The Trouble with Time, Part 4 - Interest

It's early afternoon outside when a bell dings and a door opens once more. Inside time doesn't really work the same way, which is why as soon as the first sliver of sunlight pours through the crack Kevin lunges at it. She yelps, stumbling back as the space she was about to place her foot is now occupied by a ornate wooden box.

"Gotcha!" he shouts as he slams the box's lid closed. He stands back up and lifts it to his face with a self satisfied smirk.

"Dude!" she scoffs. "I almost stepped on you!"

"I don't mind," he says and turns on his heel, making a beeline towards a shelf with other boxes similar but not quite like the one in his hands. "Come on in then. And close the door, I already got the Raye I wanted."

She complies, but doesn't look happy about it.

"How did you know I was coming in?" she asks, beginning to unwrap her scarf.

"I could feel your energies," he says, wiggling his fingers in her direction. She makes a face.

"My what?"

"I'm kidding!" he laughs as he walks back to his usual spot behind the counter. "I hacked your phone's GPS."

"What."

"Anyway, I'm guessing you got those breezes?" he changes the subject, leaning over the desk and motioning with his hand for her to come over. "Show me."

She rubs her face, exasperated, but digs out the vials from her bag and places them on his desk.

"Oh, very nice," he says, picking one up and inspecting it closely. "Yeah, these'll do very nicely. You did catch the first one too, yeah?"

"Here," she says and pulls the last one from her coat pocket. She hands it to him and he looks it over. "I'm... it is the first one, right? I'm not really an expert, so I didn't know how specifically first it had to be, or like..."

"Calm down, this is fine," he cuts into her rambling. "It's the first one."

She lets out a breath, then blinks as he shoves a still empty bottle into her face. The breath swirls inside and he pops the cork on.

"Rude," she says.

"Sighs of relief are hard to come by. Can't be manufactured," he says, shaking the bottle. The air inside swirls, a light lilac glow to it. "So you'll excuse me if I have to resort to a bit more unsavory means to procure them."

She scowls at him as he begins to put the bottles away, leaving only her first breeze on the table.

"Anyway," he says after he finishes clearing out the surface. "My previous offer to hang out still stands, but if you wanna get right back to treasure hunting, here's a list of the rest of the things." He produces a folded up piece of paper from the breast pocket of his vest, and offers it to her. She plucks it from his fingers and starts to unfold it.

"Look at you, taking an interest in social interaction," she says with a smirk as she starts to go over the list of items and concepts. Only four more, no problem. "One might even think you like me or something."

"Well, you are my best Acquirer," he says. "And..." Then he pauses. She gives him a look as he struggles to continue. "And this... quest you're on right now, it's wearing you pretty thin and I'd hate to see you exhaust yourself completely."

"Aw, thank you," she says, giving him a smile that is equal parts amused and touched. "It's nice to know that even you care sometimes."

"Yeah, don't read too much into it," he says, waving a hand in her general direction. "This breeze'll take a few days to process, but if you wanna come see me work my magic, I'm gonna go start the extraction process now."

She hums for a moment, taps a finger on her lips, brow furrowed, but then she smiles widely. "Just for a bit," she says. "So you won't be lonely."

"I'm not--" he starts, but stops himself abruptly. Then he huffs, and motions towards the front door. The OPEN sign flips over and he stands up and steps to the door to the back room, which definitely was behind the desk the whole time. He grins at her. "Shall we, then?"

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Man, I don't even know what's going on. Anyway, magic! Yay!

Next topic isssssssssss Dog(s)! Bye!

Pie out.