Weaponized (Vincent/Yoshio)

[jarahamee]

An alley that had previously been empty and abandoned now opened to those who had come seeking objects of their desire, deep within the bowels of the Underground. Those who entered would find the twisting, curving, medieval-style streets opened up into a small cul-de-sac, wherein was a single shop. Tts tinted glass lettered in delicate gold on the front ‘Obscura Oddities and Curio.” The rest of the street stood as still and silent as it had been before, seeming deserted.

From the street looking inward, one could see a wide variety of vintage leatherbound novels, ancient-looking devices, stuffed and mounted heads, a vintage bicycle, a restored typewriter, and an ancient-looking phonograph in great condition. Beyond that, the inside of the shop appeared to be dimly lit, though if one looked through with great concentration, they could make out the outlines of a number of large shelves, and all manner of objects hanging from the walls and ceiling. Great bookshelves filled with thick and musty tomes, interspersed with golden platters, orbs and glowing baubles.

And unlike many shops, the shopkeeper did not appear to lurk about, watching for newcomers. In fact, the entire store seemed completely uninhabited, though clean. On the door the sign read “Open for Business.”

[beastly]

Vincent made his way through the underground's alleys carefully. His limp was not exaggerated for show, and his eyes weren't darting around him to mimick that of prey. He wasn't hunting now. He was... thinking. Worrying.

He'd lost his knife when he'd almost lost his life. While he was glad to have made it out of that mess alive, it had reminded him of his mortality. He was in much better shape now, but he had been made to reckon with the fact he wasn't the man he'd been a decade ago. He still felt the claws in his stomach.

Of course he couldn't give up fighting those damn blood suckers, but he was feeling his age now. Down weapons. How would he continue? ...What would he do if he couldn't?

Gold letters caught the scruffy man's eye. A scan of the place through the window seemed to show the place was unattended, and an idea hit him. A place like that would have sliver objects, surely. He could... 'take' something. Vincent didn't like stealing, but he had approximately 16 dollars to his name.

After a long, awkward deliberation with himself, Vincent pushed his way inside

[jarahamee]

The shop itself was deceptive in size; from the front it had appeared small, but within it seemed almost labyrinthine, opening up into various sections displaying shelves and shelves of old books, ornate-looking toys, outdated but beautiful devices, and furniture from eons past. The interior of the shop was gently lit with artfully chosen bulbs scattered amid the various decorum that hung from the ceiling, lending it a yellowish hue. While not claustrophobic, it certainly seemed like every inch of the available space was being utilized, and utilized very well in this case.

At a glance, the shop-keeper’s ancient desk appeared empty, adorned with a small automaton of two kittens on marionette strings. From where he stood, he could see the curtain behind the desk, likely leading to the storage portion of the store. If he chose to move to the rear of the building, an open door appeared to enter into a twilight hue courtyard-like space. Not exactly what one might expect from the outside. As soon as he might think the store was uninhabited, a voice picked up from around the desk.

“Heya! Welcome to Obscura Oddities and Curio! Nice to meet you, Mister!”

A tall, tanned man rose from behind the desk, holding a tray of very ancient-looking, possibly broken toys. The man was handsome, young, perhaps in his 20’s. His eyes were dark but had a mirthful shine to them, and his long hair was pulled back in a bun. He wore a pair of cameo pants, combat boots, and a tank top with an oversized green jacket over it.

He wasted no time plopping the whole tray down, and then settled down on the stool behind the desk to go inspect it, starting with a creepy-looking puppet of a soldier being mauled by a tiger. He grimaced after turning the crank, watching the automaton’s head move back and forth, and then smiled up at Vincent again.

“I’m Ryu. The boss is out so I’m in!”

[beastly]

Vincent was well practiced at walking quietly, and moved through the shop as softly as he could. As he passed through the store, he did eventually pick up on the shop being far bigger than it had appeared from the street. Was it magic? Or architecture he just didn't understand? Either way, it put him on edge as he started looking through the shelves for something he could use. The place seemed empty for real, which was good.

His assumption was proven wrong as a voice called out from a desk he had been certain was empty. The scruffy man froze, then turned his head to see who spoke. A young man was there, in fact, fixing toys. Vincent's plans of stealing something and quickly going on his way were seeming more unlikely. Or at least had hit a bump.

The hunter stared at the man for longer than was probably polite before finding his own voice. He looked away, at something shiny on a shelf.

"Hello. I am... Just looking."

[jarahamee]

Ryu smiled wide, flashing very white teeth with sharpish canines as Vincent addressed him. He picked up a gilded cage with a tiny mechanical bird, and turned the crank slowly. As he moved the lever, the bird sang, a mechanical twittering as it fluttered unnaturally up and down, and Ryu’s smile turned to it with delight. While it was unlikely he was a human, he did not, at least, have a vampiric aura.

“Oh, yeah, feel free to look around. I can help you find stuff. We have everything really special in the back, you know…”

He watched the mechanical bird sing for a few seconds, apparently charmed, then wandered out from behind his desk to join Vincent, looking up and down, as if he had never seen it before. Maybe he was new here. He certainly didn’t seem like most shopkeepers Vince had seen.

The objects on the back shelf were far more familiar to Vincent than those in the front. Vials of potions, alchemical tomes, magic books, sets of seals, and items with labels in strange and unknown languages. It seems that if there were any weapons, they were probably somewhere behind the register, waiting to be fetched by the store’s owner.

[beastly]

Vincent stood dumbly beside Ryu for a solid moment,. Looking at the lovely bits and bobs, trying to puzzle out what he wanted to do. A large part of him wanted to leave. A larger part insisted he needed silver, and was curious about what 'the really special' stuff was. It was warmer in here, too. He stared at the shelf a bit longer, then glanced at the happy man.

"What, ah, is that kind of thing...?"

He was starting to doubt he would leave with anything. Then again, the man didn't seem like he had the disposition of a ferocious watchdog. Maybe he could slip something in his pocket while Ryu was explaining what was 'special'. The back seemed to be where any weapons would be kept.

[jarahamee]

“You know, weapons, enchanted bullets, really valuable spell scrolls, seals for devils, angels and others. That sort of thing. I’m Ryu, by the way. Consider me a customer service rep. You’ll have to tell me what you want. Trust me, I have a huge storehouse in the back with access to everything that someone might need. ”

Ryu picked up a potion off the shelf, and shifted it around in his hand, before holding it out to Vincent. He wasn’t really sure what sorts of things this fellow, who looked like a hunter, was looking for. Maybe weapons? But they needed wards and spells and other protections for hunters too, right?

Vincent could see what seemed to be a case of silver bullets etched with elaborate designs sitting on a high shelf above the register desk. The velvet curtain that separated the front from the back of the store fluttered, as if in the wind, gently.

“We have a pretty extensive backstock area too, so just name what you’re looking for. If you just want to look at old stuff, feel free also.”

He smiled widely;

“Do you want like, coffee or tea? You look cold.”

[beastly]

The hunter shifted, a hand moving to his coat collar to worry at the edge. His eyes fell upon the potion the man, Ryu, was holding out, and he took it very carefully, not wanting to drop the thing. He didn't want it, didn't want to hold it, really. He had never been familiar with magical things, save for the charm around his neck. He wasn't opposed to them, but he had little experience. Still, he held it awkwardly in his hands, away from himself like some kind of fat, soggy frog.

"I'm John," Vincent responded after a moment, " I need a good knife."

His eyes flickered up to look at Ryu, as if checking that he'd given an acceptable answer. The man, whatever he was, was very friendly. Vincent was long out of practice with people, and certainly wasn't used to walking into a shop and being offered drinks (unless it was a shop that specifically sold drinks), but he did want coffee, and he was a bit cold. Helplessly, he offered the potion back to Ryu.

"I-I wou-. I do. Coffee, Please?"

[jarahamee]

Ryu seemed to realize his mistake as soon as he handed over the potion. Not what this fellow was looking for, definitely not. In fact, he probably had never handed a potion in his entire life, from the look on his face. He’d have to think of something else he might like. Part of him wished, fervently, that he had his master’s power, the power to know what desires lived in the human heart.

Well, at least this guy was being transparent. A dagger and coffee. That he could do.

He moved behind the register desk, and picked up a tray. In the center was a silver coffee pot filled with steaming coffee, a small silver goblet of milk, and a cup with sugar cubes within it, placing it carefully down on the desk itself, and pouring a small silver cup of coffee. He then paused, holding the cream cup.

“What kind of dagger are you looking for? Something enchanted? Or something old? Something good at vanquishing a certain sort of foe?”

The man seemed like some kind of fighter. What kind, he couldn’t be sure, but it stood to reason he was looking for something specific if he was drawn here. Something magical and powerful.

[beastly]

Vincent watched Ryu work with the coffee. It all looked very fancy. He was not a picky man when it came to coffee, and he was fairly certain he'd never actually seen sugar cubes before.

"Something silver," he said after a long pause of consideration. He was interested in something enchanted, maybe, or a weapon useful against vampires. He was cautious about that, though. This was a shop being manned by someone beyond human, and he wasn't sure how divulging that he wanted a weapon specifically to hunt the bloodsucking monsters wouldn't have police called. Even as he said 'something silver' he swept his eyes around the room, slightly wary.

[jarahamee]

Ryu smiled. Now silver weapons he could deliver on! And useful for a lot of different kinds of supers too. Including him, he supposed. He should be careful and make sure it was wrapped until it was outside of the shop. The devil shuffled on heavy leather gloves and picked up one of the sorting drawers from below the counter. He eyed it before putting it on the desk, feeling a distinct sense of relief when it did its job and summoned an array of magical objects that he hoped would interest the customer.

Being in customer service sure was hard. He held out his hands wide, welcoming Vincent to take a look.

On the velvet lined tray he displayed was a small silver dagger, inlaid with runes and elaborately carved, short pistol with six bullets, a mid-sized parrying dagger with concerning blood gutters, and a beautiful silver short-sword in a runic sheath.

“What about any of these? I’d be happy to tell you about them if they end up catching your eye.”

[beastly]

Vincent watched Ryu don his gloves and pull a tray of weapons out to show him. The hunter leaned over to look the items over, curious. His eyes lingered on the daggers and the short sword, although the pistol also intrigued him. Vincent had been hoping to come away with a silver weapon, but he wasn't opposed to the gun. He doubted he'd manage to get any of these things from the velvet lined tray and into his coat without Ryu noticing, but here he was, so he might as well allow the man to do his job. If nothing else, he'd gotten coffee out of this outing, which was something he wasn't going to turn his nose up at.

Furrowing his brow in consideration, Vincent pointed at the small silver dagger. Ryu had mentioned enchanted things...

"That. Are the runes just decorative?"

[jarahamee]

Ryu picked up the dagger with his newly gloved hands, turning it one direction and then another. Even with gloves on, the dagger burned like molten metal, and his hands quickly became uncomfortable holding it.

He grimaced, and then offered it, handle-first, to Vincent.

While just a silver weapon alone wasn’t going to kill him, it could really, really hurt. He didn’t like the idea of that happening either.

“Um, yeah. It is warded against ‘dark forces’ like devils, werewolves, and vampires. So it does extra damage to them and makes it so they can’t heal very well when it injures them. I have to tell you, it doesn’t work well if they’re super powerful, but at least those are rare, and you shouldn’t be trying to hand to hand those anyways.”

He’s expression became sad as it lingered on Vincent, though the emotion was fleeting.

“You must really be investing in self-defense if you’re looking for something like this. You should be careful out there. It can be really dangerous.”

[beastly]

It was exactly what he wanted, and then some. He turned the dagger over in his hands, feeling the weight of it. Yes, this was perfect. His expression became harder, more serious as he contemplated the uses such a weapon could have. Vampires, werewolves, devils. Vampires and werewolves were his primary targets. He'd really only fought a few of the weaker demons and devils.

His brown eyes flickered back up to Ryu for a moment, and he digested the comment. It was all a kind of self defense, for humanity, right? Killing the killers, the things that hunted humanity in the small hours of the morning? He could make himself believe it.

"...Thank you, ah, I'm careful," he lied, because at this point, he'd done some decidedly uncareful things, " it's good to be prepared."

The hunter reluctantly offered the dagger back and peered at the other dagger in the tray.

"What is that?"

[jarahamee]

“This one is a midsized dagger, it’s a little more useful for fighting at middle-distance. Its effect is that it provides a little bit of shielding and deflects attempts to parry or block you. It allows you to have more openings when you’re in combat.”

He smiled, tilting his head a little, almost dog-like, as Vincent lied to him, though his eyes traveled onward and his smile never faded. He was a careless older guy huh? Did he care that he might get killed out here? That was kind of sad really.

“It’s a really nice piece. About two hundred years old. Made by European artisans out of Church Silver for extra efficiency.”

Ryu kept his gloves on as he handled this weapon too, offer it handle-first to Vincent.

“Hey um, it’s none of my business, but… Isn’t your job a little dangerous?”

Ryu’s eyes traveled up through Vincent’s body, as if seeing through him, his expression a little concerned. From his gait, it seemed as if he had been recently injured, and yet he was going out to hunt again?