Welcome to Gaia! ::

“No problem,” Bri shifted her grocery bags to the crook of her arm then knelt beside Illyria to pick her up. She kept both arms folded in front of her so that the Mauvian could use it as a perch to sit on, or her shoulder if she wanted to be up higher, rather than hold her close so that the only direction Illyria could see was behind them.

With her hands and arms full, the phone had to be put away, leaving them with nothing more than their memory of the rough location and description the website had given them.

As they drew closer to their destination, the throngs of people grew denser. Surprising since there wasn’t any holiday coming up to explain the rush. Schools had started up a couple of weeks ago so it might make sense to believe that this was a rush of people looking to take advantage of back-to-school sales to spruce up dorm room living spaces or stalk up on some supplies.

“I think this is the area we need to be.”

Breanna heeded Illyria’s coded direction and found a place where they could speak privately where someone wouldn’t be able to see or hear their interaction. “Yeah, one moment.”

Carefully she set the Mauvian down and fished her cell phone out of her back pocket. “If you think it’d be easier, I can go over to the corner store and you can join me in a couple of minutes.” It had been a while but she remembered that Liryn had a humanoid form, still had ears though but Illyria had mentioned that she would appear as a civilian.

“I can leave you with my phone so you can try to decipher the cryptic riddle before joining me if you’d prefer?”

“Feels like having something that is hidden in plain sight is harder to find than something that is hidden. If it’s hidden you start looking behind things, inside nooks and crannies, or under objects. Narrows down the possibility. But unless you’re acutely familiar with the area, how are you supposed to know if something in plain sight is out of place?” Could be an object like a vase, or some other container, but also ran the risk of being someone’s personal belongings.

When picking this one, Bri had thought that it would be in a more open place, not in a spot where they might look like potential thieves “I understand why ones like this might be frowned upon,” she mused more so to herself.

Leaning over, she lifted Illyria in her arms again and made their way over to the unassuming storefront that was closest to the coordinates on the map.”I wonder if it is in plain sight, how small or unobtrusive it is.”

On her part, Beanna was focusing on looking at things more eye-level or perhaps something they might need to reach for; like something hanging above them or on a high shelf. So when Illyria meowed, she took it as a cue to pause for a moment and set the mauvian down.

“Did you find something?” she asked while glancing at the objects around them since nothing really stood out to her among them.

For a moment, Breanna felt confused. A non-verbal question passed between them when her gaze flicked to the side and Bri spotted the sticker.

Honestly, at first, she didn’t think anything of it. Mostly because these days people put stickers on just about everything; from stop signs to laptops to windows and cars. If there was a flat surface to stick it on, someone would find a reason to put one there. The globe, however, was a peculiar choice that couldn’t have been a coincidence.

“Ah, I see…” Breanna spared a glance to the shop owner who just smiled in their direction; apparently, they knew what was there which is why they hadn’t approached them. “Wonder what’s inside.”

She reached for the container and unclipped the tin lid, “You have quite the eye, Illyria.” The container was tilted so she could see the prizes inside.

There were some nostalgic toys from the 80s and ’90s; a Ball and Jacks set, a bag of marbles with a large shooter that looked like small galaxies, a red egg-shaped container of silly putty, two slap bracelets, and a rainbow slinky. “See anything you like?”

“Wait here,” Briana got up for a moment and walked over to the cashier's line where she picked out a small pack of glitter gel pens from between the selection of batteries and the case of cold soda bottles. The item was bought and paid for within a few minutes of selection and when she returned to Illyria she showed it to her.

“How about we exchange it with this?” She offered the creme-colored mauvian some scritches to make it appear as more of a one-sided conversation with a precious stray feline than something more.

This part she remembered from the last time they found a geocache together.

Breanna signed her name, and Illyria’s, before putting the paper and gel pens in the tin a closed the lid while being mindful to make sure that the sticker was still visible, rather than making it harder to locate by hiding the only visible clue.

“That was actually a lot easier than I thought it’d be.” Granted it helped that she had a veteran geocacher with her which tiled the odds in their favor with finding it quickly. “Thank you for joining me on this adventure, Ms. Illyria. Shall we head home so I can get dinner ready before my sister gets back?” She extended a hand in offering to pick her up again and at least carry her out of the crowd.