badinlatin | Mal and Tonks go shopping in London.

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tonks

Mal and Tonks go shopping in London.

The alleyway feels like every other alleyway where Mal ever almost fell victim to a pickpocket to on any random Outer Rim planet.

The fact that Tonks is there - and he will call her Tonks, on her world - combined with the fact that he has no clue where he is stifles any familiarity the alleyway insinuates.

Mal looks for a sign or direction.

"Charing Cross Road," he reads. "So...this is London, then?"

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"Yup," she says cheerfully, taking his arm and pulling him out onto the sidewalk in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. Then she lowers her voice. "The wizarding district is through a pub just up the road a bit."

Mal appears mildly incredulous, but knows enough to match his voice to hers.

"Seems fittin', wizards and all bein' through a liquor establishment."

He smiles at the weak joke. He's just being silly.

Tonks laughs. "I s'pose any Muggles who stumble in accidentally could blame the magic on the drink." Then she nudges him in the ribs. "There-- d'you see it? The sign for the Leaky Cauldron? Just up ahead."

Mal nods; he does see it. When they walk into the pub, he isn't greeted with men in top hats waving around megaphones talking about life on other planets, even if that was what Mal was expecting.

They're just...folk. Albeit in clothes that you would never *ever* see Mal in.

Tonks throws old Tom a smile, and he gives her a cheery wave in return. She and Mal weave their way through the pub and out the bar door, facing a seemingly impassable brick wall.

As the bricks move themselves back to reveal the bustling street beyond, the witch can't help but grin at the expression on Mal's face.

That expression on Mal's face?

Something vaguely like O_O, cf. icon. Yup.

"Why do I think that's gonna be the least confusin' thing I see today?"

"I think that's a safe assumption," she agrees genially. "So, where to first? Who's at the top of the list?"

Mal actually does have a list!

"I'm thinkin' Wash 'n Zoe, seein's how Wash already sort o' made a request - he's lookin' for a, uh - a photo album, thing? I'm assuming for the twelve million pictures o' the baby."

"Ah! Right. Well, that's easy enough. There's a stationary shop just up the way a bit, and I know they've got frames and albums and things."

Tonks leads the way through the snow-bedecked street, crowded with shoppers out to get last-minute gifts for the holiday. They pass the apothecary, and Quality Quidditch Supplies, and the owls perched outside of Eyelops blink large amber eyes at them.

The owls are staring at Mal, and for a moment, Mal can only stare back at them.

"What...are those?"

There is some amount of blinking going on for Tonks, as well, before she remembers... well. Spaceship.

"Owls. Birds of prey. Beautiful, aren't they? We wizards use them to deliver mail. There's a few that belong to the bar for just that purpose."

"They're...gorgeous."

Eventually, Mal does notice passersby on the street looking at him like the crazy person he must appear to be.

He straightens up and follows Tonks to the stationary shop.

Grinning, Tonks holds the door open for Mal and ushers him inside. "There, along the side," she directs, pointing him to a long aisle of photo memorabilia.

On the shelves are frames and albums of every type, large and small and everything in between. Tonks picks up an album interestedly and starts thumbing through it. "Hmm. Maybe I should get one of these, too. The one we started for Sunny's almost full."

Mal's quiet for a second as he looks through some of the selection, his eyes falling on a small blue photo-book, little scrollwork and starburst patterns across the front.

"I think this one's nice."

He holds it up to show to Tonks, immediately noticing the quills and inks on the shelves behind where Tonks is standing.

"Oooh, I like that one." The witch runs a finger over the delicate design, and then notices the direction of Mal's gaze, following it. "...You ought to pick up some ink, too, for the lovely calligraphy you do, Mal. Look, there's even--" She picks up one of the bottles on the shelf to show him. "--There's even some that change colour magically, or ones that can be charmed to be seen by just one person."

Oooooooh.

Mal seems to have recently decided that he very much likes shopping. At least when a part of it includes shopping for himself.

Mal picks up a small vial of ink, trying to figure out the color inside. He looked through the glass bottle thirty different ways, coming up with thirty different shades of...well, everything.

Mal's definitely getting that bottle. Color change is very shiny. Looking for a second bottle, he settles on a bright, almost indigo-blue tone with flakes in it to give the ink a pearlescent twinkle.

"Do you have to do the charming bit or is the ink already like that?"

She beams, pleased. "I'd have to do the charming, if you want to use the ink for a specific person. But it's easily done."

For herself, Tonks has found a new packet of self-inking quills. (Rainbow Variety Pack.)

"Okay then." Definitely Inara. The next time he leaves her kooky drawings and she wants to giggle about it to Kaylee, won't *he* have the last laugh.

Giving one last look around the store, Mal seems ready to go, and moves up the to the cashier with a sidelong whisper to Tonks.

"I got the money for this but um...I don't understand the way of it."

Mal had asked the Bar for money in Tonks world, and gave him...something. The coins jingle in Mal's deep coat pockets.

"No worries," she whispers back, taking his things, as well. "We'll get it sorted outside -- watch what I do, here."

They step up to the counter, and the cashier gives them a polite smile, ringing up the purchases and giving Tonks the total amount. The witch pulls out her coin purse and very deliberately, so that Mal can see what she's doing, counts out the appropriate funds. The clerk hands her a small parcel with their purchases within in return, and soon the two of them are back out in the bright winter sunshine.

"Xiexie," Mal responds, then in a quieter tone, "They never taught your money in school back home."

Mental list:
~~Zoe and Wash~~, Jayne, Simon, Lilly, River, Tequila (Yes he shopes for a horse, not that he expects to find anything for him), and Raven, Faith, Ace and Kitty if something inspires him.

"No, I don't reckon they would," she replies, laughing, as they head past Flourish & Blotts. "Bernard thinks it's rather funny, as currency goes, and I s'pose he's not wrong. Still, I'd rather have this than those flimsy bits of paper money the Muggles seem to favour. Right, so--" They pause, for a moment. "Who's next?"

Her eyes flicker over Mal's shoulder to Florean Fortescue's. "Mm. Remind me and we'll come back here for a bit of a breather. There's a pumpkin chocolate swirl cone in there with my name on it."

"Sure thing. Um," Mal stalls, thinking, "Got a couple folks in mind, that I wanted to look for...ah, hell, I don't know what the slang is for it in English. 'S like, joke presents."

Apparently the phrase 'gag gift' doesn't translate from the Mandarin.

Tonks holds up a finger. "Say no more."

The witch leads them down the congested avenue and pulls Mal into a garishly-coloured shop with the legend Weasley's Wizard Wheezes emblazoned above the door.

She waves to George (or Fred?) who is busy helping other customers, and spreads her arms expansively. "This is the place, Mal. Any gag gift you could imagine, magical or otherwise."

There's a lot of toys and contraptions and tricks in front of Mal, and most of it he can recognize. There's more that he can't though, so he's taking his time perusing things.

He finds a Chinese Finger Trap for Raven, all blues and greens. He stops when he sees a sign advertising something called 'Exploding Snap'.

"Wizarding card game," she explains, holding up a pack. "Object is to not be the one to make the pile explode, but don't tell that to Bernard."

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