Cherry Lips

[Anonymous]

((OOC: Aymé has a very heavy southern accent. I'll let ya'll imagine it, 'cause writin' it out might make ya poor head hurt. BTW, I really am from Georgia, so I'm not being facetious. Okay, well, maybe I am.))

Aymé fluttered around her shop, which was on the corner of the two busiest streets in the bustling trade town of Cerenis. Business was oddly slow today; there were three tourists and one real customer in the shop. The tourists were stumbling around looking at Aymé's wonderful creations and the one girl in her early twenties was trying on a new dress. It was red, Aymé's favorite color, tea-length, and bunched up around the stomach area, "room to grow" as Aymé put it because everyone in town knew she was pregnant.

Tourist 1: Miss, your clothes are lovely, but they're so expensive! How do you afford to have such an excellent location for your, um, boutique?

Aymé smirked at that. She loved telling this story.

Aymé: Well, I was datin' the landlord of this here building, so he gave me a discounted price in exchange for my... affection. Then after we broke up, his sister had something very unfortunate happen to her wedding dress the day before her wedding, so I made her a new one that looked so much like the old one, she said she almost thought it was the same dress! Imagine that! Anyways, ever since then, I've gotten dirt cheap rent.

The three tourist ladies looked at each other and tittered. Oh, to be in the presence of so sophisticated and so selfless a person that she dropped what she was doing to make that nice woman a wedding dress. Of course, they didn't know that Aymé had stolen the dress in the first place, but that's why tourists are great. You can get away with telling them anything.

[Anonymous]

Darsha "Darling" was among the tourists that had entered the shop unnoticed. She didn't mind that the jabbering women were so loud or that the colorful owner told her tale through lying teeth. It didn't bother he none.
Her fingers danced through the array of dresses, a rainbow of them no less. Fabrics so soft and so tender, the made her yearn. Unfortunately she was a Carpathian. True and loyal to her nature, she saw only in the dismal variants of grey and black. It was all she had to feel and to imagine. She squinted, praying she could see the orange and the yellow of some particularly flowerly dress.
Lifting it from it's perch she held it against her beautiful body and glided toward a mirror. She smiled, a rare occasion, as she pictured her life mate as she came dancing out in it. She must have it, it would certainly please him.
Darling didn't want to interrupt and so she used her birth right given telepathic speech to get the owner's attention.
Excuse me...how much is this?
She turned toward the counter, making her presence known by sight. Her luminous purple eyes caught that of the shopkeep and she nodded, waiting patiently for her answer.

[Anonymous]

A few years back, Aymé would've flipped out at the sound of someone's voice inside her head. Fortunately, she got all sorts of customers and while she wasn't used to it, it didn't scare the bejesus out of her. A chill ran up her spine, but that was about the extent of it. She turned to face Darsha and eyed the dress.

Aymé: Er, if ya hafta ask, it's too much. Mosta the dresses out on tha floor are quite pricey. That dress'll run ya around 500 gold. Sorry.

Aymé also thought that the colors of the dress didn't suit this girl either. Aymé would've preferred to dress this girl in a dark color to bring out her eyes, accentuate her paleness since gods know it was too pale to try to darken in comparison. A dark color would also bring out her hair, but Aymé didn't want to deny this girl whichever dress she wanted; provided she could afford it.

[Anonymous]

She had been looking down this whole time, rather trying to avoid the un-necessary attention. But when the woman spoke her eyes snapped up, looking through bangs, and for a moment she seemed to glare at her. It was hard to tell whether it was because the incinuation that she was poor or that too-familiar glance that she got from people when it came to her color choices.
With startling speed she was right next to Ayme, her hands planted firmly on the counter. Her lips parted, and sound came out. It was quiet and eerie, like the sound of a river, far off in the forest, in the middle of the night.
The colors? They don't suite me...show me something that does....please.
Manners weren't exactly her strong point. Disappearing from the counter, she stood before one of the many mirrors. She wanted so much to see it like everyone else did. It simply wasn't fair that she was born this way. Closing her eyes to a world that was not made for her, she breathed deeply and quietly, calming herself and waiting anxiously, though not showing it.
The other tourists had all but left. In fact the sight of a Carpathian made them more curious. It wasn't like her kind was rare, yet they instilled such...wonder. Perhaps because they didn't understand. That had to be it. They didn't understand her frustrations.

[Anonymous]

Aymé considered it for a moment. She glanced up at the customer trying on the red dress, who gave her a thumbs-up. She walked down from the mirrored platform and pushed past Darsha at the counter.

Customer: Oh Aymé, I love it! It's 700, right?

Aymé: Well, it is 700, but for 200 more, I'll make any size alterations for free. Y'know, in case you lose a lot of weight, or otherwise.

She seemed to consider this a moment, and decided that that would come in handy.

Customer: Oh, sure, why not!

She handed a large bag to Aymé that made a clinking noise as it hit the counter. The customer emptied another small bag into it. Aymé estimated that came out to about 900 gold. She shook it around to make sure the bag wasn't weighted to feel like 900 gold. It wasn't. She grabbed a coin and threw it hard at the floor. It didn't bend. She smiled at the customer.

Aymé: Thank you very much. Come back any time!

Aymé was also smirking on the inside. She had a wizard come by regularly to enchant all the dresses to conform to the customers body each time they put it on. But of course, the only people who knew that were on the payroll. She turned to look at Darsha again.

Aymé: Well, I might be able to help you. What kinda budget you on? Most tourists ain't got the kinda cash on 'em that'd buy a dress from me, but obviously you must have a little more than the average tourist if that 500 gold dress ain't scared ya off yet.

[Anonymous]

She scowled inwardly at Ayme and the lady with the red dress. They both bothered her, and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was Ayme's trickery, something that clearly shone in her eyes and perhaps the woman's naivety was just more then tolerable. She rolled her eyes but waited patiently for her turn.
At last she was rewarded and the thrifty saleswoman asked about money and all that. She glared at her and then smiled dangerously.
Let me worry about my money...just show me something that looks good.
It was a little threat, nothing to worry about really. It was just in Darling's nature to be malicious and cold. People just irked her in general. Running her tongue over her lips she recognized that familiar rush of saliva and the knot in her stomach.
She craved the life sustaining blood of another being. These here, in this store, would certainly not be her victims. They were all too fat or too skinny or too...whatever. And besides public killing wasn't her dish.

[Anonymous]

Aymé's eyes narrowed slightly, imperceptibly to most, but probably not to Darsha. She didn't appreciate threats, as she'd recieved many in her day.

Aymé: Well then I hate to disappoint, but I only work with customers who can give me an idea as to what kind of budget they're working on. And ya really don't seem to want to work with me. So, I'll be glad to help ya when ya lose the attitude. I can live without you're money.

She smiled curtly at her, and waited for her to either leave, or begin speaking in a respectful tone of voice.

[Anonymous]

Darsha did notice but she couldn't care less. Such signs were typical of aggitation and she expected nothing less. But when Ayme said something about money and what not she growled lowly and flexed her knuckles out of habit.
I have quite the amount of money dear.
Her voice grated, simply because she didn't want to cooperate and she didn't want to be subserviant, still she must. She eyed her and attempted a smile, which came out more of a scowl.
Can you show me now?

[Anonymous]

Aymé was muttering to herslef in her brain, but she kept the cheeky smile on her face. Though it was true she didn't need Darsha's money, she definitely wanted it, and Darsha was pretty, so it wouldn't be difficult to find her something she'd look nice in. That and after the killing she'd made on that last dress, she wouldn't even have to bother cheating Darsha.

Aymé: I'd be happy to. Right this way.

Aymé sauntered over to a rack containing red, purple and gold dresses and beckoned Darsha to follow her.

[Anonymous]

Darsha growled firmly at the fact that she couldn't pick out her own dress. When the wench of an owner came over to help she smiled coyly and drifted behind her, peering at all the dresses and mainly the way they were cut.
They appeared nice enough and her mood changed slightly, improved with each thought that she would have a glamorous gown by the end of the day. Returning the cheeky smile, she grabbed a dress from the rack and ran her fingers over it, nodding appreciatively at the soft feel of it.
"Would this look nice on me?"
She flashed it in front of her body and waited for Ayme to speak up, knowing full well that the woman wanted her money.

[Anonymous]

Aymé looked at the dress. This one was a red wine color and looked quite nice when Darsha held it up. It was made of a satiny material and though it was floor-length, it had a slit running halfway up the wearer's thigh. Aymé smiled an honest smile then. Though she was irate and generally not very nice to strangers, she did derive honest to goodness happiness from seeing a woman (or man) in the perfect dress.

Aymé: Why don' you try it on, hun? I think you'd look real nice in it.

((OOC: It has been almost a year. I officially declare this topic closed.))