Teaser: Lorleilorn grinning a creepy grin when she got Ryosei's measurements from Eika, before turning to stare at Ryosei ominously... Ryosei experiences a chill down his spine...
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When Ryosei saw his finished "make-over", he was curious to know the answer to exactly how many screws Eika had loose in her brain.
I mean, he was MORE than well a aware that she had a few loose at this point—c'mon, what sane person would set a person on FIRE in the middle of the night JUST to give you fire resistance, let's be honest here—but now he was sure: every single fudge-ing screw HAD to be lost and burning in Hell or something if she thought he had the cash to pay for a fudge-ing ITALIAN SILK SUIT.
He had been lucky to get the full ride scholarship to his college and to get a decent enough job to and have saved enough in his savings to be able to get an apartment AND to pay for any extra expenditures. Even then food was rare commodity, pertaining to one of the reasons why his body fat percentage pre-Turning had been in the single digits.
It had also helped that he had to walk 3 FUDGE-ING miles every single day to the college instead of the bus to keep expenditures down. Money was an extraordinarily precious commodity for a person like Ryosei, so when he realized that Lorleilorn had forced him into an Italian Silk Suit, he was frozen from shock.
What was possibly even more scary was that it fit him like a charm, and the midnight blue silk suit jacket comfortable and smooth to the touch. He liked how the silk shirt was a frosty white and very easy to move around in. The pants were the same as the suit jacket, and the whole ensemble was simple, yet elegant enough, that he could comfortably walk into a high-end party without worrying he was over dressed and then go and hit a Pizza Hut comfortably enough.
The black silk tie wasn't constricting at all, and the inside lining of the suit was neither itched him or bunched up awkwardly; instead it was a silver silk lining that was as comfortable as the pants and leather shoes. With his new haircut, he didn't look half bad.
Speaking of the cut, he really liked it; before, it had gotten long enough for him to pull it back into a ponytail just to get it out of his face. Now, it was long enough on the top so that he could play and move his pale, ash white hair around, but the rest of his hair was surprisingly an undercut that looked surprisingly good on him.
Of course, his wavy hair still fell into his face and eyes, but because of the way Lorleilorn had styled it, he could simply move it out his face no problem.
Then reality set in.
He was wearing a silk suit!! WHY?! Was this another overly expensive style choice Eika had chosen for him? WAS SHE TRYING TO GET HIM INTO DEBT, HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO PAY THIS ALL BACK?!
(Please note: Eika actually wasn't even thinking about charging him anything; spending money on people was no big deal for her, because over the centuries she'd lived on Earth, she had PLENTY of money to burn. Of course, since this is EIKA we're talking about, when she hears Ryosei thinks he's in debt, who knows what she'll do...)
Shakily, and with a very... interesting, expression on his face he stammered, "M-Ms. Lorleilorn, ma'am, um... e-exactly h-how much is this s-suit?"
She had to ponder on that, and with every single second that passed, Ryosei got more and more nervous...
"Hmm... this one specifically? Well, this suit was custom ordered about a month back by Eika from a certain Italian company that owed her because she was a model for them when they in a pinch... hmm... it's all mulberry silk, which is the highest quality silk around, and this one was imbued with special magic to help compensate for your weakness to fire and other attributes... the shoes are genuine Italian leather as well as the belt buckle... the highest grade celestial blessed silver was used in the buttons and belt buckle, and each piece was handmade..."
At this point Ryosei had broke out into a cold sweat. How much did that cost?! Handmade?! Mulberry silk? What the fudge does it mean to be the highest level of silk around?! Isn't silk in and off itself expensive?! It's a luxury item, right?
Yes, it is one!
His panicking thoughts got even more chaotic as Lorleilorn continued to prattle on about the suit and what it would cost in human terms.
"Oh, right, the shoes are imbued with a 8th grade "Quicksilver" rune, so that makes the price even higher... also the suit's been enchanted to it can take on 5th tier magic without a scratch... hmm... I guess in human terms it's be... oh, 10,000 for the suit alone... BUT in the Supernatural world, in human terms, it would be worth about a third of this worlds money in total..."
Ryosei felt faint.
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Eika could be seen laying down on a adamantine steel examination table with nothing but a white hospital gown on, her eyes closed and her pretty face cracked. The space beneath her pale skin was a completely empty void black, seemingly ready to swallow everything up. Suddenly, her neutral expression curled into a sly smile.
"Oh, Ryosei's panicking, hah! Do you think he saw the silk suit yet? I did spend a relatively decent chunk of my money on that suit; I wonder if he thinks that he'll have to pay all of it back... that would be funny to see... Should I let him know or let him agonize over it a bit longer, I wonder... hehehe~"
Rurielles just looked at her with an odd expression, her pretty, farey-like face crinkled a bit as she remarked while raising her hands like a conductors, "A decent amount? Eika, that suit at LEAST costs an entire third of the entire supernatural and human world's mulla, and you're telling me that's just a decent amount? What IS your definition of "a relatively decent amount" of money for you?"
"Anything that nips at at most 1 to 10% of my bank account."
"..."
"Speaking of which, I control about 50% of the mortal realms economy under a series of various different aliases, and at least 70% of the supernatural realms."
"...Que? You're joking right? If you had that much money, couldn't you solve all of both worlds problems?"
Rurielles started to move her hands like a conductor does, and suddenly a swell of music of various melodies and harmonies came to create a single symphony, swelling a rising and falling with each motion of her midnight blue hands. A midnight and spring green glow overcame Eika as the cracks began to regain to seal and the body was strengthened again.
"Haha, do I LOOK like a good person, Ruri? Why should I solve the problems that each world creates? I'm ostracized by the supernaturals because I'm, y'know, a freak, and I'm not even human; I have no obligation to anything for either of them."
"I suppose that's true," Rurielles seceded, "but, how in Lucifer's name did you manage to get that much percentage of both worlds money and economy...?"
A strange, mischievous expression overcame Eika's pretty face and with a seemingly naughty and sadistic gleam in her eyes, she said in a sultry tone of voice, "Oh, y'know the name of the game. A little bit of THIIIS a little bit of THAAAT, and little bit of fun here and there, a few whispered words and secrets and what do you know, I'm at the top of the world... hehehe..."
A beat of silence that was punctuated by Eika's giggles was all that was heard as Rurielles finished fixing and reinforcing Eika's body.
"Get up."
Eika, in seeing Rurielles's shadowed expression, was elated that she had misunderstood her, and chose to follow her commands; it was all a game to her anyway. So sitting up, she faced Rurielles with a big smile on her face as she sweetly and innocently replied, "Yes~"
Rurielles grabbed her shoulders, and suddenly a bloodshot expression of panic overcame her face as she screeched, "What the FFFFF--Fudge did you—*sigh* Y'know, I'm not even surprised anymore... what wouldn't you do for the sake of amusement? Your a fudging psycho and- haaaaaah, okay, that's it. Go, get dressed, take little Ryo and go; I don't want to see your pretty mug anymore anyway..."
Eika hopped off the the table laughing as her tail wagged as she exclaimed, "Okay! I wanna see how Ryosei looks too! Haha, woohoo, let's go, where's my clothes...?"
And so, Eika—after thankfully getting dressed properly before doing so—and Rurielles went to where Ryosei was, with one skipping like a child, and the other seriously worrying over what Eika had done to get to where she was today....
Sh had a feeling it was illegal, scary, and disturbing.
Indeed, she knew Eika too well...