"If you made one of a thestral or hippogriff - could you mount it?" James asked, now in a better mood.  The levity and brevity had made him feel much better.  The growth spurt convinced him the item was not completely useless.  He had always wanted to ride a hippogriff, but somehow missed out on that experience.  James did love flying, enough so to make a living out of it.  Though he preferred brooms, he could easily see himself getting to like a more equine mode of transportation.

Though the dog was getting larger, he wondered if the shopkeeper was trying to collect insurance money or something.  It looked like the dog and two of them could barely fit in the building right now, and it seemed like if it grew any larger, the ceilings would not hold its volume.  James wondered if he should mention this or not.  Since it seemed like more of a problem for the store keeper than himself, so he did not remark on that.  All through this, James was completely oblivious to the shop keeper's hostility.  He was also assuming that the real reason the device activated was because she did not want him to leave.  To James mind, if she wanted him to leave - she should have sold him the product all ready.  That, and James thought all women were either attracted to him or lesbians.  The fact that a straight one would not be into him would never cross his mind.

 

She didn't know his name yet, but Claire already knew this guy's personality. Totally aloof, attempting to act so sophisticated and cool when really they were just boring. Claire continued to pat her dog's leg. She wasn't afraid of the puppy, either, but owners were rarely afraid of their own dogs - even if they were necklaces.

"If you made one of a thestral or hippogriff - could you mount it?"

Doing her best to keep a drab face, Claire responded "Yep." It wasn't true, but she really could care less what this guy did. Taking inventory was almost preferable to hanging out with Mr. Perfect. Then, with perfect timing and form, giant dog the necklace let a massive waterfall of drool slide from his lips -- directly onto the customer's head. After this, Claire couldn't continue the straight-faced look and allowed herself to smirk.

When she responded in the affirmative, James grinned a bit.  This trip was turning out to be more and more productive.  Even if he had not got what he came for, he would be happy to test the hippogriff necklace.  Usually, James was more aware of his surroundings.  However, he was not on his broom so he had a minus three penalty to his spot check.  The dog druelled all over him.  He idly wondered if that was the real prank of these items.  The dog slobber also smelled a bit as well. 

"You have been wanting to do that since I asked for a demonstration.  Well played," James commented.  Casting a couple of cleaning charms on himself, James got himself mostly dry.  He still smelled kinda funny though. 

"So...how much for a hippogriff one of those and the distractabunny?" James asked. 

This guy was not phased by anything. He was unshakable. Blinking her eyes slowly, Claire did a quick incantation to shrink her dog back into a necklace. It had been a long time since someone had irked her so deeply, but she'd had enough of it and needed this guy out. He was quick with his wand, but not so quick to catch a hint.

"So...how much for a hippogriff one of those and the distractabunny?"

There were plenty of ways to dupe this man that instantly flooded Claire's brain, but after briefly considering them, she decided it wasn't worth it. "A galleon and 9 sickles for the defenselace," Claire began, her voice monotone, "and 3 galleons for the distractabunny." She began walking away to fetch the requested items.

James was pleasantly surprised.  Though the prices seemed a bit much for mere toys, he honestly had more money than time.  He might have tried to haggle, but decided it wasn't worth it.  He had other things to do, and places to be.  Laying some silver and gold on the counter, James waited for her to gather the requested items.  Taking them, he began to walk out the door.

"Thanks.  I didn't find what I was looking for but had a good time anyways.  I'll probably be back," James said.  He then realized that he never even gave her his name.  Well, it wasn't like it really mattered anyway.  He could always introduce himself later.