A Legitimate Job...

[Maya]

I locked the door and leaned back against it, looking around at the dusty little shop space with a wry smile on my face. A week ago the idea of having a legitimate job was laughable, but the moment I had walked past this place there was just something about it that drew me in. So I had contacted the landlord, and the guy was so keen for a tenant due to the fact that the past four had died or disappeared under very odd circumstances, so noone wanted to go near it, that he offered me rent so low that I literally couldn't refuse. I was paying more on my crappy little apartment. Even my phobia of official records wasn't a problem. I'm not sure he would have cared if I told him I dropped out of thin air yesterday, just as long as I was happy to take it.

So now I have a shop. A magic shop. Because even though (as the landlord kept telling me) it could be made into any sort of store, there was an aura about this place... it just WAS a magic shop, always would be. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to go about stocking the place, but i had plenty of time for that. That wasn't the point. Now I would have access to everything I needed to start over and properly study magic, and learn how to control it. I swallowed uneasily just thinking about it, but I knew that in truth that power was inside me, and sometime it would show its head, one way or another. This way I would have a chance of keeping it in check. I smiled again... noone here even knew that I knew anything about magic. Then again the people I knew here totalled... 3 maybe 5 if you included my landlords.
I picked up a broom, and with an oddly contented smile, I began to sweep the filthy floors. This was going to take a while.

[Maya]

After a few days, I surveyed my handiwork. The walls were all painted white, and all the shelving and the counter were black- simple but effective. I had stripped the foul old flooring away- there were definitely section which had seen a fair share of blood in there time- and once the floorboards were revealed I decided to keep them bare, just cleaning them up and coating them in some protective thing the guy in the hardware store told me to use. I had found a bunch of old furniture in the back room... ancient armchairs and little tables that were probably antiques, and those that were in alright condition were aranged in a corner where I intended to shelve all the books I would soon stock. There was also a larger table which currently sat in the centre of the shop... I thought I could make some sort of display in the middle of it... So now I would have to stock the place up... but that could definitely wait until tomorrow. I was at that odd stage of exhaustion and restlessness... maybe I could get in a good slay before bedtime.

[Maya]

I smiled as I looked over my work. The shelves were filled with various magical items and ingredients and everything was finally ready. I wasn't sure that I had everything I needed but the theory was that I would figure that out as I went.

I was finally ready to open for business.