Summoned (pt. 3)
Thread Topic: Summoned (pt. 3)
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Continuation of:
Original thread: -
Virgil glanced over at Cain as he approached them, struggling to calm down. Once he did, he shook his head, still grinning. "He hasn't said anything of the sort, Cain," the demon said, although it was a bit of a lie.
"It was quite funny," he added, pulling away from the counter and moving a bit closer to Cain. "I would have never guessed that he had his glasses all along.. Such a simple trick, yet.. Absolutely witty, if I do say so myself."
When Virgil caught sight of Bentley's wink, his eyes widened slightly, though he quickly turned away and wiped his face of emotion. "Come on, Cain," he said rather abruptly, pointing towards a random section. "Let's check this section out. Maybe we'll find something good." -
"Witty? Ah, kid, you flatter me!" Bentley says as he puts on his glasses and begins to rummage through some boxes, starting his work for the day of sifting through the things people donated to his shop.
Cain was caught off guard by the sudden change of Virgil from easygoing to stoic. He decided to shake it off by hurrying to wherever Virgil was pointing. It ended up being what Bentley called the "vintage" section. Cain had never been on this side of the store before, he was never fashionable outside of button up shirts, khaki pants, and nerdy sweater vests.
"I-I've saved up a lot of allowance since I've never really had a reason to spend a bunch of money.. so anything that strikes your fancy here I can get for you," Cain says to Virgil. He didn't mean for it to come out as a stutter. God, and here he thought he was finally working up the confidence to not cower everytime he looked at the demon. -
Virgil followed behind Cain, clearing his throat rather awkwardly. Perhaps he had changed his expression too quickly? Then again, Cain didn't seem to be too bothered. He was just carrying on. The demon relaxed slightly, trying not to overthink what had unfolded between them moments ago.
"What is an allowance?" Virgil asked, quirking an eyebrow at the word while going through some of the shirts and vests. He realized rather quickly that he had made a bit of a mistake selecting this section, but he didn't want to admit that out loud. He pretended to be interested in the clothes, though his eyes were wandering to the other sections to see if anything caught his eye. -
"Ah, allowance is.." Cain paused to consider the fact that he could lie and make up something silly... but no, for some reason, Cain didn't think that Virgil deserved it. He was legitimately curious, Cain could see it on Virgil's expression. Who was Cain to mislead a fellow seeker of knowledge? "It's where parents give their kids money. Sometimes it's monthly, sometimes weekly. It varies from family to family. The amount of allowance can also depend on how many chores the kid does, or how good their grades are."
Cain smiles just a bit. When he was younger he used to tutor kids in his grade. He hadn't tought someone in so long that he forgot what it felt like to relay information, and see the person receiving the information light up with understanding.
Cain tried to study Virgil to see if he understood, but he instead found that Virgil looked a little regretful of being in this section, and that he was eyeing other places in the store. Virgil would probably never admit that he made a mistake though. "Let's walk around some more," Cain suggests. -
Virgil made a little face, clearly satisfied with this newfound knowledge. "Getting paid to do your required daily tasks.. Fascinating. Humans have most certainly made such.. Curious advancements." He thought back to his past, where everyone was required to do laborious work. He didn't recall ever getting paid; it was more or less the ticket to sitting at the table for meals.
When Cain suggested they move on to a new section, Virgil sighed in relief. He was grateful that the other boy had caught on to his disinterest in this section. "Good idea," he responded, giving him a small smile. "I don't think that any of the clothing in this section is the right style for either of us.." -
"I agree," Cain says with a little chuckle, "We can just walk around until you spot something you like. You can also use my phone to look up fashion ideas," Cain says as they amble along. He considered whether or not it would be a good idea to let a demon have his phone... Well, too late to take back the suggestion.
Cain pulled up pinterest for Virgil. Then he paused. "Hmm.. you know how to read, right?" Cain asks a bit sheepishly. He knew Virgil hasn't been in the human world for a long time, so the concept of typing was probably gonna blow his mind. It'd be much harder to explain though if Virgil didn't know how to string a word together. -
Virgil stopped walking and looked directly at Cain as he made his suggestion. "Ah.. I didn't know we could look things up," he said, tilting his head. When he saw Cain pull out his phone, his eyes grew wide with fascination.
"I know how to read, yes," he said, still fascinated by the phone. "But what is that? It's a little box of.. Light? What can you possibly read on it?" Virgil stepped closer, leaning down to get a better look at the screen. -
Cain froze with fear when Virgil stepped closer, but he tried to not make a big deal out of it because he didn't want to make Virgil feel bad. Wait, was Cain trying to refrain from hurting a demon's feelings? Did a demon even have feelings? God... it was all so confusing.
"Y-yes," Cain said, stuttering over his words a bit. "There's a keyboard, which is... like a collection of all the letters in the alphabet. Yeah.. And then I go on google and with the keyboard I can click the letters, form words, and use the space button to make sentences. Then I push search and a lot of things will come up, based on what you've typed."
Cain wondered if he was explaining in enough detail.. or perhaps too much detail? He was still afraid.. no, not afraid. Something else, more like unsettled. Self-conscious, even. Cain didn't know why, though. Maybe he was overthinking this. -
Virgil didn't notice Cain's fear; he was too absorbed with Cain's phone to recognize that the boy had tensed up. "What is 'Google'? How does it know the information you're looking for?" He frowned, crossing his arms.
"Humans have certainly come a long way with their technology.. I do wish I could just.." He turned his attention away from the screen, looking at Cain. Now, Virgil noticed that Cain was tensed up. He hesitated for a brief second before slowly placing a finger on Cain's forehead. "..Suck the information right from you."
The demon chuckled, quickly dropping his finger and looking away. "You and your little box of light can work your magic.. But I think it'll be faster if we keep looking through these rows. We're bound to find something good, hm?" -
"Google is a search engine, the whole app is designed for you to search for things," Cain explains. Virgil looks at Cain, and before Cain knew it the demon had put his hand on his head and had made an unsettling comment about sucking out information.
"C-can demons do that? Is that one of the things you'll do when you get all your powers?" Cain asks, curious yet terrified of the answer. How far could demons tap into a person? Would they be able to get memories, and emotions?.. Cain shuddered at the thought of Virgil poking around his head.
Cain laughs nervously. "We can walk around, just t-tell me if you spot something you like," Cain says. He was torn between being curious and being terrified. It's like Cain barely knew himself, but he was just now realizing it. However, now that he's realized it, it's an equation no amount of calculating could solve. -
"Sucking is a poor word choice, but.. I can essentially.. Instantly understand the things you know. It would be like skimming a book. You wouldn't even know it's happening, really. Totally harmless." Virgil shrugged, waving a hand. "It's absolutely essential that I do it.. There's no way for me to acquire all of the knowledge I need of this era without doing so. I don't want to be a lost puppy forever."
Virgil could hear the nervousness in Cain's laugh. He felt a little bad, but at the same time, he knew the boy didn't read the fine print. The demon would have to make sure that Cain didn't try to re-find the information and truly understand their pact..
"How about over there?" Virgil asked, pointing in a random spot. "Do you know what we'll find there?" -
Cain nods. Of course. It makes perfect sense for Virgil to want to understand the world he was suddenly inhabiting. A part of Cain though, a petty part, felt a twinge of disappointment that he was no longer gonna be the compass to guide the demon. It was kind of cute how Virgil would have to ask Cain for help.
Cute, of course, in a platonic sense. Or maybe non platonic, since they weren't exactly friends, but they were not not friends either... Cain was snapped from his thoughts via another question from Virgil. He looked to see what section the demon was referring to.
"Oh, Bentley calls that the 'Punk n goth' section," Cain says. "You liked my sister's nirvana shirt earlier, there'll be more band t-shirts there," Cain says, already walking towards the section. -
Virgil's eyes lit up once Cain identified the name of the section and said it would be similar to the shirt he liked from before. "Good," the demon said, following him gleefully. "If there's anything as good as that one, I would like it very much."
Virgil couldn't help but think about how much he wished he had his powers. He wondered if he could have tricked Cain into thinking he had them; but there wouldn't have been a point. He couldn't do much of anything currently, other than be snarky and maybe get in a fist fight. He felt weak and vulnerable without them. -
As they reached the section, the racks of clothing transitioned from normal bright colors into dark and black colors. Cain felt a twinge of sadness as he thought about how much his sister would love it here.
Bentley had it all; chokers, pentagram rings, skull bracelets, spiked belts, fish net tights, and of course shirts, pants, dresses, and skirts with various insignia of cool bands on them. Cain looked around in wonder. This was his first time just as much as it was Virgil's. He'd never dare wander into a section like this. "Hey, here's another nirvana shirt," Cain says as he points at the lucky find.
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