<~> CHAPTER 79

After Piper had been reassured my relationship with Luna hadn't just imploded, she decided to split off from us for the rest of the day. We had already purchased most of the big ticket things we needed to spend money on before leaving the city so other than a few odds and ends, we were free to spend some of the rest of it on whatever we wanted. We needed to save some money for food expenses and a stay at the inn in Ironcastle, but I could finally buy some things I had desperately wanted to get since walking out of that dungeon. New clothes.

I'm not exactly the kind of person that cares a lot about clothes really. I like looking nice of course, but comfy jeans and t-shirts were always plenty good for me. But after wearing the same clothes for weeks, I was ready to have some new options. It also seemed like a good chance to spend some more one-on-one time with Luna. Now that our lives weren't at risk in the dungeon constantly, I felt like I could let my guard down a little and relax with her in a way that I hadn't been able to until now. I left my axe and armor in my room and only took my backpack with me so I could carry anything we bought.

("I'll be honest, I don't know a lot about clothes...") Luna warned me. ("Growing up, I just put on whatever I was told to. Ever since I left with Maxwell and Piper, the clothes I've been wearing are more for functionality and practicality than anything else...")

("That's okay. I mostly just wore things that were comfy around the house and athletic wear when I was working out or training for the triathlon. I just want to get some things that I can dress in when I'm not wearing my armor, especially around town. I don't have any changes of clothes other than the one set of clothes I got from the dungeon.") The set I was wearing now. I can't even wash it, I don't have anything to change into other than my armor.

Luna nodded. ("Sure, we can pick some stuff up. I don't have many spare sets of clothes myself. We'll probably be wearing our equipment for long stretches again once we are on our way to Ironcastle but having some spare clothes will be nice... especially if they're clean. Would you like to go to the bathhouse after we shop so that we can change into something while still fresh and clean?")

The idea of being in a public bathhouse sounded even more embarrassing than being in one alone with Luna... But I would like a bath. I used to shower every day and I was unfortunately starting to get used to having slightly oily hair... ("Alright...")

Luna giggled. ("If you like we can rent a private room. It doesn't cost very much relative to the money we made in the dungeon. My treat.")

("Did you just read my mind?") I asked.

Luna smiled and took my hand. ("I don't have to, the hesitation was plain on your face.")

("Even with the blindfold covering half of it?")

("The blindfold isn't a mask, I can still read your face. Like that little line you get on your eyebrows,") she said.

I raised an eyebrow. ("I didn't realize my poker face was so bad.")

("Poker face?") she asked curiously.

("Eh... it's a style of card game that involves betting and bluffing. You have to hide your emotions when reading your cards to play effectively, thus, poker face,") I explained.

Luna nodded. ("Hmm. I've never played any betting games before. Piper told me that confidence men use games of chance to steal your money.")

I chuckled. ("I wouldn't say that's wrong. I wouldn't play a game like that with anyone you don't trust, but it can be fun with friends. Well, as long as you don't have any hard feelings if you lose. Some people can't handle losing very well, especially if money is involved.")

("I don't think I would like playing games like that. I'd feel bad if I lost all my money. Oh! Let's go in there.") She pointed to a shop with an intricately painted sign advertising the clothing inside. When she was distracted a young kid bumped into her and I could hear the kid cutting Luna's coin purse free from her belt. The kid did it right in front of me as if I couldn't see her. I put a hand on the kid's shoulder and gripped it tight before they could sprint away.

"Ow! Get off of me!" The kid yelled.

("Helena! What are you doing?")

I twisted the kid's arm around, revealing Luna's coin purse in their hand. "This... person was stealing your money," I told her.

She looked shocked and the kid ineffectively tried to wiggle out of my grip. "Let go! You're hurting me!"

Luna checked her belt and confirmed that her coin pouch was indeed missing. Her face paled. ("I would have been devastated if I lost that much money to a pickpocket.")

"Let go! I didn't steal anything!" I looked over them. They didn't look that bad for a pickpocket. They didn't look like a street urchin or a beggar, they looked like a dumb kid who did something stupid. They were a beastkin, some kind of rodent based on their ears and long tail. They looked pretty androgynous, I would have thought it was a boy but I knew it was a girl based on how she smelled. It was kind of weird that I could tell the difference by scent now.

"Drop her pouch and I'll let you go," I told the kid.

"I thought you were blind." The kid glowered at me but she let me pluck the coin pouch from her hand and give it back to Luna.

"You thought it would have been better to steal from a blind person?" I asked incredulously.

"I wasn't stealing from you, I was stealing from the noble girl." The moment I released my grip on her she dashed off, only stopping to stick her tongue out at me before she kept running.

("Noble girl?") I asked while turning to Luna.

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Her ears went back and she frowned at the question. ("My father was wealthy so I was raised in a manor. I don't have any connection to royalty but sometimes people think I am based on how I look.")

("What do you mean? Fox beastkin?")

She giggled. ("No. Well... Blue eyes are rare for fox beastkin. A fox beastkin with blue eyes might make people think I have some connection to dragon heritage but I doubt it. My father was a human so my mother must have been a fox beastkin like I am. I find it unlikely she could have been related to dragon royalty. I just must have gotten lucky with my eyes, humans sometimes have blue eyes so it's probably just that.") Luna opened her robes a bit and slid her money pouch into it.

("You're not sticking that between your breasts are you?") I asked.

Luna's face turned a little red and she coughed. ("No! Of course not! I have an inner pocket... gosh you can be so crude sometimes.") She was grinning with amusement so I didn't think that was exactly a rebuke.

I followed Luna into the store and we started looking around at the clothes. Well, it was probably more of a tailor. They had some premade clothes, but I got the impression they were mainly used as examples for custom-made things considering a majority of the store was filled with different kinds of fabric. Still, there was enough to look through and the woman who ran the shop was busy with someone else when we came in.

("Are pickpockets a common problem here in Fallow?") I asked Luna.

She frowned. ("I've never had a problem before... but I let my guard down. I probably shouldn't have kept my coin pouch in such an obvious place.")

I shrugged. ("At least I noticed. They didn't think I would see them, or hear them, I guess I should say. I heard her cut your coin purse free, she cut the string with a knife.")

Luna looked up at me. ("You actually heard that? I didn't think your hearing was that good in this form.")

("It's better than it was when I was... normal. And after spending so much time in the dungeon in my umber hound form, it's easier to distinguish sounds than it used to be too. All of my senses seem stronger than they were when I was normal.")

("Hmm... well some of that is the mana that you've absorbed from the monsters we've slain. It's normal for delvers to develop better senses over time, but yours seem stronger because of your transformation too. That's interesting.")

I ran some smooth and comfy feeling fabric between my fingers. Something like this would be nice to sleep in. It felt a bit like satin, I wonder how well it breathes.

("I also haven't been able to test the ability I got from whatever I ate in the lost halls. It was strange being in the form of a frost salamander,") I said.

Luna froze and turned to me. ("What? You can turn into a frost salamander now?")

("Why are you so surprised? I told you when we met back up.")

She sighed and rubbed her forehead ("I was really distracted at the time, that was right after the floor had been broken. I must not have registered it when you told me. So how does it work?")

("Well, like I said, I haven't been able to test it again. It feels similar to the power I got from the misty wolves. I feel a lump of mana inside me that lets me activate it. This one... I don't know, wanted me to pick something so I thought about the frost salamander because... it tasted the best.") It felt a bit embarrassing to admit that last bit for some reason.

("And then you turned into a frost salamander? What did it look like? How did it feel?") she asked curiously.

I shook my head. ("I was pretty distracted at the time. I'm not sure what I looked like. It was dark and I wasn't thinking about that. As for how it felt... It felt like of like I gained even more instincts in the process. In the heat of the moment, I kind of leaned into them and I shot that icy mucus they use at the monsters that were attacking me.")

("...did that feel gross?")

I laughed. ("Probably? Like I said I was a bit distracted and I didn't get a good opportunity to think about that. And since the floor right after that was crowded, I haven't been able to try the ability again or figure out how it works. I probably won't have the chance to use it again until no one's around which may be a while if we're travelling in a caravan soon.")

Luna frowned and her tail stopped swaying behind her. ("That's unfortunate. Do you think you could get away with using it in the inn?")

Her disappointment made me chuckle. ("Probably not a good idea, I don't know how exactly it works and it would be terrible if I turned into something too big by accident and broke something. It's better to wait until we can test it out in the open somewhere.")

She shook her head. ("It's not something you should just leave in your back pocket. If there's an emergency while we're traveling you should know how it works so you can use it if you have to.")

("I don't disagree, but it'll be difficult,") I replied.

"Are the two of you looking for anything in particular? I see you've taken a liking to a few of our fabrics." A green-scaled drakken with a surprisingly feminine voice came up to us after finishing with her previous customers.

"Uh, yes. I was interested in this fabric and a few other ones. What kinds of things can you make?" I asked the woman.

The drakken woman spent a while with us helping us pick out a few fabrics that would go well with some of the clothing patterns we wanted. It was going to be nice to get exactly the kinds of clothes I wanted tailored to fit me perfectly, the only downside was that I would have to pick them up tomorrow and we would have to pay a bit extra to get them so quickly. The prices seemed pretty good to me but I think my perspective was a bit skewed from the other large purchases I've made in the last few days. Luna seemed happy to go along with it though and wanted to get some custom clothes made for herself as well after I offered to help speak for her. In the end, I spent a silver bear and two pumas, which Luna said was a good deal for what we were getting. It was hard for me to judge since I didn't have a good handle on how much things should cost yet but I did enjoy picking things out with Luna.

After that, we went to the bathhouse together which was thankfully uneventful since Luna rented us a private bath to relax in together. I still felt a bit awkward being naked while sharing the large bathing pool with her, but at least I didn't have to be naked in public and she didn't seem to mind me being shy. We just talked about our day and some inconsequential stuff while soaking in the hot water. I don't know if this counted as a date or anything... but I felt really at ease with her.

We were enjoying ourselves so much we had to rush to make it back to the inn before sundown.