"What are gloves enchanted for?"

"They're protective, mostly against toxins or caustic substances. They let me punch mals without worrying that this will result in some kind of horrible mal blood getting on my bare skin."

"How nice! They look fetching also."

"Thanks, my aunt made them for me."

Lily draws her athame and surveys the room carefully.

Now that's thinking like a self-buffer. Alexius, true to his malbait job, opens the cabinets and drawers for Yolanda to rummage through. 

...Zed sits down against a wall, exhausted and shaking just a little bit. Though they sit on their hands so it's not so obvious.

Alexei steps inside while the shelf checking is going on, spots Zed, and immediately moves to crouch in front of them, protective qnd close but ready to spring up at any moment. Angie can get whatever they're getting in here.

"Potion?" He asks them, quiet. 

They should be able to push through this. It's the first day, this should be nothing.

Absolutely not. Alexei reaches around to Zed's bag and rifles in it for a tiny vial, which he uncorks and holds in front of Zed's face.

"Drink." 

Zed drinks. And that blush is back in full force.

That's...concerning, but also probably not his business. Alexius pokes about for tools, instead, making a pleased noise when he finds a crowbar. 

A few mal vermin, including one cunningly disguised as a dollop of running wood glue, do attempt to bite Yolanda, but they don't get through the gloves. 

While that's going on, Angie follows along after Yolanda and stabs things that tries to bite her. And collects useful items from the shelves.

Lily follows behind Yolanda, sorting known-good items into neat piles of tools and materials.

Nia has some Hard Decisions to make about what to take, here. She can tie a few things to her backpack straps, though they will clonk annoyingly against her legs. She can put small objects in her remaining two jars, and wear the tape on her wrist. She can carry both binders in her arms, that's not much worse than hauling just one, and she can tape things in place if they're sticking out of her bag too precariously. But she can still only fit one clamp if she also wants the slip roller which she really does, so she weighs her various choices and picks a nice generic one that looks sufficiently adjustable.

Angie collects wire and a small bag of semi-precious gems and two jars of sand and a screwdriver to augment the one on her multi-tool, which she pats lovingly as she packs her things up. She also finds a beautiful little hammer, and a graver which she had half expected to be on the list of things the spell couldn't find, and she vibrates in place happily for a moment as she grips both to her chest before sliding them carefully into her bag, radiating glee. 

And then she packs everything away and goes to crouch next to Alexei and Zed, taking the latter's hand and squeezing gently. 

They lean their head against her shoulder and squeeze back. Not exhausted anymore thanks to the potion, but feeling much better with the company.

Yolanda takes as much wire as she can carry, and some semi-precious stones, and ooh wool, and--oh! She scoops up the little wire cutter tucked in behind the wire. 

There is really a lot of wire. Lily pockets four spools of gleaming copper, three of brass, and one shining silver. And a long piece of steel, about the size of a ruler but a good few centimeters thick, pockmarked with holes of varying diameters. She tucks a clamp and a ball-peen hammer into her belt on opposite sides.

Alexius finishes collecting his tools and pockets a handful of leftover trinkets. "Everyone okay, ready to head back?" he asks the room. 

"Think so! Sir Spell was so good to us," chirps Nia.

"I'm good. Seriously, though, thanks a ton."

They'd really like to stop blushing so much, thanks. Their face is going to be permanently red at this point.

Angie pats Zed's shoulder and stands, "We're ready to go back up," she confirms. "Everyone back in position?"

Lily takes up rearguard again. "Ready."