May 15th, 2005

There hasn't really been much to note of lately. Me and Myra's relationship is going along smoothly and I couldn't ask for anything more. I have been contemplating asking Myra to marry me. But, I haven't figured out how to do so. I don't even have a ring yet! I really should get to work on that….

Sebastian shrugged while having his hands in his pockets. As people walked past him to their various destinations, he found himself in front of another jewelry shop window. More than once he had found himself standing in front of a jewelry shop or even entering one. But, he saw no ring that truly fit his girlfriend. If anything, he swore he had better luck finding a ring for himself than for her.

As a matter of fact, he stared at a golden band that rested in the jewelry case. The ring had no fancy engravings or gems lined along the outside. Even if a brief frown appeared on his face at the reminder of someone else in his life wearing such a band, he knew he would take better care of the ring. The symbol of bonding himself to another would not be neglected like that person had done for as long as he had known them.

He turned away from the window. While pushing the memories back from his mind, he stood there quietly. The golden band still looked nice even with the negative connotations. He could see himself wearing it as a reminder of him and Myra's commitment to each other till the day he died. Yet, last time he checked, buying a ring for himself would only put him into debt for no reason. Not like he was made of money.

Damn this is hard. Sebastian huffed and walked into the store. He might as well see if maybe a ring further into the store would work for Myra. However, he blinked and stiffened at the sight of someone he wasn't expecting. While he knew it was possible to run into co-workers outside of work, why the fuck was he seeing Joseph of all people? Being caught ring-shopping by his partner just caused him to scowl. But, he was no fucking coward.

When Joseph had his attention on one of the necklace cases, Sebastian walked away from the entrance of the store and moved towards the ring case. He glanced down at the many rings offered from the more simplistic to the more extravagant. Even though his gaze remained on the rings, his mind focused on the fact his partner was in a jewelry store.

Did Joseph have a lover? Was he buying something for himself? A birthday gift for someone? Was he just bored and window shopping?

"Sir?" Sebastian looked up at hearing one of the workers there. "Did you need help with anything?" The young man asked, looking to be in his mid-twenties versus Sebastian's going on thirty. Sebastian shrugged softly.

"Just ring shopping. Don't know what I want yet. Thanks though." He hoped his response would get the man to go away. He wasn't in the mood for dealing with someone trying to thrust their opinion on him.

"Alright. Let me or one of the other workers here know if you need anything." The worker said before leaving Sebastian be.

Sebastian huffed softly while resting his hands on the top of the glass ring case. Still nothing seemed to strike at his fancy. Myra deserved a ring as amazing as herself and yet she would kill him if he splurged too much money. He looked at one ring that had a single diamond with a golden band. That might be able to work. Would she prefer a silver band though? Did she even like diamonds?

"Castellanos?" Only one person tended to call him that. Sebastian turned slowly, hesitant in his movements. He couldn't stop the inevitable though. His eyes locked with Joseph Oda's.

"Yes, it's me." He admitted before furrowing his eyebrows. "What are you doing here?" Since Joseph had caught him, he might as well get out his nagging question.

Joseph shrugged slightly. "A birthday gift for my mother back home. It is her 50th birthday. So, I figured she deserved something special." He answered once again with that brief faint smile. Sebastian swore Joseph didn't know how to smile any other way. "What are you doing here?"

Sebastian should have known Joseph would have asked the same thing back. While he didn't think Joseph and Myra were close, they did seem to get along. He could only hope Joseph wasn't a shitty secret keeper. Otherwise, Joseph would call him on his bluff later and that would be annoying.

"I'm looking for a ring for Myra." He told Joseph bluntly. "I just am shit about deciding what ring would be best for her. She's practical, but I don't want to be cheap about it either. You know?" Sebastian pointed at the rings. "It's not an easy thing to solve." He watched the way Joseph now furrowed his eyebrows and look down at the rings. What he hadn't expected was Joseph pointing to one of the rings.

"I could see her with that ring." After hearing Joseph say that, Sebastian looked at the ring in question. It was a silver band with three small diamonds on the top part of the band. "It seems simple enough to me, but has some elegance to it. It's not full of a lot of gems or stuck with one huge gem. Plus, I believe silver would better match her suits." Joseph looked at Sebastian. "But, you're the one that has got to be happy with the choice."

Sebastian nodded slightly even though his eyes never left the ring. He waved his hand to get one of the worker's attention. "Can I see that one?" The worker took out the ring and handed it to him. Now that he could see it up close, he saw the way the diamonds shined against the light and the silver reflected a distorted wrongly colored version of himself. He nodded again before handing the ring back to the worker. "Is there a version with only two diamonds?"

As the worker walked away to check, Sebastian noticed Joseph's raised eyebrow. "She likes evenness." Joseph seemed satisfied with the answer since he didn't say anything back.

It didn't take long for the worker to come back with the version with two diamonds instead of three. His eyes slightly widened at the image of Myra wearing such a ring. "Oh, that looks really nice." Sebastian frowned right after saying that. "Wait…. how much does it cost?" Oh god he hoped it wasn't thousands of bucks worth.

"The cost is….two thousand dollars with tax of course." The worker answered with a hint of a friendly tone. "If you are interested in this ring, we would just need to know ring size so the ring will fit properly."

Sebastian blinked a few times. He remained quiet as the worker stood there and Joseph now tilted his head. "Castellanos? Do…you even know her ring size?" The voice of his work partner snapped him out of his stupor.

"No, I don't." He swore he could have heard Joseph's facepalm a mile away.

"You can't go ring shopping without knowing that, Castellanos!" Joseph huffed and looked at the worker. "Sorry, we'll have to come back another time." He gripped Sebastian's arm and tugged him away from the ring counter. "Honestly, going ring shopping unprepared like that...you really do hate being prepared, don't you?"

Sebastian glared at Joseph. "Ha. Ha. It slipped my mind was all." He felt Joseph let go of his arm and he brushed his arm like he was getting off some dirt. "But, at least I now have a promising idea of what ring I can go for." He smiled slightly as he stopped glaring. "Thanks for that by the way. You didn't have to do that."

"Yes well, I actually respect Myra. So, I would want to make sure her boyfriend does not get her some horrible piece of jewelry." The glare returned in full force as this time Sebastian knew Joseph had the faintest hint of a smirk on his face.

"You have such confidence in me, don't you?" Sebastian glared more while Joseph looked away.

"I have some. Just not fully." Joseph admitted as he focused on the necklaces. "Now, since clearly weren't ready to ring shop, you'll repay me back the favor by helping me necklace shop. Otherwise, I will make you do both of our paperwork."

Sebastian's eyes widened. "What? You said you wouldn't do that!"

"Under certain circumstances I said I would. And considering I just helped you figure out a possible ring for you to propose with? I…might be willing to consider that one of those circumstances." Joseph kept having that faint of a smirk for a bit longer before going back to his normal neutral expression. "Now, what do you think? Gold or silver necklace…."

Sebastian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "I say gold. Go all out." He smirked at Joseph who shook his head.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sebastian chuckled now at Joseph's deadpan reply. He stood there as Joseph kept looking and he found himself starting to look himself. Guess he was so bored now he wanted to see if he could find a nice-looking necklace.

Admittedly, it was probably better to say he had helped Joseph find a birthday gift than say to Myra he failed to remember her ring size. Yeah, he needed to put some effort into finding a nice pretty necklace for Mrs. Oda so Myra would believe his excuse.

"Do you even know what she likes?" Sebastian raised a brow while Joseph stared at some of the necklaces hanging off mannequin busts.

"Yes, I do. She tends to be a woman that doesn't want to wear something gaudy or fancy. I suppose like Myra in that regard. Just with it being her 50th birthday and all, I figured I could indulge a little and get her something nicer than what she usually wears. Such a birthday does not come around again."

Sebastian nodded slightly and pointed to a necklace with a silver chain and a small gem hanging off it. He didn't recognize the gem from looking at it. What drew him to it was the two colors within the gem that blended pretty well together. "Joseph, does she like orange and purple?" He glanced over, and Joseph tilted his head slightly.

"I believe it depends on the exact shades. Why?" He walked over as if realizing Sebastian must have been talking about one of the necklaces.

"What about that one? Apparently, the gem is called…," Sebastian narrowed his eyes, trying to red the writing beneath the necklace. "Ame….trine?" He scowled a bit at how much he struggled.

"Castellanos? Are you unable to-"

"Are you interested in that necklace?" The same worker from earlier came over. Sebastian figured the guy must have been bored out of his mind to pester them more than once. He took the chance to back up from the case.

"Maybe." He pointed to Joseph with his thumb. "He's the one looking. Not me." He took some more steps back to get himself away from Joseph. With Joseph forcibly caught up in a conversation with the worker, he hoped it would distract Joseph from what he was about to ask. From where he stood though, he couldn't tell hear what the two were discussing. But, it seemed to be going well with the worker taking out the necklace and Joseph examining the jewelry.

He tensed slightly at hearing his cell phone go off in his pocket. He took it out and pressed it against his ear. "Hey." He smiled at bit at hearing Myra on the other end. "Yeah, I'll be there soon. Just wanted to walk around for a bit. Love you too." He hung up and blinked at seeing Joseph in front of him now.

"Oh? How did it go?" Sebastian asked, and Joseph smiled more than a faint smile.

"It went well. While I plan to go to some other jewelry stores and check online to see if I could get that necklace at a better price, I at least have an idea what to get her now. Thanks."

Sebastian blinked. "Wait, you actually go around and do that?"

The smile quickly slipped off Joseph's face. "You don't?"

The two stared at each other for a minute before Sebastian quickly looked away. "I should probably get going."

"Castellanos! That's just bad shopping to do it otherwise!" Joseph cried out as Sebastian quickly headed out the door. "Hey!"

Sebastian didn't hear anymore once the door shut behind him. He relaxed while walking down the street. "That's just what I get for admitting that to him of all people." He shook his head before faintly chuckling. "But, maybe I should actually do that from now on." He just wasn't going to admit to Joseph that maybe he was grateful for the indirect shopping advice.