Welcome to Gaia! ::

Vyn stared with his head tipped to the side. Perhaps, if they learned more about Victoria and her secret, they would understand why what appeared to be middle aged mothers and their adolescent daughters seemed to flock to her clothing.

“They cannot all be named Victoria,” he said, looking from one large picture to the next, each appearing to show a different person; unless it was the same person wearing different faces, but Vyn did not think Earth had such technology.

Unless that was the secret? Did this Victoria peddle in rare Earthen technology and conceal her activities by pretending to be a purveyor of clothing?

“That deep veridian would suit you,” Vyn pointed to a display at the front of the store, “but I do not think this attire is practical.”

Some of the Earthlings were staring. One of them cringed when Aliez put the cloth to his face. Others muttered and scurried away.

Vyn would have liked to peruse Victoria’s wares a bit longer, but he got the impression that he and Aliez were making themselves stand out too much. Despite the glamours they both wore, they were drawing attention when they were supposed to be discrete.

When a woman dressed head to toe in black threw a glare in their direction, Vyn grabbed Aliez by the arm and tugged him away.

“We may not be welcome here,” he said, directing Aliez back out into the open area where Earthlings walked to and fro.

They were in a place called “the mall” and there were storefronts in every direction. Certainly, Earth was full of wondrous places, even if the people often left something to be desired.

Vyn approached the next store with an equal amount of curiosity. The mix of aromas drifting from it was pungent. The closer they drew, the stronger the smell, until it was almost headache inducing.

But they must learn and explore. It might be important to understand such things, even if it didn’t seem important at the moment.

Vyn drifted into the fragrant store and began to look amongst its wares. Some of the waxy substance was stored in clear jars with tight lids. Some of it was stored in canisters with lids that were easy to pull off. Others were merely wrapped in some sort of clear film. Vyn wondered if each type of container denoted which was more valuable, or if it was merely an aesthetic choice.

Aesthetics seemed to be important to the Earthlings.

Vyn picked up one of the canisters and pulled the lid off, getting a stronger whiff of the substance inside. It certainly smelled appetizing. Was it food?

Against his better judgment, Vyn licked it.

Hastily, he set it back down.

“It’s fragrant smell does not correspond with a palatable taste.”

One of the Earthlings muttered something about teenagers. Vyn did not understand the bitterness and resentment in their voice, or the disgust in their eyes, but he had nothing against making a hasty retreat.

As they scurried out, Vyn still held the canister with the colorful vax inside. He would return it to its proper place once the unfriendly Earthlings had dispersed from the store, or perhaps he would purchase it before leaving, so as to study it later.

“These people are strange,” Vyn muttered as he and Aliez began to wander again.

In their short time here so far, Vyn had come to this conclusion: he liked Earth, but not its people.

Vyn stared into the next store and wondered if they should leave. The Earthlings were strange people who looked at he and Aliez as if they were strange people, even though they both wore their glamours to fit in. Either they did not know how to behave appropriately in order to pass as Earthlings (but how hard could that really be?), or Earth was not home to friendly people.

Given that even the Commodore had a difficult time winning some of them over, Vyn chose to assume the latter.

But some of the wares sold in the store owned by Claire called out to him. There were all sorts of trinkets and knick knacks, some which Vyn could not predict the purpose of. Many of them gleamed and glittered in the light. Others sported ribbons and flowers.

Flowers.

Vyn drifted over to a display which bore dozens of flower crowns. He touched them with gentle, reverent fingers, and found that the flowers were not real flowers at all, but imitation flowers.

Was that not better? With flowers like these, he would not have to waste natural resources, and the crowns he made for his friends would never die.

“This would be lovely on Fae-Fae…”

Vyn removed the flower crown from its display. He would purchase it as soon as they found the best place to exchange their Earthen currency for it. In Claire’s shop as in all the others they’d seen, there were people gathered around some sort of device, passing objects over a counter before having them returned to them in bags.

Perhaps that was when the exchange of currency happened? But there were so many people. They should find one of those devices elsewhere, where there were less people to observe them as they fumbled their way through the unfamiliar exchange.

Searching for an item to present to the Commodore was no easy task. What would he find most appealing about Earth? What would best convey Vyn’s appreciation, his devotion? There were so many items to choose from. He wasn’t even sure what all of them were meant for.

In the midst of wandering the store with Aliez, a portly Earthling came upon them, putting himself directly in their path so that they were forced to come to a stop. He wore a frown with his rather severe and official looking attire.

“Apologies,” Vyn said, and moved like he meant to scurry out of the way.

The brooding Earthling man stopped him.

“I’m going to need you kids to come with me.”