Silver had him choosing between wood and simple silver plating. Dusk took the wood, liking the dark cherry wood grain. He repeated that process for the rest—pots and pans—and took the silver. The bathroom had another wood option, and he took that to match. Matching was important, right? It was Dusk's only real design plan. The bedroom section had much larger baskets. For the selection of linens, towels, blankets, and such. The more he looked, the more the color choices were overwhelming. The more patterns and details there were, 

Dusk had never chosen anything for himself before, and he still had to get some clothes. He didn't want to waste any more time here. He didn't want black, for obvious reasons. White was the opposite, so that looked good to him. A backup set seemed wise, so if green worked well for the trees with their brown bark, it was good enough for him. Taken the sets that had no patterns or details, only color. He moved to the front. He's matched everything so far. Dusk felt rather proud of himself. 

“That will be four silvers.” Dusk paid and placed it in his storage. With a big smile on her face, she looked up at him. “If you're looking for clothing, Little Scissors is halving a student sale.” 

“Where is Little Scissors?” Dusk asked, feeling tired already. She pointed to her left. 

“Two doors down.” She smiled and said, “If you find yourself in need of more supplies, please think of Scattered Goods.” Nodding with a short bow and hand on his chest, Dusk turned and left, heading two doors down. Now he could save these shopping chores for another day. Dusk wanted, not needed, these black clothes. The one last thing that tied him to the Black family He refused to spend too much time on it. In and out, then, with a hand on his grumbling stomach, some food. 

Two doors down was a store with many mannequins in the window. All in different shapes from a rabbit-headed male. To a tiny flying fairy hanging on strings from the ceiling. Given the wide range of people in lapidary, it seemed like they carried a little of everything. Stepping in, there was no bell or neatness in the last store or stall. Instead, he walked into a room filled with bolts of fabric everywhere. It was not color-coordinated. Barrels with clothes piled high are placed in every nook and cranny. A few cat-beast folk were digging into one of the far corners.   

“Welcome to Little Scissors!” Two small women were lucky to reach his waist. Came out from one of the stacked tables. He greeted them with matching smiles and salt-and-pepper curly hair. “We're a mated couple who can mate you with your best clothing match!” 

“Sewing is more than our hobby.” The one with freckles and faded blue eyes winked and pointed at him. Dusk felt like there was a joke there, but he wasn't getting it. 

“No one wants to hear your bad puns, Merry.” With brown eyes, and the taller of the two, if only by an inch. Elbowed her partner. Turning to him, she looked at his robes and then at his face. “Do you need help?” 

“Do you have clothes that would fit me?” Dusk asked, looking around. It was a store that you took your time in and found something you liked. He had neither the desire nor time to root, if they could find him something, he would stay. Otherwise, he looked somewhere a little more organized. 

“What size are you?” Blue-eyed, Merry asked with a tilt of her head. 

“Size?” Dusk closed his eyes for a brief moment, feeling stupid. Clothes had sizes; even he noted the differences in sizes in the window display. He had no clue what his size was; he only wore what he had in the wardrobe. There was no other choice before. 

“Don't worry! We got this, Mabel!” Merry ran off and grabbed a stool; on her way back, Mabel was in front of him. Measuring tape wrapped around her hands like a robe. Moving at remarkable speeds, Dusk wondered if it was a species trait. He was too polite to ask. Their hands were so light, Dusk didn't even feel them. 

“Got it.” Mable hopped down from the step, using her whole body like she was stretching to reach her toes.  

“Do you have a style in mind, sir?” Merry asked him. The thing is, he didn't. Looking down at himself, all he could say was 

“Anything but black.” Dusk said, and his mind drifted away. He couldn't hear a word that either shopkeeper was telling him. All he could hear were his mother's words, the one time he asked if he could wear something else. Black's wear black, or are you omitting that you are not one?  Her gaze on him felt worse than Knight's whip or sword. At least Knight wouldn't have killed him. At that moment, ten years ago, he felt his mother would have He never asked to change his clothes again. The touch of a small hand on his shoulder broke him free of his mother's towering image. 

“What about this white tunic and pants?" The blue trim will bring out your eyes.” Mabel smiled up at him. Her eyes looked a bit sad, much like Sage's wife's. Taking in a shaking breath, he nodded. 

“I'll take that and several others that are similar.” Dusk said he tried to ignore what had happened, but his voice sounded husky even to his own ears. The two were more than thrilled to help him pick out more clothes. They avoided black; Merry even tossed a roll that was in front of him right to the other side of the store. Dusk left the store with several outfits and three silvers gone from his storage. When he needed more clothes, Dusk promised the pair he would come again. Next time, he'll try to pick out something he selected himself. 

All that he had to do was grab something to eat; the couple had directed him to the local market. Unfortunately, it was full of people, and being around noon, everyone had the same idea. Dusk was quick to give up on that. Grabbing some fruit and a weird bun from the first stall he saw, he snapped a token to get himself back home to his cabin. 

Getting back to the cabin, he stood in front of the broken fence and high grass. It hadn't changed at all—not that it would—but still, it was a wild hope. The change was that the heat of the day had risen. The robe kept him rather cool. Now if only it would do something about the smell emitting from the cabin. Laughing at his own nonsense. He sat on the only firm post in the fence line, and he pulled out an apple along with the token box. 

Balancing it on his knee while he ate. He looked at the lid. The tokens inside were easy to use. Like the teleportation token, it was all about intent. For the price, there were only three tokens. The one off to the left had a green center and was for yard and fence repair. The middle cleaned the house, while the right did all house repairs. Biting his apple, he read that using the cleaning token first was best. There was a clear warning not to be inside while it worked. 

“I can finish lunch while it works.” Dusk plucks the tokens out of the box and tosses the box back into his storage. Biting the apple to keep it in his mouth and freeing up his hands. He walked to the cabin, careful of the spot he had slipped on before. He focused on the dirty cabin in front of him and snapped the token. Unlike the other tokens he had used today. This one tingled his fingers. Tossing it into the cabin's middle. Dusk saw a fountain of water start to bubble from where the token landed. 

Baking out, Dusk shut the door in his own face. Once the door shut with a click, he heard the sound of water rushing, slamming the door. Biting through his apple bite, he walked a path back to the front of the yard. Three fingers holding his apple, with the sound of swirling water in the background. He repeated the token snap and toss in the middle of the grasshopper patch. Stepping outside the fence line. Dusk watch a whirlwind of grasshoppers—actual grass—swirl around the property line. 

The tingle from the magic made his skin shiver. It was a truly amazing ability to pack that much magic into a small, round token. Dusk had a definite interest in learning how that all worked. Munching on his apple, he couldn't help but wonder what it all took. Before his eyes, the fence was coming together, patching itself from what? He had no idea. If it weren't for his hunger, he would have wanted to see what would happen if he touched the wind, but tempted as he was, touching the twisting winds that were hiding the ‘how’ behind the magic. Would cause him nothing but grief. Instead, he pulled out another fruit. Within minutes, the wind died down, and what had happened within those winds astonished him. 

Not one grasshopper hopped on the pristine grass. The fence was now waist-high and cress-crossed in a dark wood finish along the property line. Even the stone path had intact curved circles that led to the cabin. That looked very much the same, but he hadn't used the token to fix it up yet. Walking to the path, he opened the door with confidence. The smell is gone, and all the water. Looking around, things shined but were still broken. That was an easy fix, if the yard and cleanliness were anything to go by. 

Snapping the token, he tossed it in the middle of the room. The floor boards he was standing on started to shake under his feet. Dropping his lunch to the floor, he was back up, waving his arms as the floor rolled beneath his feet. Like the cabin itself wanted him out, and he had little choice in this matter. Failing, his arms did little to stop him from hitting the ground, because that was exactly where he ended up. 

“Well, at least there are no grasshoppers.” Dusk said, looking up at the late afternoon sunlight that peeked through the trees. Turning towards the cabin. He plucked a small crescent-shaped bun from his storage. Dusk admired the buttery taste among all the banging and knocking he heard from inside. He wondered how long it would take. The yard and cleaning took mere minutes. Rolling his hand across the grass, he didn't even have to worry about the leftover trimmings. 

Rolling his hand in the grass, he had the urge to lay down on it, something he could never do before. It would have left him open to attacks from, well, anyone who wasn't the Duke. Taking in a shaky breath, he flopped down on his back. A slight breeze came along, carrying the sounds of the forest birds. Who didn't care about all the noises coming from the cabin. It was a beautiful day, and before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.