2 years later…
"…-a, -nya, TANYA!."
I exhale sharply out of my nose before cracking open my left eye to take in the angry blonde shouting my name. "What do you want, Charles?." I ask, my voice still groggy from my (now interrupted) nap. "What do I- What do you mean what do I want?! I'm out here working my ass off and I turn around for five ticks only to find you off napping in some field?!." He flails his arms about, gesturing wildly to the lovely flower field I had found myself in. As he continues to ramble on I take the opportunity to rake my eyes over his body.
Charles is a fair skinned, lean cut man with long platinum blonde hair and eyes the colour of frosted mint leaves. Today he's dressed in black trousers and a simple off-white tunic that hugs his torso just right. "Are you even listening to me?." He asks, his voice tinged with exhaustion and annoyance. I Ignore the question. "You know, you're more than welcome to join me." I purr, letting a lazy smirk grace my lips as I shamelessly check him out. He tenses, a blush creeping over his face, his imagination no doubt running wild at my offer.
He recovers a little faster than I'd like though, Shaking his head before leveling a glare at me, "I won't be tempted by your…" He trails off in frustration as he gestures to me. I sit up, lounging seductively as I bat my eyelashes at him in false innocence. "My what?." I smirk as the blush returns. Gods he's fun to tease. "Ugh." He rubs a hand over his face before turning away from me "We're going back. I'm not doing all the work by myself" He huffs as he stalks off. I stand, stretching like a cat as I do so. "Where's Carina?." I ask, jogging to catch up to him.
"She's off on a research trip, said something about glowing mushrooms and ran out the door." He scoffs, clearly upset she's left right before we were due for a spring cleaning. We come upon the shop and I stop briefly to take it in once more. The store is built from a collection of river stones and wooden beams being climbed by carefully tended ivy that glows when night falls, enchanted stain glass windows whose images shift and change before my eyes flank a hand carved mahogany door, above which hangs a wrought iron sign reading Morgana's Magical Eccentricities.
"You coming in?." Charles asks, glancing over his shoulder at me as he reaches for the door handle. I snap myself out of my reverie "How could I stay away when you're here?." I say, my voice dropping to a sensual low as I shoot him one of my trademark smirks. "I- hmph, big talk from someone I found napping in a field." He grumbles, pushing the door open and rushing into the shop in an effort to avoid my advances.
I let out a low chuckle at his fluster and stroll in after him. The soft ding of the bell greets me as I walk into the shop. One could argue that the inside of the shop is even more magnificent than its glamorous exterior… normally, however in wake of the spring cleaning the shop looked as though a tornado had torn through it.
Books on all kinds of different magic sit in scattered piles on the floor removed from their places on the freshly dusted oak bookshelves embedded in the stone walls. Leather and metal furniture embedded with magical crystals are strewn about the room, not a single piece where it normally is.
The chandeliers have been taken down for cleaning, all the magical plants shoved into the corner and onto tables lest they get in the way of the cleanse Charles seems determined to put the store through. The man in question stands at the back of the store, puzzling over a series of bottles that cover the table in front of him. I make my way through the chaos, casually evading the various piles of magical paraphernalia that litter the floor to come to Charles's aid.
"What ails you so my dearest coworker?." I ask, smiling curiously as I slink up behind him. He lets out a sharp sigh "I've got it handled Tanya, go deal with the front" He continues to stare daggers at the bottles. I glance towards the mostly empty shelves, one entitled Medicine, another Potions and the last Poisons. ….He didn't. There's no way. "You mixed up the bottles…didn't you?." He winces at my accusation. Bullseye.
"...I got distracted while I was clearing off the shelves." His admission has me barely holding back my laughter, an effort that proves fruitless as soon as I look at his face and catch sight of his embarrassed little pout. "BWAHAHAHAHA!." "Oh sure laugh it up you sadist." He huffs. "Why are all of the labels blank anyway?!." His distress only serves to fuel my amusement and it takes me a moment to catch my breath.
"Charles… sweetheart… magic shop." I gesture all around us before pointing to the bottle in his hands "Magic labels." I lean forward blowing on the label with a mana infused breath. Charles lets out a groan as the lettering on the label reveals itself.
"Well that's just ridiculous." He huffs. I give a low chuckle. I'll never understand how Charles, a man born without a lick magic, ended up working for a magic shop. But I know better than to ask questions I wouldn't answer myself.
He glares in confusion at the word on the label "What's Lymphiris?." "It's a poison, typically ground down and added to tea, it causes the victim weight loss, chills, fever and eventually death, takes about a month of daily consumption to kill though." I pause… That was too precise of an answer. Charles gives me a stunned look. "You'd know that if you actually studied our inventory." I quip shooting him a mocking grin and snatching the bottle from his limp hands. I stroll up to the poisons shelf and place the bottle under L.
I take in a large gulp of air and breathe out enough mana to fill the room. "Next bottle." Charles nearly jumps at my statement, shaking himself from his thoughts. I watch his face carefully as he clearly considers questioning me, but something on my face must deter him from asking because he instead starts listing off the names from the bottles handing them to me as I speak aloud their categories, skipping over their effects this time. "...And Astia is medicine." I say, placing the final bottle on the shelf.
As I step back to admire our handiwork I feel a stare on me. I turn to face Charles as his frost green eyes attempt to pierce clean through me. An amused smirk graces my lips as I saunter towards him. "Like what you see?." He tenses as I approach "Or do you want a closer look?." I lean into him placing my hands down on the table behind him, my body now mere inches from his. He shuts his eyes and frowns as though deep in thought before finally meeting my eyes once more. "Why?." It's all he manages, his voice quiet yet firm in its confusion. I quirk my eyebrow at him, briefly considering his open ended question. It's almost funny how a single word can catch me so off guard. Instead of answering I push off the table and back away playfully. "Why not?." I shoot him a grin and head off towards the stairs "Good luck with the cleaning!." I chirp, bounding up the stairwell to evade those piercing, ice green eyes.