"Elia, maybe you shouldn't be tugging on that man's beard so viciously."
Glaring at me, she says, "This hairy fart is trying to rip me off."
"LET GO OF ME YOU CRAZY HUMAN!"
Walking up between them, Orb places his hand over Elia's, and she jerks it backwards and says, "I don't want to catch rabies."
Orb's hair turns red before settling back to normal, and he turns to the man and says, "What is she trying to buy from you?"
The man who stands in a large toy shop moves backwards and, after grabbing a few items from behind the desk, he presents a couple of balls in his hands. "These special creations were made from a series of cursed plants that my family has selectively bred for generations. They can bounce around different surfaces and are fun to play with."
With his hair turning grey and then gold, Orb quickly turns his head to Elia with a smug smile plastered on his face.
With her eyes open, she glares at him and says, "Is there something wrong with my choices?"
Looking away, Orb says, "Nothing like that. Just didn't know you were into that kind of thing."
Orb quickly moves around her body, with the most annoying expression he can manifest and says, "Seems like the little lady is a rather big lover of toys. Do you want me to buy you a doll as well? Maybe I should buy them a dress to go along."
A joyful smile that doesn't suit the evilness of her face, she says, "Oh, how wonderful that would be. You see, I really want a collar for my stinky dog who has been getting out of line, maybe some treats for him as well."
Stopping, Orb says, "I would have you know I bathe regularly."
"No amount of washing can remove the stank from your personality. No, go hump a fence, and let me get back to business."
She grabs the grown man's beard and slams him to the desk in front of his shop. She says, "Now you'll sell this to me."
"I already told you, it's 75 lupas."
"You sold it to the kid who came before me for 10!"
"I didn't, and besides, no one was around during my last sale."
Twirling her finger through her hair, she says, "I was camping out on the rooftops waiting for you to make a sale, so I wouldn't be tricked. Do you really think because I am a foreigner, I would allow myself to be tricked?"
His beard detract from his face, and then forms into a group of little men who start to dance with their arms cross, breaking him free of Elia's hold. Crossing his arms and letting his giant muscles flex, he says, "SO WHAT! THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY, I CAN SET THE PRICES OF MY OWN WORK TO WHATEVER I WANT!"
Elia moves back as the sheer audacity of the man's sentence, and Orb, with his hands against his puffed-up cheeks, says, "A CRITICAL BLOW, THE SHOPKEEPER USES HIS RIGHTS TO SMASH THE LITTLE STUCK-UP PSEUDO VILLAINESS RIGHT INTO THE GROUND!"
Constantly moving around her with golden hair, Orb says, "Will she recover? Or will she fall to the ground in tears of imminent defeat? I don't know which, but considering she doesn't have many options, I think she might have to bend over and accept his prices!"
Elia swipes her fist at Orb, but just like every other attack sent to him by a woman today, he dodges and says, "Too slo-." Before Orb's words can leave his mouth, Elia heel smashes into his jaw, shaking his brain and sending him to the floor.
In a dazed state, Orb mumbles, "How did she hit me?"
Elia, looking down at him, smiles. Then, with a refreshed smile, she looks at the man and says, "Are you doing this to me because I am a human?"
"If I was or wasn't, it doesn't matter. This is my store, so pay your 150 lupas right now, or you can fuck off."
Putting her hands together, she tilts her head cutly and, with puppy dog eyes, she says, "Really? Even to someone like me?"
Unbothered by her transition, he yawns and says, "Can you hurry up? I need to get this place restocked for the kids who will be passing through here after the parade."
Slamming her hands against his desk, she says, "You heartless bastard! When a cute girl asks you for something, you hand it over."
"Only one woman is cute, my wife now goes away."
"Don't you know this is a holy day. We are both children of the Messiah; he created humanity, planted the first great tree, and protected the essence of his love from the other races. Don't you remember his words? 'For you all are the accumulation of the world's love, so never live a life without the accumulation and distribution of love. For that is a sin against mine and your very existences'."
"I am not religious."
"YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED; DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT COUNTRY IT IS!"
"Yes, I do, and the people love for the Mesaic or whatever, it's only one part of the culture my people have built up for the last 2000 years. Now pay up or leave."
Glaring at him, she says, "Shadows that crept in from below, lighting that flies through the sky, a scale that shares all of the pain and suffering of millions onto one. Here me now? If my demands aren't met, I assure you one day those hellish attacks shall fall on you as well!"
He sighs and says, "I hope I have a son, instead of a daughter."
"Henrietta Sepp."
"How do you know my wife's name?"
"Did you know that women tend to listen to other women. Especially if they have some level of beauty, and are nice to them, if you combine that with some level of authority, like being friends with a national hero like Avram Bogdan, it is quite easy to weasel your way into friend groups, especially ones like her knitting club. I am sure since she is anathamsized, she will be nice to me. Then I will whisper sweet words into her ears each and every day. You're so beautiful, you're so smart, I love you so much, we should be friends, your husband really is lazy, your husband really is selfish, there is nothing wrong with remarriage, you're still so youthful, I am sure you'll find another good man. Again, and again, and again until it creeps into her soul, and takes hold, ending your lovely marriage!"
Sweating, he says, "You wouldn't?"
Smiling, Elia says, "You'd be surprised at the lengths I would go to for revenge. Now, give me what I want or pay the consequences!"
The man starts to shake, and the little beard humans all start crying in sadness over the stress inflicted on their master. Elia relishes the suffering of the man in front of her, and from behind her, Orb says, "It seems the little princess has thoroughly beaten you down, though we should bring this all to an end now."
Orb places an amulet on the table and says, "It's from me."
The man quickly takes the amulet, opens a book filled with clay, and then hands Orb a bag of bouncy balls, saying, "Thank you, young sir."
Moving his head to Elia, he says, "WHERE CLOSED NOW!"
He quickly runs into the back of his store, and Elia says, "What is that?"
"An amulet from Dragoste can be used to buy anything within the country today. You get it stamped, and then the shopkeeper can use it to request payment from the government later. Dragoste said it is used primarily when diplomatic ambassadors come to spend time in Blestemate. Cool, isn't it?"
Orb peers his head towards Elia, whose head hangs low out of his sight, and says, "Is anything wrong?"
Quickly, she lifts her head up, and with a flushed face and adorable eyes, she stares at Orb and says, "I don't know why, but you're looking completely scrumptious in that outfit."
His hair turns grey, and he says, "What?"
Holding her hair to shyly cover her face, she says, "Please don't make me say it again, it is so embarrassing!"
Orb's hair shifts between every colour within his repertoire, finally landing on pink. Seeing this, Elia moves closer and hugs him, then says, "If you don't mind, would you go on a date with me?"
Orb's mouth hangs open as his lips quiver and his body shakes, and at the same time, Elia moves her hands up his body whilst saying, "There is so much muscle in your chest, you must train really hard?"
With his face pointing upwards, he says, "I try my best."
"How admirable." Moving closer and tightening her hug, she says, "I could just stay huddled up to this for the rest of my life."
"Umm, ah, hey, I wan-, my god."
As she hugs him, a fiendish smile appears on her face, and as he hands touch something hard in his breast pocket, she pulls it out and lunges backwards, then says, "Thank you for being gullible."
"Gullible?"
"Of course, I was just after the amulet. You didn't really think I meant all of that, did you? It must be so fun to be so thick-headed."
Turning her head, she says, "No, what will I buy with thi-."
In Elia's hand lies a handkerchief with a hard object inside it, and opening it, she sees a pile of ice. "Huh?"
With Rosewood hair, Orb says, "You must think I am an idiot."
"But I would have felt the cold?"
"I activated my legacy on the handkerchief, which stops the cold of the ice from being felt until you pull it out of my front pocket."
As she looks at the ice, a crooked smile appears on her face, and turning her head, she says, "You know Orb."
"I don't want to hear it."
Sighing, she says, "Ok." With the entitlement of a child who has never once faced any form of resistance in its advances towards its desires, she says, "Hand it over, doggy, and I will get you a new collar."
"No!"
"Hand it over."
"No."
"I said hand it ov-,"
"No, you bitch."
As the words from Orb's mouth cross her ears, and an evil aura emanates from her, pushing Orb back slightly, and he says, "You can't just threaten people with fear. You need to act nicely."
She takes multiple stomps closer to him, which are mimicked by the multiple steps he takes backwards, and says, "I did ask nicely, now hand it over."
"I won't do that. Besides, why do you want this?"
With eyes filled with no remorse, she says, "To buy things, obviously."
"Didn't Ivana, Gheorghe, and Wadim already promise to sponsor you today?"
"They ran out of money, so I sent them all packing with my shopping already."
"I think that means you have enough."
Fluttering her hair with her hand, she says, "A queen never has enough."
"You're a real piece of work."
"It's called being one of a kind. Now hand it over." Elia quickly tries to snap it from one of Orb's hands, but he quickly throws it over to the next, and says, "Too slow," with golden hair and a cheerful smile.
Elia quickly moves to try and grab it out of his hands whilst saying, "Don't you know how rude it is for a man to not get a woman what she deserves."
"Sorry, but seeing you struggle like this is far too adorable for me to stop. It feels good to be on top for once."
Orb trips Elia and then moves behind her and puts his arm around her waist, catching her. Pulling her up to him, he puts his head on her shoulders, and says, "Besides, don't you know men love adorable things just like you."
She shirk her head to the side, and says, "When we return to Nifhilheim, I will show you who is on top."
Touching her nose, he says, "That's future Orb's problems, not mine."
"What do I have to get this?"
Orb turns her around in his arms to face himself, and dangling the amulet in front of her face, he says, "Just take it from me, though I might run off."
"That doesn't seem fair, since I can't jump on walls."
"I would have you know I am a gentleman, and if a woman asks me on a date, I will stand no more than 4 cm away from her until I return her to her home."
She grits her teeth and says, "I accept."
"No, no, no. Only when I am asked."
She glares at Orb, and he stares down with golden hair. Then, with a sigh, she says, "Let's go see the Parade Orb," as she tries to reach for the amulet.
Dodging, Orb says, "I accept."