Chapter 83

Jay put a plate of cinnamon french toast down on to his tray. Covered in butter and drowned in maple syrup one could barely even make out the actual french toast underneath. Shredded hash browns and a bowl of grapefruit rounded out the breakfast. It wasn't one of Jay's favorites but he wasn't about to say no.

Aiden and Norri were already eating and Jay and M'redith sat at the table with them.

“How'd everybody sleep?” Jay asked with a kind smile.

“Ugh. I thought I'd go right to sleep but it took forever. It was like I couldn't get my mind to stop.” Norri said as she waved a square chunk of grapefruit around with her fork.

Aiden shrugged, “It was ok but I don't feel like I got a lot of it. Why, how'd you sleep?”

Jay shrugged, “Nightmares and sweats but I got over it.” Jay said with a smile.

M'redith laughed, “Ya, right. By 'got over it' he means 'totally cheated by using his aura' to take care of the sweating!”

Jay grinned, “I wasn't about to NOT use it, that aura is way too helpful. Speaking of which, anyone need a quick clean?”

Norri had jumped up off of her seat before Jay had finished talking and was standing to his left by the time he had finished his sentence.

M'redith raised an eyebrow in amusement but Jay kept quiet and merely turned on his aura.

Norri squeaked once but kept quiet after that until Jay was finished. She let out a deep sigh.

“That would have come in handy last night. Thank you Jay!” she said with a satisfied expression as she walked back to her seat, her hair bouncing slightly as she did so.

Aiden got up as well and walked around behind M'redith to reach Jay's left side. Jay fired up his aura again but Aiden didn't make a sound. Thirty seconds later Aiden looked refreshed.

“Feel any better?” Jay asked.

“A little. I'm tired but at least comfy now.” Aiden said with a half grin.

“So what are we doing today? Dungeon run? Monster fighting? What?” Norri asked excitedly.

Jay laughed, “I was thinking of something a bit more exciting. How about some shopping?”

M'redith perked right up, “I'd love to go shopping. Did you have any idea what you wanted to pick up?”

Jay shrugged, “I'll know it when I see it. Besides I do have a list of things I need to buy, like picture frames, rain gear, etc.”

M'redith and Norri talked excitedly about some of the things they'd like to pick up while shopping and Aiden just listened to them quietly. He seemed to still be a bit tired.

Once everyone was finished eating Aiden took their trays up, not saying anything as he did so.

“Is Aiden ok?” Norri asked.

M'redith shrugged, “He's just tired. He'll perk up once he gets some more food in him. Maybe we could stop for a pre-shopping snack after we leave to help him wake up a bit?”

Jay nodded, “That's a great idea actually. Let's do that.”

Everyone got up and waited for Aiden to return. They grabbed their belongings and left the dining hall. Outside was now bright and sunny and it was clear that the day was going to be warm and bright.

Jay grabbed them a cart instead of a carriage. The carriage would have been more expensive, besides, the cart was uncovered and the group would be able to enjoy the sun as they traveled.

M'redith spoke with the driver as she was the only one that knew where they were going. Once she hopped in to the cart she arranged herself so that she was leaning up against Jay.

“Where are we going?” Jay asked.

“Somewhere fun!” M'redith said with a grin.

The group of friends chatted as the cart rolled along the city streets, each of them pointing out interesting things as they passed them. They had stopped at one intersection and Jay had hopped down to grab four square wax lined boxes made out of cardboard.

Jay gave everyone a box and Aiden opened his to find it stuffed with already shelled roasted pistachio nuts. He could make out the salt stuck to each nut. It looked delicious.

The boxes weren't large but were just enough to satisfy a craving. It was enough to brighten Aiden's mood however and soon enough he was cracking jokes right along with Jay.

They had each eaten all of their pistachio nuts and the containers had long since disappeared by the time the cart rolled to a stop. Aiden helped Norri down and Jay did the same for M'redith out of politeness.

“What's this?” Jay asked.

They were in front of what looked like two businesses pushed up against one another to make one larger business after one or the other had run out of room. The building on the right had a door with a sign on it. It read “Use other door.”

M'redith grinned, “It's a thrift store! They have all sorts of used items and clothing. Cheap too. I thought it might be a fun way to start out the day.”

Aiden grinned, “Finally, something in my price range!”

Norri laughed and Jay grinned. Everyone had left the cart and it had pulled away to find its next customers. The group walked to the left most building and used the wooden door to enter the left hand building.

Jay knew they had come to the right place the moment he walked in the door. The floor was practically covered in tables and racks all filled with little oddities and clothing of various types. There had been zero attempt at organizing the items however and items were seeming placed wherever they may fit. The building was stuffed but Jay could make out a doorway that let out in to the building next door which was also stuffed with merchandise.

The lighting was bright and everything could easily be made out. The room smelled musty and someone had lit incense giving the room a slight vanilla scent.

A sign was prominently displayed as they entered the store. “All items sold as is! No refunds!” it said with the words 'as is' underlined.

The group split up with Aiden and Norri looking at a section with clothing while Jay and M'redith shopped a section covered in small devices.

Jay picked up a strange looking contraption. It was a thimble with a comb like blade attached to it that vibrated when Jay put the thimble on his finger. “What the..”

M'redith chuckled, “Mustache trimmer. You haven't seen one before?” she asked, amused.

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Jay laughed as he set the device back down on to the table, “Oh we have them, they just look different I suppose.”

They riffled through the various possessions on the table, some of them worked, others appeared to be for display purposes only.

Jay had lifted another object off of the table and was about to attempt to figure out what it was when he heard Aiden grumbling from the other side of the store, “get OFF!” he could hear him growling.

Jay pursed his lips and set the object in his hands back on to the table and walked across the store to check on Aiden. It took longer than he thought it would due to the sheer number of items stuffed in to the buildings. Finally he and M'redith caught up to a disturbed looking Aiden.

His eyes were wide and he was crouched over and tugging on something. Jay looked closer and could see that Aiden was wearing a pair of very shiny gloves. The gloves were covered in bright and shiny gems. Jay guessed that they were glass or fake just from the fact they had been left out where Aiden could put his hands on them. The way the gloves fit would make it difficult for the wearer to hold things or manipulate objects. The bright gloves also tended to draw the eye – it was hard not to notice them.

“Aiden?” Jay asked as Aiden looked up at him a bit fearfully. M'redith looked on with a sad grin.

“What?” Aiden answered as he continued to tug on the gloves.

“Having trouble?” Jay asked just as Aiden tried extra forcefully to remove the gloves. They did not budge.

Aiden blinked, “Jay I think I'm in trouble here.”

M'redith nodded, “Not coming off are they?”

Aiden grumbled and shook his hands, the gloves remained stuck fast. “They are not.” he admitted grudgingly.

“I feel like now is a great time to talk about cursed items.” M'redith said with an amused expression.

“Cursed?!” Aiden said worriedly. “Am I cursed now?!”

M'redith laughed and tried to hide it. “Relax. You don't seem to be in any danger. Why would you try something on before getting it checked out though? Unknown items can be dangerous.”

“Can you just take these off please?” Aiden begged. He was not in the mood for a scolding.

M'redith tried to remove them for Aiden but they wouldn't budge. “I guess not. But..”

Norri arrived at that moment with an older looking lady wearing a long drab olive dress with a yellow flower tucked behind one ear. Her hair was done up in a bun and her cloudy brown eyes stared at Aiden once she saw his hands.

“Here he is! He can't take them off! Can you help him?” Norri asked worriedly.

The old woman shook her head, “Nothing I can do. You'll have to pay for that son! No wandering off with merchandise!” she insisted as she pointed at Aiden with one thin arm.

M'redith watched Aiden argue with the old woman for a moment before she interrupted. “Relax. They're just a pair of thief gloves. You're not in danger or anything.”

Aiden stopped as he turned on M'redith. The old woman looked displeased at her interruption. “You know what these things are? Get them off me! Please?” he begged.

M'redith nodded, “They're put on people who steal – makes it impossible to pick things up or do sleight of hand. The wearer can't remove them obviously. You just need to answer a question honestly and they'll come right off.”

“Fine! Ask the question!” Aiden pleaded.

M'redith grasped both of his hands in hers. She looked him dead in the eyes. “Are you a thief?”

Aiden shook his head, “No!”

M'redith shook her head, “You have to say the whole thing.”

Aiden calmed himself and tried again, “No I am not a thief!”

The gloves glowed once but gave no other indication that anything had happened.

Aiden however immediately tore off the gloves, or tried to, but was unable to properly grasp either glove due to the awkwardness of the gloves themselves.

M'redith helped him tug off the gloves and in moments they were off. M'redith handed the pair of gloves to the old woman, “Here. Maybe don't leave those out next time?” she said helpfully but the old woman didn't appear to want any help.

The old woman gracelessly took the gloves and stalked off to behind the counter with the cash register. She hid the gloves away behind the counter. At least for now.

“How did you know what those things were?” Aiden asked.

“I saw them used once, that's all. The shape of the glove was kind of a dead give away too. You really need to be more careful Aiden.” she said, giving him the scolding he had avoided moments earlier.

Aiden nodded looking sorry about the whole thing.

“Hey,” Jay said as he patted Aiden on the back, “I'll pick you up some meat on a stick on the way back to the Guild, ok?”

Aiden stopped and grinned. Sometimes that was all it took to make him happy.

“Well now that Aiden is safe again I'm going to go look at shirts!” Norri said as she walked back over to a rack of shirts and blouses of different cuts, fabrics, and styles.

Aiden still looked a little sad and shocked but wandered over to the building next door.

“Hopefully he'll look with his eyes and not his hands from now on.” M'redith said.

Jay laughed, “I don't think he'll be trying anything on any time soon.”

They spent hours in the two buildings as together they represented a huge amount of space, all stuffed with used things for sale.

“A lot of this is too old to wear.” Norri complained as she walked up to Jay and M'redith carrying an armful of clothing.

Jay looked confused, “What about all of those?” he said pointing to the stack of clothing she carried.

“These? These were the good ones.” she said with a grin.

Norri asked M'redith for help with some of the clothing she had picked out and Jay gave M'redith's hand a squeeze before he left the two alone and walked off in search of Aiden.

He found him in the right hand side building in front of a display full of discarded weaponry. Swords, staves, pikes, axes, there were quite a few but none of them appeared usable to Jay's untrained eye. They looked as if they had been poorly used and then poorly maintained.

Aiden stood just staring at the weapons.

“Hey buddy, whatcha doin?” Jay asked as he walked up next to him.

“Just looking! I'm not touching anything I swear.” Aiden insisted.

Jay laughed kindly, “Don't worry I wasn't asking that. Find anything fun in here yet?”

Aiden shrugged, “Its mostly clothes and older stuff. I think the girls might enjoy this more than us.”

Jay nodded, “Just like you enjoy the food stalls more than the rest of us, right?”

Aiden chuckled, “Hadn't thought of it that way. Good point.” Aiden seemed cheered up a little after that.

Jay and Aiden had looked around the building and found a nice set of picture frames for Jay. They had thin edges and the wood was stained a deep black. They'd fit the pictures he had back at his room he hoped. They looked about the right size anyway. Jay carried the frames in one hand as they continued to look around.

Jay had been looking through a pile of coats when he found an old looking book. It was in a language he didn't recognize and was the size of a thick hardcover book. The covers were thick and heavy and had designs carved in to their surfaces of books and keys. Something about the book seemed special to Jay.

Jay decided to pick up the book as well and brought it and his picture frames up to the counter. He paid the old woman some copper and put the items up against the opening of his backpack, storing them.

Norri bought an armful of clothing. M'redith picked out a lavender dress and a heavy pink bathrobe. Aiden picked out nothing – all he wanted was to eat.

Once everyone had paid they left the thrift shop and caught a cart just far enough to find another meat on a stick vendor. They were all a little hungry by that time so they each had one.

“Better?” Jay asked as he looked over at Aiden as he devoured the treat Jay had just bought him.

“YES.” Aiden agreed with a happy smile as Norri and M'redith laughed.