The Nomad's Trip to the Market

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Looking up from the front counter was a relatively burly middle-aged gentleman. His tired eyes swept from Morgan back to the behemoth following her, giving a soft grunt in response. "Twenty gold each. Thirty for a two person room." It made a bit of sense. A room for a single person would be cheaper than a room for two, but stacked on top of one another two rooms could get slightly more pricey. At least it wasn't too hefty a difference. 

    Locke still couldn't understand why Morgan was suddenly offering to pay for a room for him. Even if he helped her out a bit today, they still only just met. Perhaps the young woman had a bit of empathy that she didn't completely know about. Or maybe she knew it was there but was in denial about it. 

    Seriously though, Morgan was just an enigma and that's probably exactly how she wanted things to be. It didn't make trying to solve the puzzle any easier though. Or accepting that the puzzle could never be solved. Locke was just deeply confused. 

    With a sigh, the nomad turned away from the conversation between the inn-keeper and Morgan, instead letting his gaze drift around. It was a quaint little place. The first floor had a small spot for people to eat, drink, and be merry, while a set of stairs nearby led upwards to the rooms. If the man had to guess, from the outside it looked as though the inn was a three-story affair. Though, he had no clue if the third floor was more rooms or just an attic. The young man also had no idea if he would stay here long enough to figure that out. 

    Actually, come to think of it, this might be the first time the nomad had actually been inside of an inn. Going through towns, the young man hadn't exactly stuck around long enough for it.  Usually he just set up camp wherever felt comfortable. Or, on the long haul treks when he was taking escort bounties, he just camped wherever the caravan stopped. 

    He had certainly seen inside them before and he knew what they were about. Enough that he had a pretty clear picture of them in mind, but it was certainly surprising to see how close reality was to his imagination. It was actually a pretty nice realization. 

    Maybe his brain worked after all?

    As much as the big man wanted to wander off and explore, he stuck close to where Morgan was handling business. Partially out of fear of being left behind. Honestly, as scary as Locke looked, he had a fairly childish mentality over certain things. Part of that came from lack of experience, part of that came from very clear attachment issues. Solitude and forced isolation tended to do that sort of thing to people. Even if he told himself he was better of alone, there were still part of his mind that argued otherwise. Quite loudly, in fact. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She's sure Locke would likely want their privacy. She reaches into her bag and fiddles around for a moment. It's a decently sized bag able to fit a nice bit of supplies inside. She finally grabs what she needs and pulls out a hefty coin purse. Seriously this bitch is stacked. This isn't the only one she has either. ...She may or may not have swiped a lot from her sisters ok?

Morgan places down forty gold exactly on the countertop, quickly storing her money away and holding the bag tight to her. She doesn't like swinging it around or showing it off for obvious reasons. Flashing cash in the eyes of the greedy leads to unnecessary and troublesome encounters.

"Do you serve meals here as well?" She asks. A few inns had breakfast available sometimes which was nice, but you never know. She'd rather plan for what she was going to do the next morning anyways.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Both the inn-keeper and Locke looked towards Morgan's gold pouch with shocked expressions. Locke expected a bit from her, but this was way more than even he expected. The inn-keeper, for his part, seemed to weigh it all in his head before nodding. To him, this made sense. Rich girl and her body guard. Sounds about right to him. 

    "Breakfast, lunch, and supper. Have to pay for it yourself, of course." This wasn't a high end fancy schmancy joint, you either pay for both the meal and the room, or you pay for one. You don't get both provided just because you're staying the night. The inn-keeper handed over two room keys to Morgan, numbered five and six respectively, and waved the two off with a rough sounding grunt. 

    Locke simply shrugged as he looked down towards Morgan. "Lead the way." It was better for the smaller one of the duo to take the lead up the stairs. At least in the nomads humble opinion. Easier to see where you were going. Seeing as the young woman had the keys, her seeing where everything was took a bit of priority. And it meant she didn't have to try to squeeze past Locke's frame in the middle of the hallway. 

    The big man cast a passing glance back towards the inn-keeper as they left, only to be met with the same disinterested look as when the two had entered. Hopefully that was a good sign. With how much gold Morgan just showed off, it would have been troublesome if the man switched gears suddenly. Usually that sorta personality switch means that the person in question doesn't have the best intentions. Truthfully, Locke kinda liked this little town, and he would hate having to leave with blood on his hands because some greedy chucklefuck saw an easy score. 

    Once out of earshot, the nomad turned back towards Morgan, speaking in hushed tones. "What're you doing travelling by yourself with so much money on your hands? Don't you know that's dangerous out in these parts?" All manner of bandits and thieves lurked the periphery. Even small, friendly towns had their own unsightly individuals. A small girl like her, traveling alone, with so much gold on her? That's any bandits dream right there. "I'm sure you can hold your own just fine, but you're really playing with fire just dropping that shit down like that."

    Okay, so, the cute little gremlin was loaded. Slightly terrifying, but she already scared Locke so nothing new. Of course, she couldn't just toss that all away, that wasn't just a waste of money but it also put her in a bad way. The masked man thought quietly for a moment. "Small suggestion, have a smaller pouch of gold. Maybe a hundred, two-hundred at a time? It's still a fair bit, but it's not enough to draw eyes or get you in some sort of trouble out here. Keep the big bag hidden. Bounty hunters make that sort of change in an hour, so no one'll bat an eye compared to... well... potentially thousands of gold pieces." 

    The nomad's concern was genuine. And it made sense, too. Locke had been on the road a lot longer than Morgan, and he'd seen many awful things happen to good people. Both through random circumstance and because of bounties. This wasn't the capital, there were no city guard around to help if someone got in trouble. Unless you looked dangerous like Locke, it was better to draw as few eyes as possible. 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

She only gives a curt smile and nods to the innkeeper. Hopefully, the illusion of a bodyguard is enough to keep him from trying something. But they are in separate rooms. Hmm, guess she'll have to see which way the door shuts to see if she can barricade it from unwanted guests.

She makes her way up the steps and takes a quick look around, trying to spot any possible residents. She goes to toss Locke a key and heads to the door to her own room. However, it seems Locke is intent on lecturing her. What is he? Her sisters? She slowly turns around and gives him a sharp glare.

"First off, I know what I'm doing. Secondly- I refuse to have this conversation in a hallway where others can overhear you fucking amateur!" she whispers harshly. She then unlocks her door and walks inside promptly dragging Locke with her and shutting the door. She then places a chair in front of it at an angle so that if someone opens it, it either alarms them or it blocks someone from trying.

"I don't have anywhere to safely store the cash except on my person.
I wasn't kidding when I said I traveled." She has no bank account or anything and it's not like she can go home and store away the money. She didn't want to risk running out any time soon so she took as much as she could. "Normally I don't like flashing the coins I have, but I can't exactly grab forty gold from a pouch without looking at it now can I?" She hisses still keeping her voice as low and quiet as possible. But the seething burning rage in her eyes shows she does NOT like this.

"You don't think I'm well aware of the dangers of having this much money on me while I'm alone? I'm not a fucking idiot! Besides, if someone did TRY to take my money, that would be their mistake to fucking regret. Got it?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Silence would meet her. There was a significant pause as Locke mentally processed everything. Her anger was... unexpected and seemed entirely out of no where considering how the conversation had been prior. Amber eyes blinked ever so slowly, the black marking sealing into a second set of eyes. Then back open. Part of him wanted to clap his hands down on her shoulders and get her to stop for a moment. Part of him wanted to climb out the window and leave. He would do neither.

    Locke sucked in a deep breath, then let it out nice and slow. The man held up a finger. "First, no one actually cares. They just don't. That's the reality. If they did, then they have bigger problems to worry about. Second, I wasn't telling you to ditch the bag, I was telling you to have a second one. A smaller one to use as your public purse. Keep your stash out of sight. Not off your person. I'm not a moron. I'm not whatever an amateur is."

    "I appreciate the kindness you've shown to me, but I'm not going to let you use me like a verbal punching bag over a perceived sleight." And he certainly didn't like having someone ignore what he was saying. He thought he was pretty clear about his suggestion the first time around. Big bag hidden, small bag public. Good advice. "For someone who knows the risks, you're really not doing much to diminish them. Seeing as you're so paranoid, it's a weird thing to not be worried about." 

    Maybe a lot of why he didn't give a fuck about anyone overhearing was down to the fact that he was not someone who could be easily stopped. The man was the human equivalent of a wrecking ball, and if anyone in a small village could take that on, then they had bigger problems to worry about than them listening in.
    
    Locke cracked his neck and leaned up against the wall beside the door. Sure, he might have been a bit intimidated by Morgan, but it was easier to deal with someone acting harsh towards him. That was the shit he was used to handling. And because he was used to it, that meant he really didn't care for it. In his mind, her reaction to him trying to offer some sort of helpful advice was way out of proportion. The young man wasn't trying to call her stupid, he wasn't trying to imply that she didn't know what she was doing. But with what he's seen and heard from the girl throughout the day, it really lent itself to a much more inexperienced image. 

    Serves him right for trying to be helpful. 

    After a moment, the big man cracked his neck again, shutting his eyes once more as he paused to think. Those dark markings around his eyes really did look like eyes themselves. It gave an impression that he was still watching her, when he really wasn't. There was probably some sort of ritualistic purpose to them, given they were literally tattooed permanently around his eyes. How the hell they got child-Locke (or really any of the clan's children) to sit still long enough for someone to tattoo his eyelids was a mystery lost to time. 

    Finally, the big man opened his eyes again and looked down towards Morgan, meeting her rage filled gaze with a measured indifference. The guy really didn't want to be rude to her, but he also felt as though he'd aged several decades from her outburst. The nomad cleared his throat "Are we done here?" 

[fluffymcsnuggles]

[Refs]

He didn't get it did he. Morgan's eyes twitched and she pinched the bridge of her nose taking deep breaths as she listened to him. Her knuckles were turning white from how hard she was squeezing the bridge of her nose. She took a few more slow deep breaths until he was done ranting at her.

"Amateur means someone who is inexperienced or new at something. Also, I would like to inform you that bag I showed is the smallest one in my person." She won't elaborate as to how much she has on her person. "Guess I could waste more cash buying another little accessory for subtilty's sake," she growled. But that didn't feel like a wise purchase to her. Also she just really hates being told what to do. Is it because of some insecurities? Yes. Is she aware of that? Fuck no.

Even with his large intimidating stature, she wasn't afraid. She could tell she was starting to piss him off- and while she'd rather not fight she's not afraid to throw hands if necessary. Not that she wants to fight him for too long. Just enough to get away so he would leave her alone. She does that with a lot of people. It's far easier to annoy, confuse, and dash off rather than fully defend.

She lets out a huff and passes him the key. "Yeah, you can go.  Don't wanna take up more of your time," she says giving him a smile. Though all that's reflected in her eyes is a cold burning gaze.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Morgan would get no response to her glare as Locke turned, moved the chair, and made his exit. He couldn't be bothered. If the girl wanted to pretend that Locke was lecturing her, that was her problem. Once in his room, he set his belongings down and gave a hefty sigh. Tomorrow he'd head out early, maybe leave a small note as a thank you and leave it at that. Even if she resented him and things were now decidedly unfriendly between the two, he wasn't uncivilized. Ish. 

    The rooms were quaint. Single person bed. A desk with all the standard furnishings; Lamp. Chair. Really, they weren't anything special. The blankets were fairly plush and soft, pillows were nice, the mattresses themselves weren't too bad. All in all, a pretty standard affair with nothing super special or unique to them. Just another plain old Inn. 

    Locke settled down on the floor with his back pressed up against the wall. One knee propped up, the big man let his head hang as he slowly nodded off.