Gleam

A bizarre creation of purified bismuth, titanium, and a creative perversion of the laws of physics, Gleam is named for its rainbow shimmer and perpetual half-light it casts in the nearby area. Gleam is exceptionally difficult to obtain, never mind work with, due to the funds and skill required to obtain and merge its components, never mind ensuring it comes out as Gleam and not a simple, disappointing, alloy.
That said, Gleam is well-beloved by the rich and powerful as a testament to their egos; while not used to create anything larger than a life-sized statue, Gleam is still often used as decoration around manors and particularly vain cities. Some even use it in piercings or other permanent jewelry, despite the possibility for perpetual poor lighting upon one's features¹.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Gleam is a soft iridescent metal - distressingly so given its ingredients are not - with an inherently silver color. It may be heat-treated to give the Gleam a specific shade if necessary, though the Gleam will always retain its iridescence and glow.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Alongside the eye-catching iridescence and glow, Gleam feels distinctly warm and vibrational to the touch - it never appears to be moving, but a light brush against it reveals the metal to be constantly shivering for no discernable reason. Aside from, of course, its inherent instability. Said instability also prevents any but the bravest from using it in further chemistry, though it is suggested that magnetizing it grants Gleam 'magical' properties. What these properties are, or if Gleam can even be magnetized is something of a mystery.
Oddly enough, however, Gleam is also known for evaporating if shaken hard enough.

Life & Expiration

Gleam is notoriously difficult to work with because of its tendency to simply dissolve if hit or shaken too hard. However, once molded - and assuming it is protected from most, if not all natural elements - Gleam is otherwise very stable and doesn't have a known time frame for deterioration.
However, Gleam is known to lose its trademark glow after approximately twenty years - most of the time. No one is quite certain what goes wrong (or, perhaps, right) in the creation process to increase its longevity, but the Gleam that doesn't lose its shine is also prone to drastic destabilization in radiation.

History & Usage

Discovery

Gleam was initially discovered in a lab accident that absolutely no one wanted to claim credit for. While the discovery of a shiny new something was exciting, its glow, iridescence, and fatalities resulted in a surprising dearth of scientists willing to put its creation to their names. As such, Gleam has simply been labeled a product of "Felix Culpa" and given to the public domain for research or use.

Hazards

Gleam, properly produced, is only hazardous in that it might explode or perhaps dissolve and potentially poison anyone nearby while it does. Improperly produced, it has an interesting tendency to do a variety of things, the most common of which is simply become moderately radioactive. Realistically speaking though, if anyone who doesn't have a perfect, triple-copy, written-down, to be followed to the letter idea of what they're doing, refining Gleam is the last thing they should be doing under any circumstances.

Type

Composite

Taste

Iron, swiftly followed by a generic fruity taste

Color

Iridescent silver; can be heat-treated for a specific color.

Common State

Solid