Fate - First Reply New Clothes

[Soleil Verdane]

Money? Easy to get. Just steal it. Or loot from dead body.

And money made simple transactions more convenient. Vast majority of merchants were not like Douglass Mueller. All he had to do was sell her his chameleon. He didn't. So she took it. But that was neither here nor there.

What was here and there was, in fact, said chameleon. Soleil held the lizard in both hands, cradled it just beneath her slight breasts. She stood in the lobby of Clarissa's Tailoring, patiently waiting her turn to be measured and taken to see the selection of clothes that would fit her well—it was a bit of a busy day for the shop. But she at least had her chameleon Komuni. She could watch him change colors. Watch him go crawling in his curious, cautious, bobbing back-and-forth way. Watch his independent eyes rotate and snap to various things of interest both near and far.

"Not blue. Wrong color. Silly," Soleil said to Komuni, not knowing that this expressed happiness on the chameleon's part. She wanted him to blend in again with the colors of her hands and her old, black fur-lined jacket. "Work on it."

Another person was waiting in the lobby, right beside her, as the shop workers were kept busy. Soleil glanced over. Smiled the smile she always smiled.

"You? Put chameleon on sleeve? Maybe right color then? Good practice for him!"

 

[Love]

It was uncharacteristic of the tall, pale figure dressed in black to venture out during the hours of daylight, and even more so to make use of traditional means for acquiring that which he needed.

After all, the pale-faced man standing silently in line at the randomly selected Tailor was an assassin: An expert in the art of taking another's life. He saw not the patrons surrounding him, all waiting for their turn to be served a smidge of attention for a scant few minutes. No, they were targets, and he'd already considered ways of killing all of them if need be.

Well, he didn't think that was entirely likely.

The reason he'd chosen this place, and at such a crowded time of day was for the anathema of his usual task. Who expected a professional killer to shop for clothes in broad daylight? A paranoid fool, perhaps... but the point was that the man who called himself Love did not wish for those who guided his poisoned kiss to know he was here. Were they to discover what he'd come to purchase, they would be quite displeased.

"You? Put chameleon on sleeve? Maybe right color then? Good practice for him!"

A voice drew his icy gaze from the counter ahead of him to a girl holding out a small chameleon, one he'd noticed briefly when he'd entered. She seemed... different. Love couldn't place why, but he didn't particularly care. All that mattered was that he got what he'd come for. Until then, entertaining a local wouldn't hurt.

A slow smile grew on his pallor face, an arm extending out towards her, the black-gloved hand opening. A small circle of fabric was cut out of his palm, barely visible in the light of the shop's windows.

"Chameleons are such interesting creatures... don't you agree?

 

[Soleil Verdane]

Komuni reached one of his forelimbs forward. Pulled it back. Reached forward. Pulled it back. Reached forward. His body rocked back and forth leisurely, as if he in lackadaisical fashion was trying to decide whether or not to step off from Soleil's palms and onto Love's gloved hand. At last commitment was made, and the chameleon slowly crawled onto Love's hand and explored as far as his wrist, his mitt-like hands and feet grasping with the deftness of a natural climber.

But he had yet to change color again.

"Did not know existed," Soleil said to the tall man in black, having to crane her neck just a little. "Now I know. Now I like."

She trilled her tongue.

"Chameleons crafty. Hide in plain sight. But Komuni? Dumb. Me? Smart. Will rub off on him. Will train him. Then? Komuni terror to all bugs. Good killer!"

Love

 

[Love]

Sullen eyes followed the small creature as it hesitantly departed the safety of its owner to travel along the smooth surface of his gloved palm, making its way slowly up to his wrist. He did not seem to pay much mind to the strange girl anymore, his focus instead on the subtle hum of life walking four-legged up his arm.

"Proficient killer, maybe..." Love murmured. "...But there is a difference between a proficient killer and a good one." His words were as soft as the finger he raised to carefully run along the length of Komuni's back. Yes, the line to a truly skilled killer was one that few beasts of the wild could cross. It took more than stealth and instinct.

I think you're a good killer, big brother...

A childish voice came from the back of his mind, and his head turned to look behind him, seemingly at nothing. Love could feel it though, the weight of Innocence riding his back like an excited infant. Soft laughter left his lips.

Thank you.

The line moved forward, and Love extended his arm to offer the chameleon back to the stranger before moving up, his gaze now falling on her.

"And you? What kind of a killer do you consider yourself to be?"

 

[Soleil Verdane]

Soleil raised a hand to encourage Komuni to crawl upon it, and, after that seeming hesitance inherent to the peculiar back-and-forth gait of all chameleons, he did slowly return to Soleil's arm.

"Me? Pretty bad." There was a time for gloating, and a time for her usual deception and downplaying. "Vel Anir? Full of warriors. Everyone warrior. Conscription mandatory. Not everyone good warrior. But! Many who are. Good with sword. Good with magic. Good killers. Me? Not as good."

Soleil made a popping sound with her lips.

"Komuni? Built to kill. Many bugs dead. Tongue? Fearsome weapon! Me? Not built to kill. Need training myself."

Lies and truth swirling together.

Punctuated by a joke, "Or fearsome tongue!" And she let out that lilting, almost singsong laugh of hers.

Love

 

[Love]

Love wasn't sure what he found more amusing... the idea that the small creature now returning to its master's arm could become some sort of apex predator among its kind or the fact that this strange young woman wished to present herself as ordinary. Amongst all in this shop, the pair of them couldn't stand out much more if they tried.

Besides, Love didn't talk to ordinary people. They were part of the game.

"Vel Anir?" He hummed. "The Academy, then? Or the Guard?" Love pried and prodded. Poking her until she gave him more. Would she catch on? Of course! Would she play his game? Oh, he hoped so! How wonderful it would be to have somebody so shrouded in intrigue to dance with! "I would bet The Academy. I smell the magic on you."

It was a lie. Love had no way of sensing the magic of others, but her presence... He knew that presence. This girl demanded a level of respect, even if she did not outwardly show it. her eyes were bright, but so calculating. The observations he made about her processed at a mile a minute, his thoughts, theories, and opinions clashing together chaotically in his head as he allowed himself to stare for just a moment.

"She's like a snake! No, wait, a spider! Or maybe... a Scorpion?

The whisper of his twin mulled it over in the back of his head, but Love had already decided. He did not care what she was, or where she came from. Love smiled and turned back towards the counter ahead of them as though the conversation was done.


"I'm on my way to kill when I'm done here, you know."

The line moved again, and he stepped forward, almost regal in his confidence.

"And I think that I'm better than good."

Soleil Verdane