It's Half Off and I Still Can't Afford It (SSoDI-G)

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Ahhhhh..."

Mic looked around the central concourse of the mall, eyes wide, smile brimming, hand on his hip, head nodding with approval. Customers filed in and out of stores and up and down the walkways with a blend of purpose and leisure. Windows proudly displayed the latest fashions, collector's items, books, gadgets, jewelry, anything one's heart desired. The din of hustle and bustle filled the atmosphere like the sweetest music.

"This is nice," Mic mused, turning to his new companions. "This is just the place to unwind!"

"Normally I wouldn't equate this place with relaxation," Paul chuckled, taking a good look around for himself. "But I could see us having a little fun here before things get too dire."

"When are things not dire around here?" Kenny asked honestly as he stared into the window of a pop culture merchandise store. "Eh, never mind, don't answer that. I'm not gonna complain about a moment of downtime."

"SO! Where should we go first?!" Mic eagerly inquired, primed and ready to scamper off in any direction.

Paul shrugged. "I can't think of anywhere specific. Since you're new here, maybe you oughta lead the way, Mic."

Mic's smile turned a bit subdued, taken aback by the offer. It wasn't often that he was put in charge. "Oh! Well... that could be interesting! Certainly! Let's go!" Then he faced forward and began a brisk stroll through the hub, looking around for anything and everything that might catch his fancy.

[DanteMGalileo]

"... How much is any of this? Because I'm pretty sure this is out of my price range."

Will muttered something under his breath, reaching into a pocket to pull out a (comically flat) wallet, in a material similar to leather. "Fabricated goat hide. It's cheap. Only downsides are that it tends to fall apart and purchases support Mal-Wart's corporate empire." Opening the cheap wallet, a puff of dust came out, followed by a small moth. "Dammit. I forgot these things collect bugs."

A few moments of shaking later produced a few coins, mostly copper, and a single bill with two strange characters in each corner. "I've got... twelve Saian shillings and five pence. Uh, anyone thirsty?" Beat. "... What is the exchange rate again? I might not even be able to afford one drink."

[ColArana]

Time spent in Malls was rare for Ranuen-- well. Time spent in Malls doing actual Mall things instead of scavenging for survival. He checked out the surroundings from Will's shoulder, being sure to be careful not to get separated. Even if he knew where they were all rooming, it was a long way back for him.

As Will procured his wallet, Ranuen chuckled a little. "Tell you what Will. I'll help you out if you see something you want. I can probably get you a five finger discount, as the saying goes." He mentioned as they moved through the mall. He looked over at Mic, and flinched a little. Still not fully used to the volume that passed for Mic's indoor voice.

"Well, I agree that wherever Mic takes us, it's bound to be a little interesting." Besides, Ranuen himself had no specific destinations in mind. He didn't really go shopping either, so tagging along with the group was fine. "You know I've never actually been here. Any of you know any places of interest that we can take Mic?" He asked.

[ParamountKeymaster]

Kenny smirked up at Will. "Hey, to be fair, I'm not exactly in the black either. But half of the people here probably aren't even here to shop anyway. They're just here to look at stuff and say 'Gee, wouldn't it be nice to have a not-minimum-wage job so I could own that?'"

"Yeah, don't sweat it, gang," Paul hummed, casting a good-natured grin over his shoulder. "If there's something you like, I don't mind lending the cash. As long as it's not like in the high hundreds or something. I'm not making that six-figure salary! Heheh."

"Well, let's see what sort of knick-knackery we can drop some coin into then!" Mic chimed in agreement, peering through window after window at the treasures within.

Paul stuck his hands in his pockets and followed suit. "Kenny and I have been through here plenty of times. There's a lot to do. They have a library, an arcade, some nice restaurants, a karaoke bar-"

"OOH, I LOVE KARAOKE!!!"

"Well, I'd consider that a lunch option, then!" Paul replied with a snicker. "Personally, I tend to drop in here for practical reasons more than leisure. Clothes, grocery shopping, an occasional book... But if I really wanna have some fun, I guess I- Mic?"

Paul slowed to a halt and stared at the angel. Mic pressed his hands and face against a window, fogging up the glass with his slack-jawed breaths, eyes wide with ecstatic awe. Kenny raised an eyebrow, glancing first at the contents of the store, then at the sign hanging above its entrance. "Mic, calm your tits. It's just a hardware store."

"IT'S BEAUTIFUL."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Well, uh... I appreciate your... kind offer?" Will shot Raunen a look that was half thankful, half concerned. "On the one hand, I'm not sure if I can approve of stealing from anyone other than Mal-Wart. On the other, I am thirsty..." He took one look at his measly money, then shook his head. "Oh, fuck it. Raunen, I would appreciate it if you could steal me a drink. Preferably tea. Or coffee. But please, don't add anything to either."

Scanning sudden energy buildup.

"... What? I'm broke, and I won't have you spend your money on my caffeine addiction." Will raised a hand. "So, uh, Mic, right? This store seems to have caught your attention. ... I don't know what any of those things are."

Scan complete. Running identity check now.

Unknown human.
Unknown scaled double low appendage creature.
Unknown human. (?)
Angel, Fotias plasmis.

Running identity check on angel.

[ColArana]

Ranuen gave a mischievous grin from Will's shoulder. "Well, if you guys see anything small and light that Paul can't cover that you're interested in, I might be able to get it for you as well." He chirped, cheerfully. Then the mention of karaoke was brought up, and Ranuen visualized Mic at the karaoke stand, and shuddered in terror. "Y-you know... let's skip on the karaoke today, huh?" He offered quickly, concerned that the building's windows were not built to handle that level of volume.


As Will accepted Ranuen's offer, the swordsman grinned. "No worries Will, I gotcha. Soon as we're anywhere near a place with drinks just let me know, and I'll go and be discreet. I'll be back before you know it!" He replied. "Just uhh.... I may need to be pointed in the right direction. It's kinda difficult to see from where I am; anything that might be like.... forty meters away to you is more like forty kilometers to me, you know." He mentioned. Not that he couldn't make out major details, and he could ID people easily enough but spotting a place with drinks at that distance? It'd have to be pretty well advertised.

Ranuen got a weird feeling at the back of his head like they were being watched, but shrugged it off. "Anyways, looks like Mic's found his favorite place here."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Er, guys, if we could maybe refrain from theft, that'd be nice," Paul warily spoke up, turning to the others with an awkward grin and raised hands. "I can buy you a drink, Will. It's no big deal."

"Yeah, and I feel like you'd have a hard time walking out with the things I want," Kenny added nonchalantly.

Paul could only shoot his young pal a frown and a slight headshake. "In the meantime, Mic, if you wanna-"

Upon turning back around, Paul realized that Mic had already slipped inside the hardware store, the bright yellow angel zipping up and down the aisles like a kid in a candy store...

"ALLEN WRENCHES! COPPER WIRES! ANGLE BRACKETS! ELECTRIC HEATERS! GENERATORS! AIR COMPRESSORS! BRASS CONNECTORS! WRECKING CHISELS! RADIAL TIRES! CIRCUIT BREAKERS! TRASH COMPACTORS! WATERPROOFING! VACUUM CLEANERS! COFFEE MAKERS! WAFFLE IRONS! OMIGOSH, LOOK AT THE SPOOOOOOOOOONS!!!"

Heedless of the side eyes that Mic was receiving, Paul let out an amused chuckle and followed the overeager angel. "You sure like your tools and appliances, don'tcha?"

"UNDERSTATEMENT!!!" Mic squealed, hugging a drill to his chest like it was his own child. "I'm an inventor! This stuff is my lifeblood!!!"

"Heheh..." Paul idly scanned the shelves, picking up a bundle of drill bits. "Been a while since I've gotten my hands dirty with engineer work myself."

Mic's eyes lit up like town square on Magpie's Day. "Y-you're a...?!!"

"Oh boy, you made a friend for life," Kenny flatly teased. "Guess I should check to see if this store has any hearing aids..."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Oh, uh, that was casual. _{Must be nice to have actual money} I assume caffeine is not a luxury item around here?" Will gave an awkward chuckle and hand wave at Paul. When the dragon man became more interested in the little angel, Will turned to Raunen. _{"Steal me some coffee when he's not looking."}

"Hmm. Interesting. Appears to be used for cleaning of places where pellets are deposited. Disgusting." A green angel with green-tinged blonde hair and yellow-green wings clad in a dark green suit poked at something, making an odd laughing sound, clearly synthetic. "Oh well, at least better than rusty stick for practicing proctology."

"... I have no idea what anything in this shop does, but does a coffee machine make coffee fast? Because I uh, would like that." Ah, to be a fish out of temporal water sucked! Hang on, was that- "Paul, Kenny, Mic, is that who I think it is?!"

"Hello, ambiguous humans, scaled double low appendage creature, and he who makes explosions."

[ColArana]

"If caffeine was a luxury item, this world wouldn't function. I'm pretty sure a good two thirds of the populace need it to get out of bed in the morning." Ranuen replied to Will's suggestion.

Ranuen waved off Paul's concerns. "No worries Paul." He replied. "I have a little spare change of my own to pay." Which I might have to take from someone else, to be fair. At Will's behest, Ranuen took the moment that Paul followed after Mic into the store to disappear off of Will's shoulder. Easy enough to miss for anyone who wasn't looking. Now he just had to make it to the nearest coffee place without getting caught up in mall traffic.

....Okay, so I may not have thought this through 100% He admitted to himself as he considered that conundrum, working his way along and dodging passerby's on the way. At least someone else had shown up in the shop, which would hopefully buy Ranuen a minute or two of distraction from Paul, and get him the time to get there and back before his absence was noticed.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Uh, yeah, that's the basic idea," Paul chuckled, glancing between Will and the store's selection of coffee makers. He plucked a Keurig box off the shelf, looking over the text printed on it. "One cup of coffee in under two minutes. Trust me, though, the cups you need to buy for these suckers will obliterate your wallet. I'd direct you towards a more traditional coffee pot if you're in the... market..."

Paul followed Will's line of sight, glancing over Mic's head as the petit angel searched the bottom shelves. Another angel had approached them, one with blond hair and green skin and wings. Kenny pulled his eyes away from the power saws to see what the hubbub was about. "What's he doing out of bed?"

"I don't think this is who you think it is, Kenny," Paul replied, picking up on the details that set this fellow apart from Liderc. "Will, Mic, do you guys know him?"

"Hm?" Mic snapped out of his reverie, turning to look up at the Prasino who had joined their little group.

"Oh, hi, Perdix!" Mic offered a chipper smile, then went back to browsing the shelf. "I was just checking out these toaster ovens. Thought I could maybe take one apart and use it for- PERDIX!!!!!"

Mic suddenly shot up straight, his wings ruffled, his eyes and smile wide with unrestrained glee. "PERDIX, DEAR FARAVAHAR, THERE YOU ARE!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU!!! I HAVE-! Wait! Okay!" He hastily started rummaging through the inner pockets of his coat. "I-I have a letter for you! Hold on, it's in here somewhere!"

"Mic, for the love of *ss, you're gonna get us kicked out!" Kenny gripped. "Shut the hell up!"

[DanteMGalileo]

"You say that like my wallet's not already dead. I'm not just flat broke, I'm in debt. Every year, the price of everything in Ode goes up except wages," Will sighed, putting his pathetically-empty wallet away, glancing at the coffee thingamajig Paul was holding up. "Also, we don't have this ele-trishe-ity thing, so I think most of the stuff in here is useless to me... Hmm, maybe the pot's fireproof?"

He quickly blocked his ears when Mic began speaking, the tiny angel's voice still booming through his fingers. "Ow... Well, at least we know it's not, uh... Liberdick?"

"Indeed. Am not stupid Keruv. I am Perdix Vulcanus, Unit 1538-2862. In eternal service to Lady Bennu." Perdix accepted the letter from Mic with an impassive expression, quickly scanning the parchment over, nodding when he was complete, tucking it away in his jacket. "To answer inquiry of he who makes explosions, have been stranded. Retrieval has not been priority. Assume we have commenced attack on Sector Eighty-Four Zeta in absence?"

"... I have no idea what any of that means."

"Am not surprised. Flesh thought centre is basically same as place that dispenses pellets after eating."

"Excuse me?"

[ColArana]

As the group spoke with Perdix a mysterious cup of black coffee pushed its way along a nearby shelf. It was in one of those paper cups with an obnoxious logo on the front. Shortly after, Will would feel something landing on his shoulder again. "Sup?" Ranuen asked Will quietly, looking at the newcomer more closely than before. "We're making friend all over the place I see." He added, before quietly addressing Will again. "Coffee is on the shelf to your right. Don't let Paul see."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Oop-!" CLANK. "Sorry, I'll pick that up in a bit... THERE WE ARE!" Mic gleefully offered Perdix the letter that Lady Bennu had sent him to the island with. After stuffing away the odd bits and pieces that has slipped out of his pockets, he proceeded to bounce on his toes and wait in idle, gracious silence as the Malakim read to himself.

Paul tilted his head and studied Perdix, trying to get a read on him. The angel's facial expression was too minute to read, and the emotions he seemed to display towards Mic specifically were basically indifference and nothing more. If this fellow was the entire reason Mic had come to the island, Paul had to wonder what for.

In his peripheral, Paul saw a coffee cup scooting across the shelf. All he could do was sigh and shake his head in response.

"Yeah, it would seem that way!" Mic happily replied, rocking on his heels, unable to keep still. "I'm sorry to hear that you've been stuck here for so long, mate, but there are ways to return to the Homerealm and all the more reason to do so now! I have to admit, though, I wasn't really given any instructions on what to do once I found you! I... guess I could go back with you, but... I was right in the middle of hanging out with my new friends here!"

Kenny glared and dug into his ear with his pinky. "Oh, well, if you need to go home, don't let us hold you back."

"Kenny..." After shooting the young man a frown, Paul turned back to Perdix with a meek grin. "Whatever business you're referring to, we're not in on in any way."

[DanteMGalileo]

"Uh... okay... I can... go with just about anything?" Will scratched the back of his head, turning around, taking the cup of coffee. "Oh, Paul, I'm just... going to check out the rest of the store? I'll see you if I need questions answered? Great! Thanks!" With a not-so-innocent whistle, the tall blonde walked into the store, hiding the coffee with his body.

"Is expected. Do not expect non-angels of either organic or inorganic variety to understand much." Perdix's face remained impassive as ever as he scanned the strange crowd before him, including the human retreating with the disgusting caffeinated bean juice that had been obtained through a method that was not paying. "He who makes explosions, have additional task. Lady Bennu has given orders to straighten you out. Or leave behind. One of two. Whichever is easier. Ha ha ha. Is joke."

[ColArana]

Ranuen missed that Paul seemed to notice his little thieving excursion, which was convenient that Will decided to hide the coffee behind him, his attention momentarily diverted by the discussion between the two angels. "Well Mic, if you wanted to try to build something with the stuff you found here, we could help out. And I'm sure you could figure something useful to help.... a cause." He noted. "If you figure something out I'd be willing to help you out where I can." He offered, before Will started heading off with his coffee.

"Well, anyways, you're welcome, Will. So where are you off to?" Ranuen asked from Will's shoulder.