Hunter steps into the cramped office with the clipboard held flat against his palm. The Organizer slips in beside him, and Mrs. Gable keeps Joy close to her side at the doorway. The room goes quiet except for the rasp of paper and the hum of the market outside.
The Clerk
You’re the vendor group.
The Clerk, a middle-aged woman with ink on her fingers, glances from the signatures to Hunter, then to the row of vendors gathered behind him in the hall.
The Organizer
We are. And this request is signed by the people actually working the lot.
The Clerk takes the clipboard at last. Her mouth tightens as she counts the names, then counts them again. The office feels smaller for it, not louder.
The Clerk
If this goes forward, the market office has to review the layout. Officially.
Elias
Good. Then review it in front of everyone.
From the hall, a few vendors murmur agreement. Hunter does not need to say anything, because the paper already speaks for him now, and the office staff can see it.
“The office isn't gonna review shit, its gonna keave us alone and ket us run the market the way its been run since i was in diapers”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -3)
Hunter McCready
The office is not going to review shit. It is going to leave us alone and let us run the market the way it has been run since I was in diapers.
Hunter keeps his voice low, but the words land hard in the little room. The Clerk stops counting signatures and looks up like she has just been caught mid-step.
The Clerk
That is not how this works.
Elias shifts in the doorway, and Mrs. Gable tightens her arm around Joy, flowers crinkling softly in the child’s hand. The line of vendors behind them goes still.
The Organizer
It can work this way, if the office wants peace.
The Clerk’s eyes flick from Hunter to the hall, to the faces watching her. Her pen lowers. The request stops being paper on a desk and becomes a public decision.
The Clerk
Fine. I will log it as a formal grievance and hold off on review until the office hears the vendors together.
Hunter’s hand eases off the clipboard, the motion small but final. The Clerk pulls it closer, and the paper edge catches on a smear of ink, leaving a dark streak across her thumb.
Quest Complete
Present the vendors’ request to the market office
Skill Upgrade: Socially Awkward Fair→Good