tampered | log // in progress {closed}

When; Wednesday, May 20th; morning
Rating; G for AWESOME!
Characters; ~~Cloney~~ Syaoran (

kodomosensei), and Clow Reed (

i_themagician)
Summary; Syaoran and Clow discuss the possibility of Syaoran working at the Bridge of Birds; Clow is probably cryptic at every opportunity.
Log;

It was a rare morning that Clow could actually be found in the front of the store, but he was mostly just tidying up - as one would expect from him - and waiting for someone, as one would not necessarily expect. No one had made any specific appointments and there were very few customers yet at this time. The soft, pinkish-white morning light streaming in from the windows splashed the shelves and floor with brilliant hues; he could already tell that it would be a nice day.

"If we can get the windows open," he remarked as he swept to whoever was supposed to be manning the counter, or perhaps to no one in particular, "it might be nice to get a little cross-breeze blowing through here."

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Navigating the city was still a bit of a challenge, but with a map and a few long walks and the willingness to ask strangers for help, Syaoran had managed to find his way to Bridge of Birds with a minimal amount of sidetracking due to getting lost, and only one instance due to getting briefly distracted. Leaving the apartment a good ten minutes earlier than he would have had to otherwise mean that he was arriving at the shop just a few minutes later than he had intended to.

If there was a bell to announce the arrival of the customers then there would be that much warning, but otherwise there was just the sound of the door opening to herald's Syaoran's arrival. The teenager was quiet for the moment, doing his best to be unobtrusive and not interrupt in case Clow or any other employees or customers were present and busy.

Oh, but Clow was expecting him, and though there was a bell he didn't need it to know that the person he was waiting for had arrived.

"Oh! Syaoran, hello!" Came the over-the-shoulder greeting as he stowed the broom away. "What brings you here?"

Syaoran offered Clow a smile when the man turned to speak to him, inclining his head politely. Even knowing (he thought) that Clow wasn't the King he remembered, it was hard to not treat him with the degree of respect reserved for royalty.

"After Umi-san told me about it, I've wanted to visit the shop." Though he wasn't able to stop himself from glancing around once, Syaoran was able to quickly return his attention to Clow himself. "Ah-- and if you aren't busy with anything else, I wanted to talk again about working here for a while."

"There's no need to be so formal," Clow protested gently, smiling just the same as he turned to face the boy. As much as it flattered him to know that he had made such a strong impression on Syaoran as king, even back then he had been somewhat uncomfortable with what he felt was excessive formality. When people acted that way towards him, it seemed to him that they expected him to not be a complete dork and he just wasn't sure that he could live up to those sorts of expectations on a day-to-day basis.

"But, no, I'm not particularly busy right now. So, perhaps if you'll come into the back with me, we can discuss things and I'll show you around." He opened a door - was it the same one that was just a broom closet a second ago? - and motioned for Syaoran to follow him into the hallway it led to.

It would doubtlessly throw Syaoran for a loop when he discovered more of Clow's quirks, even knowing that he wasn't the king he remembered. Still, Clow was allowed to be quirky. Syaoran knew lots of intelligent people that were a little odd -- like Fai! -- and was the diligent sort; he could adjust to a lot of things. He nodded at Clow's reassurance, looking a little embarrassed, and managed to stop himself from offering that polite almost-bow again. It would probably take a while for him to properly adjust to a less severe level of politeness, but in the meantime he was trying.

"Alright," Syaoran replied, expression shifting into a curious smile. He moved forward to follow after Clow -- was it a broom closet just a second ago? Syaoran suddenly wasn't sure -- taking care to not bump into anything along the way. "This is a very interesting shop. How long has it been around?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure - it was a rune shop before this, but the owner left the City long before Negi and I took it over, which was only this past January or so." With a little smile he adds, "As you can see, we've made ourselves quite at home."

He pauses in walking for a moment and hmms. "So, if I recall correctly, you were interested in working here in exchange for a sword, is that correct?"

About half a year under Clow and Negi's management, but longer under someone else. It was probably a little forward of Syaoran to ask any questions, but that didn't occur to Syaoran soon enough stop him from asking anyway. "Was there anything left in the shop when you and Negi-san took over?" He wasn't sure what sort of runes were sold, or how, but it stood to reason that if the owner left he took his stock with him, but if the city had yanked him away....

Syaoran paused when Clow did, and nodded quietly in response to the man's question. "Yes," he replied. "I wasn't able to bring the one I had before with me, so I need a new weapon."

Edited 2009-05-25 06:00 (UTC)

"Not that we've found, so far." There was a bit of emphasis on the word 'found' in that statement. "Not that we'd know what to do with any runes if we found them. From what I understand, they were very specific to the former owner's world and there's nobody from that world currently in the City."

Seemingly having made up his mind about something, he heads towards the storeroom. "Just a regular sword, you said? I'm not a swordsmith, but occasionally we do get some blades in to be modified."

Any further questions Syaoran might have had were cut off when Clow suddenly started forward again and asked about the sword, prompting Syaoran to nod and start forward as well.

"A regular sword would be alright," he replied. "Hien had magical enhancements on it, though. If you have one of those that you're willing to sell, I think it'd be better if I worked for that one." Souhi and Hien had only lasted so long because they were enhanced, and if Syaoran couldn't have Hien he at least wanted one that would survive all the insanity he was bound to face in the future.

He wished Kurogane were around. The ninja knew a lot more about swords that Syaoran did, and having his advice would be invaluable.

Abruptly there was a loud creaking sound, as a heavy oak door in the back of the shop swung open slowly. A small boy appeared, carrying a strange, unwieldy brass contraption.

"I think it's working now..." Negi said carefully, without taking his eyes off of the device. "I don't know how she expects me to fix her poltergeist detector without any poltergeists to..."

As he slid the spirit sniffer onto a nearby shelf, Negi looked up and noticed the conversation he seemed to be interrupting. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize we had a customer. Welcome to Bridge of Birds."

Clow was just about to ask if Syaoran knew exactly what kinds of enhancements were on his previous weapon, when Negi walked in. He couldn't help but smile a little, both at Negi himself and what he was saying.

"Well, somewhat halfway in between a customer and a prospective employee," he corrected. "Syaoran, this is my partner, Negi."

Negi's sudden arrival startled Syaoran, but when the younger (Syaoran thought he was younger, at least) boy stopped and greeted him and Clow introduced him, Syaoran paused as well and offered the redhead a polite bow a greeting. He hadn't realized that Negi would be so young, but he manage to mask his surprise relatively well.

"Hello, Negi-san."

"It's nice to meet you. Are you a new arrival here in the City?"

log // in progress {closed}

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