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Rhian Brady was not a girl who was easily intimidated, nor was she one who frightened easily. Therefore when she decided to take a peek into the new age store she had noticed a few times while out with friends or on school trips, it was entirely out of curiosity rather than any sense of thrill-seeking.

Her older sibling had given her a set of tarot cards before she went off to school, and while she wasn't very good at using them (yet!), it had caught her intrigue and she wanted to see if there were any pretty sets in here. Stepping inside, she breathed in the heavily-scented air and giggled. It smelled so nice in here!

Now if only she could find someone to talk to - she didn't know where anything was! The clerk at the counter looked kind of busy, and while Rhian was social she didn't want to be rude, so she decided she'd wander around for a little instead and hope she found someone else who might know where things were stashed.

And if she couldn't find someone? Well, she could search until she found the cards, or maybe investigate the incense because some of those smelled really nice, and maybe she couldn't light anything in her room but she didn't need to if it smelled nice enough!

Oh, there were just so many pretty things in this store! Rhian was very glad she had finally decided to enter it and check it out, even if she was venturing out a bit later than she probably should have been. Sparkly gems and pretty necklaces, that super-nice smelling incense, and - oh, she thought she saw the tarot card decks!

It was a corner of the store, a little dark and shadowy, which Rhian personally thought was kind of silly. Sure these stores banked on an air of mystery, but you couldn't sell anything if your customers couldn't see it! Maybe she should tell the clerk that on her way out. Turning the lights up in here would only be beneficial to sales, since it would make all the sparklies shine brighter and would let the lovely images on packages and things be more visible!

But that was for checkout, and right now was for exploring. Giggling, she skipped to the corner she thought she had seen decks in, and hummed happily as she peered through them. "Ooooh, 'Celestial'? That's pretty! 'Classic'... hmm. Kind of dull. Um... Dragon! That's really neat..."

"Oh, sorry!" Rhian chirped instinctively when she heard someone address her, then blinked and turned wide eyes up at the stranger. Why was he lurking in a corner? That was a little rude, and for a moment she considered telling him so - but then she realized he wasn't lurking, he was totally hiding back here! Which meant he was scared, which meant he needed a friend.

And Rhian was more than willing to be that friend!

"Hello," she greeted cheerfully, smiling at him as she took in his appearance. Tall, male, definitely much older than her... there was something creepy about him, but that didn't mean he was a bad person! Creepy people were just people who had something different about them.

Clearly this person was SPECIAL!

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Why are you hiding like that, anyway? You're really handsome and a handsome person shouldn't hide away in corners like this! As long as you're here, though... could you recommend a deck to me? My big sibling gave me my first already, but I'm looking for a second so I can practice more."

Rhian smiled, tilting her head. "Security?" Maybe that was why he gave a creepy feeling! He was trying to scare off would-be robbers and stuff! "I see, I see, so you weren't hiding in the corner 'cause you wanted to hide but you were hiding so you could surprise any bad guys that show up."

To the teenager's mind, this all made absolutely perfect sense - of course a security worker would be hiding in a corner. He had to be hidden to take any robbers out before they knew there was security around.

And oooh, those teeth. Those were some really sharp-looking teeth.

"Okay. I'll keep looking, then. I'm sorry if none of them speak to me, though. I'll try to find something here that does so you can make some money!" Pausing, she fingered the deck she had picked up to look at last, then blurted out what was on her mind.

"Don't take this the wrong way, mister, but I think you might be a vampire."

"I think that's a good thing, though," Rhian said, taking a step toward the mentioned preview book as she contemplated both the stranger's rebuttl and the advice on a deck. "I think if vampires brooded too much they would starve! And you're a much better kind of handsome than the vampires in the books - sparkles are nice but you can overdo it on the sequins!"

Flipping curiously through the book, she paused when her fingers rested on one oddly labeled 'Metamorphosis', an odd expression crossing her face. Hmmm... Well, she didn't think anything was talking to her, but there was something about that one that seemed somehow more fascinating than the others, even if there were many that were prettier and some that were far more bizarre.

"I think... maybe this one."

"I think they sparkled because they were made out of millions of tiny diamonds or something," Rhian chirped, and giggled as she reached out and accepted the deck he had placed down. "But that's silly, becauseif that were the case there wouldn't be any vampires because the jewelers in the world would all band together to hunt them down for trophies!"

Picking up the deck in delicate fingers, the smile she gave her new friend (in her mind, at least) - was somehow softer and more down to earth than her usual spacey smiles.

"Thank you," she said softly, pulling the deck to her heart, where she cradled it gently.

"If any changes come my way, I'll be sure to come and tell you, okay? 'cause big things should be shared with someone or else they'll turn sour in your mind someday!"