WHO: Lucrezia Borgin & Joe Bell. WHAT: Joe pays a visit, makes a purchase, and possibly some headway. WHEN: Tuesday, March 13th after lunch. WHERE: Borgin and Burkes. WARNINGS: Nothing really. Some talk of cursed objects.
“Welcome to Borgin and Burkes,” Lucrezia chirped upon hearing the familiar ring of the bell above the door. She didn’t bother looking at immediately, instead taking a moment to scrawl a few more words in the inventory ledger. “What can I help you with -- “ Finally, she looked up and was honestly shocked to see just who had wandered into the store. “Joe. What are you doing here?”
"Oh, you know," Joe started, picking up the nearest item — a curious-looking spoon. He eyed it cautiously before setting it down again, and strolling slowly towards the counter, where Lucrezia stood. "Shopping."
Nevertheless, he glanced around the store, taking in anything that was 'new' — he hadn't had any reason recently to visit the shop but after last week's event at his parents' house, he had been a bit more proactive about trying to dig out things. "How's the business?" Joe asked, his attention shifting back to the shopkeeper.
Setting her quill down, she eyes darted around the store. Lucrezia was uneasy that perhaps she had forgotten that someone else was in the store. Someone who might not appreciate a member of the DMLE poking around the shop.
“Business is fine.” Offering a smile, she stepped out from the behind the counter. “Shopping for anything in particular?”
"Wondering if you have had any recent discounts on fire-related products," Joe responded, his tone leaning towards indifference, even though he was mighty curious about it. (Not that Death Eaters needed any sort of fire-related products to set things on fire, but that was a different story altogether.)
Tilting her head to one side, Lucrezia pressed her lips together, nodded her head, and motioned for Joe to begin following her. The pair shuffled past various antiques: books, looming cabinets, chalices, and other various sundries. Eventually, she stopped near the back of the shop and took a moment to turn around a glass jar of shrunken heads before speaking.
“What are you doing here?”
Not having anticipated the sudden stopping, Joe promptly walked right into her, before he took a few small steps back and apologised quietly. He considered her question for a few seconds and cleared his throat, as if he was genuinely considering it. "My family's house was attacked last week and I'm looking for who could be behind it. Thought I'd start off here," he responded, not bothering to mince the words.
“I know. I’m sorry.” Glancing around once again, Lucrezia then took a step forward. “Did they use something in particular? An item or anything?”
"I don't think so," Joe frowned, trying to recall the exact details, though his mother's screams seemed to take precedence the most. He tried to push out the echoes in his mind, though he wasn't as successful as he had hoped. Instead, he reached for one of the glass jars, and eyed the item curiously. "What's this supposed to be for?" he inquired, a brow raised.
Lucrezia nodded her head, but said nothing to his initial comment. Though she was sure the persons who had attacked his family had set foot in Borgin & Burkes at some point, there was little she could do to help in that department. Her grandfather prided himself of maintaining customer anonymity and she doubted that was going to change anytime soon.
“Those are piano strings,” she informed him as she carefully took the jar from him. “With the tiniest amount of force, they can slice through anything. Even the users own fingers if they aren’t wearing proper gear on their hands. Made by a Italian pianist who had quite a bit of gambling debt from what I understand.”
Joe was careful to hand the jar over, though he looked at it with suspicion all the same. He wouldn't have even thought of something like that, and yet here they were. Instead, Joe took a deep breath and glanced at Lucrezia again. "Do you have anything for annoying coworkers?" He asked, only half-joking.
She tried to smile as she carefully placed the glass back down on the shelf. Talking about dark objects was certainly easier with those who had grown up with them like her. “Well that spoon you were looking at earlier causes anyone who eats off of it to be sick for at least an hour after,” Lucrezia informed him after deciding not to ask which coworker.
"How does that even work…?" Joe mused out loud, turning his head over his shoulder to look in the general direction of where they had come from. He frowned a bit, mostly as he imagined how that could possibly work, but he supposed that he didn't really know much about many of these dark objects either. "Anyway, sick how?"
Lucrezia wrinkled her nose. “Sick, sick,” she stated as she took a step backward toward the front of the shop. “Like the look will be your best friend for the next hour sick.”
"I'll take one!" he exclaimed immediately. And after a moment, he added: "Actually, make that a full set. Better to have a few extra ones around." The thought of Rowle being ill was particularly exciting to imagine and if it worked well enough, perhaps Joe could pawn off one to Montague, as well. He smiled to himself, before he started to follow Lucrezia again.
And then back to serious topics. But first, needed to make sure they were alone. "Are you here by yourself?"
“Lucky for you we have a few of those in stock!” Perhaps in a few days, she would inquire how the items were working out for him. Purely from a customer satisfaction point, of course. “And yes. I’m the only one in the store right now. Grandfather’s upstairs taking his post-lunch whisky shot nap.”
"Right, well, I have a favour to ask," snipped Joe, both of his brows shooting up.
Lucrezia bit down on her bottom lip as she had a vague idea of what the hitwizard was about to ask her. “What is it?”
Joe leaned in closer to Lucrezia, and lowered his voice. "Have you considered working with the DMLE about some of the things you encounter here, in this shop?" he asked, a hint of curiosity edged in.
“I don’t think the DMLE currently cares about the things I encounter in this shop,” Lucrezia answered in a quiet voice.
"I care," Joe was quick to interject.
Folding her arms across her chest, Lucrezia looked down at the uneven wood floor, studying the various knots and cracks. “What sort of things would you want to know?”
Joe shifted his weight from one leg to the other, back and forth, as he finally settled and accidentally mirrored her action of folding his arms across his chest. He pursed his lips for a moment and considered what he was going to say, before he finally spoke out loud. "Actual crime. I care about upholding the law and not the law the government currently employs." It may not have been the best thing to say to someone in this neck of the woods, but Joe felt like he could trust the Borgin girl.
“I’ll see what I can do,” was all she could offer after some awkward moments of silence passed between them.
The Hitwizard nodded briefly, knowing full well that was better than what he could have honestly hoped for. He cleared his throat, and took a few steps back. "So, the spoon?"
“Yes! The spoon,” Lucrezia answered with a sudden change in her demeanor as she spun around and began to make her way back to the front counter, heels clopping against the hardwood floors. “Now these are for novelty purposes only, but what you chose to do with them is your decision.”
"I only ever make wise decisions," Joe laughed, taking his stride behind Lucrezia.