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Hey all! You know you wanna! Anyways, looking for threads for my pal Akshay here. If anyone is interested, check out the character profile linked in the signature below and either message me here or PM me! Akshay is pretty versatile. He works in a comic shop, he draws his own comic book series, he is a fantastic dancers and simply loves mutants! Let me know!

The kid seemed slightly satisfied with his answer to the question. In all honesty Akshay tried to avoid thinking about that question too long. He was not embarrassed in the least that he worked in a comic store still as a clerk, but it did seem rather silly that he was a comic artist and working in the store in his old position. If anything Akshay should have been a manager or at least an owner of one by now. But unfortunately such opportunities never sprang up for him. So in the mean time he existed how he had to. Maybe one day…

He blinked the thought away as he smirked, looking around at the rest of the comic books. This place would always feel like his home.

A meek sound from Chase and Akshay turned his attention back to the boy as he wracked his brain, trying to think of what he wanted. He knew that this would be difficult. If Chase had no experience with comic books then he was going to be hard pressed to consider whatever it was that he liked. But Akshay did not doubt his ability he had bragged about mere moments ago. In truth he actually was quite good at picking out comics for newbies.

>> "Um... Well... cops are really cool, and.... sharks... bugs... erm... science and math. I dunno. I like going on adventures. And, uh, mutants are pretty cool, too."[/color]

He nodded understandingly, stroking his chin in thought. Those were some extremely varied interest but he had comic titles for each that seemed the most appropriate for Chase. But…another question popped into his head, one that he did not want to ruin the boy’s experience…or his own wiggle room…

“Hey,” he carefully, not trying to sound mean or prying. “You know, since I don’t want to pile you down with too many books, why don’t you tell me how much you got to spend so that I way, I can give you only the most creamiest of the crop I have for sale here.”

Akshay grinned as he showed off his most crowning achievement to the child, his very own comic book. He really was very proud of his own work, and not in a conceded way, or anything. It was just that he had achieved something that few people had every managed to achieve. Though he did fear the success of his “masterpiece” that in no way meant that he was not proud of it. He was glad that he had reached as broad an audience as it did. And yeah, it was not making him a million dollars, but at least he had his foot in the door. And that was a lot more than a lot of comic artists had these days.

But he smirked as he watched the boy look it over. He seemed to be impressed and that only make Akshay’s heart soar. Another fan in the making? God, he really hoped so. He loved meeting fans.

>> "What is a--'Were-zombi-pire-stein Slayer'?"

He laughed, heartily. He was not surprised. The title brought a lot of confusion to a lot of people but to those that got it, they had all shared a hearty laugh. But Akshay did not hold it against the boy that he did not know about it. After all, he admitted that he had absolutely no previous knowledge or experience with comic books. Therefore it was probably safe to surmise that he knew nothing about many pop culture references.

It’s all good. It just meant that the boy needed to be school and Akshay was only too glad to help.

“You see, the title is just kind of ironic. There’s a lot of vampire, werewolf, angel teenage romance stories out in the market right now. You know,” he said as he waved to a cardboard cutout at the BACK of the store of a very pale, very sparkly vampire. “Like him over there. So, this character is gets to kind of kick ALL[/b] of their butts. It’s very exciting and very action packed. And I should know,”[/color] he grinned as he gently took the comic from the boy and flipped it around to the back. In the back of it was a picture of the very man the boy was speaking to and his name underneath the photo. “After all, I’m Akshay Malik.” he beamed as he held out his hand to shake the kid’s. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Akshay had hoped that he hadn’t had embarrassed the boy or anything. He tried to explain what manga was as gently as possible to prevent that. Not everyone knew about such things and, seeing that the boy had never been in a comic shop before, Akshay was not a bit surprised. But he hoped that the boy would not take personal offense to his explanation.

Thankfully, though, it seemed that boy was not too embarrassed by his mistake. Excellent!

>> "Oh, Um, my bad."[/color]

Akshay smirked and shook his head.

“No need to apologize, Little Man,” Akshay said with a nod. “We all need to learn sometimes.”

>> "Are all the books... manga... here? And are there any for older kids?" [/color]

Wow. Apparently this kid really had absolutely no clue about comics or manga of ANYkind. He was like a complete and total blank slate. But as Akshay stood there, watching him, he saw that look in the kid’s eyes. The look that said that he was hungry for more knowledge, that he wanted to learn and to understand the colorful, 2-D world which Akshay lived in every day. Yes, the wordsmith could see that spark of interest. The blank slate was turning into a willing sponge, seeking information in order to fill itself up.

Bravely, Akshay knew that he was going to have to take on the task of teaching this boy. And he was only too happy to do so.

Still kneeling, he smirked as he shook his head to the boy’s first question.

“No, not all the books are manga here. Only this section. The rest,” he said as he waved to the rest of the collection around the store, “are standard comic books. Read left-to-right, as you would normally read.”

But he stood when the boy had given him his next question. Comics for older kids? A small smirk appeared over his face. He had the PERFECT one in mind. He quickly gave the boy a gesture that told him to remain still. Once he saw that he was not moving, Akshay moved over to his counter and fished around until he found a comic. With it in hand he turned back to the blank slate of a child and proudly held it out for him to take.

“This is the first issue of Slaggathor the Were-zombi-pire-stein Slayer! Seems just adult enough for you,” Akshay said with a nod. But not before he leaned in and whispered. “But I wouldn’t show that to your mom.” He winked.

Akshay was still fuming after his meeting with Newman. That guy just always seemed to push the wrong buttons with him. When they first met, he knew that they were going to be the mortalest of enemies. Akshay did not agree with ANY of the shady practices with which Newman ran his part of the store. He treated those he managed like machines and little more. Akshay knew that the man needed a swift kick in the pants, desperately! He hoped that when that day came that he would have the dubious honor of doing it.

But, now was not the time to think about that too much (however entertaining the thought was). He was not going to let Newman ruin the rest of his Comic-Con experience. There was still a whole convention to explore until the auction.

Until the time of the auction, Akshay distracted himself from thoughts of Newman by checking out the various booths. It did not take long for the large Darth Vader to be pushed into the back of his mind. He reveled in the joys of comics, video games, actions figures, and swag. As a matter of fact he had collected a rather hearty haul of swag this year. It was going to be a good year.

The best of this day though, he had to admit were the booth babes. They were always so nice, especially because they knew that he was not some type of freak. The veterans knew him by name as being a flatterer, but harmless and fun; the newbies simply thought he was extremely sweet. And Akshay really was. He knew that of everyone at Comic-Cons, they probably had some of the toughest jobs. After all, nerds could leer quite a bit.

But the reason that the booth babes were actually the best part of his experience thus far was the fact that one of them had actually give him her phone number! Squeeeeee! She was dressed as Samus from Metroid and they had sparks the first moment that they met. She commented that he had an impressive “lightsaber”. Of course he could only respond that she had an impressive Varia suit and that her “Zero Suit” was probably even better…

…yup, match made in heaven.

Even better of all, she was supposed to be at the auction! Which was happening now!

“Squeeeee!” Akshay grinned as he made his way to the auction room.

Once he got to the door, he had to pause and keep his excitement in check. The decorating team obviously decided to go all out for this venture. The normal swinging doors had been replaced by a large metal looking doors that looked as if they came straight out of Jabba the Hutt’s palace. Grinning, he pounded on the door.

A second or two passed before a small compartment slid open and Akshay jumped back. From the space came out another replica from the movie, this time an exact copy of the Door Droid that peeked out from Jabba’s palace door from “Return of the Jedi”! Akshay was completely flipping out about how cool this was.

With a smirk he raised his ID to the prop to show that he had bought his ticket to participate in the auction. Once that was confirmed the “droid” retreated and doors slide open. Grinning, Akshay took a breath and sauntered in. It was time to claim his prize…

Akshay sighed. Of course today would be a shipment day and he had forgotten to sign up Rebecca for it. He was so going to rectify that mistake as soon as the day was over. Of all the days for him to not sign up the pretty redhead for, today had to be the day. Well, Rebecca was going to find a nice change in her schedule the next time that she came in.

…

…When was that again?

He groaned. He really needed to start memorizing the schedules of the people he worked with. It was quite silly of him to not too. After all, he hoped to own this comic store one day and he really could not do that if he did not even know the names and schedules of his employees. At least he was ahead of the game insofar by knowing names. Now once he got the times that they would be here memorized then everything should be a go!

“Sign here!” a burly man muttered.

Akshay grinned as he stood behind his counter and quickly plucked up his lightsaber pen and marked his John Hancock onto the sheet of paper he was offered. Once that was done, he smirked as the burly man heaved a pair of large boxes onto his counter with an audible THUD. Akshay winced as he stared at the massive box.

“Ummm…care to help me move that to that back room?” he pleaded.

“Sorry, I have to keep to schedule,” the man replied and made his exist.

Akshay lowered his head sadly as the man walked out. Left alone with a very large and heavy box, SO not cool! He shook his head. He grabbed the edges of the box, straightened his back, tightened his muscles, and prepared to move it—

Cling-Cling!!

He was startled by the sound of customers walking into his store. He turned and watched a gaggle of young men and children meandered into his store. The majority of them were regulars but there were a couple of faces he didn’t recognize. They were good kids, so long as they did not mess up his shelving or bend the spines of the books.

He waved at them with a wide grin.

“Hi guys!” he announced as he turned back to the behemoth of a box. There was no point in trying to carry the damn thing, he might as well just open it here.

The tape was ripped off and he pulled open the flaps, revealing a fresh crop of manga. Not his absolute favorite but he could respect comic books in a new form, so long as they kept reaching out to audiences. Grabbing a couple, he kept an eye on the kids as he maneuvered his way over the manga section. Once there, a hand full of new issues, he paused when he notice that there was a young kid there, simply gawking at the variety of books. Bleach was a popular title with a long run. He wondered if the kid was a fan.

Akshay smirked as he moved near him.

“Hey little man,” Akshay grinned. “Can I help you find something?”