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 Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 9:56 pm
It was not an unusual sight to see a student of Makai Royal walking down the shopping district in the Academy Town, nor was it unusual to see a dainty first-year student admiring the copious amounts of shops that fit snugly onto the streets. It was, however, unusual to see a dainty female student who looked like she'd be more at home in one of the charm shops turn onto a side street, and head straight for the most foreboding store that resided upon that street, entering into the doors without apprehension, as if she'd found a small piece of heaven on earth.
The Wailing Bones was a shop that specialized in the macabre and morose, and had quite the supply of books, trinkets and ingredients for dark magic. As the door opened when Ruria stepped in, two skulls above it indeed started shrieking and rattling around - The shopkeep's idea of customer bells. The old man eyed her mysteriously, but went back to organizing the merchandise behind the counter. He'd seen worse in his store, after all.
The girl gave a quick glance around the shop, her eyes stopping briefly on the only other customer in the establishment. He was a boy roughly around her age, with eyes that seemed distant and calculating, yet intriguing. She met eyes with him for that brief moment and gave a polite smile and half of a wave, before turning her attention towards the geezer across the oak counter-top.
Ruria brought her hands in front of her waist, holding them politely together and clutching a small purse that resembled the leering face of a black cat, and spoke politely, with a delicate voice that was to the ears as freshly-baked pastries were to the tongue. "Pardon me, Sir Shopkeep of this wonderful establishment,"
she said. One would think she was sarcastic, but her eyes reflected the truth in her words, a content glimmer of excitement and approval dancing in the cherry hues. "I'm on a quest of considerable importance, to acquire this limited edition Shinigami-Meido doll, complete with scythe made from genuine once-cursed witch bones. Do you have it?" Her smile did not falter, but widened with anticipation as she old man grumbled something incoherent and lugged out a box from behind the counter that held the exact object described in it. Ruria exchanged the price for the doll, and held it tightly in her arms once the trade was complete. "I will treasure it as if they were my own bones."
she said as she turned away, but she stopped on her way out by the boy.
Her eyes met his, and she gave a very subtle curtsy. However, when she spoke to him, her voice was a little less confident, perhaps even a little shy, but still she kept her gaze on him; an attempt to be confident. "Go...od afternoon,"
she began. Her gaze faltered for a moment. Talking to a boy. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't spoken to someone her own age of the opposite gender since she was quite little. It seemed like she had wanted to say more, but the sudden realization and embarrassment of the situation had suddenly hit her. Was it proper to go up to a boy and just begin conversation?
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:49 pm
For the most part, Requiem tended to stray away from the somewhat lesser populated shops down the side streets in the shopping district. He often heard the other boys in class laughing and joking about how "dark and creepy" they tended to be, making up stories of the kinds of people one could find. One shop in particular that tended to be the focus of these (often loud and raucous) conversations was The Wailing Bones. Apparently one of the boys had been there before and had had a rather unfortunate experience with the shop owner and a talking skull, which led to a series of baseless and overexaggerated rumors about what just went down in that shop.
Requiem never paid any attention to these stories, of course; he took little interest in giving heed to things he had no reason to, although their tales at some points could be rather well done and interesting (though clearly false). So it was quite a bit of a surprise when he found himself standing outside the selfsame shop he had heard so much about. His morning had been spent practicing the piano, followed by classes, and then he had gone out to purchase more sheet music. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he had somehow wound up down a small, darkened side street in front of a rickety black building that read The Wailing Bones in neat, spindly handwriting on a sign that hung above the door.
At first he had decided to leave, but eventually his curiosity had overcome his common sense, and Requiem pushed open the door and stepped inside. A pair of skulls shrieked and cackled over his head, startling him, but he easily regained his self composure, moving silently into the store. Inside it was overly crowded, objects crammed onto the dusty shelves, a myriad of different, exotic things catching his eye all at once. There were many confusing things (such as what looked suspiciously like a shriveled hand on one shelf by the door), but there was also an entire portion of a wall dedicated to books. Dozens of books, pushed neatly into their positions, and Requiem stepped in that direction, pressing his lips together as he ran his fingers over the worn spines.
The sound of the skulls rattling again meant someone else had come into the shop, but he was not paying particular attention, his thoughts instead focused on the texts. He pulled one novel out, glanced at the title, and shook his head, slipping it back onto the shelf before a voice made him turn his head. The person who had entered the store was none other than a girl in a Makai Academy uniform such as his own, but her appearance...long, tumbling strawberry colored hair, flushed cheeks, a delicate frame...She does not seem the type to be in this sort of place, Requiem thought, his brows furrowing in slight confusion. The girl seemed very...out of order in midst of the black and macabre of The Wailing Bones. He watched her speak to the shopkeeper, gain something that was obviously of value to her, before she turned away. Requiem was about to move back to the books, but her eyes caught his and she ducked in a small curtsy before she stepped towards him hesitantly.
"...good afternoon," he replied politely, eyes moving to the box in her hand. "...what is that, if I may ask?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 1:15 pm
The old man behind the counter was narrowing his eyes at the two students, but busied himself dusting an already dust-free counter. Busybody.
She hadn't quite expected the boy to respond to her, and was a little surprised when he did. Ruria took a small breath before speaking, as if preparing herself to jump off an unusually large cliff. "This...?"
She held the box up, hiding half of her face with it. The image of a finely crafted, pretty doll decorated the cover of the box, dressed in black and red with pale skin and dark hair. It held a scythe in its lap that was white and boney. Morbidly beautiful, and slightly creepy. "This is a Limited Edition Meido Doll, complete with scythe made of once-cursed bones!"
there was a trill of excitement in her voice. Though she didn't look it, it seemed this particular girl was quite interested in these dark, unsettling things. "They only created 100 of them in the whole world, so...I won't be buying any delectables from the bakeries for a month. Or two. Or maybe even three. Eheh..." She gave a wayward glance at her black cat handbag, where her presumed now-empty wallet lurked.
The box was lowered from her face slowly, until Ruria held it securely and happily in her arms again. Relaxing, she took a step closer and extended her right hand to him. "My name is Ruria Lockewood, it's...it's a pleasure to meet you! Are you a first-year at Makai Royal, too?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:38 pm
Requiem took no notice of the overly curious old man behind the store counter; after all, the nosy affairs of the shopkeeper were of little concern to him. That, and he was distracted by the somewhat confusing sight of this pale pink haired girl in a shop so determinedly...well, dark.
He nodded at the box in her hands, his brow furrowing in even more confusion at the doll. "That...seems to be a slight contradiction in terms," Requiem said, looking at it a bit closer. "It's a doll, yet...yet it's meant to be...creepy..?"
He did not get it. Weren't dolls supposed to be toys for girls to collect or play with? He had no sisters and no real female friends, so he supposed his ideas were a bit off and slightly skewed from miscellaneous shows, but even Requiem knew that dolls were supposed to be...well, cute. Weren't they?
"Curious..." he murmured, mostly to himself, then shook himself out his inner musings when he heard her introduce herself. Requiem extended his own hand, taking her much smaller one in his in a simple handshake.
"Requiem Driscoll," he answered, then nodded. "Yes, I am. I recently started. I assume you are as well?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:13 am
Ruria's eyes had fallen to watch the handshake, before glancing back up at Requiem's face once more. She withdrew her palm slowly, before cradling her precious box once more. "I just arrived yesterday. I'm a later starter into the term, so I haven't had any classes yet. My uh, for lack of better word...Mother, tried to withhold me from attending." A slight shadow flickered in her eyes at the mention of her maternal matron. "I'd hoped to study necromancy, but unfortunately, I lack the prowess for it, so I didn't make it into those classes." The shadow of gloom hovered over her more intensely for a moment, before she perked again. "What type of magic do you think you'll specialize in? Are you very good? Are the teachers frightening or disturbing in any such manner?"
Suddenly, she spilled questions like a leaky bucket, her shyness seemingly dissipating.
She was curious about him, and it was showing in a very peculiar way.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:46 am
"Ah," said Requiem, taking Ruria's tumbling pale cherry hair, and her wide eyes. She seemed harmless enough, though they were standing int the midst of a darkened store that sold all manners of dark magic and voodoo things, and she was holding a doll that was mildly disturbing in its appearance. The entire situation seemed a contradiction in terms, so it confused him unnecessarily.
Her questions came unexpectedly, and Requiem found himself lacking a proper answer. "I, er...am not entirely certain yet," he said, fingers absently twisting the cord from his headphones, tucked neatly around his neck. "I had rather hoped to do something with music, but I am not entirely certain that will work out as well as I had hoped. Which I suppose makes me not particularly good yet."
Another pause. Requiem tilted his head, slightly taken aback by the sudden influx of questions. "Not...not that I have seen..?" he answered, though the question was a little hesitant. "At least, none of the teachers in which I have dealt with have been 'frightening' or 'disturbing,' as you so put it. I suppose every school has their black sheep, however, so there are probably some even if I have not had contact with them yet."
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:47 pm
"Oh, that's a shame."
Ruria glanced towards the clock, and her eyes widened a little bit. "My pastries!!"
she cried, a look of alarm suddenly on her face. "I-I-I have to go quickly, I was baking, you see, and if I don't hurry back, they'll burn, and possibly torch my chamber into nothingness!"
she fled out the door quickly, but returned just as quick, giving a polite bowing of her head. "If you want some sometime, come visit me in my room. Third room on the right on floor three. I'll give you some cookies, too~ Bye~!"
She fled for real this time, twin tails seen disappearing behind the corner outside.
She panted slightly as she ran into the school's courtyard, and into the main corridor of the dormitory. The boy was nice, she thought. It wasn't so bad, talking to a boy. She hoped he'd take up her offer, and come take some of the pastries and cookies off her hands.
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