Quoted By:
It's difficult to discern a difference when he returns. He's still wearing the sweater, though... oh. The bulky suit under it's gone. You sigh longer. "So are you just... stealing that?"
"Nonsense." He meets your gaze.
You meet it back. "...Great. Okay. Well, um... oh, this one isn't so bad...?"
-
You wind up with four-ish workable outfits, which Richard's critical comments narrow to two. (He loosened up somewhat after besweatering himself, to your concealed delight— though he kept making clothes-related analogies you couldn't understand.) Those, as well as a few impulse purchases you pick up along the way, are what you spill on the counter. "Hi. What does this do?"
"That?" The shopkeep peers at the little bottle you wave in his face. "Not a clue. Might be poison."
"It's a weak acid. It's anti-inflammatory." (You think disapprovingly at him.) "Meaning it'll ease most pain, though it can't hold a candle to what I do. I hardly see the point."
"I'll take it," you announce. "And all this. And that." A small, surprisingly cute rucksack— because while you'd make Ellery carry all your stuff all the time if you could, he's occasionally dead.
"You got it, crazy lady."
You frown. "What?"
"Couldn't decide whether to tack on 5% or discount you 5% for the whole 'mumbling to voices' deal, so I'll keep it flat. I don't take IOUs, by the way, so I hope you have the chit for this."
He slides over a notepad with his calculations. It's an amount that'd make you wince a while back, but with your new savings... "Um," you say. "I <span class="mu-i">do</span> have it, I just don't have it... on me."
"Then I'll put the stuff in the back and wait till you do." He grabs your would-be purchases and hauls them over the counter. "I'll give you a day, then I'm releasing it. Deal?"
It's a fair deal, despite the squirming feeling it gives you. You shouldn't get upset over this, either. Yeah. You should feel— are feeling a healthy glow of victory. You <span class="mu-i">shopped.</span> And you made Richard shop with you! Even if you have to look at that sweater now. Well, that's sacrifices.
>[+3 ID: 12/13]
>[GOAL COMPLETE: Spend your share of the heist $$$]
>[BELATED GOAL COMPLETE: Check the town archives]
(Choices next.)
