The atmosphere in Piltover was a lot different than the undercity. The buildings showcased wealth and power, and they were always perfect. Not a single mark of graffiti, stain, or damage could be spotted on them. Sapphire grit her teeth as she passed each building, the only reprieve was the cleaner air that she was breathing currently. However, she didn't feel good about it. Piltover never seemed to understand why the Undercity was upset about it's treatment, yet if they just opened their bloody eyes for once they would see that they have so much more than the ones who live below. Sapphire let out the breath she didn't know she was holding as she stopped in front of the metals shop. She took a deep breath, trying to force a smile onto her face, knowing her usual mood would not be appreciated here. She stepped into the shop, her nose tingling as the scent of different metals assaulted her senses.
"Hello M'Lady!" The shopkeeper was an older man who ran the store and his son. "What kind of pieces are you looking for today?" Sapphire never gave her name when she came to Piltover, she knew some distant relatives lived in Piltover and she never wanted to meet them. She glanced down at the man's shirt, spying his name. She'd forgotten it, the same way Piltover forgot about them.
"Hello Earl! I actually got a commission that needs to be completed by the end of this week, so I need some iron and…" She looked down at the counter, reading the descriptions under the metal types, "I need a few pieces of iron mixed with this zinc alloy." She replied, her lips starting to hurt from smiling too much.
"Oh! Then I've got just the thing for you doll!" His son piped up and Sapphire winced at the pet name. "I actually was making samples using the Iron and different zinc alloys, but it is a bit pricey." He rubbed his neck, seeming to be a bit sheepish.
"Price isn't a problem. How much do you have of it at this moment?" She asked, turning her attention back to Earl. Completely ignoring the man's now visibly sulking son.
"Hmm. Let me go see." Earl headed into the back room where the forge was kept. His son tapped his fingers along the counter, continuing to stare at Sapphire.
"You know Miss, I've seen you come in here a few times now, but you're always alone. If you were my girl, I'd never leave you alone." He was trying to sound smooth, but to Sapphire it sounded like nails screeching over a chalkboard. Sapphire bit the inside of her cheek to rein in her temper, struggling to keep smiling.
"That's quite alright. I am more than happy to be alone, and I don't want to be anyone's damsel that needs protecting." She knew her tone was harsh from the way he flinched back, but she never stopped smiling. Earl returned from the back room, holding what Sapphire could guess to be about ¼ pound of the metal mixture completely solidified.
"Now, this is gonna need a higher temperature than usual to melt and trying to use it in a mold isn't gonna work. But, I have a new product from the Talis house." Earl smiled and pulled out a bigger than usual pen. "This tip here is heated, you can adjust the heat to whatever you need it to be, but you need some heavy duty leather gloves to be able to mold the molten metal." He explained.
Sapphire's eyes lit up at the new technology, despite the fact that it came from the despicable Talis house. This would make her job so much easier. "I'll take them both." She replied, a genuine smile on her lips this time. Earl chuckled, knowing she was always interested in the new tools for her craft. Of course, Sapphire spent more gold than she would have liked to on this project, but she would have left over metal from the 6 pins that could be used. Plus, the heated pen was an investment that she wasn't about to miss out on. The son packed up her stuff while Sapphire paid Earl. She smiled and waved at Earl as she left the store, giving the son a dirty look right before the door shut behind her. "Little punk." She muttered.
The sun was bright and felt even hotter up here in Piltover even though it was still early morning. She knew Earl was right about the leather gloves and was beginning to worry that her's wouldn't be adequate for the job. "Guess, I'll be spending more gold today.." She sighed, before heading toward a hide shop. This shop was a lot smaller and the smell coming from it diverted a lot of people away. Sapphire let her smile fall around here, knowing it was foolish to try and smile around this awful stench. When she walked into the shop, no one was inside, at least from what she could see. She knocked on the counter and was startled when a kid popped up from behind her.
"Mama, you got a customer!" The kid shouted through the shop, making Sapphire wince at his volume. Another reason to hate Piltover. Spoiled rotten kids. A blond woman appeared at the counter in only a few moments, her face and clothing sporting some tar spots.
"What can I help you with, Miss?" The woman asked, not expecting someone dressed as nice as Sapphire to come into her shop.
"I need a pair of durable and heat resistant gloves that can withstand the heat put off by metals as well as the new Talis heat pen." Sapphire requested, watching in surprise as the woman squealed.
"Oh! My! Of course we can make that for you! Now what size are your husband's hands?" The woman asked and Sapphire blinked.
"I beg your pardon? These gloves are for me. I'm not married." Sapphire was annoyed. She hated when women were treated as weaker, but she also hated it when people just assumed shit about her.
"Oh… I'm sorry." The woman seemed embarrassed, but hardly apologetic. Sapphire held out her hands for the woman to examine and measure. The woman hummed in thought before nodding to herself. She disappeared into the back and returned with a pitch black pair of leather gloves. They seemed oddly thin. "I know it looks thin, but this is a newly developed technique for insulating leather from cold and heat. This pair will undoubtedly be able to handle whatever work you need it for. I made them for my sister, but her hands are too big." She explained, offering them to Sapphire. She carefully pulled the black gloves on, finding that they fit her damn near perfect.
"Yes, these will do just fine. How much?" Sapphire asked, taking the gloves off and reaching into her bag of gold.
"Hmm. Considering the time and effort I put into them, I'll charge you 100 gold for them." The woman rubbed her chin. Sapphire grit her teeth, knowing a pair like this was should have been closer to 75 or 80 gold. Yet, at the same time she didn't want to spend more time in Piltover than she had to.
"Fine." Sapphire put the 100 gold onto the counter and grabbed the gloves, stuffing them into her bag on her way out the door. She couldn't wait to get back to the undercity after this morning. She made her way back past all those spic and span buildings. To be fair, she had thought about vandalizing them in her younger days, but all that did was rile up the enforcers, it never changed anything. What she wouldn't give for a way to finally change things. Sapphire was thinking deeply to herself on her way back across the bridge. Silco's proposed nation of Zaun had been gaining ground over the last few years. It could be that he was on to something, but the production of shimmer was another thing.
Sapphire stepped back into the Promenade with a sigh of relief, despite the blazing sun glaring down at her. She felt so much better back in her undercity than with the stuffed shirts in Piltover. She headed back to her apartment, knowing she had plenty of work to keep her busy. Who knows, maybe with this new tool she could get it done even faster than she first thought.
Sapphire yawned and stretched her arms out. She had been working on the pins since she'd gotten home from Piltover and she'd gotten the outline of them pretty much done. There was no way Silco would be displeased by the quality of these pins. She stood up from her work table, promising herself she would work more on them tomorrow morning when a thought crossed her mind. That blue haired little girl looking so excited at the necklace. Would she like a pin of the pink and blue gem birds. However, this would take more time to create, but she did now have the extra time since the heat pen did make her job quite a bit easier. Sapphire decided to make it anyway, even if the girl didn't end up wanting it.