Welcome to Gaia! ::

Saluting gratefully as the green left the pair, Okassis began walking forward more quickly. "Deal, then!" he grinned cheerfully, pushing ahead. He melded into the pace of the crowded Gather with the natural ease of one whose childhood was often spent in such places, navigating the rest of the way to the Weavercraft stalls.

It wasn't hard to find the cloth that Inaari must have spoken of - grudgingly, he had to admit, the Cotholder girl had an eye for quality. Even from where he stood, Okassis could tell that these wares were exceptional - certainly enough to justify the heavy price tag. "Hang back a bit, in case she recognizes you," he advised Inaari quickly, patting her shoulder, before moving in to engage the weaver.

He did his job, and he did it quickly. Rapid-fire negotiations passed between him and the woman manning the stall. It was probably rather fascinating, actually, to watch the trader's facial expressions fluctuate from grimace to grudging approval to hesitation to slow acceptance- "Eight marks?! Shards, that's just barely enough cloth to cover a herdbeast, why should I pay enough to buy one?!," "It is a good piece of cloth, and I do have a friend that would look awfully pretty in it... five marks, then," "Seven? I don't know, there's another stall down the way selling a darker color for five. I could offer five and a half, perhaps?," and finally, "Six... yes, well. Let me talk it over a moment. I think if we pool our marks, we can...."

Raising a hand to signal the harried merchant to wait, he turned to confer with Inaari again, eyes gleaming, face grinning. "Six marks even, and well worth the price."

Okassis seemed pleased that his younger friend was so grateful for his assistance. Some people regarded his sort scornfully, the parasites upon Pern that lived off the hard work of others; but ah, there were moments like these where a Trader could prove his worth, and he loved every second of it! "See you put it to good use," he told her chidingly, "cloth like that isn't meant for socks." If only he were kidding, there were a couple people he'd known that needed such warning....

"You need to help me pick out a few presents," Okassis told her, smiling. "I've got a couple friends that couldn't come - S'van's the easy one, but one of the girls that Impressed blue, Zara? I thought I'd get her something, but I've not the dimmest idea what she'd like." Granted, he didn't know the Weyrling so well - but if a gift might get him a chance to know her better, then he should take the opportunity! "What do you think? Something nice, but not too expensive... say, half a mark...."

Trailing off, he eyed his comrade. Surely, a girl like Inaari must have some idea of what he could pick up!

"Lotion?" Okassis had echoed. Well, it was... practical, at least. And there were all sorts of scented oils out there that he knew some people preferred for the lizards in their lives, a cut above the stuff that the Weyr provided. The more he thought it over, the better he liked the idea. Yeah! A great way to say, congratulations on your good fortune, you poor sod; here, you'll be needing this....

Chuckling to himself, the trader declared, "That'll be great!", and took about two steps before Inaari had him by the arm again, pointing wildly at something....

Pastel.

And....

Somewhat frilly.

And....

For S'van?

For a moment, Okassis didn't know what to say. How could he know? There were so few times that the universe clicked like that, it was hard to know how a mere mortal man like himself was supposed to react. With a straight and somber face, he nodded - gently disentangled his arm, inquired as to the price of the apron. Producing a few coins from Shards-knew-where, he paid up for the apron, which he folded with the solemn respect one might treat a flag with, and returned to Inaari.

"Yes," he answered at last, simply and joyously, and continued on.

Okassis nodded eagerly to her evaluation. The oil was a stroke of genius, really; he'd done good in asking Inaari for her input, and would have to keep her in mind the next time he went gift-shopping!

The trader, naturally, had had the foresight to bring along a satchel with him to the Gather. In fact, there were some things in it already - doses of his lice cure, just in case he found someone to make a sale to while he was here. Arranging them neatly in the bottom of the bag, he layered the apron over it, then the package of oil on top of that. Hankering down by the satchel, he blinked at his companion. "Is there anyone giving rides now?" Okassis asked, a bit surprised at how eager Inaari was. Of course, he couldn't say that he wasn't looking forward to it, also - how S'van's face would light up (a bright red), his mouth would fall open (in horror), he'd lose his words (too distraught to speak)....

Oh, shards, if only there was an easy ride! But it didn't seem too likely, so the best he could do was offer, "Maybe it'd be easier if I just carried your cloth for you, and we can give S'van his present after Gather."

"Less heavy for me than you!" Okassis put in his token protest, but was already closing up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. It was true that he'd have little trouble carrying it, - he was built more like a herdbeast than a flitt, - but that didn't mean he had to insist on useless points of honor.

And much like the creature he'd just mentally compared himself to, he began ambling after the freckled girl, all but pricking up his ears at the promise of food. "Well, I could hardly let you go unsupervised without making sure you can manage that heavy load," he quipped cheerfully. Never mind that, as S'van knew already, Okassis was a bottomless pit that never turned down a free meal!

Hah! Of course Nan would be at the food tent, Okassis thought with a grin. Best place to catch tired Gather-goers off their guard and pump them for information. Come to think of it, it wasn't so surprising that all the gossip in the Weyr ended up in the kitchen - it was a sort of congregation center. Funny that Okassis had never thought of things like that before, he'd always depended on the marketplace for rumor.

Steering over to join with the infamous gossip-monger (simply assuming that Inaari would be coming along), Okassis grinned. "Must be fardling good spidercakes, if a bit of dirt didn't ruin them," he mused. "Either that, or very lazy bakers. You aren't spending your whole day in here, are you, Nose?" The trader sounded chiding, but there was a bit of a gleam in his eye, that look he had when he was stalling. The trader knew something that was just going to make Nandeli's day, all he needed was the right timing to bring it up....

"Or they're just think nobody will notice a few grains of sand in their food," Nan replied, not believing in the bit about lazy bakers. This was food for a Gather! They should be proud of their work, despite having dropped it in the sand. There was a fine line between sand in your food and sand that a million people had stepped on in your food. On Ista you learned to tell the difference, or you just enjoyed the taste of millions of shoes in your spidercakes.

The girl stuck her tongue out at Okassis' quip, though her characteristic cheeky grin was back on her face moments later. "Not the whole day, my good Trader. Even the Nose needs some sustenance. Besides, everyone knows the most exciting news is heard by the food staff. Like, for example, there's a girl at this Gather who's apparently trying to see out her future husband. Apparently she's a picky one! I'd be careful if I were you. She might try and snatch you up!" Nandeli laughed at her own joke. "But surely you didn't come over to talk to me just because I was here?"