"Maybe...maybe I'll uh, just go see if the blacksmith needs any help. You guys have a blacksmith, right?" 6 said nervously.
"A blacksmith, yeah, of course we do. Just past the inn, behind one of the houses next to it, little hut. Good luck getting there." Plono said as she walked into her room and shut the door behind her.
"Shit." 6 cursed.
Rather than fighting against the inevitable scolding he would get from Karkum for dirtying his door, especially since he still wanted to eat tonight and have a proper bed to sleep in, he decided to take actions to lessen the punishment that would be dolled out to him as much as he could.
He looked down at his slightly stained clothes, dirtied from sleeping on the floor during the night, and recalled Karkum's note warning him avoid dirtying the clothes he had gifted 6.
In an effort to lessen his pain later he began doing his best to straighten up his clothing, flattening out the wrinkles and brushing off the dirt and dust.
During this process he noticed a plate of what he assumed was fruit left on the table, not far from where he slept. He hadn't noticed it earlier because he had been laying on the floor, the plate entirely out of site.
Next to the plate was a note from Cypius that told 6 that the fruit was for him, as breakfast. Considering he had to deal with an angry Karkum, meaning he definitely couldn't count on any breakfast at the inn, he settled for the strangely shaped fruits, chowing them down quickly in order to be on his way as fast as possible.
Now finished with his food, he grabbed the bucket of water that he left outside after cleaning himself off last night. His everyday laziness finally came in handy, by not emptying out the water it left him with something to clean Karkum's door off with without having to search for a new source of water.
With the half full bucket in hand and his old clothes in hand, as well as the towel Karkum lent him, he walked to the inn.
Sitting in a chair in front of the inn, Karkum was tapping the rolling pin in his hand against his thigh, bouncing it up and down.
He was muttering under his breath, silently complaining about something in an angry manner.
The door of the inn had a light green substance on it, right around where someone would traditionally knock, staining the otherwise clean wood.
As Karkum stared off in the direction of Cypius' house, his eyes fixed upon the road, he watched as 6 walked down the street in his direction.
There was a pile of clothes over 6's shoulder, as well as a towel, and he was haphazardly lugging a bucket of water, the water inside of it splashing around as he walked.
The rolling pin in Karkum's hand began tapping faster, practically smacking himself on the leg as he watched 6 walk like everything was merry in the world.
"Oh, hey Karkum! I just wanted to come by and thank you for the clothes! Mine were really gross so I appreciate the kindness!" 6 shouted before he even reached the inn.
Karkum's hand continued tapping the rolling pin in response.
6 continued approaching the inn, continually speaking about pointless niceties the closer he got to Karkum.
"I didn't give you any clothes last night. I believe you've been confused, a common occurrence for you, no doubt." Karkum said, cutting off 6's bullshit the second he was near enough to not need to raise his voice. "It seems I was already asleep by the time you came back to the inn."
"Ah, you didn't? I just figured you know, out of everyone I've met here you'd be the only person nice enough to do something so kind." 6 said, buttering Karkum up.
6 set down the bucket in his hand once he was near the door, moving it careful to ensure he didn't splash water on Karkum or any of his stuff while he was already upset at him.
"Quite. As a matter of fact, it seems while I was asleep someone daft and boorish dirtied my door, to what end they did so I could not hope to comprehend however." Karkum said. "You wouldn't happen to have seen anyone doing that when you returned last night, would you?
6 debated internally for a moment about trying to lie, claiming he did see someone doing that. He could even blame it on the rebellious angry kid he saw in the village the other day, surely that kid got up to their own antics that caused people trouble. It would be easy to blame something like this on them.
Just as he was about to do so, he suddenly recalled that Karkum brought him clothes last night and that he was indisputably awake when he returned to the inn, making him want to smack himself for the blunder he almost made while looking for a way out of the scolding ahead of him.
Karkum also wasn't the grumpy well meaning innkeeper he pretended to be for 6 either. He probably noticed the stain on the door last night, before even leaving the inn to bring the clothes to Cypius' house, but pretended to have only noticed it when it was light outside.
That way he could antagonize 6 more and learn more about the way he responded to things, while also preserving his cover as a regular innkeeper.
"Ah, ah, actually, that's another one of the reasons I came by to talk to you today. See, when I came back last night, I tried to get you attention so I could come inside and sleep in my room. I didn't know you'd be asleep, so I knocked on the door trying to get your attention." 6 said, explaining himself. "Well, it seems that when I did that, I might've accidentally gotten some of the stuff on my hands onto the door."
"I see. And what did you intend to do about that?" Karkum asked.
The tapping of the rolling pin became audible louder each time 6 spoke.
With a broad, innocent smile on his face, 6 lifted up the bucket in his hand, showing it to Karkum.
"Is that supposed to be an answer?" Karkum said with a dull tone, the rolling pin becoming louder once again.
"Ah, ah! I meant I came by to clean it, since I was the one who dirtied it on accident and it would be wrong of me to not take care of it myself you see, so I just figured, y'know." 6 trailed off as he once again gestured with the water bucket.
"So you're saying you intend to clean up your own mess?"
6 responded by enthusiastically nodding.
"And you plan to do so with the bucket of water you're carrying?"
6 nodded once again, the bobbing of his head becoming more exaggerated.
"With the dirty, gross water you bathed yourself with last night?"
Once again, 6 nodded, the smile on his face becoming even broader as he squinted his eyes slightly.
"Actually, I never mentioned that I bathed at all last night." 6 said smugly.
"Tsk. Whatever." Karkum said, standing up from his chair and walking inside the inn, shutting the door behind him, the rolling pin tucked behind his back as if warning 6 that he still had it ready.
With Karkum shut up, unable to admit that he was the one who gave 6 the clothes and the water without also admitting he locked him out of the inn last night, 6 could start cleaning the door.
Sure, he could ignore the door entirely and wait until Karkum found it too annoying to continue trying to pick a fight over it with him, but then 6 wouldn't get any dinner for who knows how long.
Dinner was worth more than his pride and a sore back.
With the towel and the bucket of water, 6 got to work scrubbing the door.
As he worked, 6 heard heavy footstepa, far from stealthy, behind him, but he pretended not to notice the hulking Cypius approaching him.
"Good afternoon, 6. Though I do suppose it is closer to morning in your perspective." Cypius' voice came from behind 6 as he worked.
"Greetings, Lord. How many this humble servant assist you?" 6 said while looking over his shoulder, taking a break from cleaning.
Cypius quickly shoot his head with a grimace.
"That's quite enough of that, friend. I've not heard a single person in my life call me lord without heavy sarcasm, and I'll not let your dry jesting be the catalyst that causes it to catch on." Cypius said.
6 chuckled as he got back to work, finishing the final touched of the almost spotless door. He even took it a step further and cleaned the entire door, even the areas he didn't dirty.
It wasn't because he was trying to lessen Karkum's snarkiness toward him, but that once he began he found the process of the cleaning the door to be rather interesting, to the point where he just kept cleaning after he was finished with his own mess.
Had Cypius not awakened him from his cleaning fervor, he may have just started finding other random things nearby to clean once he finished the door.
"Did you need anything?" 6 asked, dropping his humor for the moment. "This is the first time you've visited me and not the other way around. Surely it can't be for nothing?"
With a faint smile, Cypius shook his head slightly.
"My apologies, but you're mistaken. I'm not here to visit you, in fact, I knew not that you were present until I arrived. I did wonder who was whistling." Cypius said. "I am only here to speak to Karkum."
"Oooh, sound juicy. That stung my ego a little, but I can find space in my large heart to forgive you if you share the gossip with me." 6 said.
"My apologies, but the words of the Lord are only to be heard by the intended recipient." Cypius said, mocking 6's sarcastic comment earlier.
"Touché." 6 said, now finished cleaning the door. "Then all I ask is that you compliment my cleaning skills to the fine owner of this establishment."
As he spoke, 6 opened the door for Cypius, stepping to the side to allow him to enter while he held it open with a bow.
Cypius merely ignored 6's antics, walking past him into the inn, heading directly toward Karkum's room in the back.
6 entered the inn behind him, heading toward his own room.
Inside of his room, he plopped down on his bed, excited to finally lay down on a proper bed after his uncomfortable sleep last night.
Finally alone, in a location he shouldn't be bothered in, he could finally do something that he had been putting off for the entire night.
Opening his very first loot box.