Chapter 21: Words & Truth
Misha held out the talisman to Melody and tried to act confident.
The girl’s hesitant hand moved towards it then stopped. "I..."
Coral said something to her that Misha guessed meant something like ’Just take it’. When she didn’t, Coral took it upon herself to grab the talisman and shove it into her quiet friend’s hands. "It’s free right?" she said to Misha.
Without waiting for a reply, she shooed Melody to the back of the shop where Misha could see a small shrine was set up for some deity - probably a money god.
Melody said something to Coral, but the latter patted her on the back and pointed around at the shrine. Eventually Melody relented and stuck the talisman on the inner side of the box near the red, electric candles.
"I don’t get it."
Misha jumped and turned to find Bran standing right next to him. He put a hand to his chest to calm his beating heart.
"When’d you get here?" he asked.
"A while ago," Bran replied. He turned to Misha. "I don’t get it. Do you like older women, or younger women?"
Misha nearly tackled him into one of the bookshelves. "They’re kids," he said through gritted teeth.
"They’re teenagers," said Bran.