Of Gemstones & Friends

[Jasper Blackwater]

The clear sound of a small bell signaled Jasper Blackwater’s arrival at King and Queen Antiquities. It almost signaled his exit, too—the sight of so many expensive things he might accidentally break made him anxious—but he steeled his will against the protests of his subconscious, and the door swung shut behind him.

The store was larger than it had seemed from the outside, and Jasper allowed himself a moment to marvel at some of its contents: handsome, ornately carved furniture, clocks that were taller than him, figurines and mantel decorations, music boxes and mirrors. His first instinct might have been to call it cluttered, but that wouldn’t have really been fair, because everything was arranged quite neatly in the available space. The whole of the interior gave the impression of devotion; it was easy for him to picture someone taking great care to make sure that everything was just so. Jasper admired people like that, because he wasn’t one of them.

After some of the awe had worn off, he made his way deeper into the maze of curiosities. Still, he walked with a careful lightness that bordered on reverence; he’d made a note of some of the price tags on his way down the center aisle. He’d always been easily influenced by large numbers preceded by dollar signs.

The jewelry counter was his goal, a large glass case so long and full that it reached the back left corner of the room, made a ninety-degree turn, and kept on going. A girl stood in front of it. Jasper recognized her instantly.

“Hey!” he said, a little too loudly. He had the good grace to look sheepish afterward, but he was still grinning widely enough to dimple both of his cheeks. “Hey, Luna! Hi! I haven’t seen you since classes let out! How’s your summer?”

[Luna Rowley]

It was a bit of a special day for Luna, one that didn't come as often as she might like, but she supposed that just made it more special. The day, payday... sort of. Allowance day more like, but thinking of it as payday rhymed and sounded more satisfying. Rhymes are just that good she guessed. Anyway, payday meant it was time to go shopping. She didn't save a ton of the money she got, she did the math, she figured she'd get less than a year of minimum wage from her life's worth of allowance, so she spent as she saw fit, or just plain felt like. Today's destination was King and Queen Antiques, a one stop shop for an older aesthetic of shiny things to adorn oneself with. Kiera's birthday wasn't too far off either, have to keep that in mind as well.

She walked the familiar path from her house to the antiques store, learned from years of getting lost and repetition.The bell had a pleasant jingle as she entered the door. She briefly matched the tone with a whistle before walking straight for the jewelry counter. Furniture, not for a few more years thanks, clothes, maybe another day, especially that hat and coat... okay maybe pick those up today, but priorities! She approached the counter with purpose, and began her eager gazing upon the glistening selection of finery.

She didn't know quite how much later it was when her reverie was snapped by the call of a familiar voice. Was that... she looked toward the voice to find it was indeed Jasper. She had to admit, she didn't think she would have heard that voice until next semester, but he was not unwelcome at all. "Hey Jasper!" She said, giggling a little at his embarrassed visage. "It has been a bit, for sure. And the summer, well, a sky very pure!" She had to stretch for that rhyme, drat. "I mean, I've been about as pleasant as the weather, which is to say, great!" She could feel the awkward wording drumming itself out of her mouth, and quickly decided to turn the conversation away from her wording if possible. "And you?"

[Jasper Blackwater]

The sound of Luna’s laughter relaxed him, and he beamed at her even more brightly in reply.

“That would make a good poem,” he said. “You should write that down!”

He joined her at the counter and peered down for a first look. Rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets… there was an impressive variety of gold and silver and gemstone, and everything seemed so precious and expensive. He inhaled deeply—the air smelled like history in the good way, old books and vintage perfume and aging hardwood—and released the captive breath with a deep sigh.

“I’m glad,” he said. His smile had faded into something smaller but no less genuine. “My summer’s been awesome so far—I just got back from visiting my family, actually. I did spend all morning trying to track down my luggage in the airport, which was, you know, slightly less awesome. But the visit was great! I got a pretty good tan going, too.”

He held out his forearms for her in proud display; they were, indeed, a rich golden brown color, and so was the rest of him. The cheerful bright blue of his t-shirt served only to emphasize his summerness.

He turned his attention to the jewelry again. There was a beat of silence.

“Can I…” he trailed off, looking sheepish again. “I mean, can I ask a really weird question? I’m trying to find something really nice for my girlfriend, and I have no idea where to start.”

He paused again, feeling painfully awkward suddenly; he chuckled, and that helped a little.

“I just want to get her something… nice, you know? Really, actually nice. Sorry—I said that already.”

[Luna Rowley]

Luna smirked at the poem comment. It had certainly been a while since she had tried much of anything like poetry, but rhymes were feeling good now... maybe she would get to writing them down.

Her attention turned briefly back to the display case. She was thinking an armband of some sort might be good for the summery kind of feel. Maybe matching armbands for her and Kiera? That might be a good thing, after all Kiera had gotten those matching... crap Jasper was talking and she wasn't listening, she started to, and fortunately, hadn't missed much, she hoped anyway.

"Glad your summer is going well so far! And nice tan." she responded with a smile. As he went back to looking at the case, so did she. She thought she saw a nice little section of armbands, but it turned out to be just three close together, and none matching. She guessed they maybe weren't organized perfectly, oh well, searching was at least half the fun. Then Jasper posed his question.

Luna looked up, "Oh, no worries! I don't think that's a weird question, totally natural to be nervous about something like that, and want to get it right." She thought a bit before responding, and searched the case for a good example. "See that necklace there? All copper band, blue stone off center? The colors in that feel warm and summery, kinda meshes with the tone of your tan. I'd pick that one, simple enough to not look like a wreath, but enough going on to not be plain. Plus it's cute and just a hair asymmetrical, makes it look new and different, y'know?" She pointed it out in the case as she smiled at him. She was a little flattered he thought she'd be a decent person to ask about it, and she was happy to talk about such things.

[Jasper Blackwater]

If Jasper had noticed that Luna was distracted while he talked, he gave no sign; quantity was the hallmark of his speech, not quality, and if a few of his thoughts were swept up by the natural ebb and flow of a conversation, it was no great loss in the end.

“Thanks,” he said, beaming.

They studied the contents of the case for a few moments in pleasant silence. He admired how comfortable Luna seemed to be; even without talking, Jasper got the impression that she knew what she was doing, because she seemed so thoughtful and perfectly at ease. Her kind words brought him some measure of relief—of course, he’d never known her to be anything but kind—and he shuffled closer to her so that he could peer down at the necklace she was pointing at.

It was warm and summery, just as she’d described it, and he knew for a fact that Alanna liked the color blue. The copper gave him pause, though; all of Alanna’s jewelry was silver, at least the pieces he could remember.

He stood conflicted for several moments before he spoke again. He felt extraordinarily guilty for doubting her expertise when she’d been kind enough to offer him help, but it really was an awful lot of money.

“I like it,” he said earnestly, as he studied the sheen of the copper under the artificial light, “but I don’t know if she likes warm metals very much. She wears a lot of cool colors… I know that she really likes silver, and the color violet.”

He paused in his rambling, having been visibly struck with an important thought.

“Oh! Do you know what the birthstone is for March?” he asked, eyes bright with curiosity.

[Luna Rowley]

She nodded at his comments, "Not a fan of the warmer tones, as a fan of silver and blue myself I can relate. Oh, birthstones? Aquamarine and... bloodstone I think, with aquamarine being cooler of color, not to mention bloodstone just sounds a bit grim for a present." She pointed to a necklace. "There, that one looks pretty nice, almost a pocket watch kind of look, but smaller, and silver and aquamarine." She was leaving off her opinion a bit more now, trying to just be more generally helpful.

She shifted around a little as she continued to gaze over the case. She just could not find a matching set... maybe looking for more of a thematic sort of set would be more fruitful. The case was rather large, the possibility was there, and her eyes continued to search for it. After a moment or two though, she looked up to gauge Jasper's reaction.