I'd be lying if I said I hadn't come here mostly for this.
I went to check it immediately.
Whole walls of shelves displayed Llewellyn-themed items: keychains, posters, mugs, even a terrible (but surprisingly endearing) plush version of him in his trench coat.
"…"
I grinned. I got a basket and started dumping things in it, starting with two of those plushies. They were fully stitched and didn't have any small parts, so… at least one of those was going to Lumos.
What else was here?
I grabbed some keychains, a few posters, and three mugs.
There were sword replicas too, but they were even worse than the one in the exhibition, so… I left them there. Now that I was familiar with the original, seeing wrong replicas rubbed me the wrong way.
There was quite a lot of stationery too. Did I need any of this? Maybe a pen?
I got a few pens and a mechanical pencil.
Phone covers.
Um. Maybe this was a bit much, but—
I showed them to Penguin.
"What do you think?"
Penguin chirped.
He was right, they weren't bad. I mean, I could get them and not use them, if it felt too weird. I checked my phone model and got one for each cover design.
Then I got one each for the newest model too, in case I decided to buy it later. The System could buy that for me too, right? Anyway, this exhibition would be dismantled tomorrow, so. Better get everything now.
I took a look down at my loot so far.
Not bad. What else was here?
I looked around and my eyes zeroed in on one of the stands.
There were small… sweaters. Tiny cashmere-like sweaters, sized for… pets? Maybe dolls? Definitely not real cashmere, but they looked the part.
There were also small trench coats. Some even came with keychains.
I eyed them for a moment and grabbed a few.
"What are you doing?" Llewellyn asked through the bond, sounding suspicious. "You seem too gleeful."
"Shopping," I said, grinning.
"Shopping?" There was a pause, then a sudden feeling of horror. "Is there merch?"
I moved to a corner, made sure the whole shop was in frame, and snapped a picture, sending it to him.
Llewellyn made a strangled noise.
"I'm going to kill Emma."
He could probably feel me trying very hard not to laugh.
"Was she the one who gave the approval for this? I'm going to send her a thank you note later."
A groan.
"What? Some of the stuff here is adorable. I got tiny sweaters and trench coats for Penguin! Inspired by Llewellyn's signature style, says the tag. They're going to go well with the pirate hat."
I could feel Llewellyn's mood oscillating between dismay and reluctant amusement. It was very funny.
I kept browsing. There were bookmarks with his face or full figure on them, notebooks with quotes he'd never said, even a calendar of "Most Heroic Moments" with overly dramatic captions.
The notebooks were too annoying, but I grabbed some bookmarks and two calendars.
"How much stuff are you buying?" Llewellyn asked, sounding concerned.
I looked down at the basket. "A reasonable amount?"
Llewellyn groaned.
"Why."
"Because I can."
A flicker of exasperation came through the bond, but also… fondness.
"Want me to get you something?"
"Don't you dare."
"An oven glove with your face on it? Maybe a dinnerware set?"
"I'll set them on fire."
I laughed.
Okay, but… the bottle opener in a trench coat?!
"I can't leave this one, right?" I asked Penguin.
Penguin chirped in agreement.
Exactly. That went in too.
I looked down at the basket again.
"…"
This was probably enough.
I headed toward the checkout. The cashier scanned everything without comment, though her eyes widened slightly at the sheer volume and… at the total price she had to read aloud.
Well, the System was paying, not me, so.
I left with two bulging bags.
Outside, fiddle music floated through the air. It was still daytime, but the smell of roasted chestnuts was already drifting, mixed with the salt breeze from the harbor.
I found a bench under a tree, away from the main crowd, and sat down.
Penguin hopped out of my pocket, looking curious.
"Look what I got you," I said, pulling out one of the tiny sweaters.
Penguin chirped.
Some were too small and would probably fit his sugar glider form only, but this one would do.
I helped him into a little sweater with a tiny stand collar. It made him look very… dignified.
I snorted. "You look like a tiny CEO," I said, taking a picture and then showing it to him. "Look."
Penguin chirped, waddling in a circle, clearly pleased with himself.
I took a video and sent both the photo and the video to Llewellyn.
"I'm at a loss for words," Llewellyn said through the bond, though the comment felt warm.
"Right?" I said. "He looks great. He just needs a tiny sword now, or lightsaber or something, and the cosplay is complete."
"I do not use a lightsaber," Llewellyn said.
"I bet you would if the System sold one. Or maybe a magic wand?"
Llewellyn snorted but didn't deny it.
The trench coats were unfortunately too small for Penguin in his current form. We were going to have to try those on later, when he turned into a sugar glider.
I took more pictures.
"You seem to be outside in those photos," Llewellyn said. "Are you done yet?"
"I suppose so," I said. I'd meant to read the exhibition brochures, but those could wait. "Want to grab an ice cream around here? More festival food, maybe?" It was way past lunchtime now.
Llewellyn pondered this. "Why not," he said. "Where should I join you?"
I gave him coordinates.
"Got it," he said. "Give me two minutes."
I put all the merch in my inventory and sat back on the bench, watching the sea.
Honestly, this felt amazing. I'd been nocturnal for so long, I'd forgotten I actually enjoyed basking in the sun and staring at the ocean. I still had one shift left to fulfill my notice period, but... that was it.
Llewellyn's exhibition aside, I suppose this could be my life now. Get up, have breakfast, make out with Llewellyn, spend a few hours in an Elemental Café or maybe training together, shower, then maybe lunch and lazy time like this… Was this how rich people lived?
With everything going on, I was sure we wouldn't get bored of this.
Ah, I really wished we didn't have to deal with the Alliance. Then this would be the perfect life.
I looked up in time to see Llewellyn materialize out of nowhere, trench coat fanning around him.
I grinned.
"Did you know we can get food on the galleon?" I said.