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“I’ll take it. Do you take debit cards?”
“I do,” the dragon replied, and she pulled out a portable processing machine from beneath the cart. A few minutes later, the transaction cleared, although I needed to call the bank to confirm I was making a ridiculous payment for stones for my pets at Shrine Hill. Once done, the dragon handed over my goods in a cyan bag, thanked me for my patronage, and turned her attention to the next customer in line, which happened to be my father.
I foresaw mayhem.
Sure enough, my father pointed at a V-shaped necklace fashioned with a mix of blue stones, ranging from the palest sky to a deep sapphire skirting on black. “I will take that, and should it have earrings and a bracelet that match, I will take those as well.”
Uh oh.
My mother loathed wearing earrings, which meant my father meant to foist the set onto me, as I enjoyed wearing shiny baubles for the right occasions. As I couldn’t call the bastard out for his dirty dealings, I got out of the way, sighed, and shook my head over the insanity.
Garnet squeaked and nuzzled my cheek, and I smiled for the kitten and reassured her with pettings and soft words. As one set of jewelry wasn’t sufficient, he bought two others, requesting earrings and a bracelet for one and only a bracelet for the other.
Biased bastard.
My mother joined in, and as expected, the pair squabbled. As I’d been saddled with the role of an unfortunate human stuck with dragons, I observed in a mix of awe and horror over their poor behavior in public.
A rather bemused Cedrick stepped to my side and said, “Please don’t mind them. They’re dragons.” The titanium dragon-kin crossed his eyes. “They’re the very definition of what it means to be a dragon.”
No kidding. “He is buying jewelry, probably for her, and she’s arguing with him… because he’s buying jewelry, probably for her?” I attempted to listen, but their dispute had boiled down to hisses, growls, and grunts.
In defiance of my mother’s wishes, my father pointed at three cut gemstones on the table, adding them to his bill.
Not to be outdone, my mother selected four.
“What are they even going to do with that stuff?”
“Hoard it,” Cedrick replied in a solemn tone. “They are dragons, and all dragons love pretty baubles. I collect earrings. My collection is separated into numerous metal groups and gemstone types. I wish to have at least one pair of earrings from every cultural group on the planet.”
“Ambitious. How is it going?”
“I’m realizing that I have bitten off more than I can chew, especially as modern earrings become vintage with the passage of time. In good news, I can start buying modern pieces and waiting for them to become vintage, but generational changes within cultures are a serious problem. If I use the twenty-five year rule, I’ll need to collect thousands of earrings. I’ve truly set myself up for failure. And then I look at them, and I realize that dragons have their own cultural groups, and I don’t think I can get earrings representative of them.”
I patted Cedrick’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“In good news, I am a young and foolish dragon-kin, so I can change what I collect. But I also am a young and foolish dragon-kin, so I resent that I may have chosen what I collect poorly.”
“You could just collect antique jewelry in general.”
“I could, but that seems too easy.”
“The older the better. You’re just learning the art of collection with modern and vintage pieces. True antiques, from eras long past, will be a true challenge.”
“That sounds very dangerous for my wallet, Kinsley.”
I stared at my parents, who might end up buying the cyan dragon out of wares. “You could be like them.”
The titanium dragon-kin shuddered. “You know what? I think you’re right. I do think I shall expand my collection to focus on truly antique jewels and jewelry.”
“Maybe if we leave, they won’t notice.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“We won’t know until we try.”
I turned and made it all of three steps before my father cleared his throat. “Where do you think you’re going, girl?”
Damn it. “Do you have eyes in the back of your head?” I returned to my spot while Cedrick laughed at me.