Post by Carissa D. Lee on Aug 18, 2015 13:09:49 GMT -5
Some day off this is, Carissa thought bitterly. She sulked at a bench outside some chain store. Her friend had cancelled way last minute, leaving Carissa to her own for the day. Normally this wouldn't upset her, but today she wanted an intimate distraction. She needed to complain about work. Particularly, one doctor seemed to have it out for the nursing staff regardless of experience. Just the thought of what she needed to vent off made her scowl more. But her friend had a life too and, from what Carissa could tell, this wasn't a flake-out. Alas, she was stuck in her bad mood.
Carissa forced herself from the bench to wander into the store. It was some new chain store that was trying to be more appealing to young adults. It was crowded with college students, families dragged in by teens, and the occasional "hip" oldie. Carissa ducked around a large group of new college students comparing prices of bed sheets. She paused to see what was on sale but ultimately trudged forward. She did one lap around the store, her mood to foul to stop and enjoy the people.
Pausing outside to open up directions her phone, she scanned a map of the area to see what was near. Seeing other types of stores within the area, she heaved a sigh of relief and headed away from the superstore. Sure, it had a few nice things, but without someone to tour it with it felt unwelcoming. Could be she was feeling lonely too, but that was for her to decide later.
Carissa was about two blocks away from the superstore when she found somewhere else to check out. This part of the block had many small stores and restaurants to entertain the people-watcher. She ducked into one store that was selling antiques. She vaguely recalled going antiquing as a child and, as an adult, felt it was sort of an obligation to go into one of these stores once a year. That's what people did in movies and books. It was a thought that had always stuck with her though she knew it was nonsensical.
The antique store, aptly named "Ye Olde Gifts," was filled to the ceiling with antiques. The air stifled conversations into whispers, the density of the dusty perfume ensuring nothing could be disturbed. Carissa cleared her throat before picking one aisle to slip down. She counted 10 dolls before she was even 5 feet into the aisle, all dressed in Victorian garb with lifeless faces. She shuddered at their appearance and hurried towards some nice looking furniture, some traditional clothing items from various periods, and a not-so-antique looking book collection. She plucked one book off the shelf and examined it. Though not an active reader, Carissa enjoyed perusing book collections.
She soon became distracted by what she was looking at. Carissa stood there for a long time, simply reading the titles of the books in the collection and occasionally selecting one for investigation. Around her there was an occasional rustle of noise and the illusion of maybe someone exchanging words with another...but otherwise she was alone. It was the perfect setting to lose track of time and forget the frustrations that were plaguing her.
Cassidy has a very expressive face. When she's not laughing her ass off, or frowning up a storm, she's usually still got a cocky smile on her lips. Her nails are always painted something whacky or just black. Her ears have a few piercings, and her nose looks like it may have been broken before.
Post by Cassidy Fox on Aug 18, 2015 14:35:36 GMT -5
This Fox had time before the farmer went to sleep, so she could get into the hen house. Cassidy, known as only Fox to her employers, was a techie for hire. Her skills covered a large expertise in technologies, and, despite her age, she was a genius. She did everything from repairing out of date machinery, fixing PCs and clearing out viruses, to installing them and robbing banks. She’d already done all of the above. Cassidy didn’t know what her job was, she had to meet her client that night, but she was fairly sure it was a robbery.
So she was stuck in yet another American town for the day. She had arrived that morning by car, and had already made sure that all her equipment was in order. She’d already forgotten where she was, but decided to wander around town as she usually did. It often lead to adventures or hot hookups. Or disappointment, but Cassidy was hoping for one of the earlier.
She ended up coming to an area with a few small shops, and noticed an antique store. A giant smirk appeared on her face, and she began fiddling with the ring on her finger. The last time she was at an antique shop, she ended up stealing it. Usually Cassidy wasn’t so petty. Her crimes were thought out, she did have a certain level of morality and preferred targeting rich corporations then antique dealers who were trying to make a living. But this ring was special. She still hadn’t figured out exactly what had attracted her about the ring, but she simply knew. She examined it more closely, hadn’t it been lose when she’d gotten it? Maybe she was gaining weight.
Cassidy went into the shop, and began looking around. Clothes, dolls, the same boring stuff. There was some jewelry, but nothing all that nice. There were some books, with some woman standing in front of them. She was pretty cute, but Cassidy was more interested in the books. Antique shops were great for finding manuals to old machines, and she could always do with some more to improve her ‘business’.
“Scuse me,” Cassidy said, sliding past the girl. She was reading all the titles, but so far wasn’t seeing anything of interest.
The feeling of eyes roaming over his metal carapace was inescapable for the old, dormant creature. He was accustomed to it by now of course, one didn't turn themselves into a perfect copy of their marriage band without expecting to be picked up and admired, even longed after on occasion. The next time he settled on a form to sleep in, he would pick something much more bland, and likely to be circulated frequently. A coin perhaps, or some other form of currency. The constant changing of hands would allow him plenty of sustenance, no one would look twice if he got the details right, and if he wanted to he could always just manipulate those around him.
Regardless, the curtains around his mental fortress parted for a brief look into the outside world. As far as he knew he was still on the finger of the girl with solid hands, the occasional caress of parchment and bound leather revealing that she was probably in a library or some other nonsense. It could also be a curiosity store such as the one she relieved him from of course, but she didn't seem to be one particularly fond of antiquing.
Muted voices brought Tau's head around fully into the present. A faint runic eye on his jasmine band glowering angrily for the smallest of moments, allowing him his rarely used sight. So rarely used that it always took a few extra seconds to gather his bearings, and to distinguish between objects, colors, faces, genders, et cetera.
Meanwhile, it was as good a time as any to thieve a quick snack from his own host. Such is the life of a parasite, lying in wait, dormant, until the opportunity to leech off of another presents itself. He did his best not to kill anyone most of the time at least, just taking enough to tire them a little. Trimming their overflow of energy as one would trim the split ends from hair, perhaps.
Post by Benjamin Locke on Aug 19, 2015 5:03:49 GMT -5
It was a nice enough day. One of the few where Ben actually had legitimate time off from work. But instead of relaxing at the beach or eating lunch at the summit of Everest or even just chasing a couple alley cats with an armful of stones, the young man was chilling around some boring store.
Ben sighed and ran one hand over his short, kinky black hair. He’d heard about the place and decided to check it out. Ben enjoyed reading about myths and legends involving supernaturals. Though Humans usually got the facts mixed up, the young man didn’t mind if the story was good enough.
He’d actually tried his hand at a little writing back when he was in high school, most of his stories based in fantasy worlds hunting dragons, saving villages, and going on other such quests. Needless to say, Ben gave it up after realizing that he was really, really bad at it. Besides, he’d rather go out and live a story, occasionally picking up a book written by someone who actually knew what they were doing.
And so, ignoring all the people around, Ben made a beeline toward the dolls. He kept his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans as he examined the things, occasionally moving one to adjust a doll this way or that. Ben lifted up the skirt of one and sighed in disappointment before shaking his head and walking away.
None of the dolls seemed worth adding to his collection so he just sort of walked around, looking at other things in the shop, not really seeing anything he liked, until Locke eventually wandered into the book aisle.
Post by Carissa D. Lee on Aug 19, 2015 15:37:15 GMT -5
"Scuse me," broke Carissa's thoughts. She instinctively inched into the bookshelf to make room for the woman. Carissa followed the steps of the woman and, to her surprise, she stopped to look at the books too.
She was an interesting looking young lady, with vivid blonde hair highlighted with pink. Carissa envied the boldness in the woman's style. Pink highlights and a sense of confidence exuded from the woman's presence. She was cool. Compared to the less obtrusive style Carissa donned, she looked like some sort of celebrity.
Carissa refocused her gaze to in front of her, but she was not done watching the woman. She scanned another cover of a book and sneaked a glance over. What was the woman looking at? There were older volumes mixed between the recent items, which was it she wanted to select? Then, Carissa caught sight of what looked like a wedding band. It seemed out of place for someone so young, but people fall in love all the time. Carissa considered alternatives, like a gift or a promise ring, but settled on a more generic answer. It was a ring and people wear rings.
Carissa put her book away and took a step back, lips pursed. There weren't any titles standing out as particularly great. Another glance at the woman determined she was also looking through all of the titles, a task Carissa felt was complete. Sighing, she glanced around the store again, catching the tail end of a man with rough hair adjusting the dolls. She tilted her head in curiosity, watching for a moment, before turning away to go past the trendy young lady. "Pardon me," she mumbled, making her body small to sneak past.
That's when she caught a glimpse of something worth investigation. She stopped only just past the woman and cleared her voice once more. "Sorry, um, can I get in for a second?" She reached past the woman for a small, travel sized book about coffees and teas of the world. It had been hidden behind some old looking book on "natural remedies found in nature and myth." Once it was in her hands, she backed away with a grin on her face, flipping through it.
She wandered to the furniture in the back and took a seat on a plush looking, baby blue colored chair. It wasn't a great seat but worth the support as she began examining the content of the book. Carissa settled in to read a bit.
Cassidy has a very expressive face. When she's not laughing her ass off, or frowning up a storm, she's usually still got a cocky smile on her lips. Her nails are always painted something whacky or just black. Her ears have a few piercings, and her nose looks like it may have been broken before.
Post by Cassidy Fox on Aug 19, 2015 16:35:53 GMT -5
Physiotherapy, candle-making… There were a variety of books. Some looked like they had been carefully made, bound by hand, preserved perfectly. Others looked like university students had beat them up, then sold their 200 dollar text book for ten bucks. Two books seemed interesting ‘Happy Hooker’ and ‘Bitchin’ and Stitchin’’, but both were crochet books.
The small bell rung, indicating someone else had entered, but Cassidy didn’t turn around. The woman mumbled something about getting in, but Cassidy didn’t want to lose her spot. She moved her head slightly out of the way so the woman could grab the book, but kept her feet firmly planted. The lady ended up leaving, while Cassidy crouched down to view the books on the bottom shelf, and ended up with a large grin on her face. She took out the large book, which was about Soviet Rocket Fighters, and went to stand back up.
That’s when it hit her, a sudden wooziness. It had been happening every now and then, for the past few months. As if suddenly, she was a little less of herself. Dazed by the sudden weakness, she dropped the book, which landed with a large bam right on her foot.
“Joseph, Mary and Jesus H. Christ, god damned sodomizing, slime sucking, shitty bampot book! That god damned well hurts!” Cassidy’s voice suddenly filled the quiet antique shop, stunning the person behind the counter. Cassidy was not paying attention, instead plopping down on the ground, roughly shoving the book off her foot, and began gently poking her very sore toes.
If he had a mouth, Tau might have chuckled. Causing trouble for people had become a favorite pastime of his ever since he had decided to take a more active role in his whereabouts, and his current host was one of the more vocal people who he had wrapped around his finger. Briefly he wondered if her loud mouth translated at all to her sexual habits, or if she was quiet and shy when she was under the sheets.
Meanwhile, the old vampyre's eyes continued to wander around the area. There was a newcomer now, someone who... almost seemed a little unsure of himself. He also liked playing with dolls evidently, and while it wasn't Tau's place to judge, that was a little bit of a strange hobby for a grown man to keep. To each their own though. The old ring had certainly done some odd things in his own time.
A hand reaching around precariously close made the ring flinch somewhat, in its own way. The simple gold and jade band tightening fractionally, and slowly relinquishing the grip on the Fox's finger as the intruding hand and arm retreated.
Post by Benjamin Locke on Aug 19, 2015 21:22:55 GMT -5
After only perusing the titles for more than a few seconds, Ben brought one hand up to his mouth to stifle a yawn. So far, he hadn’t found anything too particularly interesting. Focused on his search, Locke didn’t pay any others the slightest attention though he was vaguely aware that there were other people nearby.
The young man was just about ready to give up when his eyes settled on a volume that managed to hold his attention.
Ben withdrew the tome from where it sat and admired the cover for a moment before exclaiming under his breath.
“101 jokes for kids? And it’s only ninety nine cents? What a bargain!”
Leaning against the shelf, Locke opened the book and began reading with a fascinated expression and a juvenile smile on his face. Every so often Ben would chuckle slightly, making an obvious effort not to burst into laughter out of consideration for the other shoppers.
Looking up, the young man’s brow furrowed slightly. Ben could have almost sworn he’d felt the shelf he was leaning against shift slightly but he merely shrugged and dismissed the thought, returning his attention to the joke book.
Post by Carissa D. Lee on Aug 20, 2015 22:39:34 GMT -5
Carissa was on a page about the origins of coffee when the quiet ambiance of the store was drastically disrupted. Shouting, from down the aisle she'd been in, “Joseph, Mary and Jesus H. Christ, god damned sodomizing, slime sucking, shitty bampot book! That god damned well hurts!” Carissa considered the words she'd heard and slowly closed her book. Tucking it into her side, she rose from where she had been seated and quietly worked her way back over, unsure if she should be nosing about again.
She caught sight of doll-man before spotting the shouter, the young woman. The woman was seated on the ground and nursing her foot by the looks of it. Nearby, a heavy looking volume lay. Carissa cleared her throat and approached her, mumbling an "excuse me" past the man to approach. "Are you alright?" Carissa hesitated near the woman, about two feet from where she was seated. She surveyed her figure quietly, assuming she would be fine. The woman probably dropped a book on her toe- which could be bad- but it seemed unlikely.
The man behind her was very involved with his book, she noticed as she peered around to see who else might have approached. Carissa glanced over the title he held, something about jokes, then returned her attentions to the woman on the floor. "Do you need help up?" Carissa asked, offering a hand.
Cassidy has a very expressive face. When she's not laughing her ass off, or frowning up a storm, she's usually still got a cocky smile on her lips. Her nails are always painted something whacky or just black. Her ears have a few piercings, and her nose looks like it may have been broken before.
Post by Cassidy Fox on Aug 23, 2015 14:14:52 GMT -5
Oh, the pain. The paaaainnn.
Okay, it really wasn’t that bad. Cassidy just happened to be an extremely vocal person with an addiction to colourful cursing. She tended to grab every opportunity she could to use a vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. It was simply part of who she was. An obsessive-compulsive-curser. However, this usually did get her a bit of a reprimanding. She was actually a bit surprised that no one said anything. Perhaps she was losing her touch, or perhaps the kids in this town had really dirty mouths. Damned kids, swearing was pointless!
Yeah, Cassidy was a hypocrite too.
However, her sore foot was still throbbing. Her book had betrayed her. She felt like this could lead to a very inappropriate joke about the Soviets, but she didn’t venture there.
The somewhat cute woman came over. She was actually fairly nice looing, now that Cassidy had a good look at her face. A cute little nose, some damned fine kissable lips. Usually Cassidy would refuse, but the woman was cute; how could Cassidy deny her? Certainly not with the little willpower she had towards attractiveness.
“Yeah, thanks, just sort of had a woozy moment.” Cassidy explained, taking the woman’s hand with the one that held the ring. It was a nice ring, a wedding band; which meant less people hit on Cassidy, which was slightly sad. But something about it made her wear it anyways, and just not-so-politely explain that no, she wasn’t some young bride forced into a shotgun wedding.
Tau really hated people, just in general. There were few that he could stand before he broke down as it was, but in his few centuries of dormancy his misanthropic nature only festered. Humans were and are disgusting creatures, always... touching things, like other people, like themselves, even things that many other people had touched. Disgusting.
On hindsight, being a ring was probably not the best of all possible objects to have embedded himself into. He would have to change into a ring on a chain next time around, to be used as a necklace of some sort. A sort of charm, if you will. A cursed one, but still a charm.
Still a little irritated with his current position, the metal man was in little mood to forgive for the sudden touching. He just... didn't like it. He didn't know where this new bitch's hands had been, he had no real desire to have her grubby little gropers touching him. Despite having already fed for the next few days, he felt that it was sufficient punishment to further drain his host. Perhaps he would pull a little from the reserves of the new woman as well.
Post by Benjamin Locke on Aug 31, 2015 7:34:40 GMT -5
Ben turned the page of his book, smiling. Suppressing a chuckle, he looked up, noticing the commotion for the first time. A woman seemed to be at the center of it and the other had apparently come over to help her. The pair wasn’t too particularly loud but the young man still found them distracting.
Setting the joke book down, Ben reached into his pocket to pull out a stick of gum. He put it in his mouth and began to chew, taking a moment to enjoy that initial rush of flavor. Ben picked the book back up and made his way to the register.
Locke took out his wallet and paid, waiting for the receipt before he walked to the door. Pausing for a moment, he took out his aviator sunglasses, made sure they were free of smudges, and put them on. Ben left the store, joke book in hand, and walked away wondering what he was going to eat for lunch.
Post by Nesley Isaiah on Aug 31, 2015 10:56:48 GMT -5
Nesley had been wandering the dusty store in his usual form of a human child for at least the past half hour, already. It was only natural, after all, that his love for old places extended to old things, right? A few other people had entered the store while he was browsing, but he'd mostly kept to himself and stayed just out of notice. He'd had enough humans stopping him to ask about his parents for one day. Humans had become so obsessive over children in the last decade! He missed the times when he could just wander the streets as any other street urchin.
The disguised Fae pouted to himself as he eyes wandered a shelf of various trinkets. He'd noticed most of the humans had gone for the books... What fun was that? All you can do with books is read them. Trinkets, though, you can play with those and take them apart and rebuild them or use them to make new trinkets! The possibilities were endless. He just had to be weary of iron trinkets... He'd made that mistake more than once. Now grinning as he basked in his own trinket superiority, Nesley glanced back towards the two humans near the books. Apparently one of them had gotten hurt, so another was trying to help her... Despite the colorful swearing filling the store, he hadn't paid much attention.
Looking at them, now, though, something else caught his eyes and attention in full. It was a simple thing and he wasn't sure what it was about it, but... That was a fantastic looking little ring the human was wearing and he wanted it. He was already devising little schemes in his mind where he could steal it, without even meaning to. Stealing wasn't usually his thing, but... When a Fae wants a shiny old ring, who are you to say no? Shaking his head to get out of his transfixion on the object, Nesley stepped out of his safety bubble and approached the two, feigning childish concern. "Are you okay, Ma'am?" He asked, reaching for her hand.
Last Edit: Aug 31, 2015 11:16:11 GMT -5 by Nesley Isaiah
Post by Carissa D. Lee on Aug 31, 2015 12:52:58 GMT -5
“Yeah, thanks, just sort of had a woozy moment,” the young woman said as Carissa clasped hands with her. She began to slowly lift the young woman when she was overcome with the strangest sensations. What energy she had had suddenly drained from her body. Without meaning to she released the woman’s hand and stumbled backward, also failing to maintain her balance and landing squarely on her tailbone. She bit down on her cheek and let out a low hiss of pain.
“Sorry- I don’t know what just happened,” she hurried to say to the woman, not wanting to look foolish or weak. She still felt off, suddenly tired. What was wrong with her? Maybe she needed something to eat or some water? She pushed herself up again as a child walked over, offering to help the woman up in her place. Carissa quickly surveyed her body, simply adjusting her posture, before concluding she would be fine, if not reluctant to sit the rest of the day. In all the chaos, she noted that the man reading the joke book had left the store.
Carissa found herself standing once more. She peered around for the child’s parents or caretakers but figured they must be elsewhere in the store. He was very polite, she thought, in comparison to many children. It seemed odd for a child to be alone in an antique store, but she had seen stranger things still. She lingered by the pair, watching to see if the young woman needed more help up or if the child would be able to get her standing. She asked her a few questions as they worked to get up again, “What hurts? Can you move whatever hurts?” She still doubted it was broken but felt the need to ask and be sure- she could get the young woman to her clinic if need be.
Cassidy has a very expressive face. When she's not laughing her ass off, or frowning up a storm, she's usually still got a cocky smile on her lips. Her nails are always painted something whacky or just black. Her ears have a few piercings, and her nose looks like it may have been broken before.
Post by Cassidy Fox on Sept 5, 2015 9:37:33 GMT -5
Cassidy was feeling pretty blah. She thought she might even throw up, but kept everything inside. She linked hands with the nice-nosed woman, and was lifted part way, when a sudden wave of wooziness hit her again, and the woman dropped her. A groan escaped from Cassidy’s throat, as the other girl scrambled for an apology, before asking her if everything was alright.
“Yea, I’m just peachy. Just a bit fucking sore from being god damned dropped.” Cassidy snapped, a bit annoyed. She sighed and ran her fingers through her white hair. It wasn’t the woman’s fault, she’d probably made a wrong estimate on Cassidy’s weight. Although that could be seen as an insult, Cassidy sucked it up. “Sorry, thanks but I’m good.”
A kid came over, obviously attracted by the commotion the two girls were causing in the store. Cassidy hadn’t noticed him before, but then again she hadn’t noticed the other man until the door clinked, indicating that he was leaving. The kid offered to help them, and Cassidy waved him off. “I doubt you can lift me kid, but I’m fine.”
Cassidy took a moment, placing her hands on the ground to steady herself, before slowly pushing herself back up so that she was standing. She swayed a little, and felt lightheaded, but she took a few deep breaths and figured she could manage standing.