I don't want somebody to love me... [open]

[cosmetological]

Who: Thomas and YOU!
What: a simple meal as Thomas and Margaery get used to one another
When: Post-exploration trip
Where:Carmichael's Deli, City of Tomorrow
Notes & Warnings: None so far! It's just song lyrics.

What's Thomas doing in the City of Tomorrow?

Looking over possible storefronts to purchase for what he's hoping will become Coiffure Cup's second location. That's why he's his laptop and a few printed out listings that he's checking off, circling, or X'ing out as he does his research on the various locations using some of the demographic information he was able to find.

Because the thing of it is, he really likes this place. Like... really likes it. Especially since he can come here without being unavailable to his brother much. But he doesn't have to deal with his sister's bullshit, or the small amount of bullshit that he actually minds from Harry, and hey, he might even be able to find an utterly out of this world Christmas present for the cranky beansprout.

But the thing of it is, if he's going to spend a decent amount of time here, he needs a local cashflow source and a local location to get his fix. Which means... a salon. And given how well his salon fusion has worked back in Chicago, he sees no problem with making a franchise of it.

Of course, all of the things around him make sense for someone working on this goal except, perhaps, for the black and white california king who's coiled up around his shoulders. Her name happens to be Margaery, you see, and she's something of a souvenir from his time on 'Demon' Island. For the moment, she's resting and soaking in his warmth happily enough, but there may be a few whispers in his ear as she notices a tiny detail or otherwise passes judgement on the various locations that he's looking through.

All in all, a rather relaxing afternoon, all things considered. But do feel free to interrupt...

Comments

[story_and_teller]

'Feel free to interrupt'? Really Narration, you should know better. And in one of Loki's favourite places, too. Though he's not going to interrupt right away, aside from a friendly wave to the snake; for now, he's going to finish his BLT (Sam Vimes style, thank-you-very-much), and enjoy the view.

See how long he can resist commenting on the real estate. It's an exercise in self-control.

[cosmetological]

Roughly ten seconds before Loki would crack (did he time it? is it just narrative causality?), Thomas, not looking up, shifts his papers to look over another sheet and says:

"I start charging by the minute in ten, nine, eight..."

To be fair, there's a decent number of people who'd pay.

[story_and_teller]

"You're not that pretty," Loki scoffs. Pauses a moment, before admitting: "Almost that pretty. But 'almost' only counts for horseshoes, hand grenades, and AOE spells."

Narrative causality is certainly a part of it, at the very least, and Loki would say as much as asked. He likes narrative causality.

[cosmetological]

"More than that pretty," he says without ego, and he's not exactly wrong. "And can I help you with anything or are you just visiting booths to play 'Hot or Not'?"

[story_and_teller]

"Some of Column A, some of Column B? Actually I was admiring your friend," he nods to the snake.

[cosmetological]

Margaery looked over at Thomas before coiling once around Thomas's neck and lifting her head to look back at Loki. The snake looked... unimpressed.

"Can I help you?"

[story_and_teller]

"Doubtful, but you never know. Unless you're the one writing the story," he adds. "But that's not you, and that's not me; not in any grand, over-arching sense, anyway."

[cosmetological]

"You never know," was all she said to that before resting back on Thomas's shoulder. He glances at her like 'what is that melodramatic nonsense, missy?' before turning back to Loki.

"She's a very pretty snake. Not terribly surprising."

[story_and_teller]

Oh, leave off; let her be as melodramatic as she likes with the God of Stories. He likes it.

Right now, anyway. Not that the venue is terrible suited to melodrama, but snakes are.

"She is," Loki agrees, sipping the chocolate malt that appeared near his elbow.

[cosmetological]

Thomas considers how he wants to handle the rest of this encounter before-

"Was there anything else you wanted to know? I mean... if you've got some input on where you think a hair place ought to go, fire away, but otherwise, I've got a lot to parse through here."

[story_and_teller]

"Well since you ask..." You don't mind if Loki helps himself to the seat across from you, do you? Long fingers with (gnawed on) black lacquered nails make a 'gimme' motion toward the printouts.

"Who and/or what is your target audience?" he asks.

[cosmetological]

...he'd be more worried about it if they weren't printouts from the local library around here. He's got the data saved on his laptop, after all. He hands them over easily enough.

"The kind of people who'd be interested in a cut and some coffee. In other words, just about anyone."

He wobbles his hand.

"I do tend towards being a little more high end, to be fair. But not unreasonable."

[story_and_teller]

"Hmm. Not this one then," he says, striking off one of the listings. (Where did that pen come from? Surely he didn't have it a moment ago.) "Traffic volume? Walk-ins too, or by appointment only?"

He crosses off a few more as he goes through them; none of them are narratively appropriate, and he should know.

[capwolf]

Steve has noticed Thomas and has closed half the distance between them before he notices the snake. At that point he takes a step back , cocks his head and continues forward with a less direct route, and much more cautious speed.

"...Is there a reason you're wearing a snake?"

[cosmetological]

He glances over at Margaery before the snake looks up at Steve and... well, they certainly can't cock an eyebrow, but the headtilt accomplishes something roughly the same.

Thomas gestures to her absently.

"Fuzzy, this is Margaery. Margaery, this is Fuzzy." A beat before- "Steve."

Margaery looked at Thomas for a moment before turning her attention on Steve again. Her head lifted.

"Hello, Fuzzy."

"She's my daemon, apparently," Thomas explained. "Which, uh... I'll explain if you'll sit and have some fries."

[capwolf]

He eyed Margaery for a moment or two, then looked back to Thomas. "How about you explain and then I'll decide if I'm going to sit down and share food?"

He's not trying to be an asshole but wolf and snake weren't a great mix, even if he recognized that the snake wasn't harmful to him. Some deep seated caution, and then layer in the fact that it talked to him, and, actually, where he grew up.

[cosmetological]

You're getting an eyeroll, tall blond and handsome. And the snake is now ignoring you and nuzzling up against the back of Thomas's ear, hiding in his hair.

"A daemon isn't actually an animal. According to the folks where she came from, she's a 'physical manifestation of my inner self'. My soul, for lack of a better word." He glances over at Steve. "I took a trip to one of the islands around this place to help out a bunch of mapmakers and when the option of keeping her with me came up, it seemed more prudent for me to keep her around."

He leans in to push the chair out.

"Now siddown and I'll treat dinner."

[capwolf]

"The physical manifestation of your inner-self is a snake." Okay, Thomas. Sure. That - actually makes sense come to think of it. Also he's a wolf.

He pulls the chair out further, drops into it and: "I can buy my own dinner, though."

[cosmetological]

"Got something against snakes, Fuzzy?"

He tilts his head, curious for the answer, before starting to clear off some of the paperwork.

"And seriously, let me. Since I'm planning on asking your opinion on some of these."

[capwolf]

"Maybe it's just a convenient distraction from you." And confusing, awkward, sex appeal. "What are you working on?"

[cosmetological]

"Picking a location to start up a copy of my business here." He looks up with a smile.

"If I'm going to spend any time here," and he very much intends to, "I need cashflow. And somewhere to get my fix. This solves both problems." Grin. "And provides fabulous hairstyles and excellent coffee to the City at a completely reasonable fee."

[capwolf]

"I don't know if I know enough about the City to help." He'd give it a try, in spite of himself, but: "You're going to use a business here to feed and get money?" A pause and he cocked his head. "Will that work?"

[cosmetological]

"It works back home," he explains honestly. "I get my fingers in their hair, do a quick wash, a brush, some styling. It's intimate but without the deep connection of something... deeper."

[capwolf]

"Don't they notice?" He's curious, interested, and also trying not to be too overly interested because Thomas... Thomas is what Thomas is. He can't help it anymore than Steve can, and he knows it, but he's holding himself to some standards here.

[cosmetological]

He looks up from his screen with a sly smile and shakes his head slowly.

"It just feels good. Which is why it's so dangerous. Which is why I stick to doing hair."