Author's Note: There's a longer one to come…
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, Holt Renfrew or the concept design of the dresses… well for the most part.
Chapter 21 - And Eye For...
Jinx sat in the control room and watched the monitors. It was moderately quite today, after the press conference, everyone had cleared out and just the approved movers were up and about, setting the new exhibits in their displays. No unexpected visitors today, yet somehow, she was glued to the screens.
Raven walked in carrying a clipboard and chewing on the back of her pen, "Hey Jinx, can you sign this?" she looked up to see Jinx intently watching the screens, "What's so interesting? Hey, you watching porn back there?"
Jinx laughed and leaned back on her chair, crossing her legs, "No, but you still have to see this." She pointed to a small figure on the screen wearing a black shirt and jeans. It was Gar.
"It's Gar. Get this; he's been walking around the room spotting all of the cameras." Raven leaned in to see that he was staring directly at the camera; he then moved on walking nonchalantly and disappeared off the screen, reappearing on another screen. This camera was another angle on the same section of the hall. He looked up and on his first try, found the camera.
"He's really good; he's found all of them so far. Even the cleverly hidden ones in the display cases and as bolts in the wall," they watched as the tiny figure leaned over a display case, his head popped in another screen; the hidden camera for that display. Hidden cameras were only with the most expensive of the collection. Gar smiled, mouthed something then moved on.
"What the hell was that? Did you catch what he said?" She looked down at a lay out map in front of her, "Camera 46, that's disguised as a gem in the jewellery display, the actual jewellery is on a silken pedestal which bottom is covered in faux gems in which said camera is hidden. What was he saying?"
"Um, I don't know Jinx, but I really do need to brush up on my lip reading."
Jinx brushed of her sarcastic comment, "Is he counting? Yes he is, he's counting! What is he doing?"
Raven shrugged, "Victor probably told him where they are and he's just checking them and messing with you." Despite her reaction, she was surprised. She knew he was a thief, but until now, how big and good a thief he was never really sunk in.
Jinx sat smiling, impressed, "Nope," she shook her head, "Vic didn't place the cameras. I did, we had a deal; after the break in I got to place the new cameras and no one but me would know where they were. Not even him. All he knows is that there are 81 total cameras."
Raven's eyebrows rose, "Wow." They both watched in awe as he peered into another display case with a hidden camera, smile and wink at them teasingly before mouthing another word, '47'.
"Bastard," whispered Jinx, "Well, what ever it his cash, he can do what ever the hell he likes," she quickly spun on her chair and faced Raven, "So, what's that?"
Raven showed the clipboard to her and handed her the pen, "Nothing, it's another copy of the recipient form from The British Museum. I don't understand why they're sending so frikkingmany." Jinx quickly signed the dotted line; her signature was a big and bubbly 'J. Hagge'.
"They wanna be careful, I guess. But whatever. Hey, by the way, I know you don't want to talk about the Gala, but…"
"Oh please Jinx, the Gala's not 'til Saturday and its only Thursday. I think you have enough time to pick out a dress."
Jinx smiled and brushed her off, "I'm not talking about me, I picked out a dress months ago… I'm talking about you." She winked causing Raven to raise her eyebrow. She should have seen this coming, Jinx was probably her closest friend at work since she was the only other woman with a position of power. Raven didn't make friends easily but Jinx was persistent to get a new girlfriend.
Jinx got up and walked in a circle around Raven, eyeing her up and down, "Baby, you got a lot workin' for ya. I'm sure we can make that rich pretty boy of yours come a-crawlin'." She giggled and pinched Raven's ass, causing her to jump and smack Jinx's arm.
"For your information, I have a dres-"
Jinx stopped, gave Raven a knowing look and crossed her arms, clicking her tongue in her cheek, "Rae, you are not wearing that Chinese collared black dress again."
"It's a nice dress." It was a nice dress, sleek, no-nonsense conservative. It came to just an inch above her knee and was black silk with a sheen design of an Asian floral pattern in a slightly lighter black, dark grey silk. It was sleeveless, the edges coming to a focal point at the traditional Chinese style collar. To top off the Asian motif, she wore her hair up I a bun, neat and clean, held together with two red chopsticks. The dress showed minimal amount of skin only at her arms and that was it.
"And I'm sure it makes you look like a nice girl, but Sister Sue ain't invited to the party," Jinx came up behind Raven and bunched up her hair, pulling it up into a messy bun and holding it with her hand, "But Raven is."
Raven sighed and pulled Jinx away, "But I don't have other formal dresses."
Jinx excitedly clapped her hands and jumped in the air, "Great! We're going shopping. Tomorrow, after work, by the way you're taking an early day tomorrow. Meet me here around one and we're outta here." She quickly sat down and faced the computer, furiously typing away.
"That's it?"
"What else do you want? Now shoo, I have to do tomorrow's work today."
"How do you know I don't have work?"
"Pssh, please, you finished all your work 'til next month," Jinx continued typing on the computer occasionally glancing at the monitors, then she did a double take, "Man, he's still at it."
Raven peered over her shoulder at the monitor. She saw Gar lean in close to a display and mouth another word, '56'. There were 81 cameras in total and he was almost done. Her gaze wandered to a couple of movers carry crates with red 'fragile' stamps on them.
"Hey Jinx," Jinx nodded her acknowledgement, "what are those?" Raven pointed to the crates the men were carrying.
"Those? They're the Magic Bricks of Cleopatra. Last things to be unpacked today, if you hurry you might catch them doing it." Raven smiled, gave Jinx an affectionate smack on the head with the clipboard and headed out the door.
Raven hurried down the hall, first passing by her office to drop off the clipboard, then onto the wing where they unloading the Magic Bricks. The bricks themselves were packaged in fourindividual crates and other trinkets that came along with them were in one long one. As she entered she saw standing over the men, hands clasped behind his back was Garfield. The men were prying the crates open with crowbars, moving aside the hay and lifting up the protective metal casing that each brick were in. She hoped he'd done steaming and approached.
"Do you know the history of these?" Gar turned around and glanced at her. He crossed his arms then turned to the front again.
"I heard a thing or two about them," he turned to her, who was beside him now, and gave her a smile, "But I bet an expert Egyptologist could tell me more about it."
Raven dove right in, letting her self get carried away in the familiar world of Ancient Egypt, "Magic bricks were implemented during the New Kingdom, which is around 1550-1070 BC. They placed in tombs and used as sort of charms against the enemies of the god Osiris, who was the central deity in Egyptian mortuary rituals, the God of the Dead. They were positioned at the four cardinal points of the tomb, North, East, West, South, resting in niches in the wall. An amulet was set in each brick, standing so it faced the opposite wall. Each brick was inscribed with page 151 of the book of the dead; it's a spell that offers the protection of the four sons of Horus, each amulet, or 'son', with a specific way of protecting the deceased."
They both watched as the first of the four bricks were individually removed from their metal casings, each metal box was filled with a grey Styrofoam to hold the pieces in place. The first brick was revealed, showing a small golden brick. A small pillar, 3 inches high, half an inch wide all throughout, it had four horizontal ridges on one side two inches wider than the pillar was imbedded in its centre.
"That's the west brick. It holds a faience djed pillar, amulet that represented stability and endurance. The backbone of Osiris."
A second brick was taken out. It was also completely golden, with a small gold statue of a jackal or dog figure. The effigy was very detailed; the ears were perked up to a point and bore a collar with very fine onyx stones imbedded in it.
"That's the East brick; it bears the figure of Anubis, the jackal god. He looked over the mummification process and was protector of the necropolis, the place of the dead."
The third brick held the golden statuette of a small Egyptian man. It looked very much like the stereotypical image of an Egyptian sarcophagus, only smaller. The statue was adorned with jewels, gems and precious stones. Like its brothers, the brick was made of gold.
"The North brick. That little man is called a shabti. Shabti are the most common objects in wealthy Egyptian tombs. As a person enters the afterlife, it was believed that the shabti were to come to life and do their labours for them. Therefore, the more shabti you have the less work you have to do. Same goes in this context, the shabti were the deceased's slaves to command."
The final brick was uncovered. The usual golden brick was there, its amulet was a tall stick-like golden rode about nine inches high, also gold.
"The final brick, South. That's a reed there, to hold a torch. It was meant to burn the path of those who came to harm the deceased. What's special about these particular magic bricks were not only are they completely gilded in gold, but also they were found in Cleopatra's tomb. Cleopatra was born at 69 BC and died at 30 BC, far after the New Kingdom. Tutankhamen also had these in his tomb but not quite as glamorous. The legend is that Cleopatra loved her people so that she insisted on a traditional Egyptian burial, complete with a curse. The curse was entitled in these bricks and where so ever her body, her mummy, is taken, they go too so as to not disturb the curse." Raven had ended in a solemn whisper.
The entire time she spoke, Gar watched her intently. He saw the joy in her eyes as she described the history of the artefacts and saw her every time a new one was revealed. She looked like a kid in a candy store, and she was so beautiful. She began to walk towards the display case as the men placed the bricks down and set the alarm code, he followed.
"They're beautiful aren't they," she turned to him and caught his stare. He blushed and looked away, nodding.
"Yes, yes they are. Quite expensive and rare as well. These may be the most precious things in this exhibit, next to the mummy itself. But, they're small and movable, unlike the mummy," he turned to her, his face serious, "Easier to steal."
She almost scoffed, "You would know, wouldn't you?" Dammit, why couldn't she stop? She turned to him and saw his jaw clench. He looked her straight in the eyes and she saw a flash of frustration. If that's the way she wants to play, fine. I can take a hint. He quickly turned away and walked down the hall, arms still crossed, shaking his head.
She watched him saunter away and bit her lip. Great, I just had to ruin everything didn't I? I couldn't just leave well enough alone. She scolded herself and turned her gaze back towards the bricks. They gleamed under the white halogen lights; the blood red silk reflected the gold as they each sat majestically on their own separate pedestal. Raven sighed as she prayed to Isis, goddess of love.
"Come on Rae, out!" Jinx sat on the brown leather armchair in the dressing room of Holt Renfrew. She had insisted on the best, after all, it was Gar Logan trying to impress. He could probably buy this place five times over. Beside her lay several dresses, three of which Raven had already tried on and rejected.
"No!" Raven shouted from the inside of the booth, the door muffling her voice.
"Aw, come on, if you don't come out how can I possibly decide if you should buy it or not."
"You're not paying for it Jinx, I am."
Jinx laughed and shook a finger, "Now, now Rae, that's for me to decided not you. Remember?" They had asked for a private dressing room at Holt Renfrew and were treated with a room full of mirrors with nothing but the brown leather couch and a booth. Many times had Raven tried to talk Jinx out of this but, by brute strength alone, Jinx won and practically dragged Raven here.
Jinx glanced over at the row of rejected dresses. The first of which was an orange, pink and red dress, the colors combined in swirls that reminded her of melted oranger, raspberry and strawbery sherbet mixed together. It was sleeveless and was cut in an angle from mid-thigh to just below the knee coming down in slight waves. The sleeves were in large ruffled waves also, Jinx squealed when she saw it on Raven but Raven just turned right back around and changed.
The second dress was far more edgy. It was black, ribbed tightly horizontally and was a sort of fitted tube going from above her breasts to the middle of her thighs. So fitting it was almost constricting. It had looked like many tiny black snakes had gotten a hold of her and wouldn't let go, it even restricted her walking. Raven emerged and argued with Jinx about how she couldn't breathe or walk, then Jinx murmured something about the dress accentuating her curves, and like that Raven was back in the changing booth.
The last one was a red cocktail dress very much like the one Marilyn Monroe wore in "The Seven Year Itch" and it infamous scene with the Manhattan subway grate, only more revealing. It had a swooping neck and was backless; the back came to a downward point and its length came down to mid-calf. Raven had actually liked this one were it not for one thing, it was red. They argued for what seemed like hours until Raven finally gave up and ran back into the booth.
"Anytime now Rae-Rae." Jinx heard her grunt at the nickname and the latch unhinge. Out stepped Raven in a long black flowing gown that was more revealing than what it seemed first glance. It was long and came close to her ankles, but as she turned Jinx saw that it was split on both sides, all the way up her thigh to her waist so that with every step she took, everyone got a nice flash of her legs. As she continued to turn she showed it was backless and came down pretty low on her backside, low enough to reveal the downward raven tattoo on her lower back. Jinx whistled as Raven did one more twirl. It was amazing how the dress held up, from a very low neckline it came up but not around her neck but back down her back by her shoulder blades, connecting with fabric under her arm and along her side. It was revealing in terms of her back, neck and thighs, but she was pretty covered other than that. And plus, it was black.
Raven grinned and stood, shot at the hip, arms crossed, in front of Jinx, who was smiling huge, "Girl, if that ain't the one, then I give up and I'm going home."
"I think I'll have to agree with you, Jinx, finally." Jinx stood up and clapped her hands.
"Okay, now for accessori-"
Raven shook her head, "Nuh uh, I've got my own ideas now. Besides, you only said 'dress'."
Jinx reeled back smiling and threw her hands up, "Fine, fine. Boy, let me tell you," she leaned in and whispered, "You are going to give that rich boy a run for his money." Raven turned around and headed for the booth again, that's when Jinx slapped her butt and winked at her.
"And when the hell did you get that sick tattoo?"
A/N: This is a long author's note, I have to explain some things. The title refers to the line 'An eye for shopping', referring to Jinx and Raven's escapade and Gar's 'eye' or intuition for security details.
Most of what Raven says about the Egyptian burial rites and the magic bricks are completely true, including their descriptions and intended meanings. As for Cleopatra having them, that's an out and out lie. Cleopatra's remains though are actually at the British Museum, that much is true. I don't know why I used the idea of magic bricks and not something simpler and more transportable, it just sort of came out.
Okay, the dresses here were all paying homage to something else. I know, I know, I suck at describing dresses and this was a very shoddy attempt. The first frilly dress was a salute to both my friend who wore something like it to our semiformal, and Starfire who has been seriously lacking in this fic. But not too worries, she'll be here.
The second was a salute of Frank Miller's Sin City, the special DVD of which I had recently acquired. It resembles the dress which 'Goldie' wore, I don't think it was very clear in the movie but in the graphic novel, it's on the first page.
The third dress was yet again to Sin City and the film noir genre, of which I am an avid fan, and there's the obvious reference to the infamous Marilyn Monroe picture. It supposed to be a cross between that and the dress the girl that the Salesman, Josh Hartnett, kills.
The last was a nod to Raven's actual costume in the comic book, albeit more revealing. As was the tattoo on her lower back, which might I say is very hot?
That's it for me. I updated my profile entailing the afore mentioned dresses and locations, except my friend's dress.
BTW not counting what I say on my author's notes or what's on my profile, if you had to judge by my writing, would think I was a girl or guy?