Cassius' Shop of Jeweled Wonders

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius gave a slow nod as he thought it over, finding the logic sound, "It sounds logical. The boy not liking what happened to his father, blaming you for the result of the older man's wish. But he could easily have found someone else with the same allergy to hurt by mistake. Yours isn't the only race with that particular allergy, you know," he pointed out the flaw in the boy's plan as he finished up his meal by using a bit of the bread to sop up the last of the gravy on his plate and washed it down with a sip of the ale.

Rex's ale had to be the best he'd ever had. Brewed right here on the island behind the tavern by Rex himself, it wasn't as intoxicating as most ale's were. It was brewed mainly for the flavors. Even the children on the island could drink it without having issues.

Cass thought the issue over again and easily noted the boys mistakes, every one of them truly a major mistake instead of minor ones, "In fact, I know I'm right. and I have a feeling that point will be made with the boy up at the castle. There are a few dragons with an allergy to onyx as bad as yours, a few others that are worse... Some elves have the same problem, a few demons... Any one of the three could easily be as perfectly beautiful as you are," he pointed out then added a clincher to it, "In fact, I know of a mermaid who does look similar to you with the same allergy to onyx as yours. His hair is as long as yours was when you got to the island... He's probably a few inches taller... His eyes shift color when he's upset... But otherwise, you could be twins. If the boy had attacked that particular mermaid, though, he'd have been in a world of hurt over it. He'd have been taken down to answer to our king, likely imprisoned in an underwater cave until he was an old man or even turned into a servant for the prince, if the prince survived the attack," he knew he was on the right track and had to press his point to Kota.

He finally set his empty glass on the table and stood, letting Kota keep him steady as he made his way back into the living room and his chair there. Once he was sitting down, he could easily tell that he would be able to move without aid by sunset, which he was grateful for, "Now then... Onto much more pleasant matters... Would you like to learn how to make the jewelery now?" he asked with a smile  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius showed him how to make the simplest piece, a bracelet. Twisting the gold strands wasn't hard to do and Kota could still do it with his hands injured. Placing the stones into it was a bit harder, more like wrapping the stones into the metal; but, again, it was something that Kota could do easily.

The pieces rarely had clasps and were simple pieces that would fit over the wrist then be tightened around it so that they wouldn't slip off, the ends simply twisted into and around themselves so that they weren't sharp.

He used various metals for his jewelery; silver, gold, copper, bronze, nickle, etc... Each one had a ready-made label ready for it with the metal already listed, only waiting for the stones to be added.

The stones he used were all in a specially made box with drawers for each gemstone, all clearly marked by type, size, and cut.

He demonstrated how to wrap the stones by making a bracelet out of gold metal with a central stone of ruby and two smaller pieces of yellow diamonds on either side of it. He kept his movements slow and clear so that Kota could easily follow how to work the piece, knowing that he'd be able to catch on quickly.

Then he motioned for Kota to make one of his own however he wished.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius gave a soft chuckle at the soft sigh and hugged him with one arm as he looked the piece over, "It's actually a good piece, Kota. Most people actually don't want perfection in their jewelery. I always make sure there's at least one flaw in every piece I make. We aren't gods to craft perfection in our creations, just mere mortals, however long-lived, who have to make do with what we can," he told him softly, placing a light kiss at his temple.

He was serious about the piece too, knowing that it would actually fetch a very nice price. He'd probably be forced to deal with a bidding war over it.

"Just take your time with it. Understand the metal, feel it moving under your fingers. Feel the gemstone, it's cut and style, see it's color and the best way to let the light shine through it as you wrap it. Each piece will tell you what it wants to be. Much like your canvas tells you what colors to use, what image to paint on it. This is as much art as your painting is and equally as fickle at times," he explained and opened one unmarked box to pull out a few pieces of black jade, a large cabochon ruby, three chocolate diamonds of various shades, and a large piece of dark amethyst.

"Each of these gemstones has a personality of their own. They don't like each other or other stones, meaning that they need to be placed by themselves. But they don't like the metals I currently have either, so they haven't been made into anything just yet. I have to wait for the right metals, the right design, and the proper mood for the stones," he explained and put them away again.

He opened a box that contained Ammolite, Andalusite, Boulder Opal, and Charoite, "These are all rare stones and beautiful on their own, but they like to be paired with other stones which makes them perfect for pieces like bracelets and necklaces but they don't like silver or gold, preferring copper and bronze," he put those back and simply held Kota for a moment, enjoying the moment with him as he shared the secrets he'd learned over the years.

"So don't worry about what the piece looks like when you finish it, Kota. It will be right for the stones because they will tell your hands what they want," he reassured him softly with a tender smile.

"Now then, I think I hear Rex coming around the building. I'll let him in with dinner and see him out. You work on another piece. When you're finished, we can eat and head on to bed," he suggested, unable to resist giving him another kiss before he got up to let the large man in through the double doors and lead him into the kitchen then let him out the front door and locked it again before returning to the kitchen to see what they'd been brought for dinner.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Rex returned the wave as he left them to eat, Cassius simply smiling in agreement at the mention of where to hang the painting. He knew he'd love to have it there and it would easily hang between the posts at the head of the bed.

When he saw the from on Kota's face over the chicken, he had to give him a kiss, "It's no problem, Kota. You sit down and I'll serve it up. Then we can go upstairs to hang the painting and see about getting some sleep," he said simply.

He collected plates and served them both, cutting up the chicken on both their plates in the process then did the same for the asparagus. He buttered the rolls for both of them and poured them both a glass of dark red wine that Rex had brought over as well that he'd assured Cassius would go well with the meal. All of that done, he sat with Kota at the table to enjoy the meal but found that he enjoyed Kota's presence even more than the food.

He was equally determined to get him healed as he slept tonight and silently readied the power and songs he'd need for it as he ate.

When they were finished, he put the plates in the sink and put the leftovers in the ice box, thankful for the spell that kept it cool instead of having to rely on actual ice for it. Then he gathered Kota and the painting and headed upstairs.

Hanging the painting was an interesting event that had him putting himself into interesting positions on the bed to get it up to both of their satisfaction. When he was finished, they were both laughing softly over it all, Cassius silently glad he'd managed to distract Kota from the troubling earlier events of the day.

Now he put his arms around Kota's waist from behind as they looked at the painting hanging over the bed, "Are you going to stay here tonight?" he asked him softly, not wanting to take it for granted that he would.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius returned his soft laugh with one of his own and smiled at him, "I was hoping you'd say that..." he said in that same soft whisper then gave him a much better kiss, "Because I was thinking that we could take the next step together..." he added then kissed him again.

He wasn't going to take them all the way yet, but he was certainly going to see about pleasuring Kota enough to exhaust him into sleep. He started with stripping them both to their skin while still kissing him, then letting him breathe as he picked him up and eased him onto the bed before joining him there and resuming their kiss.

He let his hands move lightly over Kota's body, slowly building his passion as he let his lips follow, then showed him what pleasure could be attained at a lovers' hands. Afterwards, he simply held Kota as he shivered and struggled to breathe normally again.

He hadn't seen to his own pleasure this time, only seeking Kota's in an effort to show him the first steps in what lovemaking could be.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

As Kota fell asleep next to him, Cassius sat up with Kota in front of him, holding him from behind as he began to sing. He kept the song soft, not wanting to wake him up. It took him hours and drenched him in sweat, but he finally got Kota's hands healed as well as his burns and helped give him a bit more resistance to Onyx.

That last had been what drained him so much. He was having to fight something that was part of Kota's DNA, his physical make-up. And it hadn't been easy to do. But at least Kota wouldn't be hurt as badly by the stone, only experiencing a mild weakness and very minor burns from it now.

He eased Kota gently onto the bed again and went to the bathroom to rinse himself off. He dried off and returned to the bed, curling up behind Kota with one arm over his waist as he pulled the covers over them then fell into an exhausted sleep.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius woke up to the scent of breakfast and coffee and sat up with a frown, noting that Kota wasn't in the bed. He found that he liked waking up with the man. Although, now that he thought about it, maybe it was better that Kota had gotten up before him. If he'd woken up with Kota still in the bed, they wouldn't made it downstairs until lunch at least.

So he gave himself a soft chuckle and got out of the bed and slid into a silk robe that was, oddly enough, the same exact shade as Kota's eyes. He brushed his hair out and headed downstairs, smiling at the sight of Kota's breakfast all laid out and ready. Including coffee.

He moved to stand behind him with one arm around his waist to press a kiss to his very tempting neck, "You are wonderful, do you know that? And certainly thinking better than I would have been... Waking up with you still in the bed would have kept us there until lunch, at least... Then I would have missed your fantastic cooking..." he whispered to him softly and gave his neck another kiss that he simply couldn't resist.

But he moved away from him and sat down at the table, giving a soft chuckle as he noticed that his first cup of coffee was even made exactly the way he liked it, "Mmm... Too wonderful for words indeed..." he added after tasting the coffee.