Lenavidalis - Blog Posts

lenavidalis​:

Though she only knew Silas for a brief amount of time in a customer-business owner type relationship, the witch was immediately drawn to him upon their first meeting and as time progressed, she found herself more and more attached. Something about him was endearing, and admittedly he was one of the most gentle people she knew. At his placations, the witch smiled sympathetically and nodded a little, content to drop the subject at his insistence despite her worry. “Okay, well… um, if you need anything, you can always call me, okay? I can bring you food or something if you don’t want to go out or you want some quiet company,” she offered.

“Anyway… um, I’ve got these. I tried not to bring too much because I didn’t know how much space you had available and I wasn’t sure how fast these would sell,” she explained as she turned the metal crane in her hand. The flat surfaces were unnaturally perfect, which was a hallmark of her ability as a metal manipulator. Where other metalworkers needed to polish their work, Lena could simply will it into existence, in a manner of speaking. It required years of practice, of course, but now metal bent to her will so easily that she hardly required thought to do more simplistic things. “I don’t have like… business cards or anything. Do I need those?” she asked.

That was one of the things he treasured about Lena, among the slew of other qualities about her that he held dear, she had a way of displaying unwavering compassion towards all things. A way of finding the light in all and giving even when she didn’t have to. “I’ll keep that in mind next time,” a warmth flooding his cheeks and holding onto his usual gentle grin, “Would beat the usual delivery services. A man can only eat so many takeaway gyros before he actually becomes one.” Though the incubus couldn’t exactly admit that after sleeping for twelve hours straight for five days in a row, what he starved for wasn’t anything that he wanted her to provide. Silas tried to snack on strangers, people that he didn’t know in his day to day life and could sever his empathy towards. But the quiet companionship would be more than delightful.

“No, not unless you would like to gain clients looking for commissions,” he stated, welcoming the change in topics and getting right back down to business, “If you are looking more to sell because you are inspired— I would say just leaving a trademark etching on your work is more than enough information for those who purchase them.” Simple advice, it wasn’t his place to tell someone how they should make their money or operate their trade. He could provide the platform for spreading the word about local artists that sought it out, maybe suggest things here and there, but anything more felt overbearing, “I think we have plenty of space for all you brought and I have plenty of items in the store that you can use as props to display them. Showcase them in an interesting way.”

lenavidalis​:

Selling jewelry had never been Lena’s original intent when she started to make things as a child. It was a way to hone her metal manipulation abilities without drawing too much attention to herself, and making tiny, intricate pieces of jewelry served well as lessons in control. The keen edge of a sword was easy enough to accomplish, but focusing and moving metal in her hand to form thread-fine filigree required the utmost of skill. She and Silas came to a mutual agreement that she could sell a few pieces at his shop, and Lena was delighted by the prospect.

Throughout the past few weeks, she’d seen a decline in the man’s demeanor, dipping from his usual cheerful ease to someone weighed down by something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but it most clearly manifested as exhaustion. She couldn’t help but worry about him, particularly when in his presence, and she very nearly asked about him instead of answering the question at hand. “I um… yes, that sounds really good,” she said, flashing him a brief, bright smile before her attention turned to the contents of her purse. She pulled a thick velvet bag from it and pulled at the drawstring, then carefully dumped a handful of rings and one necklace into her hand. “I think window light will be really good for them,” she added as she grabbed the pendant of the necklace, which was a piece of solid metal shaped into a paper crane. The crisp lines and perfect, flat planes caught the light even though she didn’t stand under a direct light, a testament to her ability. For a moment, silence lingered and Lena worried her lip, then finally heaved a heavy sigh and shifted her weight uncomfortably. “Are you okay? You seem. You’ve seemed different. Are you sure it’s okay I’m here right now? I can definitely come back.”

The usual excitement for doing business with a local artist was still there, even if the fatigue was present in some of his expressions and he did his best to shroud it in smiles. Lena was a regular around the shop, even without her pieces being present within, and the guilt of worrying anyone about his scale relations was not something the incubus really wished to discuss. Not that he was particularly ashamed of the whole ordeal taking him over, just that he desperately wanted to move on and not dwell too much on his past mishaps. It kept him from healing and Silas needed every bit of it he could muster up at this point. But the care in her voice and concern that hung onto her expression stopped him from ignoring the questions. He had been reminded that friends were important after keeping the curse’s stronghold away from even Gabriel’s knowledge and it was foolish to push people away that just wanted to help. Don’t run, embrace.

“Just been under the weather,” he stated, charcoal hues meeting the witches before looking back down at her handcrafted jewelry with admiration, “I had to close the shop up for about a week just to get some rest, but I’m starting to recover. The worst is over now. Just uh— just been needing a lot more sleep than I anticipated, but don’t worry. Having the shop open for a little while is helping get me back on a schedule.” So maybe keeping some things from Lena about the scale wasn’t all that bad, though he was being truthful about being unwell for a time. “No need to come back,” he added to give her verification and hopefully ease the worry of needing to leave, “I was rather looking forward to seeing and hearing about what you have been up to.”

Knick Knack always attracted many different kinds of people, mostly because the incubus tried to cater to all walks of life. It was the same for anyone looking to sell their artwork and after all these years, Silas had seen just about everything. He noticed each detail and could tell when extra care was taken to design the piece. “The mark of a true craftsman,” he smiled, bits of exhaustion cutting through his tone and moved the ring closer to his eye. Only a few days had passed since the scale had been destroyed, though no matter how much he slept— it just never was quite enough. Running the shop was the only thing pulling him out of bed in the morning, but his strength was coming back slowly. Charcoal hues pulled back as shimmers of the stone danced across his warm expression, “So, what do you think. I have a couple open spots up front that can be personalized to your liking and we can feature your favorites in the window?”

@lenavidalis​