Welcome to Gaia! ::

His shoulders tense when she announces something he hadn't asked for -- but had, no doubt, hoped for nonetheless. I cannot break a bond like what you now possess. A chill passes through him, and the very air in his lungs seems to freeze solid, preventing him from either moving or breathing, and for the length of a breath there is something dangerous in the air again ..

.. but once more the cloud over him passes quickly, and he slowly unclenches his fists as she speaks. The faint humming that he's not sure whether he hears or imagines bothers him, and watching Anna create .. activate .. prepare? .. the charms makes the whole process no better on him. Inch by inch, his shoulders tense again, and it's only when she presents him with the bracelet that she has an unexpected bit of good luck.

Instead of flinching or shouting, a snort of surprised laughter escapes him, for no doubt he finds the look of the bracelet with its dangling charms rather silly. On top of that, for it to be worn by someone like him! He's going to have to start wearing long, heavy sleeves just to hide it! "Really? Please tell me I only wear it at night. I'll look a twit." But he is desperate enough -- even in his moment of humor -- to hold out his hand to hers.

Best not to tell him that last, though. Young as Unwanted is, it's unlikely the Guardian fawn has any scale for what constitutes a proper emergency, and would probably put the same amount of urgency into his need for the firefly outside his window as for a wolf breaking down the door to the flat. But Last seems impressed by Anna's description, turning his wrist this way and that to look at the funny thing, apparently relieved at the thought that he will finally be able to sleep. He is about to open his mouth to respond to her --

-- when the door bangs open suddenly, so hard that it will bounce off the wall, and someone comes careening into the shop, skidding to a stop at the last moment. Now Anna may find herself truly puzzled, for this second young man looks so much like the one seated across from her that it seems one of his mirrored reflections has stepped into the real world after him. He wears the same clothing, he's the same height, his hair is cut the same, and he even has the same still-healing cut scabbed over on his forehead, going from one eyebrow at a slanted angle up into his tousled hair.

Like his twin, his face is flushed and his eyes are bright, and he only has eyes for Last; there is a maddened energy hanging about him, a tension of a different sort than the nervous fright that had brought Last to her shop.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The words are an angry shout, loud enough to be heard at least one shop to either side, and First stands with his fists clenched, glaring at his brother.

There's a sharp, painful tension in the air, as if any moment the mirror images are going to start fighting each other, with little care for what happens to Anna or her shop, caught in the midst of it -- but then there is Bastian, brave, faithful, furious Bastian, and his angry hiss startles both boys. The twins jolt violently in surprise, and the one that'd come to Anna for help nearly falls off the stool he had been perched on; the new young man steps back, almost into a display. There is between them both a moment of frozen silence, in which Anna's voice can be heard with perfect ease, and she will find herself the center of attention for one uncomfortable moment --

But neither makes a move toward her, neither man strikes out, and finally with a shudder, the one with Anna's bracelet now on his wrist speaks up. Not to Anna, at least not initially. Better to keep him from going on a tear before answering to her curiosity. "I ain't here for what you think, okay? I just wanted something to help me sleep, and anyway I didn't even ask and she said she couldn't do it. So don't go frighting little girls, all right? We don't need to give Raj no more cause to box our ears." His words are sharp and fierce, though softer than his brother's shouts, and from the doorway First is overtaken by a chill: he shivers, then with that seems to slowly relax.

Turning, the new Fred looks directly at Anna and bows deeply. "I'm sorry, pretty lady. I shouldn't've shouted. Me brother here, he's short've wits sometimes, and I thought he'd gone and forgotten a promise he made. Y'see, he went and left something at home, and it worried me." He digs into his pocket, and produces a little wooden totem, far prettier than she might expect for such an angry young man: cream and dark red, with a pretty little speckled pattern.

The two young men share a silent look at her question, and the Fred with the bracelet gives an imperceptible nod. So the new Fred steps forward, holding out the little trinket, and Anna may notice something strange about it, indeed -- the fact that it is nothing more than a little piece of hardwood. Literally just a piece of hardwood. This is not a totem, and never was, but has been cleverly carved and painted to look exactly like one, so that only someone with a sense for magic would be able to tell the difference.

This new Fred will smile the moment he sees something in her expression that suggests she is confused, or has guessed; his hands dip back into his pockets, and come up this time with a full handful of the trinkets, each of them just the same as the others. "Been wanting to test this. I can tell which one it is. Can you?"

"Yeah," the Fred with the bracelet sounds even more embarrassed now, rubbing the back of his neck with a little rattle from the bracelet. "This has been hell as it is, I don't want the damn thing stolen." But their eyes and their attention are on Anna now, for they want -- need! -- to know whether this little ruse will work on a hedgewitch. Can she feel magic enough to be able to tell the difference between the carved pieces of wood and the real totem?

They breathe out slowly, at almost exactly the same time, when she points out that the first one isn't real. Yes. They'd suspected something of the sort, but aren't sure if they're relieved or disappointed. On one hand, it means that the totem is special in a way that others can also sense. On the other hand, it means that the fact that First being able to tell the totem apart is just a hedge-witch thing, and not peculiar to the both of them. And although First is not nearly as twitchy as his twinsib, when Bastian comes along and knocks the trinkets to the floor, the new Fred yelps and jumps back, making a belated grab for the totem at the last moment. When it becomes plain that Bastian is only trying to show off his own knowledge, First's cheeks redden -- all the more so when Last braves the grimalkin's cruel stare and inches close enough to snatch the proper totem back.

" .. bloody hell," Last murmurs, a touch uneasily. "We weren't asking you, now were we? We know you're damn well uncanny, no need to go provin' it." These words are directed not at Anna but at Bastian, fully as if he expects the feline to understand every word. He is, however, quick to move back out of reach before Bastian can take exception to those words.

"Huh," says First meanwhile, looking at Anna instead. "It's not a tingle so much for me. It just feels heavier, like there's something really big on the inside. I can pick it out same as he can, and it's his trinket." His voice is a touch distracted, as if he is trying to recall just how it feels -- there is some wistful longing there -- and Anna cannot know that these words are important ones where the Freds are concerned. First may not mean it that way, but it's just about the first that he's willingly admitted to being a hedge-witch himself.

Last keeps well back, no matter that Anna has put Bastian up on the counter; it's plain that he still doesn't trust the 'uncanny beast' any more than Bastian much likes him. Bloody grimalkins! He ain't ever met one wasn't all made of deviltry! He rubs at his arms as he watches Bastian warily, remembering the last grimalkin he'd met -- far as he could tell, that feline had been made out of hate, fury, and a thousand little needles, everywhere.

This means it is First who crouches down to scoop up the scattered non-totem trinkets, and it is maybe because he is crouching down in front of Anna that he can answer her with something like honesty. He doesn't meet her gaze at first, and the tops of his ears have gone pink with uneasiness and embarrassment, but this is the closest he's come to actually speaking of it since Unwelcome first flew into his life.

" .. don't feel like I can feel any magic." His voice is lower than it was before, as if this is some kind of secret. "I just know it. I knew which one he was going to take before he'd even took it off'n the tree. Two've us, we've always just known things 'bout each other." He licks his lips, glancing up at her with a rueful grin, ready to explain away this strangeness -- this innate knowledge -- as simple brotherhood. Which it may and may not be. If he just knows, maybe that's the power he has, and his brother's simply the one he knows the most about because they've always been together.

"Don't 'spect we'll ever know," Last mutters, rubbing the back of his head. He's still keeping a wary eye on the grimalkin, but he seems to have unbent just a little know that he's off a ways. All this talk of hedge witchery's just plain making him uneasy.

First isn't any more comfortable with it, but he does seem just a touch steadier than his twinsib, offering Anna a little shrug. "If there's any answer to be found and we come across it, I'll tell you -- for now .. well, me brother's got to pay you for his little charm bracelet, and then how's about he fetches you lunch from a nice cookshop to make up for the fright he's given you?" As much as this sounds like an offer and a light-hearted suggestion, First isn't looking directly at Anna as he makes the offer. He's looking at his brother with narrowed eyes, and when Last opens his mouth to protest, First cuts it off by elbowing him hard in the side.

Last's breathe escapes in a whuff! and he glares at his twin .. and then, finally, nods. From the way that First had earlier burst in, Last had run off unexpectedly to be here in the first place, and this isn't so much his apology to Anna as penance to First for giving him such a bad scare! Sighing, Last fishes out his coinpurse to offer Anna the required coin for his little bracelet of spell-charms.

Neither young man seems to feel the way she does about hedge-witch powers: the pair of them look like they'd be just as happy if they'd never encountered such a thing, and would just as soon know as little as possible about the mystical world in general. It's easier for them to concentrate on the matter of payment as well as First's offer. Last will stand as far away from Bastian as he can while still within an arm's reach to be able to hand Anna the proper coinage; he counts each coin very carefully into his palm before he offers them to her across the counter.

Meanwhile, Anna's astonished reaction is met with amusement by First, who smiles broadly at her and gives her an encouraging wink. "Oh, I'm sure that it is what he wants, isn't it?" His voice drops by an octave and gains a sharp edge as he directs his final words to his brother and Last winces obligingly.

"Aye," sighs Last, who wants no such thing, but knows he'll be read the riot act from his brother if he doesn't comply. "It's the least I can do." Tucking his coin purse back into his shirt, he'll trot obligingly toward the door: at least this will get him away from the damned witch-cat!