Wedded by the planet force [Luke]

I'm only a crack in this castle of glass
hardly anything there for you to see

Avery stood blinking for a moment as the tall, dark boy yelling at the shop keep turned to address him. He was absolutely beautiful. With his dark hair, hauntingly light eyes and handsome features, Avery seemed to be frozen in time, searching for air to refill his lungs that seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. It took him a moment, but somehow he found himself firmly planted in the moment again, and the boy seemed to have moved one, speaking once more with the clerk. Avery’s cheeks burned with blush and he couldn’t help but smile as endorphins coursed through him.

Without further hesitation, Avery made his way closer to the boy and, without asking, delicately ran his fingers along the necklace in the boy’s hand. It was quite lovely the way the light reflected from the tinkling wind chimes and sparked along the necklace. “Oh this is beautiful!” Avery beamed, smiling brightly up at the handsome stranger. If there was one thing Avery had never been, it was shy. Perhaps it lended to his somewhat social awkwardness, but it was certainly also part of his charm. Always smiling, always willing to say hello or offer a positive word… quite the opposite of his rigid mother. In a way, his friendly nature was to counter act hers. He hated the way she seemed to make others feel, so he always tried to make up for it in his own way.

“It’s definitely worth it,” he said perkily, continuing to flash his pearly whites, “It will look great on whomever you are buying it for I’m sure.” He bat his lashes once before looking up and meeting the eyes of this boy he found himself so immediately enamored with. He couldn’t recall ever finding anyone so handsome. Without waiting for response though, a glimmering old music box caught his attention from a shelf behind the boy and Avery made his way over to it. His eyes lit up as he lightly traced the ornate gilding around the box’s edges with his fingers. He opened the wooden lid to reveal two small figures embracing in elegant poses and ornately carved from what looked to be ivory. Carefully, he wound the small handle upon the side of the box and a melody of distant memories played softly as the ivory figures slowly twirled together.

As Avery lightly closed the box, the music faded into silence. Still smiling, he picked up his new treasure and walked it back to the counter for purchasing. After placing the music box down, he ran a hand through his auburn hair that shined redder with all the sunlight that poured into the shop. The paunchy old store clerk smiled at him kindly—Avery frequented this kitschy hole-in-the-wall store enough to be familiar with the owner and to have made friends with him. “Good to see you again Avery,” he said warmly, in stark contrast to his demeanor with the tall, dark and handsome boy whom he seemed eager to have out of his shop.

I'm only a crack in this castle of glass
hardly anything there for you to see

“Oh,” Avery blinked, taken aback as this dark boy suggested that he haggle. That was not something Avery did, and usually for the very reason mentioned. Times were indeed hard for everyone, and yet, the Fiske family did not seem to fall under the “everyone” category. Their home was large, their kitchen well stocked and his mother even had enough to employ someone to clean and someone to cook. There was never any reserve or fears when it came to their pocketbooks, and Avery was more than happy to share his wealth in the ways his mother would allow.

Lightly, he brushed his bangs out of his eyes. Every movement he made was almost wisplike in delicacy, only adding to the effect that this boy might in fact be a living, breathing porcelain doll. He smiled back at Mal brightly and unphased, “I don’t mind, truly. It’s worth every bit to me.” He beamed as if the music box the shopkeeper was now wrapping roughly in some sort of protectant paper was the most valuable possession in the world. He treated most things in this way, always thrilled by small, simple and beautiful things.

Avery was sure to smile at the old clerk as well as he was handed the bag with his purchase. He was certain the man overheard the boy’s remarks by his unsure expression followed by a look of disdain. Avery wanted to be sure the man knew Avery didn’t share in this sentiment and was more than happy to be practicing business as usual whenever he stopped by this particular niche shop.

Without another word, Avery turned and walked with pep in his step to the shop exit, opening the door to the ethereal symphony of numerous wind chimes once more. The sunlight sparkled down upon him, as he stood halfway in the doorframe, illuminating his fair skin and vivid auburn hair under a natural spotlight. He turned, as ever with a smile, back to the beautiful haggler. “By the way, I’m Avery.” And just like that he was gone; the door slammed closed behind him and the shop was quiet once more.

Out of habit by now, Avery immediately placed his large floppy sunhat back upon his crown and covered nearly half of his face with the large sunglasses his mother insisted upon him wearing. No child of hers was going to look like leather if she could help it. Thus he continued his way down the promenade, walking in his usual upbeat rhythm. Distracted as ever though, the brightly colored ice cream stand on the corner of this block of shops caught his eye—well, once upon a time it was brightly colored. With time it had grown faded and dingy, but that certainly didn’t detract from the flavor of the ice cream in Avery’s opinion.