[Lou's Gallery] All Forms of Madness (Louise, Ceinwen)

It was delightful to watch Ceinwen's enthusiastic reaction to the gift. "I'm glad that you're happy about them." Louise said, smiling. "I hope that they will live up to your expectations." The gallery owner was still rather confused because Ceinwen liked that section of her shop and the items she sold there. However, there was nothing wrong with her adult toys and lingerie or with an old woman taking pleasure from these things.

Louise had already assumed that Ceinwen would not summon any relatives or friends. However, that meant that she'd have to make a decision as to what to do. She still felt a little uneasy about selling something to this old witch who had occasional blackouts. Nonetheless the young woman could not deny that she rather liked Ceinwen and, naturally, she also wanted to sell things from her shop.

"Such a great party must be amazing," Louise said, "I hope it'll all work out right as you want it. It's a shame that your relatives are not thinking about decorations as they belong to a good party."

While she didn't exactly see her adult toy section of the gallery as a secret place she did not mind that Ceinwen considered it 'their little secret'. Besides the old witch indicated that she would help her find a storefront where Louise could display the items properly. Before the gallery owner got a chance to react to Ceinwen's comment, the old woman already went on. Her initiative caught Louise a little off guard and she felt she could not refuse to sell her the statues under these circumstances, especially because Ceinwen seemed in a clear state now.

"Let me lead you to the counter. It's in the front room," she explained and gestured towards the back of the picture from the British Museum, leading Ceinwen through it. "500 galleons are too much though. 210 galleons each are more like it. If you need help to get them to the desired destination that's free service."

Louise kindly offered to escort Ceinwen back to the cash register in the front of the store, and Ceinwen was rather touched by the gesture. "Thank you, dear, I'd appreciate that. I think I've already gotten lost in this department store about five times now, so a little bit of guidance would not be amiss." She glanced at Louise, chuckled and said, "Well in this case my guide is a miss. Tee hee!" she laughed at her own joke.

As they moved toward the hardlight image of the British Museum, Ceinwen started musing about other storefront options for her new friend Louise. Surely she'd want something that wasn't too far away, so that she could manage both stores easily. Or would she even want them to be open at the same time? She would probably need to hire some help if she was going to man them both at once. Maybe she'd consider letting Ceinwen work there part-time, since she wasn't really doing much as an innkeeper anyway? Immediately however Ceinwen thought to herself, No, no, no, that's a TERRIBLE idea. Nobody wants to see an old lady in lingerie. After a moment, she mentally added, And I'm a little senile, so I'm probably not reliable enough to do cashiering or stocking. I'll think of something else I'm sure. OOOOO look, the British Museum! I should go there for a visit.

Once they were back in the Muggle storefront by the mo'ai statue, however, Louise started spouting some ridiculous indie artist nonsense about 500 Galleons being too much. Ceinwen stuck a finger under Louise's nose and scowled. "Now don't you be trying to make me take advantage of your good nature, Louise. 210 a piece is ridiculous, how will you make a profit? They're worth at least 220 a piece. You'll take at least 450 Galleons from me for the two of them, and not a Knut less, and that is my final offer. If you absolutely must you can consider the extra Galleons the fee for delivery."

She looked around left and right to make sure nobody was watching - fortunately there were still no Muggles in the shop, but that mo'ai statue was still giving her the stinkeye. She moved her body to block the statue's view and started taking golden Galleons out of her clutchpurse. "One.... two.... three.... no wait, that one is an actual hubcap, my apologies..."

Although Louise found Ceinwen to be an interesting and kind person, her sudden blackouts always caught her off guard. She wondered if people who had a person like Ceinwen in their family ever got used to these sudden changes when she just wasn't quite herself. The shop keeper felt like she would never get used to it and frankly she didn't think it was a good thing to get used to anyway. Were there potions that helped with this kind of condition? She'd have to research that.

Department store... Louise didn't comment on this and only offered a kind smile, guiding Ceinwen to storefront. She felt tense in the older woman's presence. It was really hard to deal with someone who kind of lost it every once in a while.

As Ceinwen stuck a finger under Louise's nose she took a step back, feeling rather bewildered although the old lady seemed to be quite herself now. The shop keeper listened as she was told that the statues were worth at least 220 galleons a piece. Ceinwen was not wrong about that. Louise had sold one such statue for 300 galleons once but that didn't mean that she could ask the same amount of money from an old woman who seemed rather deranged.

"Alright," she said, smiling a little helplessly, "450 galleons it is and I'm be happy to deliver them to your party. In fact I'd feel honoured to do so."

Raising her eyebrows slightly, Louise observed as Ceinwen started to count her money. If she went on at that rate they'd probably stand here until the next day. Actually if Ceinwen lost it again while she was counting she might even stay in the gallery until her hundredth birthday. "Shall I help you with that?" she gallery owner offered kindly, hoping that the old woman would not freak out at the thought of Louise going through her purse and counting her money.

Ceinwen glanced up at Louise in bewilderment. "Help me with what? I'm just looking for a cheque, my dear. Aha." She pulled out a slip of paper from the depths of her carryall. "To think an old woman like me might be lugging around hundreds of heavy golden Galleons," she chuckled. "Louise, what a marvelous sense of humour you have!" She filled out the credit slip, supplied the name as "Louise of Lou's Gallery," and wrote it out for 460ʛ 10ʄ after quickly doing some tax sums in her head. She didn't bother informing Louise of the tax, since the dear girl had either forgotten or was trying to be courteous again. Then, before handing it to Louise, she grabbed another piece of paper out of her purse (on one side was written walking directions to a chocolate shop in southern Thailand), and scribbled her address ("C. Conway ℅ Ysgubell ⁊ Ystafell, 57 Maesmawr, Rhayader, Powys, LD6 5PL").

"There we go, paid for and address supplied," she said, sliding both pieces of paper over to Lou's side of the counter and then patting Lou's hand with affection. "You've been a wonderful hostess, Maureen, but I do have to get back to the inn before Trahaern burns it down. Not that he would on purpose, but if he forgets he's cooking while he's checking someone into their room, well, the burgers will definitely be well done," she used extremely obvious finger quotes here, before gathering up the spilled contents of her purse and throwing it over her shoulder. "So long, and thanks for all the fish!" she waved merrily, the little bell over the door chiming as she exited.

Just outside the shop, she glanced over to the side of the door and saw that the dark blue hue of the Gallery was adorned by some type of bird. It struck Ceinwen's mind and triggered memories of old Ravenclaw Tower, and the brass knocker which allowed or denied passage into the common room. Ceinwen paused, and then stuck her tongue out at the bird. "The gravedigger, for his houses will last forever," she shot the answer back at the statue, before trotting back down the road to find a deserted alley from which she could Apparate back to Rhayader. Then again, there was that museum down the road that she had always wanted to visit.... maybe just for a few hours. The kids would be able to handle the inn on their own.

"Oh," Louise felt a little embarrassed. Of course, even though magic could make a handbag full of galleons weigh little, nobody carried such an amount of money around, not even a senile woman like Ceinwen. She offered an apologetic smile as she watched her fill the cheque. Although she watched Ceinwen write the cheque she did not really register that the old woman had changed the amount until after she had already taken the cheque and then it felt too awkward to address the topic anymore.

It felt strangely comforting how Ceinwen patted her hand. That is until the old witch spoke again. Maureen? What the hell was the woman going on about again now? These sudden changes between Ceinwen being herself and losing touch with reality were tiring and distressing in a way. How horrible it had to be if one lost it every now and then? Did she feel like she had been out and away when she got back to her normal state again? The younger woman looked at her customer with a sympathetic expression but unable to master another kind smile now.

"Goodbye Ceinwen," Louise called after her, feeling strangely touched by the visit of the old lady. She watched her leave until she was out of sight. Then the shopkeeper decided that she could as well close the shop now. She wanted to go to a bar, be surrounded by people and have a drink. After locking her gallery, Louise apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and ordered a drink. Right now she was strangely grateful for being sane and yet she wanted to get drunk and forget about the recent encounter for at least a little while.