Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Petshop of Horrors characters. Marina, Tobias and the other 'angel', and Basil are all my characters and (c) me. :D

Angels For Sale

Walking down my street, I noticed something rather odd. Two boys sat, unmoving, on a lawn with signs in front of them declaring 'For Sale!' in bright red. I made my way over to the lawn, curiosity mounting. People for sale? A feminine, yet intimidating man stood behind them, arms crossed while a blonde boy not more than 9 yelled beside him, "Angels for sale!"

Angels for sale? This was a bit odder than I'd thought. People were crowding around quickly, looks of suspicion and morbid fascination shot at the two supposed angels. I pushed my way past them, gazing down to a surprising sight. The angels were so...different. Most people looked at only one of them, the other being utterly ignored.

The people, of course, were smiling at the, no pun intended, angelic one. He had smooth, shiny golden locks with ethereal blue eyes dancing with something that I couldn't recognize. His smile showed no teeth, giving him a serene look while he sat, being scrutinized by the crowd. He wore a crisp button-up shirt along with a pair of pressed blue pants; his clothes were the only thing that made him seem like a normal boy. He looked perfect, and by the look on his face, he knew that.

And the other one? I fely myself drawn to him without the disgust people around me felt. They were scoffing, "The blonde is the only angel here, the other must be a demon!"

How my heart broke for the brunette; people accusing him of being nothing more than a demon just because of his appearance. His hair was shaggy, a generic shade of brown; it honestly looked like the unkept hair of the cute skateboarders that lived near me. His eyes were something along the lines of a ruddy, reddish-brown that held some sort of despair that I couldn't begin to understand. His face showed no sign of a smile, nor a frown as he sat crosslegged by the blonde. The brunette angel's complexion was as pale as that of a Victorian girl who had to pinch her cheeks to rouse color into them, and his lithe body was swallowed by the baggy black zip-up hoodie he wore. His pants were faded black denim, obviously worn by the looks of them. Returning my gaze to his tired face, I noticed healed scratches on his otherwise flawless cheeks. I felt a foolish, flighty urge to reach out and stroke the angry looking scars.

"Wait," the feminine man spoke for the first time, reddened lips parting from their bemused smile. He patted the young boy beside him who immediately stopped talking to the crowd. Or at least, what appeared to be talking; although I hadn't once seen his mouth open.

The man held up a slender hand right when a woman began to shout a rather high offer, his peculiar gaze shifting as he pointed to...me. "I have my owner."

Surprised, I replied, "Me?" with a rather idiotic expression on my face.

"Yes, you choose which one you want and then the highest bidder will get the other."

Murmurs of disappointment came from the crowd. They didn't want that pitiful excuse of an angel. I shook my head. How sad. They'd get what they wanted though, I supposed. "I want him," I said, my voice uncertain in the large crowd as I pointed to the brunette.

"Hm?" he looked up, curiosity spreading throughout that sad face.

"Aha," the man's mismatched eyes softened. The purple one grew kind, the gold one shining with mischief. "Who shall take this one then?" he gestured to the blonde angel who looked mightily annoyed now.

"Me!" "Me!" The shouts erupted from the frenzied crowd. Finally he selected the highest bidder. The beautiful angel simply stood, allowing a blue leash to be tied onto his wrist. The handle was given to the excited woman as she handed over a hastily written check. I sighed, wondering if anyone actually thought these two might not be angels, but illegal immigrants or something.

The brunette stood as well, holding out his hand as a red leash was tied to his wrist. The man who I had first assumed a gorgeous, androgynous sort of person when I had met him at his 'quaint' shop many months ago in Chinatown, handed the leash to me.

"How much, D?" I asked.

"Your intelligence, Marina, is enough," he replied. I blinked at him, then looked at the angel I now..er..owned. His eyes were darker, a sparkling purple shade as a smile spread across his face. A sheepish chuckle and then he spoke, "I'm Tobias."

"Marina," I replied shyly, although it wasn't necessary since most everyone knew my name at D's shop.I felt a blush heat up my cheeks so I quickly looked to the side where the blonde angel and his new owner walked away. Watching their retreating backs, I noticed the angel suddenly glance over his shoulder and flash me a rather disturbing grin. Then I noticed the fangs I'd somehow known he'd been hiding.

"D, you gave her a demon," Tobias said with a tsking sort of tone.

"She sees an angel, though. Luckily your owner has eyes that see the truth." Count D glanced at me with a smile and a wink.

I laughed. "Yes, brother, but I nearly doubted you. I see it was that blonde who had been pestering poor Basil at night?" I paused to give D a haughty look. "I hadn't expected you to make me choose, though!"

Tobias and D both laughed at this. "Humans are so sheltered," Tobias commented. "Trained to believe what's on the outside is also what is inside."

"It was a difficult choice when I tried to actually /think/ about it," I admitted. "But I went with my instincts."

"It's because you see their souls," Count D smiled at me, and then the realization of just what exactly my capabilities were set in. This was going to be a most interesting adventure.

Fin!

Note: This is sort of a continuation thing. Marina is Count D's sister (Or half-sister technically, since they only share the same father) in a story my friend Irhus was writing for a while. The two were introduced through Marina's best friend, Tish, and it was rather awkward because Marina had developed a mild crush on him the first day only to find out a week later from Tish that they were, er, related. Basil is Marina's cat, and Tobias isn't technically an angel but a spirit.

This is basically a side story to my friend's story. :D Vignette, or drabble, or whatever they're called. Mini-fic. Yeaaaah. Like my whole pre-pre-quel. xD Anyways. Wow, I haven't posted anything in ages! I've only been writing original fiction these days, really. But JEEZ, I sucked way back when, didn't I? Teehee. I can't believe how bad I used to be at writing.