{YOTB-2} In For a Penny…

As the rice-harvesting party slowly returned back to Burrowgatory along Faunt Trail, Shibani’s slowed pace and inquisitive expression caught Dagasho’s eye. Dagasho slowed down to match Shibani’s pace and have a brief chat.

“Heya. What’s up, Shibani? Yer face’s all scrunched… Ya need me to carry you down?”
“Oh, Dagasho… nah, I was fine on the way up to Faunt Cavern, I’ll be fine on the way down. Mmm… actually, can I ask you something as we walk?”
“Oh? Shoot.”
“Y’see, I got these extra bottles of spring water from Dan when we gathered it earlier.”
“He sure did make a fuss about gatherin’ a lot of it.”
“Yeah… and you know how I said that we should get a bottle of it blessed by the Church? I was trying to decide on whether or not I should ask Oleander or Mercy to help, and…”
“Wait wait wait, I get it — both, right?! If we each go and ask one of ‘em, then one of us is bound to succeed!”
“… actually yeah, that sounds totally right! I was just gonna say that we should ask together, but maybe… Well, I do know Oleander a little better…”
“Tell ya what — we rest a bit when we get back, and we divide and conquer the church! I’ll talk ta Mercy—I’ve seen them ‘round the bar every now and then—and you go chat up Oleander… and one of us ought to get that water blessed!”
“Sounds good! Let’s meet back up at Dan’s shop after; I’m sure by the time we’re done, he’ll need more help.”
“Great, that plan’s all set! Now… GAH, DAN’S LEAVIN’ US BEHIND — DAN, WAIT! HOLD UP!”
“Daaaaaaaaan!!! Wait up! My legs… my legs!”

…

Indeed, after getting back to Burrowgatory and taking a sizable nap, Dagasho and Shibani approached the Church of Sulfur to initiate Plan “Holy Water Pincer Attack” (patent pending). As Shibani headed into the main chapel, Dagasho went further to the offshoot building… the Bunnery. Certainly a place that brought back memories, but… there’s more important things to do right now than reminisce like the old man he was. Now where was—

“Greetings, dear Dagasho. Perchance, sir, are you lost again? The holiday services will be held in the main chapel.” From seemingly out of nowhere, Mercy materialized at Dagasho’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“EEEEEEEEEYAH, MERCY! MURMUR’S TEAT, DO YOU ALWAYS GOTTA DO THAT?!”
“Well, it wouldn’t do to let a suspicious old man loiter around the yard. Teehee.”
“Oh, don’t you ‘teehee’ me…” As Dagasho grumbled in Mercy’s direction, they returned his grumpy look with a perfectly poised smile.

Dagasho had been around Burrowgatory for long enough to bear witness to the moments when Mercy’s infinite elegance and shimmering poise ran dry… this bun was a relentless card shark, you know. Dagasho’s lost more than just the contents of his coffers playing against them… at least they’re nice about it for the most part. You can even get a playing tip or two if you hold on for long enough.

With a sigh, Dagasho stopped his pouting and turned towards Mercy properly. “Anyways, besides yer disappearin’ act… I came lookin’ for you.”
“Another rematch, dear? I would have taken you up on the offer if we weren’t in the middle of preparing for Mochi Moon…”
“Nah nah, not this time. Y’see, Dan’s makin’ that mochi stuff and me and Shibani are givin’ him a hand. Got this here spring water…” Dagasho pulled out the bottle supplied, to him, “—and I was wonderin’ if you could… bless it? I think the two of them mentioned how blessed water… does something or other to the recipe. Something good, I surmise.”
“Ohh, I see. Yes I do think I’ve heard of this before… but, mmm, as things stand right now I think it’d be quite difficult to justify the cost of time and materials necessary to bless just this much when compared to preparations I could be doing for Mochi Moon.” The smile Mercy wore turned downward gently as they wandered closer to a table stacked high with papers. Ledgers, receipts, invoices… man, a lot of planning went into these things; Dagasho gawked momentarily as he came face to face with the mountain of paper. Was one of ‘em gonna topple? Naah… right? But after seeing this amount of work, even Dagasho could understand the tight schedule Mercy ran on.

“Guh…” Dagasho’s expression turned into a full-blown pout as he gazed at the bottle. “There’s… no way possible to get this blessed right now?”
“Well…” After observing Dagasho’s expression momentarily, Mercy’s face slowly turned from a neutral one to… an interesting little smile. They had an idea. Before Dagasho could take a seat on a nearby pew, Mercy placed one of their hands against his shoulder. “Actually, now that I think about it… if we could somehow, ah, make up for the difference in theoretical cost…”
“Okaaay…” With a pointed look, Dagasho met Mercy’s eyes. “… you’re not telling me…”
“Oh, I’m not telling you much, dear Dagasho. It’s just… well, you know… the law of equivalent exchange works, not just for alchemy.”
“Alche… guh. Well… just last week ya basically robbed me blind.”
“But that was last week, dear. Even when we try to save, funds find a way to drain us dry.”
“I guess you’re right about that! But…” Dagasho pulled yet another face as he stared right into Mercy’s eyes… But then Mercy suddenly released his shoulder, and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Right, right… your debts. I’m not entirely sure you could afford the difference in price… oh dear.” They looked quite disappointed, and turned away ever so slightly…
“Naw naw naw, it’s not that I can’t afford it! I just… don’t have much on me right now… see?! All I got’s this—” Dagasho jumped forward with a start. The moment Dagasho held something out, Mercy instantly whipped right back around and snatched it up. Now, it was time to inspect…

“A grain… no, a seed?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t look like much, but lemme tell ya… I thought it was pretty cool.” After having that seed snatched from his hand, Dagasho had simply stood there dumbfounded… but returned to operating like a normal bun when addressed.
“Pretty… cool? Do tell.”
“I said earlier, me and Shibani were helpin’ out Dan make that mochi, right? We were harvesting fresh rice, and there was this funny area… it was lit by all these weird crystals. I remember where it was, too… ‘coz the rice we harvested there was silvery and shimmery.” He moved his hands as he explained, making some pretty… vague motions, all things considered.
“I see… perhaps you could even mark it down somewhere? Like say… on this map here?” On the table with all the paperwork, Mercy quickly cleared out an area, laying out a map of Burrowgatory and the surrounding caves with a pen.
“Oh yeah, of course. Riiight… there.” And without giving it any second thought, Dagasho marked the location of that odd patch of rice.
“Wow, you’re quite good at remembering things like these.”
“Of course! I remember all the ingredients to my fireworks, so why couldn’t I remember somethin’ like this!” As Dagasho boasted, Mercy quietly rolled up the map and slid it off the back end of the table behind a couple taller stacks of paper. They’ll get to that later. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Hmm… well… you know, Dagasho… I’ve actually taken quite a liking to this seed here. It’s very pretty.” Mercy held the seed up to the light and watched it glimmer ever so faintly before pulling a small satin pouch from one of their pockets and storing the seed away in it. “And as I said, the law of equivalent exchange works for many things… so, how about you give me this seed and I’ll bless that water for you really quick? Come now, hand it over.” They held out an expectant hand.
“O-oh?! Wait really?!?! I mean, yeah! Here ya go, thank ya kindly!” Dagasho deposited the bottle into Mercy’s capable hands, and after a brief moment of Mercy disappearing into the back of the Bunnery, they reappeared once more.

Oh, looks like the old man’s sleeping on one of the pews. Despite the tense relation the two had when competing over a game of cards, Mercy couldn’t help but find Dagasho to be quite the charismatic guy. With a gentle smile, Mercy took up a seat next to Dagasho before speaking. “Dagasho… sir Dagasho… Here’s that water you—”
“AAAAAAAAAAH, AGAIN! BELLS OF THE DAMNED!”
“… good heavens! Dagasho, did you fall asleep on the pew? Oh dear, mayhaps this old man needs a nap…” With a free hand, Mercy carefully leaned over and gave Dagasho a ‘teasing’ pat on the head.
“I’ve had plenty of naps, thank you very much!” Dagasho huffily swatted away Mercy’s hand as he sat up properly with a stretch. It didn’t really take that long for Mercy to do what they did… Dagasho just needed to rest his eyes for a moment. N-no, he didn’t fall asleep!
“Teehee. In any case… here.” Carefully Mercy handed Dagasho a bottle marked with the Church’s symbol. “Do take care not to spill it. You may encounter… unwanted side-effects.”
“Uh… best not to ask?”
“You know how this goes so well, dear Dagasho.”
“Uh-huh. Well… thank you very much, Mercy. I’ll… be seein’ ya? Casino?”
“Of course, dear. Loser pays for drinks yet again.”

And with a grumble that sounded vaguely like “I’ll get you next time”, Dagasho headed out of the Bunnery. Some time had certainly passed while he waited for Mercy to bless the water, so he’d best get back to Dan’s shop. But… he had to wonder… His attempt went smoothly, so how WAS Shibani doing?

Guess he’ll learn when he meets Shibani again.