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 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:13 pm
Certain days of the week were not exceptionally prosperous for JW Antiques, but Jett didn’t have any problem with working these days. He wasn’t expected to do much during the daytime hours except keep an eye on the shop, help customers find what they were looking for—or to get them to leave with something else—and keep the place looking tidy.
When you hadn’t seen a single customer within two hours of being open, there wasn’t much else to do but clean—and clean, he had. The place was looking particularly spotless, so he set about reorganizing a few shelves, trying to hide several of the more hideous (or in some cases, rather disturbing) pieces his boss seemed so fond of.
Despite spring creeping into the scene, Jett was still bundled up warmly, scarf wrapped around his neck. Illness gripped him still, but he wasn’t letting it slow him down. No, not when he’d decided coffee was just about the best thing this planet had to offer. Not even noon, and he’d had more coffee in the past six hours than any person should in a week.
It had left him jittery—and with more energy than anyone as sick as him should have. He was juggling an array of tasks; with no homework to do and no book to read, he was checking his stocks every other minute while simultaneously working on rearranging the items on the shelves.
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:33 pm
Time was running out, Gwendolyn thought to herself as she power walked down the sidewalk, keeping her eyes peeled for JW Antiques (as well as some rotten, good for nothing cut purses that would dare try taking her purse again, as this time, she was physically prepared for an attempt... well, mostly.) Her ankle had long since healed from both the physical excursion and the fight, though this damned cold still lingered on in her system. She didn't even bother trying to hide it anymore, as most of the people she knew were sick already... it'll pass, eventually. "Now, it was around here that I met Jett, so the shop should be pretty close." Gwen said to her company, unseen to the people around her and merely letting people think she was talking into her Blutooth headset. Her company, a pudgy rat named Micah, remained quiet and still, merely hiffing the scent of the city around him through the small mesh part of the purse and nothing more. Gwen knew that she was taking a big risk in bringing Micah along, but she figured she'd show him how he was doing... Jett Draven. He was a hero to her in more ways than one. He had not only saved Micah and clobbered the robber, but he also recommended an antique store for Gwen to look at, and now she was returning the favor. Gwen didn't have much money to spend, though she did have a lot more than she would have had she replaced the purse. Nothing good ol' duct tape can't fix! 'Well, maybe my immune system... I wish this cold would pass already...'She sneezed a few times, quickly grabbing the kleenix and blowing her nose, hoping she didn't sneeze on anyone that passed by and forcing herself to stop until she had cleaned away the evidence and squirted the last bits of the antibacterial hand wash onto her palms. 'I guess I'll buy more later... where the heck is that store, anyway?'Gwen felt stupid. It was, literally, just down the block from where she met Jett, the sign as clear as day, and she couldn't help but chuckle to herself and to Micah as she walked towards it. "Oh, there it is. Hopefully he'll be there... I don't think I can put off Maddy's gift any longer." Her purse wriggled and nothing more, and without further ado, she pushed the door open and didn't even bother acting shy about her entrance. She may not have kicked the door down, but it could have given the same effect with the way she shouted, hoping that Jett was there (and if so, he'd remember her), otherwise she'd make a bigger fool of herself. "Is anyone home? I'm looking for some dolphins..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:47 am
Jett had gotten rather accustomed to the sound of silence, sans the hum of air billowing from the vents. Coupled with the fact that the coffee had already put him on edge, he visibly jumped when she entered. He was thankful that there was a rack of items between the two of them; he couldn’t imagine being caught surprised.
He had to hastily compose himself—shook his head and drew in a breath as he tried to force his heart to calm down. He walked from around the makeshift aisle. “Wouldn’t say anyone’s home so much, but I’m here.” He flashed Gwen a smile and lifted his hand in a slight wave. “Did you find the place all right?” he asked, adjusting the scarf so it was a little looser around his neck. When it was just him, he didn’t care if he was bundled up and looked like a fool, but it seemed a little unprofessional to try to hold a conversation with a scarf muffling your words.
Though he greeted her, he was already moving towards the case of jewelry on display. He hadn’t been sure if Gwen was going to drop by or if she had just been polite, however after her mention of dolphins, he’d had a fine excuse to go through some of the pieces that had been tucked away due to a lack of popularity and placed them away in a nice, safe spot behind the counter for quick access.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:02 am
Gwen was indescribably happy to know that Jett was working today and that her overzealous introduction did not go to waste. She tried to keep her giddiness to herself, however, as she noticed the scarf he wore and knew him to still be suffering from that cold. She could sympathesize with the guy; she was often sucking down cough drops as though they were Lifesavers candy herself, and she made a mental note where her antibacterial handwash was before approaching him, in case he needed it. "You know, once I actually took in the surroundings, it was pretty easy to find! I guess I had other things on my mind... and speaking of," Gwen said, easing into the conversation gradually and holding her purse up for Jett to see. She unzipped the mesh, allowing for Micah to poke his head out, and she held it up for Jett to see, making sure not to bring it too close. "I hope you don't mind he tags along? I promise, he won't leave the purse and mess up your store..." Micah's fuzzy nose was moving at a million miles per hour almost, taking in the old, dusty smells of the store and picking up the familiar scent of Jett and stretching his neck as far as it would go. Gwen gave Micah a pat on the head, preparing to gently push him back into the purse if need be. "Told him I was coming here today and he insisted on accompanying me. Isn't that right, Micah?" The rat gave a few hiffs, but nothing more, keeping its black, beady eyes set firmly on Jett.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 7:13 pm
Though Jett had a fair idea of what he was going to see in the bag, it didn’t stop him from leaning over a bit to peer into the bag. He knew that pets made people silly, so he did not even bother to ask why she was talking to the rat as though it could respond—unless it was some strange Guardian Rat and she was some odd senshi trying to fit into a normal civilian life.
…But by God, that was ridiculous. He seriously needed to lay off the cough syrup. Jett leaned back, satisfied that the purse looked like it would keep Micah nice and safe. And out of his hair.
“Nah, just keep your eye on him,” he said, already confident that she wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to the rat she seemed to care so much about. “So,” he shifted right down to business, “Dolphins? Any idea beyond that? I pulled out some of our pieces,” he said, kneeling and then lifting up the box he’d secured the dolphin paraphernalia in, though went on to explain, “Not all of them are antiques, so they’re significantly cheaper if you’re looking to stick to a budget. Boss is kind of a hoarder at heart. He’s go this excuse, you know, that even though it’s not an antique today, if you give it time, it will be. But I don’t buy it, I think he just likes having lots of things around to play with.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:41 pm
"Well, Maddy is into craft and jewelry making, so anything that she could wear or use to make something with later would be perfect for her," Gwen said, bringing her purse back to her side when she noticed that Jett seemed to be eager to get the business underway. She gave Micah another gentle stroke between the ears before pressing him back into the purse, on the off chance that Micah got adventurous or another customer came in and completely flipped out. She glanced at the jewelry section especially, knowing that Maddy was a sucker for the things and in truth, admiring them as well. She was especially eying one in particular, a golden bracelet with two blue dolphins intertwined, almost as though it were a yin and yang symbol in its center. She pointed to that one first, trying to get a good look at it at the angle she was in. In response to his remark, she chuckled, "Well, if you horde away a box of dog scat, give it twenty years and it'll still be scat, right? This one looks pretty cool... it's like they're dancing together."
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:27 am
Jett wasn’t too interested in jewelry other than appraising it and selling it. He set the box full of the assorted dolphin jewelry down to give Gwen a better look at what else he had to offer. If she was pleased enough with the piece she was looking at, he’d be glad to be rid of it. Jewelry was hit or miss; the older crowds were always looking for specific, bold pieces and the younger crowds wouldn’t be caught dead in an antique store. He lifted the bracelet and held it out for Gwen for closer inspection.
He didn’t consider the piece too valuable nor feared she would try to run with it—especially not with her ankle being as it was. “Well, I’ve got plenty of things I snagged, so feel free to take your time and pick something out.” The coffee had made him far chattier than usual, and perhaps more open with his words, so he continued, “We’ve only got a handful of people that come in here looking for specific animal themed pieces, and one of them is a psycho little girl obsessed with pigs. Dolphins aren’t really a big market for us, usually people go for big cats, elephants, storks, swans… I think that bracelet has been here for two or three years, at least,” he mused, presenting the piece.
There was a certain enthusiasm in his voice when he spoke about work related materials—a passion that he wasn’t often willing to express. Even sick, it was clear that he very much enjoyed his job.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:10 pm
Gwen made a face when he had mentioned the other animals that most people went after, and, never the type to keep her comments to herself, she scoffed. "Okay, I get cats and swans, but elephants and storks? I'm not sure I understand the physical appeal of those animals... one can crush you with its tusks, and the other delivers babies." She huffed, as she eyeballed the rest of the jewelry that he had displayed. "Some people have weird taste." The purse wriggled for a second and the sound of chattering teeth could be heard for a moment. Gwen's eyes kept moving to that one bracelet, though, but she wasn't eager to leave just yet. She may have been too complacent with picking Maddy a gift; why not find something for herself too? 'It's not like I plan on using my money for anything else... so it couldn't hurt to look.' She grinned to herself, poking the bracelet once more before looking up at Jett. 'Any reason to stay here a little longer and chat with him.'"I think I'm definitely going to buy the bracelet. Speaking of cats, though... do you have anything with big cats? Tigers, to be precise?" She beamed at the thought of buying something, for her alter ego. "They're my favorite!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:01 pm
While Jett had meant to comment that most of the older clientele this shop tailored to were tasteful people who enjoyed elegance and grace—of which they somehow deemed elephants and storks of representing such. He could have commented that a large fish wasn’t exactly his idea of an elegant animal but since he was working, he wasn’t about to piss off a customer by playing devil’s advocate.
Her enthusiasm to find something featuring tigers was enough to lure him away from the temptation and he nodded. “Plenty. Like I said, big cats are popular. Before I pull out too much, let me make sure I’ve got an idea of your budget range. I mean, I can pull out some of the flashier, more expensive pieces to look at, but don’t let me just outright taunt you with them.”
Admittedly, some of the pieces he had were well into the hundreds, and with a younger crowd you never knew how much money there were interested in investing.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:07 pm
"Well, truthfully I don't really have a LOT, but I've got about seventy, eighty dollars on me," Gwen said, not really sure what counted for as 'a lot', though for her, ANY money in her pockets was a lot. She gave her pocket a gentle slap, letting Jett see where she put her wallet as her purse was preoccupied. Rats ate through everything, including leather wallets and paper money, and she wasn't going to risk that happening again. "I don't mind looking sometimes, but I wouldn't want you to go through the hassle of taking them out if you know I can't afford them. It'd seem like a whole lot of busy work," Gwen said, so focused on the jewelry and Jett that she didn't notice how her purse wriggled and wriggled, nor how the rat had succeeded in pulling the zipper inside of the purse, giving it the chance it needed to start yanking and pulling it open. The rat was curious about this new location and the peculiar smell of the human that worked here, and it wanted to explore...
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:04 pm
Jett let out a slight laugh. “To tell you the truth, today’s been a slow day, so if you’re interested in seeing some of the pricier pieces, I can pull some of them out. Technically I’m not supposed to flaunt the merchandise unless you’re a prospective buyer but,” he gave Gwen a playful look, “Let’s be realistic, some of this stuff will never sell. Who wants to pay two grand for a gaudy pair of earrings big enough to tear your ears open?” he asked; it was relatively rhetorical.
There was a whole display case of jewelry, though Jett went on to explain, “These are pretty, but not really expensive. Boss has had a few break-ins before and thieves always go for the jewelry. Let’s see,” he mused to himself, casting a brief look at Gwen’s jiggling purse before tearing his gaze away.
Rats kind of creeped him out, pets or not, but he wasn’t going to insult Gwen’s taste just because he didn’t understand them. If she had been a boy though, he’d have teased her to no end about it. Fishing around behind the counter, he unlocked a cabinet and drew out two boxes. These weren’t as specific as the box he had prepared with dolphins, though in opening both of them and presenting them to the girl, he knew there were a few large cat pieces. “Are you more of a ring girl, or bracelet? Necklace, earrings…?” he prompted; on display he had a box of rings; the other box held pendants. While most of them were simply gems or strange, carved designs, there were several themed pieces.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:00 am
"Truth be told, I'm too much of a wuss to get my ears pierced, or any part of my body pierced," Gwen admitted, not truly ashamed of this fact, despite her rather 'dangerous' lifestyle. She could skip school with little to no effect on her conscious, pick fights with youma and other ruffians as her Senshi counterpart, and owned a creature that was partially responsible for the Black Plague, but the thought of intentionally punching a hole in your ear? She just did not like the sounds of that. "And necklaces are rather cumbersome when I'm running around, doing the things I do. But I like bracelets! My wrists have been rather bare lately..." After much fuss and hard work, Micah the rat was able to unzip the purse far enough to poke its fuzzy little head out, but he wasn't going to stop there. He wriggled and wriggled, trying to open the zipper even more with his fat little body and able to maneuver a paw out. Soon, he would be free to explore this antique shop, and then, he would explore this Jett fellow! But it seemed that his own gut was his worst enemy, as the rat could not budge any further, not without wriggling madly and attracting the human's attention. So, it snuck back into the purse and 'plotted' its next course of action. "Anything with white tigers?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:44 pm
No earrings, no necklace—well that cut a fair share out of the picture. White tigers made it a little more difficult, though he allowed his mind to race over what jewelry he’d seen recently that hadn’t been stored or sold. A few pieces came to mind, though he immediately discarded the ones that had a high price tag. “A few. One minute, let me see if I can’t fish any out without doing a run to the back room.”
He could have sworn he saw Gwen’s bag jiggling, though refrained from commenting on it. He knew the rat was in there, but for some reason—probably coffee—every time the bag jiggled he thought he was losing his mind.
Pushing aside the box with pendants in favor of making more room on the cabinet, he withdrew another box from behind the counter, opened it, fished through it’s contents, and then withdrew a single wood-carved bangle. He gave it a look over and then presented it to Gwen. “Like this, or too gaudy?” he prompted. The wood itself seemed expertly carved and seemed garnished with some pearlescent shell for the white bands on the tiger. There was fine detail in carving two roaring tiger heads facing each other, and though the inside of the wood seemed to have a little wear, it seemed in relatively good condition.
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:04 am
Gwen hardly swooned over jewelry but she definitely admired the bangle he presented to her. The details were nice and she didn't have a keen enough eye to notice any real wear and tear (not that she could have cared too much even if she did notice), and the sight of the two tigers facing one another and roaring... sparked something within her. A sense of deja vu, or... something. As soon as the sensation was there, it was gone, and Gwen tried to push it aside to focus on the task ahead of her. She didn't want to waste too much of Jett's time... she'd focus on trying to recollect that feeling later, once she took the bangle home with her. "Well, I definitely like it! How much would both this and the dolphin bracelet be all together?" Gwen asked, propping her ankle up as it began to ache again. It was a dull ache, but she didn't want to risk putting on anymore pressure if it wasn't needed. Not if she had plans on patrolling the streets tonight... Meanwhile, Micah must have recognized the words that his owner was saying and knew that his time was running out. If he was going to break out and explore, now would have been the time. With renewed effort, he tried pulling the zipper open just a little bit more and in the process, tried not to make the purse wriggle. The man he desired to sniff had looked over several times before and he didn't want to be caught. Finally, after much effort, the rat was able to open it just enough, and with one final tug, it'd have just enough room to escape the purse. Yet, not sure how it happened, but the rat must have put too much effort into the tug and had caused the purse to flip over entirely, and all the work it had done to open the purse more, he was only able to get his paws through, but not the rest of his body. But this did not stop the rat from its grand adventure, and, purse and all, it scurried about on the counter, sniffing away at all the new smells and sneezing at the dust that hit its sensitive nose. Rats were always a curious bunch!
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:06 pm
Jett liked Gwen—and, admittedly, might have had a bit of a soft spot for her given how he met her—so he decided he could cut her a break in pricing. It helped that he could reason that these pieces had been collecting dust for ages, and without a clientele vastly interested in dolphins or tigers, it was no skin off his back. He was in the process of giving the pieces a final look over when Gwen’s purse flopped over.
Jett learned, that day, that all Micah’s seemed to share something in common: zeal.
He hadn’t any idea what the rat thought he was doing, all he knew was that the little rodent looked like he was trying to run off with Gwen’s purse. In response, Jett could have done a number of things. He could have screamed like a frightened little girl, could have picked up one of the boxes and smashed the rat—could have picked up the purse and thrust it back into Gwen’s arms.
Instead, he just pursed his lips and tilted his head, leaning forward so he could plant his elbows on the counter. In doing this, he felt he’d created a suitable enough barrier that he didn’t have to worry about the rat falling off behind the counter and getting lost under any of the furniture. Jett laced his fingers and watched the rat, asking, “How’s thirty sound?”
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