Claws and Bones (Zodiac)

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

It had been a very long time since Lofyn had set foot in Honeymead. The last time she had visited, the market had still been a relatively new thing, but she entered the building with a unique confidence. She was on a mission today. A pair of small velvet bags hung from thin leather loops attached to the bottom edge of her red satin corset, one making the sound of metal and bone clashing against one another as she walked and it struck the surface of her denim-covered left thigh, the other tinkling the soft sound of multiple liquid-filled glasses on her right side. The sound was a mild annoyance to her sensitive ears, but one that she could manage.

No, it was the sounds of everyone else in the market that drove her relatively mad. Blue eyes as piercing as a hawk scanned the crowds, skimming over women pushing strollers, men herding young children, teenagers laughing and playing on their smartphones. Her makeup was simple, done by touch without a mirror - silver inner corners with hard angles, leading into a black wing that nearly touched her pale brows, with silver filling up the space between the rest of the black and the brow, and that was literally all she wore. She liked how intense it made her gaze seem.

She'd left the parasol behind today, quite intentionally. This was something she needed to stay mostly inconspicuous about, considering the substances that were contained on her right hip. The corset, the wave of her pale hair, and the eye makeup were enough to make her stand out, just this once. Even her choice of jewelry was demure, just a silver crescent moon on a thin chain. So long as she kept from smiling at anyone, she'd be perfectly fine.

Zodiac's shop was easy enough to locate. She'd been inside once before, during one of her prior evening wanders that she went mostly undisturbed, long before she met the woman personally. Oh, she'd heard the name a thousand times, in connection with both good and bad in relation to her bloodline, and had honestly wondered just what the woman would be like. And Lofyn certainly liked Zodiac.

"Hello?" she called, looking around the shop. And then her eyes caught a display near one of the corner walls, of tarot card decks. It was something she'd looked into once, as a fifteen-year-old, but never chosen to do. Especially considering that her stepfather would have thrown the cards out had he found them.

I was human once, she thought, three years ago. And then my world was flipped on its head. Didn't even drink. With this in her mind, she picked up one of the decks and studied it intently. It was a fairy-themed deck, and she couldn't even explain why she picked it up, or wanted to look at the decks in general. She just did and it felt right.

[Zodiac]

(upstairs in Pandora's)

"Are you wearing that Elvira costume again this year?"

"I'm not sure. Why? Did I look silly in it last year?"

The two longtime friends sat in the large open chapel area of the second floor surrounded by boxes marked Halloween and Christmas. Each of them were checking strings of lights to be sure which were working and which had to be either tossed, fixed, or stripped down of fancies to be used on other strings.

"Well, dear. You don't look silly in it, but you are kinda short for that 'legs for days' look," Jennifer smirked.

"So? I only got legs for a half hour. Sue me." Zodiac grinned. She pulled another box in front of her and opened it.

"How did we accumulate all this crap?" the redhead looked around. They had been working at this for over an hour and there was still boxes waiting to be inspected.

"Just lucky, I guess?" the gypsy pulled a string of jack-o-lanterns out and plugged them in. "You forget, some of this is for the other shops too. We just have the storage space here for it all. Plus all the stuff I have for my place." Satisfied they worked, she placed the lights back in the bag they had been stored in and laid then to the side.

Jennifer just laughed as she found the defective bulb and replaced it. The string of glowing penguins blinked happily in her hands now. The door chimes rang out below and on the wall a sensor bleeped telling them both someone had entered below. "We got company, dear."

"Oh! See who it is." Zodiac could just hear Stone Cold, her pet owl, screech out a greeting of his own to the new arrival below.

"Why do I always have to run up and down the stairs?" the girl pouted.

"Silly child!" She pointed to the computer in the corner of the workshop in the next room. "Chain has it set now we can access the security cams via the comp. Just click that red icon and enter your ID code. I asked him to have it for both of us to use."

The girl stood up and brushed off her jeans as she went to the workstation and logged in. "Hey, this is cool!" she shouted as she began to check around the shop via various views of the cams. "Woah! Big girl!"

"Define 'big girl' please."

"Someone with the 'legs for days' we was discussing earlier." Zodiac stood up and came to join the girl. She smirked when she saw the image on the monitor.

"I should have made a bet with myself. I would have won."

"You know her?"

"I would not say exactly 'know' her, but we have met before briefly one evening. Part of me figured I would never see her again, but lookey there." Zodiac reduced the window and turned on the cam to the comp itself to let herself check if she needed a touch up before going downstairs. "I will go see why she is here. You keep beating up the lights."

"Oh joy! I am so de-lighted to have this job."

***

Bare feet padded ghost-like down the stairs. She was honestly surprised Lofyn had appeared. Tossing aside the rumors and such she had heard concerning the woman and her friends, Zodiac got the impression that seeing her out and about was a very rare thing to begin with, let alone have her show up out of the blue like this.

Silently the door opened as she stepped out into the shop. Stone Cold, at the first sight of the gypsy began to screech for attention. 'Hey mom! I'm here! Right here!' she imagined the sounds to translate into. She approached Lofyn from behind and peeked around her shoulder to see what had captivated her interest.

"Yes, The Jasmine Becket-Griffith deck is a popular one." her thoughts drifted to the woman as she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. "Not only for those who read them but some purchase them simply for the images. A few of my customers have had me order the uncut sheet of them so it could be displayed like a large painting. Greetings, and blessings of the night to you, Lofyn." she smiled as she inclined her head. "And to what do I owe this surprising appearance of yourself this night?"

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

Lofyn started at the gypsy's sudden appearance behind her, nearly dropping the cards. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and set them down, turning to face the other with a smile.

"I started working on some early versions of what we discussed previously," the blonde commented, opening the pouch on her left hip and extracting one of the smallest claws, clearly intended for pinkie fingers. "I used feral fangs for these ones, though. Easy enough for me to get these days, and I filed them to a razor edge."

She held the small claw out to Zodiac, blue eyes traveling over the other woman's figure while another thought slid through her mind. I'll be twenty-two this year...well, damn. Another year gone by so quickly?

Her age was something she usually tried to avoid thinking about; it only kept her isolated.

"Tell me what you think? Got almost a full set here...as well as some, ah, coatings you can use."

[Zodiac]

Lofyn was a touchy one she reminded herself. As gentle and calm as she introduced herself, the girl still freaked out a bit. Zodiac hated doing that to people, unless it was someone who deserved such shocks along those lines. She returned the smile and listened. Her eyes lit up as the small claw came into view. Carefully she took it, then glanced under the counter. Searching for a few moments, she came up with a jeweler's loop and looked the claw over as she rotated it slowly.

"Very nice," she answered. It had been shaped to a perfect claw. No natural warps or deformities could be seen. "I did find some glyphs that would be perfect to carve into the sides for this project." She explained as she slipped it onto her pinkie finger and flexed it. It would have to be adjusted a bit, but it fit over her nail perfectly.

Another look about and she placed a small box on the counter. Gently, she rolled her wrist and let the tip of the claw caress the top of the box and smiled as the thin tip drew a slice into the cardboard despite the softness of her touch.

"I like it," She declared as she took the claw off and laid it on the counter. "What kind of 'coatings' are you talking about, dear? And damn me, I am sorry. Forgive my shoddy manners. How have you been since I last saw you?"

"Meow"

Zodiac looked down to see her cat sitting and looking up at Lofyn as if she was trying to figure the blonde out. "That's Miss Ginny. Don't mind her. She is just deciding if you are okay or not. Actually, she is the one that runs this place, not me." She smirked.

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

Lofyn smiled lightly, setting the bag full of claws on the counter before she removed the other pouch from her belt. This one, she opened gingerly, extracting the dozen vials one by one and setting them in a neat row in front of the claws. Each vial, she murmured what it was. Most wouldn't do all that much harm to a vampire, but they would easily kill a human. Not that that was what she encouraged. "...hemlock, belladonna, tetrodotoxin...I sincerely recommend that you handle the claws with extremely thick gloves when you dip them. These are all highly concentrated and I honestly don't know if the level of concentration is enough to harm a vampire."

She didn't know whether or not Zodiac would inquire as to where she'd gotten these dozen toxins. If she did ask, the Killer would be honest. She had no reasons to lie, unless Zodiac was against blood thieves. She had a contact, a connection, among the blood thieves, and he had gotten them for her. She had worked out a trade with him - one pint of her blood for each vial he was able to get to her. A dozen poisons...a dozen pints. She'd be paying him off for the next couple days, she knew that for absolutely certain.

Unbidden, her mind wandered back to making the original agreement proposal - it had been an extremely bad idea, and she couldn't really believe she'd even suggested it. Still, she had, and he'd come to the compromise that was the actual deal. Once she went back to her apartment today, she would be giving him more of her blood, then pulling a bag of human blood from her refrigerator and heating it to drink herself.

Shaking herself, she returned to the present, settling the last bottle in the line and stuffing the little bag back into her pocket. "I did a little research, looked into some difficult to detect poisons. Figured you wouldn't want them traced back to you, and the way I acquired them can't be traced to me. Just let me know which one's preferable to you." She took a deep, unneeded breath, picking up one of the small bits of bone and turning it over between her fingers. "I could make an additional set, mount them to a pair of gloves, if you like. Like Catwoman."

[Zodiac]

She leaned on the counter and watched the girl line up the various vials. Zodiac was impressed. She too had a vast collection of poisons at her disposal and had to slink down some pretty black alleys of underground commerce to get some of them. Always the conversation boiled down to a few lines.

Them: "Why do you need this?"

Zodiac: Because I am a witch, you moron!

Them: "Oh ***** please! A witch? Prove it!"

Zodiac: If you insist...

And usually someone else in the place would apologize and pack her items for her and take her money.

It did her a bit of a tingle that some would consider handing her such toxins a dangerous thing. Not like it mattered much to those like herself and Lofyn, but the living was another matter.

"In the future, perhaps I should send my need for such items business to you. Quite the collection you have assembled." She did not mention she could create even more toxic combinations from these and other items she had. Nothing magical about them, but combinations discovered in the past by people like herself and passed down the line.

"Stop that," she pointed at Ginny, who had decided to jump up on the counter and paw at some of the vials. The large black feline looked at her owner and meowed at her-clearly annoyed she had been told not to do something and laid down on the counter top. Ironically, she had chose to lay where the 'warning' sign about her was posted on this side of the room.

DON'T STEP ON THE CAT!

If the cat doesn't want your attentions
then DON'T TOUCH HER!

Pandora's Box, its owners and employees are NOT
responsible of any injuries caused by the cat in
the situations described above.
Annoy the cat at your own peril.

"She gets curious like that," she apologized to the girl. When Lofyn mentioned something like Catwoman would wear, she began to laugh in her thoughts. Some found it odd to hear her laugh in their mind but not in their ears.

"You think I could pull off that look?" she continued to 'speak' in a light, amused tone. "Okay, I will take them all," she gestured over the vials. "I always have use for such things and will be nice to have some stock on hand if required." The gypsy began to slip on the other claws to complete the set on her left hand and flexed her fingers experimentally, "Yes, I do like this. Even without the poisons, they will leave a 'forget me not' if I choose to do so. Is mainly why I want them. A back off with some edge to it. I imagine a glove of some sort would give them more stability and lower the risk of loosing one. But not Catwoman black. Purple, of course." She grinned."Just don't expect to see me strutting around in a purple latex bodysuit or anything like that."

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

Lofyn simply nodded along to the words in her mind, idly extending a hand towards the cat as she tapped a light finger against the glass, keeping the force behind it gentle. She had to be constantly mindful of her strength, as a Killer she could destroy just about everything in this store without much thought. Not that she would. It was simply a possibility. And after what she did as a newly turned vampire to her stepfather, well, she knew she wasn't exactly someone to be trifled with. Neither did her mother, though the fact that it had actually been her was never confirmed. Just a suspicion, and one that her half-siblings would never give more plausibility by confirming that she'd even been there that night.

"I don't mind the curiosity of cats," she muttered softly, watching Ginny gently before turning her eyes back to Zodiac. "And yes, I think you could pull off clawed gloves. Latex bodysuits are a mistake on anyone, though, even superheros. They're just a horrible idea."

And she sincerely meant that. Latex was one of the worst fabrics she knew, unless it was used sparingly and not directly against skin. As an overlay, hell yes, she was all for it, and maybe as part of a prosthetic makeup if nothing else was working. But sometimes, latex was just not right at all, for any reason. Still, Lofyn couldn't help herself from tracing a light smiley face into the glass, which held its shape, very faintly. She wanted it to stay. She wanted to leave her mark here. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the tiger that lurked just beneath the vampiric surface of her ivory flesh, wanting to mark a piece of the territory as her own.

Shaking her head, Lofyn flashed a wide grin, fangs and all. "Living or not, these will likely leave their intended mark. A sharp pain, perhaps a bit more. Some might even have a scar left behind, in fact."

[Zodiac]

Her head bobbed in agreement at the woman's conclusion of superheroes. "It would be like walking around in a portable sauna if you asked me. I've read those things. Guys chasing down the bad guy for weeks-even longer. Never changing their clothes once. I can imagine when they finally do." She pulled the front of her blouse away from her and acted like she was sniffing, made a face that resembled someone smelling a skunk as her tongue hung out the side of her mouth as she flopped to the floor dramatically. Quickly she stood back up grinning. "Might explain why super people only hang out with other super people. They all smell."

She pulled a box from under the counter and began to pack the bottles of poison carefully using cardboard dividers to keep them from bouncing around as she listened. Lofyn wasn't kidding on the claws. They would leave a sizeable mark on the flesh they hit, but not necessarily be fatal. That was important to her idea. She did not kill needlessly or without reasons, especially the living. This little deterrent would be just the thing in some cases. "You still have not explained to me what kind of coatings you were considering for these. I do have a workshop upstairs you can use if you wish or if you prefer to work on them elsewhere that is fine as well." She held the box in her hands now. "I like what I see so far, so please-continue till they are finished. Whatever you need, let me know and I will see what I have to help you along."