[PRP] The Parts That I Remember (Ashton/Theo)

[Smerdle]

"How'd you like to get stuffed?"

Theo positively grinned up at the front of Mount Me, the skunk he was addressing paying more attention to biting at its own flank than his words at the moment. He had allowed it in the car for the first time today, and his charity had only served to drive home the point that if the thing was going to be hanging around, it would need to be brushed. It looked up at him when it was done scratching, but it clearly didn't understand the implication.

"Sorry," he said anyway. "That was morbid."

He was all suspicious bitchface again as he entered, peering around the shop with narrow-eyed interest. The skunk sat just inside the door, upright and curious, but not curious enough to explore the land of the dead things.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Standing at the register inside, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, was a peppy-looking blonde in flannel and black; his hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and his nails were matte crimson to match. When Ashton caught sight of Theo, of course, he waved. "H-hi there, um...welcome to Mount Me! Can I help you?" His smile was awkward-but-genuine, and there was a bird skull pinned onto the front of his shirt like some sort of corsage.

"Are you, um, looking for anything...? Or is this your first time here...?"

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"First time. I'm trying to get out more, and I've never seen a place like this in my life." He approached the register, smiling ever so slightly at the skull and the person wearing it. "Do you do a lot of pets, or... I didn't think anyone was big into hunting here."

Theo glanced back at the skunk near the door. It looked at him expectantly. He was irritated to find that he was feeling things. Gross wiggly things about it dying someday and leaving him alone. Joking about stuffing it was one thing, but when it stared at him like that...

He made a little circle in the air at his side and the creature obediently turned to face the wall. Well, that was creepy.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Th-there's, um -" Ashton flushed pink and looked away for a second - "there's a fair amount of hunters, actually, who like their work to be done locally...a-and we also do smaller things on the fly, like small birds and rodents. I actually do jewelry -" he pointed a finger over at a shelf, where there was a series of earrings and necklaces with elegantly-carved bones involved - "and Mr. Scholz, the owner, is over in Germany, I think? But he does a lot of the larger mounts. A-and there's also stuff like rugs -- and of course, um, we do pets too! It's surprisingly popular...maybe they're being enchanted?"

He raised an eyebrow at the skunk. "Is he trained...? Just, you know, to make sure he won't make us have to, um, close down the shop."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

The tiny lift of his lips remained, though his eyes narrowed just as faintly at the blushing and stuttering. A kindred hermity spirit? Afraid of guys in hats? Just shy? Theo couldn't decide. Maybe he... nah.

Theo shook his head loosely at the question about the skunk. "He's cool. I think I can talk him down if he looks like he's going to start something." He stepped closer to the indicated shelf, admiring the pieces there. "This is really nice stuff. I'm not a big jewelry guy, but I know a couple of people who would love some of these. I'll put you guys on my Christmas shopping list." Though how he'd ship delicate little bones across the country was beyond him. The package would be more bubble wrap than gift.

Without his permission, Theo's thoughts went back to the skunk. "He really is a he though? Can you tell from over here?"

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Actually," Ashton mumbled, "I just guessed, really...the only real way to tell without getting close is, um, behavioral analysis? But I'm not going to just, um, watch your skunk or something, that'd be kind of weird." He worried his bottom lip between his teeth, delicate.

"I do the jewelry on commission, too...a lot of the stuff I'm really proud of I haven't had a chance to make more of, since I'm not really a fan of hunting down animals for it. And if I use an undamaged skeleton, it means it can't be mounted, and squirrels are weirdly popular -- I'm so sorry, I'm rambling, i-ignore me..."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Oh." Theo looked kind of sheepish himself, embarrassed by the relative excitement he'd displayed over something as inconsequential as a skunk's sex. "No, don't worry about it. I agree, weird. Forget I brought it up."

"I don't mind rambling either," he added. "When other people talk, it means I don't have to." He demonstrated by remaining silent for a good ten seconds after that while he thought, a staccato tapping on the counter the only sound he made. He didn't seem uncomfortable in the slightest as he did so, looking over the shop in half a world of his own.

"Do you have to have any special schooling for this?" he eventually asked. "I'm Theodore, by the way."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"It's not weird," Ashton insisted, but all the same he looked relieved when Theo changed the topic. "There's, um, specialized schools for some of it...I've only really been doing this for less than a year, so the more complicated mounts go to more experienced people -- anything bigger than a squirrel has too much, um, propensity to go wrong." He bit his lip, looking down.
"So yes, but not if you're only doing very minor mounts..."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Weird. Not weird. This guy was... shifty. That was weird, if nothing else. Maybe it came from touching dead things all the time.

"Guess you can't be stuffed today after all," he told the skunk. It remained facing the wall, but it let out a short, buzzy bark that sounded like a toy race car. Theo hesitated to ask any more about taxidermy after that, conscious of the fact that he might be coming across a bit creepy, but he was at a loss as to what to talk about other than taxidermy in a taxidermy shop. Taxidermy.

"You mentioned enchanting animals before?" Still taxidermy, and now magic too. "Do you do that here?"

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"O-oh no," Ashton stammered, "um -- I don't actually really know too much about magic, so..." He sighed, wringing his hands. "I'm sure someone in town probably can, but I'm not magical myself, so I've never really been able to learn any of that. It's really just a guess."

He glanced at the skunk with an affectionate little smile, clearly charmed.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Oh. I didn't mean to imply..."

He had asked outright. No implication at all. Awkward.

"Not that it would be bad if you did do magic stuff."

Said the man with the skunk. Theo sighed.

"I'm not planning on having it done myself though, so it's fine. I was just curious." He even found it odd. One too many enchanted pets and your house would turn into a kiddie ride at Disneyland.

Noting the smile in the skunk's general direction, Theo added, "He doesn't have a name yet. Any suggestions?"

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I think magic's interesting, but I'm a medical student, so it's, um." He blushed. Looked away. "Not really relevant to my field of study, even though I live here, of all places. But I don't mind, I'd -- rather not have to go through it myself. O-oh, um - names -" Ashton's ears were aggressively pink, with the deer-in-headlights look on his face of someone who had never been asked for input and would have been perfectly happy not being asked.

"I've, um. Always been a fan of giving animals human names, actually. B-but you really shouldn't leave something like a name up to some guy in a taxidermy shop."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Theo chuckled. "I guess not. Still, human names. I'll keep that in mind." Anything he came up with on his own was likely to be borderline unbearable. He sighed, bestowing a smile on Ashton that was equal parts forced and friendly, as if he didn't know how to be either.

"I should probably take my skunk and go. I thought it might be fun to show it how the other half lives... or doesn't... but it... he... doesn't seem nearly as wary as I'd be in a human museum. Maybe 'cause I'm calm? I don't know. Either way, I won't keep you." He really didn't want to make someone go nuclear from nerves today.

"Do you guys have a card? For the store?" Had he been anyone else, he would have just taken a picture of the place, but Theo and cell phones didn't mix.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Um --" Ashton was fumbling, desperate, trying to find words that weren't right; saying just what Theo wanted to hear would be cruel, after all. "Y-yes, um. Of course we have cards!" It took him a few seconds of poking around in a drawer, brows furrowed, before he stood right back up and handed Theo exactly what he'd asked for.

"i know, um, the girl who works here on Tuesdays is really interested in animal health -- if you have any questions about that, um...obviously we mostly deal with. You know. Things that don't have health." God, he was so stupid, why was he so stupid. "He's really well-behaved, though...so I'd suggest trying to find someone who knows magic? That's probably part of it..."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

He took the card with a nod. "Will do." He considered asking his name, just as a nice gesture, but it was clear anxiety levels were rising and he should just get the hell out.

"Thanks for this. It was nice meeting you," Theo said as he backed toward his skunk.

Daekie