Toys are Fun
Who: Adelle and Lexi When: Afternoon Where: Les Is More
Adelle had only met the owner of the store Les is More once. She'd been in town for a brief week and then hightailed it back to New York or New Jersey or whichever state in New England she had flown into the small town from. It was during that time period that she'd applied and gotten a job, her first job, in fact. She had been working there for a couple of weeks and she was still nervous about everything. It wasn't about making a mistake with money or having to talk to customers, but it was what she was selling them that was issue. Her first day, she'd sold a girl a couple of years younger than her a pair of edible panties.
Now, Adelle wasn't nervous because she was selling things like lingerie and adult toys. The thing that made her nervous was having to keep from talking the customer's heads off regarding anything they picked up. When people weren't in the store, she liked to wander around and read about what she was selling. The lingerie she was able to skip since it was basically all the same, it just came in different colors and with more or less lace on it. Now the toys, she had been reading the backs and sides of boxes for days and she was just now grasping the concept of some of the things. Sometimes her eyes opened wide when she read what they were for, and sometimes she fumbled the box in her hands as if she were touching the actual toy itself and somebody had been using it for what it was intended.
She wasn't shy with any subject, but she was really taken aback by the size of some of the toys and the primary uses of others. Like the traffic cone in the corner. That.. that wasn't really a traffic cone. She had snapped a picture of it and intending to send it to Roxy and Fina after work. She already giggled enough looking at some of the illustrations on the sides of the boxes, and then there had been the Obama toy and the flesh colored ones with the sparkles. Adelle was enjoying a fun day, despite the fact that going outside to her car scared the bejeesus out of her with the demons. She had been sitting in her condo for days on the phone with her mother to avoid simply moving back home, but Ryndana had assured her that since Roxy and Fina were both there with family nearby, she would be less alone than with her mother and father both working most of the day.
Adi sighed to herself and put down the box she was reading. Maybe she should straighten up the bookshelves.
Since the demon attacks Lexi had managed to find excuses to hang out in Ad Gustum. Her experience with the demon before was pretty damn terrifying and it certainly didn't help that she had seen the vampires literally tear it apart. She was more than a little pissed off with the whole thing, especially since it seemed to be seeping into her professional life. She had managed to avoid vampire customers since then, but Lexi knew this was impractical and she just needed to get the images she saw out of her brain. Hanging around Ad Gustum didn't seem to help much with that and Lexi knew she needed to get out and into the world again at some point. So she decided today was the day. Plus she had things to get.
Lexi managed to get some small errands done before her last stop, Les is More. She had heard some of the Ad Gustum girls talking about it and decided to see what the buzz was all about. She didn't really need any knew toys as she was still playing around with the Four Treasures goody box but Lexi knew that it was important to always look good and to be prepared. When she entered the shop she went directly to the lingerie. The toys would be easy, for the most part, to pick out if she decided she needed anything. It was the clothes that was always a little more of a challenge. Lexi liked to have a wide variety of things to wear so she wanted to make sure most things she bought matched or complimented something else she owned.
She barely noticed the girl who was working. Lexi tended to do her best to block emotions from others, which tended to work as her ability wasn't all that strong unless she was in bed anyway. She just went to the racks and flipped through to see if anything caught her interest.
Adelle was just finishing her first row of books when she heard the telltale ring of somebody entering the store. She turned to face the entrance and caught a glimpse of a woman much taller than she and still wearing heels. While she was off she would probably be all gussied up herself, but at work it was the store shirt and a pair of denim capris, platform sandals and then all the accessories she could slap on her wrists and in her hair. Making sure that her happy face was still on, she straightened her shirt and walked on over to the other woman.
"Hi, welcome to Les is More. Is there anything I can help you with today?" She smiled one of her biggest smiles, but she had to look up to deliver it. The other woman was more than half a foot taller than her in those heels, and it made her feel like a dwarf. Although when she looked into her face she was a bit overwhelmed. The woman was quite striking, with features similar to her own, and the same build with the added height. Adelle mentally sighed and wished she was taller. She could be this woman's kid sister, or even her daughter if she knew how old she was.
Uh oh. Lexi wondered if this would be good or bad. It never seemed to be in the middle in shops like these. Either the people working were either really attentive, to the point of annoying and giving hints that they thought she was a shoplifter or the place was like a ghost town with no one to be found with questions or in need of assistance. Those two attitudes generally gravitated to the type of shop. The nicer the shop and more expensive the items, the more annoying they were. She suppose she couldn't blame them. She had an advantage after all. If she had her own shop she'd be listening in all the time for nasty thieves. Not that she had room to talk. The thought made her quirk a smile when she turned to address the short girl in front of her.
At least she seemed happy to be working. When she heard the girl's thought Lexi let the small smile grow into a brighter one. Everyone wanted to be taller. And then her smile fell. The kid thought she looked old enough to be her mother? That was rude. Here Lexi thought she was going to have to have a good day and then the little shit had to go and ruin it by being disrespectful. Sure the bitch didn't say it, but Lexi didn't particularly care. She gave Adelle a bright smile, quickly recovering from her frown. "Hello. I don't think I need anything really. Just looking around mostly." She nodded to the racks of lingerie. "You have nice stuff here." Lexi kept her mind peeled. She wanted to see what else was going on in that brain. Maybe she could use it some how. Teach the kid a lesson maybe.
But if only Lexi knew what her mother looked like, maybe it wouldn't have been a bad thing to think. They were both active sirens, although for the longest time, Adelle hadn't put two and two together to figure out why exactly it was that her mother just looked so damned good over the years. She was getting close to the age that she would stop aging herself, and it dawned on her that she would never look like a true woman, just a cute girl forever. Unless she could stop herself from continuing to murder her friends would eventually find out what kind of person she was. Why couldn't she be born with something a little easier to control, like bursting into flames when she was angry.
"I think we do, and most of the designs here are from our owner. She's got awesome taste... sometimes." There was that one polka dotted number with the underlying plaid pattern that everyone kind of glanced at from the corners of their eyes. Her first impression of the store had been marred by that one section of weird. Clasping her hands together, she walked back over to the nearby bookshelf and started her work again. Not everyone was like her and chatted with the people working in the stores, so she knew it was better for business if she didn't hover and tell her stories. Or make her feel uncomfortable with the shapes of some of the toys, or possibly be clumsy and fumble a toy onto her person. The merchandise was packaged with anti-theft labels or tags anyway, so she knew she didn't have to watch the other woman. But ooh, what she would give to be that tall and womanly instead of short and young-looking.
Lexi looked at the rack of ugly clothes the girl had mentioned and wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, sometimes is right." She said with a shake of her head. "I'll just look at these." and gave the girl a nod and resumed her browsing. Okay. So Lexi had been irritated by the derogatory thought but if the girl kept remarking how great she looked Lexi was sure she'd forget about it. After all, she supposed it was pretty nice to know that even if she looked old, and what a nasty thought that was, she at least looked hot. Hot enough to make a younger woman jealous even? Okay, Lexi didn't much care anymore. She just couldn't help it. She used flattery to get her way all the time so she was smart enough to know she was a sucker for it herself. At least when it was genuine as it was now. In fact, Lexi was feeling so good about the thoughts coming her way that she picked up a few items, staples for her really, and carried them to the counter. She laid two garter belts, some nylons and some random teddies on the counter. She didn't really care what they were. They looked nice at a glance and that was good enough. She'd know what to where and when. It was nice to have that variety.
"So what else do you have here?" She asked in a more chipper tone. She could tell the girl wanted to be chatty and Lexi was happy to indulge. For now.
Adelle turned from the books with a widening grin on her lips. Maybe she did want to chat. Hopefully she wouldn't regret her decision later, because once you got her talking, it was hard to stop her. "Oh, well we have these lovely books. All kinds of how-tos and telling your man how to touch you properly, or how to tell your parents that you're gay, or my favorite, this cute little calender of ridiculous sexual positions that nobody can really do because you need like a monkey, a tub of lard, and a pair of rollerblades constantly." She turned to point over at the naughtier section. "And we have enough toys to make people think we're a penis sculpture museum."
"Ooh, garter belts are so sexy. I don't even know how to get one on right, but I'm more of a sundress person, so I wouldn't have many chances to wear one. Just dresses in particular, and heels! Oh, but let me shut up. We actually do sell those stripperific clear heeled shoes though." She pointed over her other shoulder. She had known a girl in high school that wore a pair every week as part of an outfit with a miniskirt. Try as she might her own mother wouldn't let her own some, and she was sure that her friends would gawk and burst into fits of laughter if she strode in wearing any. Could a telepath's head explode from hearing a girl like her talk and think at the same time?
Lexi just stood there with a blank expression on her face with blinking eyes. It was like she opened up a new well and the words would not stop pouring out. She was pretty sure she had never met such a talkative person in her life. Well except for the twins but they were a whole other bundle of cute. Maybe it was more like she hadn't much a talkative person in a place like this. Even the she-hawks at the nicer places weren't quite this chatty. Lexi just nodded her head with a small, distant smile. At least the girl knew the layout of the store. That was helpful. This seemed to be a one stop shop sort of place which was kind of nice and Lexi found her ears perking up at the sound of clear heeled stripper heels. She used to have an awesome pair that got broke when she got in a fist fight with a stupid bitch several years back.
"Garter belts are very sexy." She agreed with the shorter woman finally shut up. "You don't need to wear them under things though." She pointed out. "I mean, you can just wear them just to wear them." She shrugged. At this point garters were more of a costume for Lexi and not exactly for utilitarian purposes. "Get you a nice man and he'll go wild just to see it. Especially if you're not wearing anything else." She glanced around the room, ticking off what Adelle had mentioned. "Won't need tips or tricks, trust me, I've got plenty of those. Probably better than anything you'll find in that book." And she winked. "I will definitely want to check out the dildo city but let's stop at those shoes you mentioned first hmm?"
"Right this way." Adelle turned on her heels and led her back towards the shoes. They were all heels, because let's face it, when we're thinking of a sexy, kinky woman, she's in a pair of gorgeous heels. They had everything from a gentle incline all the way up to ten inch heels that were inspired by Japanese fashion. There were some that didn't sharply incline, but there were some that sloped so high that your feet were nearly vertical. If she wouldn't look so ridiculous on a pair of the Japanese platforms, she would've had a pair in an instant. But that entailed a different fashion thread entirely. "And here are the clear ones."
The tiny siren picked one up and held at shoulder height, admiring the clean gleam of the light swimming through the bottom. A lone butterfly adorned the strap, a clever way to hide the seam. Just looking at the shoe made her want to try a pair on herself and take pictures of her feet. She needed a friend that would squeal over shoes with her. Maybe the girls would have something awesome to say about it and she could take the risk in getting a pair. After all, her mother was back in California, this was a prime chance to do some things she now had the utmost freedom to do. That was, if she could get over her fear of a demon bursting through the window at any moment. How was she going to kill somebody when the lust got too strong if she was afraid to go outside ever?
The shoes were definitely something. Many of them were appealing and fun and if Lexi was willing to go through pain to impress her clients she would invest in a couple different pairs. But it wasn't really Lexi's style. She liked a good pair of relatively comfortable heels. Then again, Lexi liked 2-4 inch heels so the comfort was very relative. However, Lexi was fairly accustomed to the pain high heels gave and it didn't really phase her much anymore. The clear heels were very fun indeed and Lexi decided she had to have them, if only because the clerk obviously wanted them to badly. Sometimes Lexi didn't go out of her way to be bitch, she just sort of was. This wasn't blatant in any way but it gave her a fun sense of satisfaction to have something someone else couldn't.
"I'll take them." Lexi said after making a show of turning the heels about in her hand. "The butterfly is a nice touch isn't it? Very cute!" She simpered a bit, drawing the whole thing out probably a little more than necessary. "I think they'll go well with some of the other stuff I grabbed." She imagined how it'd look in her head and knew it'd be a nice image. "So is there anything else you'd like to show me? You seem to have pretty good taste." Plus it was the lazy route. Why should Lexi have to look through everything to find something good when someone else was willing to bring it to her?
Adelle was definitely starting to realize that the older woman was playing games, merely pandering to a base emotion of being complimented. However, she really didn't care, but smiled meekly and turned back to the glass display case. She ran her fingers over a couple of different pairs of footwear before she finally turned back around, holding a simple black platform. "I love the butterfly on that one, it's really too cute. And thank you. Now this one is special. Looks like a pretty average platform, but--" She removed the sole to reveal that the inside was hollow. "Treasure chest. Nice for hiding things, awesome things. I presume this is where the pornstar hides the pocket rocket."
"If you'd like to have fun rather than say, shop, we can head over into 'dildo city' as you called it. I'm no expert there, like at all. So if you know something awesome that I can tell the next customers to make myself look good, I'd love to hear." Please don't let her be some dominatrix or something. Adi placed the treasure chest platform back onto the display and boxed the clear heels for her customer. If only she were paid on commission, her check for the week would be astounding. Once the shoes were lovingly placed in the box, she walked over to place them on the counter next to the rest of Lexi's selections. "You probably don't really to pay a horrifyingly chatty girl any more attention, but my name's Adelle."
Lexi burst out laughing at the treasure chest platform heels. She couldn't help it. So the girl had spunk and the idea of someone hiding a pocket rocket in their heel was not only funny but a clever idea. Not that Lexi carried items like that around her in general. She got enough that she didn't typically get the urge on the go, so to speak. "I imagine a porn star would hide things like pocket rockets in that spot." She smiled, much more genuinely. "I'll just take the clear heels but that's a clever idea. I bet they probably just say it's for your key when you're out jogging or something." She snickered.
"I already have plenty of stuff that you'd find over in dildo land but it's always nice to look." Lexi shrugged. She'd probably just get the couple of clothing items and the shoes and call it good. "I guess if I'm familiar with anything I can tell you what I know but I think we both know they're all pretty self-explanatory." She walked over to the toys and found a box with one of those vibrating dildos with rotating pieces. Lexi appreciated their purpose but they always scared her a little. What if it went haywire and started smoking in her vag - no thanks. She held it up, though, and said across the store to Adelle, "This thing is scary. Tell people it's for an adventurous woman. Some people like to be crazy just because." She set the box down and moved to the next item. "Oh and I'm Lexi."
The young woman was feeling like she was doing less of work, and more hanging out. She could only see this much fun with somebody she already knew, and that wasn't to happen until she let Fina know when she was working so that they could hang out and peruse panties. She strode on over to the other side of the store, giving a quick glance outside. Her new paranoia didn't escape her even now. She was going to really have to work through this or it was going to become a paralyzing fear pretty quickly, she could just feel it. "I've always liked the name Lexi. It just rolls off the tongue and has this thing about it that makes it really sexy. I think it's the X and that it rhymes with sexy."
"But I have two weird names, and anybody saying Adelle or Adi never really sounds sexy. My second name is just messed up, as beautiful as it is. It's my mom's and I think it's Asian or something but it's just really, really unusual." Adelle ended up a few paces from Lexi on the right, and she picked up something she'd never looked at before. She disregarded the lettering, intrigued by the shape. She twirled the box in her hands, looking at the rounded cone with the wide base. It looked more like a glass ornament than anything, and she finally read the letters so see just what it was. "Jewel Glass Ana-- oh my god! This is made of glass! And you put it in your butt!"
"Mmmm." Lexi murmured. "Sexy Lexi. I've heard it before." She grinned. "It's an okay name." She shrugged and thought about the many names she had taken on. Lexi was probably the most fun of the names she'd taken through life but it wasn't her favorite. She didn't really have a favorite. A name was like an outfit, easy to change with her mood. "Adelle is a nice name and Adi is cute. I'm sure you'll meet someone who will say your name and it will sound sexy." She had heard that this was supposed to happen when you had a grand romantic moment but Lexi hadn't had a moment like that in a long time. "So what's your second name anyway? Unusual is usually nicer than you think, maybe?"
Lexi followed Adelle through the merchandise, looking at the different items and was starting to get bored. It all looked like the same sorts of things and talking to a kid about how unsexy her name was wasn't exactly the most exciting afternoon. Then again she could be bored at the house so she supposed it wasn't terrible. She'd been about to walk back to the counter when she heard Adelle exclaim. Okay. Lexi took her previous thoughts away. This girl was funny! Lexi burst out laughing. "Yeaaaaaah, people like to do weird things to their butts. It's okay sometimes but the idea of a giant glass cone in my ass isn't exactly appealing." She wrinkled her nose at the thought.
The sheer girth of the thing at its widest point scared the siren and she put it back on the shelf hurriedly. She tried not to look at it, but it was almost like it was trying to stare back at her. It was a freaking dildo, it couldn't look at her! She turned the box so that the lettering on the side faced outward, and moved on. Adelle avoided things of similar shape as she walked along. Regular dildos were fine and didn't scare her, just the sudden realization that something so big could-- "It's Ryndana. I've never met anybody that's ever heard anything similar, and I've never seen my grandparents. The family is my parents and me pretty much."
She needed to get her mind off of the cone, and thinking about her parents had worked. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Things were starting to make no sense. She didn't actually know of any grandparents on either side of her family, her mother was a siren as well, hadn't aged in twenty-three years, and her father wasn't acknowledging or complaining about any of it. She could make a movie out of this crap. Meanwhile, Roxy had an entire extended family of penguins and even Fina's family was fairly large. As much as she got along with Roxy's family, she had just never thought about her own. Sometimes she was just too dense for her own good. "This duck is in bondage. This duck is in bondage, it's wearing leather and studs. This is cute and frightening at the same time."
Wow, this girl was way too scared of sex toys. Lexi couldn't exactly blame her. Lexi had done anal before, she couldn't avoid it in her line of work, but that even scared her a little. She followed Adelle's cue and moved away from the glass butt plug both physically and conversationally. "Ryndana? That's very pretty." Lexi thought she might have to steal it for her own use when she moved on. It'd work out nicely. "You're right though. I haven't heard anything like it. Maybe it's just sort of a made up name or from a book or something? There are lots of weird ones out there." Lexi shrugged it off and ignored the whole grandparent conversation. Lexi didn't like to think about family.
Thoughts of avoiding thoughts were swirling in Lexi's mind when her attention was brought right back to Adelle. "What the fuck?" She was taken aback by the randomness of what Adelle was talking about. "A duck in bondage? What?" She looked around to see what exactly Adelle was going on about.
Adi pointed at it, pointed at the cutely offensive thing. It was a regular yellow rubber duckie dressing in a few pieces of leather that showed it's face, wings, tail, and underside. Studs dotted it in corners and along the side, there was a spiked collar around its neck and a tattoo on its wing as well. The display next to it instructed one to squeeze, so with tiny, slow moving fingers she picked it up and gave it one. Nothing happened. She flipped it and squeezed again to have it come to life in her hands. A rubber duck vibrator. "Aah! Oh wow. This thing is pretty powerful too." Placing it on the counter, she watched it wiggle its way around almost violently. The thing would probably turn a bath into a jacuzzi with all the movement that was happening.
"Thank you. About the name thing. I just can't help but imagine it's somebody's idea of a joke, like it's somebody's dumb Warcraft name or something." Adelle had seen the game both advertised and played in front of her, and she wasn't at all impressed. Names that sounded like something out of a book or ironic names or just words conveying a meaning like healing or killing just seemed to be all the rage. The duck on the counter vibrated itself toward the edge of the table, and she scooped it up. Turning it off, she turned to Lexi, held it out. "I just don't want to know what happens when it jumps out of your hands with that collar there. How loud can you really say ow in the tub without somebody running to save you?"
The duck looked fairly unassuming at first but the moment it started vibrating Lexi's heart warmed. For some reason she felt like she needed it. It was cute, even if it was a little bizarre. "Powerful you say?" Lexi replied with a thoughtful tone and small smile. "And it goes in the water?" Lexi laughed out loud. "Sold. I want it. Plus I have two friends I have to show this to." Lexi wasn't entirely sure how Aurora and Aetheria would respond to the duck but she had a feeling they'd think it was cute at the very least. She was very curious to see what their reaction would be once they found out it was a water toy. The thought made her giggle. "Ryndana is a weird name." Lexi sympathized, "But it's pretty. I don't know anything about World of Warcraft or whatever it's called but if they have names like that, then it might be neat?" Lexi was clueless when it came to online stuff. She could shop and browse but games were out of her scope entirely.
The siren was laughing before she could stop herself. The prospect of showing her friends one of the ducks made her laugh. She squeezed another one, and the high pitched squeaking noise made her smile. The world today was full of inventions to invoke a feeling of nostalgia but laced with adult themes. It was like growing up and realizing that Disney movies were written for the parents to enjoy as well. "I just feel like some nerd somewhere will go gaga over my name when he hears it. I totally do not want to see my name as somebody's character, or somebody's love interest in a book, or some heroine in a movie. I'm totally being selfish with my name." Adelle sighed in a huff.
"Not like I'm not already the basis for characters anyway. Have you ever heard of R. Jackson? She's an author, writes books featuring teenage girls and women in their twenties. All dramas, and all have one character in common. Well, an archetype anyway. Anytime I tell her the slightest bit of news, my personal experiences are in her next book. She has three novels dealing with the time I stepped into the wrong locker room at school and all the guys thought I wanted to see their junk." Her hands had found a pink vibrator and she was fiddling with it in one hand, shaking it to emphasize her points. The thing was flapping around like bag full of jello, and had come close to slapping Lexi in the gut more than a few times. "I just thank God that none of my friends read my mom's books."
Names were not a big deal for Lexi because she changed them so often but she could understand where Adelle was coming from, she supposed. "You could always change your name if you hate it so much." Her voice was filled with amused irritation. The irritation was leaking through. God she hated when that happened. She wanted to take the giant pink dildo and beat the girl over the head with it. "Besides, being a love interest is good. Though I guess if you've been the subject of your mom's books then I could see how that'd get old quick." Lexi had taken several steps back to avoid getting whacked with what she would now call the Pink Bomber. "Why doesn't your mom just read stupid stuff online for inspiration? People write the stupidest things about what happens to them and there would be plenty of inspiration there." Plus Lexi would find it amusing to see some of those absurd stories brought to life. Not that she had any intention of reading this R. Jackson.
"Because she's my mom and writing cheesy things like that has made her really popular. I guess maybe because it's so true to life if I come home and blab. But I think I'll keep the name. I should try not to hate it so much." The younger woman dropped the flopping pink toy back onto its demo shelf and looked around. They had essentially looked at everything the store had to offer, and she had convinced Lexi to buy more than a few items so she was thoroughly satisfied. The time had flew and that was a good thing. If only she could have a happy customer like this woman everyday, aside from the agitation she felt in the air with her continued assault on her own name. The small girl started to make her way back to the register, "So, Lexi, is there anything else I can interest you in today?"
Lexi shrugged at Adelle's reasoning. "Well if it works, it works. I hope she sends you money for the embarrassment of sharing your stories though!" She teased. Well she only partially teased. If Lexi was going to divulge her life stories she'd expect compensation as a matter of course. Then again, this was Adelle's mom and some people were crazy and somehow managed to have working relationships with their family. She supposed asking for money would somehow disrupt that. When Adelle put the pink bomber back Lexi followed her back to the register. "No, I think this will be it for now. Thanks for your help though. It was nice talking to you." And surprisingly, it was. The irritation was dissipating and over all it wasn't a terrible conversation and she wasn't as worried about going outside now. New stuff bought, not being scared and wasting time in a decent way was an okay way to spend her afternoon, she figured.