The unexpected surprise of pain nearly overwhelms me.

As my overly sensitive dark elf eyes shoot shocks into my brain, I realise that I've started to become familiar with the feeling of getting light-blinded. And I loathe it just as much now as I did the first time it happened.

I manage to blink my teary eyes open, squinting the world back into focus.

Sunlight streams through the large windows like a laser, the shine on the sparkling jewels in the shop rewarding me with fresh, needle in the eye stabs of stinging torment.

Did my shades fall off? My hand searches my face and find that they haven't gone anywhere. There is still something clutched in my other fist and I open it to reveal a polished gemstone.

Intelligence: Success!

It takes me a moment but I recognize it as the moonstone I had pried free from the ruined rusty dagger Cinnamon and I had found back in the Naga cave.

I drop it onto the counter in confusion and instantly the room darkens. Transforming from awful spotlight brightness and back to wonderful, sunglass shielded normality.

"Sir? Is everything alright?" The jeweler asks.

"Yeah, sorry. Just some light caught me in the eye is all."

He gives me a strange look. Whatever bargaining tactic I was trying to employ this was definitely not one he had been expecting.

"Brian? What happened?" Cinnamon appears seemingly from nowhere. Suddenly standing next to me and not at the back of the shop where she had been admiring bangles and bracelets in a display cabinet.

"I'm fine." I chuckle in an attempt to try and sooth the worry from her eyes, while my skin flushes warm at her concern. My need to play it cool forces me to turn my attention on the stone on the counter. Focusing as I had done with the tool kits.

Enchanted Moonstone: Magical Component: While held this enchanted stone negates penalties imposed from non-magical darkness.

What the heck? How had I not noticed that before? Thinking back,when we had gathered up all the treasure we had simply separated out the monetary value items and coinage from the gear. I hadn't even thought to check with my…What should I call it? My Analyse ability? Yeah, that works.

Hidden Special Ability: Identify - Renamed: Analyse.

A good rule of thumb in gaming when it came to picking out the magic items from the mundane were they were usually visually distinctive. It was certainly that way with Cinnamons magical arrows and my sword.

Second, they were typically hard to destroy. The moonstone does look nice. Unscratched or blemished for a stone of its size, but nothing really stands out about it. And the dagger I had pried it from had been a rust pitted wreck.

So, perhaps those rules didn't apply here? I'd definitely have to keep it in mind for the future. For now, figuring out this new magic item took priority. Was it simply cancelling the 'darkness' of my shades?

I test my theory, picking up the stone then dropping it back on the counter. I'm prepared for it this time and manage to squint away the worst of it but sure enough each time it is the same result. One moment my vision is normal and then bam! It's high noon in sunlight city. How had I not noticed before? Thinking back I suppose the only time I had really handled the stone was back in the Naga cave. And there hadn't really been enough light inside to cause much of a notable difference.

"Hey, Cinni buns? Could you do me a favor?" I point to the moonstone on the counter. "This stone here? Could you just pick it up and tell me if it gets brighter for you? But, please be careful. It might get really bright, alright?"

"Umm. Alright." Cinnamon gives me a confused look but delicately picks up the stone and studies it with a cute, almost closed eye squint of concentration. After a moment I realise she is waiting for it to start glowing or something.

"No, I didn't mean the actual stone." I grin. "The room. Did the room get brighter?"

"Ohh?" Cinnamon pauses and turns her head taking in the sunlight shop. "No, I… well, maybe a... little?" Her little bunny tail double twitches, and I can tell she is wondering if she's answered correctly. When I don't answer Cinnamon finally shakes her head. "No. I don't think so, Brian."

I run my fingers through my hair. Then come up with a idea. "Okay, put it back on the counter." I give her a smile and then pull my hooded cloak off my shoulders. "Now, this might seem weird but bear with me?"

She does as instructed and I toss the cloak over her head and tent it out.

"Can you see anything?" I ask.

"No silly. I have a cloak over my head."

I take her hand and guide it back to the moonstone, wrapping her fingers over it. "How about now?"

"Brian are you making fun of... Oh goodness!"

"You can see now?" I ask.

The cloaked lump that resembles a bed sheet ghost nods vigorously and she tents the garment a bit more. "Yes, I can! I mean I can see inside the cloak, not through it or anything, but... Uh huh! It's letting me see in the dark!"

Oh yeah, baby! Show me the money! I lean on the counter and grin at the shopkeep who has been watching the exchange with keen interest. "So? How much will you give me for a magical moonstone?"

"What?!" Cinni gives a muffled cry, cutting off the store owner before he can speak. Bedsheet ghost Cinnamon wobbles awkwardly between us pulling the cloak off her head. "You can't sell it, Brian!"

"I don't really have any use for it, Cinni-buns. I can already see in the dark." I grin.

"But…" Cinni pouts, her fingers tighten on the stone for a moment then she lets out a soft sigh and holds it toward to me slowly. "I suppose that it is yours." She mumbles.

Insight vs Cinnamon Butter: Success!

I'm milliseconds away from taking the stone back and slapping it on the counter. Eager to begin verbal sparing trade and bartering with the jeweler. The disappointment in Cinnamon's eyes makes me pause. Wait? She is a rabbit-person. Surely she must have pretty good nightvision. Right?

"Hey, Cinni? How good can you see at night?"

"Well... Lepuri have better vision at dawn and dusk than we do at night." She shakes her head from side to side. "Maybe about the same as a human, I guess? So not very good."

Jeez! I very nearly slap myself on the forehead at my dumbness. She probably has something like old school Low-light vision. What the hell was I thinking? Cinnamon being able to see clearly in the dark for watch, or to sneak about without needing a torch or light to guide the way would be beneficial for all of us.

Simply having another party member with darkvision would be great, but combined with those sensitive ears of hers? Surely all of her perception, scouting and stealth related abilities would increase exponentially too, right? My greedy knee-jerk desire to get something for myself almost had me selling a really useful item.

But man, I really wanted that kit.

"Yeah. You are right, I'm sorry Cinni." Internally I chastise myself for both my selfishness and the noob player move. "Of course you can have it."

She gets a wide eyed, happy look and her ears practically quiver with joy; which immediately brightens my dampened spirit.

"You will not be purchasing the kit then, Sir?"

"No. I'm afraid not." I shake my head and manage to keep from letting out a Charlie Brown 'Arrrgh!'

"How much is it?" Cinnamon blurts out.

"It's a hundred gold, Cinni." I drop the pretense of possibly having the cash. "Way to expensive for me to afford at the moment."

"But you want it. Correct?" Her eyes narrow and her ears swivel ever so slightly as if she is listening to the room.

"Well, yeah, but…"

The dark look that had flashed across Cinnamons face disappears. She tugs open her own pouch and pulls out a collection of coins and a few gems.

"Will this be enough?" She asks, counting out forty two gold and indicates the gems.

The shopkeep studies the collection then shakes his head at the couple of rubies and a small pearl. "I'm afraid not, Miss. You will still be about twenty gold short."

Cinnamon looks distraught, her ears lowering.

Insight vs Cinnamon Butter: Success!

She glances down at the moonstone in her hand and I know she is about to give it up.

"I have a suggestion." I offer. Excitement bubbles up in my chest but I keep the grin off my face. That kit was mine! I could make up the difference in coin on the spot, but then we would be almost completely out of money. Beside that there was also another theory that I wanted to test out.

I pull out five gold so that I still have a few coins left to barter with and add it to the pile, then place a few Drayger teeth along with them.

Opening the box with my previous purchases I pause, then take out the necklace.

Buying it for Cinni had been a spur of the moment decision. I still wasn't a hundred percent sure giving it to her was the right thing to do.

We had only known each other for a few days and here I was buying her jewelry. Was that moving too fast? Would she get the wrong idea? I didn't want to seem like some kind of sugar daddy. Nor did I want to come across as the desperate loser guy trying way too hard to impress the hot girl with gifts either.

Although, she does want to 'buck' me...

Deliberately not looking at Cinnamon to see her reaction to the necklace I slide it, and the coins across the counter. "How about the toolkit, for the gold, the gems, some Drayger teeth, and if you can take Cinni's moonstone here and replace the gem in the necklace with it, you can keep the gem you remove too."

The shopkeep picks up a couple of the teeth and studies them. He doesn't seem particularly impressed.

"With some polishing up and carving they would make good settings for pendants." I offer.

Persuasion vs Jeweler: Success!

He purses his lips in thought, then gives a small nod and places the teeth back down with the rest. My heart beats a bit faster as he ponders for a few moments, his eyes darting between the items; doing mental calculations as he looks over the pile.

Finally he nods.

Trading vs Jeweler: Success!

"You have a deal." He smiles. "Would you like to wait while I change the stones? It shouldn't take long."

"Definitely." I nod my head and the shopkeep calls over a second clerk to collect and wrap up my purchase. He then collects the necklace, moonstone and the unpurchased jewelers kits and disappears through the doorway to the back.

I grin and take Cinnamons hand in mine planting a kiss on her knuckles. "Have I told you how amazing you are today?"

The insides of her ears flush a little. She giggles and nods her head. "Yeah, you did. This morning."

"Well, I'll just have to say it again then. Thank you so much, Cinni. I really wanted that kit."

"I could tell. Beside, it's the least I could do for..." She pauses and her tail double twitches. "Hey, Brian? Did you… the necklace? Did you buy that for me?"

Damn. A flush of embarrassment tightens my guts. It may have been a mistake after all. Do I deny it? I try and study Cinnamon to gauge what she might be thinking...

Insight vs Cinnamon Butter: Fail!

...but I can't tell which way the timid look she has is leaning, freaked out or pleased?

C'mon, Brian! Man up, dude!

"Yeah." I shrug. "You said that you liked it so I thought I'd get it for you. Figured that way you would at least have something nice to wear tonight. It was going to be a surprise." I run my fingers through my hair then give a smile. "Surprise?"

"That is so thoughtful of you, Brian." Cinnamon gives me her coo smile then wraps her arms around me in a hug.

It's hard to stay cool when a playboy 'bunny' playmate is squishing against you in all the right ways, and in light of the challenge, I think I do a damn fine job of not turning into a nosebleed spraying anime geek.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Cinni-buns." I smirk.

Done with any further purchases we absently browse the wares as we wait for the jeweler to return. I'd like to get into some deeper conversation but it doesn't seem like the right time or place and so we chat idly. Pointing out items to each other that catch our eye. Cinni occasionally giving me happy hip bumps as we walk about. The both of us simply enjoying each others company for a few minutes.

Faster than either of us realise the jeweler returns from his back room workshop with the finished necklace on a square of black satin cloth. He presents it to us and I take a moment to Analyse it.

Necklace of Night Eyes: Magical Gear: While wearing this necklace penalties imposed from non-magical darkness are negated, allowing the wearer to see in the dark as if it were normal daylight.

Yes! It worked! I had a feeling that it would but having it confirmed gets me super pumped. The stone on its own had to be held to grant darkvision, however when I used my Analysis on it I'd noticed that it could function as a magical component too. Pretty crazy cool that just inserting it into some new form of holder created a totally new item.

I take the cloth and necklace from the jeweler and step behind Cinnamon. She gives me a demure smile then turns and delicately moves her long chestnut hair out of the way for me to loop the necklace about her slender neck.

Time seems to slow. I don't know if it's the enchantment of the stone, the way the light catches her hair, or the subtle tilt of her shoulder and the feel of her silky skin under my finger tips. Whatever it may be the both of us are held in a magical moment as I fasten the clasp.

"It looks wonderful on you, Miss." The jeweler compliments.

Sliding my hands over the top of her shoulders I step back and I nod in agreement.

"Thank you." Cinnamon gives us both her coo smile. "And thank you again, Brian." She leans over and gives me a cute, friendly peck on the cheek.

The fear that I overdid it with the gift surface again. That I may have, in one fell swoop, ruined my chances with my bunny babe and gotten myself unceremoniously shoved into the universally dreaded, friend zone.

Insight vs Cinnamon Butter: Success!

My libido back hands those pessimistic thoughts away when she pulls back. Vegetarian she may be, but judging by the hungry look in her eye, she was also a maneater.

"I'm glad you like it, Cinni-buns." I say. Forcing the now stoked fires in my loins down to a dull roar I tap on the case of the Magitech tools then lift it from the counter. "And the same goes for you helping me get these."

"It was my pleasure, Brian." She coos.

As I open my backpack to stow my belongings I chuckle at the way we have stepped into stereotype.

For someone like myself who has never been particularly handy, it's strange that here in role play fantasy land, I'm a man who is overjoyed with getting a big ol' box full of tools; while my hot... 'girlfriend?' is elated over receiving some expensive new jewelry.

While Cinnamon collects her bags that she'd left in a corner of the store I pause for a moment to remove my shades. Prepared for it the glare isn't as bad, though I still almost unconsciously, turn my back to the window to avoid the direct sunlight.

Using the soft black satin like cloth the necklace had been presented to us on I clean my sunglasses; which have become rather smudged with all the handling they have received lately.

"Sir? If you don't mind me asking." The jeweler spreads his arms on the counter as I pack the cloth into the small wooden box that contains the jewelry I'd purchased. The idea of converting the box into a protective case for my shades another thing on my to do list.

"The eyewear that you have." He continues, "Where did you purchase them? Are they something from back… home?"

The question rocks me back on my heel and I fixate on the man with what must be a intense 'what you talkin' bout Willis' expression.

Presence Attack vs Jeweler: Success!

"I didn't mean to pry." He stammers. "I'm just not very familiar with Drow design."

Realising what he meant; that he wasn't referring to the really, real world, and the fact that I was even more of a stranger in a strange land than my fantasy race dictated, causes me to soften my piercing glare.

"Actually, I made these myself." I slip my shades back on.

"Yourself, you say?" He seems to think for a moment, his smile becoming even more friendly. "You know, if you will be working in the city for a while and find yourself with a bit of free time, try and swing by. I'd love to discuss more about your work."

In the corner of my eye I see Cinnamon practically skip toward the door and I move over and hold it open for her.

"Sure. I'll do that."