genessia | [Video/Action]

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[Video/Action]

Video
[The feed comes on showing the interior of a rather bookish shop, and there's little doubt of the sort of wares on offer. The visible shelves hold potions, trinkets, ritual objects, and all other manner of arcane paraphernalia.]

I appear to have inherited a shop. Cassian Lynch is no longer in Genessia, and his shop - along with all its contents - stands where his subarch was. I can no longer contact any of the other employees, either - which brings us to the purpose of this post.

Cloak and Dagger is closing for renovations, and I find myself in need of employees. I'll still be making potions, but I need someone else who can make other useful artifacts.

If you're interested, contact me over the network here or come by the shop. In the meantime, I've got a lot of inventory to go through...

Action
[Anyone who happens to drop by the shop will find the front door propped open, and a number of boxes and bags covering pretty much every available surface. Some of their contents are ordinary looking enough - bits of wood, herbs, copies of some rather useful novice-level books, and a few weapons that might be ritual tools, or might be meant for self defense.]

[Then there's the area behind the counter. On racks there are some more interesting items - glowing crystals, potion bottles that are a great deal more ornate than those normally stocked, and... what appears to be a whip in the process of being braided, surrounded by a number of alchemic tools and esoteric materials.]

[The man behind the counter has his back to the door, at present - and he seems to be singing quietly to himself as he flips through a large, handwritten book. If you get close enough to read it, it appears to be perfectly mundane inventory information.]

Rex tremendae majestatis, Qui salvandos salvas Gratis. Salve me, Fons Pietatis. Salve me, Fons Pietatis...

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[Anastasia tried to make a surprise visit, but considering where the shop is? She was easily prevented. So she's restrained to just video for now.]

Hi, Soma. Can I be of any help somehow?

[She's probably just a little bit bored.]

I don't suppose you know how to read Gaelic? [He closes the inventory book with a grunt of frustration.] Sorry. Not your fault my boss was Irish.

Actually... I could use an extra set of hands, if Satsuki doesn't mind letting you come over. I can meet you at the teleport gate with Nightmare, you'll have an escort both ways.

I'm sure she won't mind. I will be with you, after all.

[Ana, are you going to wander off without a word again? Teenage rebellion!]

I'll bring along some of my Pokemon, too. I think they can help. I'll see you soon.

[Considering who she has in mind to bring along, Anastasia will be just a little bit late to the redenvouz point. Just a little.]

Ana no, you're going to get him skewered! He's too young to be impaled... again!]

[It's Nidoking, isn't it. Regardless, he's waiting at the rendezvous as he promised, and Nightmare's right there beside him, saddled as usual.]

I hope you don't mind working around cobwebs and dust. I'm pretty sure some of the stuff in the back has been there since before anyone arrived in this place, and I don't even know how that's possible.

[It's Nidoking. And Ribombee and Mismagius. They're all balled, of course. Anastasia came dressed, bright and pretty. Not really suited for a trip to Everglade.]

Sorry I'm late. Phantasma was being a brat like usual. And long time no see, Nightmare.

[She reaches out to attempt to gently pat that faeric horsey snoot.]

I'm okay around cobwebs, as long as they don't get in my face or hair. It's the spiders that frighten me.

I'm pretty sure the books he has back there eat spiders. I haven't seen the first one the entire time I've been working on this, just their webs.

[Nightmare deigns to allow herself to be petted, and even nuzzles at Ana's hand. Does the human child happen to have a sugar cube? An apple? A side of beef, perhaps? She's not picky.]

[Nope. Anastasia is just a Disney Princess of a dark, parallel universe or something. Or maybe it's just her scent.

She did step back in surprise though. For the first time in a long time, something in Genessia surprised her.]

Books eat spiders? Since when?

These are magic books, and I don't think they're from this world. There are some in Vlad's library like that. Pull out the wrong tome in there and you'll be lucky to keep the upper half of your arm - and that's assuming you don't get one that spits out a small forest of blades at you.

[And he's not even joking. Those books literally exist in Dracula's library.]

Anyway, I'm mostly kidding about these. I haven't seen any spiders, but the webs I have seen are really old.

[He climbs up onto the saddle and offers her a hand up.] The shop isn't far from here, but the streets aren't even remotely safe right now.

I hope none of them cannibalize other books. If so, then I'm glad my country's divine weapon never passed to my hands yet.

[She took Soma's hand and pulled herself up to sit side saddle. Because skirt.]

You know that if we have to, I'll fight as well. Though I hope we don't have to.

I don't think so. Not here, at least. I won't venture a guess when it comes to Vlad's library. I don't even think HE knows everything that's in there anymore.

Of course you'll fight, and I fully expect it. But we're not going to be on the street except when absolutely necessary.

[Which... considering what Nightmare is, isn't for very long, at either end. It's a pity he can really only use her for short rides like this without getting overly tired.]

[And she hopes even more that they don't have to fight. The longer they're out in the open, the more her fear grows. She wants to get down and get inside before more ghouls than they can handle show up, so she hops off on her own, at the risk of landing wrong on her feet.]

Let's just get in before you have to expect anything then.

[Yep, clearly scared.]

Relax, Anya. I could handle a literal army of these ghouls. They can't turn me the way they can normal people, and they're weak compared to just about everything else I've fought to date.

[Regardless of whether he can prove that or not, they're soon in the shop and behind its wards. Short of literally tearing the place apart, no ghoul is getting through that door, even with it standing wide open.]

[She starts to feel better being inside. She looks around for a short bit, but it feels hard to breath. Not very hard, but just enough for her to notice.]

Okay... So what should I start with first?

[She should probably mention that to him at some point.]

I'm going to need you to swap out boxes as I go through them. Most of them are pretty light - a lot of our stock is of the small trinket variety. If you run into something you can't pick up, or a box marked Fragile, or Dangerous, let me know and I'll handle it myself.

[He makes his way back behind the counter, and sets a box up on it for her to take away.] The stack of boxes to the left [He points them out, just to make sure] is stuff I've already gone through that isn't too dangerous. Put this one with those, and bring me another from the other side.

[Anastasia nods as she sounds off her understanding. She takes the box from Soma and moves to the stack where she'll drop it off.
While finding a box that looks like it won't be trouble, the slightest bit of effort that went into picking it up caused her cough.

Once the tickle in her throat passed, she picked up the box. Only for her to sneeze.]

Bénissez-moi~

[Okay, now she was successful in bringing a new box for Soma.]

Gesundheit. I have some dust masks if you think you need one; I didn't think to offer one before, since... I don't need them myself.

[Awkward neck rub goes here. Really, you'd think he would remember what it's like to have normal reactions to stuff like this, since he spent most of his life that way.]

[He takes the new box and nods toward a nearby stool.] Wait there, I'll get you a mask.

Okay.

[While she patiently waits, her idle breathing caused her to have a quick series of gasps, and then a big sneeze.]

Ugh... Soma, did you find one yet?

Coming, coming. [He returns with a plastic-packaged dust mask, one of the ones that have a formable ring so she can fit it to the shape of her face.] Sounds like you might have a bit of an allergy. Are you sure you want to do this?

Yes. Otherwise, I'll just be sitting at home cooking and cleaning like a housewife.

[Not a bad thing in her mind, but she has no one but Satsuki and Kaguya to do it for.

She takes a mask and carefully puts it on, adjusting the bits to fit her face. She takes a deep breath. Look! No sneeze!]

I have to do all that stuff for myself. I couldn't tell you how often I end up just having something like ramen or a can of sausages and crackers.

[It works! Huge success!]

Alright. It'll take me a bit with each box, so... [He gestures at that bar stool again.] Feel free to make yourself comfortable in the meantime.

[A seat! She will have one. Anastasia carefully hops onto the bar stool to rest her feet.]

That's hardly a fair meal. Want me to start making you lunches?

Sakuya offered to do it a while back, but... honestly, I prefer picking my own meals. If I let her do it, I'd end up with a full formal lunch every day, to say nothing of dinner. [He frowns, just a bit.] Every once in a while, maybe? I'm exaggerating a little with the ramen and canned sausages thing, but not much.

[He finishes going through the box and repacks it, then sets it on the counter.] Swap time.

Of course I don't mean a huge lunch. I just mean a simple bento box with your favorites to take to work.

[She nods and takes the box to place with the others, and comes back with another lucky find - one that she can pick up.]

Mina used to prepare bento boxes for me. She always made them as cute as she possibly could...

[This one seems to be full of crystals of varying colors and shapes. No two are alike, and the box is labeled 'New Age BS, please drop'. Clearly someone was not a fan.] Tempted as I am to call this one pre-sorted, some of these crystals actually have a little bit of power... hello, what's this?

[In the bottom of the box, hidden beneath the mundane crystals, is a piece of black glass affixed to what appears to be a bone handle. Just looking at it tells him the edge is scalpel sharp.]

This doesn't belong here. I'm pretty sure it's ritual gear, but it's... blank? It has no charge, positive or negative.

I'll make them cute for you, just like Mina did.

[She took a seat at the stool while Soma examined the item. She tilts her head to the side slightly inquisitively.]

What is it?

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