Work Text:
Alina walked determinedly down a small street, cramped with flowers pots and fences. Behind her, Karin struggled to keep up.
She stepped carefully over a reclining dog, smiling down at it. "Aw, you're so cute!" She called to it, reaching down to scratch it behind the ears.
"No! If you're coming with me, you will not pet dogs!" Alina scolded her, standing quite a distance away from her now.
Chuckling nervously, Karin put her hands in her pockets as she walked over to Alina, clumsily hurrying. "Sorry...thanks for bringing me," she said, an silly smile spreading on her face.
With a slight scoff, Alina turned away from Karin, and began to walk off. "I was on my way to buy a special kind of paint! I merely thought that the shopkeeper could use a idiota like you to make a few extra yen off of," she explained.
Karin nodded slowly, waving to the dog as she followed behind Alina, still having to navigate carefully in this small alleyway. "It's nice of you to bring me along, but I'm not sure of how to use paints for manga. It's hard enough to draw with a pencil, hehe," she commented, probably attempting to lighten the mood.
Alina shrugged, continuing to walk forward, with only a slight glance back at Karin. "If you never try anything new, you'll never improve. If you're afraid of the struggle, stay behind, and pet all the dogs you want," she said, with no apparent emotion. But, even though Alina didn't say anything, she knew Karin wouldn't leave, and she was, kind of, sort of, proud of her.
Shaking her head, Karin made a ridiculous face, as she seemed to be psyching herself up. "No! I'm gonna buy some kind of magic paintbrush, which enables me to paint whatever I can dream of!" She exclaimed, confidently.
With a sarcastic laugh, Alina couldn't help but respond to her stupid ideas. "The first thing you paint will almost certainly be a dog, won't it?" She questioned, breaking into more laughter at her own joke. And, to Alina's surprise, Karin joined her, but with a cheerful giggle. It unnerved Alina, who had meant to mock her, so she abruptly stopped laughing, turning back to the road ahead. Idiots never saw when they were being laughed at.
After another hour of walking, Alina knew Karin must be tired, which was all part of her plan. A tired Karin would be less trouble. And, either way, they had reached the shop. The outside was small and homey, with so many paintings sitting around, you might mistake it for an outdoor gallery. Wind chimes clinked together in the soft breeze, and a nearby brook babbled. It was, for all intents and purposes, truly picturesque. Pushing the curtain door aside, Alina stepped inside, breathing in the unique atmosphere as she did. It was old and dusty, but the strong smell of various kinds of paint overpowered anyone who stepped in. It was like perfume to Alina.
The man behind the counter saw Alina, and he gave her a weak smile. "Miss Gray. Haven't seen for you a year practically, and you call me out of the blue asking about-" With a loud laugh, surprising both the man and Karin, who was still stuck outside, Alina walked up to the counter, awkwardly.
She gave him a cruel smile, hoping to keep him from saying anything else. "I'm back because I wanted to see if you had gotten any interesting paints, il vecchio, make no mistake," she stated. As a matter of fact, Alina had asked the man to reserve something for her, or rather, for a learning manga artist. But Karin did not need to hear that.
Some shock remained in the man's eyes, but it seemed like this happened a lot. He frowned, and turned back to something he was painting on the counter. "Sorry, Miss Gray, there's nothing new. My paints are still all natural and non-toxic," he told her, sounding incredibly tired.
At last, Karin entered the building, a confused look on her face. "Alina, what was so funny?" She asked, innocently enough. When the old man saw Karin, he too looked confused, but he didn't move from his painting.
Alina tapped the counter, turning to face Karin with the same smile from earlier. "Seems like the man doesn't have what I came for. Incredibile," Alina said, with a twinkle in her eye. "I'm ready to head back home. You see anything you like?" She asked, a leading kind of tone in her voice.
Karin grunted nervously, looking around the immense and complicated inventory of the shop. "Eh, g-give me a second!" She whined, as she hurried to find something. Exactly what Alina knew would happen. She was tired from all the walking, but more than that, she wanted to find that so-called magic paintbrush. What a fool. Karin walked up to a shelf of sketchbooks, most of them yellowed with age. Picking up one, she flipped through, only to see it was already drawn in.
Alina knew there would be nothing that would attract Karin in here. "Hey, il vecchio, don't you have that old pen set? The one you were going to give to your kids, but they said it was too...dozzinale?" She interrogated him, leading him to bring out the item she had called about earlier.
With a sigh, the old man reached down under the counter, before taking out a hand-carved pen case. It didn't look old, and in truth, it wasn't. And it had been fairly expensive.
Karin looked to the counter, interest building up in her eyes as she approached the case. Her tastes were so predictable. "It's so pretty! I can't believe your kids didn't want this!" She commented, as she opened up the case. Inside, four high-quality pens glittered in the light. Karin inhaled excitedly, putting her hands over her mouth.
Smiling at her expression, the man chuckled softly and pushed the case towards her. "If you like it so much, you can have it for free. I don't have much use for it," he asserted, giving Alina a nervous glance. Alina didn't respond, staring blankly back at him.
Karin gasped, shaking her head exuberantly. "I couldn't! This should be used by your kids! Let me talk to them, I bet I could convince them!" She pleaded with him, emotionally. Both the man and Alina were unsure of what to do at this juncture, though to Alina, it really wasn't a shock. Of course Karin would pick up on the wrong thing. The man didn't even have any kids.
After a few awkward seconds, the man shook his head. "I...I want someone like you to have it," he mumbled.
As if he had spoken some kind of spell, Karin reacted, quickly picking up the case and holding it to herself. "Thank you so much! I promise to use it as well as I possibly can, and I'll draw so much with it, I'll wear them all out in two weeks!!" She exclaimed, happily.
With a weak nod, the man turned back to his painting. "As long as you're happy. Good day, ladies," he said, losing interest in this. Alina turned to leave, ready to be praised for finding such a magical pen.
However, Karin spoke up. "Oh, I almost forgot! Is it okay if I get this sketchbook?" She inquired, holding up an old and tattered book. Looking over her shoulder, Alina wanted to see what Karin could possibly have found to buy. Then she recognized it. On some visit here, Alina had filled one of the sketchbooks with random drawings of her own imagination, signing each one with her name. She had dared the old man to sell it, and that if he did, she'd give him four times its worth. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Karin had found it.
In a flash, Alina was at her side, having yanked it away from Karin. "No! You don't need this!" She scolded her, walking back over to the door.
Karin followed Alina, holding her hand out for the sketchbook. "But it's your beautiful sketches! You never let me see those, and I don't know why, because they're just as incredible as your full drawings! And besides, it belongs to him! You can't steal, Alina!" She went on and on, trying to convince her.
A low growl came from Alina, as she struggled to keep from blushing. What an idiot. With one quick move, Alina had taken all the money in her wallet out and threw it on the floor, before running out of the shop. She could hear the old man laugh as she left, and she could hear Karin apologize frantically, and decided to never come back here again.