Re: antique store: louis/claire
Claire tagged behind the man closely, her respect for personal space long gone in wake of the discovery of the ancient spear. She didn't get up on the stepladder or anything crazy like that, but she was very clearly eager to get her hands on the gorgeous weapon. Her lips spread into a wide smile when he offered it to her and her hands trembled slightly as she raised her arms to take the spear.
Expectant fingers wrapped around the wooden shaft, thin black knit gloves preventing her from really touching it, and every instinct in her screamed to spin it over her head and around her body, slicing through air and aura. The damage that would cause was not worth the momentary joy of hearing the whip of blade through the heavens. Instead she held the spear with a reverence that was often only seen in solemn funerary rituals, and the atmosphere shifted slightly, a cosmic puzzle piece finding its home.
She held it as she had thousands of times before, only this time it seemed different. Many years had been spent taking that spear for granted. Claire wasn't going to do that this time. Her eyes roamed over curve of blade as one index finger traced lines of grain in the wood, and she whispered; soft, awed, and breathless, "Where did you get this?" Claire didn't expect an actual answer, because it didn't actually matter how the spear got there. What mattered was that she had it now. However, she was absolutely curious about how it could have possibly gotten out of Rome without divine intervention. Which Claire honestly believed that it was. The only reason it was here in this town was for her to find it, to reclaim her birthright.
Her steely grey eyes, far older and more grave than her young age suggested, turned up to him and with all seriousness Claire told him, "Whatever it costs. Money is no object." And it really wasn't. She could have Vatican cash on hand with a mere phone call. Of course, that phone call would lead to discussions with certain officials that Claire really didn't want or need to deal with at the moment. But wasn't finding this spear representative of accepting that life once more? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Either way, the Church would not want the weapon falling into the wrong hands and they'd be willing to pay whatever it took to prevent that from happening.
There was also going to be a difficult time for her to put it down, but they'd get to that when it was required.