[F01-SP] ten <<Earning a Living: Merchant>>

[iris 0]

[DAY 10.] | [q: earning a living.]

Iris awoke with a startle.

She yelped, slinking back towards the edge of her bed. A dusty brown calico was locked in her sights, unassuming as ever. And she knew she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was at his presence, but when she was resting, it was hard to keep herself unaware of her surroundings--

The kitten strolled up to her side, crawling onto her lap. Iris sighed and began to comfort it, in part also to comfort herself from her sudden surprise. Long tender fingers ruffled through the short white hairs of the pet, and it purred in return, eyes closing in trust for the player.

Iris smiled. She pushed herself backwards, shirt sliding against silk sheets. When her back finally met a pillow, her golden curls wrapped and pressed against her form. The lady had half an expectation for his guardian to have come waltzing through the doorway at any moment.

"Fiero!"

There she was. Now, how to put on a sheepish look...?

Spoiler iris | HP: 20/20 | DMG: 1  equipped none. battle-ready inventory none. skills Spoiler none.
	♦iris.

[iris 0]

Iris hadn't managed to express her concern on her image, Jean barging in faster than she'd expected. Tall woman, all brute with less blunder, her piercing gaze struck Iris first before it went to the familiar in her lap. The other player huffed as she beckoned her pet to return to her side.

If only it worked. As efficient as it was on the field, Fiero didn't seem too intent on moving from Iris' spot. The giggle the sleepy player wrought woke Jean from her failed attempts at control, and Jean rolled her eyes, stepping forth to retrieve the cat from her companion.

"I told him not to come in here." The woman held the animal aloft, two hands locked under his forelimbs. Fiero struggled back the only way he knew how, feet pads resting upon Iris' calves for as long as possible, his image growing longer down his torso once Jean had pried him away from his player. The sight of it just made Iris beam even more. "I must've lost track of him while I was getting breakfast set up. You planning on staying awake yet, princess?"

[iris 0]

Princess. She did like the way it rolled off Jean's tongue, despite her grin of disbelief back to the taller woman. "I might as well be," she said. Her eyes were more focused on Fiero. The tiny creature was meowing in protest, clambering onto Jean's shoulder, his owner trying to pry him off. "How long was I out for?"

"Oh Iris," Jean returned, half sputtering when Fiero side brushed against the woman's face. "You can do the math for me this time."

They were silent for a moment, as Jean tried to repel her familiar back down to the floor. When Fiero crashed, he landed gracefully on four feet. His owner huffed, noticing the feline smiling selfishly to himself. With a satisfied and slow walk, Fiero finally left the room.

Jean clicked her tongue in exasperation. The back of her hand went towards her face, brushing off stray fur from her lips and cheeks.

[iris 0]

"So I can," she reassured the cat-wrangler. Iris' back was leaned forward, in interest for watching the struggle. Jean spared the other player a momentary glance before pulling away her hand from her face, starting towards the door.

"It's soft boiled eggs today," the chef informed royalty. "Toast and butter and jam."

"That sounds lovely," Iris quipped back. Her legs had only begun to move from her seated position, cloth shifting against cloth as she did. White tights and a silken nightgown. She quickly changed out of the latter with a quick navigation through system menus, attire shifting to one puffy dress in silver and gold, ruby and sapphire. Fit for a princess now -- Iris really did feel back in her element.

"We also have this new..." There was a pause from Jean, just as Iris was starting to make her way to the washroom. The lady stopped in her tracks. "--Sauce? Jam? It's green in colour. Thought you might like to give it a try."

[iris 0]

Iris didn't need to be told that Jean merely really wanted to try it on her own. Since their living space was shared now, it only made sense to offer it out of good relations.

"What is it?"

Another beat of silence. "Sweet, apparently. Masa said it would go well with bread."

"Ah, Masa said that, did she?" Never mind. Jean didn't pick it up herself, then. Iris dismissed what else her partner had to say and headed for the bathroom. One face rinsing at the sink and a brushing of teeth -- habits couldn't go unfettered despite her living in an alternate reality -- and the woman allowed herself to finally greet the hall of her home with open arms.

"Fiero," she called. The cat's meow was but an indicator of where Jean would be, the player noticing she wasn't present at the lounge. Footsteps towards the kitchen, and there Jean was, lazily looking over a magazine issue read back to front for the 20th time this week, mouth half-open with a strip of toast locked in between her incisors. Fiero was merely taking up an extra seat at the table, one raised high specifically for his viewing pleasure, watching his owners.

[iris 0]

"Well, good morning to you too," Iris returned, addressing the cat. A curt nod towards Jean was all the other player needed to acknowledge their time of day. To her, Iris knew, it was better to be done with her food if she were to appease her partner, than waste time on a meek exchange of pleasantries. Of course, Iris herself disagreed on this fact, but she was in Jean's care for now. "Is this glass yours or mine?"

She slid into her seat, greeted with a spread that Jean had promised earlier. The green jam was kaya, as Masa had indicated in her handwriting upon its label, harsh black upon white paper. Its lid was pried open, half-dipped into, Iris could guess, from the firm lick upwards that was starting to sink back into the rest of its body. Iris took her serving of orange juice once Jean had grunted and nodded her head in reply. "Where'd she pick it up from?"

[iris 0]

"The guild, if it's anyone's guess."

"Ah, I see."

She couldn't recall if there was a pantry for gifts such as these as part of their guild vault. Iris hummed, fingers delicately picking up a strip of toast from a platter, dipping it into the emerald luxury and taking a bite out of it in earnest.

Delectable. Perhaps it had only been Masa, Iris concluded, once she decided the intricacies of the guild vault were beyond her comprehension for the time being. Masa did always seem to be partial to Jean, after all, out of all the other members, herself included.

Ahead of her, Jean tapped at the tablet, half-sulking. Was it simply bad news, or was it no news at all?

Iris decided not to ask, glancing over at the issue instead. The words were small, but she could make out what was on their notice if she tried hard enough, recalled hard enough from her first skim through the papers. This was about something on the 15th floor.

[iris 0]

Not that she'd like to find out for her personal sake.

The crack of her egg's shell caught both Fiero and Jean's attention if only for a heartbeat. Iris capitalized on their alertness, peeling off the bits of eggshell that had started to crumble under her strength. "So, is she coming along today?"

Iris hadn't forgotten of the prized crown jewel that she was going to be. And neither should Jean, she reflected -- her message was only to drop the fact that she was still entirely serious about the pact that they'd agreed to. Jean raised a brow at her question, swallowing a bite down to answer clearly. "She?"

"Masa," Iris clarified.

"Ah." The woman dipped her half-eaten toast into her own egg, coating it in golden and white as she went back to her reading. "Not that I'm aware of. She's busy enough as it is with our absence. I doubt she'll show up until the store's grand opening."

[iris 0]

'Grand opening' indeed. A plot on the first floor was incredibly valuable, given the amount of players clustered around the region. Adding onto the idea that it was down one of the main roads of the Town of Beginnings, and they were set for making a living off their profits.

Of course, that's how it seemed on the surface. It was much better if they were able to find somewhere else that suited her degree of hospitality -- but that was what the front lines were for. And if the higher levelled players were going to hang out there more than the rabble on the first...

Iris finished her breakfast in short time. The kaya really did seem as though it was worth its weight in col. It was almost disappointing to see the little glass of nature vanish from their dining table, but the player knew she would see it again the next day, and the morning afterwards.

[iris 0]

"Then, shall we go?"

Iris may have been fast today, but her preparation time could never beat Jean's pace of task completion. The tiny object in her hands as the woman waved to her -- one could've mistaken it as a set of keys for their household, if only they existed in Aincrad. Iris knew better. That was where her battle axe was folded into when it wasn't in use for combat.

She looked back towards Fiero. She may have spoken to his owner, but the better question was to the feline. His brown eyes gleamed back at her when she queried him with a look alone, and he scampered off his high chair, clambering up onto Jean instead. Iris brightened into a smile as her head swiveled, watching the familiar do his thing.

"Oi-- Ouch...!"

How Jean got the cat out of all system entities as her stead, Iris wouldn't know. Fiero clung on lovingly to his owner's shoulder, eyes knitted into thin black lines in pride.

[iris 0]

"Okay," Iris decided, stepping towards the entrance of their abode. "I think I'm ready to head out now."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Iris moved first, waiting for her companion at the corridor. Though Fiero had signaled his interest to join them, it seemed as though Jean was reluctant to take him out on a walk this day. And so she listened to their minor squabble, holding the door open, patient.

Their home was an apartment; small, private, discreet. The Town of Beginnings only had a few of these complexes available for rent, and it being one of the cheaper home alternatives in the game, Jean took it over the terrible inn rooms their city provided.

So really, it should've been Jean's home, rather than theirs.

"Why not sleep at the guild hall than a private quarters?" Iris had once asked, after Masa had pried her further for personal info.

"And let people see me sleeping out in the open, in public?" Jean huffed then, just as she would now, if Iris were to ask again. "No thanks."

Masa's eyes drooped a little that conversation, Iris reflected. But they were restored with vitality once they'd changed the topic around.

[iris 0]

Down the teleporter -- there were no lifts in the complexes, and stairs were too arduous to trek down despite their seemingly invincible statuses as virtual avatars. Jean took the lead once they'd reached the city street, her eyes glancing over a system message. Iris let her gaze wander, to people watch for a few seconds. Players of many types, in beginner clothing, out in a bustle for chores.

She wondered how it might be like to be in their shoes.

"It's this way," Jean finally directed them to move, her voice calling back Iris from her drifting attention. The system menu shut with a visual snap in her eyes. "Finding the quest NPC and picking up his orders should be no big deal. It's the venturing outside of town that might be troublesome, even for you."

"I'm not some novice out in the field," Iris retorted, empty of malice. Her footsteps followed along Jean's.

[iris 0]

"And I'm not sure you'd like to be clustered by boars when you weren't looking for them either," her guardian returned, fingers toying with the weapon fragment in her hands. "You could probably take them out with a little bit of luck and due time."

"Thank you," Iris returned. The breath she let out was airy, warm.

"But we want this done fast."

Jean's eyes steeled in the white morning glow, set upon the direction of their destination. The twirling of the fragment in her hand stopped with a clink, its surface clicking with one of the accessories Jean had equipped for battle. "I want this done fast," she corrected.

It was fine to Iris how Jean was always focused on the efficiency of things. In parties, it felt as though it made sense -- her actions were on behalf of a guild, a concept that she may not have meshed well with.

[iris 0]

But between the two of them alone, she couldn't help but admit that her determination was slightly off-putting.

"Alright, then," Iris returned, fingers interlocked tightly behind her figure as she trailed along. She wondered for a moment if it was Masa, driving her to their shop opening as soon as possible. "Let's get this done and over with quickly."

"Mm."

The rat-man (rat-boy?) they were meant to locate was but a stunning rendition of some stock image of a snot-nosed kid, short brown fringe and a band aid over the bridge of his nose. A missing tooth, and a hempen cloak of brown over his shoulders. Iris accepted his mission silently, save for the initiation words, and soon they had their task list to contend with for the day.

"It's this way," Jean mentioned. She lead them out of the city labyrinth, out onto the main streets and into the fields of shattered hopes and dreams.

[iris 0]

"Iris," Jean called out to her, cry shot over her shoulder once the warrior had unveiled her weapon in earnest. The blade's trim, upon crescent edges, caught the sunlight in a electrifying manner. Jean was a higher-tiered player, and it proved to be true in every aspect of her posture. Confidence, the sparse equipment pieces, the defined make up of her weapon's structure, a bold statement to any novice running about with standard gear. "What's it state for you?"

Iris but glanced to the side to capture a read of her list of duties. It was short, curt -- "Gather three pieces of unidentified gear from the wilderness."

"And they didn't state anything more than that, did they?"

At the shake of her head, Jean sucked on her gums. "Lame. If they'd given you markers, or something..."

Iris nodded in return. It wasn't as though getting their hands on unidentified gear was the difficult part -- anyone might've been able to trade them to her, and if the quest allowed it, that would've been all they needed.

[iris 0]

The [Gathering] keyword was the problem. After all, what sort of equipment pieces spawned out in the wild, anyway?

"Oh, look," Iris daftly stated, tone playing into comedic value. "There it is."

She didn't know how to comfort Jean of her shock. Partially because Iris was just as caught off-guard of the quest's parameters as she was of seeing a stray item strewn messily out in the middle of some grass. No random adventurer would've tossed such an item out into the wild for no reason. Iris could've taken it and sold it off when she'd gotten her quest completed, and it would net col of value to any player she passed by on the street.

The shield laid there, stunningly visible to all who passed it. And yet, it went unpicked by any other passing adventurer. Most likely because the only passerbys so far was them who'd laid their eyes upon it.

ID: 185941 | CD9 LD13 | Rare Shield found.

[iris 0]

"I'll be taking this then," Iris decided. With a squat, she picked it off the ground.

"Hey, be careful."

It was only when her party member mentioned it did she hear a chime, something that sounded like an audible sheen pass the side of her ears. Sharp, a noise that captured her attention; when she rose her gaze to the horizon, there were a small pack of boars already making their way across the grass en route to her location.

"Ah," she stated, catching a glimpse of something else shining in the grass. "But there's more items nearby."

So that was her hunch, then. The items were only created by the system whenever she was on such a specific quest. Jean only needed to follow her eyes to notice the oncoming storm, and instantly she bolted off for battle.

"I'll handle it," she called out to her merchant-to-be. "Just focus on gathering those things for now!"

ID: 185942 | CD12 LD17 | Rare Consumable found.

[iris 0]

It wasn't because of her eyes, Iris had wanted to refute there, about the reason she was prized for her presence on the field. But she couldn't have mentioned it without distracting her accomplice, and so she worked to gather the second item instead.

One consumable. Rare. With any luck, it would be useful.

Jean worked fast to dismantle the troupe -- a two-handed battle axe was sure to cut enemies down to size. Boars in their entirety were swung out of the air, leaving the floor before shattering into crystals, sparkles dancing a multitude of pastel colours against the bright blue of the morning sky. Iris silently cheered her on with a glance, her feet taking her to another patch of dense grass on instinct.

Bingo. Her fingers found permanence on an object -- some single-handed blade to have matched her prior shield, a standard medieval weapon. And aside from her partner's decimation, there were no other threats to be found in the vicinity.

ID: 185943 | CD1 LD11 | Rare Weapon found.

[iris 0]

So she called her over with a hop and a wave.

"Hey! Over this way!"

Jean gave Iris a glance, overthrowing one of the larger boars off its hooves before charging over to her side. They were still there, trickling down her footpath, behind Jean -- but somehow, the player didn't seem fazed by their presence. "What is it?" She hollered just as the gap between them closed.

"I got what we needed. We should be able to identify them, now."

"At the shop, right? One sec."

Before Iris was able to reply with an affirmation, the warrior swung her weapon to a side, sending another swine flying with ease. Two more -- no, three, no, five? The stampede was quickly put to an end with swift movements, as though the woman hadn't planned on using any sword arts to have stalled her flow in the heat of battle.

"Ah, I'm done."

IDENTIFYING TIER 1 RARE SHIELD [#185941] 

ID: 185944 | LD5 | Taunt
ID: 185947 | LD9 | Paralyze

[iris 0]

Jean dusted off her hands, letting the axe fade away from her hold. All that was left of the crowd was stardust. "C'mon, let's go," she added, grabbing Iris' wrist as she started to walk briskly. "We'll see how well you fare then."

"Yeah--"

And if the words got stuck in Iris' mouth, it was because of how quickly she'd been pushed to move from her leader's ushering.

A quick jog to the shop, and they were ready to begin the identification process. Not that Iris was in any shape to have done so after the run over. The scatter of items upon a wooden table was enough to earn a trusting smile from the NPC, and Jean slid herself onto its surface, crossing her legs as they dangled off the side.

Iris just stared blankly at her as she tried to catch her breath.

"Whenever you're ready," Jean reassured her.

IDENTIFYING TIER 1 RARE CONSUMABLE [#185942] 

ID: 185945 | LD11 | MITIGATION II