Chapter Text
Tiana faced a weathered, purple door, her clenched hands trembling. Before her loomed a tall, slim building, one that would have looked like any other in New Orleans if it weren't for the creepy wooden totem pierced by dozens of nails that guarded the entrance. Just as she reached for the handle the skull torches above the door flared to life, their grins leering down at her in the darkness of the summer night. They illuminated a sign shaped like a tophat, the scrawled, haphazard letters doing nothing to reassure Tiana that she was making the right choice.
The young woman took a few steps back, her worn-out shoes ready to flee, when a voice boomed out from the other side of the door. It was strong and confident as it greeted her, a sentiment she found lacking in herself, and she was magnetically drawn towards the rhythmic words.
"Welcome, welcome! Step on into Doctor Facilier's Voodoo Emporium, the place where I can make alllllllll your dreams come true."
The door seemed to creak open on its own, though for a moment Tiana could have sworn she saw a tiny shadow scamper back from the torch light. With a deep breath she forced her legs forward, reminding herself with each step why she was there. The place she wanted to own more than anything, the old, abandoned restaurant on the river, had been sold out from under her. She had nearly had enough cash, had almost been there, but another buyer had outbid her at the last second. With her life-long dream slithering from her grasp she had grown desperate, and this was where she found herself.
If the Shadow Man couldn't help her then she didn't know what else to do, so with a deep exhale she stepped inside the last place she had ever expected to find herself.
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Doctor Facilier just couldn't wrap his head around it. The people who sought him out were weak, lazy, corrupted souls with no desire for anything except to do nothing in order to have everything handed to them on a silver platter. However, the young woman lingering with uncertainty in his doorway was the antithesis of that archetype. Her curly ponytail was frayed from working a double shift, and her worn apron and dress were dusted in a light coat of powdered sugar that tried to hide a dozen food stains. Yet, even as exhausted as she must be, her back was straight and her head remained unbowed as she stepped across the threshold. She surveyed the interior, arched brows furrowing as her weary gaze darted from one strange item to the next.
"H-hello?"
Wide, intelligent eyes drank in the eerie decor of the shop, the unusual young woman reeking of desperation. Whatever had happened to bring her down far enough to seek out a bokor like him…well, it must be something she fully believed that she had no other way out of, otherwise someone with as squeaky-clean of a soul as she possessed wouldn't be caught in a mile of his morally-dubious establishment. With an announcing thunk of his cane he slithered from the darkest corner, the practitioner's elongated shadow the first part of him that Tiana noticed.
"Enchanté, a tip of the hat from Dr. Facilier! What brings a lady as beautiful as yourself to my shop's humble doorstep?"
His voice was butter-smooth, the flattering words sending an unexpected, pleasant tingle racing down her spine. With a whoosh a dozen candles lit themselves, their tapered flames casting dancing shadows on the faded floral wallpaper. The pattern seemed to flicker for a moment, Tiana rubbing her tired eyes to rid them of the image of skulls that had replaced the flowers for just a heartbeat. She shook her head to clear the vision away, then took a few brave steps forward, holding out her hand in greeting.
He was a little too sharp-jawed to be considered conventionally handsome, but the man's height and roguish grin immediately attracted her attention. Facilier's long fingers ghosted across her palm before he clasped her hand, his unsettling – yet beautiful – purple eyes boring into hers. An uninvited contrast appeared in her mind, the face of the ukulele-playing, handsome young man she had bumped into earlier offering a striking comparison. This man was older, and not as swoon-worthy, but there was something in his posture that hinted he would never be a lazy, womanizing philanderer.
"I, I need some help, sir. I, well…"
She pulled her hand back, instantly regretting the loss of warmth, but she needed to focus. Tiana instead gripped her work dress, twisting the rough fabric between her fingers as a reminder of why she was there. He waited patiently for her to continue, his years of striking self-serving bargains having long ago taught him that silence was a powerful tool. She took a deep breath, words spilling from her like shrimp from an overturned gumbo pot.
"I…the restaurant I was trying to buy, that I've worked so hard to save the money for, was bid out right from under me! I had already given the Fenner brothers three-quarters of the payment, and I, I just…can't let Daddy's dream go, not when I was almost there, and…I need…can you…?"
Tiana halted, angrily rubbing a stray tear from the corner of her eye. The Shadow Man pulled a pristine, white handkerchief from his jacket pocket, offering it to the young woman with a small flourish. He bowed gracefully, Tiana's lips quirking up ever so slightly in response; she accepted the square of cloth, her heart skipping a beat, and she daintily dabbed at her cheeks.
"Thank you."
The warmth and kindness in her voice made Facilier glance up from his bow, raising his eyes to meet hers. For the first time in his adult life there was no disgust, no fear, staring back at him. She knew exactly what he was, yet she didn't seem to have an ounce of judgment in her bones. Most people who came to him, while willing enough to pay for the magic he could provide, had always done so with their noses turned up. When they whispered about the Shadow Man it was with a mixture of fear and disgust, their insipid minds shunning what they couldn't understand instead of embracing it. He was a pariah, hardly worth more than a disease-ridden leper in their eyes, but not to her.
She was looking at him like he was a normal person.
Tiana blushed, the smoldering intensity of the voodoo-man's gaze sending little butterflies darting around in her stomach. She had never felt such a pull towards someone, the young woman priding herself on her fierce independence, but for the first time in her life she found herself truly curious about someone – the mysterious man magnetically drew her in, and for the first time Tiana thought that maybe she had made the right choice.
"You're welcome, mademoiselle. Now take a seat, then we can discuss what service can I provide for you in regards to this dream restaurant of yours."
He strode over to a table with two chairs, pulling one out for Tiana in a gentlemanly fashion. She wearily sat, the wooden masks decorating the nearby wall making her uneasy as they glared down at her, and she opted to pointedly ignore them as she scooted forward. The woman cleared her throat, stretching out her hand to return the cloth, and she squared her shoulders. Her daddy had always said that a smile could carry you for miles, and that was the face she'd keep wearing no matter how dire things got.
With a flip of his coattails Doctor Facilier slid gracefully into the chair opposite of Tiana, his gaze never having left her, and when he took the handkerchief from her hand she felt a blush spread across her cheeks. Facilier either didn't notice her reaction, or tactfully pretended not to; the Shadow Man was now occupied with shuffling a deck of fortune-telling cards that had materialized from thin air. She had to admit that his showmanship was impressive, and she found herself having a hard time distinguishing what was merely a parlor trick -- and what could be something more.
As he shuffled the well-used cards, each of the 78 pieces holding decades of secrets in their painted images, he finally spoke what was on his mind.
“So, little lady, what pretty name matches your face?”
His flattery nearly earned an eye-roll from Tiana, but this wasn't one of the obnoxious customers at work she constantly had to deal with. Though it may have been cheesy at least he had a valid reason to be speaking to her, and that was more than she could say for most men.
“Tiana.”
She kept her answer stiff, not inviting room for further flattery, but she didn't need to worry. For the first time since opening his shop he wasn't interested in scamming anyone, a sliver of genuine empathy peeking through a decade of carefully-crafted detachment. He didn't care about anyone, and no one cared about him, but something in her eyes made him want to actually help. His Friends wouldn't be happy to be robbed of such a delicious soul-snack, but he had long ago learned how to calm them down.
With a flourish he sent the cards shuffling in an arc, each slapping down one after another onto his palm with a rapid series of thwacks. It wafted the air about them, the scent of lemon and honey drifting lazily around the room as Doctor Facilier spread out the top three cards.
“Are you ready?"