Afternoon Shopping [IC]

[Lone Star]

September 1st, the Millennium Mall. Weather warm, with overcast clouds.

Blake Salazar was walking around the Millennium Mall with a smile on his face. One thing he hadn't had a chance to do since he transformed back into Kid Cthulhu was show off. He was wearing his usual fare- a black band T-shirt, Converse High-tops, and low-cut jeans, and his hands were in his pockets. It was one in the afternoon, and the mall was at it's busiest. On Labor Day, the mall-goers were crowded into stores, taking advantage of yearly sales. He made his way to the middle of the crowd, and shouted at the top of his lungs "CTHULHU F'THAGN!" With that, Blake was transformed into Kid Cthulhu once more, his billowing grey cloak flowing behind him as he extended his wings to fly above the crowd. A few onlookers pointed and smiled in recognition- it's hard to forget such a face. Kid Cthulhu smiled as he made a few laps around the central area, then flew back down to take autographs. Boy, it's nice to be able to showboat again.

[Ecalsneerg]

Siobhan leaned on a wall some distance from the crowd, a faint smirk on her face. She wore a plain white t-shirt and jeans, a baseball cap pulled low to partially hide her face and thus allow her a bit of anonymity. Show-off.

She casually sidled up into the crowd, head lowered. I thought he'd lost his connection to the Lovecraftian entities, though. Odd. She decided she'd try and get the green tentacled goofball's attention. So she carefully, calmly looked up, and pushed her cap back a bit so the boy could recognise her face. And let out just enough magic to make her eyes briefly surge bright white, but only for a moment.

[Lone Star]

He looked up from taking autographs for a brief moment, and a flash like a camera filled his vision. "Hey, no flash photography, please! You can have your picture with me for ten bucks apiece. That's fair-" A familiar friend was closeby- it was Equinox! "S'cuse me, folks. I have some very important business to take care of." After the crowd died down, and the two were able to speak clearly, Kid Cthulhu sat down on a bench and talked with her. "It's good to see you, Equinox. You know, I can totally justify why I was showing off." he said with a grin on his be-tentacled face.

[Ecalsneerg]

"I don't mind the showing off," frowned Equinox. "But that ten bucks thing... better have been a joke, or a charity thing." She leaned back on the bench, and sighed for a moment.

"So, what happened? I mean, I know I've not seen you in a long while," she said in a more gentle tone. "But last I heard, you'd lost access to the..." She waved one hand vaguely in the air. "Gribbly tentacles and strange New Englandish stuff." She looked at him, concerned. "Did you cut a deal with something?"

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu laughed aloud. "I was joking about the ten bucks thing. The boost to my ego is payment enough. And about my powers-" He sighed and looked down. "Remember that big event involving pseudonatural stuff in the city? I think Doktor Archeville may have been involved...just a thought. But anyway, I'm going into town to hopefully clear up some of the mess, and I get this killer headache. The Unspeakable One tries to use me as some sort of weapon, and I manage to resist the influence, and here I am, tentacles and all. I don't know how I managed to retain my charming personality after all of that, but I'm grateful just to be alive."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Hmmm," pondered Siobhan, absent-mindedly drumming her fingers on her knees. "My theory is that you weren't exactly helping things practicing magic when you were deprived of his influence. But perhaps that's also what helped you keep your own mind against the Unspeakable One..."

She shook her head. "Never going to be comfortable with it, frankly. It just smells... wrong... no offence." She looked up and met the teen's gaze. "But if you have any... side effects... come to me, I'll see what I can do."

[Lone Star]

Blake sniffed a green arm, and shuddered a little. "Well, the smell is one thing..." His smile died a little, and his expression became almost stoic. "I know this form of magic is wrong- I think that's the Unspeakable One's schtick. It feels weird every time I use it, as if reality is just bending and stretching a little to accommodate it. I guess the best way to describe it is a suspension bridge creaking while tanks roll over it." He sighed and shook his head. "I'll let you know if I get any weirdness for sure, though. So! Want to do some shopping?"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Well, I'm really only here to pick up food from the pet store," sighed Siobhan. "The damn raccoon is eating me out of house and home. And server bills are a bit of a pain. Really, I can go browsing, but if you don't keep me away from bookstores, I'll end up living out of a cardboard box within the week."

She pushed herself up from the bench and snapped her fingers sharply. In an instant, her t-shirt had billowed out into a long sleeved shirt and trenchcoat, her costume appearing clean out of mid-air. "I suppose hanging out with a giant octopus isn't exactly going to leave me inconspicuous for long, so why bother?"

[Lone Star]

Kid Cthulhu grinned and stood up. "Equinox! There you are! I haven't seen you for the longest time. There was this woman that looked just like you standing there a second ago...haha. I'm so lame." He stuck out a green tongue and fluttered his wings. "They sell raccoon food here? I guess it is a big city...it's not that unlikely." The mystic shrugged once, nonchalantly. "I was actually headed to the bookstore myself. Want to head over there real quick?"

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox just smiled and shook her head at the joke. "Well, she isn't fussy. Nuts, berries. Chocolate biscuits. She'll eat pretty much anything." She frowned. "Apart from that incident with the soup. That's never happening again.

She strode ahead of the octopus dude, coat billowing out slightly behind her as she marched with her long legs. "And no bookstores. I've got enough books. Hell, I don't even have enough shelves anymore. I've got a coffee table made entirely of a cloth and old hardbacks."