Nevin smiled pleasantly at the person who had just left the shop, then slumped down, his shoulders sagging. Ever since he had gone to the church - and since he and Philomel had dealt with Berak - he had been seeing a huge upsurge in business. There was a healthy mixture of regular church members, easily identified by the bright, smiling faces and the way they seemed to never buy anything - but were instead content to just be in the shop while he was there. Then there were the ‘Gallery’ members - still smiling, but with darker edges to it. They preferred to buy things from him, usually potions that had blood in them in some way.
Then there were the regular patrons, or the more well to do ones. People who were just trying to go about their business as they always had. Nevin had finally had to give in and push his hours more into the day time and less into the depths of night, as more and more people were demanding his services in the day time. It had caused some friction for him with his older clientele base until he had finally set aside three nights where he would stick with the older schedule.
And finally - he had had a steady stream of ladies of the night. Apparently, with the murderous alchemist dead, they felt safe visiting alchemists again, and many of them needed to be resupplied on the roots and herbs that they used to mitigate certain inevitable risks of their profession. Several of them had apparently remembered him as the man who came to the funeral for one of their own, and word had spread. He was mildly disconcerted with the fact that many of them would flirt with him - despite his rather verbal protests that he was a taken man. Eteri had even lashed out at one of them once, almost scarring the poor woman's face. The poor girl claims she does not remember attacking the courtesan, which was cause for concern.
After that, they had at the very least backed down when Eteri was present. Which had led to Nevin doing his best to always keep Eteri in the shop. He couldn’t tell if Eteri was helping him, tiring him out more, or a mix of the both. Her incessant need for her more devious needs and her inability to mix a potion, and his desire to keep from being the target of affection was a confusing mix that was - reassuring. It was normal.
He could almost forget the other concerns in his life, forget about what he was becoming, forget about the slender volume on the back of his store, forget about having to kill Berak for venturing into forbidden Alchemy. He could almost forget about his lover’s time limit, forget about the oncoming storm that he had promised to help Vitruvion and Stare with. The redhead could just lose himself in the mundane, pleasant work of his profession.
An older woman came in, and Nevin was dragged out of his thoughts as she started peering around the shop, trying to find something. He straightened his back, and placed a pleasant smile on his face. He was tired - but still work had to be done. Eteri was in the back at the moment - so he couldn't ask her to help the woman find what she was looking for. He cleared his throat, and the woman blinked and turned in his direction, peering at him from behind oversized glasses.
“What can I help you with, madam?”