That most interesting of currencies, The Favour.
“It is not worth my Time, patience and anguish to even go near that piece of retro insanity you call a personal vehicle.”
Shayde thought she was upping the ante when she said, “I’ll owe ye a solid…”
He glared at her. “A solid what?”
“A solid favour. It’s a thing. Like ye need me tae do som'att ye don’t want tae do or I could only do but I don’t really like, ye ken. I’d do it ‘cause I owe ye a solid.”
“Favours are nebulous and cannot be quantified, therefore it is illegal to trade in them.”
She looked so crestfallen and disappointed. “Aaaawww… they did awa’ with friendly barter? That’s no’ fair…”
“…and who said we were friends?”
“Na, na, don’t be like tha’… Yer important tae me. Very important. Yer the only one who bothers tae try an’ learn what I’m talkin’ about half the time.”
He folded his arms and turned away. “As your interpreter, I have to. And it earns me a lot of bonuses.”
“Gi'wa’ wi’ ye,” she scoffed. “If that were true, I would'nae have those four little words you love tae hear…”
“Don’t say them. I’m not interested.”
“Powdered. Doughnut. Pancake. Surprise.”
Damnit. Rael sighed. He could already feel his personal energies draining pre-emptively. “What’s gone wrong with it now?”
“It’s the overbluff manifold,” she said. “It’s no’ gettin’ along wi’ the spline retriculator. I tried everything’.”
“Except not putting a modern Grav Drive in a recreation of an ancient technology your peoples used to visit your local satellite planet.”
“I think it’s cool,” she huffed. “Are ye doin’ it or not?”
“Praline Ganache on the pancakes?”
“Do I look like a savage? I’ll even put sprinkles in t’ batter.”
“All right,” he sighed. “Grudgingly. And my favour is that you change the name of your… 'motor’.”
Shayde whined. “Do I have to?”
“I’m not spending any more time than I have to in any vessel named The Vomit Comet.”
[Muse food remaining: 13. Submit a prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories!]