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Miroslav was not quite sure why he had decided to stop at this particular jewelry store. He needed a gift, yes; one that would be sufficient as weregild for a man the normally gentle angel had injured. Miroslav was not always this old-fashioned, but the people he was dealing with rather were, and the forms must be observed, lest he find himself in deeper trouble than normal. Running a tanned and weathered hand through his blonde hair, he sighed and stepped inside, blinking at the change in light. It was nearly noon outside, with all the brightness and glare of late summer, while the shop...the shop was cool and nearly dark. Well-lit enough once his eyes had adjusted, of course.

A quick glance around revealed no shop staff in immediate sight, but the quality of the merchandise displayed let loose a satisfied noise. There were certainly pieces here sufficient for his task. And perhaps acquiring one that was more than strictly required would buy him a bit of peace. Folding his hands behind his back, Miroslav slowly began to walk around this display cases, noting various items that caught his eye for when some shopkeep would appear. A vague sense of something told him that there was likely a demon on the premises, or at least frequently visited, though this did not trouble him. Likely whoever it was would be able to tell that he was an angel, but it wasn't something most others ever picked up on; after all, he lacked the normal hallmarks of the race. No longer did Miroslav have to worry about watching where his wings went, though he moved as if he did, making turns awkwardly and as carefully controlled as his other motions.

While the shopkeepers could not be immediately seen, they could be heard arguing within a few moments. A clearly masculine voice rose and fell as it spoke before being met by an equally heated, alto-voice though while rather low in tone, was still recognizable as female.

"BLOODY DEMONKIND! HOW I LOATHE YOU WOMAN!" could be heard clear as a bell while the remainder of what was said, and much of what had been previously stated, was somewhat muffled and nigh impossible to decipher.

Athan stormed out of the backroom in a flurry of black robes, the door swinging behind his back as he entered the main shop front. Reyna caught the door deftly in one pale hand and seemed to saunter her way in as she followed after him. She paused only briefly when Athan stopped dead in his tracks and cleared his throat in an effort to regain his self-control. They must have a customer.

She peeked around Athan's dark form and smirked. Yup. It was a customer. Oh well. There went her fun for the afternoon. It wasn't often she could rile her employer to the point that he shouted obscenities. How easily he recovered his composure! Surely it was his age that lent him that particular ability.

The demoness moved to sit at her desk to continue working on her current sketch and surreptitiously eyed the customer. His aura was weirdly pure, and he smelled… tasty. She resisted the urge to giggle at the thought of what Athan might do if she were to steal a customer's soul. She had enough sense of self-preservation to know she might end up dead, or worse: a Fiend.

Athan blatantly ignored her in favor of their customer much to her dismay. "Apologies for our ah… lack of attentiveness, and for... whatever you may have heard moments before. Is there something I might assist you with?"

An arched eyebrow was Miroslav's response to the raised voices coming from the backroom; it wasn't really any of his business, though the remark about demonkind certainly did pique the angel's interest. He had turned away from the back area of the shop in an effort to make it seem as though nothing had been heard, and missed Athan's entrance. Turning at the sound of a cleared throat, his blue eyes flickered over Reyna briefly, mental antennae quivering. Given the shouting only moments before, she must be the demon in question.

"It was no problem," Miroslav said, conversationally hand-waving away the apology. "Gave me a chance to look around some." He paused and tried to come up with a way to explain what he was looking for, and why. "I, ah, find myself in need of a gift to satisfy a blood debt."

"Ahh, I see," Athan replied smoothly, "We have many high quality designs that might satisfy such a debt. Is there a particular color or gemstone perhaps that you or the one whom you are indebted to might favor?" Faintly he could hear Reyna snickering in the background, but chose to simply ignore her. Their customer, given that he had ignored the skirmish from moments before within the backroom, he figured would likely do the same. For that he was thankful, as the demoness seemed to be in one of her odd moods.

Faintly he felt a small, quiet awakening. A pang of nervousness shot through him. How inconvenient. He silently pitied the poor man before him, as it would seem he were destined for more than a simple gift to satisfy a blood debt.

Reyna fell quiet, and he couldn't help but wonder if she had noticed it too. Perhaps so given the length of time she had spent around him in amongst the Shadows.

A thoughtful look fell over the angel's face as he tried to remember what sorts of colors or gemstones the clan preferred. "Rubies," Miroslav said finally. "The younger ones, they like obnoxious and trashy work, but they are not the ones I owe." He shrugged then, one shoulder lifting up as if he was entirely unconcerned about the problem. "Something elegant and simple, in gold? I would say well-made, but," he cast a look around the shop and grinned a bit at Athan, "That would exclude nothing in this shop."

Noticing the demoness had fallen quiet, he looked between the two. "Is something amiss?"

"We do take pride in what merchandise we offer here," Athan replied, quite pleased that the customer had taken notice of the skill poured into the designs offered for sale. Most were created by Reyna, but many he had handpicked himself from other craftsmen from other realms. He cleared his throat again and offered Miroslav a genuine smile.

"Ah. No, nothing is amiss per se. At least not that I'm entirely sure of. No matter.." he waved the angel's concern away and strode over towards a case on the far wall opposite from where they had been standing, motioning for Miroslav to follow.

"Rubies, is it? We have plenty of those." He placed a hand atop one of the glass panels that encased one of the displays. A shimmering of runes appeared spreading outwards from his hand, and the glass disappated. He reached for an emerald cut, blood red, ruby pendant that was wrapped in delicate swirls of gold.

"Something like this, perhaps?" he asked as he offered the pendant to Miroslav to examine.

Reyna watched them intently, mostly curious as to how Athan was going to handle the situation. Faintly she heard a clink clink, and she couldn't help but chuckle quietly under her breath. In the case just behind were Miroslav stood near Athan there appeared to be a small wisp trapped inside one of the cases. It fluttered and flailed itself futilely against the case in an attempt to reach the angel whom it had chosen as its new guardian.

Miroslav quirked an eyebrow; there was something going on, but if no one was prepared to elaborate, he was perfectly happy to go along with the charade that everything was proceeding normally. Wasn't his business, really. With a slight roll of his shoulders, he followed Athan across the room with no further comment.

"Ah," the angel said, exhaling appreciatively. He took the pendant carefully, holding it up to examine the stone. "This will do very nicely indeed," Miroslav said with a grateful smile that turned into a slightly worried expression at the noise behind him. "Are you sure there isn't something wrong?" he asked almost plaintively, although the clinking didn't sound especially threatening.

Athan held a look of satisfaction that Miroslav had approved of the design, but it sooned turned into something of a grimace at the mention of something having gone wrong. "Well," he began slowly, "It isn't so much as something wrong as..... something inconvenient."

Reyna laughed outright before stuffing a hand to her mouth to stifle her cackling amusement. When Athan turned to glare at her briefly for her outburst it only made her giggling worse.

"It's... that right there," he pointed at the case just behind Miroslav with a heavy sigh, "That little stone is, well, trying to get to bond itself to you." He paused for a moment as he squinted over at his customer with a look of curiosity. "Can you sense it at all? Hmm.. it's either trying to bond to you, or it has awakened do to the presence of something else."

Once he had successfully undone the first spell, it all seemed to unravel. Wisps hardly seemed to need any encouragement or spellwork from him at all to awaken. It was both good and bad. Good because it meant less work, and bad because he could not control them as he once had.

Miroslav looked vaguely worried at the explanation; Reyna's giggles weren't really helping him feel better about whatever had happened. At least he hadn't inadvertently set off some security alarm or something. Inconvenience was something that could be dealt with, handled. Maybe. Depending on the level.

"Sense it?" the angel asked, turning to face the case in question. He closed his eyes to focus as he engaged one of the senses usually kept blocked. There was a presence there, a feeling as if something was looking for him "I, yes," Miroslav continued after a moment, opening his eyes to glance over his shoulder at Athan curiously, blue eyes glowing slightly. "What is it?" It didn't seem to mean any harm, though there was an edge of mischief bubbling that he could barely detect.

Athan sighed heavily and met the angel's curious gaze. "It is.. a soul that has been trapped within a stone," he answered simply, "I gather them to release them. Typically, however, they do not awaken on their own. That typically only happens when they encounter a person whom they have deemed a suitable guardian."

The demoness in the background had at least ceased her giggling, but there was a bemused look plastered across her face.

The angel listened to the explanation stoically, looking a little resigned when Athan reached the end of what was surely an abbreviated explanation. "I take it that the soul trapped in this stone has taken a liking to me?" Miroslav asked. "I do not mind," he added with a roll of his shoulders. It wasn't like he didn't continuously pick up strays of one sort or another, after all.

"I have only one question, really." Blue eyes went cold as he paused, gaze firmly locked on the man in front of him, the demoness and her amusement shoved to one side for the moment. "Who trapped them in the stones?"

"Essentially, yes," he agreed, "It clearly has taken a liking to you specifically."

A pained look briefly flickered across his face at the next question. "They were trapped by … a man that I once called friend. He…" Athan paused, faltering slightly as he went on in his explanation, "Fell to darkness. A sickening darkness, and he used a spell I had a hand in creating for purposes it was not intended for. It is a very long, complicated story, but for that reason I feel responsible for setting things right. At least to best of my abilities."

Miroslav's expression changed to one more sympathetic as Athan explained the situation, somewhat, of how the stones had come to be made. "In that case," he said, relaxing and easing the tension he'd expected upon asking the question. "I would be honored to assist you."

Taking responsibility for things that were only partially - and tangentially - your fault? Oh yes, the angel could certainly relate to that.

"Is there anything in particular I need to know?" Taking care of a sentient? stone was not, however, among the range of experiences he could claim.

Athan offered Miroslav a genuine smile after his offer of assistance. "I am eternally grateful for your help," he answered. "As for caring for the creature," he went on, "They require from you shelter and your presence only at this stage of their life cycle. Shadows are quite low maintenance until they become children."

He sighed a bit wearily. "It is then that they are troublesome in a way only a small child can be," Athan stated, "But, even then. It is their symbiotic bond to you that sustains them. They require little else."

"That is no problem," he replied, with a small wave of his hand to dismiss the warning. "Mischief is something I am not unfamiliar with." Indeed, if it was only the trouble of a small child, then that would be something of a relief. And a pleasant change, in some ways.

"Now, let me pay you for this pendant, my new friend, and then I will be on my way." Miroslav arched an eyebrow. "But not, I think, to never return, da?"

"Actually," Athan objected, "As you are doing me quite a favor, I would be inclined to let you have the pendant as a gift. No payment will be needed." He offered the man another smile and agreed, "Yes, I should think we will meet again, Hanstha Miroslav."

The demoness who had remained silent, at least for a few moments time, looked slightly cross at Athan giving away one of her designs for free, but she wasn't about to protest. At least not until after the angel had left. She was left with the satisfaction of knowing that a free pendant, however expensive, was a small, trivial thing in comparison to becoming a guardian to a Fiend.