Re: antique store: louis/claire
Watching Claire hold the spear was (without putting too fine a point on it) a religious experience. Louis wasn't sure why, but the second she touched it, the atmosphere in the shop changed completely. He felt it, that cosmic puzzle piece, the air snapping neatly into place around them.
Even as she asked where he had found it, he ripples of that unlocking, that sliding home, struck him. There was an echo in the shop of lifetimes of women and their divine lineage, stretching back to antiquity. There was a scent on the air, copper and oiled wood, and the sound of metal singing on metal when it was forged.
His eyes flickered, and a ring of gold appeared. It burst from his pupil and crashed, like a wave, over slate blue iris, faint, almost invisible, and disappeared at the edge, as if striking cliffs. Then it was gone.
He blinked. What was she asking? Price. Money. Yes. "Keep it," he said. He blinked again, coming back to himself, animating again. Yes, she wanted to buy the merchandise. "Really. I don't say this often, but you were obviously meant to have it. I didn't find it myself. I inherited this shop, and it was simply part of the stock. Now it's yours."