[PRP] Out of the Miasma, Into the Maul (Verusha/Brenley)

[Smerdle]

Brenley hated having to come to Koblin's when he needed a centrifuge. There was no other option when he looked at things practically, but no matter how cheap the place was or how he couldn't justify purchasing one himself on his current lack of a budget, the shop was still located in the maul. If there was a place that more successfully embodied everything he was not, he hadn't found it yet.

He had sixty minutes to kill under their "If We Can't Spin it in Under an Hour, It's Free!" policy, and so far he had used those minutes to wander aimlessly, staring in store windows with mounting horror until he could no longer muster any disgust. It wasn't the tube tops or skinny jeans or giant hats by themselves that threw him. It was the sheer loudness of those items that offended him. No one needed that many sequins. It was just... tacky, and coming from him, that was saying something.

At least a little of his ire left him when he found the fountain. It was soothing to stand near the rushing water and toss in coins, and the world faded away as he did so. Soon his order would be ready for pickup. Soon he could go home.

musicaloner7

promptness is not my middle name ;;
i'm sorryyyyyy <3

 

[musicaloner7]

Smerdle

no worries sweetu <3 if you ever want to take our rp to IM's, or google docs, just lemme know. c8

For Verusha, on the other hand, a visit to the maul was nothing but a fun filled, amusement fest. It was a prime location for creeple watching, as well as seeing what was new and 'in'. While she wasn't one to follow the ways of others, or any of the bandwagons, it was always a great deal entertaining seeing the silly things people started to create a fad of.

Her pale eyes skimmed back and forth as she walked casually through the wide hallways, glancing at a few youths her own age who were just trying way too hard. Collars popped up high, with multiple shirts beneath, cologne and perfume that could wake anyone from their restful slumber, caked on faces that were supposedly make up, tight fitting clothes that looked like you had to move only one inch any direction in order to keep from the fabric from bursting off your body!

Oh and how could she not notice the sharp glares multiple ghouls were aiming her way, and the thorough looks up and down that were given to gather enough information to judge her right on back. But the reaper kept on her nonchalant, laidback grin, unabashed or disturbed by the petty ways. Smirking, if anything!

But she had Cannon right at her side, too, who would give a fierce glare of his own to those who lingered too long on his summoner, snarls sometimes pulled back even, from those quivering lips to reveal his dangerously sharp canines. Once Verusha found herself getting distracted by the actual shops, though, her attention fully turned towards them. Let's see... there was a music store, and the arcade was further down the way... but a video game store should be nearby. And an alternative clothing store was kinda close too. Stopping altogether, she mulled her options, eyes scanning back and forth, and all around in her spot.

But they were instantly interrupted when she noticed... something familiar. She wasn't quite sure what it was exactly, and couldn't place a finger on what in particular it was, but a boil stood out to her against the rest of the throngs of individuals. Staring at him, who was stationed by the fountain, she squinted a little as if that might help with a revelation on how she had come to settling her attention on him.

Wait a second.... was he...? Well, only one way to find out.

Hands stuffing into her far too small of pockets, the ghoul approached the waiting boil, head cocking slightly once she neared him enough, "Hey, I know you don't I?" she questioned right off the bat.
 

[Smerdle]

Much as he had when she'd addressed him during their fight in the miasma, Brenley didn't immediately recognize that the ghoul was speaking to him. He continued tossing coins, keeping aware of the general hubbub around the fountain for a handful of seconds before truly registering her question.

The boil turned, his suspicious expression breaking into a welcoming yet slightly nervous one as he saw her. "Hello! Yes! We fought that... large creature together in Miasma Village not so long ago." He still felt rather odd discussing what had happened there, considering that he lacked the excuse that it had all been a dream this time, but he was glad to see her nonetheless. Her and her fiery dog. Though he didn't know many reapers with familiars, Bren had met enough to come to the sweeping conclusion that they had a tendency to reflect their summoners' personalities.

He pocketed his remaining coins, shifting his full attention to the ghoul. "It's good to see you again. Have you been all right since... all of that?"

musicaloner7

i will do that! <3

 

[musicaloner7]

Smerdle

As was custom for the firey familiar, Cannon expressed his dislike for the boil blatantly, glaring just as fierce as ever when they neared him. In contrast, Verusha was far more relaxed, and interested if anything.

Nodding along with his recollection of their first meeting, which had been a pretty awesome one at that, the ghoul narrowed her eyes just a hair more in a pleased sort of fashion, reliving that awesome day all over in her head. She really needed to beat things up more than she already did. "Man, that was awesome wasn't it?" she sighed in her spell of reminiscing.

Filing that thought away for later, she stepped closer and sat herself down on the edge of the fountain with her fellow reaper, letting her back face the water display. Cannon, of course, naturally put himself between she and the hardly known boil, providing both a wedge and wall from any possible contact between the two. His question made her brow quirk faintly with surprise, head tipping slightly as well, "Of course I am. Was a blast, to me." but she gave pause. Maybe it hadn't been for him... "How about you? Did you come outta there unscarred?" her eyes did a few once overs along his form, as if to seek out some sort of battle wound or discolouration that might signify some sort of... remnant from the strange village.
 

[Smerdle]

Even though he was unconsciously ever so slightly leaning away from the dog and his glare, Brenley couldn't help but smirk at the reaper's response. He was quite used to those who rather enthusiastically sought out action, even danger, so while he hadn't found their little encounter all that fun himself, he could appreciate her sentiment secondhand.

"It was definitely... something, though I felt kind of silly flailing around so much. I couldn't seem to get a handle on the fight at all." In fact, he'd barely made a dent in the creature. It had been kind of humbling. Usually when he reluctantly sparred these days, he ended up doing far better than he ever thought he could. "But I made it out all right in the end. That town certainly is intriguing." He curbed himself from going on, quite certain she didn't want to hear about his theories and the giant, unwieldy mounts that had followed him home. Having been there herself, she probably knew all about them anyway.

Once again he felt her eyes on him in a appraising way, and he held perfectly still for a moment, as if she might lash out if she found something she didn't like. It was the oddest thought, but he stowed it away to consider later. "So, do you come here a lot? Is there much to do? Shopping, I presume, but I don't really shop." He looked apologetic, as if finding joy in malls was something every teenager should experience. "I'm Brenley, by the way, since we hardly got a chance to make proper introductions while fighting." The boil almost held out a hand to shake but thought better of it, especially with her suspicious familiar between them like he was.

musicaloner7

 

[musicaloner7]

Smerdle

She gave a small shake of her head in a dismissive manner, grin spreading further along her blackened lips, "Nah don't worry about it. We all have our days. I know I sure had a few... turns of bad luck myself, there." she admitted, snorting lightly as she recalled how embarrassingly bad she'd been at slaying those blasted turkeys. Those things had to be genetically enhanced, or something! They weren't your normal run of the mill ones, the way they darted and dashed around expertly.

"So long as we all got outta there in one piece, it's all that mattered." her own two cents were contributed to the conclusion on the matter.

Lifting her gaze from his rocking outfit, her pale glowers locked back onto his peepers in turn, that cocky expression of hers returning. Leaning back towards the spewing fountain, gloved hands gripping the edge behind her as she did so, the ghoul slowly looked up to the towering ceiling, "I guess you could say I do, yeah. I like to come here to look at things... Creeple... 'specially boils." she playfully included, in a rather nonchalant manner.... though she did sneak a teasing glance towards the other reaper. "They got a lotta stuff here. And an awesome arcade." with a small tip of her head in the direction of said video game haven, she straightened back up on the fountains edge.

"I'm Verusha. This is my pal Cannon." the hound continued his unwavering glare even with the formalities exchanged, the boil having made a good decision in keeping his hand at bay. Eyeing Brenley again, Verusha leaned a little closer to him, voice lowering in a inquisitive, and suspicious tone, "If you don't really shop all that much, then what are you here for, Brenley? Maybe doing a little...window shopping?" eyes veered off to glance to a few ghouls that were within the vicinity, walking past, or stationary at some sort of stall.

But perhaps boils were another thing on the menu for her weapon wielding brethren.  

[Smerdle]

Ah. Looking at boils. This was certainly the place to get that done if that was something you were aiming to do. Which he was not. Bren cleared his throat faintly, holding as still as he could when she leaned in. The feeling that she might attack him returned, though when he analyzed the impulse instead of simply reacting to it, Bren found that what he actually felt was a sort of embarrassed pleasure, like he was up for purchase and she was interested in buying him. It made the boil wonder whether Piper had ever looked at him like that, behind his back maybe. He swallowed, forcing him to relax a little. They were just having a conversation. There was no reason for his mind to be working so hard.

"I came here to drop something off at Koblin's. The science store upstairs," he said, gesturing vaguely in the direction he thought he had come from. "I needed some mixtures separated and I don't have my own centrifuge." He trailed off as he spoke, fairly confident that the longer he went on, the weirder he appeared. "The arcade though... that sounds like something to see. I'm afraid I wouldn't be very good at the..." Bren mimed holding some form of controller and tapping at it with his thumbs. At least he wasn't entirely ignorant. "I could always learn, I suppose." He straightened.

"Anyway, it is very nice to meet you." He glanced at the familiar, who he still thought seemed distressingly agitated. "And Cannon. You must attend Amityville, correct? Do you like it there?"

musicaloner7

 

[musicaloner7]

Smerdle

Verusha couldn't deny the amusement and little delight she got from the boils response to her inspecting, and closer hovering, the grin peeling across her lips only fueled more and more by the stiff reaction. Very akin to laying a nice juicy steak before one of her Barghest... The poor tense boil~ It was far too precious.

Deciding to remain as she were, her head tilted in an inquisitive sort of fashion as he went on with his explanation of his presence here. Another round of looking him up and down was committed, and she gave a small hum of acknowledgement, "ahh, so you're one of those smart types, hm?" it made her wonder how he'd feel about her skipping class as often as she did. That would be a fun little note to drop. With the inclusion of some sort of words that had never been in her vocabulary before, the ghoul was tickled all the more, "real smart." she added on with a faint chuckle. She'd probably show interest in school classes if they held some sort of actual hands on functionality. But the droning voices of professors, ones who clearly did not want to be there, coupled with the suffocating, stuffy rooms did nothing to appeal to the reapers learning methods. "What sorta mixtures were they? something dangerous?" she inquired in a semi-cooing, and hushed kind of voice, as if it could be top secret information.

Letting her feet cross at the ankles, she brightened a level more with the return to her own field of expertise, flashing her pearly whites, the pronounced canines at the sides baring, "Well I could always show you some fun games. There's tons, so there's bound to be something you'll like." another chuckle, more hardy this time, emerged from the imitation the boil provided of playing with a controller. "I'm sure you've got some more time to kill, riiight?"

Cannon didn't change from his plastered expression, making some walking by wonder if the familiar was maybe petrified or something. But a raising of the flames flickering on his back would prove otherwise, and the deepening furrow of already heavy brows further confirmed his displeasure as attention was paid his way. Verusha smirked, and leaned over to lovingly stroke her gloved hands along the canines cheeks, smoothing the sleek fur there, and up along his skull to adoringly pet some of the flames lashing about there, "He's always at my side. Can't bring myself to ever unsummon him." she answered for the boil, seeing as Cannon refused to speak to anyone but her. A kiss was placed on the tip of the dogs nose, "I think he hates it here, to be honest. He's not really liking my making friends. Or meeting anyone, really." the darling thing didn't trust a single soul but his reaper, and found all to be a threat to her well-being. Perhaps it was from what he'd seen happen to her in the past, or maybe the lack of emotion and interest from her cold parents. Either way, the hound had assumed a highly-hypersensitive protection over the ghoul, to an extreme.

 

[Smerdle]

Continuing to suffer under her scrutiny, though much more calmly than he had previously, Bren smiled when the ghoul asked if his mixtures were dangerous. He had managed small bombs, acidic bits of sand that stung his sparring partners, love potions, and a handful of other things that he would have termed as dangerous, but what he had dropped off today was just a common insect extraction.

He kept his voice comedically low as he replied. Oh, yes. Very top secret. "Colony-dwelling bugs, mostly. If you mix the insects with a weak acid and spin them fast enough, the glands I'm looking for come out intact for the most part. I'm working on a homing charm at the moment, and they're a helpful component, if a little disgusting."

Brenley had fully expected her to be disdainful toward the more conventional, boring methods of learning, but he hadn't thought Cannon would have an opinion at all. "Ah. Well, I don't mean you any harm." He doubted that convinced the familiar of anything, really. "But... we should go to the arcade for a while. My treat." It would do him good to learn a little more about modern, fun things, if only for his sister's benefit. And Verusha was right. He did have plenty of time. Bren rose, started to offer her a hand up, then hesitated as he had when he'd thought to shake her hand.

musicaloner7