Victor pinched his nose after smelling the pungent, somewhat rotten smell. What the hell man? I am 100% sure it’s Xavier. Charlie you old coot. Better teach your students to shower at least once in a while.
Eyeing the pale skinned youth in front of him, he really could not understand how one smelt so foul. From the outside the youth looked like some sort of neat freak. Pale, flawless skin combined with a neat buzz haircut gave one an impression of an orderly person. Not…this whatever it was.
‘’Our deepest apologies, I did not think that it would be that bad Victor. Xavier still has some issues in blending into society so I hope you forgive us. Xavier! Go get the rest of the stuff from outside and bring them near the staircase.’’
‘’Are you sure we don’t need to help him? Those boxes look kinda heavy?’’
‘’Hohoho, there is no need to worry about him. His good points are good strength and stamina so moving the boxes is of no issue. Shall we sit down and discuss a few things? Truth be told I was looking for some inspiration from you.’’ With a light laugh, Charlie dragged Victor into the living room to sit down.
While shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head, Victor followed Charlie obediently to the couches. ‘’I don’t know if I can be of use to you, but I may be able to provide you with some bits of knowledge if it is related to the thing you asked when we first met.’’
Victor observed Charlie from behind and saw small shivers of excitement. Bullseye.
Sitting comfortably down on the couch, Victor placed his elbows against his knees and entered his serious conversation mode. ‘’So…Have you made any progress on your book?’’
‘’Yes, indeed. Even a little progress is still progress. I am currently considering whether or not it is possible to reanimate dead tissue back to what it was. Hypothetically speaking of course.’’
‘’From the point of modern medical science, I am not too versed on this but the short answer is no.’’
Charlie hung his head down in dejection until he heard Victor continue.
‘’It might not be possible right now, but who knows in the future? After all, we all develop our skills and trade all the time. I am not a god after all, so who is to say someone can’t find out a way to reanimate dead tissue.’’ Taking a deep breath, Victor continued. ‘’This might be off the tangent, but from the point of entertainment...’’
Victor went on to ramble on for an half an hour about fantasy/sci-fi movies and video game concepts, leaving Charlie with a serious and pondering expression. Only after Victor heard the slow and deep voice of Xavier telling that he was done unloading the boxes did he realize that he started to go to the deep end of his previous world’s fantasy stories.
‘’Sorry about that Charlie, I was a bit too excited there.’’
‘’Mhmm?’’ Charlie broke out of his reverie and his eyes focused back to normal in a flash.
‘’Ah no no no. There was just too much inspiration that I could not help but let my old mind wander and ponder, thank you for that, old friend.’’ With an enlightened expression, Charlie gave a small bow with his hat in hand and waved towards Xavier.
‘’Once again, thank you for the hospitality but I believe it is time for us to depart. Just let me know when you are in need of new articles and I will try my best to provide.’’
Victor rose from the couch and started to walk leisurely towards the cash registry. ‘’Don’t be in such a hurry to escape man, I still gotta pay you for the items this time.’’
‘’Don’t be in such a hurry always… You young folks just rush headfirst and think later.I trust that you will pay me later when it’s sold. Now that I think about it, your advice and help has always been more valuable than that pile of feces so I’d say we are even. Good day sir.’’ Feigning to be semi angry, Charlie waved his hand in dismissal and sternly walked out of the store, slamming the door shut, leaving the bronze bell chiming aggressively with dumbfounded Victor behind decisively.
Victor still had his mouth open and hand hovering in order to stop Charlie, but after a while when the store was quiet he just powerlessly dropped his arm, sighed in frustration and shook his head. It would seem that the old coot was not intending to take any money this time. I know that Charlie is a good man, but there are principles when doing business. Wait a second? He doesn’t have any kids of his own…Nope, nopenopenope I am not available for adoption at this age no matter how much he tries to bribe me.
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Awkwardly scratching his head, he took a glance at the pile of boxes with Pepi curiously sniffing around them. So much cra…I mean merchandise this time. Nice, I can just do some tidying and small fixes if needed.
Walking next to the boxes, Victor took a handful of what seemed to be a bit sloppily handmade voodoo-dolls and dreamcatchers, inspecting them for defects.
‘’Look Pepi. These small dolls and items are the bread and butter of our store. People usually tend to make smaller purchases and if they are happy with the quality, they will come back for more.’’ Patiently explaining with a smile on his face, Victor bragged his knowledge on sales to the puppy.
Rolling her eyes, Pepi thought in her head. I think I saw similar techniques when I was caged in the slums? Pretty sure they called it getting a junkie on the hook? Realizing this, Pepi showed a serious face and woofed loudly in agreement.
I hope the master can sell ALL the items in the box, so that we can order takeout food again. In the meanwhile I should just focus on these bones that the old man brought…Yup!
Losing interest in the boxes,Pepi turned her attention into the pristine bones that Mr.Cooper gave her and quietly chewed on it happily.
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Outside the antique store, Charlie had just gotten into his van. Trembling with confusion and excitement that he had not felt for a long time, he slapped his driver on the shoulder.
‘’Dang it rascal, Xavier is already in the back of the van. Why are we not moving? I am worried my inspiration will fade if we do not get there in time.’’
The driver, a pale woman in her 30’s seemed out of her wits and just speechlessly touched her abdomen area, totally ignoring Charlie.
‘’Fudge! I knew something went wrong with your education Lila. Scoot aside...Wait a second?’’ With a disappointed voice at first, Charlie’s voice gradually dimmed as he noticed something. Charlie put his bald head near Lila’s abdomen area and moved her hands.
‘’X A V I E R. What did you do? I am not angry, I am just disappointed.’’ With his mustache trembling, Charlie spelled each letter of Xavier in a cold manner.
From behind the van, the unusually deep voice echoed clearly. ‘’Best bones – for best puppy.’’
Detecting some form of pride from Xaviers voice, Charlie facepalmed and sighed deeply.
‘’I know that I said rib bones, but we have spares in the rear compartment. Why did you have to take Lily’s?’’
‘’Lily - best. Therefore bones best.’’ Xavier’s flattering voice came from the rear and Charlie just decided to roll with it.
‘’Fine, just remember to not take bones from your siblings anymore from now on. Lily. You will get a few bones back in the apartment, just drive us there please.’’ With an exacerbated voice, Charlie gave up trying to reason with ‘’the rascals’’.
Hearing the promise of new bones, Lily snapped out of whatever she was in, and with a sweet voice said thank you with a bright smile on her face and tried to hug Charlie, but was blocked.
‘’Your hands are dirty from rubbing all over the wound, jeez I still have to teach you how to behave better…’’
Hearing Charlie's admonishment, Lily slumped on the driver's seat like a deflated balloon and just started to drive the van back home obediently.
On the way back home, Charlie kept looking outside absentmindedly, trying to remember everything Victor told him.
I see. Current science can’t make my dream come true, but… Victor, Victor, Victor. Raising the dead with viruses, parasitic organisms, necromancy and other means. What A terrifying thought that it was for entertainment purposes but the ideas were ingenious.
Charlie looked blankly at the scenery changing rapidly while fiddling with his lone ring on his finger. Someday. I will make it happen someday.