Fae Cie and Ritly Veldasian - Room 509, Big Bux Co.
Co-written with Starlighter
Fae blinked a few times, glancing over her shoulder before looking back at the fashionable girl in front of her. More fashionable than herself at least, by far. "Uhm…" she started, blinking a few times more. "I've never actually a…tried so…" she mumbled. "Are you really offering?" she asked, eyeing the apple again. She could almost smell it…
"Yeah yeah, of course - you'll love it, I promise." In her eagerness to be rid of it, Ritly extended her hand to somewhat aggressively push the apple into Fae's grasp. With a guttural moan, she sank down into a seat next to Fae, slouched with her foot braced against the back of the chair in front of her. "Hope you don't mind if I park here for a few?"
Fae shook her head as she bit into the apple. "Onne aha aaah," she said, biting clean through before putting a hand over her mouth to say it again. "None at all," she mumbled, sighing happily as she chewed. It was so sweet, yet also a little sour at the same time…but it wasn't overpowering or anything. It just worked.
Giving the girl beside her side-eye, Fae made sure her left eye was closed as she used her powers briefly. "What's got you s-DEAR GOD THIS HEADACHE," she thought, flinching as she cut her powers off again before giving the girl a sympathetic look. "Uh…are you okay?" she asked tentatively. "…nevermind, bad question. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better, Ms…?"
"Ritly," she mumbled in answer, sinking lower into her chair. "Nah, s'all good; metas are somethin' like an actual legit headache for me; can't do much but go sulk on my lonesome." She heaved a mighty sigh, daring to open one eye halfway to peer at her companion. "Thanks for the offer though, 'preciate it." She took a deep breath and released it slowly, managing a half-hearted, lopsided grin. Maybe a little chit-chat would help keep her mind off the pain.
She started talking quickly, without so much as a pause for breath in between. "So, what's your name? What's your thing - your powers, I mean. Anything fun? Where're you from? Whatcha do for a living?"
Fae raised a hand to try get Rity to stop talking for a moment as she finished chewing and swallowing her apple. "Too many questions," she mumbled, clearing her throat before she choked. "Uhm…my name is Fae…my power?" she said, nervously nibbling her bottom lip. "Uh…its sort of fun? Yeah. Uhm. Sorry, it's just a little personal. I'm from the lower districts, 157 Zinxia Street. I helped my run my family's shop there."
"And uh…you? What do you do for a living, Ms. Ritly?"
Ritly propped her elbow up on the armrest of her chair, just enough to flap her hand dismissively. "Oh, ya can just call me Ritly, if you want; I'm not real huge on formality." Personal, eh? Okay then. She resisted the instant temptation to probe outwards and copy the girl's power just for the sake of satisfying her own curiosity about what it was, but refrained. It would be rude to invade Fae's privacy, and more than one mishap had taught her the price of copying a power without knowing what to expect.
"Uh, I work with her," She raised her arm and gestured towards Milk, "Lady in the pink blouse over there; we're business partners. Most of the business is in fashion accessories like jewelry," she tapped one of her bracelets with a fingertip, "Handbags, et cetera et cetera, but I mostly help her out with making perfumes; she does the formulae, and I design the bottles. Very fancy, custom work for posh-posh folks who have more money than they know what to do with."
She tugged her purse onto her lap, and started rummaging through it. "I have some samples kicking around here somewhere…. Aha, here we go." She fished a delicate bottle out from the depths of the bag, shaped like a leaf with the stem as the stopper, and no more than half an inch tall. She glass glittered under the overhead lights, sparkling in multifaceted shades of green. Pinching it between two fingers, she offered it to Fae. "If you like earthy flowery plant-ish scents, this is a super nice one - if you're into that kinda thing anyway, I guess. How d'you like the apple, by the way?"
Fae blinked at the bottle that was offered to her, frantically waving her hands, reeling slightly at the situation as she did. Was this real life? She'd have to pinch herself to make sure.
Ow. Yup, real life.
"I-I couldn't," she said quickly. "I really do appreciate it R…Ritly," she said, biting her tongue on the middle. It was just…odd to address her without some formality. She was upper class! "And I never have had the chance to really…appreciate flower-y plant-ish smells," a semi lie. All the chemistry and biology classes she'd been piggybacking, she'd gotten quite a lot of earth-y smells. "But uh…really, I can't accept this from you. I-It must cost a fortune! The design alone…"
"Oh! And the apple was delicious, thank you," she said, beaming cheerfully as she did. "Thank you very much for it." Glancing over to the woman Ritly pointed to, she chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. "So did you two come here for a business opportunity or…?"
"Nah, we got sent invitations. We talked about maybe bringing some stuff to showcase, but ended up not doing that - obviously." She snickered quietly. "I pretty much always carry a sample or two with me though; never know when you'll meet someone who might take an interest." She flashed a beaming grin at Fae and clasped the girl's hand tightly, barely restraining an excited squeal. "I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Apples are really great."
As she rattled on, she pressed the small vial into Fae's hand, hoping to railroad her way over any further objections. "Also, I insist that you hold onto this and give it a try sometime. Call it a….. new friends gift. I absolutely refuse to take it back, so you might as well enjoy it. Oh that reminds me - what brings you here?"
Fae blinked, happy at the prospect of making a new friend like Ritly, before sighing quietly as she just pocketed the vial. This was a fight she probably wasn't going to win, after all. "I'm here because I was looking for a business opportunity," she said with a small smile. "Anything to try help my family get some more money. We all figured there'd be something better in the higher classes, and…well, this is my chance to try see it through."
Ritly giggled softly. "That's so great!" She gave Fae's arm a gentle pat. "Let me get you in on a little secret, though; don't spend all your time working, yeah? If you bury yourself in work and aren't around to come out and have fun with me, I will come unbury you and drag you along." She smiled, eyes sparkling. "I really do hope the whole business thing pans out, though! I'll be rooting for you the whole way - you can bet on it."
Fae smiled cheerfully. "Thank you! Having someone support me means a lot…uh…if you're going to unbury me, should we exchange…?" she asked, pulling up her holocomm. "…contact info?"
"Yeah, yeah definitely!" Ritly sat up a bit straighter to cue up her own device, then swiped it past Fae's. Her expression widened into a broad grin, and she fidgeted in her seat. "This is gonna be a wild ride. I can hardly wait!"