ohitsme | [borgin and burkes]

Another dreary, rainy London day - a perfect day to haunt Knockturn Alley in search of something interesting, in Eddie's opinion. It's his hope that perhaps the foul weather will keep most other shoppers out of the way. Not that Knockturn Alley's particular shops ever attract much in the way of crowds, thankfully. They just attract a particular kind of witch and wizard... and if you aren't lucky enough to be pure of blood, like one Eddie Nygma, they can be a problem to deal with. Better avoid the lot of them, really. And as luck has it, the alley's basically deserted when he arrives. It's a stone's throw to Borgin and Burke's.

Mr. Borgin is quite the pureblood fan... but he is also a fan of money, and Eddie's got enough of that to make the man overlook his perceived disadvantages. It's enough that he feels perfectly comfortable strolling right into the shop as if he's some kind of preferred clientele. Preferred, unlikely. One of the more memorable, probably, but not many wizards run around in green bowler hats and matching suits... or tote a small octopus on their shoulder. Most wizards are also idiots.

The first thing he notices is the counter is not actually manned by Mr. Borgin and all his unpleasantness, but a redheaded woman. Hopefully she's as entertaining to haggle with as Borgin is. He grins brightly at her and tips his bowler hat. "Good day, miss."

Edited 2013-08-13 06:40 (UTC)

Oh hey, a customer. Caroline straightens up as he comes striding in. This guy looks... more flamboyant than the average customer, but he's not the most ridiculously dressed wizard she's ever seen. (That dubious honor will probably forever go to Dumbledore and his assortment of appalling robes.)

"Good morning, sir, welcome to Borgin and Burkes! How can I help you?" She smiles her best customer service smile. She only glances at the octopus once. She's curious as to how it's breathing out of the water, but that's not actually important right now.

"Oh," Eddie smiles in a completely unapologetic but faux-apologetic sort of way, ambling over to the counter to lean on it. "I'm not entirely certain as of yet, I'm afraid... Perhaps I'll know it when I see it."

The little octopus knows the place well enough, apparently because it just flops off his shoulder and squelches about on the counter. It's more mobile than any octopus out of water has any right to be, but the bubble of water encasing its head likely has something to do with that.

"Artistotle, rude," Eddie scolds, but it just waves its little tentacles about and changes from a mottled green to a very agreeable sort of blue-ring patterned off-white. At least there's nothing particularly dangerous for the little bastard to get into.

Oh, a browser. Yeah, all right. Caroline doesn't think this one's likely to try and steal anything, but that doesn't mean she won't keep an eye on him. ...Or he could stroll up and lean on the counter. Hello.

And then she's immediately distracted by the little octopus splorting around on the counter. "Well hello there." Forgetting about the man entirely for a moment, Caroline reaches down behind the counter and grabs a spare quill. She offers it to the octopus, curious to see what he'll make of it.

Eddie just laughs and goes to start looking over the nearest set of shelves. He pauses only to give the little octopus the most grave of Looks. "Behave, Aristotle."

Aristotle doesn't seemed to bothered by that. He just curiously squirms around on the counter until the nice lady offers him a quill. He looks at it as quizzically as a cephalopod possibly can before gingerly curling a few tentacles about it and taking it. It waves it about like it has quite an impressive trophy before... tapping the countertop with the writing end of it. Okay.

Caroline idly wonders if this Aristotle is named after the one from the Addams Family, but she's not about to ask. That's silly, and wouldn't do her any favors if she asks and it's not the case. She watches with amused interest as the little octopus accepts the quill and waves it around. And then taps it, almost like he wants to write something. Caroline knows how living with magical folk tends to make even completely mundane animals smarter, but that's a little past what she's willing to believe. ...At least not before a longer period of observation.

She ducks back behind the counter again and rummages around in the bag she usually brings with her. She comes back up with an empty potions vial and a couple little pieces of her lunch. Fortunately, she brought fish today. Caroline slowly and deliberately puts the bits of fish into the vial in full view of the little octopus. Then she stoppers it and holds it out to him. "How about it?"

Eddie is looking through every little thing with one eye and keeping the other firmly on his octopus. It's rather rare, and he after all the effort he's spent keeping it entertained and teaching it, he's rather attached to the thing.

Aristotle wiggles about rather enthusiastically as soon as it sees food. That the food is securely put in a vial doesn't put much of a damper on the tiny thing's mood. It squelches over to pluck the vial from Caroline's hand, dragging the quill along behind it. The sealed container gets a bit of a close examination before it wanders over as close to where Eddie is as it can without going off the counter. It waves the vial about in his general direction.

"No," He says without looking, and the little octopus taps the counter insistently with the vial in response. "You can open it yourself."

Aristotle gets a little more frantic with the tapping for a moment before he finally gives up and pries the stopper out of it himself. Getting the fish out will take a little bit more effort, but he's working on that.

Caroline giggles a little at the tiny octopus trying to get help with the vial. But sure enough, he finally gives in and opens it himself. After that, getting the food out shouldn't be too difficult. Hmm... "Oh!"

She ducks back down yet again and pulls out a bail jar. She puts a couple more pieces of fish in it and closes the jar securely. Then she stands back up and sets the jar on the counter. "How about this one?" This one might actually be tricky, she's not sure.

Aristotle is about as pleased looking as an octopus can when he finally gets the fish out. The second, larger container gets a longer look before he approaches it. He squishes up against it to inspect the fish before carefully clamoring on top of it, still holding both the quill and the little vial.

Tapping it with the vial does nothing, so he discards it. Attempting to poke the quill through the edge of the lid just gets the quill stuck. Eventually he flops over and pulls the jar on its side with a clatter.

Eddie's head snaps up at the noise. "Behave," He repeats in the sort of firm parental warning voice one might use with a small child. Aristotle doesn't seem to pay him much mind. Instead, he's busy figuring out the locking mechanism on the bail jar. It only takes a moment before he springs the lid open and climbs inside to eat the fish.

And then sort of... roll the jar back and forth while he's in it.

From somewhere behind a shelf, Eddie sighs.

Caroline continues to be completely enchanted by the octopus. This is the most excitement she's had in days. She can't think of anything trickier to offer the little guy, at least not anything she has on hand. So instead, she pulls out her wand and taps the glass jar, changing it from clear glass into... oh, let's go with Ravenclaw colors, in stripes like the ties. Why not. It's a clever little thing anyway.

And he does it, no problem. So Caroline tries Gryffindor polka dots. And then Hufflepuff chevrons. And then a Slytherin houndstooth. All passed with flying colors. Or squelching colors. Something. She keeps trying combinations of colors and patterns, now either at least three colors or two patterns. Or both. Fascinating.

Caroline's actually starting to run out of ideas. Under other circumstances, that might annoy her, but now? She's delighted, honestly.

Aristotle is probably the most entertained he's been in at least the past day. He doesn't get bored often, since his owner gets bored frequently. It's of no coincidence he happily changes his colors right along with the jar. He reaches out and pulls the spare quill in with him as far as he can, while he's at it. It's pretty obvious he thinks that's his.

After an apparently fruitless search through the shelves, Eddie finally returns to the counter. He gives the edge of a jar a slight tap with his wand. It goes clear, patterned with flashing green question marks the little octopus promptly mimics, still rocking itself back and forth in the jar.

"I think you might be able to help me after all, actually." Eddie leans against the counter, prodding idly at one of the tentacles sticking out of the jar. It prods back. "I've been trying to track down a particular book for some time now, and I think you might happen to have it but I've no luck finding it in the shelves. It's an antique copy of the Malleus Maleficarum that carries a... ah, rather potent curse."

Oh, the irony in bewitching a book about killing witches.

Caroline is a little disappointed she actually has to go back to paying attention now, but she doesn't let it show. She snorts loudly at the book he's looking for. "Yeah, I know the one. Just a second."

She pops out from behind the counter and makes a beeline for the correct shelf. This one got filed a little strangely, given that... well, not too many of the usual crowd would be likely to want it. She carefully levitates it off the shelf and walks it back to the counter. It's probably safe for her to touch it, but better safe than sorry. She sets it on the counter as far from the little octopus as she can manage. "Here we are. It's... probably safe to touch, but I don't know that I'd risk it."

Well duh, Caroline, obviously she hadn't risked it. She levitated it over. Ugh.

Eddie waits patiently at the counter. Aristotle hasn't left the jar yet, but it doesn't seem to bother the little octopus any. He just mutely rocks the glass container back and forth, holding his quill.

"Perfect. And yes, I figured precautions were probably wise." To say the least. It is allegedly cursed specifically for muggles, but it's not worth the risk. Especially given it is entirely possible the person who bewitched it might have seen those of mixed muggle blood to be more or less worth the same thing, really. He produces a leather wrapping along with the required coin. To say he is precise and careful when looking the book over is an understatement. After a moment, he nods. "It'll be a lovely addition to my collection."

Aristotle just waves the quill around from inside the jar.

"You should give that back to her, you know. It's polite," He chides the octopus. Any attempt at moving his hand near the quill only end in him getting poked with the quill nib, however. He eventually gives up and frowns at the little invertebrate. "Well, fine. You can keep it, then."

He absentmindedly rubs his hand where he'd been prodded, turning back to Caroline. "Looks like I'll be... ah, purchasing the quill as well."

Caroline nods in approval at the intended method of carrying. That's more or less how it was brought in, actually. And then she has to laugh at the little octopus jabbing at his owner with the quill.

"Actually, the quill's a spare one of mine. I'd say he won it fair and square." She taps lightly on the jar. "I do need that back, though, if you don't mind.... Aristotle, right?" She actually looks down and smiles at the octopus as she adds the last part.

Caroline's practically swimming in spare quills, really. Letting the little octopus have one for brightening her day is the least she can do.

"Oh, good. Thank you. He's a wee bit," Eddie sighs in a slightly long suffering manner, eyeing the octopus which is clutching the quill a little protectively. "Possessive."

Aristotle is unfortunately rather comfy in the jar, so it just waves a few tentacles up at Caroline's face in lieu of getting out of the container. Actually removing him from the jar takes a little coaxing on Eddie's part but the little octopus relents relative quickly and exits back to its owner's hands. "It seemed a fitting name."

He starts carefully folding the book up in the leather bindings, and that'd probably go better if Aristotle were not attempting to climb up on his bowler hat from his shoulder. It just ends with it getting pulled askew and knocking Eddie's glasses sideways. "Oh, goddamnit, Aristotle. Why."

"I hear Aristotle is traditionally a good name for an octopus," Caroline says agreeably. It's close enough to the truth, and if they're not talking about the same thing she can play it off as a weird wives' tale she heard somewhere. She hears a lot of those.

When he set the money down, he didn't set off the selection of charms she casts every time she has counter duty. So it's genuine currency, and almost certainly not cursed. A quick glance at the neat stack tells her it's the correct number of coins. Good.

And then the little octopus is distracting her once again as he knocks his owner's hat and glasses askew. Caroline can't help giggling, but she does have the good grace to look sheepish about it.

"If it makes you feel any better, at least you've probably never had him wake you up in the middle of the night making Dementor death rattle noises in your ear." She shakes her head ruefully. "Roäc likes to test my patience."

"That is why I picked it, yes." Not that most wizarding folk would know about muggle television shows, alas. Eddie's fairly certain they're missing out.

He sighs and goes about prying Aristotle from his hat, which he mostly succeeds at. The little octopus takes Eddie's glasses with him, however. "That sounds pleasant. A raven, I'm guessing?" He looks Aristotle right in his octopus eyes and frowns before straightening his hat. "This little troublemaker likes to smack me in the face with his tentacles. He disapproves of naps, apparently."

Aristotle waves the glasses along with the quill for a moment, then seems to consider the object more thoroughly in his typical octopus-esque way - by manhandling them with his tentacles. After a little bit he manages to fold the glasses properly and begins waving them cheerfully at Eddie again.

"Yes, thank you." Eddie puts the glasses in his pocket instead of returning them to his face. Aristotle goes in the opposite shoulder, hopefully with less diversions this time.

"You don't look much like a Pugsley, though," Caroline can't help but say. Oh well. If she's just offended him, at least he's already paid for his book.

"Oh yes, one of several to many, depending on when you ask. Can't get rid of them, really." That might be too much information. Oops. Caroline giggles at the glasses theft. "A couple of the regular flock used to steal my glasses, 'til I outsmarted them and fixed my vision." Well, mostly. She still benefits from reading glasses now and then, but she doesn't need them for every day.

"Fortunately." Eddie flashes a brief grin. She understood the reference! That's a rare thing, especially in this part of town. "I suppose I could have named him Thing but it just didn't fit."

Aristotle isn't just content to stay on Eddie's shoulder now, no. He clumsily climbs down into Edddie's pocket... right next to the glasses. It'd look less strange if he didn't now have a black feather quill and several long tentacles hanging out of said pocket, but he supposes that's par for the course for him. "Brilliant birds, complete and total pains in the ass. More than I had thought, apparently." He arches a brow but not at anything in particular she'd said. "Raven feather quills?"

"No, Aristotle was definitely the better choice." She grins back.

"That's an accurate summary, yeah." Caroline snorts. "And yeah, I'm just about swimming in them. I think that one might actually be from Roäc, now that I think about it. Most of my quills are from his feathers or Adrestia's, and that's way too small a quill for one of hers." That's not exactly a small quill Aristotle's waving around, either.

"I'm glad someone agrees." It's true, really. No one ever gets his pop culture references and he finds it somewhat distressing. A redhead with lots of Ravens, though? Something's somewhat familiar about this, something he can't quite place.

"Adrestia must be rather... impressive," He comments, looking down at the quill Aristotle is toying with. It's about then things slide into place. "This might be a little odd, but did you happen to be in Ravenclaw?"

Caroline smiles. "She is, yeah." But then... uh oh. Here we go. "Uh, yeah. I was. Why do you ask?" As if she doesn't know.

If he knows enough to ask that, he must have been at Hogwarts at the same time. He might even look a little familiar, now that she thinks about it.

"Well, the ravens. And you do look somewhat familiar." Eddie taps his chin with a finger thoughtfully. He knows he knows her name. He just... can't quite place it, at the moment. "L something. ...Leekfield? No, that's not it."

"Lichfield," Caroline supplies helpfully, staring over the man's shoulder at nothing in particular. She's not really in an eye contact mood suddenly.

The one bright spot at the moment is that she knows this guy didn't make her school days a living hell. She remembered those people by name and face. That he seems vaguely familiar but not recognizable means he probably left her alone.

Edited 2013-08-14 04:29 (UTC)

"I was close." Eddie lets out a little nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck absentmindedly. "I was a couple years ahead of you. I don't think we ever really spoke."

He vaguely remembers her being something of a target. For the most part, he'd been too busy trying to salvage his academic reputation to notice the younger kids in his House. It's likely he'd said something snarky to her at some point, but that was how he interacted. Still is, really.

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