" She moved fast, going over to a table, shoving a few things off before rolling it out, carefully laying it flat and lining it up with the ruler that had been taped of all things to the table. "Easy as slime pie. Now let's just measure one more time-" She might be offering knockoffs, but hey, trolls would get what they paid for!
Measured twice, cut once, the material was folded neatly and placed into a bag.
Which was shoved into Vremea's hands as quickly as possible with beetles grabbed in exchange.

"Deal's a deal!" She nodded. "Good doing business with ya!" Now to just scoot the lowblood out and go scout out another 'customer'.

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