"
Th-thank you?" is all Dísa gets out in her irritation that this man just handed her, a basically complete stranger, his entire wallet without even looking up. And it´s pretty full too. She isn´t sure whether she should feel honored for Leif´s trust or worried for his sense of self-preservation.
As now everyone seems to be busy with the two others´ problems, she slowly backs away.
" Y-yeah, that would be all then... I´ll just... go to that store now."
Once she´s outside, she stops and looks more closely at what her boss has just entrusted her with. It´s a lot. Really a lot. She has been living on pretty tight money herself over the past few years, as her family´s company has been struggling pretty badly financially, so this feels like carrying around her entire bank-account in cash.
She looks around. None of her crewmembers seems to be close by, so guess she´ll go alone.
Ok, north. With extreme anxiety to loose this little fortune on the way, Dísa starts walking.
The closer she gets to the shop, the more she gets the feeling that the place seems vaguely familiar. Which isn´t all too surprising, considering that she used to live in about an hour walking-distance from Höfn when she was a kid. And If it really was the only paint-store in town, or the entire area, the odds were pretty high she had been here before.
The salesperson inside is an older man, maybe in his early sixties. He also seems somewhat familiar, but Dísa doesn´t ask in case she´s wrong.
The shop is pretty small, so finding the right brand of paint is rather easy. It´s always good to keep the medium for all the runes on a ship the same, they are easier to koordinate and strengthen at once if needed like that. Even if that means buying the most expensive paint that shop is selling.
"Hello sir, I´d like to buy... six cans of this black paint here."
Six cans of that size seems reasonable. It takes three to paint runes on two smaller boats, and runes usually have to be redone every half year. Like this the
Leif's Ånd would be good for at least a year... Should they be away that long. Always better to be prepared.
The salesman doesn´t look up from the notebook he´s writing in, he just pulls the can Dísa has handed him closer to look at the brand and gets up to get her order. He charges her the price before mixing the paint.
"
I already pity that poor room that´ll have to be in this color...", the man sais and chuckles.
Dísa jokingly picks up two random other cans. "
You´re right, maybe I should paint my runes in this nice mixture of... "Lavender" and "Turquoise", I´m sure the trolls will appreciate that."
He laughs. "Should´ve told me it´s for magic, kid."
"So you charge me twice the price for the same paint?"
He finally looks up. "Is that a new strategy the big cities came up with to take advantage of people trying to survive?"
Dísa shrugs, then nods.
"Nah, I won´t do that.", sais the man. "Paint is paint, I don´t care what you do with it."
He concentratedly stares at Dísa through his glasses. "Do I know you?"
"Maybe? I used to live in the area... a really long time ago."
"Where?" "Dilksnes" "No way, I´ve lived there my whole life. Who´re your parents?" "Ánn Míasson and-" "Say no more, I know him. We used to be friends, actually. I´m Gilmar, remember me?" "Oh. Yes, actually." Look at that. One of her dad´s old drinking buddies.
"Then you´re Ánn´s little one... Dísa? Or has he got more kids now?" "That´s me. No, still an only child."
He shook his head. "Can´t believe it... Last time I saw you you were... this size?" He mimics the size of his counter. He goes back to putting the next can of paint into the mixing-machine. "So Vala didn´t stay the last mage of your line anyway... How´d she take that?"
"Alright I guess... She´s still in charge of the mage-department in the company."
"Speaking of which. Please tell me Ánn´s finally come to sense and moves back here. I told him going to the capital was a bad idea. You´re gone for a few years and what do I see in the newspaper? Your flippin´ ship sank. Did I tell you or did I tell you? It´s better to stay small. Less risky."
"The ship didn´t sink in Reykjavík. And it´s been going great until then." "... So you´re saying you´re not coming back." "No." "Then what´re you doing here?" "I´m hired for a mission! As a mage!" Dísa can´t help but sound excited.
"Joined the military, huh?" "No... it´s privately funded." "Where to?" "The Mediterraneans." "Where?" "South. Really far south." "... in summer." "Yes."
Gilmar is done mixing the last can. He slams it on the counter and smiles. "Well then, it was nice knowing you. Should you against my better knowledge live to tell the tale, greet your parents from me."
"Hey... I do expect to come back..."
"If you do, I´ll give you 80% survivor-discount for life, and that´s a word." He looks at the quite huge pile of paint-cans on the counter. "Maybe for now, I´ll just let you borrow my wheelbarrow, or do you plan on carrying all of these at once?"
"Oh I... didn´t think of that."
He nods knowingly. "It´s behind the house, just bring it back later. Take it as a goodbye-gift, I usually let no one touch my supplies. But do bring it back. Have fun with the monsters."
"Thank you... I guess? Goodbye Gilmar, it was nice meeting you again."
He nods and smiles.
***
Dísa decides to drop off the paint first. She finds the ship almost empty, just Oliver is sitting on the mast again, watching something downtown with huge interest.
Vala is Dísa´s older cousin, by the way. Just an NPC, I don´t think she´ll be relevant for the story.
