The fifth bell chased them through the merchant quarter while Loccy carried her hammer clear of the thickening evening traffic. Hajin kept Cassie's completed work order beneath the guild receipts, leaving the earned advance with its owner behind the yard.
Sawdust still clung inside Loccy's cuffs despite the cloth Vella gave her before they left the gate.
"I was finding the next opening," she whined, shaking a cuff over the gutter while everyone sidestepped the falling grains.
"One more round before the tailor starts poking me full of pins?"
Hajin shifted the sling beneath his coat as the tailor's sign swung into view above the next shopfront.
"Punch the tape measure, then, I bet the price climbs every time you win."
Juna caught the loose cuff before it brushed a passing basket, "And somebody has to explain why our clothes smell like a floor nobody swept."
"They smell like winning," Loccy shot back, puffing out her cheeks as she squinted at the shop's narrow doorway.
