So a sea thing and a vampire run into a shadow on the way to the museum.
Dammit I couldn't work in a description for Radicchio or Rodney but Rad basically looks like a dude with a kinda pointed profile, a bit streamlined led by the nose with slicked back black hair, and Rodney looks so painfully mundane and all-American it hurts. ANYWAY :V
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"No, seriously! This is the right place," Radicchio gushed, licking his lips even as he applied more chapstick. This place was so dry! He shot his companion, who was carefully shaded with hat and long sleeves, a rather over-toothy grin. "Trust me, Rod-knob."
"Rad, you said that about the last museum. And stop eating the chapstick, that's gross." Rodney wasn't a happy new little vampire, seeing as he'd been dragged out of bed to go with Radicchio to the museum. The third museum trip in as many weeks. Three different museums, no less. Who knew that there'd be a maritime museum in a landlocked city? Not Rodney, that's for sure. "And why would the maritime- as in navy in this case- have your comb? Why would they have anything even like a com-"
He found himself interrupted by a shade suddenly separating himself from a building's shadow and bumping into them. Rod was directly in the little thing's- shaped like a person but thin enough even as an adult to get called 'little'- way and he was mid-step as well as mid-sentence so they smacked into each other, shoulder right into chest. The shade, being a shade, was sent spinning. Rob, being dead, wasn't.
Radicchio clapped politely at the shade's recovery, a very elegant sort of pirouette, and gave him his very best carnivore's grin. "So why the spying, little shadow?"
"Isn't that a little insulting?" That would be Rodney, interrupting. Radicchio frowned.
"No? Shades are traditionally called little."
"He's taller than you."
"Hush."
The shade, indeed taller than Radicchio but much more slender, watched the exchange with a painfully neutral-but-confused face. He was a sort of faded grey thing, with pale skin and faded black hair and hazy eyes and a suit that might have been black in a past life before it went to the Goodwill and taken away for ten dollars. He was very solemn all over, save for a bright red scarf tied close to his neck. A little unusual in the local weather (balmy, about eighty degrees), but then again, all three people involved were unusual.
"Still. I don't care how traditional it is, we're in America in the modern day. Be polite, Rad."
"Aw, come on!"
"Radicchio." When Rodney used that tone, it was time to shut up and look petulant and hurt. Rodney ignored the sea-thing and turned to the shade, "Anyway. Don't listen to Radicchio, he's old. My name's Rodney, and his is, as I just said, Radicchio. He's a sea...thingy, and I'm a vampire. Now you've been spying on us," The shade nodded sadly, and looked properly ashamed. "So you might as well let us pry a little. Your name?"
Radicchio elbowed Rodney, leaning in to whisper, "You can't just do that! It's so rude!"
The shade motioned for Rad to ease up on the vampire and produced a pad of paper and pen from his jacket with a sheepish smile before starting to write... or maybe scribble. Shades could talk, Rad would later explain, but they were loathe to do so, due to a curse that made them all stutter. The stutter was partially responsible for all the odd noises at night, but, as he would later say, not as responsible as their weirdo spy habits.
A moment of scribbling, and a note was produced in a language that Rod didn't know.
"Ooh, lemme see, I know that one! It's Egyptian, isn't it?" All thoughts of hitting the museum before it closed had long since fluttered out of Rad's mind as he grabbed for the paper. "He goes by... Translated, it's something like 'he who is not like the in-well one who calls out for help from the dog'."
"...Not Tim?" Rodney was pretty weak on culture, but he'd always had a soft spot for Lassie.
The shade- Not Tim, or more properly, Nottim- nodded and clapped happily, pointing to Rodney. Yes! There you go!
"It's as good a name as Radicchio." (A muffled 'hey!') "So why were you spying on us, Nottim?"
A frown and scribbles later, another paper: "You were interesting, so I put myself to watching."
"So basically it's because you're a shade."
A reluctant nod and a shrug was his reply.
"Alright, I can live with that. Rad, anything else?" He turned to look at his friend, who was currently examining the penmanship of the notes. Radicchio didn't look up, or otherwise notice the question.
"...Rad?" No response. Rodney rolled his eyes and sighed, the spitting image of long-suffering.
"Rad, the museum's gonna be closing soon." That had the intended effect. He handed the papers back with a quickly uttered apology (half in Urdu, half in French) and then he was off at a brisk pace, never mind that his vampire friend was still back with the shade, giving a more proper farewell that was more bargaining to keep him watching quietly and keeping other, more dangerous things away.
Nottim covered his mouth with a hand- he had to be smiling, though. These were certainly more interesting than the usual people around here. He was tired of the town, anyway. They could use a shadow. He followed the hurrying-to-catch-up Rodney, and looked forward to having some excitement in his life- for a little while, at least.