Karma

who: eury and olivia
where: stone eye antiquities
when: middayish

It was easy to memorize the streets of Marquette. Olivia had nowhere to go, and no place to be, so she spent most of the morning after eating at Mya's Diner walking. She turned left, and then right whenever she felt like it, taking in the details of the quaint houses, the apartment complexes and businesses. There really wasn't much to the town, but that suited Olivia just fine. She had had her share of big cities and their people over the past two years. It was still chilly and her hands were getting cold, despite being shoved in the pockets of her hoodie. It was as she was clenching her fingers to warm them that she looked up to find herself standing outside of a shop that seemed to sell antiques. Olivia hesitated briefly before she stepped inside, welcoming the warmth. Immediately she began to look around, pretending to be interested in the items lining the shelves. She'd stay long enough to warm up, at least.

Eury was in the main part of the shop, putting up a new shelf of odds and ends she'd dug up from the back room. They were all pretty old nicnacks, and really random ones at that. From little kittens to pet rocks, she had quite the little collection to put out. When someone entered, she glanced up, mirrored sunglasses reflecting the girl back at herself. "Hello!" she said brightly, straightening to smile at the girl. "Welcome to Stone Eye Antiquities, how're you?"

Olivia started at the voice and whirled around to see a young woman, who didn't look much older than Olivia herself, smiling. Olivia quirked an eyebrow at the fact that the girl was wearing sunglasses, considering the sun had yet to show its face that day. "I'm fine," Olivia replied briskly, shoving her hands back into her pockets before they began itching to touch stuff. "Antiques, huh? You find this stuff yourself?"

"Oh, a lot of it I have." Eury said, looking around her shop fondly. "And some of it I get from elsewhere, or of course, people who bring things in. Is there anything you're looking for?"

Olivia shook her head and turned away, continuing through the shop slowly. She resisted several urges to lift a few of the items. The whole trying to stop shoplifting thing. As it was, she had no room in her bag for stuff like this, and in a town like Marquette, who was going to buy it off of her? Olivia highly doubted they had illegal antique deals going down in dark alleys. Turning around, Olivia studied the young woman. She had a unique style about her, strange hair, and those sunglasses. "Is this your shop? You don't really look like an antique dealer."

Eury quirked a little smile. "Don't I?" she asked. "What are antique dealers supposed to look like?" she asked, highly amused. She got that a lot, really. But she was a girl who liked to break stereotypes, so a dreadlocks doning, tattooed and pierced antiques dealer she was.

"Dowdy women with long skirts, glasses and an upturned nose." Olivia paused a beat. "And they should smell like cats." Shrugging one shoulder, Olivia picked up a small wooden boat and studied it, unsure what would define the thing as an "antique" other than the price. "No offense to you, but usually girls that look like you work at like, tattoo parlors, or record stores. It's nice to see someone breaking the mould. Do you buy as well?"

"Yes, I buy too." Eury said. "And none taken. If it makes you feel any better, I used to be in a metal band in Chicago on the side of antique dealing." she commented. "Not that we were any good, or I might still be there. But there's some perspective!"

That piqued Olivia's interest and she found herself stepping forward. "I just came from Chicago," she said, and then stopped abruptly. It wasn't like her to be forthcoming about, well, anything. "But metal band suits you."

"Really? Small world! I was there for a while. I liked it, but after a while it got old, so I moved on. But I do that a lot, I'm a traveler at heart. Just a very slow one." Eury informed her. "Odd place for two city-people to wind up, though! How are you liking Marquette so far?"

It seemed that Olivia had more in common with the tattooed antique dealer than she would have thought. "I just got in last night," she admitted. "It's all right. I haven't seen much of it yet, to be honest. It's certainly different from the other places I've been too. Smaller. Quieter, for the most part. Do you get a lot of business?"

"No!" Eury said, though she was smiling and this really didnt' seem to be bothering her in the least. She went to go sit down on the countertop. "But that's alright, I enjoy what I do, and it's not my only source of income. That and I had quite a bit saved up before I got here, so I don't mind that I don't make a whole lot. I suppose it's less of my lifeline and more of my all consuming hobby."

"Ah." Olivia couldn't quite fathom having only a hobby to keep her busy. She'd spent the last two years working the oddest jobs just to keep a roof over head and food in her stomach. Which reminded her that if she didn't figure out something soon, she would be sleeping on another park bench. "Listen, could you look at something for me and tell me if I could get anything for it?" Olivia flushed at the question, every instinct within her telling her to shut it, but desperation was beginning to seep in ever since she'd spent the last of her money on food.

"Of course!" Eury said. "Got something vaguely antiquey? There's some pawn shops around too, though I think they're kind of shady." she added. "I heard one guy got busted for drugs or something. Really brilliant. But sure thing, what do you have?"

It was an antique, but Olivia had never once thought of selling it. Maybe fate brought her here for a reason. Frowning, Olivia crossed to the counter where the woman sat and set her bag atop. Pulling it open, she began to riffle through her clothes and belongings until she found the small, white box. Her hand gripped it briefly and she very nearly changed her mind before sighing and opening it. She pulled out the platinum ring and handed it to the young woman. "It's Art Nouveau, 18 karat. I don't know how old it is, to be honest, but it belonged to my mother, and before, my grandmother."

Eury took it, and then looked it over. "Ooh, very pretty piece." she said, turning it around between her fingers to get a good look at it. "I could probably get you a decent price for it. What around were you looking for?"she asked, glancing back up to the girl.

Olivia didn't know the first thing about selling her belongings. Well, other than her iPod which she gave away to crash in someone's garage for a few days. Did that count? Pained, Olivia tore her gaze away from her mother's ring, the last connection she had to her other than her mother's journals tucked safely in the bottom of her bag. "A hundred?" Olivia asked. A hundred would get her a couple nights in a motel.

Eury looked up appraisingly at Olivia. "Are you hard up for cash, dear?" she asked her. It may have been a prying sort of question, but she couldn't help but ask. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed that the girl didn't look exactly overjoyed to part with the ring.

Flushed, Olivia stiffened at the question. She didn't particularly like being called 'dear' either, but she knew the young woman wasn't trying to be condescending. At least she hoped not. "I'm fine," she lied with an indifferent shrug before forcing a smile, clearing the emotion from her face. "Can we agree on a hundred, then?"

"You don't really want to sell this ring." Eury said, holding it back out to her. "Why're you trying? Did you run from Chicago? Are you running from something or just running out of everything you've got?" she asked. Wouldn't be the first person she'd met up with who had that sort of frazzled 'give me anything you can' look in their eyes.

It was the first time she'd left Maine that anyone had actually asked her those questions. Usually they agreed to whatever she asked for if she had something worthwhile to give them in exchange. Olivia snatched the ring back, relieved and angry at the same time to have it back in her palm. "I didn't run from Chicago, I hitched. And I'm not running from anything, or anyone. I'm just...traveling. Cross country. Every college kid's dream, right?"

"I don't know, depends on if they have someone paying for it." Eury said. "Look, it's none of my business, I'm just not blind or stupid." she said in an even, warm tone. "I'm just not going to take something important off of your hands when you look to me like you really just need a little bit of help."

Olivia stared at the young woman for a moment, trying to figure her out. She had an instinctive reaction to trust her, but Olivia hadn't trusted anyone in five years. Frowning, Olivia didn't deny what she had said, and instead, Olivia began to rummage through her bag. "I have other things. Nothing as valuable, a couple cds, my phone, though it doesn't work anymore..." Trailing off, Olivia realized how pathetic she sounded and she laughed, brushing her hair away from her eyes. "Maybe you can give me the address of that pawn shop. Look, the truth is, I had to spend most of my cash to get a ride, and the rest I used on breakfast, and I just need to get this off my hands for awhile," she explained, clutching the ring. "Just to get a room for a few nights, and get a job, then maybe I can buy it back from you."

Eury thought about things for a few moments, then eyed the girl. "How about this. I'll hold onto it for you, and give you money, and someday, come back for it. Just make sure you get yourself settled, and stable before you do. If you need any more money, you can come back and ask. I'm sure there's open jobs in town, it's a college town, there's always something." she said. "You won't have to buy it back from me. But if you're floating right now, I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose it, or pawn it." she finished.

Hesitating again, Olivia gripped the edges of her bag. It felt wrong, on so many levels, to let a complete stranger help her out. She didn't know this girl, and the girl didn't know her. Olivia was instantly wary and suspicious but knew she didn't have any other choice other than going another day without a shower and sleeping in a damned park. Swallowing hard, she felt her pride sink down into her stomach before nodding. "All right...but only if you let me pay you back. I mean it, I wouldn't feel right just taking money from you when you don't know me. I'll pay you back, with interest."

"Maybe I believe in Karma." Eury said with a little smile. Then she hopped down from the counter, and moved around it, opening up the till. She took out a couple hundred dollars, and set it on the counter for her. "Here you go." she said. "Take care of yourself, this should last you at least long enough to find someplace to stay and probably some form of work. Come back in sometime and say hello, too." she said.

Olivia stared at the money, wondering when the catch was going to be revealed. Instead, the girl looked sincere, at least her smile was. She still wore those sunglasses. Before she changed her mind, Olivia picked up the cash and shoved it into her bag, already imagining the hot bath she'd be taking in less than an hour. "Karma it is," she said finally, placing the ring on the counter. "I'll come back, you don't have to worry about that." With a small smile, Olivia grabbed her bag and ducked her head to hide her red face as she hurried from the store.