Wand-ing To Talk To You

Kirby strolled down Diagon Alley, fiercely ignorant of the ruckus he was causing. Dressed like a clown, Kirby still had the ability to turn heads. Women could not help but be attracted to Kirby; he had a foreign aura, a shroud of mystery draped over him, and a nice look. And men were impressed by him. Kirby was indifferent to all of them. This was not his home, and these were not his people. He would have been gone long ago, had it not been for Emmeline.

He had stopped by the apothecary, to see if they had ordered the items he wanted to experiment with; or at least, give to the Lupins to experiment with. The Lupins were alright; they were helping Emmeline, at least, which qualified them for some respect. However, the apothecary clerk had rudely reminded him that nothing had arrived. Now this man had disrespected Kirby before. So Kirby pay or may have not tossed a lit cigarette onto one of the man's plants. The man had saved it, yes, but his tone had changed.

Kirby supposed he would go down for a drink at the Leaky, and he strolled down that way. However, as he walked, a word caught his eye. He looked up and saw it. Marcheti. He stopped. It had to be that Aaron fellow he had met down in Hungary, the wand enthusiast at the wand expo- of course, Kirby had been the only person there who was not a wand enthusiast. Had to be Aaron- how many other Marcheti's were in the wand business.

He walked inside and stepped up to the counter, leaning on his elbow. He dinged the bell and turned, his back leaning against the counter. A box caught his eye and he pushed away, opening the cardboard lid and peering inside. A shipment of wand boxes, perhaps? Huh.

Aaron let out another fit of coughs, this one making him double over and forcing him to stop his stroll up the stairs. He could feel his body getting weaker and weaker every day and the illness was starting to become a problem for him. His fever was fluctuating up and down and he had even found himself hallucinating on occasion. It was starting to get to him and if he did not do something quick he was not going to be able to be on his own anymore. His fit of coughs ended and he let out a loud groan, leaning against the handrail that lead up to his room above the wand shop.

He had been trying, in vain, to figure out a cure for the illness. His best idea yet was trying to create the perfect healing wand and get it into the hands of a great healer. All of St Mungo's knew what he was doing and he had direct contact with a few of the healers there. He had made a bargain with them that if he could get a wand to cure, or at least halt the illness, they would cure him first. It was selfish but he did not care for others in the first place. He, admittedly, would not be working day in and day out if he had not contracted the illness in the first place.

He started up the stairs but he was distracted when he heard his bell ring. He stopped and looked at the stairs in front of him, wondering if he wanted to answer the call, but knowing he was going to. He had to, he was running a business and without his business he would not be able to fund everything he was trying to do. He quickly gathered himself and he made his way down the stairs quickly and quietly, wanting to see who was there before they noticed him.

He rounded a corner and spotted a man who was at the counter looking into a recent shipment of wands he had received. A small grin came over his face when he looked at the mans attire and when he got a glimpse of his face he realized who it was. He only stuck out in his mind because they had met at a recent convention and the man had never been to a wand convention before. Aaron had found it so intriguing because he rarely met a random bystander who showed interest in his wands.

"Those," Aaron said while bringing himself into view. "Are wands with Laramar powder in them. They are extremely rare and extremely expensive." He smirked and he reached into the bow and pulled one of the wands out and examined it. All the wands were the same link, as they had not been completed yet, and they were all extraordinarily long and smooth. "They come from the Carribean sea and are exceptional with healing magic." He showed off the wand a little bit longer before placing it on the counter in front of him.

"What brings you to my shop Kirby."

Kirby listened, continuing to look into the depths of the box before dropping the lid as his acquaintance finished up his explanation. Kirby allowed for an indulgent smile. "I really have no knowledge on Laramar wands." He shrugged. Kirby thought wandmaking was a rather noble profession, really, but his actual interest had been satisfied after randomly attending the wand convention, the one where his path had crossed Aaron's.

Aaron asked what brought Kirby there and again, the dark-haired man shrugged, approaching the counter and leaning on it. "Ah. You know. My whims and the wind. Just sort of blew me in here." Kirby grinned. Something Aaron had said about the wands struck a chord in Kirby suddenly. His face reflected the change and as his brow furrowed, and he turned and peeked into the box. "You said they were healing wands?" He straightened up. "How powerful?"

Aaron kept his eyes locked on Kirby the entire time they were speaking. It was how Aaron operated, he loved to give direct eye contact to people because it was a sign of a confident man. It had different effects on different people. A businessman, for example, saw it as a sign of respect to never break off eye contact. It showed that the other person was interested and listening to what he had to say. On the other hand there were people who did not like eye contact. It made them nervous and it was almost like the other person was staring through them or had a sinister motive.

"Not many people do, they are very rare." He glanced at the wand he was holding, it was an as wand that had the Laramar Powder as its core. Every wand was different, Aaron had ordered many, under the hopes that one would be powerful enough to help him out. "They are extraordinarily hard to get because it can only be found off the coast of one island." He continued to look at the wand before he set it down again and looked back at Kirby. "I had to pay a high price for these." He smirked and then replaced the wand in the box, grabbed it, and put it under the counter.

Before he put it in the box he noticed that Kirby perked up and looked into the box. Aaron squinted his eyes and when Kirby perked up and asked him how powerful they were, he was hesitant to tell him. He had not revealed what he was doing to many people yet, he did not want to garner the attention of the general population, because they were all idiots. Aaron was great at reading people, though, and he looked over Kirby trying to figure out if he was generally interested or just another one of the healer spies sent in to see how he was coming along.

He did not peg Kirby as the type of person to work for someone like that, especially something so petty, so after a few moments he decided it could not hurt to revel some of the information to him. "Wands are not like most things. A typical person looks at a wand type and thinks that it must have some level of power that they can label it with. You see these wand cores are typically good for healing but that does not make its sole purpose a wand that heals. A carpenter can go out and build a house, a sturdy house, and he knows it is sturdy because he has done it over and over again. He knows what tools to use to make it sturdy and when he is finished he can test his house out."

"A wand maker does not have this luxury. You see every wand is different. Your wand was made before you had ever seen it and yet it knew it belonged to you. It could have been created years, decades, before you were even born but it knew it was your wand. Every wand varies in power and strength and while some wands can be immensely powerful, they must be in the hands of its wielder. Now, that is not to say that a wand cannot be powerful in the hands of someone it does not belong too, that depends not only on the skill of the person wielding it, but the knowledge that the wielder has of wands."

He smiled and realized he had gone on a rant about wands to someone who probably did not care to much. He leaned forward and decided he would give him the simple answer. "But, in short, very powerful."

Kirby opened one of the boxes and pulled out a wand as Aaron spoke of the qualities and characteristics of the slender piece of wood. He traced patters on the wood and then held it aloft, as though ready to cast a spell. He closed his eyes, waiting. Then he felt the magic from the wand reaching into his own fingertips. Very unique indeed, with a tough of magic so palpable. Kirby opened his eyes, still listening intently, and carefully placed the wand back where it belonged.

He turned and faced Aaron for the remainder of the man's explanation and description of the wand. Aaron wrapped up and Kirby nodded. His dark eyes glanced back down at the box, his fingers softly touching one of the cardboard flap. "Powerful," he repeated. He looked upward, thinking, as though what he wanted to say next might be written somewhere on the ceiling.

Finally he dropped his gaze and, catlike, paced to the other side of the room before turning to look at Aaron. With a light, casual smile he said, "And what purpose will these serve? Are you hoping to relieve some of the pains St Mungo's has been having?" Anyone who had been in town a day knew Mungo's was overflowing from this strange new ailment.

Aaron could tell the illness was afflicting him just as much as it was hurting Aaron himself. The way he asked questions and by how fascinated he was by them lead him to believe it as such. Again Aaron found himself wondering if he should divulge him with any information but he seemed harmless enough. He did not seem like the type of person who was going to trade or sell any information that Aaron gave him.

"I am hoping to relieve some pains of my own." He said with a smirk and raised his sleeve to reveal the green that had been forming on him. He let his sleeve drop and then he looked up at Kirby. "I will help them, yes, but my own tail comes before everyone elses. I do not try and act like I am a team player or some sort of saint, I would rather myself be alive than someone I have never met before."

Kirby's eyes met Aaron's. Here was a men with Kirby's very goal- same determination, and a strong will and motivation to succeed. Kirby needed to be around people who currently had his purpose. He and Emme had been staying with their friends, but when he found their apparent disinterest in the state of their little world that he found himself avoiding them in the cramped flat. He slept the hours they were up and about- he enjoyed the flat when they slumbered. But maybe he had found a kindred spirit.

"Healers seem to think they are on the path to a cure with potions. They need some key ingredients, however, and have been sending me on wild goose hunts around the world trying to gather bits and pieces for their experiments." Kirby turned and looked out the window of the shop. "My partner has a serious affliction of it. I have not seem to have caught it yet. But she needs immediate healing. She's on the brink of death."