A request (closed to all but Venis)

That was a good suggestion. Might make her a little less busy, more time to think. But, she can find things to keep her busy. "Sounds like a good idea, but I need to meet him before then. Promise?"

"I promise sis."

She smiled.

"Just promise you will behave he is a true gentleman."

She mock gasped and laughed. "Casandra, I am shocked, I am a perfect lady." Her smile erupted into laughter again. There was no fooling her little sis when it came to things like that.

She started laughing to and felt a lot better now.

"Thanks I needed to laugh."

She fained a look of shock. "Whaaa, I am. I'm a perfect lady. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't cuss, don't fornicate, never broken a single commandment." She laughed even harder, her flames danced from her fists. "Oh, I need to stop. I'm gunna drop flames if I don't."

"Sure you are"

Was all she said

Her laughter died down to a chuckle. "Ohhh, no seriously though. I promise to be on my best behavior. I just want to meet him. Did Gawain approve or will he and I need to discuss it later?"

"Gawain saw him for all of two minutes and thought he was interupting something."

She arched an eyebrow. "So, there's room for discussion then little sis?"

"I think Gawain over heard me saying something about select people seeing me naked."

She was becoming flushed.

"I must say the more time I spend around him the more I keep thinking that I will not mind that."

She set down the last two black diamonds on the table. She looked at the white gold settings. "How about this?" She showed Cas one of the settings. It was a round setting that required some smaller stones around the center stone. "Yea, you know you just want to see him naked." She laughed then. Nothing like the two of them sitting around having girl talk. Venis didn't usually sit around and gab with women, but Cas was always an exception.

She smiled as she looked at the settings and nodded.

"V they are perfect."

She was reaching out to touch one of the then droped her hand to her side they were probably hot.

"Well that may have been true."


Her hand reached up and touched her earings.

"Now I know it is V I almost asked him to stay with me tonight."

Casie was right. The setting was hot because of her hand being so hot. She counted the number of small diamonds she needed. Then she got her small bag tiny coals. She counted them out and they fit in one hand. She squeezed her fist tight again, and her flames flared to life. "How about clear for these accent stones?"

She smiled. "What stopped you from asking?"

"That would be perfect."

She sighed.

"You know what stoped me V, I'm scared to death, but you are right I have to get over it."

She knew V was not going to like this but she was going to say it anyway.

"How much do I owe for this?"

She was going to have to time this just right, didn't want to discolor the diamonds and they were small, so she had to be careful. "You might not ever get over it dear, but you really should try to work around it. You will eventualy get used to it. It will be something that keeps you on your toes and makes you watch things more closely. You'll spot warning signs earlier and know when to get out before things get too bad."

She rolled the forming stones around in her hand slightly, and very slowly. She didn't want them to stick together in a clump. "WHAT? Excuse me? Casandra Marie Lightheart. When have I ever charged you for your diamonds?" There had better be some fast explaining of that one.

"I know V your right and I am trying "

She smiled softly and then frowned at her outburst.

"I know V and I apriciate it but this time is different I have never met a man that gave me anything so beautifl and didn't expect anything in return for it I just feel this time I have to pay for it. "

She looked at her and smiled.

"Give it to a charity if you want to but please let me pay for them."

She pressed her lips together and furrowed her brow. Then she sighed. "Ok, here, I'll do this for you. You can pay Shamus a little something for carving the coal. And, you can keep an eye out for something for me. I need a very large chunk of coal. Shamus wants to carve something. He won't tell me what it is, just that it's going to be the biggest diamond I have ever made. Sound good."

She opened her hand to check the diamonds, if they were off color she would have to start over. She picked a few of them up one at a time and examined them. She even pulled her jewelers loop from her box of findings to check them. She refused to use sub-standard stones.

White she had the loop out she checked the black stones as well. She illuminated them from behind with a flame dancing off the tip of her finger. Every diamond was F - IF grade, the clears were D color, the blacks were almost completely opaque, they were all round brilliant cut, the clear diamonds were 1/4 carat each, the four blacks for the button covers were 2.5 carat and the two blacks for the cufflinks were 4 carat.

She took the settings and examined them each for broken parts. Then she got started setting the stones. "While I set these stones, go ahead and pick a box from the trunk over at the foot of the bed sweety." Each black stone was set upside down in the center of each setting. That was for a stronger hold and more masculine effect. She used her fingernail as a point of concentration for the heat as she melted each stone into a channel setting. Then she placed each individual clear stone in place and using the same heating method she pressed each prong into place to hold the stones. The button covers held thirteen clear stones each and the cufflinks held sixteen clear stones each.

Once she was done she set them on a white cloth and put her jewelers loop on the table beside them. "For your approval dear."

"Ok I think I can agree on that for a price, how much do I need to pay Shamus?"

She looked at the diamonds and smiled

"Oh V they are perfect, thank you so much."

Her eyes were sparking as bright as the diamonds right now and she noded as she crossed over to the box to look for well a smaller box. She began to rumage through it looking at boxes and rejecting them till she came to a box made from cherry wood It was the right size and was very well made when she opened the box she saw it was lined in white silk.

"I think I found it."

She had not seen V workng on the settings and when she came back and saw them she threw her arms around V and hugged her.

"Thank you."

Venis laughed and hugged her back. "You're welcome sweety. You can pay Shamus what ever you want. He loves carving coal, and if you find one the size he wants he's gunna love you forever." She was so happy to see her dear friend so pleased with her work. "I am sorry it took so long for me to get them done."

"Ok I will find him later and pay him as for the coal I will keep an eye out."

She was still smiling.

"V don't be sorry I needed to have this talk with you too. Can I touch them yet?"

Venis hands had returned to her normal temperature so she touched the diamonds. "Yes, they have cooled. I'm glad we had the chance to talk. It's been too long. You know that you are pretty much the only girl friend I have for girl talk, right?"

She carefully picked them up and placed them in the box.

"Come on you have plenty of females around to talk to, but thank you I enjoy our talks."

Venis shook her head. "Most of the women around me look at me more like a maternal figure than a sister or best friend. I have missed you Cas. And I am so glad you are here." She felt the tear well up and she turned away to put the findings away before she got caught.

She smiled.

"V we have been through to much for me to look at you like a mother; and I'm glad your here too."

She hurriedly wiped away the blood tear. "I know." She finished what she was doing and put her things away. She was using the time it took to clean up to calm herself. This was Casie's time, she would deal with her stuff later, in the gym.