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“Filch, what about this one? I like the color.”
Filch leaned over and looked down into the glass case where all of the watches were stashed away. He grimaced at the sight of a full handprint where some child had gotten overzealous. It was indeed a pretty watch, though he wasn’t so sure about the silver band. “Oh, that’s a nice one. Sort of an olive green. Do you think I should get something that isn’t green, though?”
“I think you should get whatever you like, my love. If that’s more green, then that’s more green.” Halsin took a sip of his coffee, shaking the ice around. He watched him as he sighed.
“Well that’s not practical, is it?” Filch squinted at the one next to it. It had a leather band—his preference—but then it would look just like the one he had on. He held it up to compare, and sure enough. “Ugh, I don’t know. I don’t need another watch.”
“It’s a Midwinter gift, love. It’s not supposed to be something you need.”
Filch grumbled at him, but he knew he was right. They were both more than well-off enough to buy things they wanted for one another. And yet here he was, being overly-practical. “I just don’t know. Let’s try another store, maybe.”
“We didn’t look at the other side of the case yet,” Halsin said. “Let’s at least take a look before we go back out into the mall.”
“Fine, fine.” He squeezed Halsin’s hand, grabbing his own coffee off of the display. It was nice and warm still, though the mall itself was sort of stuffy and warm. “I’ll look. But we have other shopping we need to do too.”
They wandered to the other side of the display case, weaving around clusters of equally as insistent holiday shoppers. He loathed crowds, but it was much easier to navigate when your six-foot-six partner was there to serve as a meat-shield. One section was all gold and far too gaudy for his taste. Another was mostly plain blacks and greys, which was boring. “Do you own a watch? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear one.” Halsin shook his head.
“No. I just never thought to buy one, I guess. Especially since we all have phones nowadays.”
“Sure, but…” He thought about Halsin wearing a nice watch, his sleeves buttoned up to his elbows to show it off, and was pleased at the image. “You’d look handsome with one.”
“Oh.” The tips of his ears went adorably pink. “Well, you’re the watch expert. What do you think?”
Filch hummed, looking them over. Green would have looked good on him too, but he didn’t want to force Halsin to match with him. Maybe a deep red—or a brown. He echoed his sentiments aloud, pointing out a couple he liked for him. Halsin’s eyes fixed on a muted gold watch with a brown dial and a real-leather strap. “You like the brown one?”
“It is nice,” he said wistfully. “But it’s not something I need.”
“Well now you’re just being a hypocrite.”
Halsin laughed, his cheeks going pink as he was caught. “I suppose you’re right, aren’t you?”
“I’m always right,” he muttered. His eyes flicked over some of the more colorful ones nearby, resuming his search. He eventually settled on a watch with a engraved-leather band and a deep green dial. The sign said it was 100% leather, and all real silver, and it was absolutely gorgeous. But then he looked at the manufacturer.
“Oh, that’s a nice one!” Halsin said. He’d followed his gaze. “What if I get you that one?”
“Absolutely not! That’s an Emveolstone!” Halsin tilted his head like a confused puppy.
“Emveol… what?”
“An Emveolstone. A very expensive brand out of Waterdeep.” Filch slid his glasses down from the top of his head so he could actually read the price, and laughed humorlessly. “Unless you want to be spending nearly four platinum on me, I think we should pass on that.”
“That’s… that’s half of the store’s rent for the month.”
“Exactly.” Filch drank the last of his coffee and wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand. “Clearly, this side of the case is out of the budget. Come on. Let’s go get our other shopping done.” He turned to throw away his cup and keep walking, but he was stopped by an elven saleswoman behind the counter.
“Sorry,” she said, “I don’t mean to eavesdrop on you two. But our Emveolstones are actually 70% off today only for Black Friday. So you’d be paying… let’s see, a plat, a gold and twenty silver instead of the four plat, if you were interested.”
Godsdamnit, he thought. That’s actually a fantastic price for an Emveolstone. This is why I can’t stand salespeople. The horrible gremlin in him that itched to have shiny things was starting to gnaw through his brain.
“Is that a better price, Filch?” Halsin asked.
“I… well, yes. Very much so, but…” A platinum is still a lot, Halsin, he thought. It’s one thing if it’s my money, but… “I’m not comfortable with you buying something that expensive for me. It’s alright. We can find something else.”
“Are you sure? We can always—” He was cut off as his phone rang. Filch raised his eyebrows at him as he slid it out of his pocket. “Ah, this is Jaheira. I should probably take this. I’m sorry, love.”
“Don’t be sorry. I can meet you outside of the store?”
“Sure. —Yes, hello Jaheira…” He watched as Halsin wandered out of the store and into the open part of the mall. The saleswoman was still standing behind the glass.
“Sorry,” he said, tapping his empty cup on the display. “He owns a store. You know how it is, I’m sure.”
“Oh, that’s always hard,” she replied. She looked like she was Halsin’s age, and her long, black hair was neatly done up behind her pointed ears. “Especially during the holidays. I’m surprised he didn’t need to be there today with all of the deals going on.”
“I managed to pull him away for a few hours. He’s not one for all of the Black Friday sales, anyhow.” Why on toril am I telling you this? He thought. Since when did I get so chatty? Or is that some kind of salesperson black magic? It finally occurred to him that he was just bragging about his partner a little, which was infinitely more embarrassing. She must have seen a shift in his expression, because she went right back to her pitch.
“Well, no worries if the Emveolstone is out of your price range. Is there anything else you’d like to look at? Anything I can help you find?” Filch frowned. His instinct was to turn her down and walk away; but then he remembered the watch Halsin had been admiring. Halsin wasn’t here. This was an opportunity.
“Actually,” he said, smiling, “There’s a brown one down here, I think it was a Cormanthyr & Co.? How much is that?”
“Oh, yes! I saw your… husband?” Filch blushed.
“Ah, not quite. Partner still.” The woman smiled, laughing.
“Partner, my apologies. Well, I saw your partner looking at it. Did you want to buy it for him?”
“Possibly,” he replied. It really was a nice watch, and it wasn’t so godsdamned expensive. It was practical for a man who worked with his hands twenty-four seven.
“Let’s see… this Cormanthyr is eight gold full price, four with the discount. Do you want me to take it out for you?”
“That would be great, thank you.” Four gold was cheap for a higher-end brand like this one. But still, he always liked to take a closer look to make sure the craftsmanship was good. The woman slid it over to him on the counter and he took it, then rest it on his wrist to feel the weight. It wasn’t too heavy, but it wasn’t too light either. Something too small would have looked odd on Halsin’s frame. The leather was very soft and had no scratches. The gold wasn’t the gaudy gold like he’d seen earlier, but an almost faded gold, a testament to its quality. The saleswoman waited patiently as he looked everything over. “You know what, I think I will buy this for him.”
“Great! I can wrap it up for you, then.” She smiled as she gently tucked it into a box. “This will make a great Midwinter gift. I assume that’s what you’re buying it for.”
“It is,” he replied, slipping his wallet out of his pocket. This was one of those moments he was glad he and Halsin weren’t married; he could buy whatever he wanted for him, and Halsin would be none the wiser. “I think so too. He’s bad about buying things for himself. Though, so am I.” His eyes wandered back to the green Emveolstone, which had been a mistake.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try the Emveolstone on? You’ll never see it that cheap again, I promise you. If you’ve been wanting one, now’s the time.”
“I…” It glimmered at him through the case. He was a fucking crow. “I don’t see why not.”
The saleswoman pulled it out, and without the finger-printed glass and the reflection of the florescent store lights in the way, it looked even better. In fact, the dial wasn’t just coated green.
“This Emveolstone is special because the dial is actually made of jade,” she said, “so every watch is unique. The leather was also embossed by hand. A lot of craft went into this particular line of theirs.”
Filch brushed his thumb over the embossing. It was a pattern of leaves. The jade had beautiful, but subtle marbling. And it was a perfect weight on his wrist—just weighty enough to remind him that it was there, but not so weighty that it would bother his joints. The damn thing might as well have been made for him.
I’m about to be out a platinum, aren’t I?
Indeed, after a few minutes of getting everything managed at the register, he was out a platinum. With Halsin’s watch and the taxes, he was actually out two platinum. Rent, he thought. A month’s rent, spent on two watches. Godsdamnit.
And yet, he was pleased. Which was annoying.
He walked out of the department store and into the mall center and began looking around for Halsin. It was just as crowded outside as it had been in the store, families and groups of friends wandering from location to location with bundles of bags in their hands. Thankfully, Halsin was a pretty noticeable figure—he’d find him soon enough.
Eventually he came across him. Halsin was sitting on a bench with a soft pretzel in one hand, his phone in the other. “Darling. Halsin.” Halsin looked up and waved at him, smiling.
“There you are.” Halsin kissed him on the cheek, scooting over on the bench so he could sit. "I've been waiting for you to come back."
“Everything okay with the store?” Filch asked, eyeing his pretzel. Halsin nodded.
“Yes, everything was fine. Jaheira just wasn’t sure about the price on the Alocasia Azlanii we got in.”
“Mmh, did it sell already? Impressive. That’s not a cheap plant.” He glared at Halsin. “You got yourself a pretzel, and didn’t get me one?” To his surprise, Halsin handed it to him.
“No, I already ate mine. This is yours.”
“So you do like me still,” he replied, taking a bite. The terribly processed, salty bread melted in his mouth. These were such a guilty pleasure of his when he had to come out to the mall. “I wasn’t sure for a second.” Halsin rolled his eyes playfully.
“I know better than to risk our relationship over a pretzel.” He glanced at the bag wrapped around his wrist. “What did you buy?”
Immediately, his face went red. Halsin looked at him funny for a moment, until he finally realized why he was so embarrassed, in which then he simply laughed at him. “Oh, hush!”
“Well, let me see it,” Halsin said. “You should wear it. It’ll look nice with your outfit.”
They carefully took the watch out of the box. During the commotion, Halsin didn’t seem to notice anything else in the bag, which was perfect. Expenses aside, he was rather proud of himself for his little secret purchase. Filch gently clasped it as Halsin held it in place for him.
“It really looks like it was made for you,” Halsin said, admiring his wrist. Filch sighed.
“That was my thought too. It’s part of the reason that damned saleswoman was able to convince me to buy it. No more expensive things for the rest of the year, that is for certain.” He turned his wrist back and forth, observing as the watch glittered under the light. He was enjoying his shiny thing. His very expensive, very unnecessary shiny thing. At least he’d gotten a gift for Halsin too. The day hadn’t been a complete bust. He smiled as he thought about him opening it on Midwinter—he was going to be so surprised.