It was late afternoon when she saw him.
A boy—maybe seventeen—hovering near the edge of the alley, clutching a crooked wooden plank in one hand and a confused expression in the other.
Selene squinted from where she sat inside the shed, a half-finished shelf on her lap and Clarence the rat curled beside her.
He took two steps closer, then froze.
She didn't say anything.
Because honestly, this was the most social attention she'd gotten all day, and she didn't want to spook it.
"Um…" he said finally, raising the warped plank like it was evidence. "Is it true? You… fix things?"
Selene blinked. "I… arrange things. Redesign spaces. And sometimes fix things. Poorly."
"Oh." He looked disappointed, then hopeful. "Well, I broke my ma's shelf. It kind of… split. And fell. On the flour jar. Which also split."
Selene stood and walked to the door.
"Bring it in," she said. "Let's see the damage."
The shelf was an ugly thing.
Not because of the break, but because it had clearly been built by someone who thought right angles were a government conspiracy.
"Did someone use this as a weapon in the past?" Selene asked, turning it over.
The boy—Kalen, she learned—shrugged. "Might've been grandpa's. He used to yell at squirrels with it."
Clarence squeaked from the corner. Selene nodded. "Solid choice."
With a few nails, a binding strip from her stash, and one of her spare wooden slats, she began repairing the damage.
But she didn't stop there.
She added a cross-brace underneath to stabilize it. Sanded the warped side with a stone. Rebalanced it using an old trick from her college design days: a folded coin wedged into the uneven leg.
All while Kalen watched, wide-eyed.
"You just... knew what to do," he said.
Selene wiped her brow. "I winged 40% of it, but thanks."
Before he left, she paused and pointed to the top panel.
"Don't store anything too heavy here," she said. "And tilt it a little backward against the wall—old furniture has commitment issues."
Kalen grinned.
He handed her a small bag of flour and one copper coin.
"Sorry," he said. "We don't have much. But Ma said if the shelf stays up for a week, we'll bring you her neighbor's rocking chair."
Selene held the flour like a medal of honor.
Ding! [First Barter Success – Client Satisfaction: Moderate+]
[Passive Increased: Word of Mouth +2% in Southern District]
That night, Selene sat outside again, watching the alley fade into evening as the shopkeepers closed their stalls.
It was nothing huge.
Just one broken shelf and a slightly impressed teenager.
But it was a start.
Progress Update: Guild Goal – 11%
She smiled faintly and whispered to Clarence, "Step one: survive. Step two: shelf."
Clarence licked flour off his paw.
The slow life was, somehow, working.