Emily stared at him, uncomprehending.

“A…” She paused, blinking and tilting her head as if she didn’t hear him. “What?”

“A mimic,” John repeated.

“In…” Her voice was soft and she spoke slowly, and John was able to take a full breath before he cut her off.

“In my pocket, yeah,” he sighed. “Well, it’s not really my pocket. I have an inventory management system, so he’s in there, but it’s more or less the same thing.”

Emily continued to stare at him for a couple minutes, the uncomfortable silence stretching between them. “Of… Of course! Yes!” She shook herself out of her daze as she looked more and more excited. “I can’t wait to see!” Bouncing in place, the herbalist visibly struggled to contain herself before she gave up and hugged him.

Stunned, the gamer was slow enough to react that she was already letting him go, apologizing profusely as she stepped back.

John managed to stammer a soft ‘don’t worry about it’ before the door to the shop opened and a woman drifted in distractedly.

Her wavy, light brown hair was pulled into a lazy braid crown and the look on her freckled face was distant as she smiled at Emily and spoke in an airy sigh. “The sign on your door said you were closed, but I knew you were in here working.”

Emily turned slightly to roll her eyes so only John could see before she smiled, turning back to her customer. “Right as always, Rainbow. I must have forgotten to flip it after lunch. How can I help you today?”

’Rainbow? That can’t be a real name.’ The gamer **** back a derisive snort as he cast Observe on the newcomer.

He couldn’t help but bark a laugh at the fact it was her actual name and Emily barely held in a chuckle as she directed the girl towards the tarot decks, waving her hand to close the informative window as she did. Covering his laugh with a sudden coughing fit, John felt a tightness in his chest like his lungs were sore from it already. He caught Emily’s eye, but waved as he hurried out of the shop, deciding it was his best chance to slip out without more awkwardness with her.

The fresh air swept over his face, but it felt like the heavy scent from the herbal shop was clinging to his clothes and skin. ’How I was able to smell anything past all that incense, I’ll never know.’

Letting the breeze clear the scent a little, the gamer looked up and down the street to remind himself of where the other shop he was planning to hit today was. Once his bearings were gained, John started heading in the right direction, glad Emily also came to the conclusion that the ring might help keep his wolf at bay.

It was only a couple doors down, and looked like a much more normal shop even though John was sure they sold much of the same type of supplies. He smirked to himself when he approached and saw a display of rosaries and bottles of ‘holy water’ in the display window. ’This is definitely the place.’

Unsure what to expect, he opened the door with feigned confidence and walked into a stark white room with glossy tile floors and chrome fixtures. The brightness was a shock even after being outside in the sun for a moment and John blinked a few times before his eyes adjusted.

The hum of the fluorescent bulbs overhead was barely audible through the faint murmuring of what the Lycan thought was music and he looked up to glare at the offending buzz.

“John?” The sudden sound of April’s voice made him jump and he looked over at the steel counter to the left of the door. Her smile brightened as she exclaimed, “It is you!” and leaned across the smooth surface to chat. “Skipped school today or are you lucky enough to have the afternoon off?”

“I, uh,” he paused for a quick moment to get past the surprise, “skipped, yeah.” Her cold peppermint smell was muted here, but still stung his nose and he relaxed a little. “You work here?”

“That’s what my badge says,” she chuckled, pointing to the little metallic name tag pinned to her shirt. “Come in on my early days of class. Gotta pay for my Fightcraft somehow.” She shrugged, resting her breasts on her crossed forearms.

John’s eyes were drawn to the cleavage that refused to be covered by her button-up uniform blouse. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about getting something part time to pay for my stuff, too, but that’d take away from time to actually play, so here we are…” His usual awkwardness and nerves of the unfamiliar surroundings fell to the background as he felt more confident around her.

April gave a soft snort and nodded before standing back straight, taking away the easy view of her ample chest. Luckily for him, their height difference made sure he could still see some skin. “Well, since you’re here, I’m guessing you came for a reason. Anything I can help ya find?”

“I was, uh...” He paused, his mind racing at full speed. ’If I tell her I’m here for a ring, she might get the wrong idea and cancel our date…’ He felt a grumble deep in his mind about that but shook his head. “I’ve always been curious what this shop had, so, here I am.”

“Cool. Anything In particular you wanna look at? I can show ya around. We’ve got some pretty interesting things, if you ask me. And I’m not even including the stuff we have in the back that only my manager can sell.” April winked at him, making John chuckle, his interest piqued.

“Sure, why not? Got anything funky that might be cool for me?” he asked awkwardly, not quite sure how to word the question in a way that wouldn’t give her more information than he meant to.

She looked him over thoughtfully and smiled. “What’s your main toon?”

The gamer smiled, ignoring his instinct to instantly blurt out the answer and instead told her about a few of his favorites. His angler that has mastered fishing of every fish in the game, the herbalist with farms for days, and of course, his rogue that brings in a majority of the gold to his guild.

The two nerds joked about the pros and cons of guilds vs using the auction house for getting supplies and were enjoying themselves, having a nice conversation, until a stern-looking woman walked out of what John could only assume was the back room of the shop April had mentioned earlier.

“April,” her voice was raspy, making her sound almost ancient as it emphasized the wrinkles around her eyes, “I see you are having a nice chat, but I don’t pay you to stand around and flirt.”

Out of reflex, John cast a quick Observe in her direction and was disappointed by the lack of information he received.

“Yes Ma’am. I was just about to show him some of our everyday wear accessories.” The young cashier quickly dodged out from behind the counter and took the Lycan’s arm to lead him over towards a glass case holding simple jewelry.

She lowered her voice to a whisper as she pointed out a few items, including the exact ring John was here to get. “I’m sorry, but I think you’ll have to buy something or I might get into trouble,” she mumbled, looking up at him pleadingly.

“That’s okay.” He paused, pointing at the plain silver band. “I’ll have that one and text you later.”