Ashfa meets Viaryn
Giving Ylva one last wave, Ashfa turned away from the docks. She knew she needn't be worried about the older and much more experienced woman, but it was difficult to simply be at ease. Hopefully whoever she met wouldn't be too shady and would buy whatever Ylva had to sell.
As for the young deorsum, she made her way back into the crowded city. With no one to follow, it was rather easy to get lost and not even know it. For a while she simply let herself be pushed along with the crowd, trying to see over the taller people for some shops that might catch her eye. There were many stalls that did, but alas to get to them was a trial in itself. Her first few attempts involved disgruntled looks and muttered swears; thereafter she decided not to try.
Quite some time passed before Ashfa finally made it out of the main hub of the city. Letting out a sigh, she leaned against a wall, simply watching the others pass as she took a sip of water from her canteen. All that walking and being shoved about left her quite thirsty. When she finally finished, she secured the stopper in her canteen before actually taking note that she had taken refuge by a shop.
"Might as well start here," she said to herself. With only the slightest hint of trepidation, she entered the shop.
For the past few hours, Viaryn had been going down his usual list of work and checking off the things that he'd completed already. It had been nearly 2 hours since the shop had been left in his hands and for his first time, he could confidently say that it had been going quite smoothly. Most customers had simple needs and their items were easy to find, as well as they themselves being very nice and kind.
He made his way back to the front of the shop and leaned against the shelves behind, being extra careful not to hit anything that Mr. Bedlam considered valuable. The last thing that he wanted was to lose pay, especially since he was extra late today. Hopefully his boss would be proud of his work today and decide not to dock any at all. The bell jingled and he looked up to see a young deorsum woman entering the shop. Moving closer, he cleared his throat and spoke as politely as possible,
"Good Morning and welcome to the shop, feel free to browse to your heart's content. I'm Viaryn and if there's anything you need at all, don't hesitate to ask."
"Oh!" Ashfa jumped a little, flushing a little when she realized she did. Of course there would be someone to greet in a shop. What did she expect?
"Um... good day to you too...Thank you." She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, thinking of what to say in reply to his cheerful welcome.
"I... I shall..."
She looked away from the fellow
-Viaryn, she reminded herself- and looked towards the various shelves to see if there was anything she might need. It seemed as if this place wasn't dedicated to only one type of thing; she could see variety of different items up for sale.
"I...um I'm looking for-" She paused, realizing she had never introduced herself even though the shopkeeper had.
"Forgive me... I forgot to mention my name... it's Ashfa." She inclined her head a little before continuing.
"Do... do you have a mortar and pestle?"
Upon closer inspection, Viaryn noted that she was very pretty. Occasionally he would go back to toying with his arm, finding little things to either repair or tune up due to the discomfort it brought him. The sound of her voice caught his attention as he looked back up at her and could tell that she wasn't very social. Judging by her reaction entering the shop, she may be new in town or was returning for the first time in years. Though he felt that it was the former.
"That's a pretty name. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said with a smile, bowing slightly and turning to pull a book from a shelf,
"Mortar and pestle...Hmm, we received a shipment of goods a couple days ago….Ah, here it is," he spoke to himself in a low, hushed tone. Jotting a couple notes down, he checked a couple more things to confirm,
"Perfect, we do indeed have the items you require."
Viaryn set the book down and began to walk from behind the counter,
"If you would be so kind as to follow me, it should be in the back over here." He pointed to the top of the back shelves and proceed to procure a ladder so that he could reach. Setting it down, the young deorsum climbed up and reached for the requested items and inspected them to make sure they were in good condition for purchase. After confirming that they were good, he slid down and tucked the ladder in a corner.
"Here you are," he said, handing the items to the young woman.
"Oh...uhm thank you very much." Ashfa held them gingerly at first, looking over to make sure they were fine and not faulty like the previous ones she had found. Once she was satisfied, however she reached for her money pouch, willing to pay right away for it. She wasn't one to simply waste money, but if she needed something and knew the price was right and not inflated, there was no reason for her not to.
She blinked, her free hand patting at her waist for her pouch.
"It's... it's gone!" The colour seemed to drain from her face.
"My money... someone stole my pouch..." It was hard to say it out loud, as if she had to drag the words out of her mouth.
"Someone... in the crowd... I should have been more careful..."
Her mind was at a loss. What was she going to do? Most of her savings had been in there. She had gotten so used to being in the wilderness where thieves didn't matter that she had foolishly forgotten to keep her coin someplace safer.
"I'm... I'm sorry, but I can't buy this now..."
Well this was a first, but also not completely unexpected. It was quite common for outsiders to lose coin when first arriving in town. Especially around market areas, local thugs would blend in with the crowd and steal from unsuspecting folks. He would have almost experienced it firsthand if it weren't for his time spent being a shoe shiner and watching people come and go. Viaryn sighed and rested his left hand on his hip while his right was scratching his tilted head,
"Well this doesn't sound good….Hmmmm…."
He stood very still for a moment, softly speaking to himself trying to figure out the best course of action.
"She definitely doesn't seem to be the type to commit a crime, but I can't be too sure. Mr. Bedlam would be angry if he found out i'd just given merchandise away too. I could just offer to hold the items for her until she can get the money to pay for it….That seems like a good option to me."
Settling the issue in his mind, Viaryn smiled reassuringly and clapped his hands together,
"I'll tell you what, I can hold these for you if you want until you can find a way to pay for them. Does that sound fair to you, Miss Ashfa? I can tell that you are trustworthy enough and I'm not the type to be really harsh."
Ashfa thought it over for a moment before letting out a small sigh. It was kind of him to offer, even if it wasn't the mortar and pestle she was worried about compared to her missing purse.
"Thank you… that is very kind of you. I… my companion should have some money on her… I will probably come back tomorrow to buy it from you." It would be embarrassing to ask Ylva for money since she'd always proved herself to be useful in money matters. Still, there was nothing else to do.
I'll pay her back soon enough. Once she had the supplies she needed, she would be able to make her usual medicinal balms, tinctures, as well as brew other concoctions that she could sell for good money
She took a deep breath and nodded at Viaryn.
"Thank you once again… I'll take my leave for now… but tomorrow I'll surely come again. Your shop is very lovely." She bowed her head before heading for the door.
In response, Viaryn took the items and put them aside for her. He followed behind her as she made her way towards the door and walked back behind the counter. As she took her leave, he waved and smiled, "May fortune smile upon you and many thanks for the compliment!" With that done, he sank back into his reclining position and sighed, rubbing his fingers along the bridge of his nose. Knowing himself, he would probably take it upon himself to try and find it. Luckily, he might know some people who would, but it would also be his biggest problem given the nature of his relationship with these people.[/hr]