A Public Place (Open)

[Haru Yokimura]

Haru clung hastily to Kazuki's arm as he paraded him through Diagon Alley again, and Haru whimpered, struggling to keep up with the boy's 6'4" stride. He was wrenching away from people that wandered too near, and quickly hopping over the cracks of the pavement in the moonlight, and looking up at the taller male with a look of sheer terror. "Kazu...please. I can't...I can't...I can't....do this. There are too many people, too much dirt, and you are being very rough with me." Kazuki looked down at him finally, a beautiful porcelain doll with perfect hair, fragile skin, delicate features, and bloody hell those eyes. Accentuated with beautiful shades of blue eye shadow, the color was blinding. That body may have been a gift from Merlin, but those incessant tics...they drove him mad.

"I brought you out here because I know you rely on me. You can't do anything unless I'm helping you. You're weak!" Kazuki snarled, knowing from the catch in the vampire's breath that the words had stung. It was brutal. He was just trying to get him to stop trying to love him and just turn him. Perhaps he was going about this incorrectly. Quietly, he sighed and knelt down to where the vampire was beginning to shake and drew him up into his arms. "I have been too hard on you, haven't I? My Shimori?" His voice had taken on a sickening sort of croon, and the vampire looked up at him finally, bright tears in his eyes.

"You haven't called me your Shimori in...in...in...months." He closed his eyes slowly and the tics started to slow. This was a horribly taxing game that Kazuki and he played. Haru was no fool. Kazuki asked him each time he was in London to turn him, and he wouldn't. He wouldn't pour his blood into someone who would just run away from him. He'd be damned. So many of his kind made that mistake, but he wouldn't do that. He'd never make a fledgling unless he was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would never leave him.

"What do you want me to do, Haru? I could just leave you here. Among all the people...and the dirt...and the germs...is that what you want? I think it is. You want to be reminded of why you have me in the first place. Because you're weird, Haru. I tolerate your weirdness so you're not alone. I feed you. I nourish you. I give you everything you want because no one will." Haru winced, trying to latch onto his arm again, but he moved out of the way and shouted something in angry French and appirated away.

He'd...never left him before...

"Kazuki? He blinked rapidly, looking around at the sea of strange faces. Beneath his hands, he could feel the dirt off the pavement and his body lurched, as if he might be sick. His heart sped up and he froze, rooted to his spot. On the one slab of un-cracked pavement he could reach without leaping for it. His fingers, covered in delicate lace gloves, pawed mercilessly at his forearms. He was dressed in a colorful outfit, Kazuki's favorite for the way it accentuated the slim curves of his torso. Blue eyes darted from strange face to strange face and he let out a soft, strangled cry of fear.

He was not only a prisoner inside his own body, but a prisoner of his own fears and tics.

When the crowd finally stopped, he'd been standing there, holding his breath for the longest time (what need did he have to breathe? It was just a formality!) before leaping out of the solid island of pavement and landing on the freshly repaired part of the street, finally exhaling and running both hands through his golden blonde waves as his heart took on the familiar weight of loneliness. One day...he'd have to try to get a new donor. Even if he couldn't breathe when he thought about it...he couldn't take this abuse. Kazuki seemed to actually enjoy making him cry.

He ran from the street and into the doorway of a newly developed shop in Diagon Alley, his own Potion Shop. If he could get inside, he'd just...clean up...and work...or something. He must have unlocked the door 10 times before he finally shouldered his way into the building. It was sterile, so clean one could have eaten off of the floor, and for a moment, he hesitated and leaned against the door. Tears stung in his eyes again and leaked down the sides of his face. He'd only paused for 10 seconds before taking off to the back and scrubbing his hands until the skin was red from fingertips to elbows, and then he cleaned the whole store at least 5 times in the fastest means possible before finally relaxing. He glanced over all of his displays and admired the whole layout of the store. The bottles flowed in accordance of color, size, and scent and were in a layout that was visually appealing. Everything was labeled perfectly, centered, legible. 

He moved to the back of the store, still in the main part open to the public and happily tended his plants. He grew flowers, herbs, and medicinal plants both magical and non right in full view of people. The dirt problem? Covered. The plants actually grew through a special plastic that kept the dirt FAR away from him. FAR away. It had to be.

He was tending to his favorite lilies lost among the blooms when he heard the door open to the shop. He spoke in a soft voice, one that had the effect of a sweet velvety alto and held the faintest feminine emphasis on his words. "Good evening, welcome to Manami Elixirs. If you desire anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask me anything. I'm Haru." He did not look away from the plants long enough to see who had entered, but was content in the embrace of his beautiful plants. It filled his heart with such joy to see them flourish like this.

[Deleted]

Diagon Alley.

It was a place that was well known for being one of the best to buy magical supplies in the world and such hype had traveled to all corners of the world, eventually reaching the country of Japan and by extension, reaching Miyavi himself. Curiosity had eventually consumed him and now he found himself here, exploring the alleyway with his cold gaze analyzing everything carefully. He could feel the eyes of the people on him as he walked, gaping and admiring his supernatural beauty as though he was some kind of angel, some kind of god though it couldn't have possibly been any further from the truth. He was nothing more than a demon, a beast that wandered the earth disguised with the appearance of a human, something that one of these unlucky souls would probably discover during the dark hours of the night. He had been feeling rather hungry as of late and his nose could already pick up the scents of the people who would make the best meal for him on that night.

Unfortunately, he had to be patient and wait until a time where there were not so many people around. The last thing he needed was to be caught breaking the rules and to have hunters being sent after him. While killing them would be no problem, he was at a disadvantage when it came to numbers as there were obviously more hunters than there were of him, much to his misfortune. Merlin he hated both the hunters and the restrictions that came with him wanting to feed because there was no way in hell he was going to get another donor. Not after what had happened with his last one. No he would rather die then to go through that pain, than to go through that never ending agony again.

A piece of him had truly died along with Teru on that day over a hundred years ago.

With a sigh and a simple shake of his head to jolt the rather dark and depressing thoughts from his mind, he forced himself to enter a store in order to distract himself. It seemed as though he had entered some sort of potions shop and as his gaze darted around the store, he was immediately greeted by what seemed to be the shopkeeper and stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. " Alright. I'll be sure to do that." His voice was neither soft nor deep, a perfect mixture between the tones and still lightly accented despite how many years ago he had learned the difficult language. His eyes danced around the store, noting just how clean and orderly the store was. " This is a nice store you have here. Very clean and orderly" Then again this was the first shop he had actually entered, but they didn't need to know that.

[Haru Yokimura]

Receiving a compliment on the cleanliness of his little shop made him smile as his fingers passed over the same flower for the 10th time. "Thank you. I do try to keep it that way." Well, it sounded better than 'It stays that way because I will freak out and scrub it until does if it gets messed up.' In truth, he would have to check the bottles and phials a few times to make sure they were all straight soon. It would plague him until he did.

It was plaguing him now.

He moved out of the flowers and plants, straightening himself up before moving to do just that. He moved to the far corner and moved ritualisticly from right to left, inspecting the displays and merchandise. It was when he neared the person that entered the store that he forced his eyes upward.

Oh, another vampire.

With such pretty skin...and that strand of colored hair upon his shoulder. The outward tics stopped and he felt, for a moment that his mind was quiet. He fell quite still a moment before asking, "Just browsing?" There was a warm embrace of Paris weaved through the faintly Japanese accented voice, evidence of his schooling at Beauxbatons. His fingers found a golden blonde curl and tucked to among the streaks of blue in the topmost layer of his hair. Once, twice, three times.

Finally, his hand stopped at Kazuki's voice penetrated his memory. 'Weak.' Yeah, there was no denying that the cruelest thing he had ever done, was to not give compliments where it was due. He couldn't even kill a bug without feeling remorse (followed by sick. How knows where it had been?), much less harm a person.

[Deleted]

He nodded dully at the response that his words had gotten as he began to look about the shop, eying things carefully, critically and yet not touching a single one of them, not out of any consideration for the shopkeeper but rather for himself. He did not like to touch things that he had no intention to buy, a quirk of his that helped him rather than hinder him more often than not. It made it harder for others to track him, made it harder for them to blame him when people went missing because they could never truly tell if it truly was him. There was never any proof that he was the one behind the killings, behind the murders. He was far too clever to leave any proof. They would never catch him, they would never be able to connect the crimes to him just as they would never be able to manage to kill him despite their best of efforts. They could try but he would always be one step ahead of them.

Always.

His eyes slid to the shop keeper, watching with a weary gaze as they moved from one end of the store to another, carefully inspecting the merchandise and a single brow rose for a minute before he turned his gaze away, noting that it was truly none of his business what this person did. It was only when they were too close to him to ignore did he tear his gaze away from what it was that he was looking at in order to look at the person that had been staring at him, his nose twitching slightly at the scent that filled his senses. This person smelled nice and had a sort of pleasant scent that surrounded their form and while he did enjoy the scent, that was not the thing that had managed to capture his attention so quickly, no. There was a underlying scent of blood that was hidden beneath his pleasant smell one that immediately uncovered just what it was this person was.

Vampire. Another quick sniff to the air. Male.

" Something like that. " He mused quietly as his gaze locked with the bright blue of the other vampire , trying to read his intentions through the look in his eyes and through his body language for a moment, relaxing only when he was sure that this being proved to be no immediate threat to him. " I've heard far too much about this alley where I live and decided to come and see what all the hype was about, maybe pick up a few things as gifts while I'm here for my family." If all the stores were like this one then he was sure he would find something to surprise them with.

[Haru Yokimura]

Haru offered a pleasant smile, "There is certainly something for everyone here. If anyone in your family may prefer a fragrance, I do make some here." He didn't want to be a pest, so he bowed softly and moved on to the next set of displays. His mind had worked himself don from trying to be anywhere near charming as he might have tried to be before and was now fixated on straightening the same shelf a few times before moving to the next. He might have been doing a decent job of hiding his disorder, until the door opened and he looked up.

"Haru...I stalked off so quickly that you didn't eat." A very glum Kazuki entered the shop and the instant those eyes were set on him, the tics started again. "I'm not...I'm not...I'm not...hungry, Kazuki." He shouldered past the boy quickly and started moving quickly toward the sanctuary of his plants, only to be grabbed by a delicate forearm. "You need to keep up your strength...I wouldn't want you to get sick." Haru looked at him beseechingly. "Kazi...I have a business to run, can't we talk about this later?" "Feed now, or don't for another week. Maybe a month. Maybe I won't ever show up again. What would you do then? Starve?"

He dragged Haru back into the back of the store, sealed away from the eyes of the public, despite Haru's fighting and pleading. "You left me...left me...left me...in the middle of the street all by myself with people I don't know. All the dirt...all the noise...all the germs...why did you leave me there?! It took me hours to get back here." "Chill out. Just feed and shut up, you weak excuse for a vampire. Your tic-ing really badly." "You always run away from me and I can't...I can't...I can't...I can't...I can't...stand it anymore! I'd rather be without...without...without..." There was the sound of a muffled cry as Kazuki shoved his mouth roughly against the crook of his neck and held him there until he finally caved in and drank his fill, leaving Kazuki in the back room to recover from the trauma before closing his eyes tightly and moving back into the shop, quickly sweeping up the path that he'd walked with a sturdy broom.

Despite the beautiful, ethereal glow to his skin now, there were tears on his cheeks, and his hands were wringing on the stick of that broom. His feet were moving over the cracks noticeably, and his whole body wrenched before he could step on one. This had to stop. He was so stuck on the flecks of dirt on the floor and the blurring of his vision with tears that he chose to not look and see if the other vampire was still there. Right now, he didn't care. His heart was breaking so loudly that it was taking away from the tics. He touched the same bottle almost a dozen times, his whole body tic-ing nervously and repeating everything associated with the gesture before he slammed his foot down loudly and sitting down on the floor.

He was going to have a panic attack if Kazuki stayed any longer.

[Deleted]

He listened quietly to the other vampire as he gave his own opinion about Diagon Alley and nodded when the other said that he also made fragrances if there was anyone in his family that preferred a certain scent. His lips tilted upward in what may have been one of the first genuine smiles that he had ever given to a stranger before speaking again. " That is good to know. I would like to look around a bit more but if I don't see anything else, I may take you up on that offer." At least for his mother and his aunt he would, since he knew what scents they liked the best. For everyone else, he would probably have to go to different shops and would probably be forced to keep searching, unfortunately they weren't as easy to please as the two women were. His gaze moved back to the various items, only to leave them when he heard another person enter the shop, watching them with a weary gaze and his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the scene before him. It was obvious that this person, this new arrival made the vampire who owned the shop very nervous and as he turned away from the bottles to intervene on behalf of his fellow kind, what was said made him freeze. Did he just say what he think he did?!

This pathetic mortal was nothing more than a donor and he dared speak to his vampire in such a way? He threatened to starve his vampire?! To never return to him?! Even Teru had never done such a thing, knowing that such disrespect and such insolence would have been very severely punished. He could feel his dark and dangerous anger building up inside of his chest as he watched the mortal handle the vampire in such a way despite his pleading and fighting. His sharp ears could pick up on the coversation that was being held in the back room, making it clear to him what had happened only hours before. This vampire had some sort of condition that made him unable to stand being outside with people, dirt and germs and he had abandoned him there to face his fears alone? When he heard the mortal tell the vampire to shut up along with insulting him, that was when he was pushed over the edge and his temper boiled over.

He would not tolerate such insolence and such disrespect towards a member of his kind in his presence. He waited until the vampire came back into the store front and his frown grew as he saw the tears on the vampire's cheeks, eyes narrowing darkly and a low growl leaving his throat as his glare turned to where he knew the mortal was being held, his gaze moving back to where the vampire was when he heard the stomp and watched as he fell to sit on the floor. Quickly, Miyavi moved over to where the vampire sat, kneeling down in front of him and speaking in calm Japanese. " Watashi o yurushite, watashi wa dekimasen yurusu kono yōna chiryō watashi jishin no shurui no." [Forgive me, but I cannot forgive such treatment of my own kind] With that said he made his way to the back room, where he knew that boy was resting and walked over to him, towering over him as he rested with a glare and a dangerous gleam shining in his icy eyes.

" I do not know where a pathetic donor such as yourself gets away with thinking that you can treat a vampire like that but it seems as though you have forgotten both your place and respect. Allow me to put you back in your place."

His words were scarcely more than a quiet hiss as he spoke, his tone dripping with venom and absolute rage.

" You are lucky to have a vampire that tolerates such behavior from yourself, if you were one of mine I would have either ripped out your tongue then and there for daring to speak to me in such a way or I would've killed you without a single moment's hesitation. You're extremely lucky I don't kill you right now."

He sneered cruely before leaning close to the mortal.

" I am going to tell you once and only once. Apologize and leave right now before I decide to hunt you down because let me tell you now that you can run from me all you want but I will find you and when I do, you will not like what I do when I get my hands on you."

This man did not deserve time to heal after feeding nor did he deserve that vampire's kindness. He waited until the mortal left the shop before returning to the vampire's side and kneeling back down. " Are you alright? and I am sorry if I offended you, angered you or crossed any sort of line by treating your donor that way, but I cannot stand it when one of my own kind is treated and disrespected in such a terrible way. Forgive me."

[Haru Yokimura]

Haru barely looked up when the other vampire was near him, only softly nodding an agreement as he left the shop and roused Kazuki from his post feeding slumber. He didn't care to listen to what was said, but he looked up again as Kazuki moved into the shop and his eyes widened slowly as Kazuki apologized, although it was far from genuine. "Kazuki..." He whimpered, the boy leaving swiftly after cutting him short of speaking what it was he wanted to say, leaving a bitter hatred in the last exhale of his breath to foul the air. Haru sighed before looking up at the other vampire and giving a quiet sigh, "You did nothing wrong...
-nothing wrong
-nothing wrong. I know I shouldn't let him do that. But, it's so hard for me to tell him to stop." His chin slid into a cool and silky hand before he looked up at the other vampire with a quiet gaze that lingered on hurt and defeated. He pulled himself up without touching the cracks in the marble and settled flat footed against the cold stone.

"I've made so many excuses for him so many times over the last few years. I loved him so much, but that's the one thing I don't deserve from him."  He sighed softly and started tinkering with the bottles, aligning, straightening, twisting, dusting maliciously until the nearby shelf gleamed invitingly again. He smiled weakly upward at the taller man before he spoke, "I apologize for the awkwardness. If there is anything I could make for you, I would be happy to do it. It would keep my mind busy and my hands occupied." He moved a bottle of beautiful crystal, the blue matched the streaks of his hair, and the smell of roses, leather, and citrus followed it.

[Deleted]

He watched the rest of the events unfurl between narrowed eyes, disgusted by the fact that this mortal did not even have enough guilt or remorse for what he had done to even give the poor vampire a proper apology and as the donor left the shop with a sigh of hatred, all he could do was shake his head in disappointment. If this was how low the sons of man had dropped then he was happy that he had cut off ties with them a long time ago. He had no patience, no tolerance for disrespect nor did any other vampire that he knew of, so why was this one allowing himself to be treated in such a terrible way? Why was he allowing a donor to act in such a way? Did he not know what would happen to him if he continued to allow this sort of behavior? He got his answer a moment later and with a sigh he fell quiet for a moment before allowing himself to speak again. " It may be hard to tell him to stop now but if you do not do so, it will be even harder when the time comes to deal with what kind of person he will eventually become. I have been around for quite some time and people with donors like that, rarely ever end up happy unless they either put them in their place or let them go."

Or destroy them yourself when you turn them and instead of appreciating their gift, they try to destroy you with it. A pang hit his own heart at the thought, causing it to ache and yet he did not show any signs of discomfort as the other spoke and he listened before shaking his head in disagreement.

" In this world you will find that there are people who will truly love you and people that will use you for what it is that you have. It is up to you to decide who is who, but let me tell you two things. One, every single being on this planet deserves love, I do not care what anyone else says. Life is meaningless without such a wonderful gift. Without it all one is cursed to do is walk around empty and numb until death takes mercy on their soul and puts them to rest. Secondly, what you do not deserve is to be spoken to or treated like that. It was disturbing to see a human being so cruel to a vampire who obviously loves them dearly. If anyone does not deserve love from what I have seen here today, that mortal does not deserve yours." A pale hand ran through his multicolored hair and a sigh left his own lips before the other vampire stole his attention again, asking if there was anything that he could make for him and for a moment he thought before nodding slowly. " Yes. Earlier you said that you make fragrances. Can I bother you to make some for me? I think my mother might enjoy such a gift."

[Haru Yokimura]

It was odd to hear such words from the other vampire. No one had ever told him that he didn't deserve to be continuously hurt by Kazuki. Ever. Perhaps his tics annoyed everyone else too. He offered a warm smile, "Thank you. No one has ever said anything to me like that. It makes me feel a little better about the situation. I am naive about humans still, I never know quite how to act, and the condition does not make acting normal very easy." He seemed to be calm now, but the world was always constantly refreshing.

As he spoke about wanting a fragrance for his mother, an obvious excitement burst through him. "Excellent! Is there any particular scents she prefers for an overtone? Or even an undertone. From the smell of your skin, I can balance it to make sure it will not change too drastically on her skin type." He was giddy, pulling out a parchment and quill like a child making a list at Christmas, all previous pain forgotten.

"Everything I work with is freshly grown here, I also have greenhouses in the back of the store that house all the scents I ever need. I even have herbs and vanilla beans back there. Fruit, flowers...I'm so sorry. I get caught up in talking about things that no one cares about. Red crept up his neck and engulfed his face before he cleared his throat about three times. "Spray bottle, or one with a stopper? Crystal or class? And color?" He was keeping track of what he said with a quickly writing hand.

As he thought of that he needed to do this effectively, he smiled thoughtfully and tapped the end of his quill on his lip a few times. Hm...this was always his favorite part of the day.

[Deleted]

It was always rather interesting to see just how it was that others reacted to the words he said whether they were sincere or not and while they were in this case sincere, for he truly did not like seeing this particular vampire being treated so poorly for some reason, it was interesting to see how his words were seemingly enough to make him feel better and as he received a warm smile along with a small explanation, Miyavi nodded again before turning his gaze to meet the other vampire's again." Mortals are very confusing creatures to deal with, I admit. It is difficult to be well-informed on a species that is foreve growing and changing with the times." Even he himself found it difficult to interact with some of the humans on occasion and as such, unless he was out hunting, drinking, or looking for a person to occupy his bed for the night, he rarely ever interacted with those creatures, preferring only to watch from a distance. " While it is surprising to hear that no one has stood up for you before, I am glad that my words were able to bring you some sort of ease. Just remember that if this happens again, you yourself are not at fault. Mortals have a tendency to be selfish, they do not try to understand the way that our kind thinks or feels and that is no one's fault but their own." While he would not admit it, he was glad to see that he had calmed.

Tears, for some reason did not suit him well in his eyes

The subject was changed when him making a fragrance for his mother had been brought up and he watched with curious eyes as his demeanor changed completely much to his fascination. He pulled out a piece of parchment and began speaking to him, asking him all sorts of various questions and Miyavi waited patiently until he was done before answering him. " My mother likes undertones of vanilla and cherry blossom and as for overtones, I was wondering if you could recreate a more feminine version of what I am wearing. My mother is fond of my cologne but I know that she is not fond of the spice nor the smokey tones. Perhaps you can make something sweeter and lighter for her to wear?" His mother had always complimented the way that he smelled and she had said before that she would enjoy something less strong for herself and while he had tried before to make something for her, it had not turned out well much to his disappointment.

When the vampire began speaking of growing everything that he used for his shop fresh inside of greenhouses at the back of the store, he had to say that he was slightly impressed. Not many that he knew of put such dedication into their trade and it was something that he made sure to tell him when he attempted to apologize for his excitement and his supposed rambling. " No need to apologize, I think it's actually something admirable that you're so devoted to your profession. Not many would do something similar to that. I am actually impressed." And it truly was not easy for others to impress him. " A spray bottle please, crystal and about a light pink in color, though if you don't have that color than a light blue or a purple would be just as nice."

[Haru Yokimura]

Someone actually found his dedication impressive? The smaller vampire looked up at the other with eyes widened in surprise, before he was told what he wanted. He wrote down everything he said, verbatim, before considering the bottles. From beneath the counter, he pulled a crystal bottle with etchings of Sakura blossoms drifting across a light pink glass. The topper was an antique mister, with a hand pump to spray the fragrance with golden Kanji scrawled over it to read, 'Power, Grace, Serenity, Love.'

"Is this suitable?" He asked softly, letting him look at it before gathering up a pristine porcelain bowl and moving to the inside plants. From there, he gathered a few blossoms from a Sakura tree, both white and pink, along with a tiny bit of grapefruit mint and a bit of jasmine before excusing himself to the greenhouses outside. The path was still clean, but he would clean it a few more times to be sure.

From the greenhouses, he gathered peach, ginger, a bit of juniper (needles, not berries), vanilla beans, and a small pitcher of rain water from one of the holding wells that he would distill later. His was a labor of love, nothing but the purest ingredients and hard labor. Granted, he had some ultra distilled everclear for the base that he bought from the owner of the tavern on a weekly basis to keep for fragrances, but that and the ever important glycerol that he had to get from the muggle chemist were the two things he did not have readily available.

He came back in with the blooms, fruit, spice and herbs and came back to the counter. "Since everything is done in shop, it will take some time to properly age and the oils to meld. I will set to it straight away, but depending on the mixture and amount it may take two or three evenings to properly age. Is that alright? If not, I would be happy to use a little extra magic to make it. I usually just make it by hand, the muggle way. For you, I could make an exception."

[Deleted]

His gaze fell on the bottle when it was pulled out from beneath the counter and he admired it with a careful and observant gaze for a moment, a small smile crossing his features when he thought of how his mother would react to receiving such a beautiful gift from him and he nodded, smile slowly falling off of his features and returning to his usual stoic mask. Yes, she would love that bottle and she would treasure it even after it's contents had long since been used up, something that he would not blame her for, after all it was a very beautiful bottle and his kind were known for favoring things of beauty, his mother taking that love to the absolute extreme. " Yes, my mother will like that one very much I think, thank you." Yes, this bottle would make her very happy, that much he was absolutely sure of and just the thought of seeing her happy was enough to make that small smile return to his face again as he admired that bottle for just a bit more, before turning away from it when the shopkeeper returned with some of the things that he had gathered from the back and his eyes moved back up to the shopkeeper as he began to speak again.

So it seemed as though it would take a bit of time if he wanted him to do it by hand, about two or three nights something that didn't necessarily bother him for he truly was in no hurry to return to Japan. No, this would give him the excuse that he needed to stay here a bit longer than usual for now he would have the chance to explore while he waited. Go to a pub and drink the night away into oblivion or perhaps even go and find someone of interest to share his bed with for the night. Yes his mind was running rampant with suggestions that when he heard the other offer to speeden things up with magic he immediately shook his head, politely declining the offer. Besides, if it would make his mother happy then it was worth waiting for. " I am fine with waiting for you to make it the natural way. I've heard that the city is very big and I am sure I can find something [or someone] to entertain me until it is complete. Now as for the payment, do I pay you for the product now or do I pay for it when it is finished?" He was not sure how these types of things worked here in the west and did not want to make a fool of himself.

[Haru Yokimura]

Upon hearing the question, Haru tapped his bottom lip with the velvety pad of a moonkissed finger. Once, twice, three times. "After. That way if you don't like it, I can tweak it until you are satisfied. It's purely quality based." Haru pressed his palms together and smiled up at the other vampire as the door opened again. Instinct pulsed panic through his veins and he looked up, relaxing at the sight of the barmaid's young daughter.

Relief washed over him and he sighed quietly as the young child moved carefully through the shop and behind the counter with him. He looked down and smiled warmly as the child handed him a large dandelion, blonde curls swaying as she danced from side to side. "What's this?" He crooned, "Is this for me?" The child nodded profusely and gave a smile with one tooth missing in the front. "Thank you!" He did his best to hug her without cringing and lifted her up long enough to let her place one solitary kiss to his cheek. He crooned soft French to her, smiling softly before putting her down. "B'uh bye, Haru!" She squeaked before joining her mother back outside.

Seeing the child made his night. "Anyway, you are welcome to browse. I will start on your order!"

[Deleted]

Ah, so that was how things worked here. It certainly seemed as though shopkeepers in the west were more considerate than their eastern counterparts when it came to matters such as these, though in hindsight perhaps it was just the vampire's nature to do those sort of things for people, a concept that was particularly interesting for him. This vampire seemed to be of a different nature than most others he had met before, seemed to be timid and kinder than what he was used to seeing in others of his kind and while it was slightly strange considering just what it was they were, it was not something that was entirely unwelcome.

No, for once it made Miyavi feel as though perhaps he truly had not seen and learned all that there was to learn in his two hundred years of life, perhaps there was still people to meet and things from him to learn from said people and as he nodded slowly, accepting just what it was that was said with a small murmur of gratitude before turning away from the vampire to contemplate these rather unusual sort of thoughts, the door to the shop swung open and a pair of weary eyes turned to gaze at the newcomer, slightly curious but also weary just as he normally was.

Merlin, it was starting to seem like he truly did not like people unless he had the alcohol in his system to make them more tolerable, but given the experience he had in the past with mortals, who could honestly blame him? Again, in hindsight perhaps it was his fault for not trusting and turning the right mortal and he probably would have agreed with that had he not seen just how far the mortals had fallen from their past glory. Merlin, Teru would probably be laughing right now if he could see what his kind had been reduced to.

He just knew it. Despite his seemingly overwhelming loathing of the entire human race, he found with some surprise that he could tolerate the presence of human children for some reason. Perhaps it was because of the innocence that he saw shining in their eyes, the innocence that he had lost so long ago. Perhaps it was because of their smiles, the smiles that he wished he could both give and receive. For some reason that he was not sure of, he could not bring himself to despise the children of man for as long as they remained children.

It was because of this that when he saw one of these children of man, a young mortal female, wander into the shop that his gaze softened the slightest bit before he turned and moved away in order to give the two room and space to talk with one another and while he could not help but overhear the conversation, he did his best to not give any signs that he was in fact listening, learning from the child that this other vampire's name was Haru, something that he locked away in the depths of his mind for a later time and date and when Haru spoke to him again, telling him to feel free to browse around, he did just that, a contemplative gaze forming in his eyes as he wandered about, analyzing things with a careful eye.

[Haru Yokimura]

It was not long before the scent of those items in their purest form began to fill the air. He was pulling essential oils from skin, stamen, flesh and foliage with only a flame, thin knife and a dish to catch it all. Pleasant scent was something that he enjoyed immensely, and smelling them mix and mingle was far greater for him to enjoy in full. The process was tedious, but it silenced his mind.

Occasionally those brilliant blue eyes lifted to peek from beneath golden bangs of hair, only to drop again. This other vampire piqued curiosity beyond that of any person he had ever met. Granted, he was curious by nature and it often did not take long for new people to slip into his conscious thought.

The bottle was sterilized and only touched with a gloves hand, filled with pure alcohol, and then came his favorite part. The mixing. Drop by drop, layer by layer, he began to build up the scent from the ground. The base was cherry blossom and vanilla bean, the scent that would linger long after the others had faded. From there, he added ginger, juniper needles, and the pinch of grapefruit mint for the midtone. Those scents would greet, yet fade as time passed. The rest were added to the initial scent, giving it a delicate, exotic, fruity and clean scent that tapered from fruity, to woodsy and warm, to perfect Oriental.

Oh, please let it age right!

He had to move away from the oils to clear his retronasal passages and found himself moving through the shop quietly, his golden curls a stark contrast to the dark blue of his top. A silky hand extended, only to slip a few bottles of a yellow bottled felitas potion back where they belonged. The shop housed everything from complex magic potions, to herbal tonics and remedies, perfumes, essential oils for baths, medicinal draughts...and locked in the back of the store was a case of love potion, perfected in the most careful of creation, and veritas serum, long perfected by constant repetition. Those two were rarely supplied, especially the love potion. Haru did not believe in falsified feelings of love.

What was the point?

"I hate to be impolite, but may I ask your name? It seems impersonal to simply say, 'Hey, you.' when addressing you." Haru finally asked the other, peering quietly from over the slope of a display.