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As the jewel caught a sun ray in its jagged edge a light blue gleam sprung off it, hundreds of years old and yet modern audiences still can’t help but admire its undying beauty. The intricate placement of each tiny stone, the carefully picked out colours, complementary and harmonious. The clear measure of time that had to be placed into it. Needless to say, it was expensive in both value and appearance.
A smile creeped at the edge of Denise's lips as she looked through the shop windows, admiring each and every little thing- from the colourful, soft shaped hummels to the flashy advertisements; or in the necklace case, the news. From what she could gather from the headline, it was a new arrival in some museum with an unreadable name. Although she had never been one for flashy jewellery, this piece was undeniably eye-catching. The still gaze must’ve lasted just a second too long as pretty soon a vile cough to destruct the silence emerged from Constantine as he walked past her.
“Sorry,” She murmured while catching up to him.
The criminal had not been much of a fan of their weekly trips to town, not since such a collection of stern eyes would follow him everywhere but especially shops. Why they would worry was beyond him, the world's most dangerous criminal would not concern himself with such petty theft like shoplifting. Besides, he was mostly done with that now.
Yet for some reason an idea came, not even an idea- just a mist of intrigue.
Like a creature clawing into his brain, something told him to look back one last time to the TV, to memorise every little metal indent in that necklace. Maybe one last time wouldn’t hurt…?
–
Each night when the city was at rest, when the streets were as quiet as can be. The frog took to planning, large scale crimes needed to be organised as precisely as possible; no top criminals are idle or tardy.
Each detail was thought out as well as can be, from timings, to places, each step had a when and where. Though there was no accomplice, the last time there was that led to an unfortunate ending. This was a solo deed.
–
As the cover of night collapsed over the city and the streets retreated to silence, he crept through the cramped, cold metal vents. Why was he even doing this? Any other kind gesture for his roommate would do fine, yet none of those gestures were truly a style of interest of his.
When the vent cover slammed into the ground, surprisingly no one came too fast… odd. Though this was a newer museum, maybe the security shifts were still a tad iffy. Though this did nothing to lower Constantine's guard but instead heightened it.
Each move was fast, precise, and intentional. There was no room for mistakes, carefully cutting through the halls, hiding with each faint noise and sprinting at any deafening silence.
Then he reached the weak glass display, as he gazed at the jewels laid out in front of him, an almost unsettling thought was brought to his attention, not unsettling- but… strange. The thought of the carefully cut blue jewels contrasting her soft pink felt. How the shine in the light will match that of her eyes. How the metal was less than likely to compete with the flicker of her smile.
No, none of these jewels were comparable but they were compatible, perfectly so.
This was what made these thoughts almost unnerving. Though he’d never admit it, he did find each and every jewel he stole an object of beauty, same with maybe one or two people at most, but the jewels were always lovelier.
As he looked down at the necklace a scary thought swept the back of his mind. Maybe it wasn’t the jewels appearance he loved so… No! That was stupid.
But when the noise of the guards sweeping through the museum broke him out of his thoughts, he quickly cut through the glass to grab the necklace and then he made a run for it. Leaping up and out through the large, open roof windows. God, the museum was practically begging to be robbed. How could he complain, though? It was perfectly in his favour, after all.
As he cut though the night sky the same thought kept on returning and playing over and over like an old game show episode in a waiting room, but unlike those episodes, this thought was a different kind of annoying feeling, an indescribable one.
–
The sun had begun to rise back into the sky at the time of his return, and luckily for him, Denise did not have work the next day and would most likely be sleeping up until noon. As Constantine stood outside of her door a hesitance lingered over him, what the hell was happening?
After a moment of consideration he swept in and made a quick grab for the Southern Live Oak jewellery box, turning all attention to it to try and savour her privacy, though for some reason the box made a sort of knot in his stomach and his frown somehow fall deeper.
After a moment Constantine carefully opened it and placed the necklace inside. He placed it back on the oak dresser and left. Though he knew she wasn’t a fan of that style of jewellery but somehow that specific piece, he hoped he’d see her in it just once. In his imagination, no jewel could out shine her, no matter how unwilling he was to admit that to himself or others.