April 11th, 1888 - Denbright’s Emporium of Wonderful Things

A day to shop with little Emily, it was some quality girl's time. The first day that Juniper had been out without her husband since that vile man had grabbed her, she was being much more cautious around men. Hoping that having her child around would force them to act more sensible, she stayed close by her child. Even so, that didn't mean that she would stare at her daughter all day. How boring would that be? Given that there were many shiny things about, such things did tend to catch her eye, even if it was simply children's toys. But given that they were children's toys, she quickly lost interest.

That didn't mean that Emily hadn't. Ever since the young girl had taken an interest in anything, her main one seemed to be in things that shined. It seemed to run in the family, and it did please Juniper. However, this did leave the little girl to snatching shiny things that were not hers. Typically Juniper and Andrew would immediately buy the object the moment they noticed it. But at this moment, Juniper was not really paying much attention to the little child. A perfect opportunity for the girl to snatch a shiny toy right off the shelf and pocket it.

Though while Juniper hadn't noticed it, another parent of a child had, and a few moments later, Juniper felt a tap on her shoulder. Quickly turning around, she was immediately tense and hesitant, grabbing Emily quickly and gently, pulling the young girl to her for comfort and in hopes that if it were a man, he would be repelled from Juniper's charm by Emily's presence. A questioning look on her face, she wasn't sure how to proceed.

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Open to another parent.

  

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Juniper is a veela, your men are cray-cray for her.

Lady made pretties!

Esther enjoyed taking her two daughters out of the house whenever she had an excuse to do so, and tended to make a day of any errands that she had to run. They'd stopped off at the store to bring the girls' father a warm lunch, then meandered through the High Street as Esther crossed various shopping items off of her list. They didn't actually need anything at Denbright's, but Gracie had asked to go inside, and Esther, ever the doting mother, had agreed.

She regretted it almost immediately. One of the other customers was... off. She couldn't explain what it was about the other mother that set her off, but she immediately disliked her. She just seemed far too pretty, in a way that was almost predatory. Esther felt repelled by her very presence, and kept her distance from the woman, though her eyes continued to be drawn back in that direction, her mouth set in a firm line.

When she saw the child pocket something, Es felt a surge of vindication; this was an outward display of the unnaturalness of the two that she had sensed but not been able to put a finger on. She hardly wanted to approach (or to take her own children any nearer to the woman), but did quietly alert the shop worker to the little one's theft. The woman behind the counter went to confront the mother, while Esther retreated into the company of another shopper. While she seldom sought out the company of strangers, she was feeling rather unsettled by the entire experience and was seeking some sort of validation for having reported the woman. There was something unnatural about her, wasn't there?

"Do you know her?" she said in hushed tones to the other shopper. "She seems so strange."

  

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Ursula had definitely grown more maternal since Belvina but she hadn't changed so much as to regularly haunt toy shops with a dewy look in her eye. However, Belvina was turning two in two months time and it was this bittersweet realization that had drawn her in to Denbright's. It wasn't a place that put her at ease - there were far too many children for a start, and it was distastefully chaotic. She would see if she could find something suitable for her daughter and be out as soon as possible.

She was eyeing a small winged horse figurine that was flapping its wings and whinnying in a strikingly realistic manner, when she spotted it. The veela. For a creature she so violently despised, she could count on one hand the number she had ever seen in person. She knew more by reputation, and yet she knew what it was in an instant. It was unmistakable - the ethereal attractiveness she could only aspire to, the way people stared, the way men took notice... It was probably easier for a man to spot a veela considering the nature of their unseemly 'charms', but where men would feel lust, Ursula felt wrath and envy in equal measure. Ursula's expression turned frosty and her lip twisted in disgust. She hadn't forgotten the veela incident that had made a general dislike of veela turn into deep loathing. It might as well have been the very veela she was looking at too; they were all the same in the end, like any common animal. Rationally she knew this one wasn't that veela but underneath the falsely beautiful exterior they were identical and so it didn't matter.

It took her a moment to realize she was being spoken to. Ursula finally dragged her eyes away, reluctant to let the beast out of her sight, not that she was planning on doing anything. She didn't pay much mind to the woman who was speaking to her except to observe that she wasn't particularly familiar. "It's a veela." She leaned into the word 'veela' and made her disgust obvious if it wasn't already.

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   Ophelia Devine

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Thanks to Bee for this magnificent set <3

Relief rushes through Juniper to find a woman standing before her. Now that was a rare and strange occurrence. However, she had to give a small huff of annoyance at what the lady was saying. Looking at Emily, she shook her head. Of course the woman was not lying, Emily had her own reputation among the family. “Hand it over, or no sweets for a week.” She stated simply, holding her hand out and waiting for Emily to obey.

She could feel the eyes on her, she could hear whispers that were undoubtedly about her. Not Emily, not the ignorant little girl that wouldn’t know any better. No, they were talking about the veela in the room. The one with the trouble making child. Of course that’s what it was.

Emily was reluctant, but did yield. As the shiny was placed in Juniper’s hand, she heard it. Two woman talking about her. Their voices, for whatever reason, stood out among the rest. With a huff, she looked to the woman in front of her first. “I will be paying for this, will you please put it behind the counter.” She stated bluntly. There was no room for no, and the worker realized this.

Turning to the women, she walked over, keeping her hand wrapped around Emily’s wrist. Giving Emily a brief glance as a look of warning, she looked at the two women directly. Giving a smile that gave a hint that she was only doing it to be proper, she was quick to think of what to say. “It is not very polite to gossip.” She said, as if she was chatting over the weather. Now, she could play nice, the question really was, could they?

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Juniper is a veela, your men are cray-cray for her.

Lady made pretties!

Esther was a little abashed to realize that the woman she'd approached was none other than Madame Black. She recognized her from her occasional appearances in Witch Weekly rather than from any personal interaction, and that fact alone put her solidly in the category of people Esther would not normally feel confident approaching and striking up a conversation with; Mrs. Black was among the rich and famous, and Essie was just Essie. She was the wife of a cartographer, and could hardly be expected to have much in common with the other woman — aside from, apparently, their mutual disdain for their fellow shopper. The feeling of insecurity at her choice in conversation partner was fleeting, as it was replaced by a sordid revulsion as soon as the word veela left the other woman's lips, and Esther recoiled slightly as though instead of speaking Mrs. Black had pulled some disgusting soiled thing out of her handbag and thrown it in Es's face.

That explained it, then. Esther had never actually seen a veela — or, if she had, she hadn't known what it was at the time — and so she hadn't recognized the one in the store for what it was, but now that she knew it of course made perfect sense. Essie had been keeping herself largely out of politics, but she was hardly blind to the debate that had arisen in the Prophet recently. Why were these creatures allowed to walk about just as they pleased? Even if she wasn't doing anything to overtly hurt Esther or to seduce any of the men in the area, Es wanted her gone, as soon as possible.

Was she coming over? Esther's stomach turned. She felt a convulsive need to check and ensure that Verity was still securely in her pram, and clutched her older daughter's hand tighter. This woman was like a walking incarnation of lust and sexual laciviousness, and Esther felt as though her very proximity might corrupt her two innocent young girls. She certainly had no intention of speaking to her and prolonging the interaction!

"Come along, Gracie," she said to her daughter, tugging her hand to increase the distance between the veela and her oldest child. "Don't look."

  

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Of all the subhuman "sentient" creatures, veela were fortunately the only ones that didn't frighten her in the traditional sense. Vampires, hags, centaurs, even goblins would intimidate her to varying degrees if they approached her so brazenly, but veela - fire hazards or not - were another matter. Merpeople were tolerable only so long as she was on land while they were safely confined to their pond.

Ordinarily Ursula would feel little to no kinship with a woman who appeared to be of a more humble background, but in this instance they were two human women in the presence of a veela and that was enough. She pitied the woman having brought her daughters, a toy shop of all places ought to be safe for children but apparently it wasn't. Thank goodness Belvina was at home. It would be a long time before she even considered taking her to Denbright's now. Veela offspring were not suitable playmates for her daughter.

More laughable than the beast's audacity in accosting them was the suggestion that she had manners or that she was even civilized in the first place! If it wasn't so ridiculous she would have taken greater offense. "Have you ever heard of a veela with a sense of propriety?" The derisive question was directed at her fellow human as though the veela wasn't even there. Ursula refused to even make eye contact.

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Thanks to Bee for this magnificent set <3

It seemed that even with Emily by her side, she was far from protected. Perhaps Andrew should have come as well. Or perhaps papa should have accompanied her and Emily to a non-magical store. Though there were less toy options, there were also less mindless people.

Juniper didn’t really recognize either women, though the more higher status woman, if she could even be called that, was somewhat recognizable. Perhaps she should read more of that Witch Weekly. Even if Willow does, it could be quite useful. Though she would never admit that to the witch.

The very fact that the lower status woman had moved her daughters away made Juniper raise an eyebrow. Well, it wasn’t as though the girls would be charmed at all by her. It was why human woman were utterly useless. Though, human men were starting to typically seem no better, aside from Andrew and papa.

Listening on as the two woman acted as though she was not there, as though they were reading a story and discussing the details, Juniper felt that it was quite childish, and if anything, amusing. It was almost like a game. “I don’t know what your tutors taught you, but mine taught me that gossip and ignoring others is quite rude.” She said, though slower, as if she was speaking to a child who had never seen a tutor in their life.

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Juniper is a veela, your men are cray-cray for her.

Lady made pretties!

"I don't know what she thinks she's playing at," Esther agreed in response to Mrs. Black's comment. She felt quite beset by the inhuman woman's continued presence, almost as if this were some sort of personal attack orchestrated by the veela against her and her children. Why, of all the places in the world, had she come here to harass Esther? It wasn't as though she had done anything to deserve this, and she very much resented having the veela's conversation attempts inflicted on her.

"She oughtn't to even be in a place like this," she continued, making a point not to look at the thing a few feet away from her. "You would think a respectable shop like Denbright's would have some sort of standards. They wouldn't allow a vampire in here to harass their customers — or potentially kidnap some poor enchanted man."

  

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Ursula rather wanted to inflict some sort of violence upon the creature but a veela was not worth tarnishing her reputation over. It didn't help that her repertoire of offensive magic was not only small, but rather tame. "It's a disgrace, I shall very likely send them a letter of complaint first thing tomorrow morning." It was annoying difficult to keep her eyes averted from the disgustingly attractive beast but she absolutely refused to give it that satisfaction. She would not lower herself.

"How long do you suppose it intends to stand there?" A worrisome thought did occur to her that it might change its form and attack as she had heard they often did in fits of temper. The Denbrights would surely be more particular with their clientele if their shop was half burned down by a veela.

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Thanks to Bee for this magnificent set <3

Esther was relieved to hear that Mrs. Black intended to do something about this unpleasant encounter. She might have written to complain to the management herself — and indeed, might do so still — but surely the words of the Headmaster's wife would have more of an impact on their business practices, and go a great deal further in preventing this sort of thing from happening again. That was all Esther wanted; for this interaction to end as quickly and quietly as possible, and to not be ambushed by the presence of nonhumans again when she was just trying to do a bit of shopping with her daughters!

Unfortunately, the creature had no intention of respecting their boundaries, it seemed, and no desire to excuse herself from this increasingly awkward situation. Mrs. Black drew attention to the matter by asking Esther how long it would stay there, but of course she had no answer. "It's been too long already," she managed to mumble, wishing the thing would have taken the hint and left. "I think we'll do our shopping on another day," she continued, pulling her daughter a half-step closer to her as she turned her attention to the door. "When we can do so in peace."

  

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Juniper's nose scrunched up in disgust at the very mention of 'stealing away men'. "My husband is perfection, these men are pathetic, and a waste of time and space." She muttered. The very thought sounded on the verge of disgusting to the veela who considered herself quite pure and therefor all the more perfect.

'It'. She kept being called an 'it'. At least, by the woman with the black hair. It was rather childish. Rather than being angered, it was all too amusing to watch them act like children. Ugly, pathetic children. So much for good breeding. Never once learning manners, the both of them. No matter how much one hated another, it was considered polite to speak to one another, and not speak ill of one as if said person was not there.

Before she could utter another word, she felt a tug on her dress. Looking down, she gazed into her daughter's sweet and innocent eyes. "Mama, why are they being stupid? Will they give me shiny things? I'm bored." The little angel started stating as if it was all one sentence. And that was what set the veela off. Not in anger or annoyance, but in complete amusement. She started laughing. Ever the blunt child, her daughter. Though it was quite inappropriate to speak like that in front of the very people that the young child was speaking about, the veela felt the women had earned it at this point.

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Juniper is a veela, your men are cray-cray for her.

Lady made pretties!

Already halfway to the door with her own child, Esther was entirely unaware of whatever the half-human girl had interjected, and did not even turn to look when she heard the creature begin to laugh. This entire experience had been quite enough for her already, and she had no desire to prolong it.

  

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The other woman, whatever her background, certainly had sense and was fleeing the shop. Not wanting to dignify the creature by honoring it with her presence a moment longer, she felt inclined to follow suit. The reminder that it had bred more of its kind did nothing to change her mind about staying in the toy shop. The deranged laughter was simply the cherry on the top.

Ursula sharply turned her back on the veela and marched towards the door in silent outrage. Mr. Denbright would be getting a strongly worded letter and a stern warning to mind what sort of sub-human vermin he allowed through his front doors. No self-respecting mother would allow her impressionable children to be within fifty feet of a veela. Now that she had finally seen one, she knew she'd sooner trust her children in the company of a hag than one of them. At least a hag was honest about its intentions, and death was better than corruption. Before she opened the door to leave, she stopped and turned to address the remaining customers, excluding the veela herself, of course. "No child is safe here whilst the likes of veela are permitted; perhaps Denbrights would be better suited to later opening hours if these are the sort they wish to serve!" And with that she departed.

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   Ophelia Devine

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Thanks to Bee for this magnificent set <3

Watching both women go with amusement, all she could think about was just how childish they were. Ignoring people, talking terribly about said person right in front of them, it was all pathetic. Now they flee like the rodents they were as Juniper watched on with further growing amusement. The black haired woman made a statement that sounded so stupid that Juniper was not alarmed one bit by any intent given.

With an amused shake of her head, she gained control of her laughter, though a hint of a giggle remained. Purchasing the toy that her daughter had so foolishly grabbed, she raised an eyebrow at the clerk behind the counter. "They say I'm bad, but their manners were no where in sight." She commented with a soft giggle before taking the item that she had paid for, and heading out with her child. If anyone was a corrupted influence, it was the women that had apparently never learned manners. Perhaps they were slightly well dressed slums dwellers, they certainly acted like such people.

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   Elladora Black

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Juniper is a veela, your men are cray-cray for her.

Lady made pretties!