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There really was no job more suitable for Charys Murphy than video store jockey -- well, that wasn't quite true. There was no job more suitable for Charys Murphy than unemployment. Charys moved only the amount required not to get bedsores; she was not cut out for retail or heavy lifting. She did not have the dogged concentration required to deliver mail. She could not deliver Service With A Smile.

But at Video Buster -- that was fine. On weekday afternoons hardly anyone came to get videos, so you could bust out whatever vid you wanted and watch it at the desk; Charys made sure to do this assiduously. She had already been through every single Barbie film. She sat there chewing gum and flicking through the shiny jewel-bright cases of DVDs, leaning back in her chair with her legs up on the counter, unimpeachable and bulletproof (she knew that the manager was having an affair with the other DVD pusher: her paycheck was secure).

It was a fine, summery afternoon. Her homework was undone, waiting in her knapsack. She barely noticed when the beeper for the door rang: she was too busy being ensconced in All Dogs Go To Heaven for the ninety billionth time.

But something about the entrant intrigued her; something nagging at the back of her mind. She followed the inky-dark head with its heavy bun of black hair and the very white, white-burning skin, and nonchalantly stuck her hands in her pockets (she'd tied her Video Buster shirt in a knot just below her bustline; the things were tragically unsexy otherwise). The girl was a junior; Charys wasn't the type to pay attention to juniors, but it was hard when this particular one was tragically pale, crimson-eyed and ebon-haired as any vampire wannabe could hope to be. A black choker encircled the slim throat. Couldn't remember the name for the life of her, natch -- again, she was a senior: what knowledge she knew was restricted to the current cost of a Coke from the machine (a dollar twenty).

She leant against the rack of DVDs when she saw the section the girl was browsing, and popped her gum once for emphasis. "We just got in Bloodtorture III," she said. "If you were looking for something kinda psychological."

"Okay. Well." The gum was popped again. "Obviously you know your stuff. I was bullshitting. It's about as psychological as watching paint dry. Howeever." She switched lounging positions. "If you like a bunch of pretty honestly good scare moments, and I do, it's seriously not bad. It's not a complete slasher. I mean, I'm not that hot for the gorn."

Charys started shifting through the DVDs. "You were probably talking to Kylie," she said. "Kylie kind of wouldn't know horror if it bit her in the a**. Sorry. So. Lemme make you a rec."

She pulled out a DVD and handed it to the pretty dark-haired girl. "'Sweet Home'. Japanese. 1980s. Juzo Itami? This will rock you. No kidding. I only pull this one out if I..." She leant forward dangled it in front of Ume's face. "... think you can take it."

She paused. She was close enough to smell the younger girl's lip gloss. "Sorry," she said, not moving. "I'm being kind of lez at you, I'm going through a phase. Hi."

"You're pretty perky for someone who's... completely grade-A baby bat goth," said Charys.

She took her hand and held it, not shaking it; she instead squeezed her fingers before dropping them. "Yeah, definitely kind of gay. 'Sup. Murphy -- Charys Murphy. Call me... Charys Murphy. Damn, I'm slick."

Charys leant back. "Juzo Itami did heaps of stuff -- you ever heard of Tampopo? Tampopo is ********' hilarious -- lemme know when you want it, it's R-18 but I'll just pretend you're twenty-one if you don't squeal."

She was cute. She really was cute. Unfortunately, she wasn't Sidra, and Charys was starting to learn that her world was revolving around her being a grade-A ***** for Sidra Winters. There had once been a time where she had not been a *****, and definitely not a ***** for Sid Winters. "Hit me, Ume," she said. She kind of drawled out the name -- Ooh-me -- a little laughingly. "If I haven't seen it, I'll make your DVD on the house, okay?"

"Damn," said Charys. "Okay. You win. Free DVD."

Gothic lolita. Like the 'Lolita' part hadn't had to be hammered into her psyche. Here was Ume looking like she'd just walked off the shelf of a creepy anime nerd's black lace dating simulator, and Sid -- well, Sid always had her hair up in those long damn pigtails, it made her feel like the police were about to come any moment and take her away to pokey.

"Wow, your hair must be a**-length," she said, apopos of nothing, and worked another piece of gum out to pop into her mouth -- she offered the packet to Ume. "So. Gothic lolita. You... watch horror movies and wear tiny skirts? It's not just hanging around in a sewer wearing a swishy cape and reading vampire books?"

Charys had already lifted the Sweet Home DVD and taken it back to the counter, idly swiping it through her own card to get the freebie bonus. She twiddled one of the earrings at her ear as it went through, apparently a habit.

"Me," she said. "What do I like. Giving people free DVD rentals, apparently. Wow, they should put me in line for sainthood." The DVD made a little ding! as she cleared it with the scanner. "I like movies. I like Tuesdays." It was pretty obvious she was just rattling off whatever was closest to hand, it being a Tuesday and her being surrounded by films. "I like... Hey. Ume. What year are you in?"

This was a divergence.

"You know Sidra Winters? Small, likes shoeing orphans. Brown hair." (Like that helped.)

"Yep, ought to be," said Charys unconcernedly. "Same age as you, I guess. Might not be quite your style. You being -- gothique lo-li-ta -- she being, cardigans and Youthline."

There was a strange, faint smile on Charys' face though, as though cardigans and Youthline weren't that out of the question. But then she popped another piece of gum into her mouth. Charys always smelled strongly of Juicy Fruit. The DVD was slid over in Ume's direction, where Charys' fingertips met her own through her fingerless little lace gloves. "Do you always flirt with video store clerks, or is it just part of the gothic lolita mystique?"

She added freely, "Gotta answer, no takebacks."

At this, Charys finally laughed; leant forward with her elbows on the counter, waving a little idly at Ume as she backed away with the DVD and started heading towards the exit. "Yep," she said. "Premonition. Come into the senior lounge sometime, I'll be there. -- Have fun with the flick. You'll be back."

Sidra would probably wrinkle up her nose and disapprove of Ume. She could feel it in her bones. They shared a wink, Charys waved again, and gave another one of the lazy little finger waves. Then Ume was gone.

Oh, well. If she was going to be all crazy lesbian at least she could be pretty pimp about it.