[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Weaving through a tight gap between two stalls, a familiar face greeted him; their landlady, it seemed, ran a business of her own, selling sweet-smelling herbal supplies and home remedies. It seemed almost too convenient, and Cassus felt uncomfortable when she beckoned him over.

"I was wondering how you were all getting on" she whispered in a low voice, careful not to be overheard.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus fought to keep his hackles from raising, but he recognised the apology in her tone. "They're well - the Doctor came by yesterday, and they're registered as mine. My Mate and my Pups" he said, pride colouring his tone a little.

The landlady scrutinised his face, but smiled in response. "Well done" she murmured; "that young woman's lucky to have you around."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus flushed, unused to compliments, and sighed; "I'm lucky to have them - we're lucky to have gotten here, and lucky to have help, especially yours." He glanced at her produce for a moment, and made up his mind.

"Look, I have some things to sell - home remedies, herbs and plant-based cleaning products, but I don't know how to go about it" he murmured, opening his bag to show her the jars.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The landlady let out a low whistle as she recognised some of the herbs he had with him. "I've never seen that much in a bottle - where, and how, did you manage to get this?" she asked, eyes wide.

"We were - camping - in the rainforest, for a bit, and being from the Slums I've been gathering things for years."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus surprised himself, as his mouth spoke his thoughts without consciously deciding to. "My mother taught me about healing plants and home remedies - when we agreed to make our way here, we stocked up. Would you be interested in any of these?"

The female reached forward to take the jar he held out to her, and inspected it closely.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"You've preserved them very well; do you know what they are?" she asked, tone light, as she felt the weight of the jar in her paw.

"Some of them, but I know what all of them do" he admitted, holding his hand out to take the jar and feeling uncomfortable when she hesitated to hand it back to him.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Just a moment, let's work this out" she muttered, and Cassus dropped his hand to close his bag, sick feeling rising in his stomach as she grabbed a set of scales and dumped the entire jar's contents into the weighing tin, before scribbling some calculations onto a piece of paper which she handed to him to read.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus' eyebrow raised as he read her calculation, and he looked at her in shock. It seemed that particular herb - lemon sweetgrass, if he recalled - sold in small amounts for a large sum, and she had offered to buy the whole jar, as well as any others he had, for a small fortune.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"It looks like a lot, but it won't last long with three pups to feed" she murmured, looking him in the eye, before looking ashamed as his eyebrows raised and his ears fell flat. "Look, I won't force you, but I'm willing to cut you a deal - you don't know the value of these things, and I can assure you you're going to get cheated by the other Merchants around here."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus tilted his head, as he looked at the paper in his hand, and then raised his eyes to meet her vision.

"I'll sell you this jar for that amount" he agreed, pointing to the paper, "And I'll consider selling you the rest of my wares if you do what you did with this one. Weigh them out, write it down, and I'll do some price-referencing, but I'll sell you one jar of each herb or mix anyway, as part of the deal for the pricing."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The Landlady smiled, and held out a paw which he shook. "Agreed; let's see what you've got - I'll give you a separate paper with each calculation, and I'll write the names of them at the top so you know which is which" she said, scribbling 'Lemon Sweetgrass' and what he could only assume was it's scientific name at the top of the paper in his hand.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

One by one, the jars in his bag were replaced by pouches of Keystones, and Cassus felt sick with each one as he dropped them into his bag, though they weighed less than the jars had done. It was a lot of money, for someone from the Slums, and he wondered what the pups would need and where he would find it.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The Landlady arranged the jars in her stall, writing labels out on paper and tying them to the jars with twine which she cut from a roll beneath her stall, and raised an eyebrow when she noticed his pale face.

"Where can I go for supplies for the pups?" he asked, meeting her gaze with one hand resting on Ebele's neck for comfort.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

The Landlady frowned, and muttered "Look, first get yourself a little knapsack, and one for your - pet - there" she said, pointing to Ebele. "There's a few things you're going to need, so I'm going to write them down for you - the shop for newborn supplies is over there, down that alley, but make sure you have a way to carry them which is more secure than your bag. And put your money in it too, before someone sees you as an easy mark."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Cassus stiffened, but took the list and thanked her anyway, reading through it with shock. Though the pups were only a few days old, he knew they would need more than the rags they were using as nappies to keep them from soiling the bedding, and he read through the other supplies with growing surprise.