Shopping for slugs
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Down in Diagon Alley's narrow side street, the air was sluggish and humid. It pooled around a weathered storefront, peeling and seemingly abandoned. It's display window fogged with condensation and streaked with black grime.
Through the murky window, those with sharp eyes could make out thousands upon thousands of bottles and jars and vials with handwritten labels, their contents pulsating and jiggling and writhing. The place was Pandora’s box, curious to behold but potentially lethal if the shop owner was any less careful.
Past the rotting exterior was a putrid punch of cloying scents, all fighting for dominance over the patron’s poor olfactory bulb. Sulphur and rotten egg wafted lazily between luminescent green globes that bobbed in the air like candy apples. A system of wooden cabinets lined every wall from floor to ceiling, stocked with the obsessive neatness of a museum collection. From the ceiling hung herbs and flowers. No space went unutilised, incentivising care in traversal around its many sections.
Extending almost half of one wall was the shop counter. It was littered with an assortment of equipment in organised chaos, including an ancient typewriting cash register, solid gold set of scales, and a large chopping board. Behind it was a door leading to some backrooms, warded with complex runes to repel wandering students and ill-to-do people.
Jen looked up from her list to observe a jar of green goop. A large bubble rose from its viscous depths, unloosing a belching burp. The yellow label read Flobberworm Mucus, which was apparently completely inert, according to Magical Drafts and Potions.
Jen grimaced and glanced at the Lethe River water, clear and still in its crystal vial. It had an air of melancholy beauty, emitting a deep nothingness. She stopped short at a bush of bright turquoise berries. They stood out like jewels in the night, their shine gleaming with the promise of death - Mistletoe berries. Nearby hung a tangled vine with heart-shaped leaves, misleadingly titled Lovage. Jen retreated to the sanctuary of tamer herbs and flowers - Dittany, peppermint leaves, moly, gallows grass, ginger root, dried nettles, camomile, and marshmallow root. She took a deep breath before plunging back into the foggy depths of animal parts.
On a high shelf, dozens of fat little bugs with helicopter wings floated in a tall cylindrical jar labelled Billywig stings. According to her textbook, these were a bundle of joy. Jen looked back at their slimy bulbous carcasses - indeed they were.
By a jar of wriggling black leeches were lionfish spines and snake fangs, their sharp edges glinting in the low light. A bundle of long black porcupine quills came next, and horklump juice. Jen grabbed a jar packed to the brim with fat horned slugs, and half a kilo of standard ingredient for good measure.
She flitted around the shop, ticking off her list of ingredients. Valerian sprigs -- check. Fire seeds -- check. Aconite -- check.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shopping for slugs
WC: 317
Mentions: @Jen Noor
OPEN TO INTERACTIONS
Bella wasn't sure exactly why she entered the shop. She didn't have a specific list of items that she wanted to buy in mind, nor did she have a goal that she needed to accomplish.
It was two weekends before the first day of school, and Bella already finished purchasing everything she needed for the school year. She didn't know why she went to Diagon Alley again, perhaps just because she was bored and didn't know what to do.
At first, when Bella saw the store, she was going to turn away. However, her curiosity finally got the best of her. She simply stumbled into the store, which she thought was probably abandoned because of the dirty display windows that looked like someone hadn't been there for probably half a century.
Yet, to her surprise, it was a fully equipped store full of vials and jars of ingredients! Bella pinched her nose and winced.
Wow...this smell...ew.
There was a strange array of different scents, mixing together to create a smell she couldn't quite describe. However, soon, she got used to it, and took a deep breath of air.
"Okay, never mind. Yuck," she coughed.
Ignoring the smell, Bella turned around, taking in everything in that store. It was a store that could simply be described as messy, but somehow, it felt more than that. There was so much stuff, Bella supposed, that the store exploded with items that had no place to belong.
Bella was so distracted that she didn't realize someone was in the shop with her until she bumped into the person.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, glancing up. It was a girl, about the same age as she was. "My name is Bella. Bella Light. I'm a first year Slytherin in Hogwarts. What's your name? And what brings you here, to this...umm.... interesting apothecary shop?"
Mentions: @Jen Noor
OPEN TO INTERACTIONS
Bella wasn't sure exactly why she entered the shop. She didn't have a specific list of items that she wanted to buy in mind, nor did she have a goal that she needed to accomplish.
It was two weekends before the first day of school, and Bella already finished purchasing everything she needed for the school year. She didn't know why she went to Diagon Alley again, perhaps just because she was bored and didn't know what to do.
At first, when Bella saw the store, she was going to turn away. However, her curiosity finally got the best of her. She simply stumbled into the store, which she thought was probably abandoned because of the dirty display windows that looked like someone hadn't been there for probably half a century.
Yet, to her surprise, it was a fully equipped store full of vials and jars of ingredients! Bella pinched her nose and winced.
Wow...this smell...ew.
There was a strange array of different scents, mixing together to create a smell she couldn't quite describe. However, soon, she got used to it, and took a deep breath of air.
"Okay, never mind. Yuck," she coughed.
Ignoring the smell, Bella turned around, taking in everything in that store. It was a store that could simply be described as messy, but somehow, it felt more than that. There was so much stuff, Bella supposed, that the store exploded with items that had no place to belong.
Bella was so distracted that she didn't realize someone was in the shop with her until she bumped into the person.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, glancing up. It was a girl, about the same age as she was. "My name is Bella. Bella Light. I'm a first year Slytherin in Hogwarts. What's your name? And what brings you here, to this...umm.... interesting apothecary shop?"
"At the end of the dark tunnel is a light, so reach forward and feel the sun" - Bella Light
Shopping for slugs
Aster was nearly finished with her shopping in Diagon Alley. She checked her list. Owl food, more floo powder, and a new cauldron. Those were all happily sitting in her magically expanded bag, along with a new book and some more paint. She was just missing gillyweed, which her mother needed for the new potion she was working on to help drowning victims.
The bell clanged dully as she pushed open the Apothecary door, bracing herself against the wave of odors that washed over her every time she entered. She sighed, wondering if she would ever get used to the smell, then stepped resignedly through the door into the dimly lit room.
The shopowner seemed to change his organisation system every time she walked in the door, so Aster was forced to wander around the shop, peering at the cursive labels.
She straightened from wrinkling her nose at a jar labelled Frog Brain, in which nearly a dozen fleshy masses floated in a viscous, yellow-ish liquid that smelled strangely like a skunk, and something caught her eye. She turned and caught sight of@Jen Noor's long black hair, just as it disappeared into the next aisle.
Aster hurried past Bubotuber Pus (yellow-green), Chicken Lips (merlot), and Dugbog Tongue (pale pink) to the end of the aisle, where she came face-to-face with a dark haired girl who seemed surprised by the rather odd selection of wares.
"Hi, I'm Aster Gillespie. I'm looking for gillyweed. You haven't happened upon it anywhere, have you?"
The bell clanged dully as she pushed open the Apothecary door, bracing herself against the wave of odors that washed over her every time she entered. She sighed, wondering if she would ever get used to the smell, then stepped resignedly through the door into the dimly lit room.
The shopowner seemed to change his organisation system every time she walked in the door, so Aster was forced to wander around the shop, peering at the cursive labels.
She straightened from wrinkling her nose at a jar labelled Frog Brain, in which nearly a dozen fleshy masses floated in a viscous, yellow-ish liquid that smelled strangely like a skunk, and something caught her eye. She turned and caught sight of@Jen Noor's long black hair, just as it disappeared into the next aisle.
Aster hurried past Bubotuber Pus (yellow-green), Chicken Lips (merlot), and Dugbog Tongue (pale pink) to the end of the aisle, where she came face-to-face with a dark haired girl who seemed surprised by the rather odd selection of wares.
"Hi, I'm Aster Gillespie. I'm looking for gillyweed. You haven't happened upon it anywhere, have you?"
Shopping for slugs
WC: 205
Mentions: @Jen Noor, @Aster Gillespie
OPEN TO INTRERACTIONS
Bella heard a voice and turned around. It was a girl, who introduced herself as Aster. She was looking for gillyweed.
"Hi! I'm Bella Light! Wait, gillyweed, huh?"
Bella spun in a circle, trying to remember when she last saw something that vaguely resembled gillyweed. Her face lit up when she remembered where she had saw gillyweed. Or at least, some kind of plant that looked like gillyweed.
"Aster, I think I did, actually! Here, come with me," Bella rushed over to an aisle, where she had thought she saw it, but it was nowhere to be found. "Sorry, sorry. Wrong aisle, it's this one." She said, then added, "Probably."
As Bella led Aster to the next aisle, she was relived to learn that her memory haven't completely failed her.
"Yes, there's your gillyweed!" Bella pointed to a small container. "Is there anything you are looking for? I have been wandering around this shop for some time, just, uhh, admiring the selection of ingredients of plants, including that." Bella randomly pointed to a jar with weird moving yellow tentacles inside. She frowned, then backed away. "Yeah...no. Never mind. Anyways. Aster! I'm happy to see you here! What are you going to use the gillyweed for?"
Mentions: @Jen Noor, @Aster Gillespie
OPEN TO INTRERACTIONS
Bella heard a voice and turned around. It was a girl, who introduced herself as Aster. She was looking for gillyweed.
"Hi! I'm Bella Light! Wait, gillyweed, huh?"
Bella spun in a circle, trying to remember when she last saw something that vaguely resembled gillyweed. Her face lit up when she remembered where she had saw gillyweed. Or at least, some kind of plant that looked like gillyweed.
"Aster, I think I did, actually! Here, come with me," Bella rushed over to an aisle, where she had thought she saw it, but it was nowhere to be found. "Sorry, sorry. Wrong aisle, it's this one." She said, then added, "Probably."
As Bella led Aster to the next aisle, she was relived to learn that her memory haven't completely failed her.
"Yes, there's your gillyweed!" Bella pointed to a small container. "Is there anything you are looking for? I have been wandering around this shop for some time, just, uhh, admiring the selection of ingredients of plants, including that." Bella randomly pointed to a jar with weird moving yellow tentacles inside. She frowned, then backed away. "Yeah...no. Never mind. Anyways. Aster! I'm happy to see you here! What are you going to use the gillyweed for?"
"At the end of the dark tunnel is a light, so reach forward and feel the sun" - Bella Light