Mayflies on the maple masts of fair weather planes

@"ClaireGirl"

Kim In Suk

Still hand in hand with Fontaine, In Suk soon found herself in a part of town that definitely looked sufficiently magic-y for her expectations. That was to say, the place looked a bit like a slum, but it was a tasteful slum that knew what it was, and you could actually walk around there without constantly worrying that you were about to get mugged. Alleyways were a different story. The creepy ones, anyways, since there seemed to be some pretty well lit ones around, too.

Somehow, In Suk was enchanted, probably since creepy didn't register very well on her stranger danger meters and also because Fontaine's hand was nice and warm in hers. She felt a bit like she was glowing and since things like sound -the idea of them, anyways- were just as wondrous as magic itself, she liked to think that she sounded sparkly as a result. In her mind, it would be a pretty sound that meant happy things, somehow. To most hearing able people, that description probably would have sounded suspiciously like humming.

Seeing vibrating wings hovering in the corner of her vision, she automatically reached out and plucked her dragonfly out of the air. Normally, she was fine with it doing as it pleased but because she didn't know the area very well, In Suk wanted to make sure that somebody wouldn't just steal it while her head was turned. Although maybe with Fontaine there, that wouldn't happen? Having two people around was much better than just being alone, In Suk was starting to realize. It was a lot easier than she thought, communicating with regular people.

Maybe later she would go ahead and find more people to talk to. But for the moment, there was just her, Fontaine, and a bunch of shops with tantalizing window displays. In Suk naturally wanted to see them all.

Kim In Suk

At Fontaine's sudden but slight start, In Suk looked her way. Was there something wrong? she wondered, feeling a bit confused. Maybe the other girl just didn't like this part of the city all that much. While that would have been disappointing, In Suk was also confident in her ability to find something interesting enough for Fontaine to enjoy. Probably. After all, there were plenty of neat things that were always lying around. It was just that few people seemed to notice them. A bit of water and polishing and some re-anything and then you could get something really special.

What would Fontaine like to see? Judging by the way she kept recoloring things, In Suk thought that she'd like to see something pretty and colorful and that just so happened to coincide perfectly with what she liked, too. A lot of the windows on the street had their curtains cast wide open, revealing collections of mysterious, mostly antique looking objects. So not too much color was to be seen there, unfortunately, but there was an astounding variety of shapes present. And creatures.

A couple of shops down from the corner of the street, there was a shop front painted a blindingly bright shade of grass green. It had a nice, albeit dusty bay window built right next to a yellow door. Through it, In Suk thought she could see stacks of cages with mostly normal looking creatures inside. With how old the window was, however, she couldn't be sure how correct that observation was.

There was a big sign placed over the window, spanning most of the width of the store front. In Suk couldn't read it at all. In fact, she wasn't even sure if it was written in English. It was very pretty, though. And squiggly. It was probably a bad reason that she wanted to see what was in that store just because of the green and the pretty sign but In Suk felt reasonably won over. Squeezing Fontaine's hand, she tugged a little in that direction, indicating that she wanted to see what was there.

Written in English cursive, the sign on that store read, Wanda's Amazing Collection of Magical and Mundane Creatures.

Kim In Suk

Feeling especially encouraged, she smiled happily and went to the door. As she pushed it open, her dragonfly made a little movement in her hair. In Suk guessed that there was some kind of bell ringing to alert the shopkeeper, since the critter always reacted to that sort of thing. It was all part of its initial wiring, back when In Suk made the decision that if she couldn't have a hearing dog of her own -their family apartment just wasn't large enough for that- she might as well make something that could function as one.

Although, Oh! Maybe I could have one now? Does the Academy even allow pets? She thought it did, so that was good enough, right? Besides, some of the students really were animals so. Eagerly, she looked around. Inside of the shop, the walls were lined with cages of various sizes, all housing animals of all sorts.

Not having had much contact with animals in the past -besides handbooks anyways- it was completely lost on In Suk that this just might be a bit of a shifty business despite its brightly colored trappings. For one, some of the animals seemed a bit odd. None seemed to be completely at ease except for a few of the more dangerous looking ones -snakes and multi-colored frogs. It was also deadly silent except for the footsteps of humans inside, currently consisting of In Suk, Fontaine, a middle aged saleswoman with a sunny grin, and a few other customers on the older side of the age spectrum.

And lastly, In Suk was blissfully unaware of the fact that there was a medium sized sign on the cages on the back wall which very empathetically stated, WARNING: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND MAGICAL CREATURES CONTAINED HERE. HANDLE WITH CARE. Naturally, the Korean girl gravitated to them, attracted by the presence of a dimly lit fish tank.

Kim In Suk

Okay, so even In Suk could admit that there was something kind of creepy about this section of the store. Staring deeply into the fish tank, she was completely oblivious to the fact that a very large and very dangerous Komodo dragon trying break out of its cage above her. Sometimes, there were benefits to being deaf.

Is there actually something in there? She squinted at the dark waters. There wasn't even a shimmer of anything. It seemed like the liquid was just sucking up the light. She didn't understand what was the point of having a clear fish tank if there wasn't anything to see. In that case, they might as well use a piece of pottery instead.

She turned back to Fontaine, feeling her interest wane considerably. "I do not think there's anything here," In Suk wrote doubtfully.

Behind her, two glowing eyes illuminated the fish tank, revealing a spiked creature with rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth.

Kim In Suk

As Fontaine tapped her on the shoulder, In Suk glanced back at the fish tank that she had given up on, only to catch sight of one of the most monstrous creature she had ever seen in her entire life. Jerking back in surprise, she stumbled a little on her feet before steadying herself, ready to finally take a good look at. Whatever it was. To her dismay, the thing had already begun to retreat back into the darkness, probably aware that it was unable to devour her.

No, no, no, come baaaack! Leaning forward so that her face was mere centimeters from the glass, the girl peered back into the waters. When the thing did not reappear, she scrunched up her face and began to wave her hands nonsensically. Maybe the movement would lure it back out? It was so annoying when things decided to just disappear on her before she could properly study them.

When nothing happened, In Suk began to tap the glass impatiently, ignoring the sign literally right next to her that said Please do not tap the glass. Spot checks weren't exactly her specialty when she wasn't looking for anything. And, of course. English. Always an issue there.

The saleswoman noticed her. "Excuse me, miss?" The woman said sunnily with a wide grin as she came over. "Please refrain from tapping on the glass. Miss? I will have to ask you to leave if you won't kindly stop that."