2012-10-26 Autum Shadow

If it weren't for the demon on his shoulder, The Shade would still attract the glances of any of the many onlookers he passes. True, there are stranger things to be found on the streets of Harlem than a man in authentic Victorian era garb promenading along the sidewalk with the aid of a cane that is apparently only used for dramatic effect. However, it is a well-known fact among those in the psychological analysis field that the human eye is involuntarily drawn to tophats. Especially when the hat is made from Chinese silk.But about that demon on his shoulder: perched on the right shoulder of the anachronistic man is a small ebony creature of cartoonish proportions. Like a caricature of a demon from a children's book, the little imp maintains his balance by digging the claws of his feet into the shoulder of the shadowy man's suit. From his vantage point, the little winged monster engages The Shade in animated conversation, taking breaks only to yell obscenities at passers-by.
Who needs tophats when he tries to vanish in the crowd? Although you can't speak about a crowd at these late autumn afternoons, when indian summer is just at the gates. The woman in skirt, boots and pullover had pulled the hood deep into her face to fight the cold and her hands are warmed with gloves. However she does not quite fit in with most of the people, as they tend to use scarves and caps instead of pulling the hood up. Still she is out for shopping to fulfil some of her needs, as her way comes to the same spot the strange guy with his infernal compannion is on.
While she's not a regular Harlem-goer, Jubilation Lee has no qualms about standing out in a crowd, as she usually demonstrates by her clothes. Today's outfit mixes a bright yellow overcoat, patched artfully in a multitude of colors and patterns, with flare-leg jeans and bright pink mittens and scarf, as well as her signature wheel earrings. Right now she's window-shopping some of Harlem's eclectic shops, conveniently located not too far from Top Hat Guy and The Woman With The Hood.At least, she was, before Top Hat Guy's small, rude passenger directed a rather nasty few choice words her way. She pauses and turns, glaring at the demon. "Dude, that is /so/ not cool! Seriously, you don't even know..!" The words trail off as she sees what she thought was a shoulder ornament move. "Wait. That wasn't you, was it?" she asks, apparently speaking to the man rather than the demon.
The rhythmic clacking of The Shade's antique cane comes to a sudden halt. Drawing the cane up to about chest level, he turns his previously distracted gaze downward. Nearly two centuries of ennui can be heard in his voice when he utters an unsurprised 'How surprising.' It is most likely difficult for the untrained observer to deduce which thing it is that he finds surprising, given the variety of choices. However, despite casting a glance at both the hooded woman and the Human High-Vis Vest, it is his winged companion that gets his attention. 'One would think I hadn't been attempting to teach you manners for decades, Smudge. You don't even know that this young woman has a mother, much less one of such a freakish occupation.' He places the cane squarely in front of him, resting both hands on the handle. 'Apologize at once to this young lady Smudge, or I shall be very cross.'Smudge, as he is apparently called, does not seem especially pleased with the prospect of retracting his statement. Instead, he merely glowers at the woman he insulted, his red eyes burning like cinders would, if cinders were demonic eyeballs.
"Omigosh... um, it's okay. He doesn't have to apologize to me. I wouldn't want him to spontaneously combust. Or do a Number Two on your shoulder," Jubilation replies, reading the look on Smudge's face with the eye of an expert, and matching him glare-for-glare once she gets over her surprise. "Though I'd totally appreciate it if he avoided mentioning me or my family again. That'd be just as good in the end."
With a nod the hooded woman gives her compliancy to the just stated, stretching her neck a bit as the foul creature makes a snarring sound into her direction. "Keep that thing under control, guy. There are people just one block down the road that don't really like if some strange pet snarls at them or insults their family." Monique Coppersmyth - that is her name after all - adds.
Something about the young lady's response strikes Smudge as very funny. He lets out a high-pitched, chipmunk-like chuckle. 'I am a creature constructed entirely of evil in its purest form. The numbers One and Two are insufficient to express the full range of vile matter that comes from my--' He is cut off by a hand placed over his pitch black face. 'That will be quite enough out of you for now Smudge, you have lost your speaking priveleges until tea time.' The Shade lets out a long, world-weary sigh. 'Toilet humor, from my most intelligent and capable servant. I'm so grateful that Oscar wasn't here to witness this.'%rSmudge apparently knows better than to glower at his master. However, that doesn't stop him from glowering at everyone else when his mouth disappears. Now mouthless, he looks for a moment as if he will explode, when he suddenly begins discorporating into a plume of smoke and vanishes from Shade's shoulder. 'There. Now that the annoyance is gone I am able to make amends for my servant's deplorable behavior. Perhaps you charming young ladies would like a piece of toffee? It's English.'
Jubilation glances at the woman with the hood, nodding a little in agreement. Actually, she could do a lot worse, but isn't much interested in plasma-blasting the pet of someone who hasn't done anything to her. The problem literally solves itself, though, when the mouthy little horror not only has its mouth taken away, but dissolves into smoke and vanishes. "Oh... I guess that works, too," she murmurs, a little taken aback.Fortunately, the gentleman himself is there to try and smooth things over. "Actually, toffee sounds good," she replies, with a smile for him. "Are you some kind of wizard, sir?"
With a careful look Monique eyes the pockets of the victorian gentleman, shrugging after a time. Then those slotted cats-eyes wander to Jubilation, before she eventually nods "ok, I am in for toffee, but only if it is prepackaged." she replies, her face not totally visible for the pulled down hood. "Where you hid the thing by the way?"
You young people and your obsession with prepackaging. This toffee was made by skilled artisans in a little country whose name I forget.' The Britishness of the man's voice is apparent with virtually every syllable, his accent apparently reinforced rather than muted by his time away from his homeland. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out not a small bag, but a rather large jar. A jar that could not have possibly fit into his vest pocket. But there it is, nonetheless. 'Wizards are ugly and garishly-attired. I am the polar opposite in both respects. No, I am no wizard, I am simply The Shade.' From behind his dark sunglasses, the corners of his eyes can just barely be seen to crinkle slightly, though the smile doesn't reach the rest of his face.Oh wait... these are cocaine-covered cockroaches.... They're a delicacy in that little country whose name I forget.'
"I don't think he's hidden. I think he's just /gone/," Jubilation suggests to Monique, with a meaningful glance at the man's shoulder. She gets a better look at the hooded woman. "Um, are you /orange/?"She looks back to The Shade, now that he's introduced himself. And produced that jar. Full of cocaine-covered cockroaches. She recoils a little. "Um, never mind. I just ate." Several hours ago counts, right? "Thanks anyway, though!"
The woman shakes her head a bit, lifting the gloved fingers to her lips a bit as she gets closer "cocaine covered cockroaches... uhm... not really my favourite, sorry." she answers, getting her hands back to the pockets. sure there is a glimpse of orange at the rim of her face, but there is more white around the eyes and at the chin.
'Quite right. Quite right. They're more of an acquired taste. And these appear to have congealed a bit.' Shade looks at the jar skeptically, sloshing around the horrifying contents within. The jar is quickly repocketed, and for a few seconds the man looks genuinely sheepish. But when one has been wearing basically the same outfit everyday for as long as Shade has, one's capacity for sheepishness is reduced greatly. 'Ah! I know!' He fumbles about in the same vest pocket for a few seconds before pulling out a pair of slightly crinkled event tickets. "I have two tickets to Die Zauberflote that I will be unable to use. I intended to give them to a friend of mine for his birthday, but he has either died or moved without leaving a forwarding address. You two really should see it, if only to be exposed to entertainments more sophisticated than The Honeymooners.' His body posture changes slightly, as he makes the first nonverbal evidence of his desire to continue on his promenade.
"I can see how they might be," Jubilation ventures, her smile a bit squicked no matter how pleasant she tries to keep it. "But it's the thought that counts." She does look curiously at the orange woman's face when she catches a glimpse of more orange. And fur, maybe? It could be fur...And then The Shade produces something a lot less disgusting. "I've never heard of either one, actually, but that's very generous of you," she replies, accepting one of the tickets. "Thank you." She offers her own hand. "Um, Jubilation Lee. Nice to meet you, Mister Shade, and sorry to keep you standing here." She's a good people-reader, it seems.
With a bit of pondering she eyes the cards a bit beofe eying Jubilation "well, that sounds much less... stomach upsetting. Zauberflote... oh, the magic flute? the Mozart opera?" she asks. Yes it is in fact fur that covers all her body... or is it just the evening light of fall that casts that golden color? "Monique. Pleasure to get to know you two."Her hands however stay hanging low, not taking the outstretched one. Bad rememberences - not total control about her body yet.
The Shade only holds the second ticket for a second longer before tucking it into the pocket of the crazily tall woman's oversized hoodie. 'No trouble at all. Meeting a new acquaintance is the greatest pleasure one can experience. Unless one does cocaine. But if you'll excuse me, I must continue my walk or I shall be late for an appointment of great importance.' He reaches up with his now empty hand and tips his hat ever so slightly. 'Why I agreed to meet arms dealers in a bakery is beyond me, but that is neither here nor there.' And with that cryptic final sentence, he begins walking down the sidewalk once again, brushing past the two without touching either. The rhythmic clacking of his cane resumes, barely audible beneath the sound of Shade's chalky voice humming the tune from O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn.
"I think I'll take the meeting," Jubilation replies with a smile, and waves as The Shade goes about his business, and to his business. "G'bye now!" 
She turns her attention back to the tall, orange woman. "Nice to meet you, Monique The Orange," she says, her voice teasingly light, the accompanying smile impish. "So, why are you orange and furry? I don't know of any costume parties or cosplay events in the area," she says, keeping her volume down.
Just in time Monique was able to surpress the instinct to try to slash after the strange guy's hand as he put the ticket in her hoodie. As he eventually left she kept eying him a second, then returning those slotted eyes to the other woman, golden orange as they were. Her tune was slightly rumbling, a deep alto. "What... there are better places to talk..."
Jubilation giggles, having fun with the very tall woman. "Of course. But I have someplace else to be, and it wouldn't make talking easy." She offers her phone to Monique. "But if you want to talk later, we could exchange numbers?"
The more feline woman eyes the phone half a second, her hand twitching shortly before she pulls a buisiness card from her pocket "uhm, ok... well, sure... try to reach me woth that." she sais as she offers the card to Jubilation "I think the tickets have the same date and time anyway."
((Fade here))
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