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 Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:22 am
who | Cruz, Anita, Lorenzo, and Vesna.
when | Early evening, just around dinnertime.
where | The Game Depot in the Gambino mall, Isle de Gambino
weather | A clear, cool-ish summer evening.
__________________
Lorenzo looked around the Gambino mall with the general bafflement of a man who had never had cause not to rely on internet shopping.
He had been in actual shops before, of course, he wasn't a hermit, but he rarely had cause to enter a mall simply because he had never socialized through shopping before. His undead friends and clients didn't need to pick up much at Macy's, after all. And, when all was said and done, most malls these days were almost as dead as those clients were. But especially in Gambino, it seemed that tourists still loved to look through them. He winced as he was jostled by a man in a colorful Hawaiian shirt, and waved nervously when the man shot him a Look afterward.
"Sorry, sorry," he said defensively, then adjusted his cloak.
"Daaaaad, you're so slow!"
Lorenzo considered this was unfair of Vesna to say. "Yes, well we can't all float above the crowd," he pointed out.
"But we're almost at Game Depot! You said if I came with you to check up on that patient, we'd go to Game Depot to get the new Moon Factory! What if everyone else thought the same thing and somebody's buying the last copy right now?"
"Can't you lease a different moon factory?" asked Lorenzo.
"This one's got the cutest characters." Vesna said, blushing slightly. Changing the subject, she said, "Anyway, let me try something."
"What?"
"If you can't get through the crowd!"
Before Lorenzo could reply again, Vesna had slipped her arms under his and was pulling him into the air. Her limbs weren't particularly strong, but since she ate reflections, she had plenty of energy to spare. Her rune glowed brightly as she expended the energy, but Lorenzo's mind was spinning too much to scold her for it.
After a few moments of strenuous effort, Vesna dropped her guardian unceremoniously in front of Game Depot, the crowd having been successfully navigated. Lorenzo panted, clutching at his chest.
"Let's... Let's not try that again."
"Yeah, you're too tall, it's kind of a hassle," Vesna said unrepentantly, "But it was an emergency." That reminded her of her urgent mission, so, floating over to the counter, she asked, "Do you have any copies left of Moon Factory 4?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:43 pm
Game Depot was not usually packed to bursting and, thankfully for Anita, today was no different. There were a few customers milling about but as she was behind the counter they were being taken care of by the manager unless they specifically directed questions to her. For the most part today, a lot of people had come in to browse but few made purchases -- at least purchases over 15000 gold. That would have sat fine with Anita except that part of the job was to not only sell the games in store but also rake in pre-orders and memberships and the latter was difficult when so many of their customers were returning regulars.
When two unfamiliar faces came in, one floating, Anita's brows lifted into her bangs. She smiled at the frei, a bit distracted by her unique features, and before she could get out the sales pitch a request had been made.
With a short laugh and a glance to the man the raevan came in with, Anita answered. "Hi, welcome. We do, actually, but just a few -- you're in luck."
She couldn't help but smile; Moon Factory wasn't exactly her game fare but Anita knew all too well there was another raevan amongst them that adored the series. Coincidentally, that same raevan should have been on his way back from the food court any minute.
"They're just right over there, in the 3DS section," Anita gestured to a few racks lined along the far wall, all clearly labeled. "Is there anything else I can do for you guys today?" She looked at Lorenzo in particular and, with a shy grin, extended her hand in greeting. "I'm Anita, by the way. I'm involved with the lab, too. It's nice to meet you guys."
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:07 pm
Before Anita could even say she was involved with the Lab, Vesna was already at the 3DS shelf, engrossed in browsing. That left Lorenzo, who was still shocked from being picked up and borne through the air by an extremely determined floating teenager.
"Ah..." he said, dusting himself off. "It's nice to meet you, Anita." holding his hand out to her uncertainly, while keeping an eye on Vesna, he introduced, "I'm Lorenzo Fisch, licensed necromancer, and that girl-shaped blur is my client, Vesna." She was too wrapped up in her games to hear him call her his client, which he was grateful for. He was still uncomfortable calling himself her father, even though she'd asked him to. Questions of client-necromancer relationships aside, he was still only twenty-five, and certainly not ready for even adoptive fatherhood.
"I was also hoping to pick up the first Professor Leighton game," he asked. "I read on cov.en that it can help with cognitive recovery in the recently undead, so--" Pausing, he stopped himself before he got too far into his tangent and smiled weakly. "Do you have it?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:29 am
Anita had to laugh, if only to herself, at how quickly the frei drifted toward the games. A girl after her own young heart, it seemed, when she was awkward about conversations and getting to know others -- then again, this girl had no problems taking charge and dragging her guardian in here.
Her eyes lit amiably at Lorenzo's introduction and she shook his hand with a smile. The wording of 'client' through that smile off a bit, set with a confused quirk of her brows, but she glanced back to Vesna, but Anita nodded and didn't allow her perplexed expression to linger for long, especially in the wake of a game related question. Of course, the more Lorenzo explained the more difficult it was for not to fall back into the same look of polite befuddlement.
"We do. It's a used copy, though, but it's in great condition. If you'd rather have it new, I can order one from another store." There Anita paused and allowed herself to show her curiosity. "Sorry if this is obvious but, um, when you say 'client'--"
"Nita, I got you a drink!" The green haired sigel rounded the corner of the store and drifted toward the counter, two medium cups in hand with covered tops and straws. Just as he realized she was dealing with a customer, Cruz paused in his approach and pressed his lips together tightly, then bowed his head. "Sorry," he offered with a sheepish grin. The croc reached over the counter to hand Anita her drink, which she took with a shake of her head.
"Thanks. Actually-- Cruz, this is Lorenzo. He's with lab, too." She gestured first to him, and then to Cruz. "And this is, ah, my 'client'," Anita gave Lorenzo a hesitant smile as she appropriated his terminology.
At the news, Cruz perked and held his shoulders straight. He smiled easily, grin wide and toothy as he offered the man his hand. "Good to meet you!"kotaline i am so sorry for the delay ;;;
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 10:05 am
"Used is great," Lorenzo affirmed. "I'll take that one too." He paused and clarified, "Too, as in, as well as whatever she's getting." He gestured at Vesna, who appeared to have found her quarry, as well as several other games she was squinting at the descriptions of. Explaining the rest of Anita's half-spoken question, he added, "I'm with Lab 305 on behalf of Vesna's soul, a rusalka who was consulting my family about possible resurrection options. As such, though Vesna has no memory of being a rusalka, and is only dubiously the same client, she is still in my care as a licensed necromancer."
Lorenzo startled when Cruz came in, but smiled and waved feebly at the sigel. "It's nice to meet you too, Cruz." Raising his eyebrow at Anita, he asked, "Client, so do you also have an arrangement with Cruz? Most guardians I've met have seen themselves as parents, I've been hoping that maybe there were more like me that I could discuss with." He cleared his throat and added, "N-not that parenthood isn't a wonderful thing, of course."
At that moment, Vesna floated over the the register, still half examining her finds. "Do you think that the gameplay in this one would be too hard for someone who isn't used to strategy games?" she asked anxiously, holding a used copy of Flame Emblem: Awakening out for inspection. "I've heard good things about it online, but I play, um, other genres more often."
At that moment she took in the surroundings, and dropped her games on the counter, looking back at Cruz.
"This is Cruz, and that's Anita," Lorenzo explained patiently.
Vesna buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god, were you guys trying to get my attention this whole time," she asked.
"Not... too hard." Lorenzo reassured.
"I'm Vesna, it's nice to meet you," Vesna offered to Cruz and Anita, peeking out from between her fingers. "I'm sorry, I got caught up in shopping."
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:15 am
As Anita smiled and set to work on retrieving the used copy of Professor Layton from behind the counter, her head swam at Lorenzo's explanation of resurrection and necromancy. When it came to magic, she had always been passively interested but it seemed far too lofty for someone as mundane as herself and she found it difficult to wrap her mind around it, especially with the man's textbook explanation of his and his 'client's situation.
On the other side of the counter, Cruz was thoroughly undeterred. He smiled pleasantly at the man who chose to wave instead of shake -- the croc recovered quickly and returned it without another thought as he sipped his drink.
"Oh, god no, I'm not a parent," Anita laughed as she turned around, cartridge in hand within a labeled plastic envelope, "but, um, sorry I kind of misused the word. I just meant guardianship in general. We're still family, though. Right?" She smiled at Cruz, her brows raised in plea of support.
"Right!" Cruz beamed.
As Anita was about to apologize to Lorenzo for the used copy he requested lacking a proper case, the frei floated up with games and questions. The green sigel floated just slightly higher in his curiosity, straw between his lips as he soaked in Vesna's appearance and demeanor. Her sudden embarrassment brought a peal of sympathetic laughter from him.
"It's okay," Cruz chuckled -- Anita smiled and nodded in kind, "S'good to meet you, Vesna. I really like your flowers." He gestured to his own hair, rather than reaching out to touch hers.
"And your game choice," Anita said, to smooth the topic back to Vesna's questions without putting too much pressure on her, "That one's probably the best to start with, actually. They put in a new feature that's more forgiving to beginners." She smiled, both at Vesna in hopes of reassuring her and to Lorenzo as a silent promise to return to their previous discussion once they were able, if he was inclined.
Cruz leaned closer to the counter to peek at Vesna's selections. "Oh! Yeah. That's the only reason I've been able to get anywhere," he laughed at himself, "I'm really bad at those games but it's pretty fun so far."
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:32 pm
"Nice to meet you, Cruz!" Vesna beamed, recovering from her embarrassment quickly when it seemed like nobody was too offended. "Thanks! I grew them myself, I think." She wondered if Cruz saw the same flowers Lorenzo described to her when they were testing her powers, but it wasn't a thought that was as interesting as her next thought, which she vocalized immediately:
"You play 3DS??" she gushed. "Do you have your friend code? I made a note in my phone for mine, we should trade! Oh, but I heard this game only has StreetPass options..." She frowned, then looked up at Lorenzo and demanded, "Can I buy it right now?? Then we can StreetPass!!"
"Both of them?" Lorenzo asked incredulously, looking between Flame Emblem and Moon Factory.
"I'll do chores!" Vesna promised. "Or sew up Buddy for the next three months!" She looked back at Cruz and bit her lip, mumbling, "Do you play other games where you can... you know, get married?? Maybe you'd like Moon Factory?? It's really kind of dumb, but it's funny, too!! And I really like the characters so far, I read all their bios on the wiki?? And you get to be royalty in the new one!!" She cleared her throat and said, "I just got my 3DS a little while ago, so that's the only kind of game I've played so far."
"We'll take both of them," Lorenzo relented, handing the games to Anita. "And," he squinted at the cartridge she handed him, "Professor Layton. Splurging every now and then isn't bad, I suppose."
"Wait!" Vesna said, realizing something. "Your mom works at a videogame store?? That's so cool! I bet you've been playing 3DS since forever, right? What's your favorite game? Who are your favorite characters?? Like, out of everything."
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:31 pm
Cruz blinked dumbly as he smiled at Vesna's explanation of her flowers. He didn't get much time to mull the statement over before she grew excited over something else and the mistletoe raevan pushed the thought aside entirely in favor of their next topic, which he met with equally visible delight. "Yeah! I can get it." He hadn't thought to make a note of it on his phone; it was a smart idea, considering he couldn't have his 3DS with him everywhere but carrying the phone at all times was an expectation and a necessity.
While Vesna and Lorenzo worked out their situation, Cruz dug around in his shoulder bag for the system. Behind the counter, Anita couldn't hide her chuckling. It was a good thing there weren't very many customers ready to make their purchases, with only a few still browsing shelves. Cruz plucked his 3DS from the depths of his bag and turned it on just as Vesna returned her attention to him. "Oh! Is that anything like Harvest Rune?" He glanced uncertainly at Anita, "I think it's by the same people?" but he didn't wait for her confirmation before he continued, "I like those kinds a lot but I haven't found too many of 'em. I've been playing a lot of Pokemon but I really like Awakening and Animal Crossing and stuff."
The raevans talked among themselves as Lorenzo set up the purchase. Anita nodded and laughed as she bent down to locate the box for the protected 3DS carts to place into the empty boxes from along the shelves. "Nothing wrong with that."
Vesna's exclamation of "your mom" caught Anita and Cruz both off guard and, disjointedly, they both were sent into different peels of laughter. Anita covered her face with a hand as she tried to hide it and keep professional but Cruz let out such a confused and startled laugh that turned into one of excitement once he realized everything that Vesna was asking him. "That's so many!" he giggled as he navigated to his friend code with his claws rather than the stylus, "But mhm! Nita and I shared one when it first came out but I got my own now." The perks of a seasonal job were really nice. "I dunno!! There's a lot to remember. But um--!" Cruz turned his 3DS around for Vesna to see his friend code and the little Mii-version of himself bopping around happily with a big grin, "This is me!" He was eager to turn the question around and get to know Vesna's interests better, with the muted hope it might make pinpointing his own a little easier, but one thing at a time.
"Looks like somebody made a friend already," Anita noted softly to Lorenzo; she kept her eyes on the cases as she filled them and rang them up but her smile was plain and warm. "I don't suppose you have a member card for this store?" Her genuine smile turned into a slight grimace; she didn't want to mire the good vibes with an unnecessary sales pitch but that was the job.
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