Welcome to Gaia! ::

Someone remind him what he was doing here again?

Grumbling as the thought rolled around in his mind, Dominik sighed and flicked a thick strand of hair over his shoulders. He had lost his hair tie earlier in the day, and now his hair fanned out around him long and thick-- annoying to keep out tamed, though it maintained a sleek look despite what one might otherwise discover were they to run their hand through the long black sheen.

He wasn't really one for shopping, usually his friends were more than happy to do the dirty work for him. But as it was, the elder of the two twin waiters at Searan's host club figured he needed to show a little more effort this time around. A simple apology just wouldn't cut it. He needed to find something substantial to win back his brother's favor, and he had to do it on his own. If not for Viran, then at least for his own peace of mind.

Then again, it was always about his own peace of mind.

Cursing himself for the umpteenth time since he had barricaded his brother into their room for Viran locking him out, the man drew in another deep breath and let it out in a sigh, navigating his way through the semi-crowded area.
Dark eyes flitted over the immediate area as he passed, dully noting the items up for sale. Most of it seemed to be stuff that had been long forgotten in someone's attic and dug out again after some kid had been terrorizing the ancient trunks of useless junk, but there were a few unique pieces here and there. With the money he had on hand, it would be a simple matter for Dominik to pull out, take a taxi and go to a mall or something. But malls only ever seemed to sell the same mundane, mass produced factory stuff. There was nothing new. If there was anything special to be found, it would be here.

Tugging at the bottom of his dress shirt absently, the man bit back another frustrated sigh. He hated getting people gifts. It required too much thought.. and too much walking.

His thoughts spiraling down into a whirlpool of progressively cynical thoughts, the man stopped walking momentarily, whipping off the sunglasses that obscured his gaze. Though the next second, the glasses were knocked straight out of his hands.

"What the fu--..."
Unable to contain himself, Dominik only barely managed to cut off the last of his swear, stumbling a few paces to regain balance as someone ran head first into him. Spinning around sharply, the man's eyes narrowed--... And promptly softened at the sound of the girl's soft voice.

Having grown up in America, it was quite weird to turn around and see nothing but the back of someone's head. Usually, when Nik turned around after being bumped into by someone, he'd be dodging a punch the next split second. As it was, he stood there for a second before quickly regaining himself and offering a hand to help straighten the girl up.

"It's okay..... Don't worry about it."

Despite common belief, Dominik was quite observant. But he didn't need to be particularly intelligent to know that the girl was not born nor raised in the same country he was. Curiosity piqued, the man's lips twitched into a smug smile, easily mistaken for one of reassurance.

"If you're in a hurry, don't let me stop you."

"Thank you."

Unable to hide a smile, Dominik reached out and retrieved his glasses with an elegant flourish, the tips of his fingers brushing just slightly against the girl's hand. It wasn't a lecherous act, but more like an action that Nik was so accustomed to doing that he did it subconsciously.

Donning his glasses, Dominik pressed his index finger to his own lips thoughtfully. The girl's finger tips had been soft, without any noticeable callouses. Not someone who worked often. A foreign student? Didn't seem like it...?

Flicking the pesky strands of hair over his shoulder once more, Nik straightened up and studied the girl in earnest, though his posture and actions were casual and less interrogating than just harmless curiosity. Of course, his height was just a little intimidating in and of itself.

"Are you not? You don't seem to be from here, I agree."
Flashing an award winning smile, Dominik tucked one hand into his pocket. Though his eyes were hidden behind the tinted lens of his shades, the man made no attempt to shy away from any eye contact with the other. She was intriguing, and for a man that had always ended up being with other men, it was a refreshing sort of feeling to find interest in a female. Could be because he had a thing for asian women?

Deciding to put that debate off for a later date, Dominik adjusted his position, shifting his weight to one leg.

"Ah.. No, nothing in particular. Searching for a gift for my brother, that's all.... Though I don't seem to be doing a good job of it, as I either find something he would like but I dislike, or I would like and he would dislike."
With a final smile, Dominik made a light gesture to Mhin's attire as a call for a change of topic, but more specifically to the fan that the girl held.

"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

Amused by the girl's flustered antics, Dominik attempted to hide a smile but failing miserably, simply turned his head half way politely. He meant nothing by it, but there was a charmful innocence to her actions that made him... want to pick on her.

Though now wasn't the time.

"If you're not in any hurry, I would be grateful to have your aid."
Dominik smiled. How interesting! Well, if she was going to give him an excuse to procure her company for a while longer, there was no way a sensible [Though admittedly perverse.] man like he would even dream of denying.

Unbuttoning the cuffs of his dress shirt, the man rolled the sleeves up and fastened them at his elbows, immediately changing his appearance to something more casual. He had ditched most of his waiter clothing, though ended up sticking with the bottom shirt anyway, for it was an extremely comfortable fabric and Viran had spilled tea all over his other wardrobe. [Dominik swears he did it on purpose. There was just no way his younger brother would be carrying around such a gigantic jug of tea, not to mention in his room when the twins had long since separated.]

"Korea? I've never been there."
Falling easily into small talk, Dominik made a simple, small gesture with one arm in suggestion of a general direction and began to walk, his steps severely slowed down so that the girl didn't have to run to keep up. God knows how many times Nik got in trouble with his.... more height challenged friends for walking at a normal pace.

"What is it like?"

It was always quite interesting how Americans were. At least, how Dominik was. He wasn't a particularly forgetful type of guy, but he did have a very bad habit of neglecting to introduce his own name until a need for it arises. It was only then that he would think of telling anyone his name. So at Hae-min's subtle inquiry of his name, Nik completely overlooked it. Not because he wanted to, but simply because it was something that slipped his mind through the flow of questions.

"Hara...ooji kahm?"
Unable to keep up with the girl's words, the man was forced to backtrack for a better understanding of her words. Though the conversation sounded quite casual, Nik found himself pretty interested in what the other had to say. Or maybe he just liked the sound of her voice and accent?

"Sorry, I've never studied Korean.... So my understanding of your words are zero to none."
Chuckling softly to hide a bit of his embarrassment, Dominik ran a hand absently through his hair, not even half looking out for something for Viran at this point. He could do it some other time and hell, if he wasn't doing it, then hopefully Hae-min was.

"I do like flowers-- Or rather, knowing the meaning of them." Dominik smiled momentarily. It was a sort of infectious hobby that his brother had forced onto him. He was always told to recite which flowers meant what when given on what occasion. At first, it was horribly tedious, but then it started to get more interesting, somehow along the way.

"Were you not allowed to go outside?"
Blinking for a moment as the girl went on. Most of the rumors he heard regarding Koreans were horribly biased and not exactly positive. Especially when it came to the rights of women. So he had spent little to no thought on it, but the rumors did take hold somewhere in his mind and being someone who was used to so much freedom, it irked him that someone else, even of another country, were restricted in their actions.

Would he argue? Should he argue? debating the thought over, Dominik decided it was best to keep his mouth shut [For once]. There was little sense in arguing with the girl about the meaning of flowers, as it was true. In the basic sense, meanings were just something made up by humans.

"I see.... Must be hard to live under so much surveillance." Despite himself, Nik smiled. Here was the fundamental difference between his brother and himself. While Viran would be fiercely against such old fashioned ways of thinking, Nik quite enjoyed the obedience of females. Not because of any particular tragic relationship or him having been picked on by women. It was just a feeling he always had. The urge to corrupt sheltered, innocent girls was almost as overpowering as his usual inclination to dominate the over confident and strong men he was so used to.
Of course, the two were completely different kinds of prey and should be treated so.

"My brother looks just like me. He's my twin." The man laughed softly, toying with a strand of his long hair in thought at the question. "He's younger, though not by so much, so our interests should be the same." Dominik shrugged sightly. "Unfortunately, our personalities are quite different. I'm not too sure what he likes, but I know he does like... " Dare he say it to a stranger?

"Rabbits. Plush toys, mostly. But he has enough of those, which is why I'm having such a hard time finding things for him." Dominik frowned for a moment. What was it? Though he was technically 'brought up' single handedly by Viran, it was only then that he noticed how limited his knowledge was about his brother. He couldn't even accurately describe his sibling.

"I guess you can say... He's a pretty nice guy? He's somewhat overprotective, though. And very uptight about everything that he thinks is improper. I see him more often working than doing anything fun, so I guess maybe he finds his job more appealing than anything else?"

Dominik smiled. He didn't seem to mind the abruptness of the girl's tone in the slightest, and the man's smile merely widened slightly at her apology. It was cute.

"It's alr--" Before he could finish his sentence, Dominik found himself being overbalanced and dragged off a few paces. Stumbling, he managed to regain his balance soon enough and allowed himself to be maneuvered to the stall. Mentally, he made a note not to underestimate the strength of Korean girls. Demure or not.

"Eh..?" Righting himself as they finally came to a stop, Nik pushed his shades back into place, studying the object Hae-min was pointing at.
It was an interesting little trinket, in the silhouette shape of a rabbit. Set with a sort of multi-hued jewel where the body was, whether it was opal or a cheap imitation, Nik couldn't tell immediately. But it was attractive-- at least, enough to catch his companion's eye... and now his as well.

Giving a glance up to the owner of the stall, who was doing quite a good job of pointedly ignoring them both, Nik smiled to himself and reached out to pick up the trinket. It was small, about the size of a pendant-- as that was what the thing was in appearance. Though running his hand along the smooth surface and along the silver that held the two gemstones together, Dominik flipped it over in his hand, weighing it out. With his free hand, he took off his sunglasses so he could see better in the shade.

"It opens."

Nik almost jumped when the girl suddenly spoke. She was now staring at him intently, almost leaning over the counter to cover the distance between herself and him.
Halfheartedly faking a grin, Dominik took a step back to further the distance, using the pretense of getting a better look at the necklace in better light.

"How does it open?"
"Pull off the rabbit's head."
"........."

Although it was not unheard of to behead things [Mugs, for one. Spoons with rabbit/cat/dog/you name it, it's got it heads, forks, even chairs.] to reveal a hidden use for a certain item, it always bewildered Nik was to why someone would want something of that sort. In truth, if he were given a mug that one had to behead it in order to pour a drink into its body, he would be vaguely disturbed.
Nonetheless, Nik did as he was told underneath the keeper's watchful eye, working his slender fingers until they had a proper grip on the gem that made up the rabbit's head, and its body...And pulled.
Schhiingg.
The sound was very slight, though Nik didn't need to hear it to know what he had just pulled out.

"What the hell--...?"
He had heard of forks, mugs, hell, even spatulas. But a miniature knife? Disguised as a beheadable pendant?

"Cool huh?"
The girl grinned and fluttered her lashes.

Nik merely smiled and looked briefly at Hae-min.

"Cool? More like down right creepy. Is it even safe to carry something like that? Especially around one's throat?"
Letting the wave of thoughts collide in his mind, Nik carefully slid the mini pocket-sized knife back into its sheath. ...Slowly.

Dominik shook his head slightly in response as well, flipping the pendant around once before placing it back onto the counter with a nod of thanks to the stall owner-- Who immediately began to ignore them once more.

"Perhaps not."
Nik couldn't help a slight smile, however. The thought of gentle Viran, no matter how easily upset and angry, pulling a knife... Hahah. The thought was almost comical.

But it was precisely because of Viran's demure nature that he couldn't get him anything too say....manly. Perhaps cute cuddly bunny plushies were best. Releasing an inward sigh, the tall man stepped away from the stall, giving only a light gesture to Hae-min in indication of where he was going.

"Nice in exterior, though."
Flashing an awkward smile, Dominik fought the urge to sigh again. Perhaps he should just give up this pointless expedition and offer Viran himself as compensation. Maybe the other would forgive him-- God knows, Viran would probably get a kick out of ordering him around for a week or two. Though Nik knew quite well that his own temper and pride would hardly allow it.


((Short, sorry >3<;; /SHOT ))