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RESPITE MARKETPLACE - MORNING
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Jennica is sitting on one of the sidetables of her and 'Em's stall as usual, nursing an early morning tea while slowly trying to awaken. Not really expecting customers this early, she usually offers to open up so she can tinker in peace really.
Sammi: Why wouldn't you want to be up this early? Sammi was bright eyed and bushy..tentacled? As she makes her way around the marketplace, looking for anything new or interesting. When she sees Jennica's stall, she's drawn over. This is both new AND interesting! Of course, she doesn't launch into a verbal assault right away (apparently that's not the done thing?) so she'll just look. Closely. Without blinking. Sometimes you don't even have to stare into the void. Sometimes the void comes over for breakfast.
Jennica notices Sammi after a moment. She looks up: "O-oh. Hey. I'm... I'm not really open yet, but can I help you?"
Sammi considers this deep philosophical question a moment "Well, I've only just met you, so I don't really know what you can do, or like..what I need right now...but! We should find out! More friends is always helpful, but other than that, don't suppose you have any way to permamently bind eldritch Outer Entities? That would also be super helpful"
Sammi: "...Or a way to keep ice-cream frozen under water...actually, that last one most of all"
Jennica blinks several times, setting her tea down. She looks at the assorted knick-knacks in her inventory laying in boxes: "Err... I think I'm short on that first one, and uh... under water? Ice cream?" She feels confused, trying to wake her still-groggy brain to this problem.
Sammi: "Yeah, I like buying ice-cream, but if I take it home, it all gets running and horrible..." She sighs "So, we can't be friends, which is sad...but I don't suppose you have any Outer-Being binding anyway?" She reaches into her bag, and pulls out a mildly glowing ruby "I can pay with..." She picks it up, like this is the first time seeing it too "..Uh..a shiny rock?"
Jennica tilts her head, thinking: "Um... how do you bind a... n outer being?"
Sammi: "Uh...permenetly? Don't know! For long..short term? Just throw a soul into the bit of reality that they're trying to come through, and then they have to all corruptify that before they can get to everything else" She nods brightly "The more potential, the better!" She stops, and frown "Um...I'm not really meant to talk about all that though, so..uh..try not to think about it too much, or something"
Jennica looks about her current crafting project on the table next to her, a small disc meant to keep one's tea fresh and just the right temperature for longer: "Um... I don't think I can help you there. S-sorry."
Sammi: "Oh..well..that's okay. You tried, and that's what's important" She looks at the tea-fresher thing "But..I know we can't be friends, but I still want to give out gifts..." She attempts to pull out something that will help! She reaches in, and takes out..a small pair of bell jars, One marked with an arrow with an x through it, the other marked with two arrows "..Um..well, the bag thinks this will help...."
Jennica looks at the jars curiously: "What uh... what are those? I mean, jars, but..." She leans to look closer, confusion clear on her features. She pauses and blinks: "Wait, the bag thinks these will help?"
Sammi: "Um..well, I look at frie..people who are nice" Since they aren't friends, and Sammi has 'learned' 'something' about 'boundries' "and I pull something out, and it'll be something that maybe they'll find useful.. I don't really know what it'll be, so..it's the bag! Or maybe the bag is a psycho-symbiotic subconcious extension of my own quasi-anti-reality existance...." She pauses, before seeming to forget what she just said "Nah, probably just has a mind of its own!" She smiles.
Jennica tilts her head and stares for a moment, before shaking her head and summoning a smile: "...I'll take it. I probably don't need to know, anyway." She gives the bag a curious glance, but stops herself before she really starts thinking about things probably best left unthought. "So um... yeah, sorry that I can't really help with your problem."
Sammi: "Oh! It's okay. People have been trying for thousands of years, and the whole 'stick a few souls into it' is working so far!" *Pause* "...Well, not recently, because throwing small children into the ocean is out of fashion, and probably morally horrifying, but..well" Her small asides she adds in an undertone seem to come and go through her head without really staying, or even being remembered "Everything's fine! I'm out here, and having fun meeting new people, and I've even met friends!" She nods brightly "Which reminds me! Do you think there's anything I could buy for a seawolf with that?" She points to the ruby..which pulses a few more times, in a way that some deluded being might see as 'enticing'
Jennica raises her hand, then lowers it as she re-gathers her thoughts and attempts to assemble a coherency from all that. "A seawolf... gift? What uh, what do they like?" She gives the ruby a glance, not wanting to overthink this too much and only somewhat succeeding.
Sammi: "Okay, well, um..he's a bounty hunter, and he..um..well, I think he likes training a lot. I think he's a craftywolf too, but feels he probably doesn't have the time. He's nice though! And he's always sorta..relaxing to be around?" She shrugs "I'm..not really very good at getting to know people" She finally admits
Jennica looks at her hands: "Well... that we have in common. But, uh..." She searches with her gaze through the 'actually working' things, then gets up and steps over to the table, picking one such trinket up: "How about this? It's a balance pendant, keeps you centered in... maybe combat and such. Haven't really tested it like that though, I'm not... definitely not one for fighting..." She trails off, frowning at the thought slightly.
Sammi: "Well, that sounds good!" She nods quickly, before pushing the ruby forward "Would that cover it?"
Jennica takes the ruby and appraises it for a moment, before nodding: "Y-yeah... I think so? Em would be better at telling, but I think it works." She sets the ruby down in their cash box, then gives the pendant to Sammi: "Maybe needs a chain to hang on from, didn't really get that far. Sorry."
Sammi: "That's no problem! I'll be able to get a chain I'm sure!" She makes a happy little noise, hugging the pendant softly "Thank you very much!"
Jennica smiles: "W-well, glad to be of help! I mean, can't really do much with the... other thing, but at least this, right?"
Sammi: "Every little helps!" She nods again "Thanks a lot!"
Jennica nods, leaning back on the side table: "You're welcome, then. I hope the gift is appreciated."
Sammi: "I hope so too!" She nods, before pausing awkwardly "Um..I..think this is the point where I..uh..go?"
Jennica shrugs with a half-smile: "Probably? I mean, I'm not much company..."
Sammi: "Well, you're only one person! So you can only ever be one company! Why do you think you would be much?"
Jennica blinks, and pauses: "...I suppose that makes sense, in a way." She shrugs and picks up her tea again.
Sammi: "So...um...." She's bad at the casual conversations once her initial verbal assault is done "..What's it like...being a cow?" That's an ice-breaker, right?
Jennica attempts to not choke on her tea at the sudden and odd question. She swallows and looks at Sammi: "Bwuh?"
Sammi: "Uh..I mean..um..." She pauses "I dunno, I've never been one. So I wouldn't know"
Jennica shrugs, musing: "I've never not been one, so hard to compare."
Sammi considers this "You know, there's magics that can sort that, I bet. Then you would be able to compare.."
Jennica nods: "Yeah, uh... wait, there are? Do I even want to know?"
Sammi: "Uh...Do you?" She pokes at her bag "I usually can pull something out of here..."
Jennica thinks on this, then shakes her head: "I do, but I like... don't want to deal with dangerous magic."
Sammi: "Hmm.so...something...saaafe" She pokes her bag again, which makes a bouncy shruggy motion "Uh...Define..Safe? I think?"
Jennica humms for a second, her curiosity fighting with her common sense. She then shakes her head: "E-even if it's safe, not sure... I want to..." She trails off, not entirely convinced herself.
Sammi: "Well..lets see what we get..." She reaches in, and takes out a small vial of a light blue liquid. The top doesn't come off right now. "Huh, how mysterious" She puts the vial down in front of her "Well...that's what I've got..."
Jennica blinks at the vial: "...any idea what that actually does?"
Sammi: "I think..it's something that makes you what you want to be, but you wanted it to be safe, so you have to know what it does before it'll work...if that makes sense?"
Jennica tilts her head at the vial, considering for a long moment: "Uh... sort of? G-guess I'll... hold onto it."
Sammi: "It looks pretty at least!"
Jennica shrugs with a smile: "It does." She hesitates for a second, then picks up the vial and carefully hides it in their cashbox.
Sammi: "Anyway!" She claps her webbed hands together "Just think of me whenever you start having an existantial crises, okay?" She turns on her heel, to leave.
Jennica blinks again, then nods with a smile once more: "O-oh. I... I will?" She glances at the now-closed cashbox, thoughts fighting for space in her head.
Sammi: "Oh, I mean..um..If?" She 'corrects' herself "I dunno, isn't that a mortal thing to have all the time?" She shrugs again! "Anyway! Don't worry about it. Pobody's nerfect!"
Jennica looks at Sammi with some confusion, but manages to keep her smile as she leans on the side table once more: "Yeah, uh... see you around?"
Sammi: "Probably!" She can then finally leave, or she finally leaves..which one is debatable.
Jennica watches Sammi go, then slowly gets back to her tea and tinkering, not really sure what to make of this encounter at all.
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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EVENING
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Jennica is sitting at the bar, half-munching at a salad and half-fiddling with a small magitech trinket, not really focusing on either. Her conversation with Sammi earlier bounces in her head and she's not even that sure why.
Enver walks into the bar lugging his gear with him. He looks tired but happy, having had a steady but small stream of watchers and coins through the day. He sits down at the bar and orders himself a bowl of stew and a mug of smallbeer. After ordering, he looks around and gives a friendly nod to the cow.
Garwin yawns as he walks into the Minnow, heading up to the bar to take a seat, "Mmm, eggs. Sausage. Bacon. The usual, please." He glances over at the cow and mongoose and gives a half wave and a smile. "Hello, friends!"
Jennica belatedly realizes that she's given a smile, and nods back. SHe then blinks at the bear entering, pausing: "O-oh. Hi? Have we met?"
Enver smiles to the bear. "Hey Garwin. Late shift again?"
Garwin grins at Enver, "Yep, the usual. Just woke up. Getting breakfast, then up on the wall I go." He nods to Jennica, "Don't think we have met. As the lad here just said, I'm Garwin, good to meet'cha!"
Jennica gives a small smile: "H-hi. I'm Jennica. Kinda, uh, new in town."
Enver looks over at Jennica. "You're in that new stall in the corner of the market, right?" He sips at his smallbeer as he waits for his dinner. "I'm Enver. You might have seen me juggling more in the center..."
Garwin stands up straight and gives a big hearty laugh, "Ah! Welcome to Respite then, Ms Jennica! Keep your nose clean and all that guard talk, you know. Ha ha!"
Jennica looks at Enver for a second as though trying to place him, before jolting her attention back to Garwin: "...nose clean? Bwuh?"
Garwin waves a hand, "A joke! A joke! And yep, Enver here is quite a juggler! I wish I could catch his shows more often."
Enver smirks. "You just gotta work more day shifts... or come out before your shift more often..." He nods to the barkeep as his stew arrives and he digs in with the fervor only a day of tiring work can inspire.
Jennica looks at Enver, realization finally hitting: "Oh! Y-yeah, I've seen you. You're skilled!"
Garwin laughs as the barkeep also puts down his breakfast platter, "Someone's gotta take the night shift. And plenty of other folks got family they wanna spend time with. Night shift never bothered me none. But maybe I'll have to make a point to get up early and catch a peek."
Jennica tilts her head, looking at Garwin curiously: "I'm not sure I could ever work the night... well, except when I k-kinda do..." She trails off, thinking of the numerous nights spent trying to crack a particular trinket's malfunction.
Enver cocks his head at Jennica, blushing a bit at her compliment. "Thanks... what do you make? I haven't had the chance to check out your stall yet."
Jennica lifts the small round object consisting of tiny gears in a rough shell, glowing faintly: "Oh, not much. Just sort of... charms. Trinkets? Helpful stuff." She frowns at the trinket in her hand: "This one's supposed to ward off excess heat, but stupid thing keeps overheating."
Garwin eats his breakfast rather quickly, glancing over at Jennica's charm. He lifts a sausage on a fork and laughs, "So it's too hot to handle then?"
Jennica nods, smirking slightly. "Y-yeah."
Enver eats his stew and cocks his head. "Huh..." He returns to his meal, having not much to offer on the subject of magic, though his eyes do wander up to the trinket between bites.
Garwin swallows, about to take another bite, "I ain't much of one for magic, sorry. But I'd bet plenty of folks around town would love that kind of stuff. Probably make a killing in the market, yeah?"
Jennica sets the trinket down: "W-well, I don't know. Maybe? My friend Emmeline takes care of our finances..."
Enver finishes his stew and looks to Jennica as he sips his beer. "Oh... you have a partner?"
Jennica nods with a smile: "Y-yeah, she's all business savvy and forward and I'm... not. So I just craft these things."
Garwin takes another bite, finishing off his breakfast. He grins at Jennica, "Ahhh dang! That's so cool!"
Jennica blinks, blushing slightly: "Cool? I-it's not much..."
Garwin tilts his head, "It's not? Sounds kind cool. You get to do all the cool magic stuff, and your friend sells it for ya."
Jennica taps her fingers together: "W-well... it's kinda all I really am good at..."
Enver nods. "Handling money is tough, especially when folks pay you in little coins mostly." He yawns a bit and looks Jennica over more. "I'm sure you're underselling your importance."
Garwin nods, "Yeah uh, seems like not just anyone can do either of those things. You gotta be pretty smart to handle the magic trinket stuff too. Bet you could do all sorts of things."
Jennica looks at the dysfunctional trinket resting on the table next to her, then back at the two with a blush: "...a-anyone with magic ability could, I'm sure. I'm nothing special."
Enver shakes his head. "Maybe they could, but they're not and you are."
Garwin shrugs, "Well, I'm nothing special, so speaking as someone unspecial, uh, I dunno. You don't seem the type."
Jennica blinks in blushing confusion at the praise: "Um... type for what? Unspecial?"
Garwin: "The type to be unspecial, cause you're... um... sorry, I'm not so good with words, Ms Jennica. I'm just saying, you're definitely not a deadbeat bouncer turned guard. I'm sure you can figure out just about anything if you wanted."
Jennica nods slowly, her blush definitely not vanishing: "W-well... I just do what little I can. R-right?"
Garwin nods, "That's more the spirit, yeah! I mean, mostly! But yeah. Can I take a look at your thing?"
Jennica blinks, then picks up her trinket and gives it to Garwin: "O-oh. Sure. It don't work though."
Enver sips on a new mug of smallbeer. "You're making things and putting them in the world."
Garwin takes the trinket and examines it closely. "I mean, if nothin' else it's real pretty. Lots of little details and such." As he looks, his hand seems to glow slightly before suddenly bursting into purple flames. "Um. Hm. Is it supposed to do that?"
Jennica yelps and shifts back on her chair, nearly falling off: "Ack! What' did you do?!"
Enver lets out a little squeak.
Garwin blinks, "I didn't do anything!" He stands up from his seat, hand still on fire, and then glances around. He carefully sets the trinket down, seemingly unharmed, then waits as the Barkeep provides him with bucket full of water which he submerges his hand into. "Was it not supposed to do that?"
Enver stands up and walks over. "Is your hand OK?"
Jennica looks at the still-glowing trinket, then at Garwin's hand, then at Garwin: "Um... it... not... that." She pauses, attempting to gather her thoughts: "...what?"
Garwin lifts his hand out of the bucket, the fire mostly out, but purple sparks still flickering around it. "Looks fine? At the very least, it didn't hurt, so that trinket musta sorta worked?"
Jennica looks at Garwin's hand again: "But that's not... it shouldn't... are you sure y-you're not magical?"
Enver peers into the bucket, as if searching for an answer there. "Weird..." He goes back to his seat.
Garwin shakes his head. "Never been magical before. I was a bear once, but that was a magical flower thing. Oh uh, I'm not supposed to talk about that so forget I mentioned it or the Cap'n will get mad at me."
Jennica blinks in confusion: "Was... a bear once? But you're..."
Enver: Aren't you a bear now?
Garwin: "Oh yeah, I mean, I'm still a bear. But that was different."
Jennica looks Garwin up and down, not really comprehending: "...huh?"
Enver is also a bit confused. "So uh, what do you mean?"
Garwin scratches his head, the sparks flickering out. "It was like, a magic flower? And I ate it, and it made me more of a bear, and I don't really remember it, but my partner said it made me pretty dumb and I think I punched Nesseth. So don't go near Mean Peak and touch the blue flowers, cause they're bad and I'm not supposed to tell folks about those."
Jennica blinks several times before nodding slowly: "Uhm... w-well, I don't even know where this Mean Peak is, if that helps..."
Enver shakes his head. "I don't plan on leaving town if I don't have to, but thanks."
Garwin nods, "That's good. It's the mountain out towards the northeast. The big one with the kinda sloping peak... ugh... yeah. Good plan."
Jennica looks at Garwin still: "So uh... more of a bear? Like, a feral one?"
Garwin: "Yeah, I guess so? I don't really remember. My partner was a feral cat. So I guess I was a feral bear?"
Jennica shudders at the image: "Scary."
Enver shakes his head. "This town has some weird stuff..." He yawns again and stands up. "I should probably go set up camp for the night and get somesleep..."
Garwin looks away a little bashfully. "I didn't want to be." He smiles at Enver, "Sleep well, lad. I'll take the path over and keep a bit of watch out for ya tonight."
Jennica looks down at the now-cooled trinket, then gives Enver a smile: "See you, I guess."
Enver smiles. "Thanks, but the waterfall is pretty calm..." He nods to Jennica and Garwin before dropping a few coins on the bar and heading out.
Garwin scratches at his head, glancing back at Jennica, "Trinket's not broken, is it?"
Jennica looks at the trinket, carefully lifting it in her hand: "W-well... no more than it was before, I think."
Garwin: "Oh. Uh, right. Well, that's good, right?"
Jennica shrugs slightly, smiling: "Eh. Didn't work before."
Garwin frowns, "Guess not. Still, real sorry about uh... whatever it is I did? But I'm sure you'll figure out how to make it work right."
Jennica gives a small smile to Garwin: "Probably. Maybe... I think so?"
Garwin shrugs, shooting Jennica another smile, "Well, if you don't, feel free ta blame it on me."
Jennica lets out a small giggle despite herself: "Maybe I will." She pauses and frowns: "...that sounded mean."
Garwin waves a hand, laughing, "Nah, not mean. I'm a big clumsy oaf, trust me. I break plenty of stuff. So if it gets you outta trouble with your business partner, feel free. It won't be the last time folks use me as a scapegoat."
Jennica looks at Garwin: "But that's... that's not fair. Whatever your, uh, hand did there, you had no idea how it happened, right? I can't blame you."
Garwin dips his head, "Ah, appreciate the sentiment, Ms Jennica, but it's no hair off my back if you do."
Jennica frowns for a second, but then nods: "W-well... if you're sure."
Garwin nods, "Yep. Do what you gotta do."
Jennica hums, then nods again: "Guess I will. Hmmh." She glances at the trinket again, then shrugs: "...didn't work anyway so moot point."
Garwin grins, "Well, you'll figure out, Ms Jennica." He glances towards the window, "But I guess I better go head out for my shift. Gotta gear up and be on the wall soon. You promise me you'll take care, hm? And don't be too hard on yourself for that stuff." He points at the trinket.
Jennica looks at the trinket, before sighing slightly and giving Garwin a warm smile: "Y-yeah. I will. I mean, I won't. You be careful on that wall, too."
Garwin gives a hearty laugh, "I will be! Takes more then an evening wind to blow ol' Garwin off that wall. You have a good night, Ms Jennica!" He laughs again, putting his coin on the bar to pay for breakfast, then heads out for door, the strangeness with his hand seemingly already forgotten.
Jennica looks at the big bear go before turning back to her long-forgotten salad. She pokes at it for a moment, before giving up on the prospect and heading upstairs instead.