Magic Box, Sunday, 03/22

[not_every_mage]

Anders got to the shop a little later than he did on most Sundays, and more haphazardly groomed. It was hard to think about things like jobs and toothbrushes and combing your hair when everything you ever dreamed of was held so neatly in the palm of your hand. It took a lot of mental struggle to make himself leave his dorm room and go to work;

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[hexentotchen]

Hanna had decided she was going to need magic to hide her record, and the player, but always have them where she wanted them. Unable to bear letting them out of her sight, she'd put them into a huge carrying bag, and gone into town, heading for the magic shop she'd seen a couple times.

She rang the bell, then patiently waited, clutching the bag to her chest.

[not_every_mage]

Anders looked at her through the window, then undid the lock and pushed the door open just enough to talk. Hanna didn't pose an obvious danger, but there was really no such thing as being too careful.

"Hello," he said through the crack. His hand hovered over his shirt, brushing his phylactery through the fabric. "What did you need?"

[hexentotchen]

"Does this shop sell any spells for hiding things?" Hanna asked hopefully, knuckles white on the bag. "Hello. Sorry. I am all distract." And her English was breaking down a little too.

[not_every_mage]

Anders eyes darted from side to side as he considered the request, and whether it might be some kind of trap. "Yes," he finally said, almost a whisper. "I can't promise any of them will work for you,but you never know until you try, do you? Come in."

He opened the door to let her in,seeming anxious to do it. He was "all distract" too.

[hexentotchen]

"Danke. So much," Hanna whispered back, catching his air of unease, multiplying by her own as she ducked inside as quickly as she could. "Are they very hard? Or cost very much?"

[not_every_mage]

"Depends on what exactly you get," Anders shrugged, and locked the door behind her. "Do you do magic already? Or were you looking for something moddable more like an enchanted box? We don't get many things that do actual magic, but there are a few here and there."

[hexentotchen]

"I don't do magic." And she should! A thing to find out more about... after she had her album safe. "Yes! A magic box? That only I can open, maybe? Maybe it shocks other people? Or bites them?"

That might be another English break-down, or might not.

[not_every_mage]

If they had biting boxes, Anders would have already bought out the entire stock.

"We have some that put curses on anyone who pries them open without the key," he offered apologetically. "And some puzzle boxes with hidden locks. I'm not sure about the socking but I'm sure someone on the island could rig up something like that..."

He bit his lip. "You must have something very precious, to need a box like that."

[hexentotchen]

Hanna hugged the bag to herself, feeling tears prickle at her eyes. "Only to me. I swear. You wouldn't want it. No one wanted it. It's mine, it's important." It was everything. It filled in all those empty imagined spaces her mother should have occupied. She could dream of the future they should have had, when she listened.

"A curse? Would that cost very much?" Hanna looked at Anders with desperation.

[not_every_mage]

"No, but I can't guarantee it'll work," Anders admitted, leading Hanna toward the section of the store where the boxes and cases he was thinking of were kept. "I can tell some of them have real magic on them, but not what exactly it does."

He smiled briefly. "Seeing as how it's so important -- we can call it a gift today."

In part because he didn't want to haggle. Haggling took time he could spend looking at his amulet.

[hexentotchen]

Hanna was near tears with gratitude, but she managed not to fall apart. "You understand."

[not_every_mage]

"I have .... some precious possessions too," Anders hedged. "I'd want to kill anyone who tried to take them. And with how strange the island's being lately, we can't be too careful."

[hexentotchen]

"Ja." Hanna felt light-headed with relief. She opened the box in question, and carefully put the bag inside of it. "I owe you a debt, Anders. Thank you." She picked it up, and smiled, feeling stretched thin but a little more centered.

[not_every_mage]

"Don't worry about it," Anders told her, smiling faintly. Her accent reminded him just a bit of his mother's, and that helped him feel even more secure about the decision. "Have a good night,Hanna."