"See you later," Oscar called to Asa as the girl came to inform him that his bath was ready.
The bath was nice and warm, almost nice enough to fall asleep in, and Oscar got startled when a woman poked her head in asking if he wanted some help. He turned down her offer, half embarrassed from having been caught dozing off, and scrubbed himself clean after that with his face burning.
After he dried himself off and changed back into his clothes, his hair was still too damp to put up in a braid, so he decided to not bother tying it up at all. It was late afternoon and a dry breeze was blowing outside, the sun now pleasantly warm instead of beating down mercilessly like it had a few hours prior. There were more people moving about at this time of the day, and Oscar took the time to greet the people that he crossed paths with on his way to the general store. Most of them seemed to be pleasant enough folk, returning his greetings readily, though some seemed reserved to see a new face in town. Perhaps they'd heard the rumors from the morning, but Oscar didn't dwell too much on it. The residents of Strawberry were mostly welcoming, it seemed, and he was content with that.
Pushing open the door to the general store, Oscar was greeted by the shopkeeper, a portly man in his fourties.
"You new in town?" he asked, as Oscar looked around, inspecting the shelves.
"I am." Oscar deliberated a little on how much information he wanted to reveal to the shopkeeper, deciding to play it safe for now. "Just arrived this morning."
"I heard. You and another feller, right?" The shopkeeper chuckled. "The butcher was talkin' about how he saw you and him ride in on a horse together this mornin'. Said y'all looked awful. Got into a scrap 'round these parts?"
"You can say that." Oscar decided to tell him the truth, or at least part of it. "My buddy and I, well- we got attacked by a cougar on our way here. Lost his horse and most of our supplies."
"Damn, sorry to hear that." The shopkeeper shook his head. "Well, have a look around, see if anythin' catches your eye. Take your time."