Title: The Princess, the Dork, and the Journal
Rating: T (for language)
Length: 2545 words
Synopsis: Mephisto goes with Talia to the bookstore and discover's a little earthly magic! (A companion piece for Talia will come later)
The golden bell jingled with the opening of the chestnut door to the bookshop as a golden eyed brunette quickly entered, making no attempt to hold it open for the man behind her. He let out a muffled yelp as it rammed his nose, stumbling back from the door frame.
"Ow!" The purple haired teen quickly threw the door open, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Wincing, he stalked after the girl. He was quick to turn heads; what kind of person runs around in a cape in the middle of the summer? The brunette was well known around town, being one of the original members of the pop group Lolirock. Not only that, but the girl was intimidatingly stern in person with her walk swift and graceful, her head held high above the rest. Her scowl was bitter and her eyes sharp as she rounded the corner, and her eyebrow quirked as he called after her. It was hard to believe any one would chase after a woman so livid.
"I swear to Ephedia, you're just as bad as Prax… Almost…" The boy grumbled, making his way around the corner to where the brunette was shifting through the shelves. "Come on, Talia, I said I was sorry!"
He tensed at her fixed glare, swallowing hard before letting out a nervous chuckle, "It was only an accident!"
"You ruined it." Talia frowned, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, well, it was just a book." The boy shrugged, "Paper and plastic with no pictures. You can get a new one, right?"
"It was a birthday gift from Auriana and Iris!" She threw up her hands in annoyance, "Do you have any idea what was in there?! Songs that took hours to write! Spells in process of creation! Battle plans! Letters to my sister I'll never get to send!" She turned away in a huff, crossing her arms unable to meet his gaze.
"Isn't she on another planet though?" He barely managed to dodge an encyclopedia.
"I swear, Mephisto, you're such a child!" Talia growled, stomping off to another part of the book shop. Mephisto frowned, pushing back his bangs in aggravation. She was the one stomping off to have a "tantie". He hadn't meant to ruin her book; technically she tossed it in! Granted, he snuck up on her and naturally she went on the defense, losing her book to the depths of the water below. And of course she blamed him.
He huffed, wandering over to an empty armchair, dropping into it lazily. Resting his cheek on his fist, he glared at the Xerin princess as she browsed the section. An employee quickly came to accommodate her, but she rejected their help. He rolled his eyes, and upon catching him she agreed to follow the employee to the proper area.
Mephisto groaned, rubbing at his still tender nose. What was he even doing there? He should be back at the cave with Lev and Praxina being evil and coming up with plans to stop the princesses; why was he lounging in a bookstore instead of disappointing Gramorr? Oh yeah, the cave was getting more than crowded. With the addition of Carissa and Lyna, or as he liked to call them, the Purple She-Beast and the Green Tea Lady, Gramorr had insisted on Lev joining their mission, and was even considering bringing Zeinos and Deinos into the picture as a permanent squad of evil. It was not only getting crowded, neither his sister nor himself could stand Lev and his overly casual and cocky attitude. Zeinos and Deinos usually kept to each other, but damn, was the whole "we're-twins-who-finish-each-other's-sentences" shtick getting old and annoying really fast. That and they were more inclined to listen to Lev over Prax and himself. Like, they were there first, so they should lead.
Prax usually just stayed outdoors or meditated; sometimes she even went into town in disguise just to get away, but she never truly interacted with people or did anything. She had picked out a music store she liked and knew he would get bored in, so he usually had to find his own entertainment. They were opposites; despite its weak people and overly friendly atmosphere, Earth had a lot of pretty cool gadgets and tasty food, not to mention parties and a lot of pretty things like jewelry, cakes, and…Talia.
That was usually his main reason for being in town. The mysterious and skilled bluenette princess that could probably eat him alive if she was in the mood had sparked his curiosity, as she could be a lot more fun than she let on. They had run into each other when he was in search of an escape from tweedledum, tweedledee, and the white haired thief. She had been reading in the park when he had teleported there; on an outing with the girls who had opted to take a walk and see the plant life to please their raven haired newbie. After convincing her he wasn't there to fight, and irritating her due to his own curiosity, they managed to find common ground. She could sense ghost, and he thought it was creepy but cool, and admitted he wasn't too good with the idea of ghosts and hauntings, which she teased him for. She had asked why he was there, and he admitted having so many people around, especially people like the twins and Lev made him uncomfortable. Lev he could live with, but the twins, ugh, grinded his gears like nobody's business. She joked about understanding the feeling and laughed, and he told her she was less scary when she laughed, contrary to his originally beliefs. She asked about how he was able to do the spells in the Ancient Ephedian Spellbook so well, and they fell into a steady rhythm of conversation before he had to leave at the others returned.
Smiling, she had offered him a recommendation of solitude - the library in town. He wasn't a big reader, but they had some books with flying men with lasers and cool capes that were full will loads of colorful pictures that he enjoyed. He had read a good amount of The Astounding ArachNerd when she had shown up, and they took to spending that time in hiding from the war that plagued their lives. They bonded, connected, and he began to crush on her, hard. All because of…books. Fuck.
He stood quickly, sighing as thought about the irony. He opted to do his own search of the store, but couldn't manage to locate his princess. He frowned, rubbing at the back of his head. He snapped his fingers, teleporting near the section he saw the employee lead her to. Turning the corner, he grinned as he quickly recognized the cascade of silky, chocolate locks, but opted for a quick retreat when he realized she was in mid conversation with another guy. Glaring, he eyed the boy, and recognized him immediately as the guy she had dated earlier in the summer that Prax had captured in crystal. It was so early on he struggled to pinpoint his name. Ken? Kris? Kameron? Who cares? He was talking to Talia, and he didn't like it.
They spoke quietly and he knew she would have his head if he used his magic to spy on her. Well, he had other ways of getting her away from his new enemy. Grinning, he opted for a quick change, a more sophisticated, an intimidating style. Taking a trick out of Praxina's book, his "minion-of-an-alien-sorcerer" look was replaced by dark charcoal jeans, a white collared shirt, black vest, and green tie with black shoes. He added a leather jacket, enjoying the darkness as it swallowed him. He looked dangerous and dear God, he would never admit to his sister he liked her fashion sense. Never. Tugging at his tie he admired himself in the reflection of the window. But, damn, did he look good. Pausing, he pushed back his bangs and gave a devilish smile. Rounding the corner, he shoved his hands in his pockets, "Talia? Did you find what you were looking for?"
She jerked her head to him, ready to silence him, but whatever she planned to say was replaced with a flustered look of embarrassment and confusion. She eyed him for a minute before sighing and smiling, "Yeah, I did. You find anything?"
"I found you." Mephisto smirked, coming up to meet her, his walk confident, and his tone borderline flirtatiously casual, "And your friend…"
"Kyle." The blue eyed boy smiled and extended his hand, which Mephisto shook without hesitation. He smiled, not because he was being friendly (gross), but because of the look of utter shock on Talia's face.
"Have we met?" Kyle raised an eyebrow, frowning a bit.
"No!" Talia stated quickly, earning looks of amusement and confusion from the boys, causing her to blush.
"Huh, well it was nice meeting you, Kylie-", Mephisto winced as Talia elbows him in the side, "Kyle."
"Yeah, you too. See you around, Talia." Kyle smiled, heading out the shop with his purchase.
Talia whirled on him with lightning speed, "Really, Mephisto? MAGIC?"
"Okay, but I look good though, right?" He turned his back to her and did his sassiest pose. She rolled her eyes before going to pay for her items, but he could see the laughter tugging on the corner of her lips. Crossing his arms, he watched her, but she pointed to the door. Pouting, he headed out the store. There was no pleasing this woman. He played the good guy in front of her and looked badass doing it. And he hadn't meant to call the dude 'Kylie'…originally…he waited for her outside by a water fountain out front where she soon arrived and took a seat. He stood his ground, turning his head away from her when she looked to him.
"What is it now?" Talia frowned, crossing her legs at her ankles. He paused and stared at her, forgetting his agitation. He admired the way the sun danced across her dark skin, and the cute way her high ponytail teased the water as its tips dangled above it. Her creamy white top stopped mid arm and at her waist was a tan belt. Her light blue capris were cuffed at the calf and her flats matched the color of her top. She was the source of heroism and happiness for him, at least, one that didn't involve blowing shit up and listening to the screams of said people being near the explosion. The buttons on the soft fabric glistened in the sun's rays and a soft rosy smile played on her lips as she hummed to herself, soaking in the sun, "I figured you'd be glad to be out of there."
"It was nice to see Kyle again, though I liked him better encased in crystal." He frowned, crossing his arms.
"Mephisto…" She gaped at him, "Are you jealous?!"
"Of course not! Can't a villain dislike a guy for just being a good guy?"
She bit her lip to keep from laughing, "You're such a child."
He spun around pointing at her, "Well you're a-a-"
"Amused."
"Yes! Exactly that! No. Wait. NO."
"Here." She held out a bag to him as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand.
He paused as she held out a bag to him, "What's that?"
"Open it and find out." She smiled, raising an eyebrow.
"Will it kill me?"
"Yes, Mephisto! The bookstore is where you get weapons of mass murder and destruction. Take the damn bag or I take it back."
Cautiously, he took the bag and pulled out a hard, large, colorful book. The cover had ArachNerd fighting the dark and sinister Mantis. It looked normal enough, despite its weight and thickness, and he opened the book, flinching as the three dimensional imaged came alive.
"HOLY WHOA! Talia! How-what? Look at this! What is this?" He gaped, opening and closing the book repeatedly, "Is this a new spell? Some kind of trick?"
She laughed openly, as he stood flipping through the book, "It's called a pop up book. Strictly human and enthralling for earth children and mischievous alien dorks in capes," her eyes wandered lower, "…or denim." Talia smirked as he flipped the page, expressions of amazement on his face. She grinned as laughter erupted from his flipping to the next page.
"This is so cool! Do they have more of these?" He stood closing the book, and she nodded.
"Really! Let's raid the store for more. Buy. I meant buy." He grinned.
"Fine. But just one. Oh, and one more thing."
"Hm?" He turned his head to look down at her, blushing as he noticed the distance between them had come to a drastic close, "W-what?"
A wicked smile curled upon her features, and his pulse quickened as her hand trailed to the center of his chest.
"Payback's a bitch." He gasped as she shoved him backwards, his arms flailing as he fell into the fountain. She leaned over the edge, a half lidded smile of accomplishment meeting his startled expression. He gave her an annoyed glare before he laughed heartily, startling her.
"Haha, and you think I'm childish!" He splashed at her, and she quickly shielded herself, "Hey, Talia, are these coins in the fountain? Shiny!" He glanced down at the pennies and nickels, along with the array of quarters, picking up a shimmering coin.
"Yeah, people toss them in and make a wish. Kind of unconventional considering they're not magic; an earthly superstition to be more accurate." Talia crouched down, resting her arms on the edge and he mimicked her position, causing a reddening hue to cloud her cheeks..
"Huh, we should try it! Throw something in!" He grinned boyishly, pushing his soaked bangs from his face.
"I already threw you in so make a wish." Talia turned her head away from him and he stood, looking at the fountain.
"Hm..I wish…that Talia will always be childish when she's with me."
She looked to him, her bright eyes glowing in surprise, a soft glow to her cheeks as she met his gaze.
"What?" Mephisto cocked his head to the side, watching her as she stood.
"Nothing." She began to walk towards the bookstore, and he quickly stuffed the soaked book into his bag, pushing back his loose bangs.
"Talia! Hey! Wait up!" Jumping out, he ran after her, quickly catching up to her. He raised an eyebrow as she covered her face, "Tali-?"
The warmth of her fingers grasping his own felt electric on his cool, damp skin, and when he eyed the brunette, she turned to hide her face from him. Smiling confidently, he adjusted his hand to a more comfortable position, amusement flowing off of him, "Ya know, maybe the coins aren't magic, maybe the water is the magical part."
She laughed, "Yeah, right."
"It could happen. Hey, Talia?"
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry about your book. I'll buy you a new one…" He smiled, opening the shop door and holding it open.
"With what money?" She giggled as she passed him.
"The money I took from the fountain, duh!" He grinned, closing the door behind them.
"MEPHISTO!"