[i]Good,[/i] Barrel thought. [i]She didn't notice.[/i]

He mentally kicked himself for nearly ruining Shock's trick. Scorpion care wouldn't be [i]nearly[/i] enough to curb her wrath if Jack found out what she was up to. Barrel was so relieved, he didn't even notice Agatha bumped up the price a bit.

"Right," he said distractedly, his mind more on Shock's narrowly-avoided wrath than the alligator eyes. Barrel reached into the basket and set down a few jars of lake moss as an equivalent trade. "Gotta keep her happy. I'm [i]already[/i] doing scorpion care for messing up one of her tricks. I don't even [i]want[/i] to know what she'd do if I screw up another one."

Barrel flexed his hand once he set the jars down. The stings had dulled down, but still hurt. The scorpions went out of their way to pinch and sting - something Shock encouraged not only for her own amusement, but to make any would-be thieves think twice before she got their hands on them. It was a big reason why he and Lock disliked handling them unless absolutely necesssary.

"But thanks. Getting another jar will probably help!"