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Claudia was used to the general public looking at her. The reactions to her presence were mixed – in more fearful humans they skirted away, terrified of the rumours that she could inflict the plague upon them, some looked on in awe (her favourite reaction by far) whereas others seemed indifferent. The latter irked her... Did they not know they she was the epitome of beauty and chaos? At least those who were fearful showed her some form of respect. Ignoring her was quite simply rude and if her plague spreading capabilities had bloomed she would have struck them down on the spot. Unfortunately she was still firmly bound to Felicity due to her size and lack of formidable abilities and the most she could do was give them a sneer and a muttered spiteful word.

However, in this market there was one woman whose eye contact had been inquisitive followed by a smile. Claudia had noticed the black haired woman’s eyes being drawn to her and had, with a smug grin, preened herself; making sure that her admirer got the best impression. “Felicity?” She said, clipping the woman’s ear with a curt movement of her hand. “That woman over there, she’s look at me. Yes?” Cooly she reclined on the Grimm’s shoulder enjoying the idea that she had captured a total stranger’s attention.

“I- I’m n-not sure..” This reply earned the human another swipe at her earlobe and the flower tutted audibly. “Well, she is... Go closer. I am sure she would love to examine my features better. Look, she’s smiling even now.”

Obeying what the flower requested of her the woman shuffled a little closer to the other woman. She made sure not to catch her eye contact. Claudia liked playing these peculiar attention seeking games sometimes and had often said that if Felicity was the one who summoned her admirer over it spoilt the whole experience. Felicity seemed to be the ruin of everything for the flower. Thus to avoid ruining the precious caedos’ fun she examined a stall selling knitting needles... Made of metal! She had never seen such an approach as all of her own needles were wooden. Genuinely interested she bent over to examine the selection.

“Stand straight!” Hissed the flower. Instantly she cricked upwards like a puppet jolted on strings. Pleasing the little rose was so difficult.

“M-me?” Felicity turned round to face the other woman, feeling Claudia tense on her shoulder. It wasn’t her fault that the woman had chosen to speak to her rather than the little plague and she hoped that the little flower would not be too irked that her fun had been disrupted... Perhaps the woman would issue a compliment about how fortunate Felicity was to have such a pretty little plague? Yes... That would certainly bring a smile to the caedos’ face. Unfortunately the initial icebreaker used by the woman was far from that... If anything it was more of a sales pitch. The dark haired woman was manning a cart full of food produce and she might have just picked out Felicity from the crowd due to her skinny appearance rather than because of her miniature companion...

However... The Grimm was feeling hunger pangs. She’s had nought to eat since a meagre breakfast of oats and water this morning over the table with Jin-Ho... Perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad to give the woman some custom. Then, if they should get talking, she might fix her eyes upon the petalled plague on her shoulder and give the compliment that Claudia surely desired. “W-what d-do you have t-to offer?” She inquired, nudging away from the metal knitting needles and peering cautiously into the other woman’s cart.

Before she could get a good look Claudia was taking her bitter revenge for the cart seller not addressing her and lavishing her with compliments as she had expected. “Would you really trust food out of such a filthy place?” She hissed in the Grimm’s ear in a mock whisper. Quiet enough to give the impression that it wasn’t meant to be heard by the other human, but loud enough that in reality the woman would be able to hear every word with relative ease. Having done this the flower straightened giving the stall keeper a sickly sweet grin.

Felicity seemed a little taken aback by the suggestion of the plague but kept a polite impassive expression... Maybe months ago she would have run a mile from food served from such a source... But Jin-Ho had often eaten with her from stalls like this over the course of their trip. Thus far they hadn’t come away any worse... Never the less, she would definitely carefully inspect the woman’s wares before purchasing. Just to make sure.

Finding that the other had extended the offer of a free lunch, Felicity felt a surprised expression blossom across her face. Not often were the people of Panymium this generous... What with the strife of poverty and illness many were very much of the opinion that looking after number one was the top priority... Felicity had always wanted to be charitable – being a devout believer in right and wrong; sinning and virtuous behaviour, before converting to Obscuvos – she had always been disappointed her lack of funds and ability to generally leave the house to do good deeds had deprived her of fulfilling such desires. The best that she had done was take in the poor urchin Chauhn...

However, rather that dwelling on the unusual nature of this proposal Felicity nodded deeply resting and eating would do her good. This would also give Claudia a chance to stretch her legs. For several hours as they had wandered around the marketplaces and streets the flower had been on her shoulder and the human supposed that the little princess would like to be removed and allowed some freedom. However, when she moved her hand to take her and place her on the grass where the two humans intended to eat lunch together she felt the caedos’ small but pointed fingers rake across her palm.

“I’ll get down when I desire it!”

Forgiving the rose’s curt response with a perplexed and apologetic frown Felicity took the jar of preserve from Shati. “M-my name is Felicit-ty...” She hazarded a smile as she moved over to the grassy patch and sat down. “This h-here is Claudia.” Claudia tutted at this – it was evident that if they were going to be speaking, she did not want to be dragged into their conversation... Yet there seemed no obvious way for her to escape. Now that she had accepted the offer of food Felicity could not summon a quick excuse to get away and seemed in such a mood that she was more inclined to listen to her human company more than her plague.

“T-thank you f-for your kindness Shati... W-we aren’t-t from around these p-parts..”

With the hint of a shiver in her frame Felicity informed the kind woman of her homeland; “Sherygoed. It’s s-so c-cold up north.. D-down here it f-feels so warm and p-pleasant!” With a strained laugh on her lips she ran her hand across the thin and dirt grass, as though the touch of grass was a carpet of emeralds rather than a well trodden and slightly muddy patch of vegetation. “At home we n-never see g-grass... It’s all und-der snow.” When this was said she leant forwards slightly and took a chunk of the loaf for her own. It did seem quite fresh – much better than the stale rock hard loaves that she would chew on at home – and Felicity waited patiently for some of the home made preserve that Shati was spreading.

Meanwhile Claudia had decided that now was the time to descend from her perch and was unceremoniously clawing her way down Felicity’s sleeve to come to a juddering stop on the ground. Her twisted little feet coiled tighter as her soles touched the earth. It was dirty here... Thankfully the ground wasn’t churned into a thick muddy slush but it was certainly not bone dry and the risk of a smear of dirt contaminating her perfect visage was most definitely present. Sighing with distaste the plague trudged around the knees of her Grimm to come in front of her – between the two humans.

Due to her independence from human needs she had no requirement for food... However her attention was rapidly drawn to the loaf. It was on a protective layer of wrapping to prevent the bottom from getting muddy. Perfect for her to wipe her feet on and then sit on! Without regard for either of the humans surprisingly engaged in conversation she trotted the remaining distance, hastily cleared the particles of dirt off her feet and jumped onto the top of the bread. It was quite comfortable if she was honest... Crossing one leafy limb over the other she straightened her hat and joined in with the conversation. The human was irksome and she definitely didn’t like her... But she had nothing better to do... Perhaps the snippets of worthless information she provided about her background would be suitable for passing the time until Felicity was sensible enough to leave.

“Where are you from then?”

Felicity opened her mouth to respond but all of a sudden a high pitched voice originating from the loaf of bread had cut her off and was rallying off a reply to Shati. “Yes, quite miserable!” The caedos flicked a long black finger in annoyance as if it desired to inflict harm upon what unseen force had birthed her into such a climate. “The cold bites at your extremities like a merciless hungry hound. I have nearly died it is so cold up there!” She sneered, her fingers curling into claws with which she dug a little notch into the soft bread. “I didn’t get used to it... So Felicity travels to keep me healthy and happy. This region is quite pleasant... A little busy and so many places within this city smell foul. I suppose it’s due to so many unclean bodies crushed together in the heat.”

Before her little ward could dig an even deeper hole with this seemingly very kind woman Felicity took the temporary quietness between the rose’s breaths to inject with her own input. “Y-yes... It is terrib-bly cold. B-but you are right-t. Humans like us-s can adapt t-to it. But p-poor plague like Claudia c-cannot.” She sighed, taking the knife and serving herself a thin layer of the sweet jam, spreading it with obsessive neatness over the surface of her bread slice. “I d-do love m-my home... But I am g-growing to enjoy t-travelling.” She laughed a high pitched wavering laugh. “B-believe it or n-not... I could barely w-walk out the door a f-few months a g-go.”

Turning a blind eye on the interruption of her human carer Claudia considered the latter words of the woman. A tribe? In Uque? She had a fairly firm grasp of the name of the panymium regions even if she didn’t understand what they entailed but that did not ring a single bell. And a tribe? That sounded so... course. Primal. She sneered. Not only was this woman vexing in personality but her background was terrible too. She wasn’t just common, she was a heathen. An outsider from society.