You pressed the metal against your tongue, and yelped as it stabbed downwards into your sensitive flesh.
"Shit!" you swore, too in pain to care that you were in public, "I thought you said this wasn't supposed to hurt! How long is it going to feel like this?"
The clerk rolled his eyes. He'd pierced his own tongue without magic — a little pain was nothing to get that dramatic about.
"It already doesn't hurt, sir," he said sarcastically, giving you a bemused look.
As soon as he said the words, though, you found that they were true. You let out a sigh of relief, smiling as the pain faded from your mouth.
"Wow, you were right!" you said brightly.
The clerk gave you an odd look.
"I...was?"
"Yeah! It feels better already. How long until it's fully healed?"
"Uhh...just a few minutes?" he hazarded.
You gave him an odd look, confused at his tone, but shrugged. He'd been right about the pain, so he must be right about this too. Still, he was staring at you kind of...oddly...
"Sorry, but, what are you staring at? Do I, uh, look okay?"
The man blinked, then, slowly, replied.
"Oh, yes, it's just that your shirt is inside out."
You looked down and laughed when you saw that he was right.
"Oh! I forgot, I was in such a hurry this morning...I think I even remember looking in the mirror and seeing it, but it must have slipped my mind."
"You...remember putting it on that way?"
"Yeah, I think so," you said, giving him an odd look, "Why? Is something wrong?"
The man opened his mouth to reply, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead he just shrugged. Giving him a confused smile, you turned and walked out onto the street.
—
(a/n: for anyone who hasn't figured it out for some reason — the piercing makes it so, whenever you ask a question, the response is made true. only the person who answered is aware, unless the magic of the item changes that in a future chapter)