Ye Olde S33k & Finde

[fr33ks33k]

*On another late night, he sits at the counter, tinkering with something. It looks like a pocketknife, a switchblade of some sort. The handle is pure ivory, unpolished. It could have been carved directly from a tusk of some woolly beast. Silver accents give the hilt definition and a small circle in the shape of a serpent's head adorns one side. He clicks the button and it ejects its hidden piece; not a sharpened edge, but a key. It looks like a skeleton key, two identical teeth protruding down and a long, narrow shaft that leads into the main body of the object.

He brandishes it like a blade, flicking it back and forth before him, fending off imaginary attackers. A wide smile crosses his face as he rises from his seat, stretching his stiffened muscles. He takes a long walk down one of the aisles, passing intricate artworks and junky relics, stacked and pressed upon each other on the shelves.

He arrives at his destination with a smirk. She had no clue that all the doors would be in one place. All the obvious doors, anyway. They hung on the wall, seemingly opening to nothing and nowhere. Each was a different style, different composition, just plain different.

One by one, he tried the key into their locks. Every last one turned without hesitation, even the ones that didn't look as though they could contain the form of the key. It was as though it phased into and became a part of the lock, finding all the tumblers that needed pressed and pushing them into place.

His test completed, he pushed the keyknife into its resting position, slipping it into his pocket. He whistled a nonsense tune as he strolled to the back door, only visible from inside. Deliveries were made by people who knew their way around the shop and knew what he'd told them of its secrets. His fingers toyed with the handle of the trinket idly as he went, thoughts already on his next experiment. Her code had been quite instrumental in the design of this device. He wondered how surprised she'd be when he tried the key out on the real target....*

 

[fr33ks33k]

Found etched in what could be blood on a golden sheet of paper. Row 90, Bottom Shelf.

Music fucks me. Turning me inside out. It holds me from myself, suffocating all doubt. I'd starve for it. I'd die for it. I'd bleed for it, no matter how. I'm a slave for music.

Fuck me now.

 

[fr33ks33k]

Found carved into an ebony katana sheath. Row 256, Bottom Shelf

*The darkened wood of the scabbard is decorated with motifs of fire and Oni. The kanji is in a thick crimson script, which reads:*

I crave the blade of pain and rage to rest betwixt my palms. I crave the weight, the sharpened edge, the power surging on. I need to slay my demons, though they outnumber ten to one. I must resist the lure, the urge, to be a monster of my own accord.

And like the samurai of old... I live, and so must also die, by the unerring justice of the sword.

*The blade that makes its home within is not tarnished, nor does it show any signs of use, save the single drop of what can only be assumed is blood that falls from the tip as its drawn*

 

[ilikeitlikethat18]

Music fucks me. Turning me inside out. It holds me from myself, suffocating all doubt. I'd starve for it. I'd die for it. I'd bleed for it, no matter how. I'm a slave for music.

Fuck me now.

hard?

 

[fr33ks33k]

hard?

Heh. Of course. And for the record, those are the lyrics to the song It Is Written by In This Moment.

 

[fr33ks33k]

*He sits cross-legged in a darkened corner of the shop, the only light from the moon as it pours into the skylight. His eyes are closed. The mechanized animals have not dared venture close to him. It is likely they think him dead. Surely no one's chest can rise and fall that infrequently and remain living. And yet, he is. Simply breathing slowly. His hands rest palm-up on his knees, his back straight against the wall. There is a necklace draped around him made from obsidian and rubies. As he breathes, the obsidian seems to pulse with an orange light. It is as though the necklace is made of tenuously contained magma, ready to erupt and douse him in the liquid fire that it its bounty.

His eyes flash open and for an instant they are the same orange, fading back to the deep brown that his irises normally display. He smiles and rises slowly, the necklace still beating with his breath. Idly a finger traces the edges of the rocks strung together, feeling the rough texture and the unnatural heat they exude. His eyes flash again as he strides off into the darkness, the fiery pulse the only indication of his fading figure. The mechanical bird that had followed him so faithfully cocks its head to the side....it hesitates for a long moment before flapping off into the shadows after its creator.*

 

[fr33ks33k]

*The doors creak open as he steps inside for the first time in almost a month. His shoulders are heavy with the weight of recent events, but his own doing has brought the house of cards down around him. If things are as mellow as he feels they should be, then the tension in his stomach that comes and goes must be a hallucination.

Even the tin creatures feel his anxiety and they flock around him to give him a small form of solace. His smile is sad and it scarcely finds his eyes. Nonetheless he trudges along into the aisles, looking for something specific. No small task in a place constantly filling and depleting its stock, regardless of patronage.

He finds the box he'd been looking for on a high shelf, tucked away from everything else. It's covered in gears and cogs and the key for it must be terribly intricate. Luckily he has the switchblade key he'd made from Cait's notebook code. It slides into the mechanism and unlocks it with ease.

Inside is a leather-bound journal decorated with motifs of crystalline hearts, some broken, some bright and brilliant. He flips open to the last page and reads the passage written in fine script there.*

"It is easy to say it's over. It is easy to believe that we will be just friends. It is easy to look upon you, feeling it was just time for us to end. It is easy to say I love you. It is easy to admit I was wrong. It is easy to admit that maybe by my side is not where you belong. It is easy to accept the blame, because in your heart I've left both joy and pain. It is easy to know the source of the split, to claim its gnarly roots. The only thing that isn't easy...is facing down the cold and awful truth.

*As his fingers run along the last few lines, it is evident that the ink is still slightly wet. After a few long seconds, he closes the book with a sigh, setting it back into the box and locking it tightly. He speaks softly to himself as he wanders into the darker shadows of the shop, mingling with them until no trace of him remains*

Baby, I'm sorry to see....maybe we're not meant to be....

 

[fr33ks33k]

Excerpt from a book left by the counter.

Day in, day out...and blood just the same in my stubborn heart. Wake in anger, sleep in sorrow...and my mind has never wanted rest eternal quite as bad as now. The rising of the sun on better horizons is just the moon falling where I am. Breathe in, breathe out...and my soul exhales the bitter coughing of my melancholy just the same. Sickness in, cure without...in many senses of the word. This cycle grows tedious, and even with the greatest yearning for change, I cannot leap from the wheel. This is the truest tragedy I have known: the want to change, lacking will; the use of age, lacking skill; the birth of hope, too quickly stilled.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

*appears in Fr33k's shop from the ether and leaves this little guy on the counter with a small note*

Saw this little guy and he reminded me of you.

Cait~

 

[fr33ks33k]

*Wandering...always wandering. His steps take him out of the shadows of the shop and into the pool of waning sunlight glinting off of a shiny new presence. The tinny chirping is much more melodic than his current compatriot. In fact, this new bird seems much more like a music box retooled to be a sparrow. He smiles and offers a perch on his left index finger. The new arrival cheeps and hops over, tiny talons gripping to his digit.*

Well hello there. I'll have to thank Cait somehow for you.

*The grating squawk of the other bird is loud and seems annoyed at first, but soon enough the two avian creations are trying to match each other in tone and pitch. It may yet end up being a good thing, these two singing together.*

 

[choklatekoneko]

She scurries away from the bit of rain. Her dark, curvy body seeks shelter as she sees the building, she walks inside, hiding in the shadows, whimpering a bit, as she lurks.

 

[fr33ks33k]

Found written on a tag attached to a length of silk rope. Aisle 4, Bottom Shelf.

I want to wrap my hand around your throat and watch your silent pleas to
breathe. I haven't yet decided if or when I will concede. I want to wrap my fist
around your hair and watch your spine become a horseshoe. I haven't yet decided
if I'm going to bend or break you. I want to wrap your lips around me, both
pairs wet and ready. Look into my eyes; see my stare so stern and deadly. Know
that every word I speak is true and only waiting to be tried. And you my darling
dear, are fit to be tied.

 

[fr33ks33k]

*It is late and he is alone in the shop. The mechanized animals have all gone to roost wherever it is they find a home. One of the skylights is actually able to be opened, and with a tall ladder, he makes his way to the roof of the establishment. From here he can see the entirety of the locale. It's interesting to see so many wondrous places butting up against each other. But then, that's the glory of living in a fantasyland.

In his hands is a length of chain. At each end is a small spiked iron ball. The moon is high in the sky and there is a light breeze blowing from the west. His eyes settle on the horizon as he starts to swing the chain, both balls set into motion, orbiting his left and right, spinning like wheels or propellers.

A subtle shift in the swing and now they are spinning off-axis, toward each other, but never meeting. Another shift and the chain goes taut in the middle, turning the length into the main axle of propulsion. Yet another shift and now he's exchanging hands, the wobble of at the ends of the chain turning it around and over, even behind his back like some madcap aircraft ready to take flight.

The whirring of the chain spinning rushes with the wind, and his eyes close. The spinning increases, more revolution, more rotation as the chain becomes a blur in his hands. With a sudden flurry, one end of the chain snaps out, crashing into the stonework of the roof. Cracks form and radiate from the impact, multiple pits opened in the first layer of rock. Another snap, another set of spiderwebbed shatterings against the stone.

On and on this goes, for the better part of three hours. When he finally stops, his breathing is labored and his shirt is soaked in sweat. Without a word, he coils the chain and heads back for the ladder.

He's smiling.*

 

[ObscureInsanity]

She had been gone too long: she was convinced of this. As she stood at the steps to Ye Olde S33k & Finde, she knew she'd hardly be recognizable to him. Twenty-five pounds lighter, hair longer than it had been since before high school. She inhaled, then sighed: a cloud of warm breath escaped into the chilly evening air before dissipating into the void.

She fidgeted, adjusted her shoulder bag, straightened the hem of her skirt and brushed off any remnants of cat hair that may have gone undetected on her leggings. She bit her bottom lip and looked at the door. Was he even still there? Did he even still own it?

She laughed at herself. Of course he did, he seemed the sort that would see a project through. She pulled at her hair, then tugged at the string of the aviator-styled beanie she had on.

"No time like the present," she mumbled to herself, taking the few stairs that lead to the entrance of the establishment.

She pushed the door open and stood inside. It was warm, homey. She smiled and vacantly reminisced about all the things she had seen here before. She pulled her beanie off and stuffed it into her bag, walking as quietly as she could through the front part of the shop.

'just say hello' she battled within herself, glancing down every row she passed. 'he'll appear just as always, just say hello.'

 

[fr33ks33k]

*The evening had gone mostly uneventfully. He had lost himself in wandering the shop's many aisles again. Even in the depths of the place, he could hear the door swing open.

A visitor? A customer? He wasn't sure, but the mechanical bird perched on his shoulder squawked loudly and ruffled its feathers, though it was more a clattering than anything.

He smiled and moved toward the front of the store, slow strides that still carried him swiftly. When he neared the main lobby, he saw a young woman roaming the stacks. She was...familiar. It took him a moment to place her, but once he did a broader smile swept over his features.*

Well hello there. It has been quite a while. I'm glad to see you've returned. Come looking for something specific, or just to browse some more?

 

[ObscureInsanity]

She stopped mid step, which caused her to trip. She awkwardly corrected it and grinned toothily like a child, her cheeks flushed as she regained correct posture.

"I..." words escaped her. She hadn't seen him in a while, well... not in person... now that sounded a little stalkerish... she fought with her mind for a moment--separating fantasy from reality, then flicked her hair behind her shoulder.

"I wanted to see you." she managed. It was bold. It wasn't like her. Her heart began to race after she said it and she looked down at her boots. "I mean..."

If she corrected herself, it would be less of what she wanted and more of what her mind required--that persona she sought so hard to convey. But why should she fake it... she was the only one here, with him. She was a few feet away from him. Him and that adorable little bird on his shoulder. She began chewing her lip as the silence grew, it was a like an uncomfortable void. She giggled softly, clasping her fists in a shy way.

"I mean... I don't..."

'Stop it! Stop it now! look at him and stop this nonsense,' her brain screamed.

"I didn't come here for..." her voice was small, wavering, as if she were about to burst into tears at any second.

'You're blowing it! Turn around. Walk out. Stop embarrassing yourself.'

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

 

[fr33ks33k]

Oh! A personal visit. Those are always pleasant.

*He took a few steps closer, taking in the subtle ways her appearance had changed in the long time since she'd visited the shop. That familiar flush was filling her cheeks, a rosy glow that he couldn't help but smile about.*

So, since the wares aren't your reason for visiting, perhaps we can find somewhere to sit and chat? I think there are some comfortable old chairs this way...

*He gestured down the aisle to his left. The shelves were lined with old Victorian knick-knacks and various other period pieces. The bird squawked and took off down the aisle, flapping madly.*

Seems he's certain of it too.

 

[ObscureInsanity]

She looked up, shocked. What just happened exactly?

She relaxed a little--her fists fell loose; she watched him gesture down the aisle, and as though her body had a will of its own, she slowly slinked her way towards him, past him, down the aisle.

Her eyes caught a few interesting artifacts as she walked past, but they were quickly forgotten about as her mind reeled. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest now, hard enough that she could consciously hear her pulse in her own ears.

Did he say chairs? couches? What were they going to talk about...? Her ears felt hot now, as if the blush of her cheeks had spread like some sort of allergic reaction.

She stopped mid stride, sneezed, and continued on.

Somewhere back here, somewhere hidden... maybe...

She glanced back at him, just over her shoulder, to make sure he was following her, then looked forward again.

There they were.

Ornate looking Victorian styled chairs, upholstered in the prettiest of fabrics. She smiled a little, flattening the fabric of her skirt down her thighs as she paused just in front of them. She looked at him again, waiting for direction, or just waiting to hear his voice again; she wasn't so sure.

 

[fr33ks33k]

*As they walked, she seemed to see a few items that caught her interest, but pushed those thoughts aside. Once, she stopped to sneeze, his voice offering a 'bless you' before she continued into the tiny atrium between aisles that held the chairs. He caught the tiny glance, just to reassure herself. He remembered the shyness she'd always fought to suppress. He smiled.

The bird flew around and perched on a random shelf. She looked to him, waiting for some unknown instruction*

Please, have a seat.

*He sat in the chair across from the one he'd gestured to, leaning forward with elbows on his knees.*

So, you wanted to see me. Now that you have, is there something...more...you'd like?

*He grinned, knowing that her cheeks would redden again. It was a very endearing quality*

 

[ObscureInsanity]

She sat down in the chair he motioned to and crossed her legs, chewing on her bottom lip. Once he began to speak again she sat up a little straighter, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

"I..." she blushed at his question, bowing her head. "I... er..."

Her fidgeting hands let go of the hem of her skirt and found their way to the strands of her hair, which she twisted around her index finger in a anxious sort of way.

"Well, I mean, how are you, it's been... what...? over a year?!"

She squirmed in the seat.

"I... hadn't forgotten about you..."

That was the best she could do. It wasn't as... well... sinful as saying 'I thought of you every second we've been apart' because only lovers say that, and she hadn't had a lover in Gods know how long, and she probably couldn't even perform such lewd acts if her life depended on it because she was about as rusty as a nail left out in the rain!

She cleared her throat, giggled.

"I mean, how could I? Right? You own this fantastic place and..."

She looked at him, then quickly back down, licking her lips which were now dry as paper for some reason.

"You're fantastic, too, and..."

She half-shrugged, gritting her teeth, trying to force solid thoughts from her brain to her mouth.

 

[fr33ks33k]

It has been about that, yes. I've been...well. Things change and time goes on, but we are who we are.

*He chuckled softly at her comment, at the way she toyed with her hair like a nervous school girl. His own ease in this situation seemed to help temper her a bit. There was something that she was searching for words to say, but hadn't quite found yet.

He rested a hand on her knee, smiling and scooting to the edge of his seat. His words were gentle, but held a hint of coyness*

Oh, I just mind this place. The fantastic things seem to just appear on their own. You're pretty special in your own right, Hannah. Just an observation...

 

[ObscureInsanity]

She looked up again.

Did he really say that? To her?

Her? Hannah. Hannah the girl who has anxiety attacks at work when more than one person approached her at a time. Hannah the girl that could cry at the drop of a hat, who blushed too much, who felt too much.

Her eyes locked with his. Her hand fell from her hair onto his hand on her knee. She wriggled her fingers between the gaps in his: a quick squeeze of his first and middle finger, then let go.

Why couldn't she say it exactly? She wasn't an alien, it wasn't a foreign thing. She was an adult had had consent of her own body at all times.

Her intense stare softened and she looked away, cheeks aglow again. Her index finger absently trailed tiny patterns on the back of his hand and she nervously began to stroke the base of her throat where clavicle meets sternum.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

 

[fr33ks33k]

You're quite welcome.

*He felt her fingers, slender and delicate as they trailed over the back of his own hand. The flush in her cheeks had managed to make it to her chest as well, her free hand slowly rubbing against the rouged skin. The hand on her knee flexed for an instant, squeezing and releasing. It seemed almost involuntary.

It was a long moment, silence hanging between them. He wanted to ask her more about her absence, to inquire as to the deepest reason for her visit. Instead he let himself stare into her eyes and smile, hoping to melt away the nervousness she felt. One of the strands of hair she'd been twisting had fallen in front of her eye; it was easy to reach up and brush it back, tucking it behind her ear*

 

[ObscureInsanity]

She smiled as he tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear; she really wanted to grab his hand, have him touch her face, have him... well... kiss her. She struggled with the idea, but the moment was over, and his hand found its way back to where it had been.

"I've been gone too long," she whispers, more to herself than to him. She bowed her head and pulled her hand away from his on her knee.

"I've missed you... that's..." she swallowed and smiled, eyes down. "... not strange, right?"

Two meetings... how long was it meant to take to... dream of people? She shook her head as she thought about it, it wasn't strange for her, but it could be very strange to anyone else.

"I'm talking nonsense, aren't I?" she giggled, reaching towards his hand again, but leaving it just far enough away that their skin did not touch.

 

[fr33ks33k]

Best to focus on the return and not the absence, Hannah.

*He saw the look in her eye. That want of...something more. He smiled as she kept her hand now just out of reach*

Strange? Not at all. To be honest, I'd missed seeing you around as well. Forgive me if this is a bit bold, but...I feel it warrants doing.

*He stopped talking, one hand still on her knee, the other moving to cradle her face, drawing her closer until there was only a whisper's breadth between them. His smile left, but only as it was replaced with the puckering of his lips

It was a gentle kiss. More exploratory than fiery. But overall, it just felt...right.*