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Evalia browsed the frills and ruffles and worn but shiny metals of the antiques shop. So far she hadn't found anything worth spending her hard earned money on. But it was fun to browse, and everything here was lovely. Just, she couldn't really justify bringing anything more home. But her fingers kept running over the delicate edges of lace that trimmed an antique clutch. Shopping was helping her get her mind off of things. She hadn’t been a page very long, and she was still hoping that she would kind of wake up and it would all have just been some long horrible fever dream. A little bit of harmless shopping was a nice distraction from the horrible murder she had just seen.


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Leora entered one of her favorite antique houses with a sense of determination. This particular one had a habit for knowing diddly squat about real value, and catered more to the tourists than actual hard core antiquers. Which was great for her because she could sometimes get out of there with something worth hundreds of times what she actually payed… and then could turn around and resell herself. It was a small part of the family business, but the antiques that were used to decorate the B&B and its grounds were always for sale, for the right price. She rounded a corner, intent on the table with a few interesting lamps, and nearly ran into another girl, admiring a small hand-bag.


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Eva let out a small squeak, as a girl around her own size nearly bowled her over in her mad march to the other side of the store. You would think someone would be more carefull in an antique store. Then again she didn't think a girl who was five feet tall ( maybe ) could pack such a wallop. But she could, and she had to put her hands on the other girl’s shoulders to keep from tipping over off of her impractically tall heels. “ Whoa! “


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Grabbing the other girl’s arms as the stranger grabbed her own shoulders to keep from falling over, out of instinct more than actual concern for the girl, she dug her own heels in and steadied them both. But even with her effort, the other girls hip knocked the table, and she watched a stand of antique glass and crystal figurines wobble unsteadily. She sucked in a sharp breath, pink eyes locked on the carelessly stacked display
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Evalia also watched in horror as the stand rocked for a few seconds, before finally slowing down and settling back down. She let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, and loosened her grip on the other girl’s shoulders, feeling a little guilty, not knowing how hard she had dug her nails in. “ Oh god, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to grab onto you like that! I just didn’t want to fall, and the next thing I know I was almost was! And right into the crystal at that! “ She reached out and straightened out the girls sleeve, which her frantic grip and wrinkled, giving an apologetic grin.


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Leora reached up and re-straightened the sleeve after the girl had done so herself… Not that she didn't appreciate the gesture… well… ok she actually didn't, she didn't like to be touched, but the girl seemed genuine in her apology.. which was a little strange to Leora. She was the one who ran into the stranger after all. “ No problem “ she said a little stiffly. “ I was so focused on where I was going I didn't think to slow down around the corner, usually I can see someone's head over the top of the shelf. “


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Eva let out a happy little laugh “ Oh well, I’m a bit on the small side, so I get that problem a lot. Hard to see. “ She said, giving a friendly grin, not at all put off by her somewhat cold demeanor. “ I’m used to it though, though from the looks of it you're in the same boat as me. “ She said, looking at the other girl. What her initial assessment of 5 foot was, did not take into the account that the girl was wearing a rather impressive set of heels to rival her own. Which meant the girl was truly tiny without them. But Eva guessed that she was more muscle than she was. Where Eva was slight and gave a delicate almost bird fragile set to her features, the little doll like girl has delicate muscels that made her seem more athletic that just thin. Like toned swimmer.


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Leoras lips twitched, almost into a frown at first, but then into a grin as she took into account that the girl was right, she herself was also very very small, and even though in her heels the silver haired girl had an inch or two on her, she seemed smaller in presence. “ Ah yes, but you get used to it. “ Leora actually wasn't an antisocial person, she just sometimes had a hard time connecting to others her own age… but this girl seemed nice enough, so she saw no harm in at least trying. “ Were you admiring this clutch? It is very lovely “ Leora said, turning pink eyes to the small white beaded purse on the counter of other vintage accessories “


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Eva turned her own chartreuse eyes to the purse “ Oh… yeah it's lovely but it's far more than I could afford. It is very pretty though. “ She said, reaching out a finger to brush over the lace and beaded little clutch “ I mean, Im sure its a reasonable asking price, but I was actually here looking for some cufflinks for my dad. I just sort of got off track somehow “ She said, with a shy laugh. She really did need a keeper, it took her forever to get anything done. She came here for one thing, and she had looked over almost the whole store but had not even yet spent a moment looking at the jewelry case with the cuff links “


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She looked between the girl and the purse, and then reached out and picked it up, running her fingers over it, unclicking the purse and looking inside, looking at the chains “ Actually they are asking way to much for it… It’s not really an antique, sure, it’s made to look vintage, but it couldn't be more then ten years old “ She said with a shrug of her shoulders “ maybe call them on it, they could probably tack it down to a lower price “ She said, putting the purse back on the counter.


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Eva made a curious little sound and picked up the purse, trying to see what the blonde saw. She saw nothing. Sure she knew how to sew, she made a lot of her own clothes, but all she saw was a lovely made purse and delicate lace.


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Leora leaned forward and pointed with a perfectly manicured finger “ See those stitches? “ She said pointing out a seem along the inner rim of the purse “ It’s made from a newer model sewing machine, it cant be more than 15 years old. “ She said, pointing to clasp “ That's new. Well… newer then the metal edge. Its the same material, just obviously it’s been replaced. My guess is it was a normal clutched altered to look vintage. A nice hand but not the real thing. “ She said with a small nod of her head. “ In fact… why dont you let me go to the counter with you and well see if we can make them see the error of their ways “ She said, almost to herself, before turning and heading towards the counter.


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Eva made all the appropriate ooh and aaah sounds as the blonde pointed out things. She giggled at the girl, thinking that she was kidding, but when she turned on her heel and headed towards the counter “ Oh…. OH. UH. OKAY. “ And she followed after the tiny shopping warrior like a faithful student, the purse held carefully in her small hands. Evalia was probably the most non confrontational person on the planet. She would never in a million years go to the counter to argue the price of a purse with a shop owner. But this girl seemed almost mortally offended by their pricing of a non antique antique.

Eva followed the other girl up to the counter and watch her verbally and skillfully rip apart the owner of the shop all the while never actually insulting him. Eva was actually a little bit jealous as she was not exactly the greatest word smith and she tended to get a bit teary eyed when being questioned, but by the time the girl was done, she had talked the price down from almost a hundred dollars to a simple 10, so outraged that there was non authentic product in his store ( Because OF COURSE he hadn't known ) that he simply wanted it gone. Eva was so pleased that she payed for the purchase, and gave her new friend a hug, which was awkwardly returned, before heading home.

It was only after she had shut the door behind her that she realized she hadn't gotten the cufflinks for her father's birthday OR the name and number of her new friend. Well…. she guessed she would just have to go back tomorrow.


Niloufer