Krys POV

Taking Ren out shopping proved to be more socially active than Krys had originally anticipated. It seemed just about every other neighbor they came across knew her and stopped to talk with her, thanking her for this and that or just asking about her day.

Krys on the other hand barely recognized a few of them and was meeting quite a few for the first time despite having lived around them for years now. Quite frankly he was a little perturbed to see just how social his little sister was without him around and how often she must sneak out of the apartment despite her poor health. But... She looked happy, and that's what was important.

When they eventually said all their goodbyes and made their way from their apartment complex, Krys' nose couldn't help but twitch at the smells in the air as the evening rush made its way through the streets of the outer rings as a variety of food carts here and there cooked up fresh foods to entice those who were out and about.

Ren hung onto Krys, her arm looped with his as they walked about through the crowd, her fluffy tail swaying cheerfully behind her. Krys could see that she seemed to be in a rather good mood for some reason, though as for why she was so happy, he couldn't tell.

The first stop they made was Mister Ray's food cart. Ray turned out to be an older halfling man with an almost always present cheerful smile. He had quite a few foodstuffs available, though his more popular items were his croquettes. Sure it was just stuff covered in batter before being fried, but it was good and quick to make and could be prepared for a wide variety of palates.

They had to wait a good ten minutes for Mister Ray and his assistant to finish with the current line that had formed, but once things slowed down, the halfling stepped away from his cart with a cheerful smile as he looked up to Krys and then over to Ren. "It's good to see you again Miss Ren, is this your brother?" He asked politely, holding his hand out to greet Krys.

Ren bobbed her head cheerfully before pulling away from Krys. "Yes, this is Krys, Krys, this is Mister Ray." She said politely as she started going through her bag to procure the placards she had been working on.

Krys met Ray's hand soon enough, giving it a shake before pulling back. "It's good to meet you Ray... If you don't mind, could you tell me how you heard about Ren?" He asked, wondering how Ray happened to commission Ren for the placards.

Ray chuckled a bit at the question as he pulled back. "She came recommended by my assistant." He mentioned while gesturing to a teenage human boy who was plucking croquettes from a pot of oil with some tongs. "He said she had very neat handwriting and was good at drawing when I mentioned how I needed to replace my placards."

Ren hummed in confirmation when she procured the placards, holding out the planks of wood for Ray to see while flashing a toothy smile. "Speaking of which... I'm already done." She enthused rather cheerfully.

Ray looked rather surprised for a moment as he took up the placards before letting out a low whistle, looking clearly impressed by what he saw. "My, my... These are nicely done indeed. So quickly too, I only just commissioned you this morning for these."

Ren smiled a little sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head, her tail slowly swaying behind her. "Well... It's not like I had much else going on today. So it had my full attention."

Ray nodded in understanding, flashing a warm smile. "Well, I for one appreciate the timely completion and delivery of my order. Just give me a second." He said as he returned to his food cart to do something.

Ren practically bounced in place, and Krys could tell she was clearly excited by that little exchange, though he just remained silent as he enjoyed watching her take the lead and behave in a somewhat professional way while handling her business.

Ray returned soon enough, carrying two croquettes wrapped in wax paper in one hand, and a small cloth pouch with a mix of silver and copper pieces in his other as he held them out. "Here, your pay, along with a little bonus for how quickly you finished." He enthused charmingly.

"Thank you, it was a pleasure doing business with you." Ren said cheerfully enough, putting the coin away in her satchel first before taking up the croquettes and holding one up for Krys.

"The pleasure was all mine, Miss Ren, and it was nice meeting you too, Krys." The older halfling mentioned as he looked between the two siblings before going back to his cart.

The duo turned to start walking back along the street as Ren blew on the croquette a little, a smile on her face as she glanced up at Krys. "Now I can really help out with the shopping today." She enthused, holding up the coin pouch in her palm before putting it in her bag when she went to take a bite from the croquette, only to realize it was still a little too hot as she pulled away instead of committing to the bite.

Krys was gonna say something, though when he heard the coin pouch drop in her bag, he heard a lot more coins than he was expecting and quirked a brow. "Ren... Did you bring all your coin with you?"

Ren was still blowing on her croquette when she glanced up at him again, her free hand now just holding his arm as they walked. "Hm? Yeah... You said we were going shopping, right?"

Krys just sighed softly, perking his ears as he made an effort to be just a little more attentive to their surroundings. "Even if we are going shopping, you shouldn't be walking around with what is essentially your entire savings. That many coins on your person... If you were walking any faster you'd practically be ringing the dinner bell for people like me." He warned softly as he glanced around.

"Oh..." Ren's ears perked with worry as she glanced around more noticeably, her free hand now clutching her bag as she did her best to keep the coins from jostling around.

"Just relax... The more stressed and worried you look, the more obvious it is that you have something to hide, which means you have something valuable." He warned softly as he slowly looked from one end of the street to the other, getting his bearings before leading her down a path. "You may be well-read and book smart Ren, but you need to also learn how the streets work so you don't make yourself an easy mark."

Ren did her best to calm down, sighing softly as she hooked her arm around his again, staying as close as possible while not getting in his way. Though at his insistence to look relaxed, she turned her attention back to her croquette, taking a proper bite of what turned out to be meat with soft veggies and gravy. Her ears waggled a little as she savored the food.

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Krys just smiled, taking a bite of his own croquette before shifting his arm to drape his cloak around her, allowing her to hide herself more as they took another turn.

Ren admittedly did relax a little more while under the cloak, though as they walked, she soon realized she didn't really recognize this part of town, piping up as she looked at Krys. "Krys... Where are we?"

"Well, since the banks in the outer ring are closed by now, we're stopping by somewhere so we can make your coin pouches a little less conspicuous." He explained, pulling up his hood once he finished his croquette as he rounded yet another corner before ducking down an alleyway.

They soon came up to a somewhat dirty half-orc sitting in the alleyway, drinking away at some kind of brown liquid in a glass bottle. He glanced at Ren for a moment before regarding Krys and simply bobbing his head as he reached over to a certain brick and placed his hand against it.

Ren gasped softly with surprise as the illusion of what was once a solid brick wall faded, revealing a door that Krys opened, leading them inside to what looked like some kind of well-lit waiting room. It looked vaguely like a reception area with multiple different hallways leading into the room; on the far wall there was three windows, with each window having a desk behind it, along with a drawer beneath it to pass things back and forth from one side to the other.

"Where are we?" Ren asked softly as she looked up at Krys.

Krys said nothing at first as he stepped into a line going up to the one window with someone working today, there being only one other person ahead of them right now. "We're at the branch... Think of it like a guild for people like me."

Ren's eyes were wide again, but she remained calm, simply taking another bite of her croquette as she looked around. "Why are we here?"

Krys tilted his head side to side before glancing down at her again. "Well, I was going to stop by after you went to sleep... But I need info and I have a report to make for my team, and like I said, we're gonna make what you have a little less conspicuous." He explained quietly.

Soon the sound of metal sliding on metal filled their ears as the drawer opened towards their side, the hooded person ahead of them grabbing whatever was inside before wordlessly making their way out as they took a different path than what the two of them used to come here.

Krys then stepped up to the window, soon being greeted by a lizardkin woman with blue scales as she flashed a fanged smile. "Krys... What brings you here today? Looking for some more work?" She asked almost pleasantly, though her eyes soon flicked down as she spotted Ren and smiled a little more. "Oh? A new recruit? Keeping it in the family, eh?" She mused almost teasingly before looking back up and gazing into his eyes.

It was as if something shifted in the air for Krys, as he was suddenly more professional and carrying himself more confidently. "No, and definitely not." He said more firmly as he regarded the receptionist. His ears flicked in thought underneath his hood before he spoke up once again. "I've got coin that needs to be condensed, I also have info to report and need info in turn."

The lizardkin hardly even reacted to his firm tone as she merely nodded with a small smile, pushing a button that unlocked the drawer in front of them. "What do you have to report?" She asked in an almost sultry yet mischievous tone.

Once the drawer opened, Krys looked down to Ren and spoke in a more gentle tone again. "Go ahead and put the pouches in the drawer."

Ren was a little bewildered at what was playing out before her, seeing a side of her brother that she hadn't seen before. She nodded at his instruction after a moment, placing the croquette in his hand before pulling away while remaining under his cloak as she began digging through her satchel; soon enough she pulled out the two pouches which now distinctly jangled against each other with all the coin that was in them before placing them in the drawer. "Um... Excuse me, ma'am... Can I please get the big pouch back? It's mine and I would like to keep it."

The lizardkin woman chuckled softly, though she still smiled as she regarded Ren. "Ma'am? My my, you're so polite." She mused before pulling the drawer to her side. "Of course sweetie, I'll give it right back, don't worry." She said as she took up the pouches, pouring the coin down a chute as they noisily slid away. She then neatly folded the pouches and set them to the side as she looked to Krys again, waiting for his report.

Krys took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking up. "The attendant at Corvid's Baubles and Blades was removed from play by a third party. He targeted someone he shouldn't have."

The lizardkin woman bobbed her head intently, taking up a fountain pen as she began writing down notes. "Any info on the third party?" She asked, looking up from her writing.

Krys bobbed his head intently. "Exceedingly powerful mage, a one-armed male who looks like a human in his late thirties, maybe early forties. He has green eyes, and brown hair and is likely an eccentric. He goes by the name Vito."

The lizardkin woman clicked her tongue thoughtfully as she wrote everything down. "What did you see to make you give that sort of assessment?" She asked, looking back up at him.

Krys glanced over at Ren for a moment before speaking up. "Plug your ears." He asked gently, and while she hesitated for a moment, she soon did as asked. He then looked back at the lizardkin woman once more. "He jumped from a three-story building and landed straight on his feet without rolling or doing anything noticeable to reduce the impact, yet he showed no signs of damage. Before that, he conjured two distinct massive mounds of earth and stone out of thin air and used them to simultaneously block the alleyway by shaping them into walls that went up the whole three stories in a matter of seconds. I then watched as he made the attendant choke and writhe in pain before making him just vanish into thin air without a trace... He didn't even directly touch the goatkin, just lifted him into the air by his shirt when all that happened. Not to mention when the goatkin tried to retaliate, they broke their teeth on impact after biting his arm and the man didn't even budge or react to any punches or kicks."

"Damn..." The lizardkin woman said under her breath, writing everything down before looking at Krys again. "Is Vito a threat to the guild?"

Krys actually looked thoughtful at that. "In his words... He said he doesn't mind thieves. After all, a man's gotta eat at the end of the day." He repeated with a little bit of a smile.

The lizardkin woman admittedly looked rather relieved as she bobbed her head. "Good, I suppose that explains how you walked away from that situation... What else?"

Krys nodded, still relieved that he got to walk away from the moment himself. "He's hired my team, and intends on taking us to the Capital."

The lizardkin woman looked pleasantly surprised by that as she flashed a bit of a smile. "Ooo~ Hitting the big city then? I suppose you couldn't exactly say no to him." She mentioned as Krys nodded at that. She then thoughtfully scratched her cheek with a claw before smiling a little more. "I guess we'll mark you as out of town for the foreseeable future regarding local events. I'll alert the Capital's branch that you'll be relocating there for a time and... I think we have something that needs to be delivered there anyway, so you won't have to show up empty-handed." She mentioned as she looked over some parchments and scrolls that were strewn about her desk.

Ren piped up, looking between the lizardkin woman and Krys. "May I unplug my ears now?" The two of them looked at Ren, vaguely surprised by her cutting in as Krys just smiled and nodded. Ren promptly did so as she finally took her croquette back from Krys and took another bite.

The lizardkin woman reviewed her notes again before looking back at Krys. "Now then, you said you needed information, what specifically?"

Krys nodded thoughtfully as he considered his words. "I need to know if there's any info that we have on Vito, a guy like that is bound to have left a path somewhere. I need to make sure I don't cross any lines while working for him... Also, I want to know if there is any particular activity going on in the capital, any recent events that could make a guy like him come out of the woodwork."

The lizardkin took down his requests on a separate sheet of paper before bobbing her head. "I'll see what I can find, another member will meet up with you in a few hours to pass along the package we need delivered along with any info I turn up." She explained, flashing a little smile as she regarded Krys again.

Before Krys could speak up, a hooded ratkin man stepped into the room with the lizardkin, carrying a wooden tray that was lined with some kind of black fabric, a simple brown pouch of coin sitting in the middle of it as he held it out for the lizardkin.

The lizardkin flashed a fanged smile, taking up the pouch along with Ren's original pouch before plopping them both into the drawer as she pushed the button that allowed it to be opened. Ren took the prompt and opened the drawer again, collecting and putting away her pouch before looking into the other one with her coin. "Whoa..." She said softly, admiring the nine silvers and sixteen coppers that were in there. "Thank you ma'am, and thank you too." She said politely, addressing the lizardkin and then the ratkin, the two of them smiling as the ratkin made his way off.

Krys smiled as well though he stifled it as he regarded the lizardkin woman again. "Well, I'll be off now."

The lizardkin woman bobbed her head intently. "It's been a pleasure working with you and your team, good luck in the big city kiddo." She mused as she turned her attention to other matters.

Krys nodded intently, turning and leading Ren back the way they came, returning to the alleyway they arrived in and making their way back to more public streets.

There was silence between the two siblings for a while, but eventually, Ren piped up again as she looked up at Krys. "Being a criminal is more complicated than I thought." She considered rather thoughtfully.

At that, Krys couldn't help but chuckle as he gently ruffled Ren's hair. "You have no idea..."