In the end, you decide to go with Cold-Touch. No matter what, pickpocketing is always going to be a risky endeavor, especially considering that you are years out of practice. On the other hand, using Cold-Touch is only ever going to be a risk if the men who made the prints are actually able to ‘see’ the Strangeness – which is far from guaranteed. For all you know, the men here could be just like the Coroners; after somehow figuring out that they were accidentally exposed to the Strangeness, they attempted to take matters into their own hands by Remediating or Mitigating their own boots. More than that, a goodly portion of the risk with using Cold-Touch can be sidestepped by pulling your hood down low, over your eyes. You might look odd, but at least you will not look Strange. If you were to move ahead with pickpocketing instead, there would be no comparable way to minimize risks.
Having settled yourself on a course of action, you continue on to the counter. Blessedly, approaching from this angle, you are screened from most of the common room, but at least one or two of the customers notice you come in. Even though it couldn’t be helped, your stomach starts to sink once again. You also have no doubts at all that those who can see you are noting your change in outfit, but you could not help that either. With potentially two hostile magic users in close quarters, you had to go out armed – and really, the only way to hide the wand comfortably was with the cloak, as garish as it might be. Anyway, if you are apparently a prostitute, then some more colorful dress is probably expected, right?
While you can understand how someone would get the idea that an unchaperoned, unwed woman looking to rent a room would be … a whore, with this bastard didn’t even get a chance to ask him for a room! Do you really look that much like a prostitute that someone would just jump to a conclusion like that? Sure, you suppose you look odd enough, considering your height, but women in that line of work are usually a bit poxy and homely as well, aren’t they? Oh, Maker’s Mercy – does he think you look homely? <span class="mu-i">Do</span> you look homely? You never really thought so, but on the other hand, you have spent the last eight years of your life wearing a mask amongst other mostly masked people, some with disfiguring medical conditions. So you suppose your really don’t have a decent frame of reference for things like this. The proprietor would have to know better than you.
You push these thoughts to the side for now – though it occurs to you in passing that this might complicate your plans to present yourself as the daughter of a wealthy Subject if you look so uncanny – and approach the counter, again feeling the eyes of the room behind you running up and down your back, making your hair stand on end.
“Pray excuse me, but I was hoping that I could get some water for the washbasin”.
