Again the redhead managed to crack a grin on Maxxie’s face as she placed the paints in the wrong place and then realised a few moments later her mistake. Maxxie put her slip ups when humming or singing down to lack of concentration, some people just got a bit carried away when singing so he couldn’t blame her. Everyone did it.

He gave her a warm smile and nodded his head to her in appreciation for her kind words though said nothing more on the matter, It was one of those things that only time could tell but deep down, he didn’t think he’d even be around long enough to settle down in this new place.
Walking back to his bag, he pulled a bottle Pepsi from it and took a few sips as he listened to Amanda’s question. It was strange for him to have to think about the answer as he wasn’t really sure himself as to what arts he liked. After a moment of looking thoughtful, he screwed the cap back on the bottle and walked to where Amanda was, keeping a slight distance between them and leaning against the doorframe that led to the back room.

“In all honestly, it was my mom that was the artistic one. After she passed away I took up painting more though I’ll never be as good as she was. I write a lot. Writing itself is a form of art if you do it right. My brother likes to draw and my father liked his music. He used to be in a band at one point until he met my mom and settled down. I guess you could say that the whole family is creative in some ways…”

He stared at the floor for a few seconds, remembering when he used to watch his mother paint. He used to ask her to paint things for him but everything she had made for him, everything that reminded him of her had been lost during his travels in the last two years, It saddened him slightly that he didn’t even have a photograph. Stopping himself from thinking and making himself upset over it, he forced a small smile on his lips again and looked back up at Amanda.

“What about you? You must have a keen interest in the arts to run an art shop.”

He figured it best to change the subject back to her, keep the conversation going although now a heavy weight had fallen in his heart. Glancing in to the back room, something happened to grab his attention. There was something glowing in the corner, moving if you will from behind the stacked boxes. It cast an eerie blue-ish light in the darkness and Maxxie found himself squinting at it before his feet took a mind of their own and started to move toward it.

The witch listened to him talk about his family, keeping a weary eye on him in case he decided to walk through the door to the back. After all, she hadn't made sure all the tell-tale signs of what kind of shop it truly was meant to be. "I'm sorry about your parents, but you're right, writing is an art form. Why do you think there are so many different pens and papers here?"

She was trying to keep the mood light, she didn't like it when things turned darker as it would be much harder not to slip up when she wasn't in a good mood. Thus she gladly jumped on the subject of her own kind of artsy stuff. "I like to craft things... rings, bracelets... And I love to sing more than anything though." Music really was her best creative outlet, as it was far less expensive than getting stuff to craft rings for clients. More often than not, she merely bewitched these items, but she couldn't exactly tell Maxxie that.

The moment she caught sight of the human stepping towards the room in the back, she moved and stepped in front of him, blocking his path. Briefly glancing over her shoulder, she knew what had to have caught his interest and closed the door behind her. "Please don't," she said quietly, still blocking the door. If he insisted on going back there still, she would have no choice but to either use her magic on him or who him what was back there. "It's a bloody mess back there and I really don't like it." She was biting her lower lip, looking up at Maxxie through her lashes and silently begging him to just drop it and take her word for it.

Deciding to distract her new worker, she quietly sealed the door behind her with magic and walked over to one of the shelves and opened the small box that stood there. It contained one of her self-made rings, a quite simple ring with a black stone embedded in it. "This is the closest thing I'll ever get to being an artist," she said, rather nervously. She didn't tell people who wanted charmed rings and what not that she'd made them if they didn't bring their own.

Maxxie was slightly taken aback by Amanda’s reaction. He had barely had time to take one step through the doorway before he was cut of abruptly by the young redhead. Of course, this only toyed with his curiosity more as he looked down at her with puzzlement in his eyes. Still, when she looked at him like that, how could he push her for answers and risk upsetting her?

He left it for now though as he followed her across the floor to one of the shelves, his attention kept breaking as he glanced over his shoulder a few times at the doorway. It wasn’t until she had pulled an ornament from a small box did his attention go back to her. In her hand she held a beautiful ring, one like nothing he had ever seen before. His eyes lit up as he drew nearer to her side and looked at in in awe. Though it was a simple design, the craftsmanship was noticeable.

“Amanda… that is really good!” He exclaimed as he looked at her in disbelief to what she had just said. “You are a natural artist clearly. You shouldn’t put yourself down like that. You know you could sell stuff like this? Really! It’s good enough…”

He grinned as he observed the ring, appreciating the delicacy and effort it would have taken to make. Like Amanda, his mother also had once enjoyed making jewellery though nothing as dainty as this. He was genuinely impressed. It seemed the little ring had taken his mind of the doorway altogether as he went on to ask Amanda what other little trinket bits she sod, not having a clue what their real purposes were.

Relief flooded through her when Maxxie dropped the subject and seemed fascinated by the ring she'd shown him. His compliments on the other hand made her blush as she wasn't used to people studying her artistry like that. At least not knowing it was hers. It was one of her favorite things that her mother had taught her, as she'd found she enjoyed the process of both crafting and spelling rings.

"Well, if someone comes in looking for rings or jewelry, please ask me first? I want to make sure they all find their rightful owners." The other reason was of course that she couldn't sell vampires protective rings and humans daylight rings, it really wouldn't work too well and she didn't want the human to work too much with the magical objects without being aware of their properties.

Putting the ring back in its box, she showed Maxxie where she wanted to keep the trinkets as well as show him a really simple ring with a black stone rather than the blues she'd used for a lot of the others. It was made so simple because it was meant for a guy, and what better way to take care of her newest employee than to make sure nothing supernatural could kill him? It certainly would make him safer from his brother. Besides, Maxxie didn't need to know what it did. "Keep it," she smiled and placed it simply in his hands before looking at all they'd managed to do in such little time. There were only a few more boxes left and they were mostly magic stuff, so she'd deal with them herself anyway.

Looking at the clock on the wall, she almost shrieked in surprise, though a surprised sound still left her. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late already, I'm afraid we'll have to finish up tomorrow... I'm out of baby-free hours," she bit her lip slightly as she didn't really want to leave stuff unfinished, but Jack wouldn't like it if she didn't pick up her daughter around the time they had agreed upon.

Maxxie carried on grinning though averted his eyes from Amanda when he noticed her blush. He wasn’t one to compliment much and seeing her cheeks brighten because of his kind words almost brought the same colour to his own cheeks. He was slightly confused by her request but put it down to him being new so nodded his head in agreement. Biting his lip, he followed Amanda again as she explained the layout for the shop and where the trinkets were going to be kept. As she pulled out another ring, he felt his lips twitch in to a slight smile again. It had been a long time since he had seen anything that had been hand made with such perfection.

He felt his face only brighten more as she took his hand and placed the small, black ring in his palm. On hearing her words he almost shook his head and placed it back on the side but on a second thought, he realised how rude that would appear to be so closed his hand and looked back at her with a smile.
He never accepted gifts from anyone; at least he hadn’t in the last two years. In ways, he didn’t believe he deserved such kindness but right now it was easier to accept it than cause any awkwardness with his new manager.
“Thank you… Really. But I insist I find a way to pay you back.” He said with a small smile before carefully placing the ring on his finger.

He found himself giggling again at the noise that left Amanda’s lips before pulling his phone out to check the time himself. He hadn’t realised earlier but he had five missed calls from home and three messages, all from the same person. Of course Tate would be getting impatient and hungry; he always did when he knew Maxxie had to leave him. Maxxie could have sworn his younger sibling did it on purpose just to make him feel bad. Sighing, he nodded again before placing his phone in his pocket and walking back to where he had left his bag.

“So you want me back tomorrow? Same time? I appreciate it in case I haven’t told you already. No one else would give this chance to a complete stranger in a town like this.”

It wasn't really such an odd request to ask that he sent customers asking for jewelry to her. Not if he'd known why and what for. After all, she couldn't sell the bewitched jewelry to the wrong people. Hopefully she'd be able to tell Maxxie the truth in the future, but for a while now he was best off not knowing.

She shook her head when he said he'd find a way to pay her back. After all, she really needed his help and that meant she needed him safe. Amanda couldn't have that brother of his accidentally killing him in a tantrum or something like that, not when she had a feeling they'd work well together.

Time had really flown away from them with how they were working and she was anxious to get home now. At least it seemed she wasn't the only one who needed to be someplace and that was always good. She hated to be the first one having to leave anywhere because of Kailah. Especially setting things up, as she'd dreamed of opening a magic shop in town ever since she'd moved there.

"We're all strangers until we get to know one-another." She said with a slight smile. "I really need the help, and I like to consider myself a good judge of character. I'll see you same time tomorrow." The witch would have to wait till Maxxie left before picking up her newest book so she could bring it home with her and truly study it while tending to the baby.