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 Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:39 am
Amon considered this, mentally going over the appointments he'd been booked for for the next few days – the ones he was able to remember on top of his head. Which was pretty much all of them, really. It paid off to stay on top of your schedule and remain organized, so he usually made a point to memorize as much of it as possible.
“I’m usually pretty busy towards the weekend,” he admitted reluctantly. “But that also means I’ll have to drop off Nephrite to stay with Athan on several days anyway – she can’t possibly come to work with me.” He laughed, making no mention as to what his ‘job’ actually pertained. Most Gaians were pretty laid back, but with Hugo, there was no way of telling just what set of morals he might have grown up with as he hailed from a completely different world. “It would have to be some time in the mornings.” He accepted the card, looking it over briefly before he put it away. “I’ll give you a call,” he said, deciding against giving his own card.
‘Will you buy me a gift?’ Nephrite inquired, apparently still pretty comfortable hugging Hugo’s arm. But her touch was light as the silk gowns she wore, so it was not a bother.
“Maybe,” Amon replied warily. The things Nephrite took a fancy of had a tendency to be ******** expensive. Plus, he’d already bought her that mirror.
Nephrite nodded, content. ‘I like the fabric market best,’ she told Hugo. ‘And where they sell herbs, and where they sell perfumes and incense.’
“That’s a pretty odd thing about her,” Amon elaborated. “I mean, obviously she doesn’t have a nose, but she can still smell stuff. She’s pretty amazing at it, actually. Athan's told me it’s very unique and unusual – to his knowledge none of the other fiends do have a sense of smell.”
Nephrite beamed. She liked it when Amon told other people just how special she was!
They entered the narrow alley which featured most of the antique stores, offering a broad range of items from jewelry to grandfather clocks, rugs and furniture, painting, evening gowns from a century past, even artifacts from private archeological digs.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 3:29 pm
"It is unusual. It is too bad there are no plants from my world here. We have some very fragrant ones that I am sure you would like, Neph. If I ever find one that has made it here, I will see that you get it." Hugo nodded. "And obviously she knows how to get her way." He grinned slightly as he winked at her, then watch Amon. He glanced over at Obli a moment when he felt something on his shoulder.
The wisp had moved from his hand to his shoulder. He clung to the shirt's collar, a tendril playing with the chain around Hugo's neck. He seemed content for the moment.
He nodded at Amon finally replying about the time to see Athan and get information. "Anytime that day works for me. I have the day off and the next two after that." Looking around as they passed the various piles of antiques, Hugo admitted. "This stuff fascinates me. I guess because as you said, our culture is so sterile. Nothing is ever reused. It is broken down and remelted or remanufactured into something entirely different. There are few... " he thought for a moment. "... heirlooms I believe is the word for them. Some small momento that managed to survive, but everything changed after that last set of wars we had. My planet is lucky it did not destroy itself."
Placing his hand on one of the rugs, he said, "Sarai gave me a rug similar to this when I moved out. The color is quite exquisite with a burnished red and gold with some black to it. And there are a few other things. I will admit that when I went to buy dishes, I overdid it with color. Our color pales in consideration. There is so much I would change if I ever return. Though I'm sure I will be unable to. Your world has no such vein of stone and I'm certain that was what caused my transfer to here." The softness and color spoke of quality, just like the one she had given him. He might have to get another rug or two. He liked them.
Picking up an old pocket watch, Hugo turned it over in his fingers . It intrigued him for a moment until he understood what it was. It seemed to not be working, but then Hugo had no clue that it was a wind-up watch from long ago when men wore pocketwatches on chains. "This is a timepiece, no? Is this broken?" he asked Amon. "It is rather unusual. We do not keep time in such a way. Our activities are planned out. A machine reminds us when we need to leave but if we have nothing scheduled, there is no indication. I am not sure I am explaining that properly. We do not pay attention to the passage of time."
Interested Obli slipped down Hugo's arm to investigate the item in Hugo's hand. His tendrils touched it wrapping around for a moment, then he moved on to explore the other items on display. He did not remain there long but moved back to Hugo's wrist, a tendril touching the watch still.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:50 pm
‘It’s a promise then,’ Nephrite declared, conveying through her touch just how pleased she was about the prospect, her patterned tail twirling happily through the air.
“What she means to say,” Amon explained dryly, “is, you’re doomed now. Because from now on she’s going to nag you if you found one already every single time you meet her.”
‘You make it sound like I’m annoying,’ Nephrite complained, her tail twitching a little. What he doing that for, trying to give a bad impression of her?
“Well, you can be.” Amon smirked, making it a point to walk on Hugo’s other side. Last time he’d riled her up for fun she’d actually tried to scratch his face. Which was just about the last thing he needed. She definitely was becoming more and more teenager-y in her behavior.
‘Tsk!’ Nephrite made, her tail flicking like a whiplash once as she looked away from her guardian, determined to ignore him from now on.
“Sounds like your world is pretty low on resources,” Amon mused. To take recycling to such extremes … It seemed like that world was cannibalizing itself over and over again. He couldn’t possibly imagine wanting to live there, even less than before now.
“Here’s another reason you ought to be talking to Athan – he might just be able to get you back home.” Amon licked his lips nervously before he continued. “See, he’s a magic-user,” he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. Nephrite quirked a delicate brow at him actually using the term Athan kept insisting upon, but he ignored it. It was one thing to try and annoy the proprietor of Twilight Designs for the hell of it (something he usually came to regret sooner rather than later); but he actually respected the man a great deal. “I know he travels all over the place to find these stones,” he motioned at Oblivion, “by the means of portals.”
He curiously peered over Hugo’s shoulder, and eventually took the watch from his hands, turning it over. “That one’s a purely mechanical model, I think,” he said. “It certainly looks old enough. Those were spring powered, and I don’t think it’s an automatic, so … You’d have to wind it up. Like that.” He said, demonstrating the mechanism and hoping the watch was indeed still in working condition. Apparently it was, as the second hand merrily began ticking away immediately.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:07 pm
A grin crossed Hugo's face as he watched Nephrite and Amon. It was obvious there was affection there. And he was quite certain both would deny it if he teased them about it.
He watched Amon, a thoughtful frown on his face. Suddenly Hugo was not entirely certain he wanted to go home. The man glanced around the bazaar at all the people, at the colors, and at the vibrancy of life in this place. Athan could very well open a portal for him and send him home. If as Amon stated Athan was looking for these stones, would he insist on keeping Oblivion if he sent Hugo back? He had gotten used to the wisp being around and perhaps Obli would be different than he had been in his previous life. Maybe it would take his influence.
The wisp still clung to Hugo's wrist for a long moment. Then he moved down to the jewelry as if searching for something. His tendrils touched the pieces on the table one after another. As if not finding what he wanted, the wisp moved a short distance away, gliding up the side of a mirror and touching the carved relief on the side as he went.
"Magic-user." he nodded. "It makes sense then that he would be the one searching for the stones. If he can open portals then I should see this Athan." he agreed scowled, his head half in shadow and half in light making his hair both colors. "As soon as possible. But about returning to my world, I am not entirely certain of that now. If he can open a portal at anytime, then I could remain awhile. There are still things I would like to see." Shaking his head, he swept his hand across in front of him. "The life here is so different than on my world. I would be a fool not to learn what I can while I can. Perhaps even start a revolution of sorts when I return home." His lips twitched upwards. "One never knows."
He watched Amon carefully as he wound the watch. "Then it does work." He could hear the ticking of the mechanisms in the timepiece. "It would be simple to take care of. And help me deal with the concept of time here. Which one would you suggest if I buy one? This one or another sort. I will admit that I know nothing of them, but I do like that one's design. I suppose it could be my first attempt at haggling." Suddenly Hugo was happy he had run into Neph and Amon. This was definitely more fun and he was learning things he needed to know.
Oblivion moved from the mirror to the nearby table. Again he touched the pieces of jewelry there as if searching. And once more finding nothing, he glided away. This time he moved back to Hugo to hover on his shoulder. Whatever it was, he had not found it and he seemed annoyed he had not done so.
"Well, Neph, keep in mind that it was a rare occurrence for me to be here and I am sure that any blossoms that are here, it would be the same for them. I will look really hard if you promise not to ask more than three times. If you ask more than three times, then you have to find something for me." He turned, holding out his hand for her to shake it to show she was accepting his terms. "Deal?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 12:58 pm
Nephrite observed Obli’s behavior curiously. There seemed to be purpose to his meanderings before he returned, and it intrigued her, especially since he seemed to be so interested in jewelry of all things. ‘Are you looking for something?’ she asked, directing her thoughts at the little wisp alone. She knew it was too small yet to focus its thoughts, and she wasn’t even sure it was able to understand her. Still, it was worth trying. ‘Is there something you’d like?’ She generally liked receiving gifts, but occasionally she could be generous herself. And she hadn’t spent any of her allowance yet.
And, whaaaaaaaaat, what was it with setting up rules about reminding him of his promise? Her delicate brows knitted into a frown as she peered up at Hugo. ‘Not acceptable,’ she huffed, her looks darkening even more when she sensed her guardian’s amusement.
“Well, even if you chose to stay here for a while, you could at least let people back home know where you are, and that you are well? You mentioned you were working as a substitute teacher – your employer, your pupils, they surely must be concerned?” Amon shrugged. It was none of his business really, so he left it at that.
“As for the watch … just be aware you’ll have to regularly wind it up and occasionally to reset the time. What with the changing tension of the springs these never are 100% accurate. It’s a nice collector’s piece from what I can tell, no idea what it might be worth though … You know there are those people who get into watch repairs as a hobby? I’d never have the patience for it, though.”
He looked over the other watches displayed on the table – all of them looked to be clean, no stains, no dust, very little oxidation. A good sign, meaning these probably all were in working order. “If you like that one, go for it,” he said, lowering his voice as he took note the shop owner had taken notice of them and was about to get up from his seat in the shadows to join them. “Just, whatever the price the seller asks for, try to get as close to 50% of it as you can.”
“And if you want a watch that’s accurate and avoid having to wind it up I’d get a modern one, battery run or at least automatic,” he added, raising his voice to a normal level again. That ought to give Hugo a bit of a decent head start, making him appear to be someone who was merely out to get a time piece, and not really interested in it being antique.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 12:00 pm
Hugo nodded. "Of course I would let them know where I am. But knowing Jens, he'd want to come here. He's very... enthusiastic. I guess that is the word. He would definitely embrace the things here." In amusement he glanced down at Nephrite.
"There are always rules, Nephrite. " he smiled. "It is not like there are portals opening to my world all over the place. Besides when something is rarer and harder to find, then that means that it will be appreciated more when you do have it. And that also makes it more special because others will not. "
Obli hesitated as he moved closer to her. Whatever he had been looking for was not here. There was nothing like it at all, but the wisp could not exactly tell her that. He simply stopped for an instant to acknowledge her, before moving back to Hugo. There had been something, but whatever it was he had lost the entire idea. Instead he began moving towards Hugo's shoulder.
Hugo nodded to Amon and then began to haggle with the shop owner over the timepiece. "I like this timepiece but I wonder if a more modern one would not be better. How much is this one?"
"5000 gold, sir. It is an antique. It was cleaned and is ensured to work properly."
"A bit too steep for me. I will give you 1500 for it." he stated, watching the man as Obli slid down into his pocket. He could feel the wisp moving around.
"1500? That is a ridiculous sum." he grumbled. "4000. No lower." When Hugo shook his head, he huffed around again. "3000. That is my final offer."
He would also get a more modern one later, but for now this one would work well enough to use. And he would need one that did not need winding just to keep this one accurate. If he could get the man down.
"No. 2000 is the most I can give you on it." Hugo replied.
The shop owner huffed and puffed a bit complaining about the loss of money though he praised the craftsmanship and condition of the watch. When Hugo started to put the watch back as if it were too high for him, the man finally lowered his price yet again.
"Very well. 2500. That is half what it is truly worth, sir. You are stealing it from me." the man grumbled but he had easily made 2000 on it even so. It had been in an estate sale and mixed with other things so he was happy at the interest whether Hugo understood that or not.
"I'll take it." It was exactly half what the first price had been quoted as. Glancing over at Amon, he smiled as he paid the man. Handing Hugo a card, the owner then set the watch to the accurate time, handing chain and all to Hugo. "Thank you for the advice, Amon." Tucking the watch into his pocket, he looped the chain around a belt loop on his pants. "Now I will at least know if I am late."
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:48 am
Nephrite’s frown remained on her face for the whole time it took Hugo to haggle down the price of the timepiece, whereas she continued to think about what he had said. She abhorred rules, there were too many of them already. Don’t touch this, don’t take that – not without asking first and especially not without payment – don’t burn incense in the house without permission, don’t add “anything weird” to the spices (just why could Amon not see it was for his own good?!), and so on, and so on.
But Hugo made it sound like anything from his home world would be rare and ought to be treasured. Sort of like super-rare-plants-from-Hawk kind of treasured. And it didn’t seem entirely fair to give Hugo nothing in return, even though she rather liked receiving gifts. ‘Deal,’ she eventually said, making up her mind at the same time to bug him about his promise whenever they met. She held out her small green hand to to the man, she’d witnessed the gesture often enough with Amon to know what it meant.
“As long as you don’t forget to wind it,” Amon remarked with a grin upon Hugo’s comment, giving him a slap on his back. He’d followed the course of the bargain with faint amusement, but done a pretty good job looking as if he was bored and disinterested, with a hint of annoyance and impatience even, as if he was about to drag his companion away to spend his money elsewhere. Perhaps that helped to seal the deal, perhaps not. In any way, it amused him that Hugo followed his advice literally, though he did do better at the actual haggling than he’d thought he’d do.
“Since you mentioned the possibility of picking up a hobby … there are those who indulge in maintaining and repairing old watches like the one you just bought. It’s a hobby which would require a calm hand, a keen eye, and a lot of patience; but the tools and supplies are readily available. And …” He shrugged. “Using the internet, it shouldn’t be too hard to find people to learn from and poke for advice.”
“Glassblowers next?” he suggested, as Hugo had voiced his interest. “That is, once we’re done looking around here.”
Nephrite’s face brightened. She really liked the glassblowers, and there was one she was especially fond of, making those awesome little perfume bottles in all colors of the rainbow, with gilding and matching stoppers.
Amon, however, had somewhat of a hate-love relationship with the place, just as with the blacksmiths, and the potters, and the candlemakers’ halls. The presence of so many furnaces burning red-hot and their intense heat had a tendency to rub him all the wrong way – and all the right. The latter being what made him feel rather tense and nervous about the place. He liked it, immensely so, but he kept … fearing that the exhilaration it made him feel might cause things to spin out of control. @#$%!! magic messed everything up.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:48 am
Hugo smiled, reaching out to shake her hand. He would have to look around at some of the plant stores and see if he could find anything at all that was from his world. He was sure that if he was here, other things were. More than likely it was some sort of desert plant that had made it since that was where the Nightfall was.
"Yes, I will have to remember to wind it." he said, giving it a few turns befor putting it in his pocket. He liked the timepieces. There was a large variety and if he ever returned, perhaps it would be something others would like also.
"Definitely glassblowers. I will think on the watch repair. It could very well be interesting but not sure I have the patience for such small work as that would be. As they walked towards the hall where the glassblowers were, he was starting to feel the heat radiating around this end of the bazaar. "It's much hotter around here, isn't it? I wonder how these people work in it all day long. Must really have to like what they are doing." Then he stopped only to stare at a large shelving of brightly colored glass vased. They were exotic shapes and colors and he was amazed at how beautiful they were.
"We have little like that," he stated. "Such wonderful color.... I believe you are right, Amon. My world is sterile. They have no idea what they are missing."
Oblivion had been holding onto Hugo's wrist, but when the man stopped, he drifted upwards to sit on the man's shoulder. Amusement slid out at Hugo's actions as he glided over to Nephrite to sit on her shoulder awhile.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:53 pm
“Just wait until you stand in front of one of their furnaces,” Amon said. “The heat’s so intense, it feels like your face is going to melt off.” For some, at least. He generally remained rather unfazed by the heat, which had earned him about just as many envious stares from the glass workers as offers learn their trade.
“It takes, what, something about 2400 degrees to melt glass?” Like with most things that caught his interest he’d looked it up at some point. It made for good conversation, which was surprisingly important in his line of work.
Amon peered at ‘Obli’ with a curious glance. “I’d recommend for him to stay clear of those. He looks a lot like what’s known as ‘blue goldstone’ here, and isn’t that just … glass?” He was fairly positive about this, half remembering sneering remarks by Reyna about those gullible idiots who believed to have purchased a genuine natural gemstone.
He fell quiet for some time, glancing curiously at little Oblivion. That this soul had been imprisoned in what was basically an artificial gemstone bore considerate morbid fascination to him. Then again, as stated in Hugo’s rather lengthy recount of the legends he knew, this stone particular was probably older than the ‘nightfall’ created by the nuclear tests.
“I wonder,” he eventually said in a conversational tone, “does your world have any glass-making industry at all?” It just seemed likely. If those weaponry tests had created whole veins of this … ‘nightfall’, the sands of their deserts certainly had the right properties. Wasn’t some of the natural glass referred to as ‘desert glass’ even? “Just saying. If it hasn’t, it might be somewhat of an opportunity.” Though the ‘nightfall’ seemed to have some odd extra properties as opposed to regular glass.
Amon stopped for a moment, to tie his hair back into a looped ponytail to keep it from his neck, his only concession to the increasing heat. “So, yeah, this is kind of the hot end of the bazaar. Candle makers are right down there, the potters up there, the blacksmiths a little beyond. So there’s a lot of kilns and furnaces going on. The Bath House is in this area as well, for good reason.”
“As to how they can stand it …” He made wide motion, including the whole of the hall. He noticed some curious glances, were they looking at him? No, it had to be Hugo’s unusual appearance. “Most of these workshops are family owned businesses, handed down from generation to generation. Most of the bazaar's workshops are. So … they kinda grow up with it. I presume one can get used to everything.”
Nephrite tugged at his sleeve, excitedly pointing at her favorite stall selling the colorful little glass vessels she adored so much. He was able to get her a whole bag of them for a price which seemed so ridiculously low that he didn’t even bother haggling. Especially considering the cute vessel pendant thrown into the deal, which Nephrite obviously had to wear Right Now. Things became a little more obvious, however, when the vendor pointed out their workshop was over there, maybe he’d like to check it out? And, coincidentally, they had an apprentice position open, thank you very much.
Amon accepted everything with a gracious smile, but inwardly he groaned. It seemed like he and his abilities were getting kinda infamous on the bazaar, and he didn’t like this at all. But he presumed watching the glassblowers do their thing in the workshop would be interesting for Hugo at least.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:58 pm
Hugo thought about the question that Amon had posed to him. "The sands are used. Our dishes and some glasses are made from the sand, but the process they use makes it turn out more like metal than glass. I'm not entirely certain what they do, but if the society on my world would change just a little, then decorative pieces like these would make a fortune for someone." He grinned slightly. "It is something to think on anyhow."
Obli had drifted over to one of the glass vases. It was a dark deep rich violet, nearly black. He circled it several times, before moving back to Hugo and tugging slightly on his sleeve. Whatever the wisp felt from this piece, it wsa something he seemed to want.
Hugo stared at the wisp and then at the vase. It was an exquisite piece with the color swirled around thru the glass. It almost looked like Obli himself and the man stared for a moment. "I want that piece," he finally stated to the man. The price did not matter.
The fellow frowned. "Are you sure? We consider that one a mistake. It was to be remelted."
"I like it. I want it," Hugo replied.
The man finally nodded putting a reasonable price on it. When Hugo nodded, pulling out the money he had, the fellow began wrapping it up in tissue paper so that it would be protected. Placing the box in a large bag after taking the money, he said, "You might find a couple better pieces in the shop that sort of match it."
Hugo did walk over to the shop, but he was not interested in the pieces there. Instead he picked up a couple books on glass making. One was on beads and the other books defined glassblowing on a much larger scale. The other book he picked up was on stained glass. He wondered if he could do something like that also. A few windows or something with that kind of color would be amazing to have in his apartment or a house if he eventually bought one.
Obli dropped down to the bag, slipping inside with the box. Amusement definitely radiated off him.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:50 am
“It is a big chance,” Amon said hesitantly. “Like, you could be the one to bring about that change. Just sayin’.” He shrugged, pretending he didn’t really care when he actually did. But he barely knew Hugo, he was not a client even, so nothing was further from Amon but to try and exert his influence upon the man. He didn’t know anyone he’d be calling ‘friend’ …
He curiously peered over Hugo’s purchases, glad the attention seemed to be off his personage for now. “Color this dark, they wouldn’t have been able to do anything much with it even remelting,” he remarked, clasping his hands behind his back. “Interesting choice of books though. Creating ‘lampworked beads’, or stained ‘Tiffany’ glass windows like that, both are pretty commonplace as hobbies nowadays. The supplies should be easily available. Though, full blown, large scale glassworks like the ones you see here, that’s an entirely different story.” He motioned at the kilns. “See where they keep putting the glass to reheat and keep it at a workable temperature? Glassworkers refer to it as the ‘glory hole’.” He smiled widely, not sure Hugo would even get the reference, but … Hell, it was amusing enough to himself on its own.
‘If you learn how to do that,’ Nephrite said, curiously peering at the books Hugo had picked up herself, especially the ‘beads’ one, ‘can you make me something pretty?’ Glass was … clearly inferior as opposed to gems, but, nonetheless, still pretty.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:28 pm
Hugo glanced over at Neph. "I will make some beads, but I might come here to see about doing some of this also. Neph, I'll make you a necklace as soon as I learn how to make the beads. You will be the first."
He glanced over at Amon and nodded, "This could be very interesting back home. It might sell well enough people would actually leave their furniture out of the walls." Picking up one of the cards on the table, Hugo thanked the man as Obli glided back to his shoulder.
Turning to Amon, he grinned in sudden amusement. He understood the connotations of the words very well. It meant the same thing on his planet though few ever spoke of it as such. "I think... our meaning of those words is much the same as here, Amon. Although most society on my planet does not even speak things of a sexual nature. We have a proper title for all and even though that is acknowledged, it is perfectly accepted so long as not spoken of. I've learned the culture here is a bit more... open than home was."
Looking around him as he put Obli into his pocket, Hugo said, "Where to next?"
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