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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:26 pm
For what felt like the first time in a long while, the shop was having a relatively slow day, and for that Cassandra was grateful. No keeping track of pesky customers, asking too many questions and damaging the poor sprites; no chasing off miscreants, little brats trying to steal them or, worse, break them. Just peace and quiet, the polar bear sitting all to herself with a magazine and for her precious little charges. With no one there, they were all fairly docile, flitting about the shop and twittering quietly to each other. Every so often her eyes would flick up to check the front door, but as the day went on she stopped. She'd hear them if they came in. If they came in. ...god, she hoped no customers came in today.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:30 pm
Sadly for her, a customer DID come in. He was cute, and pink and had been given some pocket money by his Mommy and that meant going to buy things! Cute things! Because if there was anything the Mew child loved, it was cute things.
Poking his head into the store, Cassiday stared around in awe and wonder. "Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow! There's so MANY, mew!" he said softly, the tot walking in and staring around at all the little plush looking things floating around, flicking his tail as he did.
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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:51 pm
Oh, son of a biscuit. Cassandra sighed quietly to herself as the doorbell rang and slipped her magazine underneath the checkout counter. Despite her less-than-cheery mood, she was sure to greet the young pink thing with a smile; good business, after all. "Hello there. Welcome to the store." With a noticeable effort the large Senka slipped down from her stool and began accompanying the customer, large brown eyes watching him carefully.
"Now, anything you came in to see? I mean, anything specific?" One big hand opened for a passing sprite to land on, and it nuzzled her tenderly. "I hope you're not looking for a fairweather companion." Cassandra looked critically over the pink boy. "If you're not ready for the responsibility, you should probably go to a different store. Get a puppy or something." As welcoming as she was when the boy came in, her natural blunt manner of speech was getting the better of her. She couldn't help but be protective of the little creatures. Even if it cost her money.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:53 pm
"Puppies, mew?" his eyes widened suddenly at the little fluttery thing and Cassiday looked around the room with sudden awe before bouncing up a bit to look at them even more now.
"What aaaaaare they, mew? They're cuuuuute, mew!"
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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:13 pm
Cassandra sighed and rubbed her forehead, not angry as much as exasperated. Why did no one read the sign? It clearly said: 'Sprites: Companions for Eilians.' Had the whole society just forgotten what that meant? Probably. Sighing once again, she turned towards the pink thing, wincing at its irritating way of speaking.
"No. These aren't puppies. They're more like..." She cradled the spawn in her hand, stroking its head tenderly. "What I really sell here are sprites: small companions that can bond to your Eilian children and keep you company for life. Somewhere in here there is one that will link up with your energy, your soul, and follow you around forever." She released the sprite gently, then turned back to face the pink boy. "You can look around as long as you wish; the one that links with you will find you on its own. You'll be drawn to one another." She gestured vaguely around the chaotic shop, then locked her brown eyes with the massive blue ones. "You understand, kiddo?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:18 pm
Cassiday stared at her, with wides eyes before nodding emphaticly and looking around the shop at them. "Can I pick 'em up and play, mew?" he asked finally, grinning. "Or doessit pick if I touchit, mew?" Seemed a reasonable question to him, right? Why not go around and hug some till he found one that he liked best?
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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:25 pm
Cassandra hesitated before replying, assessing how much the bubblegum boy had actually heard. Eventually she gave in, sighing once more and gesturing around the shop. "As long as you're gentle, they should be fine. You can touch them as much as you like, though that won't affect anything. When you find the one for you, it'll be obvious, and you'll be their tie-in no matter what. Easy stuff, really."
She smiled weakly, then began to trudge her way back to the counter. "If you have any questions, come and ask me in the back. Once you find the one you want, come back here and I'll check you out. Once again, be careful." With that she delved back into her magazine, content to let the boy choose for himself.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 11:53 pm
Cassiday perused the shop, petting each of the sprites he passed that he could reach, even ones he didn't pick up to huggle. They were all very cute and nice but he wasn't really sure which to pick. They were of every shape and size and he gave lots of snuggles before eventually wandering to a back corner and finding one that stuck out to him.
It was a dark and somewhat cobwebby corner. It looked like it had been dusted recently but was still a bit messy just the same, this being an odd shopspace and having a few critters that sometimes popped in that weren't sprites. Hiding in this corner, as if it had fallen off a shelf (but probably hadn't, given it was alive), was what looked like a white skeleton plushie. It was thin and a gray-white, with thick cheekbones packed with "stuffing", and dark empty for the inside of the eyes. These eyes had small red irises in them, adding to the 'creepy' factor in some cases. However, that and the black silky 'hood' it seemed to have on like a bag, immediately attracted the pink boy.
It reminded him of his sister Henrietta, who hadn't always been the most comfy with people, especially while her siblings were around, as they were both colorful and she was plain, black and white, Since finding a weird potion and gaining her wings, Henri was much more comfy going places with Daria now. However, that still reminded Cassi of her, and made him immediately take a shine to this somewhat scary and cute little plush in the corner.
"Heeeeeeeey, mew." he whispered to it, nuzzling his pink nose to the white front of the face, "You don't gotta hide. I's gonna take you home, k, mew?" he half purred a bit as he spoke to it.
He then bounced up towards the front and held the skull out in front of the polar bear lady. "K. I found one I like, mew. How muchie, mew?"
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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:22 am
Even if she gave off the impression that she was ignoring her young customer, Cassandra was definitely keeping tabs on the bubblegum boy. Out of all the kids that came inside, she suspected him much less than normal, but one never knew. The cute ones could trick you sometimes.
When he returned, a surprisingly warm smile lit up Cassandra's face, the first real one she'd shown the customer all day. She was happy to see that little spriteling go, it had sat in that dark corner for so long. Hopefully this little ray of sunshine could help it be more confident. Looking over the plush, she thought momentarily and then pushed a few buttons on the register. "That'll be... fifteen dollars, please." Once the payment was received, she gestured for the sprite, speaking kindly to it. "This boy is your Tie-in, little one. Be a good friend to him, and help him all you can." That maternal smile appeared again, and she kissed her finger before touching the sprite's head with it.
"Now, you won't need to feed him anything, although he'll probably take a liking to one food just for the taste of it. Don't leave him alone or put him in a cage; the stress of being away from you won't be good for him. Any other questions?" she said finally to the boy.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:30 am
"My sisters are el'yans. They can pick sprities too, right, mew?" he asked, once the lady was done ringing him up and she asked him about questions. It'd been so hard for the tot to hold that one in!
About this time, Henrietta and Daria were wandering by, looking for where their brother might be. It was just a precaution to keep him out of trouble, not really worried about other stuff since Minx was nearby and keeping an eye on her youngest. She'd seen the sign on the shop and knew it was something for Elians - people like her children - and had already gotten a feeling that it was safe for her little one to go into and look around. The girls, meanwhile, still worried he might cause trouble in places, particularly places with cute things.
The door opened and the round stomached bear girl entered, her sleepy looking sister trailing behind her, slithering in time so she moved at just the right rate as Henrietta's butterfly wings and didn't bump into them. The panda was surprised to see the woman in charge NOT angry, and her brother buying a plushiething and asking about them.
"What's this about us getting things, Cass?" she asked, walking over and raising an eyebrow at her brother, arms crossed over her chest. She didn't seem ANGRY, just confused.
Daria, meanwhile, smiled that lazy smile of her's at Cassandra and her head lilted to the side. "There are very lovely critters. Do they cost much?" something about just how she stood and spoke of them, showed she knew they were more than just little floating toys or critters. The child may not have any magic in that sense, but she could read the sign and she could at least guess if her brother was attaching to just one critter, and one like that, there was something special about this place.
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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 2:01 am
Cassandra couldn't help a slight smirk at the boy's question. Once again, couldn't anyone read anymore? 'Sprites: Companions for Eilians.' Not 'Companions for Beztalel' or 'for Senka' or 'for only Big Cat Eilians'; 'for Eilians'. But then again, the kid was young, so maybe he couldn't read all that well yet. "Of course. As long as they're will-"
The polar bear was interrupted by the appearance of two young Senka, apparently his older sisters. The large butterfly wings on the panda reminded Cassandra of one of her own spritelings, and a small smile appeared at the thought. Her brow wrinkled at somehow being addressed by the girl, but there was always the possibility of the boy being called that - she hadn't caught his name - so she kept her mouth on that issue shut. Instead she replied to the quieter girl's question.
"No, they don't. In fact, they really shouldn't cost anything at all; I merely charge a fee to help keep this store open." This was said with a noticeable bitterness, but Cassandra quickly moved past it. "If you two would like one, feel free to look around. One of them will choose you, and just like with your brother here, they will bond to you for the rest of your lives."
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 2:07 am
The panda girl turned to the woman, "Cassiday wasn't bothering your store critters though, right ma'am?" she asked quickly, patting her brother's head some as he tenderly hugged and cradled the sprite he'd just bought. "He's small so he doesn't get that he's too energetic for some stuff."
Daria smiled sleepily and nodded, before turning and slithering towards the main part of the store, taking hold of Henrietta's arm and just lightly tugging and slithering that way, her sister being dragged though there was seemingly no strength in the touch.
Henrietta made a face a bit at Daria but looked around at the sprites. There was a table in the middle where one had sat down almost as if to rest, but it was more just laying back and looking lazily up at her. It was dark red and round and Henrietta nodded at it, leaning down to look at the creature. "Yeah, I know, right?" she said getting the whole 'damn people are energetic' thing all too well. Even her sleepy sister was full of energy! The sprite, it seemed, decided this was enough for it and fluttered over to take it's new resting spot on Henrietta's head as she straightened up. The girl shrugged and headed for the front.
Daria was slithering back too, already cradling a pale one in her arms with blue hair and very little on. "This one." is all she said as she held it out.
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fallingUPstairs__x x Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 2:51 am
Cassandra wrinkled her nose at hearing the boy's - Cassiday's - name, torn between amusement and some strange dissatisfaction. She shook her head, making a dismissive gesture. "No, he was very polite." A smile was given to Cassiday; given how young he was, his self-control was very impressive.
She leaned against the counter as the two young girls perused the shop, apparently now set on getting two sprites of their own. Not that Cassandra had a problem with that; the more spritelings that found their Tie-in, the better. When they returned, she nodded sagely at their decisions, or rather, the decisions of both sprite and Eilian. "That'll be fifteen dollars each, please. Thank you very much." She gave the two sprites the same farewell she had given Cassiday's, then smirked lightly at the three of them. "Now, unless you have any other siblings hiding out there, I'll say good day to you both. Take of each other now, all of you."
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