[Black Tar's Alchemical] A Meeting of Minds (Raenfae)

[Ciel Galen]

53rd Day of Spring, 512 AV

Black Tar's Alchemical Services was the sort of shop that Ciel did not often go to, mostly because visiting it more than on occasion would be admitting to himself that his interest in the poisonous properties of plants was a little more than idle curiosity. But he did occasionally find his feet wandering to the front of the shop on boring days, or when he could convince himself that a working knowledge of poisons was a fabulous thing for the practice of medicine.

Today was one of those days. The young doctor-in-training stood inside the shop, idly leafing through books. He knew better than to stand there and actually read. Although the shop was often unmanned, it had a fantastic reputation for catching thieves, and Ciel had no idea how much of a book one had to read for it to be considered a theft of knowledge, but he was unwilling to test that. He did flip through the pages idly though, looking for a book to suit his interests. The prices on the texts were exorbitant--fifty gold mizas apiece--but well-written books were so hard to find, and if he found a book he liked, he could leave it and return for it later.

If he was lucky, it wouldn't have been snapped up by someone with deep pockets and fifty mizas to burn.

He realized with a small amount of bitterness that there had once been a time where he could buy a book on the spot. A time when his family was prosperous. But those were days long gone, and not worth remembering. With a scowl, he set the book back on the shelf, picking up the next one. This one was outwardly a book of herbalism, but on the inside it held several careful recipes for the brewing of poisons and their respective antidotes. Ciel frowned in thought, studying the illustrations and considering the quality of the text.

Perhaps this one held possibilities...

[Raenfae]

He was looking to try creating a new poison, a weak one still, but that is where he was in skill and that is how you advance yourself, build from the bottom up. Phantom's Shell. That was the poison he was wanting to make. He had no immediate use for it, but it was one his mother had talked about. It was supposed to make the target more sensitive to pain, which could be useful in many situations. Even if he could not use it, he was sure his temptress, Amani, would find a good use for it if he could apply it for her and she could apply it to the victim. This was getting too far ahead though, for now he just needed the specific items. He reached out his left hand, the dark garnet on this ring his mother gave him glinting momentarily before it vanished into the shadow of the door frame, the door swinging open to admit Raenfae into the cool darkness of the shop. As his eyes adjusted, he was aware he was not alone. Not the shopkeeper, but someone else standing there looking through things. The gentleman was a little bit taller than himself with pale skin and blonde hair that was short. He was not someone he had ever seen in this area before. Then again, he had never seen anyone in the shop that he could remember. In his hand was a book, open as if he was going through it and debating on buying it. That was good thing to do, but it still made him feel...apprehensive to see someone else here. But everyone and everything was an instrument to be played to your tune, including this gentleman. "Greetings. This is a different situation than normal here as I never see anyone here when I come here. Is it safe to assume you are here for the same reasons as myself? Or will you tell me you got lost and decided to look around in curiosity?" Raenfae stepped closer to the man, stopping a few feet away, standing calm and patient as he waited for an answer, his blue eyes staring intently at the blond-haired, green-eyed man. It really was odd seeing someone else here. Clearly the business did well on it's own, however it was it did that, but it was still odd to see someone.