Two Sides to Every Card (Varde!)

[Lucca]

The bird darted through the dingy street with his head down, feathers ruffled a bit in anxiety, though if confronted he would blame it on the slight breeze today. He was in Corvistowne. He HATED being in Corvistowne. Despite the fact it was the easiest location to fly to outside of his home, being located right below the peaks of the Villa, flying there on errands was the most dreaded requests he got from his family. Today, it wasn't even his mother's errands he was running, no, his SISTER had fallen ill (or so she claimed, Colin personally thought it was likely an act to get out of having to go to that stupid party) and his parents had insisted he get some of that 'miracle remedy,' which they apparently swore by, and could only be bought in a rather seedy little potion shop in Corvistowne.

So, here he was. Giving a withering look to some freaky looking Corvie children (he couldn't BELIEVE the things some parents subjected their little ones to!) he entered the shop, a small bell ringing as he took a deep breath, nearly choking on the strong chemical smell of the place. He frowned, blinking in the dim light of the interior as he took a few wary steps toward the counter.

[Varde]

"You want HOW MANY gold coins for it?!"

The canine shopkeeper simply cracked a grin. "You heard me. And you're gonna pay it," he continued, giving the rat a knowing look, "'cause you and I both know I'm the only source for miles around."

Fenzik rolled his eyes and fumed a bit, casting a wistful glance at a small glass jar at the very top of a tall shelf behind the counter. The left half of his tail twitched. "But that price... that's downright robbery!" he griped mournfully. "Surely we can agree on something more reasonable. Something more like... say... twelve?"

The keeper let out a loud, boisterous guffaw, shaking his head. "Come on now, Fennie, you know I can't just give it away like that. I've got hungry pups to feed!"

The rat let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine," he said, reluctantly dumping a pawful of coins on the counter. "But only because I like you," he grumbled.

"Pleasure doin' business with you, as always, Fennie," the dog said cheerfully, after carefully counting the coins, and he grabbed the small jar and tossed it lightly to Fenzik. The rat grabbed it out of the air with the right half of his tail and he cradled it gingerly, inspecting its contents. Inside the jar were a few small, dried-out, bright green- and black-patterned leaves. He smiled.

"Thanks," said Fenzik, and he turned quickly to the door, barrelling straight into another customer who had entered the shop. "Oh, my!" he exclaimed, shocked, "I'm so sorry! Pardon me! I didn't see you there," he apologized hastily. "Are you all right?" Brushing himself off, he gave the new customer -- a bird -- a curious look. "Hrm, you're from the Villa, aren't you?" he inquired, looking thoughtful. "What brings you to Corvistowne... and to a shop like this?"

[Lucca]

Despite being cautious, Colin managed to bump into something anyway--no, wait, it was someONE and THEY had most definitely walked right into HIM. With an annoyed little chirp, Colin fluttered backwards, narrowly avoiding colliding with a display of various things in jars. He looked over at the newcomer, and didn't bother to hide a flicker of revulsion--it was a Corvistownian. Of COURSE. With a very odd tail. Probably did that to himself, Colin thought, supressing a shudder. Despite all this, he made an effort to be civil, though still looking a bit ruffled.

"I'm fine," he told the rat in a flat tone, brushing a bit of dust off his feathers. "Yeah, I am from Villa en Miir," he replied in a tone laced with quite a bit of regional pride. "And I'm here for a potion. Er, a medical potion. Excuse me." He managed a tight little smile, and hopped over to the counter to get said potion, throwing the required amount of money on the counter before the shopkeeper even said anything. "I'd like a Cure-All potion, please. The freshest one you have."

The shopkeeper considered him, breaking out into a greedy grin and rubbing his paws together as he went to get the potion. "Ahhh yes, your family comes here fairly often, though I have never seen you before," he said, handing a bottle filled with milky white liquid to Colin and taking the money. "Pretty much the only steady customers I have from the Villa."

[Varde]

"Of course," said Fenzik, smiling and nodding graciously as the bird brushed past to get to the counter. Rather than leave the shop himself, however, the rat kept a curious eye on the new customer.

"A Cure-All potion, huh?" he echoed. "That's powerful stuff," he remarked, mentally recalling the assorted chemicals it contained. "No interesting side-effects to speak of. Just the standard drowsiness and such. Although... if the murkleaf's gone off, it can give you the worst headache you've ever known. And if there's too much Rodnir's dragon, it'll turn your fur green for a month," he said with a bemused smile. Abruptly, he cocked his head at the bird, looking thoughtful. "Haven't a clue what it would do to feathers, though..."

"Hey, knock it off, Fennie," the shopkeeper cut in. "You scare one of my customers away and I'll give you worse than a headache!"

"Wha-- oh! I'm sorry," Fenzik apologized once again. "Forgive me; I didn't intend to scare anyone. I suppose I got carried away again. It's all just so fascinating!"

The canine grunted unintelligibly and went back to his work. Meanwhile, Fenzik cleared his throat. "So... someone in your family's come down with something?" he asked with genuine sympathy. "That's unfortunate. Do you know what's wrong?"

[Lucca]

Colin couldn't say he was...overly happy when he turned around and the other Card was still there. Still, he figured he should just make the best of it, and hopped nonchalantly back over, the potion stowed safely in a messenger bag looped over his shoulder. The cardinal could only blink in noncomprehension as the rat went into a long and detailed description of what was in the potion and what could go wrong with it...though he had to stifle a laugh at the thought of his sister with green feathers.

"You don't say," he said neutrally, pretending he had understood the babble, and ignoring the shopkeeper entirely. His buisiness with that Corvie was done. At least this rat seemed fairly polite, and that gave him points in Colin's book. He also seemed to know his stuff.

He blinked a bit at the slightly personal question, but didn't see the harm in answering. "My sister," he replied, "and what ISN'T wrong with her is more the question...she claims to feel ill, but..." Colin frowned thoughtfully at the other Card, not sure how much he wanted to reveal to someone whose name he didn't even know. "You know, usually, one introduces oneself before asking such questions," he said loftily, but without any real bite behind the words.

He bowed his head slightly in a respectful gesture. Corvie or not, this other Card had been pleasant to him and, glancing at his chest, Colin could see he was a higher rank. "My name is Colin."

[Varde]

"Ah," cried the rat, touching a paw to his forehead a tad melodramatically, "once again, my ineptitude in social situations shows itself. I am Fenzik," he said, returning Colin's bow. The right half of his tail seemed to mimic the polite gesture, while the left half stood upright as if in defiance. "I don't mean to pry into your personal affairs; it's a bad habit of mine! You see," he explained, "I'm a chemist, so I'm interested in these sorts of things for purely scientific reasons."

He pondered what the cardinal had already said. "So your sister feels ill, hm? If I might ask, what do the symptoms appear to be?"

From the counter, the shopkeeper laughed obnoxiously. "Hah! Fennie, when did you become a doctor?"

The rat chose to simply ignore this remark, and rolled his eyes in Colin's direction.

[Lucca]

"Fenzik," Colin repeated, eyeing the tail which seemed to have a mind of its own--or maybe TWO?--warily. "Pleased to make your aquaintence." He nodded stiffly at the rat's explanation, knowing this to be fairly typical of one from Corvistowne. Some of those weirdos would do ANYTHING for science. Yes, Colin was a bit biased...but Corvies in general creeped him the heck out. He tried not to look at the tail.

"Oh, yes, my sister. Melody," Colin said, rolling his eyes as they returned to this topic. "She claims to be suffering from a headache and an upset stomach, but it's probably all an act." He waved a wing dimissively, the outer feathers brushing up against a display, though luckily not with enough energy to knock it over. "I try to tell my parents she's just making excuses to get out of our grandmother's birthday part next week, but do they listen? Oh NO." He made a face and imitated what was probably his mother's voice. "My sweet little Melody would NEVER do such a thing! She's such a PERFECT child who always minds her manners and does what she's told, which is why we let he do whatever she wants to!"

Colin blinked, abruptly remembering himself. Apparently, it was quite a strain holding in all the resentment that built up, and he really didn't have anyone he could rant to about family matters. It was impolite, besides, and so he didn't usually even want to unload on strangers, either. He flushed lightly beneath his feathers and coughed.

"Or, uh, perhaps she really is ill," he amended lamely, and would have said more, but a cry from the shopkeeper alerted him to the fact that, in another gesture with his wing, he had managed to knock a potion bottle off the display table. Colin let out a low curse and hopped back.

[Varde]

Fenzik listened with interest as Colin explained his situation. He nodded politely throughout, although he couldn't help but burst out laughing when the bird did an impression of his own mother. "Ah, yes," he said, a faint reminiscent look on his face, "siblings... Nothing but trouble, that's the truth."

The rat let out a dismayed squeak when he saw Colin's wing brush up against one of the potion bottles on display. As though in slow motion, Fenzik saw it wobble and begin to fall, but it was out of his reach. Out of his paws' reach, at any rate... Before he even had time to consciously react, his right tail had already lashed out at a blinding speed and coiled around the glass vial, and was now holding it securely -- mere inches from the floor. Fenzik and the shopkeeper let out a simultaneous breath of relief when they realized what had just happened. "That was a close one," the rat said, as his tail nimbly placed the potion back on the table where it belonged. "Though if I didn't know better," he muttered in a low voice, inclining his head toward the display, "I'd say those were just bottles of colored water."

"'Dyou say somethin', Fennie?" asked the shopkeeper suspiciously.

"Not a thing," answered the rat, flashing an innocent grin. "Perhaps," he began as he turned back to Colin, "we ought to step outside. Fewer fragile things out there, at least."

[Lucca]

Colin couldn't help but openly stare as the bottle was saved from its fate by one half of the rat's tail...his eyes followed the extra limb as it placed the bottle back on the display table, and he gave a small cough. "Uh, thanks, Fenzik..." he muttered, casting an anxious glance back toward the shopkeeper. True, he COULD have used his ability to repair said bottle, but the contents would still have seeped into the floor and been lost.

He blinked at the rat's pronouncement. Well, if that was the case, it wouldn't make him feel as bad...besides, it would make sense; less chance of having valuable potions stolen or broken. When the canine behind the counter wasn't looking, Colin leaned over the table to take a surrepticious sniff--being VERY careful this time. He straightened back up, looking thoughtful.

"I think you might be right about...hm? Oh. Right. Good idea," he muttered, hearing the rat's suggestion. He was blushing slightly beneath his feathers--stupid clumsy wings--as he turned and pushed through the door, expecting the rat to follow. In an attempt to regain his dignity, as well as turn the conversation away from his family, he turned to the rat upon exiting. "So..." he paused, unsure how to ask the question. "Your tail. It...well, that was pretty useful, back there, grabbing that bottle."

[Varde]

Fenzik followed Colin out of the shop, his left tail striking out suddenly and slamming the door unneccessarily on his way out. The rat took it in stride, knowing the shopkeeper would understand. It wasn't the first time, nor was it the most trouble his tail had ever caused in that shop -- not by a long shot.

Fenzik's face lit up when the bird, incidentally, brought up the subject of his tail. He did tend to get a lot of questions about it, even from fellow Corvistowneians, but he didn't mind telling the story again. Truth be told, he was actually rather proud of it. "Ah, yes," he said with a fond smile, "my tails. I imagined you might be curious! I don't like to boast, but they're the result of one of my more successful experiments."

"You see, I've always been fascinated by what influences a Card to act for good or for ill," he explained, "specifically, the chemical factors behind it all. So, one day," he said, his voice diminishing to a hush, as though he were relaying some secret, "I decided to perform a little test on my own tail. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, I now have two: one with a mind for good, and one with a mind for mischief," he said with a playful wink, throwing a nod back to the door of the potion shop.

"I've named them, too! I call the good one Zik, and the bad one Fen. I- I'm not all that creative with names," he confessed, looking a tad sheepish.

Abruptly, the rat's mind returned to the present situation, realizing he had been rambling on and taking up Colin's precious time. Especially considering the cardinal had only been here on an errand in the first place. "Oh! Erm," he said uneasily, "I suppose... you'd probably best be getting back to your family soon, hm?"