Oh. Oh my…

Myth paused in her stroll to stare longingly at the pile of items laid out on a brightly colored blanket. A faintly purple glitter held her attention as she ambled closer, careful to not show too much interest. If that glitter was what she suspected…

Smiling at the couple clearly in charge of the yard sale, the tall woman idly scanned over everything, noting a gorgeous (and quite old) oil lamp. Pausing long enough to pick it up, she made her way to the tiny mound of jewelry and stared avidly at the brooch that had originally drawn her in. She was almost certain that the purple stones were real amethysts. But even if they weren’t, this silly little trinket was still quite valuable based on its age alone. Because, so far as she knew, no one had manufactured this particular style of brooch in almost two centuries. If not longer. And if the stones were real. Granted, it was in rough shape. Unless Myth missed her guess, this pretty little toy had been just that for several generations of children. Nothing more than a toy, a pretty little thing to play dress up with.

Carefully keeping her interest masked, she decided that a bit of small talk wouldn’t go amiss.

“What a pretty little thing! Where did you find it?”

The male half of the couple tossed his head back and laughed for a moment, though Myth sensed that his amusement was more directed towards his lady then the question.

“Oh that thing was Amee’s grandmother’s. She had it forever and gave it to Amee when she was a kid. Pissed off her mom to no end, right honey?”

The woman, Amee, smiled shyly and nodded in agreement, “I don’t know why she was so upset about it. Gramma told me she wanted someone who would love it to take it and Momma didn’t, I guess. But we’re getting ready to move and well, I don’t wear jewelry and it seems silly to hold onto something that caused so much bitterness.”

Weighing the brooch in her hand, Myth thought that she had a very good idea of why such a gift would have caused bitterness. The more she looked, the more tiny signs she saw of this being exactly what she thought.

“No one else has shown much interest in it,” Amee’s voice broke in on her thoughts. “And we really did want to try to get rid of as much as possible today. You can have it for a dollar. The oil lamp is ten.”

Oh, the poor dears, Myth had an attack of conscious. They really had no idea… And while it was tempting to give then the prices they asked, it wouldn’t be fair. Carmine might grumble at her later, but he’d understand ultimately.

“Well, I do want them, but if it’s all right with you, I’ll be giving you a bit more than asking price.”

Smiling, Myth carefully withdrew her wallet from her bag and pulled out a tiny stack of hundreds. Still smiling, she took three of the bills and thrust them out at the couple.

“Please take it. These’re both worth more than you’re asking and I refuse to cheat anyone by omission. Besides, every bit helps when you’re moving!”

Other the couple’s faint protests, she shoved the bills into Amee’s hands, shook her husband’s hand heartily and continued on her walk. She’d probably overpaid for the lamp, but she figured she’d given the pair exactly what the brooch was currently worth in it’s present state.