Relm - Not Childish
Title: Not Childish
Theme + Number: Keepsake #26
Claim: Relm
Characters/Pairings included: Locke
Rating: K
Summary: "I feel like my mom watches over me when I wear it."
“So, what’s that you have there?” Locke asked, nodding toward my closed fist. I looked up at his eager face and half-smiled, then slowly unfurled my fingers halfway.
“It’s beautiful,” he said after a moment.
“Thanks.”
“May I?” He reached out his palm.
Normally I wouldn’t, but I trusted this thief for some reason.
“Sure.”
He held the ring up to the light. The silver filigree surrounding the stone glinted in the sun. I had always liked its simplicity, a prong setting with a braid of silver around the perimeter of the stone, which was almost flat but slightly faceted. In the daylight, the stone was a light aqua, but when I took it inside by the lamps, it took on a purple hue. That’s what I loved most about it, that it had a hidden beauty that you wouldn’t notice if you only saw it once.
Locke was mesmerized and turned the stone back and forth in the sunlight. “Where’d you get it?”
“It’s... an heirloom, I guess you could say.”
“It’s old. Probably worth a lot, too,” he said admiringly. His fingers traced the silver. “It’s special to you, I can see.”
I nodded. “It was my mom’s.”
He took a sharp breath inward and opened his mouth, as though to ask a question, but then stopped, like he thought better of it. His mouth closed. Gingerly he took the ring and tried it on his right pinky finger. “Quite fashionable, if I say so myself,” he remarked in a jokingly haughty tone, gesticulating with an exaggerated swoop of the arm.
I laughed. “You’re starting to take after Setzer now, jewelry and the like. Next it’ll be shiraz and Roquefort every evening.”
Locke’s face looked theatrically miffed as he quickly took off the ring and held it by the band. He grinned. “You’ve known us for only how long, a week maybe? And you’ve got Setzer down to a T.” He winked, then his face turned serious again. “Thanks for letting me see it.”
“It’s all I have of my mom, and...” I hesitated. “I know it sounds dumb, but I feel like my mom watches over me when I wear it.”
Locke smiled a wistful smile. “People who love each other always do, in some way.”
He put the ring on my middle finger, where I had a soft, light-colored band of skin from wearing it. I had taken to wearing it so much that I no longer noticed it when I wore it, and when I took it off, my hands felt strange. It was still a little big, but I knew eventually I’d grow into it.
“It’s not childish to feel others’ love, even if they’re gone,” he murmured, as if to himself, picking up my hand and gazing at the ring, turning my hand in the sun. He looked at me and smiled with his eyes. “You won’t grow out of that.” Somehow, he understood.
Theme + Number: Keepsake #26
Claim: Relm
Characters/Pairings included: Locke
Rating: K
Summary: "I feel like my mom watches over me when I wear it."
“So, what’s that you have there?” Locke asked, nodding toward my closed fist. I looked up at his eager face and half-smiled, then slowly unfurled my fingers halfway.
“It’s beautiful,” he said after a moment.
“Thanks.”
“May I?” He reached out his palm.
Normally I wouldn’t, but I trusted this thief for some reason.
“Sure.”
He held the ring up to the light. The silver filigree surrounding the stone glinted in the sun. I had always liked its simplicity, a prong setting with a braid of silver around the perimeter of the stone, which was almost flat but slightly faceted. In the daylight, the stone was a light aqua, but when I took it inside by the lamps, it took on a purple hue. That’s what I loved most about it, that it had a hidden beauty that you wouldn’t notice if you only saw it once.
Locke was mesmerized and turned the stone back and forth in the sunlight. “Where’d you get it?”
“It’s... an heirloom, I guess you could say.”
“It’s old. Probably worth a lot, too,” he said admiringly. His fingers traced the silver. “It’s special to you, I can see.”
I nodded. “It was my mom’s.”
He took a sharp breath inward and opened his mouth, as though to ask a question, but then stopped, like he thought better of it. His mouth closed. Gingerly he took the ring and tried it on his right pinky finger. “Quite fashionable, if I say so myself,” he remarked in a jokingly haughty tone, gesticulating with an exaggerated swoop of the arm.
I laughed. “You’re starting to take after Setzer now, jewelry and the like. Next it’ll be shiraz and Roquefort every evening.”
Locke’s face looked theatrically miffed as he quickly took off the ring and held it by the band. He grinned. “You’ve known us for only how long, a week maybe? And you’ve got Setzer down to a T.” He winked, then his face turned serious again. “Thanks for letting me see it.”
“It’s all I have of my mom, and...” I hesitated. “I know it sounds dumb, but I feel like my mom watches over me when I wear it.”
Locke smiled a wistful smile. “People who love each other always do, in some way.”
He put the ring on my middle finger, where I had a soft, light-colored band of skin from wearing it. I had taken to wearing it so much that I no longer noticed it when I wore it, and when I took it off, my hands felt strange. It was still a little big, but I knew eventually I’d grow into it.
“It’s not childish to feel others’ love, even if they’re gone,” he murmured, as if to himself, picking up my hand and gazing at the ring, turning my hand in the sun. He looked at me and smiled with his eyes. “You won’t grow out of that.” Somehow, he understood.