Teddybear

"Yeah, and my stepmom will keep me there for thirteen."

He nodded.

"It's good enough for me. I live on the other end of the city, there isn't really time."

Kivvien looked up; went to him. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"We're down the road from a Starbucks technically, there works fine."

Kivvien moved quietly so as not to disturb the old man. There was no telling if he'd want to come with, and Kivvien didn't know if he could talk him ...

Love the post @Ayme ! The snobbery is on-point

"I've been told it's a bad idea." She shrugged.

"I wasn't reminded, but I did eat."

(Sounds good) Kivvien prepared to leave on the morning he was to collect the samples.

(skip?)(we can go for either 'the next day' kinda thing or skip forward even further to avoid repetition)

"Heh. That sounds about right."

"How much were you offered?"

"He said it's a magical artifact that people will be desperate to acquire within the next week. Not much more was said, aside from the idea that 'if a hand ...

"I'll keep that in mind."