“Here you are, miss.” Felice handed her back five leaves, of which Jade took two and handed them right back to her.
“Keep that. Thank you for your help.” She smiled, pausing for effect as she held her box up. Talking just a little louder so that curious ears could hear, she burbled effusively, “Damian has a set of this new line in his shop for sale. We’re calling them the Light Within collection. You should go take a trip to The Glass Phoenix and see the rest of them.”
“We will. Thank you, miss.” Felice and Donna both smiled fervently. After all, The Glass Phoenix was only two doors down. Even if they didn’t feel like they could go in, he’d displayed the glowing figurines right at the front of the store so they’d be eye-catching, especially as it got darker and the glow became more noticeable. It had been her suggestion, and she was fairly proud of it, since that was what had drawn her into the store in the first place.
Jade grinned and nodded, sauntering cheerfully out of the store, box held tight against her chest. There was absolutely no way she would let anything happen to it. She’d go down and use her body to protect it first.
She began her trip back to the library, though sadly she was now avoiding people instead of being able to touch them casually. She didn’t want to accidentally bump someone and send herself flying, not with her phoenix in hand! As she was about to walk into the main square, she noticed a store with a few coin pouches in the window amongst other various cloth items and clothing. Next door was another inn called The Red Wyrm. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place where from, so she ignored it.
Detouring, she gingerly opened the door, slipping inside to the familiar ding of the bell. A thirty-something man who was nearly as lanky as she was came hurrying out of the back with a slightly harried smile. “Hi there! What can I do for you?” His sandy brown hair looked askew, as if he’d just woken up from a nap and forgotten to smooth it out.
She smiled softly. “Hello. I’m looking for a small, slim coin purse, and maybe a bag.” She wandered closer to the section that was obviously the coin bag section. He came over as well, a more natural smile on his face now, though there was something off about him that she couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was the weird fruity smell that grew more pungent as he got closer.
“We’ve got a lot of very popular bags right now…” He started to go on a spiel, picking up several larger coin bags and extolling their virtues. She stopped him after the second bag when he took a breath, hurrying to interject, only in part because she wanted him to shut up. The other part was that whatever the smell was, it was plainly his breath.
“I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. I would like a small, slim, fairly flat bag. Nothing bulky.” He deflated a little now that his sales pitch had been interrupted, but she didn’t want to spend all afternoon in there. She still had another stop to make before she went back to the library, after all! He started pulling out bags from behind the others. They were basically flat pockets, similar to a wallet, but made of cloth and closed with buttons. No zippers? Ugh, at least that’s simple enough to make. Yet another thing for her to ‘invent,’ though she supposed the more there was, the better it was for her in the long run.
However, her eyes lit up when he pulled out a pretty green bag that matched her eyes. She immediately interrupted his spiel again, saying simply, “I want that one.” He seemed a little deflated again, then seemed to comfort himself by the fact that he was making a sale. Taking it from him, she turned and walked over to the larger bags without giving him a chance to start extolling their virtues.
Sadly, they were just…sacks with handles of varying quality. No pockets, nothing. Okay, apparently purses and backpacks are on the list as well… How do these people carry anything without mashing it all to heck? She chose a sturdy medium sized bag in dark gray and turned to him. “This too. How much is it for both?”
He considered the two bags, then her, before saying glibly. “One leaf and eight nuts.”
Her eyes narrowed. He hadn’t noticed that when he’d been rummaging for more bags to show her, she’d noted the tiny numbers discretely penned on the wooden tables they were on. There had been a four on the table with her coin pouch and a six on the table with the bag. Obviously, the coin pouch was of higher quality. Contemplating him, she decided he thought she was a pushover and had jacked the price to nearly double, planning to pocket the difference.
“Oh really? Because I think that the purse was four and the bag was six nuts, leading me to believe the price was only one leaf.” Thinking of something, she silently drew her library card out of her pocket, staring him straight in the eye as she slid it into the coin pouch. “Now, do I need to talk to your boss, or are you going to be reasonable?” He blanched. Sweet, it worked! She had figured the silver card was an indicator of power around here, especially this close to the square, and she was proven right.
“N-no, you’re right. I must’ve been m-mistaken. One leaf for both.” He was stuttering in his urgency to appease her. She narrowed her eyes, pulling out a leaf and handing it to him.
“Very well.” She turned with her bags and began to walk to the door. She paused there, glaring back at him as she warned with a soft, threatening voice, “Don’t ever try that again.” He looked scared, and she smirked evilly as she opened the door and walked outside, letting the door loudly clang shut behind her. She stepped to the side of traffic flow, quickly putting the remainder of her coins in the pouch before slipping it into her bra. Hey, it was the safest spot where she was most likely to feel if someone tried to take it. Besides, not like she had much going on there…though she did have something now! Huzzah!
The phoenix box was now safely ensconced in the larger cloth bag, which was in turn still held tightly to her chest. No way was she letting go!
Cheerfully humming Let It Go, she pranced proudly towards her last stop, the nearby bakery. It was a little nicer than the last one, and it wasn’t quite as crowded. All of the merchandise was behind a glass counter as well.
She waited a minute until it was her turn at the counter, then happily ordered six muffins, two loaves of various sweetbreads, three baguette-like breads, two chocolate croissants, three rolls, and two small cheese wheels–one white and one yellow.
The woman took everything and then queried, “Would you like an extra croissant to round it off to an even four leaves?”
“Yes, please!” She had been trying to hold back on only ordering two of the chocolatey goodness, but screw it. She pulled her coin purse out of her bra to the lady’s raised eyebrow, checking her coins. She frowned slightly, which caused the lady to frown. She shook her head with a sigh, “Sorry, I thought I had exact change. Can you break a laurel for me?”
“Oh, of course!” Jade handed the coin over and the lady took it with relief, counting six leaves back to her. It was obvious she feared she wasn’t going to have enough for the massive amount she’d ordered. Her food was wrapped neatly in two cheese cloths, and she smiled, putting them into her bag, which she now held in front of her gingerly after tucking the coin purse away again.
“Thanks, have a great day!”
“Come back anytime!” The woman called out cheerfully. Like seriously, anytime. She would be happy to have such a big spender coming back. Jade just grinned, making her way to the library.