InsaneJournal

Who: Gold and Snape
When: The day after this exchange
Where: Gold’s Shop
What: Shopping?
Rating/Warnings: TBD
Status: Complete!



Severus Snape was building a collection of Chemistry supplies in his garage. He wasn’t about to burn the place down, but he wanted to be able to make his potions. A kettle on the stove and some wooden spoons wouldn’t cut it. What he really needed was a cauldron. The antique Chemistry things came close.

He headed to the shop to check out whatever it was that Gold said he had in stock. He pushed the door open and glanced around the place, not really looking for anything in particular, but waiting for the shop’s owner to take notice of him and call him over.

“Mr. Snape,” Gold called out, as if on cue -- and it was a little funny, because the man had been in his back room -- only a second later wandering into the actual shop portion of the store. It was as if he’d been expecting the tall, dark man all day.

Leaning heavily on his cane, he stopped short of the section by his little register and jewelry case. “Good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Gold.” Severus said as he came further into the shop, letting the door jingle closed behind him. He was more interested this time in looking around at all the different wares that Gold had for sale. He didn’t have the antique beaker to distract him this time.

“How’s business?” He asked, turning toward the jewelry case and the register, giving Mr. Gold his full attention.

“Business, as usual,” Gold replied, amused that he always seemed to get that question first. He supposed it made sense in it’s own way, as far as acquaintances were concerned. He leaned against the counter of glass, making the cane more decoration than necessary for the moment. “And yours?”

“Slow.” Severus responded with a nod. It was nice of Gold to ask, even though it wasn’t really relevant. Severus’ job was boring, anyway. Just making drugs. The legal kind. His hobbies were far more interesting. “It’s given me time to pursue my other interests.” He added. “Speaking of which, you have something for me?”

“Of course,” Gold said, mild and amused. He always had a weird sort of crooked smile on his mouth -- as if every single thing that every single person said made him want to laugh. It might have been called good-humor on some, but for Mr. Gold, it was just -- well. Normal.

He disappeared behind his curtained back room again without saying anything -- only to return a few moments later with a box under one arm, which he set on the counter. “Here,” he said, gesturing to it. Inside was the old-style bunsen burner and a set of vials that he’d mentioned prior.

Severus moved forward quickly and took a look inside. The equipment was old, but it looked like it was in excellent condition. He had no complaints on that end. He reached in and picked up the vials one by one, examining the thickness of the glass and the condition. Pristine.

“This is good.” He said, nodding once. “Very good. What’s the price?”

“Thirty,” said Gold and was a terrible low-ball. But at the same time, it wasn’t something that would sell particularly well to anyone who was not Severus Snape. Plus, there was something that the antique shop owner liked about this tall, dark man. He had an odd excitement for the little things in life -- but only his obsessions. A gleam in his eye that was -- well. Enticing in it’s own right.

“Reasonable.” Severus said. He pulled out his wallet to pay for the items. “I’m glad that you have an eye out for these sorts of things. Otherwise, I’m not sure where I’d get my hands on them. Either that, or I’d get gouged price-wise.”

“Wouldn’t want that,” Gold agreed, grinning crooked and amused. But it was true; lots of antique shops gouged prices terribly -- and Mr. Gold’s did sometimes too, but he liked an earnest interesting customer enough sometimes where he held back. Because he could.

He limped behind his counter to pull his ledger out and make notes, like he was wont to do. “So what kind of chemistry are you doing with these things?” It was clear Snape actually used them once purchasing.

“It’s not Chemistry, actually,” Snape said as he pulled out his wallet. He drew the cash from the cash pocket, and set it down on the counter. “I’ve been using the equipment to reenact some of the scenes from my dreams, if you can believe it.” Some of the ingredients were wrong, but that hardly mattered for the most part. The magic was in the preparations, and Snape knew those like the back of his hand.

Gold had yet to dream, but he’d heard about it quite enough to believe it. Honestly, he was looking forward to his own -- even without insight on the subject, he knew they’d probably be -- well. Interesting.

“Interesting,” he said, mirroring his own thoughts. “What have you made, then?” He deposited the money into the register after a quick glance at the denominations.

“Potions.” Severus responded simply. So far he’d done a few, and it would take quite a bit of time to explain them all. And magical properties of muggle herbs and ingredients... There was a lot to learn, a lot to know. Apparently, his dream self knew all of it already.

“Ah,” said Gold, handing over a receipt. And since the stuff was already in a box, there was no need to do any extra work on it. “Interesting.”

“I’ll bring you something the next time I come to visit.” Severus said, almost suddenly. It wouldn’t have been like his dream self to be so generous, but he was a bit different in this world. More friendly, almost. And he didn’t feel the need to stock pile. Now he just had to figure out which potions he could make in this world, and which would be impossible without the correct, magical ingredients.

“That would be a delight,” Gold said, amused and pleased all at the same time. “Everyone could use a bit of magic in their lives, I think.” If only he knew what his own dreams were about, he either would have said that with more surety of none at all. Ah well. “I thank you, Mr. Snape.”

“Thank you, Mister Gold.” Severus said, then reached forward and picked up the box. He was looking forward to getting these things home, unpacking them, and experimenting a little more in his garage.