2990/Grand Opening! Legendary Objects

Grand Opening! Legendary Objects
Date of Scene:	26 March 2026
Location:	Shin Hoshi Shotengai
Synopsis:	Alejandro is proprietor of a place that purports to purvey phantasmagorical phylacteries-- Veronica, Amy, Miho, and Lana go shopping at the grand opening of Legendary Objects!
Cast of Characters:	Mai Elcamino, Amanda Faust, Veronica Perenna, Miho Inada, Lana Voselle Miata

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Mai Elcamino has posed:
The shotengai is full of people, as usual; the weather outside it is lovely; the people inside it are bustling, living their lives...

And checking out the new store that's opening today! The sign out front says 'Legendary Objects: purveyors of the finest Stuff and Things' and a smaller sign beneath it says 'All sales as-is and final' and another dangles off that one saying 'Autographs 1600 yen'.

There are people perusing the items already: the shop is set up so that along the walls are sections divided by price, and then a super discount blind box area and the boxes are unlabeled and all different sizes. There are bins of steampunky looking gadgets, knickknacks, tchotchkes, sci-fi lookin' things, hand-carved little things, musical little things-- very pretty things that are unidentifiable, interestingly ugly things.

Behind the counter is a really extraordinarily handsome Mexican man in his early 20s with his dark purple hair pulled back in a ponytail. There are corner security mirrors and he keeps looking at them... there's a sign on the checkout counter in front of him that says, 'Please ask, I'm here to help!'

He's in the middle of explaining something to a lady at the counter even now, in his mellifluous voice with its resonant tones. "When you wind it, it ticks," he says like it's a vast secret.

The lady laughs. "I guess I'll take it, who doesn't need something that ticks?" she asks, her eyes not leaving the young man as she checks him out (as he checks her out).

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Shops like this are a little more interesting when you know magic is real.

    Amy looks at the sign, grinning. "They are absolutely playing it up. But maybe that's meant as a message to magic-users? And, if the shop is opening today, then it means this little shop, in some sense, wasn't here yesterday!" Amy comments to Miho.

    And if it isn't magic, well, she can have fun imagining and maybe buy some memento as thanks for the entertainment, and maybe something for Miho!

    Still grinning, she opens the door and looks around. She has a sense for what sort of things would be certain kinds of magic, and she lets it guide her. Mostly this means investigating all the wearable items, anything that can be consumed (which is extra suspicious if present in a nonmagical store because, wouldn't it go bad?), anything that looks like a magic book, and anything else that draws her eye.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
A new shop full of trinkets and neat little treasures? That sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon. There may be a chance one of the Sarek relics ended up here, but all the unknowns the shop promises are already enough to hook Veronica in, and get her to explore everything the store has to offer.

So, soon after people come in, a rather sparkly-eyed brunette teenager wearing a baby blue skirt, a pale yellow tank top with lunar phases, white-blue sneakers, a lavender cat hoodie, and a lax choker with a dangling triangular prism that catches the light and releases it back in a rainbow.

As soon as she comes in, she makes an immediate beeline for the hand-carved objects, occasionally feeling the roughness, occasionally the smoothness of the material, and humming quietly as she looks them all around.

She then zips to the counter where the guy is stationed and lifts up a duckling being pet by a man that looks like he is meant to be made of stone, despite the wooden material.

As soon as Alejandro isn't being kept busy by another client, she immediately goes to talk to him. "Hello. Can I ask a few questions? Do you know who carved these statuettes? Is there a story on them?"

She is so taken by the trinkets she completely misses Amy.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho nods her head to Amy a bit as she follows the girl in. Amy wanted to check out the shop, and Miho needed to get away from the Shed. She's been spending waaaay too much time there lately. And her nerves are starting to show a little. Finding out about 3 major players teaming up has her on edge, and making her think she needs to get better.

    The girl gives Amy a cheek kiss as she looks around for a second. There's a pause....Ding...Ding...Ding...BING! Her cute boy radar detects something over by the counter. Miho pauses, and steps back a little bit to look at the clerk. She moves a few strands of hair behind her ear as she blushes a little bit. "Take a peek at the clerk. Nothing magical here...Right...", she says. The girl giggles a little bit as she snuggles into Amy a little.

    "He's /almost/ as cute as you.", Miho says as she holds Amy's hand. The girl bites her lip a little bit as she watches him a little. A part of her is still a bit boi crazy, but she's dating Amy. Either way, she's looking more for some lucky neko statues. Maybe a cute paw waver one, to help her sleep better at night.

Mai Elcamino has posed:
The things immediately in front of Amy, in the 1600 yen wearables bin, that look most interesting? A pair of broken antique rose-colored glasses, a calculator watch from the 80s, a bunch of costume jewelry some of which looks very beautiful and some of which looks VERY cursed, a necklace-sized box labeled 'Imperial Hashi' which absolutely does not belong in there, and tbh feel free to make anything up as long as it doesn't work or doesn't work as advertised or breaks when you use it.

Honestly there's no more dark energy clinging to any of it than there would be in your average pawn shop. It looks like the estate sale of a magpie got sorted by an accountant.

The clerk, whose nametag says AH-RE-HO very patiently on it, smiles warmly at Veronica. "Yeah, you can ask," he says in that voice like honey. His purple eyes are dark and mesmerizingly mysterious. "But like so yeah that's the story of the ugly duckling who was so ugly that petting it turned people to stone. Do you think the ponytail works for me, or should I try like... a man-bun."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles at the cheek kiss and leans against Miho briefly as she starts to look through the wearables bin. She likes this affectionare closeness, and the snuggle a moment later when Miho's calls her attention to the employee and she looks over. "Hmm?" She saw him when she entered the store, of course, but maybe there's something interesting about him she missed?

> Nothing magical here... right...
    She's looking for signs of magic! Maybe he's wearing something that could be a Device in disguise--

> He's almost as cute as you.
    OH. Amy blushes and can't help smiling at the compliment slipped in. As for that man, she supposes she can see that he would be considered conventionally attractive, but she feels nothing. Still demi. She supposes if she did feel something just from looking at someone, maybe that would be an indication something magic was involved.

    They're dating, but Amy's not concerned; first of all, he's not student-age (she assumes), and second of all, if anything, "You're cute when you get like this." Amy notes quietly, and seeing her like this has brought a smile to Amy's face too!

    Dang, she has a watch like that somewhere, albeit a later model. She wonders why it's considered a curiousity... and some of this jewelry absolutely looks cursed, although honestly any of it could be.

    And a thought occurs to her, that she can satisfy her curiousity and see Miho cutely flustered if she gets his attention over here. Pulling the calculator watch and a cursed-looking piece of jewelry from the bin, she speaks loud enough to hopefully get Alejo's attention, "So what makes these legendary, anyway?"

    The enthusiasm on her face is partly for seeing if this guy leans into the store's bit, and partly for Miho's reaction when he looks over here.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
A story where the ugly duckling being pet turns people to stone? Oh, that's rather sad. She'd never heard of someone interpreting the story that way. "Is there still a happy ending?", Veronica asks as she takes a few steps to put the wooden statuette back, coming back with wind chimes ornated with little gems and flowers.

The spark in her eyes, which has lasted even through the sad tale, freezes in confusion as she is asked about hairstyles. "Not sure you wanna be caught by your boss asking customers that. But... I think the ponytail would look better on you?", she replies.

"So what can you tell me about this? Who made them? Any interesting anecdote", she immediately goes back to the wind chimes, lifting them up so Alejandro can see them. "I think they look really pretty, and the sound is very pure."

When Amy approaches Alejandro, Veronica raises a hand to wave at her and Miho. "Hey, Amy-chan, Miho-chan, you having fun too? Found anything cool?" She bumps the wind chimes together, releasing the crystalline notes in the air. "Isn't it pretty? I could listen to it all day."

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho squeaks loudly at Amy when she calls the clerk. She turns bright bright red. She takes a deep breath before waving to Veronica. "Hey Veronica!", the girl says. She looks over at the guy.

    "Oh, you definitely are a ponytail guy.", Miho says with a deep blush. She bites her lip, and puts her arm around Amy's waist. She squeezes a bit, as she squeaks a little bit. "I mean, I have no problem with you talking like that. Boss or not.", she tells with a deep blush. Miho brushes a few hairs behind her ear again as she licks her lips a little. There's a bit of a squeak from her as she watches the guy. She's definitely checking!

Mai Elcamino has posed:
"Ohhhh, the ponytail's better, yeah, yeah you're right. Haha, I should have trusted my taste," Alejo says with a chuckle, and right there in front of Godoka and everyone, he takes out a mirror from behind the counter and checks himself out, vogueing for the mirror--

"Oh yeahhhh, those!" the clerk brightens and sets the mirror down when Veronica brings over the windchimes. "The sound's so pure because they're made of real unicorn tears frozen into crystal. That's what my boss said when I asked her, and she would know, she's mean enough to make unicorns cry," he says proudly.

Then Alejandro turns over to Amy asking about the legendary part, and he recites, "You can build them in dwarf fortress."

Then he looks uncertain, then he looks certain again. "That's true for everything here." His hand's hovering over the handle of his mirror again. "The watch was definitely pried off of Jimmy Hoffa's arm. The wish.com satanic lullabye jewelry is exactly what it says on the tin."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy waves back to Veronica, still smiling, "Oh hey! I dunno yet, this gentleman is going to tell us! And she smiles wider at Miho turning red. Awwww!

    Alejo's answers, on the other hand, are a little underwhelming, and she looks disappointed. "Okay, at least the unicorn tears one was creative. But I guess if your boss is making up stories to have you memorize for every item in the store, there's too many to have something for each one."

    She puts them back in the bin. "So, I'll cut through the chaff: Is anything here really supposedly magical? If so, what's its story or alleged properties?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Something tells Veronica that Miho is more suited for answering Alejandro, the brunette thinks with a chuckle under her breath, watching her react to Alejandro with a blush. And better Miho than her, if she really doesn't mind being talked to like that by a clerk they don't know.

She clear her throat when the other girl refers to her without a honorific. "Don't forget the honorific, Miho-chan", Veronica reminds her with a small smirk. She doesn't really want people to think they are that close. "People might get the wrong idea", she adds with less of a shine coming from her eyes.

She hums at the tale of wind chimes. "Your boss is certainly strong-headed", the brunette replies noncommittaly, a bit surprised Alejandro is allowed to badmouth her in public. "I think I will take them, one for me and one for my girlfriend."

"There is a lot of magic here, unicorn tears or not", Veronica adds after Amy's question in a singsong tone. She has definitely been having fun looking at all the little things the shop has. She goes back to the sculpted section and comes back with a crowned swan, its wings open. "This is really charming too. The Swan Lake?", she asks Alejandro.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho nods her head a bit. "Sorry. Sorry. Just a little distracted.", she admits to Veronica. The girl watches the clerk a bit more as she snuggles into Amy a bit tightly. Miho giggles a little bit as she tries to side eye him a little bit. Yeah, trying just a little hard. Just a little....

    "And I told you, Amy-chan! The clerk is enchanting.", she giggles a little bit. "Who is your boss? And when will she be in?", the girl asks. Miho takes a deep breath. "I mean, I'd love to say she has really good taste in employees.", she winks a bit. Yeah...Ok, Somebody needs to drag the Miho away! She does give a small sigh. Then there's the traditional Miho squeak as she squeezes Amy a bit closer. She leans over to kiss Amy on the cheek again.

Mai Elcamino has posed:
"Welllll," Alejandro says shiftily, then leans over the counter a little bit and lowers his voice, glancing around to see that no one else is close, "there's stuff that was magic, or was adjacent to magic, but that bin's kept out of the way for anyone who asks about really supposedly magical items."

He says this as he scootches back his chair and bends to athletically slide a bin out from under the counter and lift it up, then set it down on the table a little further into the shop. Still within easy sight of the door, and it's not a very large shop.

There's broken Belkan stuff in there, mixed in with Catholic third class relics and Shinto charms and ammonites and weird-looking ritual type things. There's no dark energy on any of it, possibly disappointingly, just outer space and religion.

But, there is broken Belkan stuff in there.

He nods agreeably to Veronica, then starts ringing her chimes up. "Everything has magic in it. It's up to you to find the magic. I can lie to you, but I can..."

Oh no, he gets completely distracted because someone is appreciating his looks. He preens mid-checkout, brushing back some flyaway hair and tossing his head back to show off the cut of his jaw, flexing just so. "I can show off better."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Veronica. "Wait, there is?" And she giggles again at Miho pointing out the clerk is enchanting.

    At this point, when Alejo says their question means he can show them the real stuff, she's sure she's being taken for a ride. But if it's an entertaining ride, maybe she'll at least buy a cheap item from somewhere in the store in appreciation.

    She does not expect what looks like real magitech, reminding her of the wreckage of Aloisia's ship.

    She can't hide that she recognized it, either. "...I might know someone who'd want some of this." She pulls out her phone to take a picture and text Rashmi, although if told no pictures she'll put the phone away.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Have you read Notes from the Poison Counter?", Veronica whispers to Amy. "The way Miho-chan is looking at the clerk is reminding me of the attention Renshi gets. It's exactly the same dynamic." There is a catlike grin on her face as points out the parallel.

She dives again into the shop and comes back with a brown beaded bracelet with airy incisions. "I will take both this and the swan too", she remarks and turns over the money for all four of her purchases.

"Of course there is. Look!", she shows Amy the little treasures she has gotten for herself and Laisa. "Aren't they charming?"

The unveiling of the basket shifts Veronica's expression, and she looks more intent at analysing just exactly what she has in front of her. She picks up a few of the Belkan objects, her eyes wide and fixed on them in deep concentration. Possibly inactive. She doesn't actually feel any magic.

She should probably bring this along if she can, and show them to someone. Maybe one of the Bureau people like Inspector Camero, or Rashmi. "Are these for sale too?", she asks Alejandro.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho smiles a little bit as she watches the clerk. "How much for the box?", she asks the clerk. She's pretty taken at the moment. The girl takes a deep breath, and lets out a sigh, as she watches the other two. It takes a second for her mind to click over, and see some of the space stuff. She blinks a bit.

    "Maybe we can talk it over some coffee?", she asks. Then Miho blushes a bit deeper. There's another squeak from her, and she leans over to Amy. She snuggles a little Amy a little bit. "I mean...I'll buy the whole box.", she says, blushing hard now. There's a bit of squirming from Miho...

Mai Elcamino has posed:
Alejandro looks pleased with himself, and lifts his mirror to check and make sure he's still pretty before getting back to Veronica's order, and he finishes ringing up the items and wrapping them in paper before putting them in a bag for her. He focuses on Amy when she says she might know someone who wants it, and then he nods to Veronica. "They are for sale. 3000 yen per item, multiply that by thirty for the box," he says to Miho, absolutely chill with everything about the state of the world. He pauses. "But it's only 1600 yen for an autographed photo of me."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Veronica. "I've seen a few episodes..." She blinks, and keeps her voice low. "Yeah, I don't get people going so ga-ga over boys or girls, really... what does it mean that it's the same dynamic?"

    When Miho asks about the price of the entire was-once-actually-magic box her eyes widen... oh right, she's from an old family that's probably rich...

    Then she double-takes. "Wait, you're--" She lowers her voice again. "You're asking him to coffee? Isn't he a little old?" Although, that makes her feel kind of self-conscious and she looks away.

    When he says what he's charging for autographed pictures she rolls her eyes. "Seriously?"

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    The door opens, the door closes, and there is one more occupant in the shop. Two, if you count the hedgehog riding on her shoulder. The little pet is chomping on a piece of lettuce with gusto.

    Lana came here half hoping to find a new book. She most certainly isn't expecting anything actually magical. Especially not anything Belkan that she didn't bring with her. Walking in, she notices a handsome man selling autographs and a crowd of girls around him. Rolling her eyes, she goes to browse the boxes for a moment until she finds an old book with a very ornate cover embedded with glass shaped and colored to look like jewels. Amused, she walks up to the cashier, side eyes the crowd.

    "How much for this?" she asks. Lana isn't paying attention to the box, so she hasn't noticed the contents.

    The hedgehog, however, is.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica nods and brings out 15000 yen for the space tech she has picked up, then takes hold of her curios as well. "Sure thing, here you go", she tells Alejandro without missing a beat. Admittedly, she doesn't get it either. She may find other girls beautiful, but there is really only one who can provoke any actual reaction out of her.

"Well, Miho-chan is acting just like them", she specifies with a shrug, and puts both gifts and space objects in the same bag. Asking Alejandro for coffee is a bit much, but it's not her relationship.

"I gotta go now. See you around, Miho-chan, Amy-chan", Veronica says, heading for the exit at the same time Lana is coming in.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho blinks a little bit. "Its just...Oh! I! Not like that coffee!", she squeaks! Miho turns so red, she matches Amy's henshined armor! The girl picks two Belkin items, and gets her cash out. Miho is blushing horribly before she leans over, and kisses Amy on the lips. "S-sorry! I'll meet you back at school. I got to go somewhere before heading back first.", she says. The girl waits for her change, and then heads out. She waves to Veronica outside the store as she heads off...the opposite direction of the school? Just where is Miho going in secret now?

Mai Elcamino has posed:
Finishing ringing Veronica up without incident, and just an emptyheaded smile at her, the employee calls out after Vero, "Have a nice day!"

Then, "HEDGIE!" squees Alejandro, his eyes actually (not actually) turning into gigantic shiny hearts, his hands clasped under his chin. He abruptly colors, taking a half step back and putting a hand over his chest, drawing himself up and pretending he didn't just squee. "4000 yen," he says cheerfully, settling back into his chair and picking up his mirror again to preeeeeen. Then he looks very alarmed and puts the mirror down and turns back to Lana again, and he says, "But my boss is allergic to adorableness and I don't want her to explode, even if she's mean, and I don't want her to explode your cute, cute hedgie, so maybe you should go before she gets here."

He looks defensive at Amy. "Well I have to sign it twice! In Spanish and in Japanese! That's two 800-yen signatures' worth of work I'm doing."

But then Miho is also leaving, and he rings her up and reels a little at her wild display of reckless social abandon, kind of like, yeah you go. He'll ring Amy up if she has anything she actually wants to get.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy giggles at Miho's fluster, gives a quick peck on the lips back, and hugs her. "See you at school!" She smiles.

    She also smiles at Alejo's joy in seeing a hegdie. D'aww! Lana gets a nod, Amy's seen her around sometimes.

    She'll find some small trinket to get for 450-750 yen, and heads out after the others.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    'Hedgie' is still staring at the Belkan space tech as Vero walks off with some pieces of it. Miho also buys a couple. Alejandro makes a loud squee noise and neither Lana nor her pet seem to react. Amy at least gets a fake-friendly wave because they have met before.

    "Allergic to adorableness? What an odd way to say 'no pets'. Well... as long as I'm getting quick service." She places the book on the table and starts fishing out her wallet. When the hedgehog makes a noise, she looks over at the box of Belkan bits. With a moment of consideration, she takes a few interesting looking pieces from the box and also places them on the counter.

    Money and goods are exchanged, and Lana leaves the store taking her FORBIDDEN CUTE with her.

    They'll be analyzed later at the Fallen Dream Star and likely found to be... interesting, but useless. They're not from the ship that Voselle came in, at least.