Jon and Karyn ended up tagging along on Tim's shopping trip. To their surprise, they found themselves in a disused little corner of the mall at a hobby shop, rather than at the Radio Shack.
"They never stock more than a couple types of components anymore," the dark elf explained. "It's all consumer goods. But a lot of the more elaborate model train layouts rely on digital logic, so you can actually find some of that stuff here."
Jon nodded. "I suppose. Probably not much call for it in a normal electronics store anymore..."
Tim shrugged. "Maybe not. Back when we lived in Cleveland, though, there was this radio shop run by a cool old guy who got his start fixing people's TV sets and stuff. Real nice guy. He kept all kinds of stuff in stock just for the few people who'd come in. And for nostalgia, I think."
They went in. Tim began rummaging through the shelves toward the back of the store, looking for the bits and pieces on his list, and Karyn parked in front of the main section of an intricate little model railroad. Jon took a look around the store in general.
It was larger than she'd expected; this must be one of the mid-size rental spaces. Nevertheless, it was crammed almost claustrophobically, such that the slug-girl was almost unable to keep her foot from brushing against the bottoms of the shelves. It wasn't only model railroads, either; there were R/C planes, plastic model kits, model rockets, and even some wargaming miniatures.
One less-obvious aspect of Jon's change that she'd discovered was that the antennae atop her head actually did serve a purpose: they enhanced her sense of smell. Not in intensity so much as in detail; she could more easily pick out individual component scents. This place, for example, smelled like cardboard and acrylic paint, plastic cement and solvents, and a hint of gunpowder - was that the rockets, maybe? She certainly hoped so.
As she wound her way around the store, she noticed that the layout Karyn was observing apparently ran all the way around the perimeter, higher up, before coming down to the table in the middle of the store. What a lot of work must've gone into that...eventually she dropped her tour of the store to sit with Karyn and watch the train go by. Jon wasn't much into this stuff herself, but she had to admit, it was oddly soothing. Especially after that weird nausea attack in the food court...
"Hey," Tim said, some minutes later. "Sorry to keep you waiting; he had to pack some of this stuff for me so the pins don't get bent."
"No problem," the slug-girl replied, staring at the little train going by. "This is a nice enough place to wait."
Karyn sat up, stretching her tentacles out, as much as the wheelchair would allow. "So," she said, "where to next?"
Jon looked up at her companions, smiling mischievously. "Well," she said, "considering that you already dragged me probably twice the circumference of the place, and Tim just finished his errand, I'm assuming it's my turn and we go to the bookstore."
Rachel (or was that Adora?) gave David a strange, impish smile as she leaned in towards the angel-girl. "So," she breathed. "What's the story with the lipstick, girl?"
David didn't know what to make of this. Rachel must know her true nature, yet she was calling her "girl" - did she mean anything by that? What would David think if she did? She didn't know...
"Uh, uh...it's not mine," she stammered. "I-I think it's from one of my sisters..."
Rachel gave her a curious look. "Sisters? And they made you put on makeup? Hmm..."
"Uh, n-no, one of them must've put it on, and it got transferred to all of..." David trailed off as she realized she was spilling a bit of a personal secret, but the devil-girl had already caught on.
"Oh, now that is interesting," Adora purred. "So what else do you share...may I ask?" She leaned in quite close, but just far enough to technically maintain some personal space. "Clothes? Thoughts? Senses?" Her tail-tip hovered just away from David's calf.
"N-no, I...our thoughts are separate..." David backed away a bit, brain still trying to process the idea of having a naked girl in close proximity. "R-Rachel...can I ask...why do you act like this?"
For a brief moment the devil-girl looked taken aback - then her previous attitude evaporated, replaced by innocent mischief. "Why not?" she laughed. "It's...interesting."
Iris smiled as Sarah finished her song. That brought back memories...the time as a young girl she'd discovered The Dark Side of the Moon, and the terrific soulful piece at the end of side one...the mood was completely different, but Sarah's singing still reminded her of that: raw emotion distilled into a human voice.
Or was it human, exactly? Actually, there was definitely a bit of bird-song tone to it, but still, it was clearly a person's voice, not an animal's. The drider-woman sighed happily - a lovely piece for a lovely morning.
She grinned and flashed a thumbs-up to the harpy perched up on the ridge. It took a moment for Sarah, still caught up in the silence after the song, to notice, but she smiled, unconsciously puffing out her chest, happy with herself. That...that had felt good.
