InsaneJournal

I do not do fittings. You’ll have to go somewhere else for that.
Who: Nikola Tesla and Gold
When: Recently
Where: Gold’s shop
What: Wedding ring shopping
Rating: Low
Status: Complete!


More and more of Nikola’s powers were coming to him from the dreams. He felt more static electricity than normal, and found himself magnetizing little things when he picked them up. The power in him was growing with each passing dream. He’d had another last night, where he spent time at the Sanctuary, developing a cure for a strange virus. This morning, he was out and about, searching for the perfect set of wedding rings. He’d proposed to Lulu without having it planned through, and now he needed to put together something romantic. Something thoughtful.

That meant finding rings first, and planning out the rest. He headed to the antique shop and pushed open the door. He could smell the metal in the room.

Gold looked up at the ring of the bell, and spotted the man coming in. Unlike most other people that wanted into his shop, Gold had a feeling that this man knew more or less what he was looking for. Some people just had that look about them, he supposed.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted from behind his counter.

“Afternoon,” Nikola said, his voice sounding bored. He wasn’t really, that was just how he sounded sometimes. Most of the time. Okay, so maybe he was almost always a little bored. He walked further into the shop, moving toward whatever case he saw that had jewelry in it.

Which was the case right in front of Gold! What a coincidence! The man behind the counter wasn’t really put off by how bored the man sounded, it was fair enough to say that Gold wasn’t always the most interested of people, either. Leaning a hip against the glass case in front of him, he observed where his customers’ eyes were looking.

“Rings?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Wedding sets.” Nikola responded, nodding a little. He moved closer to the glass case and looked inside. “I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking for, but I have a feeling I’ll know it when I see it.” Nikola really had no idea what he was doing, really. Wedding Ring shopping? It wasn’t the kind of thing he’d ever done before, ever even considered.

“Ah, the sanctity of marriage,” Gold murmured, his tone vaguely amused. Stroking his chin in thought for a moment, he moved around behind his little counter for a moment, before bringing out another box from who-knew-where behind there. He set it on top of the counter in front of Nikola, and opened it. Matching sets. All nice, in their own antique sort of way.

Nikola moved over a little and leaned down to closely examine the rings in the case. His eyes kept returning to one set in particular. “This one.” He said, pointing toward the set. “This one looks perfect.”

“You have a good eye,” Gold said, nearly just agreeing. It was a good set. Classic and elegant without being too flashy. He took the rings out of the box, handing them over to the other man for a better look.

Nikola took them and inspected them closely. He could feel the metal, more than just feel the weight in his fingers. He could feel every stone, sense the purity of it. It was remarkable. He put the rings back into the little box and nodded. “I’ll take them.” Getting the engagement ring and wedding band in the same go was a good idea. They matched nicely, and he would have them ready for whatever ceremony Lulu wanted.

“Of course,” said Gold, as if he’d known he was going to be selling them today, even before this man had shown up. He quoted a price that was cheap by no means -- nor should it have been considering what they were made of and how old they were. “And I shouldn’t have to remind you, but I do not do fittings. You’ll have to go somewhere else for that,”

Nikola nodded. “Understood.” He wasn’t the type to haggle. The price sounded fair for something of this value. Not that he knew a whole lot about women’s jewelry, but he could guess. And he had plenty of liquid resources to pay for it. He drew his credit card to pay, setting the ring box down on the counter. “I’m sure that my fiance can organize that on her own.” She has connections.

Gold only smirked at that. He didn’t know Mr. Tesla’s relationship, but he didn’t know many women who would tolerate dealing with wedding ring details on their own. Perhaps, though, Tesla was just a lucky man. He ran the card -- it was slow, because Gold had never bothered upgrading to a faster internet for it all. Why should he? While they waited, he took some notes in his ledger.

“Congratulations,” he said after a moment, because he supposed people who were getting married liked to hear that sort of thing.

“Thank you. It was... unexpected.” Hence him being unprepared for it, and buying her rings after the proposal itself. “But it’s a good thing.” He added, not wanting to sound unhappy with the way things turned out. Because he wasn’t.

“I imagine,” Gold said, demurely, because even if he wasn’t the most innocent of men, he at least liked to think he hadn’t just knocked his fiancee up and then tried to cover it up with marriage or something. Anyway, shotgun weddings rarely included vintage wedding rings.

The receipt finally printed out.

It definitely wasn't because of pregnancy. If lulu was pregnant, Nikola would have been thrilled. He wanted to pass on his genetic material to the next generation. Marriage didn't matter to him as far as procreation went, though. whichever one came first didn’t matter to him. It looked as if Marriage would come first, anyway. “No matter, I’m making it right.”

“Obviously, dearie,” Gold said with a touch of strange humor even as he handed over the receipt and a pen, and turned his ledger around with an X on the line that Nikola Tesla needed to be signing as well. “Autograph, if you please.”

“Of course.” Nikola accepted the pen, and signed the slip of paper from the machine. He didn’t care the price. He’d come here looking for the perfect wedding set, and found it. Nikola Telsa was nothing if not efficient. “There you are.” He said, finishing his signature and handing the pen back.

Gold did not say thank you. Because it wasn’t his job to thank customers who came in looking for things and then found them. They were both doing each other equal favors, as far as he saw it. “I have a feeling you don’t need them wrapped,” he said.

“No.” Nikola smirked. “And I don’t need a bag, either.” He added, lifting the little box, and closing it. Then he pocketed it carefully in his jacket’s pocket. “You have a nice shop here,” he added, glancing around. “How long have you been in business?”

Gold shrugged, picking his cane up from where it was leaned against the counter. “It’s been around for a long time -- I took ownership .. hm. Nearly a decade ago.”

“I see.” Nikola turned and slowly moved around the shop, looking at the things other than jewelry. He wasn’t sure he was looking for anything in particular, just looking. There weren’t a lot of things that peaked his interest, anyway. “How is business?”

“More lookers than buyers,” Gold admitted, but didn’t seem all that bothered by it. This place was not what kept him afloat monetarily -- but instead owning property and his admittedly cushy government job. This place? It was more like a hobby he’d never really been able to let go of. “But I shouldn’t want to keep you -- you clearly have a woman you need to give that ring to.”

“I do.” Nikola said, the corner of his mouth turning up. “Thank you.” He nodded a goodbye, then let himself out. He made a mental note to send more people down here to see this shop. It was worth the trip.