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For the first time in a long while Maxwell wandered the streets of Pol Stictid without a chaperone and he couldn't have felt more free. Well…he could, he still had to make sure to avoid his two babysitters but with his lookouts that wouldn’t be too hard. The hard part was getting through the crowded streets of Brutos’ territory without being recognized as the Shark’s “little pet”. Though he quickly realized that he had bland enough features that if he simply kept his head down he could weave through the crowded market streets with little to no effort. Nobody would touch him in his territory if they realized who he was, so he wasn’t worried about his safety, he simply didn’t want to be recognized. Despite Brutos’ attempts to keep him hidden it was hard to do so in his own territory, where the group conducted the day-to-day when not on the sea. It was when and if Max left the territory that things might become an issue, not that he intended to, not today at least. 

Today the young male had a pocket full of gems he had kept for himself, small ones that weren’t worth too much but when traded would get him just enough money to play with, as long as the shop owner didn’t try to stiff him. He was known to heavily undervalued things unless it was Brutos himself the man was dealing with. 

Weaving through the last bit of crowd before the shop doors he took a deep breath and walked in. It had been ages since he had done this alone and the first and only time had gone over horribly. This time would be different. He squared his shoulders and opened the door to hear the little jingle of the bell as he entered. The jingle was almost immediately followed by a sudden crash, a curse, and the sound of someone gathering something. Walking up the counter Maxwell’s eyes landed on a younger male than he was expecting, who quickly scrambled up, leaving the spilled box on the floor. He was gone before Max could say anything and eventually the older man he was expecting made his way to the counter, staring at the mess on the floor. He didn’t seem surprised but Max couldn’t tell if it was masked emotion or not. 

[color=silver]“Welcome young sir to Wizban’s Trader Emporium where the deals are good and the prices are…”[/color] He paused midway through his extravagant announcement when it seemed he fully registered just who was standing in front of him. His face seemed to drop a bit, though he looked at Max curiously. [color=silver]“No entourage today?”[/color] He questioned as he leaned up against the counter. 

Maxwell shook his head. [color=CC9466]“No, I need you to appraise these.”[/color] He laid the collection of small gems and rings on the counter. 

[color=silver]“You usually come in with a much bigger haul, or at least one of Brutos’ goons do.”[/color] Wizban remarked looking at the small pile. The older man had never been one to be nice because he feared someone. In fact Max was sure Wizban was the only person who didn’t have even a shred of fear of Brutos. 

[color=CC9466]“Was off island for a bit, could only gather a little.”[/color]  This was a lie, Max had a much larger stash he intended on selling later, but he wanted to wait till the end of the time Brutos would be out to sea. 

The older man looked down his nose at Max and the small pile, without picking anything up, simply said, [color=silver]“five thousand beri, all I can do.”[/color] 

Maxwell almost scoffed, [color=CC9466]“Five thousand beri is a joke and you know it. This alone,”[/color]  he picked up a small diamond ring on a gold band, [color=CC9466]“is worth that much at least, try again.”[/color]  This was already going better than last time, a much younger Maxwell would have taken that price and left with his tail between his legs. 

Wizban squinted at Max. [color=silver]“Grew some balls since the last time you came in here alone haven’t you? Fine, let me see.”[/color] He picked up each item in the pile one by one and scrutinized each item. [color=silver]“Then thousand beri, I have to turn a profit, kid.”[/color] He placed the last item back on the counter. 

[color=CC9466]“You can do better, a little birdy told me you had a side hustle smuggling marines in and out of the island.”[/color]  A bird had indeed given Maxwell this information though he honestly had no intention of turning Wizban in. Despite being a little seedy, he was a decent person, with a family who he cared deeply for. [color=CC9466]“I know how to stuff those rumors deep, deep down, just give me a fair price for my stuff.”[/color]  Nobody else knew what Max knew. Wizban was very good at what he did. He left no traces, no paper trail, he had simply been unlucky one early morning when one of Max’s birds had flown over. 

Wizban’s eye twitch, it was a small movement that Maxwell would have likely missed if he wasn’t used to reading the body language of small creatures all day. [color=silver]“Twenty-five thousand.”[/color] The old man hissed. [color=silver]“Bold kid, to blackmail someone like that. That damned Shark must be rubbing off on you.”[/color] He slid the beri across the counter. 

Maxwell nodded, taking the money and shoving the pile toward Wizban. He took the money and left swiftly. The whole exchange left a sour taste in his mouth. He knew he would have to do it but he hated stooping to the levels of this Island. It made him feel dirty, especially when it was a man who was just trying to do the right thing, in his own strange, twisted way. Rumors floated around that Wizban was an ex-marine, turned shady business owner when he defected from his unit. Though if asked he always had a different story as to what he did before he came to the island. The age he arrived always changed too, nothing about that man was consistent. 

At least now he had some money to go do things with, not that it would last long and not that he had any clue what to do. The last time he had this much freedom he was a small child. He would figure it out as he went.