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The next morning as Tam washes up, he hears a low moan from Kerobian's room. Going in, he finds the cat huddled in his bed, sulking and miserable. It doesn't take much to see what is wrong. Kero's attempts to alleviate the burning and itching has left his fur in a very bad state.

"Kero, when did you last bathe." he demands with a heavy sigh. "Ye know ye need to do so every night or barring that, every other night. Don't tell me. Ye've been avoiding the task, right? I bought ye that tub, remember? Yer supposed to be using it.

Tam nods. "Ye've got no one to blame but yerself, Kero. Iffin ye had bathed like ye should ye would have had a more comfortable night. I did remind ye last night that brushing only removed loose hair. When I left ye to clean up and close up. I thought ye'd take one then. Don't ferget behind yer ears."

He tosses his towel down on the stool by the tub and goes to fetch the cub a fresh one. "Hmm. We could use a few more of these as well. And rags for washing up after meals and such. Dang it, Kero, I can't keep ordering things piecemeal... Are ye sure ye can't think of anything? Are the curtains in yer room satisfactory? I noticed last night mine were a bit worn."

Tam growls at him and pretends to bat his ears. He looks over the list, makes a few additions of his own then nods. "Yea, that should do it. Well, I'm off. I put up a line outside to dry things on earlier this morning, so make sure ye use it, ok. Ye clean up here and I'll bring back something special for lunch. And Kero, iffin ye get bored, try working on those new scale runs I taught ye last week. Ye were still stumbling a bit the last time ye went over them."

Snatching up his cloak, Tam goes to open the door. Then he does a head smack. "Here, let me empty that tub. It's far too heavy for ye to carry and the flowers out back need watering." He manhandles it out the door and carefully drains it along the fence, making certain to reach all the plants there. Once done, he leans the tub up against the side of the house to dry.

"Be back by lunch, Taro, promise..." and off he goes.

As promised, Tam returns just before lunch with his arms piled high with packages. From one package comes the delicious smell of the Inn's famous meat pie. Tumbling all but two of the bundles onto his worktable, Tam carries the other two to the kitchen. He pulls down two plates and proceeds to cut up the pie to be shared between them. The second package he keeps wrapped, but a gleam in his eye says he wants Kerobian to notice it.

"Oh that... aw, it's nothing really. I stopped at the chocolatier's on the way back from the inn and he had these delightful little tidbits. Trivial things really. I brought a few home for dessert. But ye probably won't be interested." replies Tam offhandedly tossing the cat the package.

Tam smiles, "Oh, but I have already. He trying out something new. Dipping nuts into this brown sauce. Kind of tasty. But like ye said, it will only probably rot yer teeth. Here, I'll take that back. Tell him yer not interested..."

Tam retrieves the package and points to the pie... "lunch first then ye can eat yerself sick." He is smiling when he says, but his eyes say he is also very serious.

The red haired bard laughs and hefts the small pouch in his hand, then sets it in the middle of the table. "It's there for when yer don, kiddo. No more teasing. Hope ye like it. The chocolatier says it is all the rage in the capital. Though why the man decided to set up shop out here, I can't begin to guess. All I can think is that he's quite elderly and this place is a tourist attraction druing the warmer months. He probably is semi-retired and doesn't really need the money."

He begins to nibble on his meat pie then asks. "So did ye work on those scale runs I asked ye to practice?"