Yi walks a bit stiffly through the double doors to Robinson's-May, alongside her fellow nomoon. They first come upon the men's clothing section, rich scents of leather and poloshirts wafting in the delicate if a bit nippy air conditioning system. Even though it's only a Wednesday afternoon, there are still a few people bustling about, cashiers chatting with each other idly, a mother and her baby picking out a tie from a colorful assorted rack. The escalators whirr quietly in their never ending rotation, carrying people and their bags up and down the various floors.

"So you wanted a big bed?" Yi queries, glancing about. A hand comes up to run through her hair thoughtfully.

"Biggish," Bernie replies, thoughtfully, "Queen, I think. They're on th' third floor, right?" She heads toward the escalator, brushing her curls back behind her shoulders.

Yi shrugs slowly and follows along. "I've not really been in here. It's your country after all." Smiling, she boards the escalator and the two of them are whisked (ok, maybe just whirred) up to the third floor. Beds, bathroom, and oddly, carpets.

Bernie eyes the carpets thoughtfully as the pair walk past them, even reaches out to pet a couple of them. "...I oughta hunt rugs or carpets or somethin' down..." she remarks, as they leave that area and are confronted with several rows of beds, each with a different set of mattresses and bedframes one might want to buy. There is one person working the section, a young man in his early twenties and the suit that marks him as one of the higher ranks of salespeople.

Yi peruses over some of the catalogs that are set out with the rugs before heading over to the beds section. She sits down at the foot of one, glancing over the sheets and blankets set over them to add the quaint touch. The young man doesn't look over at them yet, probably thinking they're just there to mess around really. Yi glances back to Bernie. "What kind of bed? Soft? Hard? Lumpy?" She blinks. "Sounds like that Dr. Seuss book.. about hats."

Bernie considers. "Bouncy!" she exclaims, then blushes as she realises how that could sound. "I mean, so you could jump on it. An' prolly t' th' harder side, but not, like, floor-hard..." She leans over and pushes at the nearest mattress, adding, "...not that I really know what th' choices are. But not lumpy. Def'nitely."

Yi presses against one of the other beds, colorfully flowered with tiny blue flowers. She lays down on it, and looks over towards Bernie. "Firm, right?" Her eyes catch over at movement as the salesman meanders over, putting on a smile that seems a little too wide to be genuine. "Hello ladies," he greets in a professional manner. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Bernie nods to Yi. "...right," she replies, and then looks to the salesman -- 'Roy', his tag says -- flashing him a bright smile. "Hi, and yes, please," she replies, switching suddenly into the more formal style of speech she usually uses on, say, Steven, though it's quite friendly, "...we're looking for a bed. Or at least, a mattress and box-spring."

"Mmhm," the salesman nods curtly, motioning over towards the wider selection of the area, plotted with care to display the beds in an appealing manner, set alongside other pieces of furniture like loveseats and couches. "What sort of mattress would you prefer?" Yi answers the man while testing another bed with a short poking of hands. "Firm, but not too hard. Good support for the back." She looks over at Bernie. "A big bed.. uhm.. queen size?" The salesman nods, heading over to one of the wider beds and rounds to the side in a showman's manner. "This one is a favorite. Royal-Pedic mattresses have good support, cotton top, quilted. Have a look around here, and let me know if you like anything."

Bernie nods, and eyes the indicated bed a moment. Well, only one reasonable way to check it out, she guesses... she sits on the edge, and turns to lie down on it a bit, looking up ceilingward and giving a slight bounce. She seems to be giving it intense consideration.

Yi meanwhile, checks price tags. Her eyebrows arch a bit, as she tries to convert some things in her head to determine actual value while the salesman smoothes out some of the sheets nearby while he waits. She whispers quietly to Bernie. "Is it worth this much?" She points out a tag, nearly 1300 in price, but for seemingly for the whole bed, without the sheets. The Canto-Gnawer inclines her head queringly.

Bernie glances at the tag, and tries not to wince visibly. She shakes her head. "...let's look at that one, over there..." She gestures to another, and checks it out. It turns out to be much more reasonable, $599 for the mattress set and rudimentary metal frame. She gives it an experimental bounce.

Yi sidles over with her shopping companion, testing the bed out too. It seems decent enough, with nothing at the current moment that Yi can find wrong with it other than a lack of sheets, and weaker bed frame. Maybe it's the springs inside. "How's it?" She glances at the brand, then looks around for the salesman who is a short distance away at the phone.

"Seems good t'me," Bernie replies, and waves a hand to Roy, who sets the phone down after a few seconds and walks over. "Could you tell us about this one?" she asks. "Ah... this one has a padded top, standard spring arrangement," he replies, leaning over slightly to glance at the tagging, "...and I believe that one's actually on sale this week, three ninety-nine for the set. The new model will be arriving on Friday."

Yi arches an eyebrow, ever the skeptic. "That's... 30 percent off or so? What is the whole set?" She looks from bed to Roy, judging. The salesman is perhaps concentrating on Bernie's reaction to the bed, but turns to Yi and replies, "Well the set comes with the mattress, basic wireframe and boxspring. Since the new posturepedic models are arriving, these have a discount." He smiles amiably towards the two women.

Bernie gives the mattress another test bounce, just for fun. Roy is actually distracted into watching that for a fraction of a second. "Seems all right to me," the girl decides, glancing over to Yi, "...think it'd do, or should we look at other ones still?" A thought strikes her, as she glances up to the salesguy, "Do you deliver the beds? Does that cost more?"

Roy blinks for a little bit, then clears his throat. "Ah, yes we do, for a small shipping cost. About fifty dollars or so I believe." Yi adds up the prices, trying to figure out taxes in this form. "I think this one will do," she replies to Bernie after some thought.

Bernie grins. "Cool," she replies, almost simultaneous with Roy's, "Excellent. If you'll join me at the desk, we can write it up...?" He gestures to a desk, off to the side, with two chairs sitting in front of it and another behind.

Yi turns her gaze over at the mattress to give it one more perusal before heading over to the desk with Bernie. Sitting gingerly, as if there might be some cacti upon the seat she didn't notice, she watches as Roy turns up a computer screen and gets out a form. "This will be the receipt, which you can show to the delivery man and he'll bring up the mattress and materials to the door." After a few moments of punching buttons, another sound of a printer going. "How were you planning on paying?" Yi leans over a bit, to have a look at the price. Then, she gets out a wallet and starts sorting some bills. "Matt will be surprised, do you think?" she queries as she counts out green and sets it in front of Roy.

Bernie perches lightly on the arm of the second chair, and nods, grinning. "Totally! This is really cool, Yi. Thanks. I'll hafta go find some sheets next." She bounces slightly, and then thinks to ask, "...so when is it likely t'be delivered?"

Yi furrows her brow at the boxes and such in front of her, trying to fill out the form. Roy replies, "In 24 hours, usually. The delivery man will give you a call before he arrives to make sure you're home to receive your new bed." There's some eyeing of the cash, but it's a sale nonetheless. Yi motions for Bernie to peer over. Such small print and not as literate Yi is giving her some trouble. "Think you should fill this out instead," she remarks up to the nomoon.

Unsure. I'm tempted to go with Shyness. But if all else fails. ~Talks-Funny~ has arrived. Talks-Funny says "Ha ha ha! That tickles!" Or worse. He'll be like that All your Base guy.

Bernie nods, taking it and the pen, but bites her bottom lip lightly, looking over to Roy, "We don't have a phone. Can we just arrange a time now?" In contrast to Yi's hesitant form work, Bernie's pen practically flies across the paper as the girl leans over on the desk. She suddenly remembers what shirt she's wearing, and blushes slightly, straightening up to a less revealing position as she fills out the rest of the form.

Yi blinks as Bernie fills out the form with record timing. After that is filled out, Roy takes it gently and sets it in the printer to punch out a receipt. The shirt, goes /almost/ unnoticed, but salespeople are accustomed to masks. He gazes up at Bernie. "I think that can be arranged." Yi glances between the two, then gets up from the chair. "When can they deliver it?" Roy purses his lips briefly, before picking up the phone next to the computer and punching in a number. "Hey Joe? Yes, it's Roy. Yeah, I've got a couple of customers who have just ordered a bed, they'd like it delivered. Hm? Oh you can? Well yeah it's a slow day today.... Ok sure. Alright I'll send them over." Roy sets down the phone, and smiles. "You're in luck. Joe's bored. If you take this down to him, he can deliver the mattress to you within the hour."

"Oh, =cool!=" Bernie exclaims, flashing a grin at Yi. She reaches out to take the receipt, asking, "...which floor, first?"

Roy smiles some more, giving the receipt to Bernie. "Go outside near the theatre exit, there's a garage there by the Hollytron where the vans and trucks are parked. Joe's probably outside as is. He'll be waiting for you. Thank you." He offers a hand for the shake of a successful business transaction.

Yi grins back at Bernie, keeping quiet while peeking a look down at the receipt before slipping her wallet back into her pocket.

Bernie shakes the offered hand, smiling back. "Thanks!" she replies, retrieving her hand again, and then looking the receipt over again as she stands up from her perch. A glance to Yi, "...an' thanks. So shall we?"

Yi nods with a smile. "Did you need sheets, or should we go get the bed before Joe decides he isn't bored anymore?" Roy nods to the ladies and moves on to attend to another couple that has been perusing over the carpets, leaving them alone now.

Bernie mentally catalogs the contents of the bedding pile, and nods. "There aren't any sheets yet. But, I mean, I'm sure he wouldn't wanna break ya or anythin', y'know? I think I c'n prolly get holda linens..." She bites her bottom lip lightly, but apparently in thought rather than worry.

Yi looks around with thought. "Didn't you say Max was painting the flat? Something about night sky and stars?" She glances over to her companion. "What about glow-in-the-dark sheets? I think I saw some at Wal-Mart, before. Just a thought, anyway. I don't know how Matt would react to that kind of bedding." Yi's eyes sparkle with some amusement.

Bernie laughs! "I like it. I dunno how he'd react t' it, but it might be fun t' see..." She pauses, "Th' night sky an' stars thing, that's me though, not Max. We dunno yet jus' what she's doin'..." She heads toward the escalator with the other nomoon. "Oh hey, so Matt 'n' I joined up with Trouble, by th' way."

Yi glances around at the various people bustling around. She then turns back to Bernie as they make their descent on the escalator. "Oh? Not going to go hang around the park?" She raises her brow thoughtfully. "Nevada was talking about which mascot Trouble would have. Said something about magpies or weasels." No one is really paying attention, but the newmoon rounds around the actual mention of packs even as they stroll out of the men's department. Further away, there's a garage just as Roy said. Outside it is a U-Haul looking vehicle, with a man outside in a dark blue jumpsuit smoking a cig, cap turned back as he watches the passerbys and general parking lot in idle boredom.

"Seems like a raccoon's th' front-runnin' idea right now," Bernie replies, slipping completely back into her usual speech patterns, "an' still gonna be hangin' 'round th' park. Def'nitely. Still a major focus, yeah? Jus' gonna also do a couple other things..." She adjusts her glasses, and gestures to the bored looking guy. "Think tha's Joe?"

Yi's eye roves around before settling on the blue figure. "Think that's him, yes. Raccoon mm? Certainly will be interesting." She glances up and waves as Joe turns his gaze towards the two girls. Seeing them approach, he draws his conclusions and smites the finished cig from his lips. "Yo!" he greets, offering an odd tip of his cap to the two. "You two ladies the one with the bed?" He's looks about late 20s, maybe even early 30s, wearing a quirky smile of a handyman. "Got the slip?"

Bernie brandishes the the slip. "Hey!" she greets the guy cheerfully, "Yup, an' yup. You must be Joe, yeah?" She offers him the bit of paper as they get close enough to do so.

Joe licks a tooth briefly before taking the receipt and looking it over. "Hey, you got one of those Sealies. S'good ya gott'em today, I pick up th' ship coupl' a days from now." He checks over the paper again, before handing it back to Bernie. "A'ight you two stay out here, I'll get the mattress and stuff. Don't go nowhere now." He smirks a bit before straightening up the cap and heading into the garage through a door. There's some minutes of waiting, before the door to one opens up and out comes a van marked with the mall's logo on it. Joe hops out of the driver seat, leaving the door open as he rounds to the back and opens the loading bay. Waving the two girls over he motions. "That look right to ya? Gotta make sure about orders an' stuff. An' if you wanna ride over I think you two'll fit in the cab fine. Heh, no diff'rnt than a towing service eh?"

Bernie hums softly while they wait, and pads over obediently to glance into the truck and make sure it does, in fact, appear to be the same mattress. The fabric matches, the size looks right... she nods. "Yeah, tha's it... whatcha think, Yi, ride?"

Yi trots over as well to give the mattress an inspection, as well as the frame, unassembled. "Looks right." She glances back to Bernie as Joe offers the ride. She blinks a few times, before conceding. "Better than dragging ourselves behind the truck," she smirks. That gives Joe quite an image, and he laughs heartily. "Right then, hop in th' cab and you'll have a bed to snooze on by dinnertime." He flips the cap around to a rightful position and heads back around to the driver's side to slip in. Yi goes about the other way, opening up the door to the passenger side and waiting for Bernie. "I kind of get the feeling it shouldn't be so easy. But I guess in Hong Kong we spend a lot more time arguing over prices."

Bernie nods slightly, "Could be... here things mostly are what they are an' if y'don' like it y'c'n look somewhere else, y'know?" She grabs on to the handy handles, and hauls herself up and into the cab in a surprisingly practised move, sliding in to make room for Yi on the bench seat.

Yi takes a little more time to get in the seat, but she sits in with no problems either and closes up the door. Joe glances out the driveway some and pulls out with practiced ease. "Live over on Elson... lesse." He mumbles something to himself before fading to silence. On their way, he takes up whistling a song, sounding remarkably like a song Bernie is familiar with. Ain't Misbehavin'... Travelling songs for the road, and some blocks off the I-90 exit later, the truck arrives to the front of the flat and is parked out in front of the building. "This it, yeah? Bein' a cabby in this town helps in knowin' places."

Bernie nods, "Yeah, this's it. Fifth floor... an' sorry t' say, elevator's onna fritz. But, 'f y'wanna hand we c'n help move it. Not, of course that they look particularly strong, but. "An' got a friend who's a cabbie, he knows where everything is, I swear."

Yi opens up the door, slipping out. Joe looks for a moment, incredulous. "Fifth floor? Ya gotta be kiddin' me, an' the vader's not workin'? Aw man." He chuckles, and opens up the driverside. "Hey if you wanna get the other end then, that'd be great. Don't think a mattress will be too heavy for a couple of strong women right?" He flashes that quirk of a smile before taking out the keys and slipping down off the cab seat with a hop and a whistle. Few seconds later the sound of the back opening up and some grunting as Joe jumps up into the van and pushes out one end of the mattress. Yi moves to assist, the Gnawer taking grip of the end sticking out from the truck. She notes to Bernie with a motion of her head towards the beams of unassembled metal, "Should get the frame."

Bernie drops lightly out of the cab, nodding to Yi, and picks up the frame bits. "I'll go first," she says, "Y'know, hold doors, undo locks, all 'at." Which she does, holding the front door, then passing them at a landing and heading up to unlock the apartment's door. Quite a bit ahead of the more unweildy mattress, she sets the frame on the floor in the bedroom, and makes sure there's a nice clean path. Not hard, as the place is really quite neat, partly due to the sparseness of the furnishing. She sighs softly as she regards the nest of bedding, almost reluctant to move it, but there's no room for the bed if she doesn't. So, in a smaller pile by the closet door it goes.

Yi and Joe huff and puff up the stairs, not stopping along the way until they reach the door of the apartment. Here they move slowly and get the mattress leaned up alongside the wall of the bedroom beside the bedding nest. Joe looks around and smiles. "S'nice place ya got. I gotta take off, got my shift done in a few. But, enjoy yer bed eh? Maybe come back an' buy a loveseat or somethin' an' get me offa my ass again." He grins and heads back towards the door. Yi waves, offering a nice "Thank you!" as the man opens up the door.

Bernie waves a hand to him, echoing, "Thanks!" as he heads out. She shuts the door behind him, locking up, and returns to the bedroom. "A'ight!" she exclaims, eying the mattress, the box spring (brought up in a second trip, of course), and the frame. "...oughta get it set up." The frame comes with instructions and an allen wrench, so she manages to get it put together and placed without too much trouble.

Yi helps out with the final sproing of boxspring and mattress onto the frame, and queensize is finished. Mostly dominating the bedroom, she gives the rest of a room a spatial appraisal. "Erg," Yi grunts, leaning up against a wall and thunking her head dully against it. "Remind me not to do heavy lifting after fighting with mucky sewerbanes."

Bernie winces. "You a'ight? How'd that go, anyhow? I di'n' know it was happ'nin' yet..." She regards the room, definitely dominated by the bed, with satisfaction.

Yi shifts a bit, quirking this way and that to straighten out kinks in her spine before finally finding a nice place to settle against. "Two steps forward, one step back. Got 5 lights in before we found a bane. Or something. I don't know what it was, but it looks like the stories about flushing goldfish into sewers that turn into monsters are true."

Bernie winces again. "Ew. Any albino alligators? Or zat only s'posta be in New York? So didja kill th' thing?"

Yi shakes her head. "John didn't kill it, he said. It escaped by dissolving back into the muck at our feet. "Maybe you heard the explosion. Was a bomb from Roger that John threw against the wall. Napalm." The nomoon smiles, a little pyromaniac smile. "The newspaper did say something about the city locking the manholes though. We'll have to be careful around the Park for a little while."

Bernie giggles, and nods. "Too bad. Not like locks c'n stop us, though, yeah?" She grins wider, and does a big dive onto the bed, bouncing. "Whee!" she exclaims, and giggles again. "Wanna try?"

Yi blinks as Bernie bounces on her newly acquired sleeping tool. Apparently bouncing on beds is a new idea to the Gnawer too. Or maybe she just doesn't do it as often. With a slow shrug, she twitches some and then charge-dives onto the bed. Indeed, it's bouncy, and boings and sproings accordingly to a new bed-like way. The Canto-gnawer lies there for a little, before mrfing into the mattress and rolling back onto her feet. She looks lighter in mood though, as she saluts her fellow raggie. "I have to go. Need to finish running some errands. But, the bed's here and waiting, na? Matt will be surprised." She grins. "A housewarming gift for him and you, and a thank you for all the steaks he leaves at the church."

Bernie laughs, and bounces once more before sliding off and standing again. "Thanks 'gain. He'll be so totally surprised!" She shakes her head, "I oughta go hunt th' wild bedsheet, too." She stretches a bit, grinning, and walks the other Gnawer to the door, picking up her backpack and a couple empty Wal-Mart bags on the way.

Yi chuckles, giving the other raggie a wide smile as they exit and descend the stairs. "Good hunting then. I'll see ya around." She pauses. "And remind me to remind you about telling me how your rite was." She grins. "Still have to find out about the Axe and the Match too."

Bernie nods, "Oh, yeah! I will. 'f y' get a good version outta onea 'em, let me know? Max was kina brief 'bouti t, an' Chia wouldn' say at all, when 'lish an' I asked..." A pause. "I oughta go say hi t' her an' Cam, too, while I'm out an' all. Anyway, have fun, seeya later!" she adds as they reach a parting of the ways.

Yi grins and nods. "I'll see ya." With that she trots off in the opposing direction, heading towards some errandish destination.