nodarkmagic (nodarkmagic) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-05-15 21:03:00 |
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The thing about working in an occult store was that you got all sorts of customers. There were the people that were just curious about what it was and what the things inside were used for, the people that were clear skeptics, and the people who were there to buy things to use for whatever they had in mind. Some she’d seen multiple times and some were new. But Diana never really minded. It was nice to talk to people and it was nice to help inform the public. No, she never participated in any rituals herself, but she knew a few things. She knew that different colors were used for different things. Whether that be candles or crystals. Along with a few other details. The past couple days had been filled with unexplained blushing every time Romany spoke to her about something. It was all a reminder of her slip up when talking to the man who’d had his foot stomped on by a horse. She could still feel embarrassment creep into her chest every time she thought about what happened. She tried to shake it off, but she hadn’t managed yet. At least Pete had stood by what he’d said and hadn’t told her. There was no teasing, so she didn’t have to suffer extra embarrassment. For now, however, she was wandering around the store, stocking things that had come in earlier that morning. It had been a fairly quiet day, most of the people coming in being people that frequented the store more often than the general population. Once she was done with this, she knew that she’d have to sweep, but she was trying to prolong her time between stocking and sweeping. Raistlin was a man who did not “window shop”. The idea of going into a store without an intended goal in mind seemed a frivolous waste of time to him. Not that he wasn’t above being distracted from his intended goal by something he hadn’t expected to find, or something that caught his interest. This tended to happen quite a bit when he was in bookstores, or when he was in an occult shop. There were several occult shops in the area, but not all of them were created equal. There were a disturbing number of shops that claimed to be occult, but were more novelty than anything else. Raistlin had quickly found a handful of shops that he found suited his needs the best. This happened to be one of them. He’d been in a few times in recent week, stocking up on herbs, components, and the like. What he needed that particular afternoon, he was in need of a few scales. He nodded a greeting at the woman stocking the shelves. Diana casually recognized the face as one that came in a couple of times. It wasn’t like she could put a name to the face or really much to the face outside of the knowledge that she’d seen him before. That usually meant that someone was actually practicing the Craft. That or they just really liked occult stores. It probably wasn’t that, however. But who knew? She gave him a quick smile and a wave, finishing putting what was currently in her hands away before moving a little closer. “Good afternoon. Is there anything I can help you with?” Instead of the usual customer service smile, Diana’s was genuine. She really liked it here. Even if sweeping and mopping felt like a chore. Still, the people were pretty nice. The worst things that happened were bad jokes and the occasional customer with a bad attitude. Raistlin was not a “people person” by anyone’s stretch of imagination. Generally speaking, though, he was civil to those who made their living in customer service. They were only doing their jobs, checking with their patrons, making sure their trips were productive. So long as said customer service person wasn’t too overzealous with their service. All Raistlin ever wanted was to get his stuff and go home. “Yes, actually,” Raistlin nodded. He took a small slip of paper from his pocket. “I need to get the items on this list. Lizard scales and several herbs.” Diana always thought some of the ingredients were a little odd, but who was she to question them or what they were for. Even if she was a little curious about it. Her smile widened a little as she read over everything. “I actually know where everything on this list is.” She cut herself off from rambling about how long it had taken her to be able to say that, given she didn’t think that most people cared to know about that. Just that she knew where it all was. “You can get half and I can get half to make it faster. Unless you were hoping to browse for a while.” She didn’t consider him a walk and browse sort of person, however. She wasn’t entirely a great read on people, but she couldn’t really picture him aimlessly browsing. Raistlin was a little impressed at the girl’s instant response in immediately knowing where everything was. She gained a point by volunteering to get half of what he needed herself to make it faster. He cleared his throat forcefully. “No,” he told her simply. “I only want what’s on the list.” At least today. If given the opportunity to browse, he may never actually leave. “If you don’t mind getting the herbs, I will collect the needed scales.” This was what she got from having a slightly obsessive need to know where things were. Plus, she’d hated the feeling of not knowing. There was nothing more painful than the awkward attempts at finding things only to take forever and feel ridiculous at the same time. Okay, there was. It was the mistake she’d made about Romany and Pete, but she was not talking about that. His response about wanting only what was on the list made her smile a little and she nodded. Correct, then. At least for now. Who knew about later. There was a nod - after her moment of victory - to his request and she set off to get the herbs. Once she’d found everything, she brought them up to the register and smiled to herself and waited for the man to come to the register. Raistlin took a bit longer than the clerk to find what it was he was looking for. And despite his assertion that he didn’t want to browse, he may have gotten a little distracted by a few ceremonial daggers and crystals. Only when he spotted the clerk waiting at the register with the sachets he’d requested did he refocus himself. She had been a lot quicker than the mage had expected her to be and he was impressed. He looked over the sachets on the counter, making sure what was on the list was all there. “You did that very quickly,” he commented, a brow slightly raised. “It sometimes takes quite a while for someone to find the lesser used components.” Diana felt her face heat up when he mentioned how quickly she’d gotten her half. “Well, it comes from a lot of practice and embarrassment on my part. I hate keeping people waiting even if I understand that sometimes it’s not as easily done.” She pulled her hair over one shoulder. “And I spend too much time here. Even when I’m not working.” Which was probably a sign of how ridiculous she was and expressed her lack of a life now that she wasn’t in high school anymore. “I may have a problem. A very small one.” She had a feeling she sounded particularly stupid at that moment, which only made her blush worsen. “But we can absolutely ignore everything I just said and pretend I sounded like a normal person just then.” The girl didn’t sound the least bit stupid, at least until she told him to ignore what she’d said about wanting to do her job correctly and spending too much time in the shop. A frown tugged the corners of his mouth down. “Why should you be ashamed of wanting to do your job correctly?” He asked her curtly. “I also do not see how spending your off time in the same place as you work a problem. If you are truly passionate about it or are curious to learn more, this is exactly the place you should be.” Said the man who had once routinely fallen asleep in the labs because he’d gotten so wrapped up in the work he was doing, and who now routinely pulled all nighters to study his craft. “You only make yourself look foolish saying such things.” Diana’s whole face felt hot now, but she resisted the urge to wave a hand at her face. “I…” She bit down on her lower lip briefly. “It just seemed like weird rambling.” Weird because she obviously proved she had no life and spent all her time at her place of work, but… “I’m...well, I guess I’m a little foolish.” She looked down at the herbs on the counter, studying them a little. “Most people think it’s weird to spend all your time where you work. Well, perhaps not all of it. I do other things some of the time, but a lot of time. I think I get that from my dad.” Of course, he was a lawyer. She just worked at an occult store. She liked it there, however. “I guess you can unignore my general weirdness.” A pause. “Hi. I’m Diana. I’m not usually this awkward.” Raistlin arched a brow. Now she was rambling. “Who cares what other people think?” He asked her. “People are going to think things. You have no control over what it is and you never will, so it is a pointless waste of time to worry about it.” He was speaking from experience. He had gone through so much of his life dealing with how his peers perceived him: Caramon’s nerdy, quiet, weird twin brother. Some of them had even used that as justification for making his life a living hell straight through high school. Raistlin had decided a long time ago that people, en mass, were not worth his time. “I don’t care if you’re usually this awkward or not,” he told her matter-of-factly, because why should she care what his opinion of her was. There was something about the way she talked that reminded him a little of Tasslehoff. He sighed and let his shoulders relax. “Raistlin,” he answered her. “And I am usually this much of a dick.” She studied him for a moment. “I think most people care at least a little.” She couldn’t help caring some about what other people thought. “Even if there’s no point in it. It’s a bad habit.” There were worse habits. She felt pretty confident that she didn’t have any habits that were really troubling. But then she guessed embarrassing herself was on the list. Again. Worse things had happened. Diana let out a breathy laugh. “Well, I guess I can forgive you since you’ve already gone and not cared about my awkwardness.” She was quiet for a second before saying, “Is it…” She shook her head. “What are the herbs and scales for? I wasn’t going to ask, but I am a little curious about it. I can start ringing you up while you tell me, though. If you want to.” She couldn’t make anyone tell her anything, but she wasn’t even sure she knew what all this stuff was for. Sometimes people told her what it was they were doing without her asking. This time, she decided to ask. That was true. “It is part of human nature to want to be accepted,” Raistlin admitted. “Being accepted means you won’t be ostracized from the rest of the group. Basic survival makes us want to be part of the group.” Making observations like this, no matter how true they may have been, was why Caramon’s friends thought Raistlin was nerdy and weird, but he had accepted he wasn’t ever going to be part of a group. He had never been asked what the components he bought were used for and this caused him to raise a brow. Usually store clerks weren’t particularly interested in what their customers were going to use what they bought for. Either they assumed magic (or some form of elaborate hoax) was going on, or that the customer was just that into new age healing. “Well,” he began, “the scales will be used for a fortification spell. The herbs can be used for several different things, mostly centered around healing and warding.” The more he talked, the more Diana found herself thinking he might not be as bad as he could come off. Not that she could say she was too ruffled. She’d had worse encounters with customers than this one. He’d just been telling her not to be ashamed of wanting to do a good job. In the grand scheme of things, that was the most helpful instance of someone “being a dick”. Diana knew it was probably unusual, but the thing about working in an occult store was that she could never quite tell if she should be skeptical or not. She’d felt the pull of the store before she’d ever really gone inside of it. She wasn’t sure if that was just her mind or something real. It was possible magic existed. She’d never experienced it herself, but people seemed to believe in it, so why couldn’t it be real? “I had no idea scales were useful for fortification. I guess I haven’t read many of the books. The healing with herbs is more expected. Is this for your home or do you have somewhere else you do your magic?” There was a pause as she started to ring his things up like she’d said she would. Still, she was curious. There were far too many books to know all of the information on them. There were literally libraries worth of books about all the different forms of magic, not to mention the supernatural and occult, mythical creatures and how to handle them anything you could possibly imagine. Raistlin had always been fascinated with these obscure kind of books, even at a young age. Perhaps like Diana, he’d always been pulled towards the Art, but it hadn’t been until he’d arrived in Orange County that he’d ever even considered it to be real. “Many lizards use their scales as a form of protection, like an armor,” Raistlin explained as the clerk started ringing up his items. “In that regard they can offer that same sort of power to a fortification or protection spell.” He raised a brow at her. No one had ever asked him where he’d practised magic. Her curiosity seemed genuine and it wasn’t as though she knew where he lived. “Home, mostly,” he said. “I have a, mentor, I suppose you could call her and there are times I practise with her.” As he explained it, it started to make a little more sense. It was interesting how these things transferred. How it made sense when you thought about it. “That’s very interesting. I hadn’t expected that. It makes sense, though. When you talk about it like that.” She did notice the look from him, which made her wonder if she was asking too many questions, but he answered her. Perhaps in a very vague manner, but he answered. He even gave her more information than she technically asked for. “It must be nice to have someone that can teach you about magic. When you’re doing magic.” She had Romany. If she really wanted to know more, she knew that the woman would at least give her a few books to read on the subject if she didn’t choose to explain it herself. She had a feeling this new network she’d joined was also full of people willing to talk about it. When she was finished ringing up his items, she very carefully bagged them, putting the herbs in one bag and the scales in another. Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to separate them, but she didn’t want anything to happen to the herbs if it would affect anything. “I’m sorry if my asking questions made you uncomfortable at all. I guess I just figured it was good to ask. Teachers always say there’s no stupid questions, so...I decided to believe them.” Raistlin removed his wallet from his pocket to pay for the items. It was good the clerk had bagged his items separately. Though unlikely, there was always the possibility of being jostled about, and the herbs accidentally transferring an extra component to the scales, which would have ruined the spell. He really didn’t mind answering her questions. She wasn’t being rude or invasive, just curious and as a curious individual himself, Raistlin couldn’t fault her for such a trait. “She practises a different type of magic than I do,” Raistlin said of his mentor. Regina came from an entirely different Dream World where magic was much different. There was a lot of that on the network and Raistlin had spent most of his first months devouring anything and everything anyone would tell him and teach him about the magics from their respective realm. “And I enjoy learning as much as I can.” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand, “there are such things as stupid questions,” he corrected her. “But you have not asked any.” Yet. However, Raistlin doubted that even with all the awkward babbling, the girl did not often ask “stupid” questions. Diana found herself smiling as he spoke. She enjoyed learning as well, but she didn’t think she had to explain that. Given she’d just asked him more questions than she’d intended to when she first saw him. But he’d been gracious enough to answer her questions. “Well, I am glad I haven’t fallen into the trap of stupid questions, then.” She guessed there were questions that were pointless to ask sometimes. “I hope that your spells work out for you and that you get the results you’re hoping for.” A hint of a smile touched the mage’s face. Hoping for something always struck him as a strange, if not useless waste of time, but he held that particular comment back. He paid the girl what he owed. “Thank you,” he said. “I have a feeling you’ll do very well here.” |