Aaaaah, what a fun and fulfilling bit of social interaction and clothes shopping! Man, the craziest part was when I had to lie my way out of explaining how there was an effervescent outline of a man that appeared after I did some hand movements. It was so witty, entertaining, well thought-out and incredibly so elaborate that I couldn't recite or even remember a single thing about it if I tried! Crazy stuff! 

And the outfit I picked out isn't half bad either, if I do say so myself. Though, it was a little pricey. A solid 6 coin. Though, the shoes took up a solid third of that. That cobbler that Heremays showed me was certainly quite proud of his work. And with good reason, seemingly. These are some dang fine shoes. And one can't skimp out on the shoes, I think. Really completes the ensemble, ties everything together. 

Man, what a crazy and wacky dude that cobbler guy is. Wonder if I'll ever cross paths with him again? That would certainly be fun. 

Anyways, it's about time I meet Sis at that convenient alley over there, just gotta wait for Heremays to retrieve the goods. We stored them in back before we left for the cobbler's place. Ah, crap, now that I'm thinking about it, I might actually be a little late... Ah well, what can ya do.

It didn't take too long for Heremays to return with the stuff. "Ah, I believe this is everything, correct?"

"Yeah." I said. It wasn't a complicated set, just, like, 3 things. "That's everything." 

"Ah, wonderful." He said, handing the stuff over to me. "While you're here, is there anything else you would like?"

I do kinda wanna incorporate some accessories, but, truth be told, my coin pouch is feeling pretty dang light right now. "Not now. But I'm sure I'll be back soon enough."

"And you're sure everything is in the right size?" 

"Yeah, think so. The hol- er, model was pretty accurate." I'm pretty sure, at least. Though, that's the same answer I gave the last 3 times he's asked that.

"Right. Speaking of, I must say, that model of yours was most impressive. I've never seen an illusion quite like it."

Oh, yeah, now that I'm thinking about it, I think I probably referred to the Zramazos-outline-hole thingy as an illusion a while ago, during the previously mentioned long winded and elaborate lie. "R-really? Th-thanks."

"You know, I once knew someone, a dear friend of mine, who was quite skilled with illusion magics. A lot of other magics, too, actually." Heremays said, a distant look growing on his face. "And a lot of other things, really... I think they would have taken a great liking to you, boy..." 

He paused, for a moment, and I thought he was gonna start some crazy, long winded monologue for a moment. Now, normally, I'm all for that, but I'm already running late as it is, so I was grateful when he shook his head, and, in doing so, shook off the distant look, as well. 

"But that was a long time ago." Relative to human time or elf time, I wonder? 'Cus I still think this guy's an elf.  "At any rate, do come back whenever you like. My door is always open to you." He concluded with a warm, friendly smile.

"Of course." I said, shooting him a thumbs-up sign. "Later, dude."

And, with that, I left the shop, and began making my way over to the convenient alleyway where I was gonna meet Sis. 

Ah, crap, I just realized, I wanted to chat with Heremays about the hero statue, and all that jazz. It's nothing of grave importance or anything, but I wanted to see what he thought about the thing from an aesthetic standpoint, since we both share a similar eye for the stuff. 'Cus, y'know, maybe I'm just being nitpicky. Ah well, there's always next time, I guess. 

It didn't take me long to arrive at the conveniently placed alley. Predictably, Sis was already there, looking kinda bored.

"Yo." I said as I arrived, as per usual.

"Hey." She returned.

"Sorry for being late. Took a little longer than I expected."

"Eh, it's fine." Sis said with a shrug. "Now we just gotta deliver the stuff, right?"

"Yep. The innkeeper lady's probably done by now, I'd wager."

"Alright." Sis said, stretching a bit. "S'posse we should get on that, then." 

And, thus, we got on that. That is to say, we began making our way to the inn. 

"What'd you end up doing while I was buyin' stuff?" I asked, to kill time. I hope she didn't just, like, stand still for an hour, or something.

"Eh, nothing particularly interesting. Got some reading in."

"Ah, that's good." Reading's fun. I wont lie, I kinda miss it. Y'know what, I'm adding that to my list of things I want to do at some point.

Current objectives - 

Find Cola related words >

Learn How to Read

Neat. 

Anyways, we made our way to the inn. As expected, roughly 4 gold worth of stuff that's probably easy to prepare and would taste good after a few hours of sitting in a box, was prepared. (Relatively easily, I hope.) Conveniently, the innkeeper lady gave us something that looked like a supermarket bag to carry everything in. Nice.

Y'know, now that I'm thinking about it, this would be a lot of food to prepare in such a short time, as well as managing the inn, and all that. Up to this point, I sort of figured she just did this whole place herself, but that would be pretty impractical, now that I'm thinking about it. I wonder if she has someone helping out in the kitchen? That would make a lot of sense. S would probably know, I'll have to ask him about this at some point.

Some point soon, hopefully. Real soon... I know this is kinda terrible of me, but...

I hope tragedy comes quick!

Anyways, we didn't stick around the inn for too long, as customers started coming in, so we quickly said our goodbyes, all that jazz, and Sis and I made our way out, towards another convenient alley, where we would then head back to Basenholm. Convenience!

We peeked around, but Zramazos didn't seem to be out. Inconvenience! Actually, there didn't seem to be much of anyone out, at the moment. Other than the guards, but they're seemingly always out.

"Huh." I said. I did not take this outcome into account. Guess I should ask the guards if they know where our guy is. 

"Y-yo." I said, walking up to them guards. 

"Greetings," "Citizen." They said.

"Uh, y-yeah. Do you guys know where Zramazos might be?"

"Probably" "at" "home," "I'd" "guess." They said with a shrug.

"A-alright, thanks." I said, walking over to the cola thingy.

. . .

"Huh." This is a bit of a pickle. 

"What's up?" Sis asked. "Why're we just standing here?" 

"Well, Zramazos isn't out right now. So we'll wait 'till he is."

Sis looked confused. "Why not just... Knock on his door? His house is literally right there." She said, pointing to his house. 

"Well, yeah, but what if they're in the middle of something. Or if somebody we don't know answers?" 

"Then what? We'll be there for, like, 30 seconds."

"Then... I dunno... Might be awkward..."

Sis looked more unamused than usual. "Seriously?"

"W-well..."

"I'm gonna go knock." She said, going to go knock. 

"W-wai-" 

She knocked.

Ahhhhhh...

Immediately, footsteps. Each rough thud was louder than the last. However, they quickly ceased, as the door began to open.

The door actually opened pretty quick. If I had to give an exact intensity measurement, I'd say somewhere between a shove and a slam. 

The man that opened the door, was, frankly, well, he was huge. Tall, broad shoulders, wrestler muscles, and his face wore facial hair that was somewhere between rough stubble and full on beard, which somehow made him look even bigger. Very scary man. He's Zramazos and Michaus's father, I'd wager. I've seen him out on the farm before, but, man... He's quite different up close.

"Hey." Sis said, having to tilt her head back to look up at him. 

He grunted like a boar, or something, and stared down at Sis with a piercing gaze. "What is it, outsider?" he said, with an unrealistically low pitched voice. And holy crap! What a cliché line!

"Is Zrrr... Zram... Ah whatever, the tall one? Is he home?" Sis said, without a care in the world. 

"What business do you have with my s-" He began, with a tone that about made me piss my pants, but was interrupted by a significantly higher pitched voice, and faster and more gentle footsteps. 

"W-wait, dad, h-hold on!" Zramazos said, rushing towards the door. He seemingly just appeared from somewhere behind his dad. "G-go back to the kitchen!" Zramazos said, practically pushing his father towards where I assume the kitchen is.

"But I was just-"

"Git!"

"Hmmph." He exhaled loudly. "Alright." And then he kinda sulked his way back to where I once again assume the kitchen is.

Zramazos sighed.  "S-sorry about that. H-he can be a little, uh... A-anyways, y-you got the stuff?"

"Yep." Sis said, gesturing over to me, carrying all the stuff. And then I handed him the stuff, naturally.

"Oh, uh, t-thanks." Zramazos said, smiling awkwardly. I feel ya, brother... "Uh, do you m-mind if I ask, uh, where did you g-"

"Yes we do." Sis interrupted quickly.

"O-oh. Uh, okay."

. . . 

Huh. Short, and to the point. How efficient. 

Kinda rude, though.