A tiny bell chimes as Beau steps into the apothecary. 'Natural Remedies', such was the official title of the rundown shack, which is nestled between the grander buildings of the Lochward. As Beau, Fjord, and Jester cross the threshold, followed by Yasha and Molly, they are greeted by the pungent, almost overwhelming, stench of mouldering fungi and a distracted command to 'wait a moment'. The dim light, coupled with the dusty haze inside the shop makes it difficult for Beau to see, and she manages to walk face first into a few bunches of herbs, likely strung up to dry. She picks a piece of unidentified leaf out of her eye, clearing her vision, before seeing a tanned half-elf man carefully carving a piece of exotic fungus off one of the numerous pots lining the shelves. Placing his tools down gingerly, he turns to the ragtag group that just entered his store.
"So, hi. Can I help you?" His words are crisp, staccato, almost.
At this, Jester steps forward, the skirt of her dress swishing as she practically bounces her way to the counter. She gives the man a cheerful smile.
"Uh, ya, my friends keep dying. Do you have any health potions?" Another expectant smile.
The half-elf catches himself, a flash of confusion crossing his face. "Ah, yes. We do have a handful. That is correct"
Beau begins to tap her foot on the ground impatiently, stealing a glance at Molly and Yasha, who are standing behind them. Molly shifts anxiously on the spot, while Yasha stares at the floor. The Aasimar barbarian looks up, catching Beaus eye with a smug look.
"Shit."
Beau averts her gaze, staring at the floorboards below her feet, "Yeah, I still don't trust you, you shifty motherfuckers."
Beau looks up as the shopkeeper retrieves four glass vials filled with a slightly luminescent red liquid, placing them on the counter in front of him.
Jester stares at the vials amused, nudging Fjord, saying, "Oooh, that will last us probably like a day."
A look of utter horror appears on the face of the shop keeper as he says, "What do you do for a living?"
Various absurd explanations as to why the group of them are so accident-prone are thrown around, before the shopkeeper just gives up and decides that it's best to just not ask questions and to get back to business. Beau on the other hand, rather enjoying this more amusing turn of events, rolls up the sleeve of her monk vestments, revealing a decidedly phallic shaped bruise.
"Look, it's in the shape of a dick!" she exclaims, as the look of horror on the half-elf's face morphs into that of just absolute exasperation.
She glances around, seeing the similarly exasperated and amused expressions of her friends. Yasha simply raises her eyebrows at the monk's antics, before wandering off to look through the rest of the shop. Beau's attention is dragged away from the Aasimar though, when she hears the mention of two-hundred and forty gold, and the loud clinking of Jester emptying her whole coin purse onto the store counter.
"Do you have a deal, y'know, if we got all of them?" Yasha pipes up from the back of the store, managing to awkwardly stutter out a proposition which is swiftly shot down by the shopkeeper.
Beau, growing increasingly anxious, continues to study the Aasimar barbarian as she examines the various flora stocking the shelves of the store. Out of the corner of her eye, Beau catches a flash of purple as Mollymauk practically glides over to the counter. She's pretty sure she sees a wink, as the purple Tiefling leans down on an elbow and cocks his head to the side as he converses with the shopkeeper. She tries to listen in on what's being said but finds herself irritated by the restless flicking of Molly's tail and decides to pace through the aisles, examining the wares.
There are cobwebbed shelves filled with vials of various powders, salves and ichors, in colours ranging from vibrant bilious yellows to dark tarry blacks. She watches as Yasha picks up a long, corked glass tube filled with a violet fluid that matches her left eye. Beau smirks and picks up a conical vial, filled with a viscous bright cerulean liquid and shakes it to catch Yasha's attention, which causes the mixture to bubble violently. She spots Fjord glaring at her as he mouths "put that down," which she does so begrudgingly, but not before catching the slight smile that Yasha sends her way.
As she steps towards the back of the shop, the acrid smell of smoke hits Beau's nose. Her heart rate picks up involuntarily. She doesn't recognise the particular scent, but even so, the idea of what it might be excites her more. Of course, it could be nothing and she may have just gotten her hopes up, but damn, it had been a long fucking time since she'd smoked anything of worth. The backwater towns she'd been in had been full of dingy distilleries more than anything, not that she's complaining. But still, even if this Elven tosser had anything, it probably wouldn't be in her best interests to buy drugs right in front of her new friends. Knowing her luck, they'd run straight to Norda. Third time's a charm, eh?
Beau bends down and picks up what looks to be a sheep skull off one of the lower shelves and begins putting on an impromptu puppet show for Jester. This causes the little Tiefling to stifle a giggle, snorting loudly, before breaking out into raucous laughter. This earns yet another glare from Mr Manners himself. As Beau was simultaneously flipping Fjord off and putting the skull back in it's original position, she hears something which piques her interest.
"It's called Skein."
She turns to find Molly, leaned in close, grinning like fox as he examines a sack of fine grey-blue powder.
"Well I'll be, that suave, smarmy, horned motherfucker."
Beau walks closer, wanting to get a better gauge as to whether this stuff is legitimate.
The shopkeeper gestures towards the ceiling, "It's called Skein, because when you eat it, you can see the weave of time."
Beau rubs her chin, "Fuck that sounds like a good time."
Her eyes dart towards Yasha, who's flipping through the pages of an old alchemical manual, glancing up at Molly every now and then.
"Wonder what Yasha thinks of Molly's… 'usage' of certain substances?" Beau thinks as she watches the shopkeeper shift the bag so that it exposes more of the contents. Yasha continues to flick though the leather-bound manual, seemingly unfazed by the current proceedings. Jester, on the other hand, seems utterly mortified and Fjord is remaining impassive.
"Who gives a fuck what Yasha thinks?" Beau growls under her breath as she feels the itch in her brain grow. She hadn't realised she'd been craving it this much until now. "But it's probably best if I don't go about making my habits public though, don't need the rest of the group thinking I have a problem. Yep, I need a distraction"
At that, Beau turns her full attention towards a lizard skeleton sitting on a pedestal. It's tail is about as long as her forearm and its head is covered in bony projections, its fingers are actually quite long and hand-like, with long curved claws and.. oh, wow, a sharp spur at the base of the wrist, it's probably from Xorhas actually, lizards there tend to…
"How do we know if it's good quality though?"
At that, Beau's head snaps up to see Yasha stepping forward, weaving her way through the shelves, heading towards the counter.
"Can I give it a sample?" Yasha continues to move forward, her imposing figure now standing before the shopkeeper.
"Well shit"
Beau struggles to suppress a grin as she saunters up to the counter. She watches as a price is agreed on and the shop keeper hands over two vials, one for Molly and one for Yasha. Then, the half-orc steps forward and another vial is handed to Fjord.
"This day is sure full of surprises" She mutters to herself as she leans casually onto the counter, a lazy smirk hanging on her lips.
"I'll take some as well" Beau drawls, sliding her gold across the countertop, while looking pointedly at the Aasimar barbarian standing on the other side of the room, who doesn't react but keeps silent eye contact. She retrieves the vial of blue powder, inspecting it as it shimmers in the dull light.
She zones in and out of the conversation after that, alternating between helping them get a better deal on the health potions and admiring the carefully constructed braids in Yasha's hair, which she had failed to notice previously.
The sounds of her friends saying their farewells broke Beau out of her reverie. For good measure, Beau was sure to shake, the seemingly confused "Davies", hand as she left. Offering up a sly grin and a wink to boot. She waltzed out of the door, happy with her acquisition, and with an utterly bemused Jester in tow.
They meet the seemingly never-been-bathed wizard Caleb and his goblin 'daughter' Nott outside the shack. Jester, predictably, tells Caleb all about how they had just purchased drugs. Of course, Beau goes on to, 'explain', that they had just used the drugs to get the health potions for a better price, so now they had potions AND drugs. That's a win-win all round. Caleb doesn't question it. At this point, Beau is pretty sure that they could say they had just swam in the town fountain naked and he wouldn't bat an eyelid.
Much chatter ensues, most of which Beau, again, is zoned out of. Because seriously, who gives a fuck? She drifts into the conversation as topics related to her interests are mentioned. Yasha asks if Beau was wanting to avoid Zadash and a subtle warmth fills Beau's chest before she replies that it wasn't necessary anymore. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices that Nott is shifting nervously, playing with the buckles on her tunic and stealing glances towards Yasha.
"Yasha?" Nott grates out, butchering the pronunciation, "Is that your name again?"
Yasha tilts her head back and forth, "Yasha, it's like-"
"Like ash, with an ay!" Nott exclaims, throwing her hands into the air.
"Ah, not really, but close enough."
Nott continues on unfettered, pulling out a small bouquet of brightly coloured flowers and offering them up to the woman towering above her.
At this sight a heavy feeling settles in the pit of Beau's stomach, swirling uncomfortably. Beau chastises herself internally for her completely absurd response to the scene unfolding before her.
"It's so you don't kill me." Nott continues to explain.
Yasha shakes her head, reassuring Nott that she wouldn't kill her, and pulls a book out of her pocket. She begins placing a flower between each page, carefully, almost reverentially. Beau can't help but watch in awe at the sight.
"Didn't peg you for a flowers type of girl" Beau leans back onto the shack door as she feels the knot in her stomach continue to twist and tighten, still intently watching the almost gentle movements of the large barbarian woman in front of her.
After a few minutes, Yasha finishes placing the flowers between the pages of the book, closing it and placing it back in her pocket as she gives an almost silent chuckle and looks up at Beau.
"I don't think you have me pegged for a lot of things" she says as she holds Beau's gaze, unwavering. Again, the knot twists tighter.
"Guess we'll have to change that won't we?" Beau tentatively suggests, "Y'know, this kinda stuff is always more fun with company, you tend to learn a lot of things about a person when they're high." Beau shakes the vial of shimmering blue powder, which glistened even more now that they were outside.
An almost imperceptible smirk crosses Yasha's face, but Beau catches it.
"Is that right?" She says as she begins to walk away. She's only walked a couple metres before she turns to look at Beau again.
"Looking forward to it."
Beau feels that pool of doubt in her stomach vanish.