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[Selling is boring. Pawing is fun. Don't mind him. He'll totally buy later, when he's done prodding at all of them.]

[Watch as the furs slide away from pawing hands.]

Can I help you?

[Bah.]

Are they not for sale, m'lady?

They are indeed. Do you wish to trade for any? I'm sure whatever you need, I have. Or, if you're looking for something more specific, I can get.

Can you, now. [He can't help the way his brows slip up. It's genetic, he's fairly certain.] And may a man not browse your wares to be certain of their quality?

Are your hands clean? [The suspicious furrow between her own brow is her genetic trait.]

[...bitch.

But look, he'll hold them up. For someone who spends so much time in the woods, they're actually fairly carefully maintained and cleaner than his coat might imply.] My hands are my trade, m'lady.

[Meow, Cynric.

After a calculating look at his hands, she shifts the furs back over. Grabbing one of the pelts of white ermine, she holds it out for him.] You'll never find any with a softer cure or pelt, my lord. T'is a secret passed down to me in the skinning and curing process.

[White and ermine are both easy to ignore. She's got something more in the line of bear, hasn't she?]

Soft's hardly the concern, ma'am. What'll keep a man warm?

[She has bear and badger pelts, the grey and black laying over the darker almost-black of the bear.]

Not a draft will get through these, I give you my word. I've also rabbit to line your inner boots and mitts with for insulation, if you've a care for your extremities.

Of course, but who has the time to sew?

[Ophelia did. He should probably bring some back to her, actually. Winter wasn't getting any less bitter for a while.]

I expect they're horribly expensive, such superlatives and all.

I'm a tradesman, sir, not a thief. I'd hardly do myself any favors putting an exorbitant price on them. I trade in currency and notes of favor; notes I expect to be upheld.

Easy, love. [No offense meant.

She's talking, after all, to a thief.]

D'you get much trade in bartering services?

More than currency. It's just as good and it's for what I need, so it's effectively cutting out what isn't necessary. I can supply my own food, clothing, and medicine, but there are some things one simply can't find in the forest. Like a good drink.

[Not true. One could find a good drink in the woods - or the components to make such. But she chose to spend her time doing other things and leaving the brewing tot he monks and those with a penchant for it.]

A good drink's still paying with coin, lady. [The click of his tongue is light.] Unless part of the price is a good conversation. Now there's a rare thing.

True, but it isn't my coin that pays for it, which makes it preferable. Quite a few innkeepers enjoy a fur here and there through the winter months in trade for a keg of something to whet my appetite for something more.

Come, now, lady. We could quibble all day about what coin belongs to what man and come to nothing of it.

Mmm, and you somehow think a story and pretty words will part me with one of my finest furs? Have you already been in your cups?

D'you know, dear, lesser men accept it quite willingly? [But look, just for her, coppers will appear out of nowhere.]

But I am neither lesser, nor a man. [She hears the ting of copper and looks over her selection.]

Now, what are you in the mind for, my lord?

What's the black bear fetching these days, then?

[She looked him over, taking in the way he dressed and how well kept he was. She rattled off a price, not too steep, but by no means a give away.]

Of course, if you'd like the price lowered, you could try to add a note of favor or something to barter, if you have something.

[See, most things above 'free' are actually a touch out of his price range. He keeps his face perfectly calm as he flits one of the coins between his fingers.]

A note, dove?

Or two. It all depends on the object being bartered, does it not? A note of favor; a trade of labor or something equal to the value of what one is trading for.

And pray what, lady, makes a fair exchange for this?