"This is getting pretty stupid." Alex comments from his usual spot at the counter, talking to the unchanging text in front of him. "Can't you at least try and entertain me?"
Nothing.
"I'm gonna go crazy in here ya know." He continues, acting like it had responded. "Isolation isn't great for the human mind, no matter what some people try to say."
...
"A customer here and there isn't enough. I need someone to ground me here, ok?" He glares at the screen again. "Sure, I'll be fine alone for a couple days, but I'm getting a jump start on this. I need someone to talk to, full-time."
*Ding*
'Oh, thank God, I can stop talking to myself now.'
"Welcome to the Multiversal Pawn Shop." He greets the long, green haired lady that walked in.
Wearing what seemed to be a broken Straitjacket of some sort, the inventory changed to different plushies of some orange blob with a top hat, some pre-made pizzas and a few sodas in the cooler.
"Hello." The Immortal Witch turns his way, her golden eyes locking onto his. "I don't believe you were here yesterday?" She asks, clearly waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, it's the Multiversal part of the name." He explains evenly, getting a sense of Deja Vu. "Honestly, I should have a sign or something." He whispers, thinking up different types of postcards or signs to make explaining everything.
"How much for a plushie of Cheese-Kun?" C2 asks, picking up a large one with a small smile.
"For you? 5 pounds." He smiles earnestly, leaning against the counter. "Anything else?"
"Yes actually." She grabs a basket, throwing several of the pre-made 'meals' in it. "How did you perfectly curate this place to what I want?" She asks, setting the filled basket on the counter.
"I'd love to take credit, but that's just how this place works." He admits with a shrug, holding out his hand. "10 pounds for everything sound good?"
"Perfect." She sets the money in his hand, watching as it vanishes. "Hmm, this place does feel off... Did you make a contract?"
"Contract?" He asks, genuinely lost for a second, before realization came over him. "Oh, Geass contract, duh. No, that's just how this place works, nothing to do with Geass I promise."
"Really?" She looked even more intrigued, leaning closer to him. "Then how does it all work?"
"Magic~" He teases with a harmless smile, waving his fingers about. "Heh, but really, it is something like that, wanna see?"
With a nod, C2 watches as he holds out a hand, a small shine of light coming from his palm for a second, before disappearing. "Cool, right?"
She's decidedly unimpressed. "If that's all magic can do, then not really." She deadpans, holding her plush tightly to her chest.
...
'You know what? Fair enough. How to impress best girl?'
Thinking on it for a second, the obvious answer came to mind. 'But do I have enough magic for that?'
Maybe, but only one way to find out.
"Ok, give me just a second." He raises a hand toward her, then fixes his focus on the empty counter space.
'Make some porcelain first, then set it on top. One step at a time.'
He holds his hands out in front of him, concentrating on the plate appearing in front of him. Imagining the air around the empty spot swirling and coming together, solidifying into a solid matter.
It... half worked.
The air swirled around the top of the counter and did solidify, but to say he made a proper porcelain plate would be inaccurate. The translucent and bluish dish appeared perfectly fine, taking a good amount of his magic to do. The plate shimmered faintly, as if the magic wasn't sure if it was done yet.
"Ok, a bit impressive." C2 admitted, leaning down to the object, squinting a bit. "It looks cold." She comments, reaching a finger out to touch it, only to be surprised.
"Huh, it's surprisingly warm." She straightens back up, tilting her head to Alex. "Not bad."
"Appreciate it." He huffs a bit, not ready for the kickback of running low on magic already. "Not done yet though, just... give me a minute."
She waits patiently at the counter as he regains his breath, straightening up once he's ready. "Ok, part 2." He states, focusing on the air over the plate.
Before stopping and realizing he's an idiot.
"Sorry, one second." He apologizes, reaching out with a thin line of Mana to grab one of the pre-made pizzas off the shelf. "This'll make it a lot less energy intensive for me." He explains to her.
Making something from the air/nothing? Difficult, the larger the item the more intensive it is. Plus, having to use the molecules in the air means something could go wrong, or the end product isn't what you're expecting-
Anyway, it'll be easier with the pizza here.
Focusing on the box, he imagines it all fading away, breaking apart at the atomic level. He 'sees' it flowing over to the plate, reassembling together on it as its molecules continue to move at fast speed.
C2 watches the box of pizza disintegrate, surprise and disappointment welling up in her at the sight. Sure, making something disappear is cool, but she would've eaten that...
Then her emotions change to amazement as the air shimmers on the translucent plate, the pizza dropping slightly to land on the surface as steam rolls off. The cheese looked nice and stringy, nothing burnt or overcooked, just a lovely slice of cheese pizza.
She grabs it without thinking, taking a small bite.
Perfection.
"Mmm, that's a good magic trick." She compliments, already halfway through the slice. "You should teach me how to do that."
The world would shift if C2 could conjure pizza whenever she wanted to...
'Wait, can I teach her?'
He looks at the objective given to him by the system, to sell or trade of value up to 100,000. But can he trade knowledge as well? Can he trade magic itself?
*Owner can trade Spiritual Energy after the Shop has been upgraded*
He stares at the message, calming himself down.
"Ok, I'd love to show you how to do that." He tells C2 as she finishes off the crust, gaze snapping onto him in interest. "But I can't right now, it's not something I can actually sell yet."
"Yet?" She catches his word choice. "So, when can you 'sell' it?"
"Need to make more sales, so give me some time." He tells her, not giving an actual time recommendation.
'I don't know if time runs normal in their universe yet, need to ask a previous customer next time they shop.'
She nods, then turns and leaves the store in silence.
She'll be back.
Alex turns to the message box. "So, you'll answer that question, but not the others I ask you?" He demands.
Silence.
He narrows his eyes at it, almost willing it to give him something to work with.
To no avail.
With a sigh, he drops his gaze, looking back to the door and ignoring the box altogether.
*Ding*
"Welcome to the Multiversal-"
"How is a Human here?" He's cut off, a small drone appearing at his counter, metal finger in his face.
With a round head and small body, the female drone looks up to him with her purple eyes, similar color hair covering half of her face. With a punk, or emo, aesthetic about her as she glares at him.
"Uzi?"