Living in a Material World [Wonder]

If there was one thing that sent a chill to Peri's spine, it was the disgusted pearly white smile of the District 1 kids. The rich ones, that is. Working in the shop he'd had many a customer come in with teeth as shiny and blinding as the pearls beneath the cabinet. Many a time he'd debated ripping out their teeth and selling them as pearls, knowing the idiocy surrounding his District, it'd be simple. They were all so giddy, it made Peri wonder what kind of upbringing had brought them to the point they were at, what made them so incredibly fake. A vast superiority complex seemed to float around each of them like a bubble waiting to be popped with a knife. It was no wonder that most of them became careers, there was no doubt that Peri enjoyed watching their bubbles get popped when it's too late to change their ways. Sure, he himself felt better than others at most points. The earthquake had only reassured the fact that he lived in the best District.

The others seemed to have poured in from nowhere in numbers to help with the devastation. The only problem was, half of them looked as though they had been hit with the disaster themselves. Ragged, hollow, dirty. Most of the people who came to help were weak and disgusting, even the adults. When Peri had watched the reapings, people looked fairly clean, but that was for a country event, they came in work clothes. Time and time again during the clean up, people had entered the store just to look. Trailing dirt in with worn out boots, they asked time and time again to lower prices of his gems. Disgusting. That's all they were, greedy mooches trying to invade his home. They were better, that's for sure.

Yet, it was almost a relief to get someone slightly grubby in the store. Every day at the store consisted of greedy, pretty looking people coming in with bleached hair and bleached skin. Fake as most of the jewelry sold these days, not at the store of course. Theirs was all real. The air of arrogance seemed to swallow all that it could find. He wasn’t really into the whole reading aura’s and stuff, yet, if he could it was a sure thing that the boy in front of him wouldn’t glow with the same brightness as his eyes and teeth. More a dark red, bloodshed, it was clear he was some sort of career, most of these kids were. And yet, the small boy seemed to barely reach over the glass container. No immediate threat seemed to exude from the boy, and yet, he could feel it in him. A ferociousness that if tempted would be killer. Peri knew better than to cross a career, even though he was one himself.

Victory Tour, of course. The boy eying the sapphire was looking to make himself the biggest luxury here, as did everyone else. Victory Tour, it seemed all so pointless considering how close they'd come to winning. But just because the District hadn’t won meant nothing, celebrations were mandatory for every District regardless as to how bitter the people might be. Yet, it seemed like the Capitol might have ignored how bitter they as a people were. The Victory Tour was a celebration anyways for any of the Career Districts when they brought home the win. They were better, they had trained, any win was a win. The bitterness of the loss still lingered in the air, you could feel it with every step down the cobblestone streets. Yet, the celebrations would still rage on. The celebrations would always rage on.

The boy’s bright blue eyes almost seemed to pierce him with every glance. Eyes of a killer. Peri couldn't help but notice the small flashes of danger in the sapphire blue eyes. Peri sifted through the jewel cabinet looking for a match. Every stone held in it a personality archive, there were only certain people who would fit the stones that they bought and Peri made it his job to fit those personalities. They were often easy. The shade of a skin, the color of an eye, the clear idiocy that escaped from every syllable. It was so easy. Each glance of the eye just made it clearer. Though Charm had been glancing and drooling over the sapphire, it was hardly the right shade of blue, of the right person. Unlocking the cabinet, Peri slid open the glass door and grabbed the nearest blue gem. Nearly slamming it on the counter he looked at the boy,