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 Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 6:46 am
Algie felt like he'd won some sort of prize. For the first time after many tries, he'd managed to find Twilight Designs open and judging the the flickers of light in the windows, someone was moving around inside!
It wasn't like he'd tried every day, but the last few times he'd come by the store it had been closed or the worker had been on break. He'd probably been okay to go in, being a bond and everything, but he liked to be polite and impose on anyone.
Bloo also seemed excited and spun around Algie's hand as they approached the shop. It was getting to be winter (though in gaia the weather changed like the flip of a coin) and Algie was able to put on his favorite clothes. He'd bundled up in an argyle sweater with a complimentary scarf, all topped off with a thick black pea coat. His breath wisped out in front of him and Bloo playfully floated through the steam, sending it spiralling and disappearing into the air. The wizard chuckled at his wisp's enthusiasm as he opened the shop door. He was sure that with all this energy his wisp would soon be developing further, but everything in good time.
The shop was lit up just enough and the warmth was pleasing on his exposed face. With a gentle smile he blinked his eyes, enjoying the mood of the store, and called out to anyone who may be there.
"Good Evening!"
Bloo sailed into the depths of the aisles, letting his eyeless gaze fall on all the beautiful jewelry lining the cases.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:07 am
Nephrite had been reading, and so absorbed in the task (she still wasn’t very good at it), that she actually missed the sound of the door opening and closing, despite the chiming bell. Only upon Algie’s greeting did she finally look up, confused at first, then her gray eyes widened in shock. Oh, oh, oh! She hadn’t noticed at all! And she’d promised watch over the shop while Miss Miranda took a quick nap!
Quickly she snapped the book shut (realizing a moment later she’d forgotten to mark the page), her long sleeves fluttering as she hastily floated to greet whom she assumed was a customer. She did manage a quick stop in front of the mirror, though, to check if she was presentable. And her incense was still burning too, good!
‘Hello~!’ She chirped, doing some sort of a strange middle thing between bowing and curtsying mid-air. ‘What can I do for you?’
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:42 am
Algie was enjoying the smell of the incense in the shop. There had been no incense here the last time he'd come by. Then he was greeted by the prettiest little fiend he'd met thus far. Bloo and himself both seemed immediately to like her. The wisp zipped closer to her but respectfully didn't immediately touch her with his tendrils.
"Well hello there, Miss." Algie gave her his usual charming smile, emerald eyes lighting up. "I'm a little disappointed to have not met a pretty fiend like yourself until now." He could tell she was still young and flattery always went over well with charming young ladies.
"I'm Algernon and this is Bloodstone." The wisp seemed to tilt a bit in the air, it's tendrils wrapping around it. Apparently he'd learned to bow from his bond!
Algie unwrapped his scarf and offered his hand out to the young fiend in greeting.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 9:39 am
Nephrite was indeed quite flattered, her silk-like tail weaving a figure of eight into the air as she looked aside and blushed a little. The tail seemed very much like a continuation of her robes, especially as it bore the same intricate pattern of chrysanthemum flowers.
‘Hello Algernon. Hello Bloodstone.’ Ahhhhhhhh, so this one wasn’t a customer! That definitely had her feel relieved. Miranda had looked really tired and she’d only gone to sleep just now – Nephrite would have loathed to be forced to wake her.
Curiously she eyed little Bloodstone – that one was so dark and so tiny, no small wonder she’d missed its presence at first! But she clearly could sense it now.
For a moment she stared at the offered hand, her delicate brows knitting in confusion. What was she supposed to … Oh! How thoughtless of her! ‘I’m Nephrite,’ she finally remembered to introduce herself, touching upon the wizard’s hand lightly. Unlike with other fiends, her stone wasn't visible right away. ‘You like it here,’ she noted happily.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:13 am
Algie acted like a proper gentleman and lifted the flattered girl's hand while he bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I do like it here, very much." He smiled and wondered if he was very obvious or if it was her particular gift. " I always feel at home in old buildings and shops such as these." Especially ones who were clearly magical, even to the naked eye.
Bloo spun when he found he was being examined. Just being close to him Nephrite would feel the natural cool zen feeling he seemed to emanate. Despite that the wisp seemed excited, his natural aura made everything feel much calmer.
"I was coming in to maybe speak with Athan but I suppose he isn't here?" The elder wizard glanced around the shop and towards the back rooms but there wasn't so much as a noise coming from back there. "Just as well to meet you though."
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:34 pm
‘I like shops,’ Nephrite agreed, though not quite in the same sense as Algie. ‘Especially those with shiny things, and shiny hair things, and fabrics, and pretty dresses.’ She beamed. ‘And then those with perfumes, and those with herbs too. I only wish they weren’t so bright,’ she added, making a face. She didn’t quite see why not all shops could be as dimly lit as this one – it was so much more convenient. But, she might not have to deal with that much longer – Miranda had promised her to teach her how to buy things ‘online’. And Nephrite knew where her guardian kept his credit cards …
‘Athan isn’t here right now,’ she said apologetically. ‘But I think he’ll be back soon? He’s not gone far.’ Or else she would feel much worse of a strain what with her soul-bond guardian nowhere close by either. In fact Athan had offered to accompany him, but she’d opted to rather stay behind and keep reading. ‘Studying’, as she proudly put it. ‘But there is another lady, only she’s gone to take a nap for a bit? I could go and wake her?’ Her tail wiggled a little uneasily, indicating that she’d rather not.
She offered her hands palm up for the wisp to rest on, should he want to. ‘I like him,’ she announced. ‘He feels all peaceful.’ She very, very gently closed her fingers around the bloodstone, rubbing it very gently, as if it was a worry stone.
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Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 7:19 am
Algie had taken notice that this fiend seemed to take on the aspects of the lovely clothing she wore. It intrigued him and wasn't something he'd seen in any of the other fiends he'd met. She reminded him a bit of his teenage ward, Hela, but was much more polite and calm.
"Oh it's alright. You don't have to wake her." He smiled and drifted to a nearby case to admire the jewelry. It just dawned him that perhaps he should buy Hela something pretty for Christmas. "Maybe you can help me pick out something for a girl just a little older than you? She also loves pretty things."
Bloo allowed the gentle rubbing of his stone and also seemed slightly soothed by her touch. He wrapped his tendrils around her fingers and they, like with his bond, seemed to form a protective shadowy armor wherever they lay. The armor seemed to melt away whenever he moved.
"He likes you. He seems to like meeting all the fiends. Apparently soothing is his thing." Algie gave Neph a kind smile but his emerald eyes then glinted in interest. "I hope I am not intruding or getting too personal.. I am a wizard and rather academic. I am very interested in how you change.." He motioned to her intricately designed tail.
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Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:44 pm
‘Oh, good.’ That definitely had her feel relieved. She wasn’t exactly much of a morning person herself either.
‘Oh, I can help.’ The shadow girl nodded enthusiastically, still rubbing little Bloodstone with her thumb. It was fun. She giggled when the shadows laid around her finger like some sort of unfinished glove and then dissolved. Rubrubrubrub. ‘What colors does she like?’
‘Change … what?’ She blinked, a little confused, enough to finally let go of Bloo. ‘Oh, you mean this?’ She brought up her tail and even fanned it out a little. ‘I don’t know. It just happens when I change my clothing. And when I wear nothing, it’s just green.’
‘Look, I can also do this!’ Nephrite gathered the fabric of her gown, so that a little more of her tail was visible as it curled, twisted and parted, shaping into a pair of legs and petite feet which seemed almost too fragile to walk on. The pattern was still there, making it very much look as if the little fiend was wearing stockings of some sort.
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:06 am
"Oh!" He seemed surprised to see feet just form out of nothing and retain the decorative aspect. He knew that when they were older they could do that, but they'd never just appeared in front of his face before. "You are rather amazing, little miss." Algie smiled but motioned her to the jewelry case to his left. It was filled with sets, necklaces and earrings that matched.
"She's got dark skin, sort of a brown/burgundy shade and she has snowy white hair." He scratched his head and looked rather hopeless. "She's also got very pretty blue eyes." Hela was rather unique and he hoped Neph could help him out with this.
Bloo sort of wiggled from Neph's hand once Algie looked at the jewelry but he stayed by the girl fiend. His shadows pushed up against the glass like a small child pressing their face to a shop window.
"Is the lady in the back your bond?" Algie had only met one fiend without their bond present and Hawk was certainly something special as well as being much older.
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:02 pm
‘It’s hard to do,’ Nephrite admitted. ‘I need to rea-lly concentrate to do it.’ She made a few small steps before she pushed herself into the air again, assuming her previous ethereal form. It was just so much easier to float about like that.
‘Something with silver then,’ she decided. ‘Bright silver. And blue stones. The jewelry with the blue stones is over here. I like green best. What kind of blue do her eyes have?’ She hovered over the display she’d pointed out, looking down. There were so many different shades of blue! And she didn’t really know much about gems … And she couldn't open the displays on her own either. Maybe she should go wake Miranda after all.
‘Miranda’s not my bond.’ Nephrite shook her head. ‘She’s got her own Shadow though. He’s all tiny still, like him.’ She pointed at Bloo. ‘I think he wants to grow real fast real soon, so he takes a lot from her and it makes her all sleepy.’ She rested her elbows on the display’s surface, arms crossing.
‘My bond is Amon. He says he can’t take me with him to work, so I stay here a lot. When I’m with Athan it’s not so bad to be away from him.’ She brought up one hand to rest her chin on it, glancing up at Algie thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know what he works, he said he’ll explain when I’m older? And what do wizards do?’ She added curiously. She’d never before heard that word.
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:23 pm
"I'd say her eyes are sort of a..." Algie twisted his face up, "sort of a .. milky light blue? Kind of like this?" He pointed to some sort of opalescent blue stone but it wasn't set in silver and looked a little too 'old ladyish' for Hela. "Anything a little more young and hip but with this stone?" Ah so the clerk in the back was another bond and had a wisp with her? Interesting. He was curious that she was worn out. He'd never felt much of a strain from Bloodstone. Perhaps because he was already magical? Or maybe Bloodstone's soothing aura helped to ease the stress? It sent his academic mind spinning. He also wondered what Nephrite's bond could do for a living. Once again his thoughts went off in the direction of assassin and other equally dangerous, and not all together unheard of things. "Well I do magic mostly. It's not much of a job but more of who I am." He smiled and pulled his wand from his coat pocket. It was a dark wood, rather long, and seemed to have an intricately curved handle. "I have had many jobs though. I was a teacher and I owned a book shop. Turns out that here on Gaia most people don't need much magical help." This plane was just LOUSY with magic. Bloo seemed to wiggle in the air, wanting Algie to do something.The wizard couldn't be sure what Bloodstone wanted exactly but he moved to the nearby counter and picked up a pencil. He said a few strange words, tapped the pencil with his wand, and immediately handed it to Nephrite. The pencil first turned green and then the eraser seemed to swell and within a moment the pencil was no longer there and she held a beautiful lotus flower. "See? Magic. And that will not turn back." He smiled. "It looks nice with your dress."
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:37 pm
(( D’aw. He completely won her over with that. She’ll be his minion forever. XD ))
‘That is …’ She peered at the stone Algie pointed at, and then hung her head. ‘I don’t know what that is.’ She admitted, apparently not bothered too much by her lack of knowledge. ‘Buuut, Reyna does custom settings. Miranda does too, but her things are less expensive? Look, she did these.’ She pointed at another display case.
True enough, whereas most of the shop’s lines featured precious metals and gems, this ‘Miranda’ seemed to have a knack for costume jewelry, rather. Her designs looked quite playful, featuring birds, vines, insects and flowers. Some seemed inspired by vintage jewelry, but apparently she had no hesitation whatsoever to make use of brightly colored varnishes as well. ‘Look, doesn’t that stone look similar? I know it’s glass, but …’ Well, she knew she herself wouldn’t care. As long as it was pretty …
Her almond shaped eyes widened in awe at the magical transformation of the pencil (part of her hoped it didn’t belong to Reyna …). That flower … it was just so pretty! She recognized it, even, having seen it before in one of her tomes. ‘Nelumbo nucifera,’ she whispered mentally, dipping her head as if taking in the scent of the bloom. Even when she’d first seen it as an illustration, it had seemed so familiar. ‘Lotus. It’s one of my favorites.’
Her immense pleasure radiated all throughout the room as she twirled, finally weaving in the stem of the flower into her hair, so that the bloom sat just to the right of her double-bun.
‘Thank you!’ Nephrite beamed.
‘Amon … He doesn’t like magic much,’ she admitted, her tail seeming to crinkle a little. After all, she herself was a creature of magic.
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Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:39 am
"Oh I do like that." Algie admired Miranda's work through the glass. It was much more in his tastes and several of the larger pins and brooches reminded him fondly of his mother. The blue glass that Neph spoke of was set into something that looked like a butterfly. "I think Hela would really like this. And maybe I can get her a bracelet or something to match. But no hurry. I really just wanted to browse before I committed to anything." Algie chuckled.
Nephrite's reaction to the flower seemed to thrill Bloodstone as much as it did her. She was the first female fiend he'd met and the enthusiasm in his behavior was rather obvious.
"I thought you might." Her asian inspired garb, as well as the mood she'd put into the store, was a big tip off. "It looks lovely in your hair." Algie knew all the right ways to win over little girls. He was curious when she spoke of her bond's dislike of magic. It seemed that gaia was not the place to go if you weren't fond of the mystic arts.
"Do you know why?" He looked earnestly curious. "There are definitely bad magics, but most sensible people avoid that or make sure it's taken care of. You don't think he'll dislike me...?" Algie wasn't really concerned about being disliked, he had confidence in his personality, but he'd hate to be unjustly hated.
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Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 8:52 am
‘I’m sure Miranda will do that. She gets all happy whenever someone wants some of her stuff.’ Nephrite beamed. She liked the butterflies a lot herself. ‘I can tell her when she wakes up.’
‘Thank you~!’ She slightly dipped her head, reaching out one hand to offer Bloo something to play with.
‘I don’t know.’ The young fiend hung her head. ‘Only a little. He doesn’t like to talk about it.’ She shifted uneasily, quite certain she was not supposed to talk about it. But her bond wasn’t here, he’d never know …
‘In the haunted house, there were people, wearing all black.’ She ceased playing with Bloodstone, and instead rested her elbows on the display again. Idly she fingerwalked her right hand over the glossy surface while she rested her chin on her left, her expression seeming quite glum. ‘Bad people, he said. From his past. And there was a young Amon too, and he was hurt.’
She tilted her head. ‘And there was the same room again, but everyone was gone, and there was a lot of ashes. And then we met Hawk, and we could finally get out.’ Her usual cheerful mood seemed to return almost immediately as she thought of the blind Seer – she was rather fond of him.
‘I don’t think he’ll dislike you. At least he doesn’t dislike Athan. But …’ She looked up, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. ‘He’s very, very … mmh …’ Obviously she was struggling to find the correct term. ‘Careful,’ she finally said helplessly. Guarded, wary, reserved was probably more along the lines of what she meant.
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Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:19 am
Bloo's tendrils darted around, sort of shadowboxing with Neph's fingers until she became gloomy and stopped her idle movement.
Algie's brows knit together and he looked concerned. There were a few things that black cloaked figures could mean but it was almost always occult in nature. The wizard had his own personal grudges with such heinous acts and the people who involved themselves with them. It was horrible, unforgivable, what those people did to children and teenagers.
"I'm sorry you had to see those things as well. But don't worry." He pressed a finger to his lips. "I won't tell him that you told me. I'll try to be less magical if I meet him. That way I won't give him a bad first impression." Algie was glad to hear though, that there were some other male guardians. So far all he'd met were women!
"Sometimes when bad things happen to people they need a very long time to move on and even be comfortable around others." Algie patted her hand. "I bet with your help he will get better. He may not change much on the outside, but I am sure on the inside you will help him heal. Love always helps." Everything he said rang with honesty this time. There was nothing pandering or flattering about it and he wasn't just saying it to be nice. He truly believed it to be true.
As if to illustrate the point Bloo latched to Algie's finger, formed into his shadowy armor, and seemed to deliberately push out all the soothing vibes he could.
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