700/Business Hours - Soryuu

Business Hours - Soryuu
Date of Scene:	31 October 2023
Location:	The Book Nook
Synopsis:	A clandestine meeting between unlikely manipulators... And a steep price is set for a precious item.
Cast of Characters:	Pyrite, Kiseru
Tinyplot:	Inner Conflict

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Pyrite has posed:
    The bell above the door in the back of the Book Nook rings merrily as said door opens, and then shuts a few seconds later. A young girl in a black longcoat over a black military uniform with green trim and blue accents strides across the shop floor until she reaches the counter, and then floats upwards a foor or two in order to lean on it. She waits patiently to be serviced.
    She is very good at waiting.

Kiseru has posed:
    The proprietor of the Book Nook makes her way gradually out of the back room. The 'back room' is inbetween the back of the shop and the front of the shop, so perhaps it might be more accurate to call it the 'center room'. But that is only true for those with a euclidean view of space-time. In a gold and orange china dress, with her black hair up in a bun held together with chopsticks, and her fingernails painted glittering gold to match her dress, The Kiseru Lady saunters up to the counter and takes a seat upon her stool.

    "Soryuu-san... Good to see you again." she says, getting out her namesake pipe and preparing to stuff it with rose leaf powder.

Pyrite has posed:
    The young girl tilts her head and smiles very slightly. "Is it?" She drums her fingers on the counter. "Our previous arrangement is now over with. You have been compensated, and you spread the stories of youkai so that they would be strengthened enough to appear." She tilts her head the other direction, and drums her fingers again. "Now about the other matter...?"

Kiseru has posed:
    Kiseru takes the time to light her pipe, puff at it a few times and then draw in a smokey breath, before letting out the rose-scented cloud. Then she looks the girl in the eye. "I require compensation first. It's my policy. Nothing is free." She tap-taps her kiseru on an ash tray. "Besides which, it is an item being sought for by parties other than yourself. I have no guarantee that yours will be the highest offer." She smiles her own mysterious smile back.

Pyrite has posed:
    The girl turns so that she can put both hands down flat on the counter, and leans forwards a bit. "I am not negotiating on this point. I will have it. Say what you wish for it, but one way or another, it will be mine." She is still smiling, but her bright red eyes are dialating and the counter beneath her palms is beginning to ice over. "I can be very persuasive when I want something. It does not have to be you, but you are in a position to benefit from dealing with me. So..."
    She raises her hands off the counter, and the ice stops spreading. "...Perhaps you would like to consider me as a customer ahead of your others?"

Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady watches impassively as the ghost starts icing over her counter. She waits until Soryuu backs off, then raps her pipe upon the frozen surface. Everything immediately reverts to how it was previously. She is still smiling mysteriously, and there is no hostility in her voice, but she says, "If that was intended to be intimidation, I suggest you try another tack as a negotiating method. I am not affected, and doubly-so in my own domain."

    The pipe returns to her lips as she draws in more smoke, and then breathes it out. The rose-scented cloud is aimed to engulf Soryuu if she doesn't back away. "My price for it is steep. You might not like it."

Pyrite has posed:
    The young girl drifts backwards well before the rose smoke reaches her. She knows what kinds of folklore there is concerning herbalism as a defense against the supernatural. At a safe distance, she puts her arms behind her back, still levitating there in the air, feet pointed down, and her smile hasn't changed, but her eyes are pinpoints of red light now.
    "I do not respond well to threats, Shopkeeper." she states in a too-high, too-playful voice for the murderous desire barely contained in her tone. She takes several seconds to regain control of herself, closing her eyes, and opening them again to normal pupils and irises. Or normal for her, at least.
    "I will decide my feelings about it when I hear what it is, not before. What is the price for the item?"

Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady smiles right back at the little monster without speaking until she is asked what her price is. She holds up her smart phone, screen towards her customer, and her thumbnail taps the 'play' button on a video.

    It's a video on the ClockApp of a young man saying he needs a miracle, and that he is looking for something called the Phantom Silver Crystal.

    She lets it play through to the end, and then puts her phone down.

Pyrite has posed:
    Soryuu's smile grows more brittle as her eyes narrow. After watching the video through, she meets Kiseru's eyes. "You were correct," she says quietly. "The price is steep, and I do not like it." She then tilts her head to the side. "If I choose to pay your price, I will seek you out. It may be mine this very night. With the Hyakki Yagyou aborted, it will be more difficult... But with That, there is still a chance."
    The ghost looks up from talking to herself. "Do not sell the item to anyone else before me. Otherwise, you shall regret it."

Kiseru has posed:
    The black-haired store owner tilts her head, arches an eyebrow, and gives an unamused look towards the ghost as her smile slips away. "Really?" she says sarcastically and skeptically. "You are lucky that I have not charged you for the disruption to my business when you caused that scene during the book signing. As a matter of fact, I believe you have trampled upon my good will sufficiently that I will take compensation for that before you leave."

Pyrite has posed:
    The ghost curses quietly as she carefully levitates closer to the counter, an eye out for any more rose smoke, and holds out a Hitodama. She'll drop it into Kiseru's hand or whatever container is available, while scowling. "Remember. No one else. I will have the item. Me." Then she turns into a whirlwind of ice and snow, the door whipping open, and her blowing out with all the fury of a Winter's storm.

Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady makes no reply to the assertions of ownership, just accepting the floating youkai flame in hand. She continues to look very unimpressed by the tantrum, though with a polite smile on her lips. When the ghost is finally gone, she stops smiling. "You could have closed the door behind you." she says to no one in particular. The door shuts on its own with a backhanded gesture from the shop owner. She looks at the youkai frantically trying to escape the grip she has on it, knocks out the current contents of her pipe into an ashtray, and just stuffs the bobbing spirit into her pipe before setting it on fire.

    The youkai soul burns in its prison, and the kiseru feeds its wielder a rush of something she has not had in a very long time. The Kiseru Lady holds the smoke in her lungs for as long as she can, savoring the feeling, before breathing it out in a sparkling, ghost-fire cloud. Then, her smile returns. But it is a vicious, predatory smile, beneath her cold, inhuman eyes.

    "I do not respond well to threats either, you faker."