Window Shopping

[wolfs_daughter]

Echo was surprised to find a New Age type shop in a place like Searchlight, and she studied the facade of the building for a few minutes before twisting the doorknob to let herself in. It would probably be as dusty and rundown as everything else around here, but she'd been on a furniture run that morning and wanted to try something non-intense like browsing to celebrate. At least now she had a couch, second-hand though it might be. Tomorrow, she'd focus on getting more dishes.

Compared to the glare of the mid-afternoon sun, the store seemed very dim, and the hybrid glanced at the metal shelves before taking a few more steps inside. Maybe she could afford something simple, like a candle or a protection crystal. She was spiritual rather than religious, but she did believe that there were forces at work in the world that she didn't understand. Did they do Tarot readings here? She'd never tried that.

There was a counter near what seemed to be the center of the shop, and Echo checked her pockets to make sure she had some cash on hand. She was going to have to see about that job sooner rather than later. She could always wire home for money, but she wanted to be independent. Her parents had agreed that she could skip college for a year or so if she could pay her own way, and she didn't want to burden them if she could foot her own bills.

They didn't even seem to sell books here, but books in places like this tended to be a little dear. But she needed other things besides books, anyway. Like home furnishings. Maybe if she made nice with the proprietor, they could direct her to someone who was hiring. The brunette looked down at her clothes. At least she looked presentable, since she'd taken a shower after helping to wrestle the couch into the trailer.

The counter was glassed in, so she was reluctant to knock on it to get the attention of whoever ran the place. She gingerly rapped one knuckle on the wooden partition that held the glass in place, then tucked that hand into her pocket. "Hello?"

Comments

[wolfs_daughter]

"I waited tables for one summer before my senior year of high school," Echo said with a nod. "It was in a coffee shop type place, they served sandwiches and root beer floats with handmade ice cream." Not that she wanted to go back to that, but if she had to, it would be better than making the commute to Las Vegas. The van was in decent shape for an older vehicle, but gas cost money.

"And I signed a six month lease for the trailer, so I'm not planning to go anywhere right away," she added. "I was hoping to do some sketching out here, maybe rent some space for my artwork I've applied for a couple of grants, but I haven't heard anything back yet."

She became less self-conscious as she spoke, since the subject of her art always put her at ease. "I figure if I'm gainfully employed, it might make the grant people see me as not a flake. It would be different if I had stayed in Seattle, but I told my folks I wanted to try something different instead of going straight to college."

The younger brunette was watching Emmeline's hands while she talked, the little wire angel in her fingers. She reached out and plucked a second one from the bowl, accidentally brushing the shopkeeper's left hand with her callused fingers. Eye contact was established for a second, and then Echo looked away, blushing.

"Did you make these? It's really intricate work."

[emmyclaire]

"I can't guarantee that you'll find something, but I can tell you this," Emmeline intoned. "This town, for all of its quiet emptiness on the surface? It has a habit of holding on to people who should stay. I mean, here I am, for you to talk to. And I could have landed just about anywhere, the way I was traveling!"

She smiled as Echo spoke on her artistic side; Emmeline considered herself an artist of sorts, conjuring up something from nothing, mixing together strange bits and pieces of what was never there before. She reached out and took the girl's hands in her own, pressing the wire angel into Echo's palm.

"An artist, I should have known, with these hands," she said, still smiling. She concentrated deep within herself, pulling at her most buried sensations of peace and calm, and directed it to flow through her hands as best as she could. Emmeline was not an empath, but even she could see the girl seemed skittish. She only hoped the girl could share even a little bit of the peace she had found.

"I did make the angels, yes," she went on, letting go of Echo's hands after a moment. "Ordered the wrong wire for beadwork, had to find something to do with it." She paused and laughed. "Perhaps I should make some devils to go alongside them!"

[wolfs_daughter]

Let go. Don't let go. Your hands are soft compared to mine. Jesus, let go!

"I used to use lotion on my hands to try and get rid of the calluses," Echo said with a shy smile. "But Papa said it's a badge of honor, something to prove you created something that will last. I finally started to listen to him, I guess."

Common sense said that she should leave Emmeline be at this point, that the other woman probably had things to take care of, but it seemed like it would be worse to cut the conversation short. Bad manners or something. So instead she said, "I've done some work with wire, but it's easier for me to mold clay. My hands are probably too beat up to work with something so small anymore, anyway." She held out her palms as if for inspection, halfway wishing Emmeline would touch her again. That was all she was likely to get because of her damned shyness. Where was the Wolf's confidence when she needed it?

"I can at least pay for this," the hybrid said, holding the small wire angel the older woman had pressed into her hand aloft. "It's not fair that I come in and cadge things for free. How much for the angel?"

[emmyclaire]

"There's no cost for the angel," Emmeline told her. "I'm no artist, its just something I fiddled with on my own. I never charge anyone for them. Take it, keep it, it's no trouble."

Her eyes went a fraction wider for a moment, a soft tugging at the back of her mind grabbing her attention. Clearing her throat, Emmeline wiped her hands on her skirt and slipped behind the counter, pulling a battered notebook from beneath the register.

"Tell you what," she said. "You take the tea and the angel -- and that tea is only for when you're ready to sleep, mind, otherwise it'll leave you too drowsy and open -- and come back in a few days. I'll start putting together a little totem bag for you, and speak to my supplier about a dreamcatcher," she went on, writing herself notes on what supplies she would need and who she needed to call. "Then you can tell me how the tea worked out for you. How does that sound?"

[wolfs_daughter]

The hybrid had the ridiculous - and completely inappropriate - urge to take one of Emmeline's hands and press a kiss into the palm so she'd know what it felt like, but she controlled herself. At best the other brunette would think she was a freak, and at worst she'd actually get slapped. She looked down at the angel in her hand, made a mental note not to put it in her pocket so the wings wouldn't get bent.

"I like tea anyway," she said inanely. "I make sun tea in the summers, so I'll probably be doing that for when the weather gets really scorching. Thanks for the note about when to fix a cup. I usually have milk when I'm about to go to bed to help me sleep, but this might work better."

Echo took a hesitant step backwards away from the counter, pushed her free hand through her hair. "You've got a really great place here, I bet you're really proud. I'll see you in a couple of days. By then my place should be more put together. Have a nice afternoon, Emmeline."