Don't think of yesterday. It's here now. [active]

[shadowwalking]

Character(s): Zexion and Vash.
Content: Zexion visits the local magic shop.
Setting: In a village in Panama.
Time: Wednesday afternoon.
Warnings: None.

Comments

[stampeded]

Vash had been wandering around the city himself, but a good deal more aimlessly. He only knew English, making him nothing more than another stupid tourist in the eyes of the locals. But hey, that didn't matter to him any - in fact, he had somehow found his way to walking down the same road that the magic shop lay on

[shadowwalking]

Zexion perked slightly, and paused. An American- he could tell by the mild, Midwestern accent. Something like Oklahoma, but he wasn't quite sure... He must have not been around from here. Turning to glance over his shoulder, he quirked a brow and gave the other man a scrutinizing once-over. It was sort of funny how he tended to analyze people before acknowledging them.

Ah, it was one of his crew. How lovely. What was a dolt of a man like him doing in a place like this? Then again, he supposed the magic served all sorts of people...

Deciding, finally, that he would reply back to him, a knowing, fox-grin spread across his boyish face. "It ain't popular," he said, the Louisiana just dripping out of his voice. "If yer talkin' in the tourist sense. Don't know the right words, or don't look the right way, they jus' kill ya."

Eyes wandered over to the hanging skeletons. He chuckled darkly and moved closer, lifting a gloved hand to one, fiddling with it for a moment as he waited for Vash's reply.

[stampeded]

Now that he wasn't just seeing the man's back, Vash recognized him, too. It was hard not to, considering how much he liked to hang around the kitchens lately. The idea that he had ran into another member of the crew actually cheered him up a little - it was pretty lucky to run into someone even only slightly familiar all the way out here, right? Not that he didn't mind talking to strangers, but he liked to get to know the people he'd be around a lot

[shadowwalking]

Zexion, quite honestly, was offended. Vash couldn't see the slight widening of the eye or the frown that graced his mouth when he dubbed the objects here 'harmless'... harmless?! These could all kill people if you knew the right way to work with them! But, ah, he wasn't one to have outbursts- instead, that slow grin returned, and he chuckled darkly

[stampeded]

It was a good thing Zexion had grabbed it, maybe, because Vash had only been a few seconds away from dropping the thing on the floor. "Baby's bones? You can't be serious!" Yet even as he said it, his smile had faded somewhat, and despite his ever-present gloves Vash had dropped his hand to discreetly wipe his fingers off on his coat.

"If it's so dangerous, why are you touching it?", he pointed out, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. No, he still didn't think they were. The thought was just fairly horrible to him. If he wasn't careful, his imagination would start running off with him, but he was trying to ignore the mental images of strange rituals and sacrificed babies.

It was funny, how sinister the other man looked standing there. If he hadn't known any better, Vash might've thought that Zexion was the owner of the shop. It looked like the man belonged there, with the rickety house and the strange bones and the clanking fake skeletons. But no, Vash was not weirded out. Definitely not. He was just a little on edge, that's

[shadowwalking]

Zexion fiddled contemplatively with the chicken bone, eyeing it over slowly as if he were examining it. Vash's question caused another one of those chuckles loaded with 'I-know-something-you-don't-know', and glanced up at him with his single eye.

"I've been in this business my whole life. And afterlife." That smile.

Judging from how he had been acting this entire time, Zexion thought that it might be obvious that he was just kidding around with him. It was a shame this time around he was entirely serious.

[stampeded]

Vash shook his head at him, helplessly. Unbelieveable. Did this guy have some special reason for yanking his chain like this? "That's funny, you don't look much like a ghost," he commented, turning slightly away from him to look back at all the trinkets on the table. "Or are you haunting in the name of poor dead babies today?"

There were a few different things in those baskets that looked interesting, and others that were just as weird as the bones. There were small candles with small bits of leaves visible in the wax, tiny forms painstakingly etched into them. Another of the baskets held small vials of oil, and there was another with little cloth bags that were sewn shut, but smelled faintly like herbs. Those little carved stones were a good deal more appealing than all that other stuff, so he reached over to pluck one out of the basket, holding it in his palm.

"Say, I don't think I caught your name," he said then, looking up to give the other man a smile. "I'm Vash."

[shadowwalking]

Why, it was fun to yank people's chains. Zexion made a point to do it regularly, especially when he encountered idiotic people such as this. He had to laugh softly, almost in spite of himself, at the comment that Vash man. Of course he wouldn't believe him, and that was exactly what he wanted. Zexion enjoyed playing dumb like a fox, setting up bait, so when you spill the truth, you can speak it freely and no one will pay it mind. A true tactician.

That said, he watched Vash quietly as he looked at the other things, hands folded behind his back now. There was a slight glance up when his name was asked of him, and he half-smirked. "Vash... interesting." And he gave him another glance over, almost as if he was deciding if he was worthy of his name. "...Zexion."

[stampeded]

"Interesting, hmm? You're one to talk, I've never heard a name like that before." His tone was as friendly as his expression now, holding a warmth that was more polite than it was sincere. But what of it? It was the same smile he gave everyone. If Vash was annoyed by Zexion's earlier comments, he gave no sign of it now. Actually, he was still slightly bothered by it all, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of trying to be nice. It wasn't like the other man had actually done anything.

He looked down at the stone for a few seconds more before tilting his hand to drop it back in the basket. "I was hoping to find a souvenir, or some sort of good luck charm," he admitted, "But I didn't think the shop would be like... this." He punctuated his words with a vague wave of his hand at the shop's wares. Vash had been expecting something fun and innocent, like those cheesy little gift shops close to the docks always were. It was very obvious now that he had been wrong.