Chapter Text
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They decided to stop and check their funds, it's been a few days since they were able to sell anything in any of the neighboring towns. Hard to trade exotic goods and wares when you're in coastal trading towns that already have access to everything you sell.
As expected, the funds were lower than they wanted. {Unfortunately, the next town they were going to was also a trading town with-} ⧖
Fortunately, Bambouche was a small fishing village that wasn't involved in any trade deals and was mainly focused on exporting marine wildlife to the rest of Vaugarde. Which was good, because otherwise they would be flat out of money, Which meant they'd have to sleep in there breaking down cart.
They could, in theory, stay at a house of change for a night. But they would only do that if they were desperate. and even if something possessed them to stay at a house of change for some universe forsaken reason, that wouldn't repair their cart. Which, was not properly prepared for the humidity.
Stars why didn't they think about the humidity?!? They were frankly shocked that the cart had lasted so long, they’re pretty sure every plank of wood was rotting from the inside out. They were shocked that their horse, Apollo, hadn't broken the cart just from pulling it.
Not important. They heard from some fellow travelers that Bambouche was the spot to get any repairs done. There is apparently a lot of carpenters who specialize in maintaining and repairing boats, But most of them were more than willing to help out if you had the money to pay them.
And, with with the carpenters experience with boats, they can make sure that the wood wouldn't wrought out from under them… again.
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After asking around Bambouche, They were told that it was fine if they set up in the main square as long as they didn't block foot traffic and kept out of the way of local vendors. So, they found a nice place and started setting up their stall. Once they had everything all set up, they started looking for a place for Apollo to stay, which they hoped wouldn't be as much of an ordeal as it was in the last town.
After looking around, they found a stable that was surprisingly close to the middle of town. When they opened the door, a ball rang.
“Hey, don't think I've seen you before. Your name?”
“Dial, And I use they/them pronouns. You?”
“Marie, they/them. Now, I assume you didn't walk in here to check the lovely new floors we've had installed.”
They laughed “No, but the floors are lovely. I have a pretty big horse that needs a place to stay for a few nights”
“How big are we talking?”
“They’re a draft horse.”
“Oh change.”
“Is that a no?” Stars this could be a problem.
“We only have one stall that can accommodate horse that big, so I'll need to move some around, but it should be fine. Give me a moment to check first.”
Thank the stars above “I'll wait outside”
“No problem, and if you could move your horse to the entrance of the stable that would be a great help.”
They walked Apollo to the front of the stable. Apollo is starting to get rather impatient, But luckily they still had some dried treats to appease them in the meantime before they can finally rest.
“There we go, feel free to bring them in.”
“Add the price?”
“10 a night.”
“That's it?”
“yep,” They wiped some sweat off of their face with a rag from their pocket, “Most of my money is made from fishing. I just do this since we're the only town nearby that has a stable. And don't worry about the feed, that's all covered.”
They could not believe their luck. “thank you.”
“No problem, Good luck with… whatever you're doing.”
Dial went back over to their cart/stall and saw that there was only one person looking at their wares.
“Hello, is there anything that you're interested in?”
“Yes actually, how much does this satchel cost? I haven't seen this quality of leather in a long time.”
“20. If you want, you can pay an extra 5 and I can replace the strap so it would fit you better.”
“That would be wonderful! But it's not for me so I'll pass.” they considered something then continued “Actually, would it be ok if you reserved it for me?”
“How long?”
“Just for today, they should be coming home this evening. Would it be possible for you to make this strap adjustable? They're probably going to have a growth spurts soon and I don't want them to outgrow it after just buying it.”
“No problem, and forgive me for not introducing myself. I’m Dial and go by they/them pronouns. You?”
“I’m Pétronille, And I go by any.”
That name seemed… familiar. “well Pétronille, I'll reserve it for the next two days, but after that I'll put it back out.”
“That's fine, sucks on them for being late anyways,” Her eyes darkened, “I swear I'll have a talk with the whole party if they're that late for no good reason.”
Dial started putting the bag back into their cart and grabbed the belt that they were going to use for the shoulder strap. They got pretty handy with leather after Apollo started making a habit out of chewing through all of their equipment.
“May I ask for the name of the recipient? If they stop by, I can just have them pay me and then you pay them back.”
“Good idea, the whole group will probably stop here before making it to my place. It's for my sibling, Bonnie, and they use they/them pronouns currently, but last time we talked they mentioned possibly changing.”
Dial froze. They quickly collected themselves and tried to stay calm. They had to stay calm. Luckily if he noticed, he wasn't commenting on it.
They started walking away “Well, I'll hope you see you later this evening but worst case scenario I'll probably be seeing you tomorrow, bye!”
“Goodbye, Hope they're not late!”
“You're hoping for their sake, not mine.” They roared back before turning the corner and disappearing out of sight.
It was starting to get dark and most people seemed to be turning in or going to the docks, so they felt safe closing the shop. They probably would have either way because they weren't sure if they would be able to keep a straight face after… that.
They knew the town name sounded familiar, they just thought they heard it times from passerby's by. They didn't realize this was where Bonnie was from. And they didn't expect the whole party to be there as well. They thought that after everything, Bonnie would stay here and study with the party visiting them every so often, but from the sounds of it, they were wrong!
Well, they don't know for sure that the whole party is there, just assuming. It's been a year after all, so it wouldn't be a surprise if a few people left and went back to their normal lives. Stars they wish they could just go back to their normal lives and forget about everything. But how could they?
First the whole fiasco with The King (who could rot in a world without stars for all they cared) to begin with, then their loops, then Stardust’s loops, then being forced into a new blinding body, and after all of that, when they finally started adjusting to their new life, now this!?!
It was… IT WAS…
…Fine.
They've dealt with worse. They'll probably make enough money within the week to leave and the party will hopefully only stop by once. Once was more than enough to be a problem, but they could handle that.
One perk of their new body is even Stardust won't be able to recognize them now… Hopefully.