lighthouse [claude]

[EMERI RHYAN DONAHUE]

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i have a heart i swear i do

She had been running low on supplies since last week, but had had no time to go to the store until today. It had been a hectic week and she was all but drained of energy. She was glad she had a little remedy for that or else she never would have survived going to work and school right now. On top of that, she and Decklyn were getting closer and closer which had really freaked her out at first—still kind of did, but she had gotten over it enough to let herself trust him more. She was trusting him to the point where she could open up to him about things that she would have otherwise kept to herself. It was a relief to finally have someone to talk to about these kinds of things because everything from her past was practically bottled up and sometimes she couldn’t take it. She put so much pressure on herself with school and work and taking care of her mother, too, but she had never had anyone to tell her troubles to. It was nice, she realized, to have someone that she could talk to about these sorts of things. She was still careful about what she said just because that was who she was.

Emeri had found out about this shop in the old town a while ago and liked to come here to get supplies for potions and things. She had only shopped here once before, but the woman that owned it was nice enough and didn’t ask what she wanted to use all the supplies for, which she appreciated. It wasn’t as if she was doing something illegal. She was helping sick patients, but it was sometimes hard to explain that to some people (Emeri wasn’t very good at explaining stuff at all and in fact hated having to do it).

She walked into the shop and took out her list. She knew where most of the stuff was because that was what she had gotten before, but she had a few new things on her list and hadn’t any idea where they were. She grabbed what she could first, finding two new items as she gathered the rest, but still had three things left over. When she started searching around, she accidentally bumped into one of the shelves. A bottle of some sort of love potion dropped onto the floor, shattering, its contents spilling onto the floor. “Crap…” she said and set her items down on the floor to start cleaning up.

[CLAUDIA LUNA ELIADE]

So far, it had just been like any other day at work. People had been bustling about, asking silly questions, and for some reason, today the customers were getting on Claude's nerves. Chloe had been really good about understanding some of Claude's social shortcomings, but there had been a lot going on in the stoic witch's life lately that she didn't really understand. Chloe's sister, Kendra, had been hanging out at the shop more and more frequently, and when she did, she always insisted on talking to Claude. The witch usually tried to busy herself with stocking, inventory, or even made herself overly useful to customers, not because she wanted to avoid the bubbly little shapeshifter, but because she didn't understand what Kendra found so fascinating about her. Claude was difficult, and had even been described by Chloe as a baby cactus: she looked soft to the touch, but was really prickly and dangerous. It wasn't far from the truth, because ever since Claude had obtained her freedom, she never saw a need to play well with others.

There were certain requirements to her job at Heliconia, and Chloe insisted that she at least be nice to the paying customers, and act like she was really interested in their needs, but mostly their questions just wore on her nerves. However, potions were the one thing that always lifted her spirits, and lately, Chloe had been trusting her enough to let her make some for the shop. Chloe would make a list of potions that were selling well, and provide Claude with the ingredients to make them, and Claude got to spend lots of time making the potions in the back, when they weren't particularly busy with other tasks. Chloe was even letting her be more adventurous and make different potions for special sales, and Claude split the cost of those ingredients, or sometimes bought them outright until they actually did well in sales, and then those potions got added to the list, too. The witch had just put out another sixteen bottles of love potions (which were really more like 'lust' potions, but Claude didn't understand why either one was important to people) and a special hangover cure that she'd basically concocted out of thin air once she'd experienced the symptoms for herself after a long night of playing pool at one of her favorite dive bars. She was just about ready to go work on some inventory, because they had a shipment come in the afternoon before when she heard a loud crash and winced.

The witch's hands balled up a little, and she knew she'd have to bite her tongue. Her potions were special to her, each and every one regardless of what they contained, because alchemy was one of her true passions. Practicing in a safe environment where she wasn't forced to create to spare her life, a beating, or worse like she had in the camps made her feel connected to her dead mother who had taught her the craft, and Claude knew that Chloe appreciated her skill, work, and the extra money her abilities brought in to the store. Claude walked over to the source of the crash with a broom and dustpan, and saw a woman kneeling down next to her basket of materials to attempt to clean up. ”Don't be stupid, you'll cut yourself, and my boss will lose her mind if there's blood all over the floor.” Claude said, a little bit deadpan, but enough to get the woman's attention. She moved back a little, and when their eyes met, Claude saw the violet color of the woman's eyes and took a step back. Witches shopped at Heliconia all the time, and Claude could interact freely with them because she knew her stuff... at least, when it came to potions. Claude didn't know any magic. However, she didn't like having lots of people know her as a witch, even though it was hard to hide given that they all had the telltale eye color that was just part of their heritage. It would just be my luck to deal with a clumsy witch.

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”I'll clean this up, don't worry about it,” Claude said, trying to be as nice as she could, even though she was still a little agitated about one of her potions being destroyed. ”Although, for future reference, if you have questions about my potions, I'll help you so this doesn't happen again.”[/blockquote][/justify]

[EMERI RHYAN DONAHUE]

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i have a heart i swear i do

Emeri was never the kind of person to mess with. She really didn’t like to be told what to do or when to do it and she especially didn’t like it when they did it with an arrogant tone. When the brunette came over and insulted her, calling her stupid, she just about lost it. She stood and reminded herself that this lowly witch couldn’t be worth wasting her time on getting mad over. Emeri looked down at the mess she made. “It’s not that big of a spill.” Emeri stepped away from the broken glass. Her gaze stayed on the other witches as she tried her hardest not to scream at Emeri. She could see it in her eyes how pissed she was about one little potion. Heaven forbid one of her precious potions be lost forever. It’s not like they’re not the easiest things to make. Emeri forced herself not to roll her eyes at the other woman.

She crossed her arms under her chest and laughed a little at the witch’s words. Emeri raised her eyebrow and replied, “I didn’t have a question about your potions. I wanted one and my basket knocked one over. It was an accident.” No need to get so worked up about a potion that takes 10 minutes to make… she wanted to say. But she kept it to herself. Emeri had always been good at potions, though her strong point was spells and healing. It was a good thing she was a nurse because she could practice and use her spells to save people when human doctors couldn’t help them anymore. Sometimes people wondered how they miraculously recovered, but most of the time they were just happy that the patient didn’t die. There were, howeever, always a few who didn’t want her help (occasionally because they were a hunter and refused being helped by a supernatural, in which case she let them die, or it was from older people or people who wanted to die or were willing to die that didn’t want her help, in which case she didn’t help them recover). Emeri always hated having to let someone die. It was in her nature to save people who were helpless. She had done it throughout her childhood with her mother, so it only felt right to do in her adult life.

Emeri excused herself from the woman’s company and continued shopping around. She reached the crystals and picked one up. She had her own crystal in her purse, but it was running low on magic from too much use. The last time she used it, she tried to heal a girl with bright pink hair. It had taken all her might to try to save that girl, but nothing she did would work. And in any case, the girl hadn’t wanted to be saved, so there was nothing she could do for her anyway. After that night, the crystal hadn’t been as useful as before. She put the new crystal in her basket and walked to the front so she could pay and hopeflly leave.

[CLAUDIA LUNA ELIADE]

Claude didn't like the woman's attitude, but tried to hold her tongue since she was still in her workplace. And, while Chloe understood a great many of the quirks that she had exposed her boss to, she wasn't sure that the shifter would take her side over a customer's, especially since she knew that the witch had a tendency to be rather sharp when irritated. It wasn't like the potions that the woman had broken were treasures – they were simple things, really, but Claude had gone to a great bit of work to craft them perfectly. The Romanian woman didn't believe in selling things that were subpar and cheating people, especially those customers who were also magically inclined. They'd know quality, and that was what the customers who came to Heliconia expected, which was part of the reason why Chloe allowed Claude to peddle her creations to help the store turn a profit. Most of them had been doing very well since they were first implemented as part of the new wares. Perhaps Claude's reaction had been overzealous, and the witch couldn't budge much past her steady neutral, but she was certain that this woman in Chloe's store was starting to wear out her welcome.

”I'd feel more comfortable helping you, so you don't get injured,” Claude said, even though the woman protested about it not being that bad of a spill. Truthfully, it wasn't, and Claude knew that the other witch could probably handle the clean-up just fine. However, she knew how Chloe felt about people poking around and messing with things in her shop. Claude was an employee, and knew where all the cleaning supplies were, and the best this woman could do would be to gather up the broken glass, which could prove to be dangerous. If she got cut or injured, they could legally be held responsible. That was why Chloe insisted upon getting hard to reach items for customers just so they couldn't get injured or knock something particularly potent down onto themselves. ”It's my job, Miss.” If Claude had offended her, maybe an even tone and logic would help soothe the initial resistance and harshness that she'd used as greeting.

It was hard enough for Claude to speak to people who were customers as customers and not just regular people, but she had been trying to make her disposition more pleasant, even if it was all fake. Yet, when she tried to play the caring employee card, she received laughter from the other witch. Rudeness. Claude furrowed her eyebrows, knowing that she had the proper strength to likely get this woman down with physical combat, even if she knew defensive or offensive magic, but her workplace wasn't somewhere to start a brawl. Chloe wouldn't approve, and she didn't need to start making enemies. ”I know full well that accidents happen, and if you'd like another potion, I'm happy to get one for you.” The last part was said through her teeth, and Claude realized that it still sounded slightly pleasant. At least, as much as she could muster. She still wanted this woman's business, for the good of the store, despite the fact that Claude didn't think much of her personally. Even less so than she thought of most people. ”I'm the best alchemist you'll find in the country, so if there's anything you need, I can make it.” It wasn't cocky, just confident. Claude grabbed the cleaning supplies and excused herself for a moment to clean up, and once it was completely clean, she stood back up and looked at the other witch.

”Just ask for assistance next time?” Claude asked, as nicely as she could before turning to make her way back to the counter. ”I'm Claude. You can even ask for me by name.” Claude didn't like people knowing her name, but if this woman needed potions, she didn't want her to take her money somewhere else. It was necessity, and sometimes, necessity had to overrule what someone truly wanted.

[/justify]

[EMERI RHYAN DONAHUE]

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i have a heart i swear i do

Emeri almost always had an attitude with the people around her. she couldn’t help it. It was her natural way of being. She knew she was going to need to get in the habit of being nice to people when she finally became a doctor, but that was years from now and she still couldn’t bare most people unless they were in her emergency room or unconscious. Or if they were Decklyn. Still, Decklyn was one of the only people in her life that had broken down that giant wall of hers and gotten to know who she really was. Emeri barely knew herself and yet Decklyn seemed to know so much about her. It was hard to believe that of all the people in manuka, a fellow doctor (of sorts) would be the one to open her up and get her to be sweet and adorable.

But right now she was neither sweet nor adorable. If Decklyn were here that would be a completely different story, but because she was alone with the woman, Emeri seemed to not care a bit what words were said to the other woman. And though she knew the woman was just doing her job, and Emeri would have been aggitated if someone had knocked over her potion too, she was already in an irritated mood and couldn’t help the slip of the tongue. Emeri just could no longer handle the stress of the past few days. She had had no way of getting rid of the stress, and though snapping at this woman was no useful way to do it, the moethod seemed to make her feel ever so slightly better.

Emeri didn’t respond to either comments that came from the shop worker, but just looked at her with a hard blank stare. Emeri wondered where her accept came from, but didn’t care enough to ask. Emeri did smile when she said she was the best alchemist in the country. She had a hard time believing that and shook her head a little. “I’m sure you are,” she replied with heavy sarcasm. Emeri raised her eyebrows and turned to look around. She waved a hand at the woman who told her to ask for assistence next time.

Emeri wondered the store and finally had all of the ingredients she was going to need to make the potion for the man in the hospital that had an incurrable disease. Emeri was hoping that this potion would at least ease his pain, if not heal him completely. It had worked once before on a cancer patient and a woman with Lupus. The medical teams had called the incidents all miricles even though Emeri knew the truth. But she no more wanted the credit or attention it would bring her than she wanted to be recognized publically as a witch. She didn’t even let Decklyn know. And he knew more about her than anyone else. But he was a human and she didn’t want to be the one to expose him to the dangers of the supernatural life. If something had ever happened to him and it was because of a supernatural, she would blame herself and that was something she wasn’t willing to do. So she kept it all a secret.

Emeri walked up to the counter and placed the basket onto it. “Claude?” she called to the worker who was nowhere to be found.

[CLAUDIA LUNA ELIADE]

Claude wasn't so new to the world that she didn't understand sarcasm. When the other woman used a heavy dose of it in response to her proclaimed ability as an alchemist, Claude raised an eyebrow immediately. ”I don't know that many people here take it seriously when they practice. You wouldn't believe the number of requests for love potions I get,” Claude explained. It was different for her, because she had learned from her mother, and alchemy had been the only thing that her mother had gotten a chance to pass onto her before she was taken and murdered. When Claude had been imprisoned in the Gypsy camps, she had relied on her skills every day and surpassing her own abilities and standards day by day, just to stay alive. And when she came to America, she was glad that it allowed for freedom and a chance for her to have a blank slate, but she couldn't bring her logical brain to understand how people could take such a valuable skill and want to waste it on things that didn't really work. Love potions were really just lust in a bottle, and it didn't give them any extra connection to the person of their choice. What it did was give them an opening to talk to their chosen victim, which was exactly what the person on the other side of the potion was in Claude's mind. If they ended up falling in love, it was purely coincidental. However, kitschy potions were what seemed to pay the bills over ones that actually mattered, like healing elixirs and herbal pain supplements, or protective elixirs. The important potions had been the category that this woman had knocked over, which was why Claude said something.

”I care about my work, and it's all I focus on. Nothing gets in my way, no other distractions,” Claude said confidently, which was unusual for her, because normally, she didn't even show that she had any confidence. She was silent, steady, and purely logical or she ignored people all-together. When she wasn't being fake friendly for the customers, at least. But Claude was confident, about this one aspect of her entire life, because it had granted her eventual freedom, and had been a skill she'd honed under terrible circumstances, but she didn't like to think about the how, but the fact that her past had shaped her into the master alchemist she was, and if there was a chance that this skill would honor her mother's legacy, that was enough to give her confidence. ”I don't know that you could say the same; it seems like you've got plenty of distractions.” Claude had read the woman's mind, just for a moment, to give her an advantage in case she decided to become cruel or completely unpleasant instead of just leaving an awful taste in Claude's mouth with her foul mood. Decklyn. That had been what she'd gotten, and she wouldn't stoop so low as to use it against the woman, but her words would likely suffice.

The witch cleaned up and moved back to the counter, wondering if the other woman would bother her again. As soon as the thought passed through her mind, she heard her name being called, and didn't even bother faking her normal smile, but did walk over toward the other, lighter brunette and responded. ”Something you needed?” She kept it simple, because she didn't want any reason to launch some of her biting rudeness onto a customer. Chloe would never approve.

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[EMERI RHYAN DONAHUE]

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i have a heart i swear i do

Emeri raised her eyebrows at the brunette standing across from her. she should have guessed that a lot of people would want love potions because they couldn’t create a profound bond with someone genuinely on their own. They had to use some kind of potion to trick someone into feeling love for them. Honestly she would never do something like that for multiple reasons: it was immoral in her opinion, and she didn’t like anyone enough to want to make then lust after her and want her to the point where they thought they were in love with her. she had never made a love potion either and never planned on it. Except she now kind of wanted to attempt it so she could give it to Claude and show her that it wasn’t that big of a deal and to also replentish her for the potion she destroyed accidentally. Emeri nodded at her finally to show she understood, and replied, “Isn’t it pathetic though that they have to do that to get someone to almost love them…?” Emeri thought of her mother suddenly and wondered if the love potion was only for lust or if it could be used on a family member. It wasn’t as if she’d actually use it, she just wondered if it were possible.

Emeri found herself admiring the woman a little for taking herself and her work so seriously. She was exactly the same, except her mother was a very big distraction when she randomly had panic attacks as her mother shot herself up with heroine or snorted some cocaine. Emeri always thought it was going to be her mother’s last day and wondered when both of their pain and suffering would finally end. But Emeri couldn’t imagine life without her mom for some reason. Even though she was basically her mother’s mother, she didn’t want her mom to kick the bucket. She wanted her to get sober and start acting like she cared about her daughter instead of being barely decent to her whenever she felt like it. Emeri felt like most of the time her mother only really cared about herself and her drugs and when she could get them again.

Emeri narrowed her eyes at the other witch. Emeri didn’t think of herself as distracted because there was nothing in her life to really actually distract her from what she did. The only thing she could think of other than her mom was Decklyn, and he didn’t count as a distraction in her mind. He was only her friend after all and even though she was starting to feel something for her, she didn’t find herself wanting anything more from him that his friendship. It was new to her still wanting even that from a person and she still feared that she would be let down once again. She didn’t want to feel abandonment, but she somehow felt comfortable enough with Decklyn that she didn’t think that would happen. But she didn’t reply to Claude because she didn’t want to fuel her fire. She simply walked away to continue shopping around until she was finally finished.

“Just to get this and go,” she replied, setting the basket on the table. She set the things out onto the counter and pushed the basket towards Claude.

[CLAUDIA LUNA ELIADE]

Her conversations with other witches was extremely limited. Granted, Claude's conversations with just about anyone was extremely limited, because people, even the non-humans, were a group that she really did prefer to avoid, on the whole. Yet, she did like her job, and there were certain duties that came with it: customer service was one of them. She wasn't sure what exactly this witch wanted, because she didn't seem to take a liking to any of her potions, nor did she ask a lot of questions. Claude found that even the witches that claimed to be 'advanced' still had many questions when they came into Heliconia, which made her wonder about how 'advanced' they really were. The woman in front of her held a quiet confidence that Claude could respect, if nothing else, because it reminded her of her own confidence. Sure, when questioned, she could certainly explain her skills, but knew they were so limited that she didn't feel completely secure in talking about the extent of what she knew. Claude survived on being mysterious, an enigma, and sticking with what she knew.

Her customer still wanted to stay on the subject of love potions, silly things that they were. ”I couldn't say that I understand the trouble people go to for love. It doesn't seem all that wonderful,” Claude said truthfully. She wasn't so backwards that she hadn't seen modern movies, read books, and didn't understand the concept of love just because she couldn't feel it, or anything else, for someone. The witch did know about it, and felt that she understood it to a certain degree, but she didn't see the appeal. Having someone so closely in your life, to her, just seemed like welcoming in trouble. Betrayal, death, loss, grief – she'd experienced all of those emotions before, and never wanted to know them again. If it would cost her love, she felt it was more than a fair trade. ”They bring in plenty of money for the store, though, and that is why I make them.”

Reading her mind might have been a foray into improper territory, but she couldn't help herself. Claude really did like having the upper hand whenever she could, mostly because she didn't like surprises, and didn't want to miss something that was going to happen. The air between them was a little more clear than it had been when the clumsy witch had crashed into her potion, but not by much. At least, that was Claude's interpretation, but it could have just as easily been that the two of them shared more commonalities in the emotion department than Claude knew. Her lack of response left an air of mystery that Claude recognized, because it was almost like a friend to her. Sure, she could read deeper into the woman's mind and get a response, but that almost felt like the invasion of her privacy, and if she was caught... well, Chloe would certainly want her to explain, and probably wouldn't be pleased. Since she had moved to Manuka, working on her self-control when it came to using her powers, advanced as they were, was a high priority on her list.

Finally, it seemed that she was able to go back to her duties, and left the woman with an opening to visit her at the counter if she needed anything else, although Claude was hopeful that their next encounter would be because she wanted to pay a good sum of money for supplies and then leave. After a few minutes that she spent straightening up behind the counter, she was face to face with the young witch yet again, and she had a basket of items that Claude wrapped up, packaged, and did all of this in relative silence. After reading off her total and taking the woman's money, she handed her the neatly-packaged bag of supplies and gave a very stunning, but very fake smile that was something she had also been working on. Unsuccessfully, she felt, but it was something she was trying. ”Heliconia appreciates your business, come see us again soon.” And with that, Claude was free to go about the rest of her day, hopefully without a hitch.

[/justify]

[SEAJAY]

Due to inactivity of two months or more, this thread has been moved to the archives. If you'd like it back, please PM a staff member with the thread location and name. Thanks!

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