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 Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 2:53 pm
Kinsey wouldn’t do this for just anyone, mostly because he didn’t care about people, but Luciana was helping him and educating him on something where learning from a master seemed the best way to learn. So he was doing this to help her because she was helping him, more than she likely knew, but it was more than that whether he wanted to admit to it or not. But no one should be abused by another person, he knew it was like first hand, and he could only do so much for himself but he could do something here - so he would.
Kinsey couldn’t go to anyone for help, tell anyone about his family, what would they do? Place him with his fathers parents, his paternal grandparents, it wouldn’t help. That well had already been poisoned. His aunts and uncles, his fathers siblings, were just as bad. He’d just get bounced to one of them by the system and then what? Report them as well? Eventually he’d run out of family and wind up nowhere…with strangers. He’d rather not, at least here he knew what to expect and how to handle it.
He couldn’t be helped, didn’t want it, he would manage and help himself even if it was a slow going thing. He was here right now, turning the shop's door handle, in order to help Luciana because she needed help and he could provide it. She was in a place where outside help would in fact help, whereas he was not.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 2:56 pm
Sitting at the counter, René was working on dusting off a few things that he’d gotten from the depot earlier in the week. Some larger tables and plush chairs now took over some of the main center area of his shop and he’d been working on polishing the wood over the past few days. It was something he had to do in shop which he knew meant leaving that nice new home he had with Alexandre.
Hearing the door open, he looked back and saw a customer. Well maybe that was putting it strongly but he didn’t mind, any foot traffic meant that people had heard about his shop or had seen it and were curious. Waving with his hand that held the dusting rag he offered a smile. “Hello, looking for anything in particular today?” That accent of his was laid on just a bit thicker than usual, something he played up just the smallest bit in shop to keep people interested in helping out a newcomer to the country.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 2:57 pm
One hand was in his pocket, wanting anyone watching him to know he wasn’t touching anything, Kinsey wasn’t surprised when someone spoke up and asked if he was looking for anything. He was a teenager…he expected it. It seemed that most places teenagers went to shop they got asked, and even followed sometimes, as workers somehow expected the worst behavior from their young customers.
Kinsey had thought of a lie to tell the owner, as he knew they’d spot him and ask if he needed help, he’d spent the time walking to the shop pondering what lie to tell. So he was ready. “I’m helping my father, he’s looking for a gift for my grandmother, so I’ve been helping him look and telling him what I find.” It was something which seemed acceptable, and believable, enough to Kinsey. The holidays were coming up so it would work, it had to. “My grandmother collects clocks, especially small grandfather clocks - the desk ones.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 3:08 pm
Ah so he was right, they were looking on behalf of a family member. Nothing too uncommon so it wasn’t something to worry about and he kept dusting while they spoke. Not enough to seem rude as if he’d lost interest in the conversation but enough to get some progress done on work.
“Let me know if you get any ideas, if I don’t have something here in shop you think would work I can look around and try and source something for you?” It was something he’d gotten better at since finding out more about the city and what stores and places there were here. It gave him lots of options and places he could get things if he didn’t have exactly what someone needed.
“I think I have one or two they would be back over in the side area in the alcove with the paintings. Be careful, it’s a bit dusty since I haven’t gotten over there to clean yet with how busy it’s been.” So many things had come in that he hadn’t been able to get all the dusting done yet. Moving hadn’t helped either because Alexandre made a very convincing argument for him to stay home more often and work there.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 3:43 pm
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Nodding his head as he spoke, another glance at the man, before he decided to wander and look around. He did go to look at what he’d mentioned first, it wouldn’t do for him to ignore just what he’d said he was here for, but after looking them over he would move around and look over things - including this man.
While Kinsey headed in the direction he’d been pointed he took the time to stop and look at things, and look back toward the man working on polishing something? At least it looked like he was polishing something, or maybe cleaning it? Kinsey had to be careful, not to get the others attention, he didn’t want them thinking the wrong thing…or the right thing either.
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Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:50 pm
Going back to his dusting, he wondered what kind of family they were from. Were they someone his petite ange knew of? It was always a highlight of his week when they joined him for work and filled him in on all the gossip and history of his customers and the city. The normal conspiracy that he could get behind, ones without magic or war involved - at least outside of custody battles or legal ones.
Getting up, he went along the wall opposite the side of the shop they were on, he didn't need to worry about them stealing or breaking things, they didn't seem like the type. It was time to clean the filigree-covered edges of some of the paintings that hung on display. It wasn't easy and he knew that some would need a bit of extra attention to avoid removing the gold leaving or gilding that had been applied. His back was to the young man as he hummed softly to himself, keeping his motions careful as he ran a special cloth over the edges of the frames one by one.
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Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2025 11:34 am
Watching the man get u p, and wander over towards a wall covered in framed paintings, the pale eyed teen kept watch on the man. He was good at watching people, after years of practice, so he was looking for anything which might catch his attention. He wasn't sure what he was looking for persay but he'd know it when he saw it, he'd know something useful when it happened. Turning his focus, for a moment, back onto the clocks he knew it wouldn't do for him to ignore his reason for being here...his excuse.
He really wasn't sure what he was to do other than spy, find out whatever he could about this man, maybe follow them home as well? He could find out where they lived and who they were seeing. He could go to spying on their partner as well if need be, he'd need to do something.
Another glance back to the man, watching him clean, he wondered what he was using to clean those frames. The gold on those frames, even fro mhere, looked patchy on some of them. So it was some sort of gold paint on top of wood...why not just leave the frames wood instead? It didn't make sense really...even if the gold frames looked like they werne't actual gold so it would vanish, and look worse then, so what the point was he didn't understand.
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Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2025 9:22 pm
Thumbing one of the frames, he made a mental note to contact Fiona about doing some conservation work on them. They were one of the closer cousins who wasn't involved in any of the magic so far but at least they painted and were pleasant enough.
Noticing how quiet things were, he spared a glance back towards the teen and saw them looking over the clocks. For some reason, he almost felt like had been watching him but maybe that was because fo the recent run-in with Luciana popping into his shop and stirring things up. Shaking his head, he walked back to toss a few of the rags through the door behind his counter, aiming for the small basket he used to gather things to wash later.
That done he pulled that little travel palette out of his satchel and sat on the stool behind the counter. There was still enough water in the small bottle in there so that he didn't need to fill anything up in the back room yet. So to pass the time he started a small little painting of this newest customer as he wondered about them. They really were quieter than most of his customers, not that it was a bad thing since he knew not everyone was as chatty as he could be.
There were still a few hours until he'd close up so he didn't mind too much as long as they didn't cause trouble. Occasionally he looked up to get proportions figured out as she roughed out an undersketch on the small handheld canvas. "Looks like we might get some more snow, hopefully, my stairwell doesn't fill up again like last year. Is it always so cold here? It's very different than back home." Musing aloud as he worked, the silence did bother him a bit.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:02 pm
Looking over at the question, rather surprised by it, he found the man behind the coutner and...was he painting? Yes, it did appear that this man was painting. "Yes, winters here can be rough. This is rather normal really, you should throw deicer on the stairs if youre worried about it." While he wouldn't mind one bit if the man fell down the stairs, and wound up injured or dead, Kinsey knew it was best he pretend to care. Really, he didn't care about much and he cared for even fewer people. It likely wasn't a healthy thing but Kinsey also didn't care about that either.
"For the sake of any animals you might want the one which won't burn their paw pads, just an fyi." Because if they were going to use an ice melt they should use an animal safe one, for stray street cats sake. This man might have hurt Luciana but he couldn't be so careless, and cruel, as to hurt a street cat potentially - right?
"Homedepot and other places sell that stuff in the winter, they also sell out rather quickly." Because winters here werre just a nightmare, and generally speaking people didn't like to slip, fall, and injure themselves...they weren't that stupid. "Can you give me a price for both the clocks? And can I take a picture of each to show my father when I get home?" He had a story to keep up with, and he was, he just hoped the man believed him.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:35 pm
"I'll do that then, a lot of older folks come in and I wouldn't want them falling. One of them always brings their pet in anyway so I'll for that too. Thanks." Pulling his phone out onto the counter he'd see about it online first and then go from there. Home Depot wasn't a place he'd been too but he knew that some of the contractors had gone there, something Alexandre had let him know while the last bit of work had been finished on the rooms he had control over in the new home.
"Might go look when I close up tonight, I think it's supposed to get bad out. But yes, let me check the ledger." Leaning over the counter to see which ones they'd been looking at, he got off his stool and squatted behind to counter to pull the large binder of prices and items out. It took a moment for him to find the two they were mentioning, having to lean and look for a moment until he matched them to photos in the binder.
"One is twenty-five since it needs mechanical work done inside, the other is one hundred but I'm open to haggling on either if your father likes either. I don't know any clockmakers in town I could recommend yet, it's not something I get too often." Even if he knew his ex was around, he really didn't know if she'd come here to open up shop or just to try dragging him back to Versailles, either way, he wanted nothing to do with her or her family.
Thinking for a moment, he got up and grabbed one of the cards from the holder on the counter. "If you have any questions you can have your father contact me. If not I won't be offended." Offering the business card, he figured at least it might get some more eyes on his shop. If it didn't he'd be fine just the same.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:57 pm
At least the man would take his advice, he cared about his clients and even their pets, it was something good and perhaps a bit unexpected by Kinsey. The stuff wasn't cheap, according to his step mother, and he knew the animal safe one was more expensive but he knew it was also worth it in a city like this.
"I'll let me father know." Having walked over so he could write down the prices, asking for a slip of paper and a pen in order to do so, he made note of which picture on his phone linked up to which price. "I'm sure he can find a clockmaker, or something, if he decides on that one." He knew someone who could fix it, not that he'd ever say as much, but it wasn't like this was real anyway. His father would never buy a clock like either of those two, though he might in the future, nor would the man pay for osmeone to fix one. His step mother would force him to fix it, somehow, never mind the fact he was a teenager and clueless about such things. There was a time when he was clueless about a lot of things, but he'd learned, so she'd just apply to same idea to something like that as well.
"That sounds good, perhaps he'll come in on his own." The card was taken, and slipped into a pocket, before he was smiling and nodding his head once. "Thank you for the help. I'll be going now, I hjave homework still and I'll give him the information." Another smile and Kinsey was heading off, the door closing behind him as he went, he would keep a watch on the place, from a distance, and see what the man did. But he also didn't want to get caught in the snow and wlaking home...but he'd do what he could.
/color]
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