Garron's yard was empty when Riven returned. At this point, it had become his impromptu base of operations
The late light had already started to thin, turning the rusted metal and broken panels into dull shapes instead of sharp reflections. The puddles he had used earlier in the day had settled into stillness, their surfaces softly rippling against the evening winds.
Garron sat where he usually did, near the broken desk, one boot resting on a crate, cigarette burning low between his fingers.
"Don't you have home? Stop intruding on my 'me' time so much," he said without looking up.
"That's what you get paid for."
"Always with the logic, boring." He said dramatically.
Riven stepped into the yard, closing the gate behind him with a quiet scrape. "I'm just in the middle of a major turning point, no time to rest."
Garron glanced at him then, taking in the tone more than the words.
"Patience is expensive," he said. "Most people here can't afford it."
Riven didn't respond to that. He moved past him, setting a small cloth bundle down on the edge of the desk. Not the full amount Daris had handed him—just enough to make a point.
"This is the payment for the next month too," he said. "Don't go giving it to someone else."
Garron flicked ash to the side. "You already have it. No one else booked."
"Good."
A short pause settled between them. Garron watched him for a moment longer, then shifted slightly.
"You've had more visitors than usual today," he said.
Riven didn't stop moving, but he did slow.
"Anyone I should know about?"
"Depends," Garron said. "Do you want to know about people who're gunning for you?"
Riven ignored the question.
Garron shrugged lightly and continued, "A man came by asking if the yard was open for private sessions. Didn't look like he needed one. Asked a few questions. Left when I didn't answer the way he wanted."
"What kind of questions?"
"The usual kind that aren't actually usual," Garron said. "Who rents. How often. Whether anyone new's been using it regularly."
Riven let that settle without reacting outwardly.
"And?" he asked.
"And I told him I don't track my customers," Garron said. "Which is mostly true."
Riven nodded once.
"Did he come alone?"
"As far as I saw."
"Did he come a second time?"
"Not yet."
That was enough for now. Riven stepped away from the desk and into the open space of the yard, his eyes moving over the scattered metal panels and shallow water pools he had arranged earlier.
The setup still worked. He just had a different plan for using it.
Behind him, Garron spoke again.
"You're getting attention faster than most," he said. "It usually takes longer for late bloomers like you."
Riven crouched near one of the panels, adjusting its angle slightly so it caught more of the fading light.
"Attention isn't always a problem," he said.
"It is, unless you are in a korean boy band."
Riven laughed a little but didn't pay it much attention.
He stood, stepping back to check the alignment. The reflections shifted slightly, overlapping in a way that distorted depth just enough to make movement harder to read.
Good. He was trying out what conditions might work when it's dark and reflections became a bit difficult.
Garron watched him work for a bit, then added, "Market's been strange too."
Riven continued his experiments. "Strange how?" He asked absentmindedly even though he got the same information earlier that day. Multiple sources of information were never too bad.
"Stock's not moving the way it should," Garron said. "Some stalls are dry, others are holding inventory like they're waiting for something. Prices are drifting, but not evenly."
"That sounds intentional."
"It usually is," Garron replied. "My concern is whether you're inside it or outside it. You've kinda been my money machine recently."
Riven turned back to the field.
"Right now?" he said. "Outside."
"That's too bad," Garron said.
Silence settled again, but it wasn't empty.
Riven moved through the space once, slow and deliberate, testing footing, checking angles, letting his body recalibrate to the environment. It was as he expected, it was hard to navigate reflections when there wasn't much light around.
He stopped near the center.
If someone was controlling supply, they weren't doing it carelessly. It wasn't a one person job, they obviously had an organization of some kind working for them. And in any organization, there were gaps. Gaps could be used.
But only if he found them early enough. He needed information for that.
Behind him, Garron shifted again, more curious now than casual. He already guessed this wasn't news to Riven.
"You're not asking the usual questions," he said. "No interest in who's buying what, no complaints about prices. Makes me think you already have a direction."
Riven pretended to not hear him and changed the topic.
"Do you know anyone who deals off-market?" he asked instead.
Garron raised an eyebrow. "You've skipped quite a few steps there kid."
"It's a yes or no question." He sighed.
Garron considered him for a second, then gave a quiet, humorless chuckle.
"There are always people dealing off-market," he said. "Problem is finding the ones who won't sell you out the moment something better shows up."
"I'm not naive enough to look for loyalty." Riven said off-handedly.
"Then what are you looking for?"
"Access," Riven said.
'It never hurt to have more than one market agents either. Daris was too competent to be used as a pawn.' He thought.
That answer seemed to satisfy Garron.
Garron tapped ash off his cigarette. "I guess I can find someone." He left to sit back down on his usual seat.
Riven pushed the conversation to the back of his mind and concentrated at the task at hand. He stepped back again and closed his eyes, letting his sense move across the yard trying to find all the paths he could move through.
He always had a feeling that Prism shift had something more to it than straight forward movement. He could never grasp it fully as he always practiced during the day.
But in this light where he can't fully depend on his eyes to look for reflections to move through, he finally felt something click. And as he guessed, it wasn't a simple movement technique that he had absorbed.
He could suddenly perceive all the points he could move to without his eyes open. It was like the skill had a built-in perception skill altogether. He considered the implications of his discovery for a moment. He could almost map the space around him… not perfectly, but enough to move through it. He could feel the panels he left, the puddles of water he usually practices with and the metal pocket watch Garron wore hanging beside his waist.
He finally had a perception skill he always lacked and he found it in such a bizarre manner it almost made him burst out laughing like a madman in the middle of a junkyard.
All the pieces were falling into place. Leah would soon get the information he commissioned. He still didn't have to control all the pieces on the board, not yet anyway.
He had more than enough to start.
What he didn't have yet was a clear idea of what he had just stepped into.