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In the early hours of the morning, Skyn Tyte receives a package.

"DEVIN!" Natasha called out from the front of the shop. Devin was in the back room setting up the inking station.

"What is it?" he asked back in a sarcastic tone. his partner popped her head in the room and smirked.

"package for ya." she sneered. "Lance dropped it off."

Devin beamed excitedly and ran up to the door. "oh, yes, my new tool shipment must have arrived!"

Natasha gigglesnorted and jabbed her finger at Devin's side. "yeah, and he's walking away now. if you hurry you might still catch him."

"now why would I do that?" Devin asked as he cut the tape with a box cutter and opened the package up.

"so you can profess your undying love for him, of course." she responded.

"don't be silly, Tasha, I'm just happy to have my new equipment. Lance is a very busy man."

"I'll say." Natasha shrugged as she went to take inventory.

Devin got all his new stuff quickly sorted and then turned to the bleach-haired woman.

"you know, I'm going to need to buy some rare ingredients now to mix my new ink with. can you run the shop without me for a few hours?" he asked.

she nodded. "sure. just don't take too long, if we get busy I might have to pierce some people's mouths shut."

Devin rolled his eyes as he walked out the door. he wasn't certain how much she was kidding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~`

he went to go see his good friend, Luca Kuro. he knew that Luca would have what he needed, and he was certain that a deal could be struck for the right price. it would make everything that much easier.

coming to the Gang's office building, Devin was halted by a security guard.

"I'm just here to see Luca. I'm a friend of his, and wanted to buy something from him." Devin explained.

"Don Kuro is very busy right now. he's not accepting visitors."

"just tell him it's Devin. he'll make an exception for me."

"I'm sorry, but orders are orders." the guard replied.

Devin was very confused. was Luca sick again? well, he thought, either way he was out of luck. time to resort to plan B.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

back at Skin Tyte, business was slow. probably a good thing, he thought. Natasha was reading a magazine as he walked in, and piped up.

"good to have you back. any luck?" she asked.

"nope. I'll have to go out of town. care to visit Halloween Town with me?"

Natasha grinned broadly. "you know it! time for a little vacation anyway. I'll lock up the shop."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devin and Natasha were not very easily frightened people. still, they knew better than to walk through the woods west of Durem so close to Halloween. they decided to drive to their destination. it was still light out, and the forest was absolutely beautiful and serene. little did most Gaian's know that the Body Mod shop owners were frequent visitors of this part of Gaia.

they got out of their car just out of town so that they could enjoy walking into it. they made their way towards the first restaurant they saw to get a good lunch, when suddenly Natasha got a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"oh dear, what have you cooked up in your devilish little mind now?" Devin asked her. she simply pointed at the source of her glee.

"Heya, pals!" Lance waved to them. Devin began to blush, and Natasha hailed him over, motioning for him to sit next to Devin.

"hey, Devin, you look kinda sweaty, buddy. bite into something spicy?"

Natasha couldn't help but laugh.

"I was just delivering a package here. glad to bump into you guys. twice in one day is a good sign." he said.

"indeed." Natasha agreed, nudging Devin with her elbow. "anyway, I just remembered that I have some errands to run. but since Lance here isn't busy, how about he helps you out with your shopping?"

before Devin could protest, Lance interrupted. "hey, yeah, I'd love to help, buddy! what are you looking for?"

"wait, but -- I..." Devin stammered, looking at Natasha. she simply got up and waved at them.

"goodbye! have fun, you two."

Devin slumped. it was no use now.

"I was just hoping to buy some special herbs to mix my new ink with." he sighed in defeat. looking up at Lance he smiled. "I'd love it if you helped me find them.

~~~~~~~~

the two of them looked all over the town, but not many of the shops had even heard of the herbs that Devin asked for. ducking into a metaphysical shop, however, the old woman behind the counter emmediately ushered them closer.

"I know what you are looking for." she whispered hoarsely.

"you do!?" Devin asked excitedly.

"oh yes, of course I do. I always know these things."

"that's great! I'm so glad." Devin sighed relief. "we've been looking all over town for it."

"but it's been right with you the whole time, dearies!" she cackled, laughing a voiceless laugh.

Devin was confused. he looked to Lance, who just shrugged, still smiling as always. then they both looked back to the old woman.

"what do you mean?" Devin asked her.

"LOVE, of course!" she said, and held out a vial of pink liquid. "just a dose of this baby and anyone you desire will fall madly and irresistably in love with you. the world is your oyster young man, so whadda ya say? only one thousand gold for one dose."

Devin's face became a blank stare of irritation. the woman just smiled at him, still holding out the vial.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"cheer up, buddy. that wasn't so bad." Lance said to Devin as they walked away from the store. the delivery man was carrying a bag full of the love potions.

"we've looked everywhere, and still havn't found that plant." Devin sighed. he was almost ready to pout, but wouldn't let himself do that in front of Lance.

then, out of nowhere, Lance put his arm around Devin's shoulders and pulled him close. Devin's breath caught in his chest and his nose almost began to bleed. he began to wonder where the sudden affection came from. was the old hag actually right?

"we didn't try over there!" Lance said, pointing with his bag-carrying hand to a wagon shop.

Devin put his palm to his face and groaned. then smiled awkwardly up to Lance.

"if one wanna-be gypsy was a swindler I doubt any others are reliable." he replied.

"still," Lance insisted, "it's one place we havn't tried. worthe a shot, right buddy?"

"I suppose you have a point, then. c'mon."

they walked up to the wagon and knocked on the counter. "hello?" Devin called inside. when nobody answered right away, he tried to peer behind the curtain.

that's when Nicolae sprang out. "what can I do ya boys fer?" he asked, putting one elbow on the counter and smirking at them with a piece of straw in his teeth.

"Nicu-- what?" Devin sputtered. "what are you doing way out here?"

"hey, keep it down, will ya? no need to draw attention." he looked around nervously and gestured with his hands. "now are ya lookin' to buy, or what?"

"yeh, just looking for this plant..." Devin said, handing his shopping list over to Nicu.

"oh, yeh, I got plenty back here. but it'll cost ya. you know how hard this stuff is to come by?"

Devin dug in his pockets, grumbling sarcastically "I wouldn't have a clue..."

~~~~~~~~~

back at Skyn Tyte, Natasha ambushed Devin as he walked through the door.

"BOO! haha! did you have any luck, big guy?" she asked her partner.

"yeh," he replied, holding up the bag of herbs. "and Lance was kind enough to drop me off here."

"aww, how sweet." she teased.

"actually, it was my only way back, since you took the car."

"not my fault you two took so long on your date." she jeered back.

Devin's face went deep red again and his voice became squeeky. "it was NOT a date!"

"fine, whatever you say." she shrugged.

he stamped his foot. "it wasn't!"

"just get back to work." she said, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm tired. time for you to take over, I'm going on break."