"What's that in your arms?" The store cashier asks, somewhat tiredly. He's middle aged, with bright blue hair, a beastkin.
"None of your business." Shaula says while holding Ajax against her tighter. His head is sufficiently hidden so he shouldn’t be attracting any attention. The man shakes his head and scoffs.
"Look, it's really rude to shoplift items, especially the way you’re doing it. I'm not the smartest guy, but you really think you can pull shit like that and get away with it? It’s obvious you’re trying to carry something expensive out of here. It’s insulting, honestly."
Shaula freezes, realizing what this must look like. She clicks her tongue for being so absent-minded.
"I brought this into the store with me, I didn't steal anything from here. I'll pay for what I need." Shaula says, dropping the four brown cloth sacks with shoulder straps onto the counter.
The man sighs.
"I'd like to believe you, really, but if you're lying to me and the boss finds anything missing that hasn't been paid for, it's my tail on the line, you know? Show me what you have in your hands at least."
Shaula feels annoyed but understands the man's predicament. Yet, she cannot show her possession to the man in front of her. If she shows it to him, she might be able to pretend as if it were some sort of stage play prop or even a bizarre art piece or something. However, this man in front of him is a beastkin.
If she unwraps Ajax’s head and shows it, he will undoubtedly smell the blood. Even a normal human would be able to smell it. She sighs.
“Alright, before I show it to you, could you ring me up for the bags? I mean, you know, tell me what the bags cost.”
“...Alright, fine. The bags cost six bronze coins in total, there’s a special sale on those bags, two for four bronze, three for five, four for six, and so on.” The man says while appearing as if he’s let her off just for now. While Shaula counts the bronze coins she has on her, he discreetly presses a silent button on the counter.
Shaula hears the noise and pauses for a couple seconds in anticipation of… Nothing happens.
“What did you just–”
Shaula tries to point forward at the man, but she feels something getting in her way. She presses her hands before the floating surface in front of her and finds something like an invisible plexiglass separating her from the cashier. A barrier powered by some kind of magic artifact? There wasn’t any signs that the barrier was being erected. That impresses Shaula quite a bit.
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No sound, no shimmering of the air. Maybe if Shaula was focusing on her ability to sense changes in air pressure, she might have noticed the change in air flow but otherwise, the barrier was a perfect silent defense.
The man on the other side of the solid, invisible surface shakes his head in exasperation and a slight bit of wariness… towards her. His heart rate has increased a lot.
“I tried to handle things the easy way, but it seems things have changed. The alarm I just activated notifies the city guards to come over here to the aid of this store, and it prevents you from either leaving the store or trying to harm me.”
Shaula looks at him, completely puzzled. Was it just because she wanted to know the prices of the bags before showing what was in her hands? Now that she thinks about it a little more, that definitely seems like the kind of thing an armed robber or shoplifter might say to throw a cashier off or try to confuse them. Still, this seems a bit excessive to Shaula after she said only one thing.
There should have been plenty of legitimate reasons why she didn’t want to show the guy what was in her hands that would have shown her to be innocent. What’s this guy’s problem all of a sudden involving the city guards for something like shoplifting?
Actually, I guess that’s how store managers are like back on Earth too… Still seems like overkill for little ol’ me.
“Why did you activate an alarm? We could have just talked it out first before you went and–”
The man’s eyes sharpen. “You’re holding something that has the distinct scent of human blood. I think the time for talking is over. I don’t know what you've done, but it’s above my ability to handle. I pressed the button mostly for my own safety, and because of store protocol, because I don’t know if you’re a psychotic killer carrying around a severed limb, organ or head, or just someone who had a bad cut on them near the wrapped up thing they’re holding in their hands. I’m not going to risk my life on the off chance you’re just in a bad set of circumstances though. The guards can sort it out for us both.”
The man crosses his arms in disappointment. He didn’t want to deal with something like this, though events like this weren’t all that uncommon during the night shift. Shaula clicks her tongue in annoyance. Though he’s older, his beastkin senses are still just as sharp. She won’t underestimate beastkin the next time.
“...If I break out of this barrier and leave, will you tell the guards what I look like? I’m not on… good terms with them.”
“I’ve never been good with describing faces anyways, what would I be able to tell them? If you’re able to break these barriers and instead of trying to kill me, you just leave? I won’t say a word about what you look like. I’ll tell them you had some kind of weird face covering on or something.”
Shaula looks at him with a blank expression for a moment. He really is just some guy living his life. She couldn’t exactly fault him for doing what he needed to in order to protect himself. She simply sighs. The whole situation was aggravating, but she had no one to blame here. It wasn’t Ajax’s fault. It wasn’t this guy’s fault. It wasn’t exactly her fault either.
It’s just… life, I guess.