Mallside 10

[Morty]

[Hanging Out]

Wenomir manages not to roll his eyes at more of Shanti's thinly-veiled accusations and focuses on what he believes to be the important part of what she said.

"The 'toy-god'? That's the first time I've heard anyone call the demons' leaders this way. Why do you call it that?"

He lets Shanti answer Natharia.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out]

Shanti gestures forward. "That way, dear. Our first stop will be a a clothing store. If you see one particular store you like, why don't you point it out?"
Then she turns her attention back to Wenomir. "Demon's are they now? Well, whatever they are, that creature directing them..." Shanti pauses, considering. "You must have come across a god or two in the nexus, haven't you? They tend to come in all forms and sizes. Some are gods in title only, pretenders to those gullible enough to believe them. Others are true but distant. Far beyond the scope of everyday life. Then there are those created and maintained by faith or other forms of emotions. The serpent god, Natharia's father, would be in the third category. That creature though, if the serpent-god would be a snake that would be a snake-golem. A simulacrum of a god that someone or something has made out of who knows what. My guess would be souls, one usually turn to darker sources for these things."

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Natharia shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't know what she's looking for. But she wanders forward regardless. Soon she finds what they're looking for. It's a clothes store that's aggressively teen vogue. She stops in front of one of the windows, displaying several mannequins and behind them a large splash of a girl not far off Natharia's age.

[Morty]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Suddenly, Wenomir's interest is piqued. This is new information.

"An artificial god, directing those creatures? Or at least some of them. You'd think the universe has enough gods that people wouldn't need to create more of the bastards. But this could be useful to know."

He stops in front of the store when Natharia does. Well, he certainly has extremely little to comment on when it comes to clothes for teenagers. This is all Shanti.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"If there is anything I know is that all gods exist for a purpose. They're not like us who can only guess if there is a purpose for our existence. Their purpose is the very core of their being and I'm certain that this one was made for a violent one. The serpent-god wants to bring things to life, that one wanted the opposite." Shanti explains, apparently not deciding that Wenomir kind of insulted her god there.

Instead, she turns to the store Natharia has found, eyebrow raised. For a moment, she looks skeptical. "They must have jackets and winter wear in here, right? I know it isn't the season but I want to stock up while we're here and you do need a lot more clothes than you have, sweetie."

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"I dunno." Natharia replies. This'll be the first time she's ever shopped for clothes. She has no idea what to expect. "Is this what other kids wear?" She points at the picture of the girl in the background. No matter what the reply is, she steps inside. Looks like her mind is set.

When they do get inside, it doesn't look like Shanti's going to find what she wants here. This isn't a place for practically planning ahead for the upcoming season. Aside from the racks of clothes, there's many mannequins with various outfits and various shirts on display with a variety of logos. The lights is lower in here than the concourse and there's electronic music playing at a low volume.

[Morty]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"Well, obviously. The demons do nothing but destroy and despoil everything in their way. I wouldn't imagine their god is any different," Wenomir says. "I don't know what we can do with this information, but it's always better to know something than not." When they enter the store, he decides to speak up. "Some of them do, but others wear entirely different clothes. You might want to look around some more and see what you like. And your mother's right that you need some practical clothes, too."

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Shanti laughs. "I'm wearing a robe, dear. I'm afraid I don't know much about fashion, least of all for children your age." She steps inside and looks around. Well, there certainly wasn't anything robe-like in here, that's for sure. But neither was there any jackets or winter-wear.
"Is there anything you like? Seems like we have to visit another store to get you something warmer to wear. Those snakes of yours don't like cold, they'll get sleepy." Which is why clearly needed to find clothes for the snakes as well.

As Natharia is looking around, Shanti briefly turns to Wenomir. "Are you certain they made this toy-god? Gods of that kind tend to spring up naturally when enough people needs it to. Besides, they seem too brutish and primitive to accomplish a feat like that."

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"It's not cold out. Who cares about that?" Natharia says. She doesn't understand her mom sometimes. She worries about weird things. "I don't know. I guess something like these?" She points at one mannequin. It seems good.

[Morty]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"It's not cold now, but it will get cold, and then it's better to have warm clothes ready than have to go get them," Wenomir says. Seems he's willing to support Shanti when it comes to this.

To Shanti's other question, he responds: "I'm not certain, but it's not a possibility I can discount. And those demons are anything but brutish and primitive. What we faced today was just their cannon fodder and one officer."

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"It might get colder sooner than you think, Natharia." Her mother remarks. "But either way, I'm giving you one so there is no need to argue." She scans the clothes of the mannequin. "And I'm going to give you that too. This trip is only for you, sweetie. I think you might need help trying that on with your arm and all though." Shanti looks pointedly at the young gorgons arm.

She then turns to Wenomir and adds in a hushed tone. "People who are willing to throw their lives away for gods are fools. I'm certain you agree with me on that point, Wenomir. It's always the middleman you should be concerned about. The gods are too aloof, the minions are just puppets. The middleman is the person running the entire show." Seems like she's speaking from experience.

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Natharia smiles with satisfaction, but then that quickly turns to a frown. "Um, but I- Hey, can you two stop whispering at each other. This is a real problem. I can't try anything on like this." She gestures at her bad arm.

[Morty]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Wenomir was about to agree with Shanti, a strange and odd feeling to be sure, but then Natharia brings up a problem.

"That's true, Shanti. We didn't think of that. Trying on clothes with one arm in a sling won't be easy."

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Shanti looks between Natharia and her wounded arm. "We'll just have to take your arm out of the sling very carefully I suppose. As long as you don't try to move it too much I believe it should be alright. You alright with that, sweetie?"

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"Okay... can you help me?" Natharia asks her mom. At least her arm doesn't hurt yet. Whatever pain killing magic was used is doing good work.

[Morty]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Wenomir can't do much but hang around and wait now. This is between Shanti and Natharia.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"Of course I'll help you, sweetie. Let's just be careful, okay?" She gestures towards the changing room. "You ready to go now or do you want to pick out a few other outfits first?"

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"Um, we can start with this one." Natharia replies. She'll accompany Shanti into the change room and a few minutes later will emerge wearing the outfit. "Can I wear it out of the store?" Natharia asks, apparently only coming to like the outfit more since changing into it.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Erin's]

Iknika nods and her ears perk up a bit.

'"I guess not every wizard is going to go into battle where people are going to swing weapons at them," she says. "But I don't know this many wizards. You two and my boyfriend are more or less it. One of my brothers says he wants to become a sorcerer, but he might forget about it in a couple of months." She looks up at the armor again. "Besides, this looks really cool, doesn't it? I hope I can wear something as stylish when I'm a proper knight."

Erin's

"I really like it. Do you think it'd fit me? Oh, wait. I'd have to get it enchanted anyway, because otherwise it'd collapse into a heap the moment I tried to change shape." She's a natural shapeshifter, so she can change only her natural body. And that might interfere with any protective enchantments upon it, too. All that would be pretty expensive, and whilst she's getting a fair bit of money from her father (who transferred as much as he dared off-plane before the revolution, and set things up to give Natalie an allowance), she might still need to save up for it.

[Erin's]

"I'm only an apprentice wizard," says Yasril, displaying a sudden burst of modesty. She's not exactly a great student, either. She'd for years had trouble casting even a simple cantrip - well, at least, not without a little extra sanguine assistance.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"Of course, sweetie." Shanti smiles and nods. "But keep in mind we're going to get you other clothes too. You barely have anything at all now. If anything catches your interest, just tell me, okay?

[Morty]

[Erin's]

"This one seems to have been made for a grown-up, so I don't think it'd fit you," Iknika says, tilting her head a little. "We're all apprentices here. I'm just training to be a proper knight too. What exactly can you do?"

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"Okay, let's look." Natharia looks around for some more clothing, picking out a few things here or there. She's a bit too demanding of her mom's attention right now for Wenomir to continue their conversation for the moment, so he might be a bit bored for a little while.

More toward the end of their shopping in this store Natharia spies something of interest. "Hey, look at these." She plucks a pair of sunglasses off a rack and turns to her mom. "Look, you couldn't see my eyes through these."

[Earl of Purple]

Erin's

"Oh, yeah. Well, maybe when I'm older." She could turn into a loxodon, but then she'd have the problem of the robes being too small, not too large. "I'm not sure I'm an apprentice, technically. I don't really have a teacher, just a Thanskmas present and some books from my father's library." She's almost entirely self-taught, which is one reason why she doesn't try teleporting, opening portals or any of the other things Conjurers can do and sticks to summoning items to her hand and occasionally summoning creatures to aid her.

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Shanti claps her hands. "Oh darling. Those would simply look smashing on you. Do try them on."
Once Natharia has done so, Shanti smiles widely at her and glances at Wenomir. "Doesn't she look great? You can't help but to love her."

[Morty]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Wenomir looks rather awkward as he's asked about his opinion on a subject he knows... little about. He didn't mind waiting around, being patient as a rock and hard to get bored in general.

"They do look pretty great," he says, figuring it's expected. "Do their hold on firmly enough, you think?"

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

Natharia turns away from Wenomir, pulls off her blindfold, and puts the sunglasses on. "I need a mirror." She declares, totally dismissing Wenomir's concerns. She goes over to the mirror near the changing area again. "They're perfect! Look, you can't see my eyes at all."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Erin's]

"This one seems to have been made for a grown-up, so I don't think it'd fit you," Iknika says, tilting her head a little. "We're all apprentices here. I'm just training to be a proper knight too. What exactly can you do?"

Erin's

"Oh, yeah. Well, maybe when I'm older." She could turn into a loxodon, but then she'd have the problem of the robes being too small, not too large. "I'm not sure I'm an apprentice, technically. I don't really have a teacher, just a Thanskmas present and some books from my father's library." She's almost entirely self-taught, which is one reason why she doesn't try teleporting, opening portals or any of the other things Conjurers can do and sticks to summoning items to her hand and occasionally summoning creatures to aid her.

[Erin's]

"Well, I can't do much of anything, really. Nothing that my teachers want, anyway," says Yasril, slightly bitterly.

[Morty]

[Erin's]

Iknika's ears dip slightly. She's all too familiar with stifling expectations being placed on her, so she's quick to empathize with Yasril here.

"What do your teachers want, exactly?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"And you think they sit firmly on your ears? They're really quite something." Shanti observes, echoing Wenomir a bit as she is almost sharing the mirror with her daughter.

[Gullara]

[Hanging Out - NXS]

"I dunno, I think so." Natharia says, not feeling all that concerned about it. Though her excitement might cloud her judgement. She turns her head side to side, the of the sunglasses obscurs from the sides fairly well too. Looking at the arms, they hold as securely as any pair of glasses. That is to say, they won't randomly fall off, but they're not glued on either. Something might need to be done to make that more secure.