Summary:When you need some rapiers made, who ya gonna call? Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's a Friday! Which is really the best day for a small business owner, as that means it's also a payday. Currently Angela is sitting on a stool behind the counter of her shop, answering no few amount of emails regarding requests for commissions. She whistles cheerfully and perfectly in pitch, an absent smile as she answers some requests and postpones some others. A brand "new" rapier, well, a new forging of a 17th century design anyway, resides on the counter, steel gleaming in the light of the display room.
The door opens, setting off whatever little bell or electronic buzzer that announces a new customer if there is one. Entering into the shop is a very non-descript man of average height, average build, and a rather dull set of attire.
"Hallo?" Kurt utters in his rather heavy German accent. "Ms. Carpenter?.." he starts to say, before his eyes are drawn to the rapier on the counter and a little sound of appreciation emanates from his throat. "Oh, hallo beautiful.." the German says as he moves over to take a closer look, leaning over to study it without touching.
Angela smiles, not looking up, "Yes, just a moment…" And she answers in German without even thinking about it, finishing at her computer. Then she turns and smiles a bit more genuinely, seeing it's, "Ah… Mister Wagner, is it? I'm glad you could stop in." She tilts her head, noticing the interest in the rapier, "I just finished that one a few days ago, commission that sadly fell through."
Lifting his head from the sword to look at Angela, Kurt smiles. "Ja. Hallo again, fraulein." says the image induced demon. "I kept the same appearance as you saw me in, so as you might recognize."
His eyes move back towards the sword, as *tisk* coming from his throat. "Why would someone abandon such a fine blade? You poor thing." He reaches a hand toward the hilt, pausing to glance up at Angela "May I?"
Angela nods, "By all means, and feel free to ah, be yourself, here." She gets a bit of a quirk to her smile at that, "And I don't know the exact reason, but I suspect it might be due to a misunderstanding with their partner about where money is spent. I've seen it before." A bit ofa shrug, "Not sure why they aren't honest up front about that, but I just make the weapons, I'm not a relationship counselor."
Nodding, Kurt flips a switch on the device on his belt and his natural blue form shimmers into being. He reaches out with a three fingered hand, taking the hilt of the sword and gently lifts it to test the balance.
"She is a beaut." says the German as he back up a few feet to give himself some room. "I bet whomever commissioned her is regretting not being able to retrieve her."
Kurt lifts the blade into a fencer's salute, then goes through a series of thrusts, parries and mock-ripostes. His form is nearly flawless. "Two more of these and I would be all set. I know I am going to regret asking this, but how much was the commission for?"
Angela smiles, "For you? Two hundred, Mister Wagner. And I must say, very excellent form. Rare to see someone quite so skilled with a blade." She sounds like she means it, too, leaning forward at the counter to watch Kurt demonstrate the blade. And while that's a bit more costly than your typical rapier… there is definitely quality to the craftsmanship here.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." says Kurt with a hint of mischievousness in his voice. "When I said I could use two more, I was meaning another one for this hand…" he says as he flips the blade from his right to his left hand, performing a few more maneuvers with the sword before tossing the blade up and over his head and grabbing it with his tail, "And the tail."
Kurt plants his hands on the floor and does a handstand as he expertly 'fences' with the sword held by his tail. "You can just call me Herr Flynn. Avast and on guard!"
Angela chuckles, "Well, I suppose we could look into a volume discount… unless you wanted a more specific era or style for the blade." She leans forward on the counter, chin resting in her hand as she watches Kurt show off a bit, and smiles, "You definitely do have an excellent form about you. So rare in this day and age, Mister 'Flynn'." With that, the elf gets a wink, before Angela coughs a bit. "Ahem."
Stopping after a thrust, Kurt glances over to Angela and his blue cheeks darken ever so slightly, "Oh. Right."
Clearing his throat and maneuvering into a more upright position, the fuzzy blue elf carefully places the rapier back onto the counter, and pats it once with his tail. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes." he says with a sheepish smile.
"$200 you say? A beautiful blade made by an even more beautiful woman would be a bargain at twice the price." Kurt says as he slides over to the counter to look at the blade again, his finger running down the length. "I believe, Fraulein Carpenter, we may have found ourselves in deal."
Angela blushes, "Well, if you're going to be that way about things, Herr Wagner, you should call me Angela." She smiles, not minding the complement as she grins, "Paypal, credit card, or cash, as your preference? And there's nothing to apologize for. I admire someone who takes that much joie de vivre out of things." Her blush is still on her cheeks, though it is muted a bit, as she types up the transaction on her laptop.
Reaching for the wallet in his back pocket with his tail, Kurt leans onto the counter. "Angela it is then, but only if you call me Kurt."
The tail gripping the wallet arches up and over Kurt's left shoulder, dropping the leather billfold into his waiting hand. "Cash, if that is alright. I don't tend to leave a paper trail if I can help it. At least not one as easily tracked as credit cards."
Slowly he starts to count out $20 bills, leaving a stack on the counter, "What would be the timeframe on obtaining two more? I am not particular on the style or era, I would leave that to artists choice. As long as they are balanced, which I am sure they would be."
Angela hmmms, "Kurt it is, then." She ponders the question, "Probably… with other commissions… two weeks? I think I'd want to make sure they were done properly for you. And I might ask you to come in for some measurements, since… well, frankly I think I can work a better grip for you than what you might be used to." She smiles a little, "If you were too busy for that, I'd certainly understand, of course…"
Kurt shakes his head, "Nein, I don't have anything that would cause me to not be able to come in, Angela. I would be happy to come by for fittings. Please, just let me know when you would like me."
Slipping the wallet back into his tail, Kurt puts the billfold away and reaches into his other pocket for his phone. "Why don't you give me your number and I will text you so you have mine." The blue devil looks to Angela with his glowing yellow eyes, and offers a wink.
Angela grins, "Sounds like a plan. Here, this is my personal number. Don't include it on the business cards, so…" She scribbles down a number on the back of a card, and slides it over to Kurt, "Anytime is good, really, just let me know when you can stop by and I can work it out accordingly."
Punching in the number into his phone, Kurt saves the contact information and then immediately sends a text to the number given, 'Hi, this is the fuzzy elf Kurt.'
"Thank you, Angela. Technically I'm free now if you want to take up my time." he says with a shrug, "I mean unless you are busy, which I am sure you are. Being a business owner must be time consuming." He pauses for a moment, and then cocks his head to the side, "This is probably a dumb question, but do you just forge the weapons, or do you fence as well. I could always use a sparing partner."
Angela chuckles, "I haven't used a rapier in… ah, a while, but I think you'd find me an adequate sparring partner." She grins, "And well, I don't have a lot going on right now, so sure, we could do your measurements. Let me just see…" She hrms, looking around the counter, "Think the tape must be in the back. One second." And with that, she slips into the backroom for a few moments, then comes out bearing a pencil, paper, and measuring tape. "Want to make sure, if you're going to be using these for fencing, that we get this right."
"Well, when you want to have a round or two, please let me know. I'll make sure I go easy on you." Kurt says with a grin, leaning back on his tail and using it as a stool.
As he waits for Angela to return from the back room, he casually glances around the shop, turning his attention back to her when she re-arrives. "Of course, but just to make sure when I say fencing, I do mean combat ready…just in case. Not just flexible foils."
Angela smiles, "Would there be any other way?" She gets a bit of a wry look, then brandishes the tape at Kurt, "This shouldn't be too bad, just want to get an idea of your grip, if you could hold out your hand, please?" Because she's nothing if not a professional.
"Of course." says Kurt as he offers out his unusually formed hand. "I've never really had a sword measured for my grip before, I've just always made due with what was offered. This will be unique."%RHe rolls a shoulder into a shrug, "As for combat readiness, just wanted to make sure. Most people don't purchase blades like this for combat."
Angela laughs, "I know, I'll have to make a note to myself not to dull these." She gestures to the big 'display only' sign over the counter, "Fortunately, the one that the commission fell through on already had that factored in."
She hmms, measuring out Kurt's hand carefully as she says, "If you don't mind the question, are you a mutant? I mean, that idiot the other day called you such, but I wouldn't presume. Not that it matters to me, we're all children of God after all." She quirks another slight smile at that, noting the specific contours and dimensions of Kurt's hand and scribbling down some notes.
"By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious…" Kurt utters, shrugging a shoulder. "Not that one could tell by the way I look, ja? Most people would think of me as a child of the devil. Most do. But, ja, I am a mutant. I don't mind the question. I was born this way."
Angela nods, "Well, I think you look quite charming, honestly." She chuckles, "I will say that I've never met anyone quite like you, and I do meet a lot of people." Well, she does live in New York, so that makes sense, right?
She hmms, finishing with the hand, "Now, if I can see your tail, and how do you normally grip a weapon with it?" She grins a little, "Never made something with an easy handle for a tail before, but I want to get this precise for you."
Kurt's skin darkens just a bit and he chuckles, "Well, danke. Most people just call me a demon and throw things at me. The one's that don't just think I am wearing a costume of some type, anyway."
He lifts his newly acquired sword from the counter with his tail and brings it over for Angela to see. "I just wrap it around the handle, really. It's nothing to special."
Angela snorts, "Well, I can tell you're no demon, and I've met plenty." She blinks, then quickly adds on, "Well, if it's not too different, but still there might be a way to customize the hilt a bit more to make it convenient for you there…" She hrmmms, paying close attention to the tail. And just the tail, really, particularly with that slip.
"You have?" asks Kurt quizzically as his brow raises a bit. "I'm sure you mean figuratively. Not that I don't believe that they exist, because I do. I just haven't met any personally. Just an angel. Well we call him Angel, he is a friend of mine. Mutant, like me but kind of the opposite range of the spectrum." Kurt shrugs again, glancing over his shoulder at Angela as she takes her measurement. "He is lucky, really. He can go out in public as himself. He just hide his wings, which to be fair probably isn't all that comfortable…but still."
Angela blinks, then immediately starts laughing, "Oh, you call him… I…" She coughs, trying to control the giggling that she just… calling him Angel!
She catches herself, finally, and takes a deep breath, "Oh, this is… this is actually quite funny, really." Her lips quirk in a bit of a smile, "I suppose I should explain a little, so you don't think I'm a lunatic that just happens to speak fluent German but everyone else can understand me too." Which, well… that is something that, in retrospect, is a bit odd.
Kurt Wagner arches a brow at Angela as she has her outburst, and just shrugs with a smile. "Well, he has wings like one! And he is what one would call a pretty boy. It fits. Trust me, if you ever saw him you would get it."
At the offering of an explanation, Kurt shakes his head. "No need to explain, Fraulein. I just assume you are like me, a mutant. Which is why you came to my defense the other day."
Angela chuckles, "No, I'm assuredly not a mutant, but I'm not a normal human, either." She considers a moment, then looks at Kurt, "What do you think about angels, and I don't mean your friend. Do you think they're all winged pretty boys? Or girls?" She arches a brow, regarding Kurt as she leans back against the counter.
Having been measured, Kurt places the sword back down onto the counter and shifts so that his tail is under him and he uses it as a makeshift seat, "Angels? Well I believe they exist. Just as I believe demons exist. I'm Catholic, so that belief kind of comes with the territory. I can only go by what the scriptures say, and the scriptures say that Angels are neither man nor woman, but when they appear they appeared at men. Spiritual beings of energy and light, but can take human form. There are not that many descriptions of angels in the Bible, but the one in Daniel states that they had a body like topaz, face like lightning and eyes of fire, arms and legs of bronze and a voice with the sound of a multitude."
Angela coughs a bit, "Daniel always did have a flair for the dramatic, I suppose… though that's too be expected, I guess." She grins wryly, "But you're not too far off, to a point. One thing they should mention is that the Curse of Babel doesn't affect an angel, like it would a regular mortal." Her eyes look a bit amused, as she regards Kurt with that same wry expression… with, perhaps, a hint of mischief in her gaze.
"Well I would suspect not. What need would a celestial being need of a spoken language other than to speak with mortals, and why would the curse of Babel have any affect on that. It would be like shoving earplugs in when your job is to listen to radar pings."
The blue demon bounces slightly on his tail, "As for Daniel, he wrote that he knew. I am sure he was struck dumb in the presence of one. I probably would be as well, you know. Faith confirmed and all that." Kurt's eyes glance up to Angela's and…he isn't putting two and two together, but why would he really.
Angela hrmms, "I suppose that it would be, wouldn't it?" She regards Kurt for a moment, then smiles a bit, "Though would it confirm your faith? I mean, what if an angel wasn't exactly Catholic? After all, angels would have been running around for a long time, before humanity was even a thing, right?"
Hopping off his tail, Kurt moves over to lean against the counter in front of Angela, "You have a point. Angels probably are just angels. They are servants of God, and what need do they have of a 'religion'. They are what they area, and they do what they do, right? It's us mortals that have to have faith, an Angel doesn't need it because they already know." He shrugs with a smile, "I don't know if it would confirm my faith or not to be honest. I've seen to many things and have known to many people with unusual powers to specifically point to someone and go 'You are a celestial being.' For all I know they could just be another mutant, and there isn't any way to provide proof, right? So I would still have to have faith. Why do you ask?"
Angela smiles, "Well, plus it's an effect of the mortal realm… it leaves an imprint on anyone." She chuckles a bit, "Honestly, most angels seem to just be doing their own jobs in the service of a higher power, not too much different than humanity in that regard. Save maybe a sense of scale, but when you have mutants and superheroes and the like running around, what need is there for an angel?"
Kurt thinks about that for a moment, then shrugs. "That is is a very good question. When you have mortals that look like I do, or look like Angel does, or can shoot beams of energy, etcetera the reliance on an angel to protect humanity is…" he stops, pausing and looks at Angela, "Just about the same as it would be if there wasn't superheroes and mutants. Those that don't have powers can't protect themseleves, and even if I could be everywhere at once I don't have the power or devine intervention. Angels are still needed to do what Angels do. Be that protect humanity, or bind the devils in Hell, or whatever other job an angel might have. We are but just men."
Angela grins, "Good answer, and one I'll have to ponder a bit myself." She mmms, "Anyway, if I'm going to get those swords done for you, I should probably get to work on that. But it was nice to talk with you, Kurt. I'm looking forward to continuing our talk." Because she does look like she was enjoying it, undoubtedly.
Kurt Wagner nods, using his tail to pick up the sword from the counter again, "Ja, I enjoyed it as well. I would love to continue our talks again sometime, so please feel free to give me a call. Be well, and God be with you Angela."