Dolls and Puppets and the Strings in Between

[Takes place on Week 14, Saturday]

Wedged in between two streets, one that rose and one that sank, their pavements dusty gray and the sky there dull and melancholic, Eglantine's Doll Studio was as empty as usual. The twisted, disturbing beautiful figures that stood there on their glass shelves in front of black velvet seemed to be Shiki's only company as she sat there on one of the waiting chairs, sewing a marvelous red dress splashed with black. There were no bare dolls laying around, so it didn't seem to be for the studio. Shiki merely hummed.

"Come along my little threads to cut and sew my pieces together," she sang. "But we'll need buttons for the eyes and that will be painful, truly."

"Well, well, well. What a lovely store." Said the ram faunus. With his hood down, mask off his horns were visible now. Jack walked into the store and looked around at the many dolls and such. "This place is a bit...unsettling." "Oh hush look at the pretty dresses!" The two voices said the first deep and angry almost, the other the voice of a girl. "Leatherface do try and relax." Jack said as he looked around unaware of anyone's presence.

Shiki lifted her head to see Jack entered the store.

"Ah, you're here, Mr. Lantern," Shiki said as she stood up, with the dress pretty much at its completion. "Thank you again for coming. Now, may I see your puppet? I'd like to see if it fits alright."

Jack smiled and set his chest down. He undid the latches and kicked it open. With a wave of his hand threads shot to the puppet, and she stood up. She walked over and was about to take the tattered shirt off. "..hem." "Hm? What?" "Look away you perv." Jack rolled his eyes and turned around. "I don't see why not I mean I built you." She just pouted at him as she removed her shirt, and pants. She then walked over to Shiki for the fitting.

Shiki stood up and soon moved over to the puppet and lifted up the dress. Slipping it over her, she tugged on the skirt and fluffed up the sleeves before tying up the ribbon around Krueger's neck.

"How does it feel?" Shiki asked the puppet as if she were a real client.

Kruger looked at her self in the mirror and thought to herself "I like it, but I feel its missing something." She said thoughtfully. She just kept thinking as Jack stood with his back turned chuckling to him self. "Women, everything little thing must be right." He said with a grin.

"Well, if it's the blood, I can fix that," Shiki said. "And this is only, after all, the first fitting. There's still a lot of room for improvement. Do you want any things in particular?"

Kruger looked the dress, and closely examined it. "I love this dress, but I don't want to ruin it in combat. Any ideas how to keep it intact?" She asked looking at it. Jack just sat down, and began to read a paper over tricks and sweets.

Shiki ponders for a bit.

"Well, now..." she said. "I have certain fabric material I use for combat..."

Shiki hovered over a black chest nearby and pulled out fabric of matching color to the dress. She pulled onto a square piece of cloth similar to the red of the dress, however when one looked closely, the fabric was more finely meshed together and sturdier.

"This can withstand fire as well as attacks from sharp objects as long as it isn't directly scissored. I can remake the dress, if you'd like.""

Kruger smiled and nodded at the fabric. "Oh my yes. That would be lovely." She said happily. The wires on her back seemed to move flawlessly and beautiful, from Jacks fingers.

Shiki nodded. "I'll get to work on it right away," she said. Looking at her watch, she noticed it was already close to lunch. "Mealtime will be in a bit and I wouldn't mind some company. We can discuss more about your clothing and other things if you'd like up on the second floor. Would that be alright?"

Jack nodded and retrieved his strings from Kruger and stood up. "It would be a pleasure." He said with a bow. "Why am I not taking my body." "Threes a crowd. Two and a voice is crazy...and I'm okay with that. HAHA!" He said standing up and walking over to her.

Shiki led Jack up to a small loft up the stairs. There was a small loveseat and two armchairs in one corner that surrounded a glass coffee table. A kitchenette occupied the other corner where a three-seat table had club sandwiches and juice laid out. There was also chicken and rice.

"It's not much, but it's all we have, so do pardon me," Shiki said as she sat down. She motioned for Jack to do the same as she began nibbling on a sandwich. "So, I never really was able to figure out how your puppets work. Care telling me?"

Jack smiled as he removed his glove and showed off the small little contraption on his hand. "Simple. Strong wires, and delicate hand motion. These hands do work magic." He said with a slight chuckle. He wiggled his finders for emphasis.

"Fascinating," Shiki said as she continued to eat. "You know, Eglantine would love to see your puppets. She's into mannequins and puppets and dolls. Things that resemble real life but are not. I myself was drawn by the strings and the way you use them. I've always seen strings as lifelines and puppets do resemble that pretty well."

She looked at the sandwiches and offered him one. "Have some."

Jack smiled and accepted the sandwich with a smile. "Thank you very much." He replied with a warm smile. He removed his glove and showed his device he uses to hold his wire. It's thin wires ran down his hands to his tips. "I must agree with you. These wires.....so powerful. Able to give the non living life." He looked over at her and his dead eye showed itself to her.

"It's a pity I never though of adding strings to my own weapon..." Shiki said, and then her eyes getting wide. "Ah, yes! I should definitely do that. Thank you for inspiring me."

Though she was eager to get to work on it right away, she knew it would be rude to leave her guest. She also wanted to examine the puppets a bit more.

"So how many puppets do you have? I recalled meeting two personally."

Jack just smiled to himself. "Three. The other wouldn't fit inside your store I'm afraid." He said with a slight chuckle. Thinking about how that puppet was a bit.......wide. "He's fatty fat." The bodiless voice said. (ooc: Sorry about the short post...kind of tired.)

"What a shame," Shiki said.

It was only around then that a door opened and a pale woman wearing a loose blouse and bandana came in.

"Hello, Eglantine," Shiki said plainly. "This is Mr. Lantern. Whom I've told you about."

Eglantine glanced over to Jack and smiled, though it was partially cold. "Ah, the puppeteer. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Eglantine, the shop owner. Shiki's told me a bit about your puppets. I'd actually love to see them, if you don't mind."

Jack just smiled. "My pleasure, but be warned...they are a bit...chatty." He said as he set his trunk down. He kicked it open and two puppets rose from it. One with red eyes and one with blue. Jason looked down at the two and just stared at them while Kruger waved excitedly. "This is ridicules. Why am I not coming out?" Jack sighed as he looked in the chest. "You are about as clumsy as a bull in a china shop." He said into the chest. Kruger just looked back and giggled she then turned to the others. "Hello!" she said with a bow. Jason just crossed his arms and leaned on the nearest and most secure object.

The one eye of Eglantine's that wasn't covered by her bandana widened and she let out a small gasp as she probed the two puppets.

"Absolutely fascinating!" Eglantine said. "Is this some Dust trick? Are they cyborgs? Are you a necromancer?"

"You'll have to excuse Eglantine. She's most enthusiastic about these kind of things."

"So you use these in battle?" Eglantine asked. "My! That must be hard to pull off! How do you do it?

Jack wiggled his fingers as he spoke. "Magic fingers." As he wiggled them Jason looked up and held his machete in his hand. He spun it around before placing it in his leg. He then leaned back and crossed his arms again. "I have another but he's a bit....." "FAT! He's fatty fat fat." The female puppet said with an enthusiastic tone. "Miserable pissants." Said a voice radiating from the chest.


[OOC: When ever I RP Kruger I imagine Emi.]

"That's a pity," Eglantine said a bit saddened. "How large is he, anyways? I'd love to see him regardless. We have a wider area downstairs in the basement if you're okay with that. I just absolutely adore puppets and dolls. Who knows, they may even make friends there?"

"I don't believe your dolls talk, Eglantine," Shiki said bluntly.

"Oh, but I do!" the woman said ruefully. She turned to Jack. "What do you say?"

The puppeteer smiled brightly and nodded. "Yes yes of course!" (Shit post sorry : ( )

Eglantine eventually led Shiki and Jack down a set of different stairs and into a large empty basement that looked about the size of an average warehouse. Crates were here and there and the Eglantine soon lit it up with light.

Eglantine smiled ruefully. "Now, why not show me all your puppets together."