out of place (Sebastien)

[Arden Patricks]

Well... I think as I duck into the shop and look around. I'm back.
Now if only I knew why the hell it's so important to me to be here in the first place....
I shrug, moving slowly through the shop and keeping my head down, examining one unpleasant instrument or ornament after another, still with no clue why I'm here... especially when I hear a bang behind me, jump a mile, and look around furtively to see where it came from.

[Sebastian Montague]

"Oops..." I mutter, in a half amused kind of way as the still as yet unidentified object I'm examining makes a loud banging sound.
I glance upwards at the girl who's looking at me and shrug in an insincerely apologetic way.

[Arden Patricks]

I let out a breath, practically deflating in relief, then turn back around to see that my hand is hovering inches away from some cursed necklace labeled 'do not touch.'
Now that would be a good way to go, I think as I quickly snatch it back and move along, jumpier than ever and shooting occasional looks back at that guy who startled me.

[Sebastian Montague]

I look at the floor amusedly, smirk uncurling at my mouth as she shot glance back at me.
I move slightly, to look in a cabinet but without really seeing, more watching her reflection in the glass.
"You always this twitchy?" I ask after a moment and two more stolen glances.

[Arden Patricks]

I close my eyes briefly and curse at myself. No, only when I'm trying to advertise how completely out-of-place, nervous, and twitchy I am.
I shrug. "Only when people scare the shit out of me," I say, pretending to examine an eyeball encased in glass.

[Sebastian Montague]

"Uh-huh," I nod, a definite patronising edge to my tone, inclining my head slightly on the pretence of examining some kind of stone on the shelf below.

[Arden Patricks]

I look over at him nervously, edging farther away until I'm back at that glass-encased house-elf I saw on my last visit here, and I become engrossed in staring at its feet.
I am not afraid of you... I am not a moron.... I lie to myself, fingers tapping restlessly but near-silently on the counter.

[Sebastian Montague]

I watch her in the reflection for a moment longer, trying very hard not to be too amused.
"You know, I'm not going to eat your soul or whatever," I snort.

[Arden Patricks]

I glance at him again, pause and reflect a moment, then smile slightly. "Right... 'course not."
Maybe I'm getting too paranoid.
I look at a couple of other objects, not really sure what they are. "How about liver?" I ask, not looking up.

[Sebastian Montague]

I pick up a large flat stone, turning it round in my hands while half reading the label next to it, "Hmm...liver...tempting. Ever done drugs? Consumed too much alcohol? Maybe if you're livers in good condition I might...otherwise I doubt it."
I throw the stone from one hand to the other, a couple more times, then grimace and put it back on the counter as I notice some sort of black powder's rubbed off on my hands.

[Arden Patricks]

"No, I haven't..." I say slowly, watching him toss the stone around. "Though from the looks of it you have. And recently."

[Sebastian Montague]

I laugh, only slightly bordering on the edge of humour, "Do I really look that awful? Hmm...oh dear."

[Arden Patricks]

I shrug, raising my eyebrows critically. "Not your face... more the fact that your brain cells have clearly been damaged enough that you'd do something as stupid as play with that rock without knowing what it does."
I take a breath and inwardly wince. Real lovely, Arden... let's insult some strangers in a Dark instrument shop....

[Sebastian Montague]

I laugh again, in a more short-lived way than the first time and hold up the label that was next to it, "Not dangerous to the touch. I did check first."

[Arden Patricks]

"Oh... well then you're not completely stupid," I say, revising my opinion while inwardly wincing again.
I'm going to look at the counter again now....

[Sebastian Montague]

I cock an eyebrow in her direction, leaning against the counter and watching her, "Whereas you obviously are more stupid than you appear," I pause for a moment before deciding to add so it wouldn't sound completely unjustified, "Or you wouldn't go round possibly offending strange men you meet in shops that specialize in the dark arts. Did no ever teach you that was a bad move?"

[Arden Patricks]

"Yeah, I've heard that," I say, flicking my eyes to him briefly before staring at the counter again. "Apologies," I add, tilting my head in his direction.
You really need to learn to use your paranoia wisely... and lose all those bad habits from when you didn't give a damn.

[Sebastian Montague]

I shrug, "Didn't say I was offended now, did I?"
I turn back round, tilting my head curiously at some dead looking thing I'd come face to face with.

[Arden Patricks]

I pause at that, then shrug. "Well, either way. Do you really hav to offend someone before you can apologize?" I frown as I look at a necklace that appears to be made of dead crabs and human bones. Lovely.

[Sebastian Montague]

"I think that's how it should be," I reply, crouching slightly to get a better look at the dead thing.

[Arden Patricks]

I shrug, still looking at the necklace and tapping my fingers again. "And... you can't apologize just when you think you might have offended them? I mean how can you know for sure?"

[Sebastian Montague]

"It depends what information you've already gathered about them," I reply absently, as if I wasn't paying her my full attention, "How far you think you can push. Instincts are powerful."

[Arden Patricks]

I have the distinct feeling of unreality that always accompanies conversations that have turned so abstract that it feels like we're not really actually listening to ourselves anymore.
I shrug. "Well... instinct told me not to press my luck, then, and that it would be safest to apologize just in case you really were offended." I turn away from the necklace and decide that I'd really rather not pretend to be fascinated by any more Dark objects, so instead I cross my arms and face him.