Mele was a little more flustered than she should have been during the Market Days. Really. It happened once a week, every week, since she had been selling her wares. She enlisted a few of her nephews along with their fathers to come and help her carry all of her pottery to the stand she proudly called her own and intended to repaint soon. It hadn't been too hard of a winter, but the paint was chipping off in a few small places and she liked her things to look fresh and new, year round. But for some reason, she seemed to startle a bit easier that morning and one of her idiotic brothers had even managed to sneak up on her. Boys.
Still. She laid her palms against her freshly pressed linen pants and set to arrange everything in the ways that she wanted. Her stand was a bit bigger than some of the others, but really, each of her pieces needed her space. The ceramicist did fairly well on Market days, but her commissions helped to make sure that she could waste a bit of her materials here and there on her more fanciful objects. Like the elephant that proudly stood on display near one of the front corners. She wiped down all of her various pieces carefully and made sure they couldn't be jostled and broken in the forseen crowds.
Gunnwale, on the other hand, had been at the market since daybreak and would remain there until sundown, at which point she planned on getting a hard drink, a soft bed, and a warm companion. Much of the fish she expected to sell that day was already gone and she'd decided it was time for a break. A bite to eat and a slow walk-around, greeting the other merchants, playing with children, and speaking with the villagers, as she was wont to do.
Soon enough she found herself looking at Mele's glasswork, a mug in one hand and a meatroll in the other. "Ho, there, Mele." Her low, quiet greeting was meant to briefly capture the Olplyn's attention, letting the younger jiviness know of her presence, when she had the time to chat. In the meantime, Gunn was content to examine Mele's handiwork, eyes sliding over the elephant slowly, as if touching it.
Creative. One had to wonder if Mele would find someone to trade for the fanciful object.
"Gunn." Finishing the sale at hand, she carefully wrapped the ceramic pots for one of the herbologists that the Village boasted and made sure that they were properly stacked in the wooden box before she handed it over and made plans to collect some small, sun-loving plants that she had been eyeing to wrap around her porch and greet customers as they entered her shop. Shaking the jivvin's hand, she smiled and waited for him to turn and make his way before she moved and gave her attention to the fisherman on her left. Her brown eyes flickered over the female's attire and flashed for a moment before she internally calmed herself and decided how to handle the situation.
"Your appearance makes me assume that you're doing just as well as you always do on Marketday, you've finished most of your business, and you've come to antagonize me for some form of social interaction outside of our usual business." A small smile made it's way on her face, with a bit of a turn in the corner: nearly smirking. Deciding to try her hand at... flirting with the older female, the brunette casually flipped her hair over her shoulder in such a way that her unnatural blue streaks seemed to catch a bit of the light that found it's way into her stall, sparkling and glittering on her pieces.
One of her younger nephews nearly crashed into the side of her stall before sliding into Gunn without a second's faltering guilt. "Sorry, lady. AUNTIE MEEEEELLL-" he screeched, "Momma says I can ask you about the ell-ie-font thingie that you have. The one with the silly tronk thing. Momma says that maybe if I asked you could let me have it pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease." The little youngster was hopping from one foot to the next and Mele practically bursting with laughter. "Oh, did she? Well, I'm sure that we could come up with some sort of deal. How much, exactly, would you think it's worth, squirt?"
The child clapped his hands together and squealed at the mention of a deal. "Oh Auntie, I dunno. A something BIG. How about... I promise to not punch my brother for a week."
Raising a brow, the jivviness crossed her arms. "How about you convince this nice Vhaid here to let me borrow that book of her's and help me load up all of my extra pottery into my wagon and then we can talk about where you want to keep your elephant. Hmm?"
Nodding like a broken playtoy, the child turned and immediately splayed himself on his stomach in front of Gunnwale. "PLEASE MISS LADY PERSON WHO AUNTIE MELIE SAID CAN YOU LET HER BORROW YOU BOOK PLEASE I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND DO WHATEVER YOU WANT CUZ' I REALLY LIKE THAT ELLIEFONT THING WITH THE SILLY TONKER!" His hand clasped together and were held up from the ground mere milimeters. He squirmed his way forward so that his nose was practically touching her boots and then laid on his final touch: bright blue eyes with the slight bit of moisture pooling in the corners.
Mele was clearly biting her cheek to stop from laughing in a completely inappropriate manner. Oh, children. They never failed to make her wonder what was next.
Gunn was a bit startled, pleased, by Mele's greeting, a warm smile in return pulling at her mouth as she began to speak, only to be cut off by a small jivvin. Calmly waiting while the two relatives ran through their conversation, the Vhaid took her time responding to the child, slowly crouching so that her bright eyes were locked onto his. She looked neither amused nor swayed, though her expression and tone were kind, soft as usual.
"When negotiating a trade, little one, you must be sure to use proper etiquette. First, you introduce yourself," She held out a hand to him, both in greeting and as an encouragement to stand and behave himself. "You may call me Gunnwale." Now she rose to her own full height, crossing her arms as she continued to regard him. "Next, you must mentally assess both the value of what I have and the value of what you potentially may offer. As what you require of me will be an important barting piece to you at a later date, it is important that you assure me of the high worth of whatever you offer to trade me."
A slight shake of the head. "As you are but young, you may not have much to trade, therefore, you must focus on what you, yourself, can provide. Such as your physical labor. Now," A slight eye narrowing and the somewhat imposing Vhaid gestured to the boy, granting permission. "Let us try that again, shall we? At a reasonable speaking volume."
The child opened his mouth, ready to bellow what he was capable of before the final instruction from the cool Vhaid he had just managed to get himself involved with. Respect clearly glittered in his eyes and he held out his hand and introduced himself. "Hi, Ms. Gunnwale. My name is Rhys and I was in-ter-est-ed in offering you a trade so that I could try to convince Auntie Melie to lemme have that super cool elliefont. I'm big and strong and could help you cut the fish heads or something. Or carry things. Or dig up worms." Nodding a few times in quick succession, he scuffed his foot in the dirt.
"And sorry for running into you. I'll make sure not to run into you ever again."
Mele raised her eyebrow over her nephew's head at Gunn and gave her a pleased smile. Happy that she could manipulate this situation to her best interest, her hand managed to find it's way into her deep pants pockets and childishly cross her fingers like she did when she was a small Ust like Rhys.
"Much better." That said, Gunn took her time responding, seeming to contemplate his deal, but really looking over Mele with calm, amused eyes. Both of them knew that the boat-loving jiviness would've given over the book no matter what, but it appeared to the Vhaid that Rhys had a lesson to learn and that Mele was letting the darker jivvin teach it. That was fine with Gunnwale. She liked children and she was patient and firm. He was a clever one, shaping up on his first try, and she nodded slowly.
"I accept your apology. It's quite nice too meet you, Rhys. I accept. You will help me at my stall tomorrow, as Miss Mele has your labor today, and I will provide her with the book in return." A bright grin. "We'll get started at sun-up, mmn?"
Rhys' eyes widened a bit at the last half of her instruction and glanced towards the general direction of his mother. "Sure, but I don't think Momma's gonna let me just go by myself and all..." Voice trailing off, it left Mele a nice little opening back into the conversation. "I will come and collect you at half til' sunrise and then we'll make our way to the stalls, where you and Gunn can go off on your adventures together. Then, perhaps I can convince your mother that I need help finishing off some pecan pie, if you behave yourself and do everything Ms. Gunnwale says you gotta do. Hear me?" Spoiling the jivvin a bit, she started wrapping the elephant in such a manner that none of the long, outstanding pieces of the body would break or become battered when the child ran off home to place it on some shelf of his.
Placing the glass statue into a sturdy wooden box, she clamped it shut and handed it to the child, who whooped and gave quick, one arm hugs around the waist to both Mele and Gunnwale.
"See you tomorrow, fisher-lady! Thanks, Aunt Mele!"
Shaking her head, she managed to call out to him before he disappeared in the crowd. "Don't forget to come back and help me box this stuff up, squirt." Nodding his head, he waved and have both females a bright smile. Turning towards Gunn, she relaxed a bit and ran a hand through her long, untangled hair. "Lovely doing business with you, as always, Gunn. A drink, when we've finished for the day to congratulate our manipulative ways of handling children and getting free labor?"
"Come now, Miss Mele." A grin in return and Gunn didn't even pretend to be affronted. "Learning any sort of trade is of value to a child. The labor's not even close to free." Her bright eyes moved away from the Olplyn to trail the disappearing boy. "Good kid, that one."
Taking a slow, deep drink from her mug, she nodded to Mele's offer. "I'll be having several, but your company's always welcome." Finishing the food in one of her hands, the Vhaid turned it palm up, revealing the bright blue skin there as she flexed and stretched the sore muscles and tendons, thinking about the rest of the day ahead of her. It was indeed hard work, what she did, but rewarding. She missed the water already.
Placing her hand in the upturned palm of Gunn's hand, she placed a gentle pressure on the physical connection. "That would be lovely," she finally decided on, and her eyes flicked up for a moment before she clearly brought them down and did her best, but failed to stop a blush from appearing on her tanned cheeks. "I have to finish up here and then try to wrangle some help out of that nephew of mine, but I could meet you somewhere when I've finished putting everything away and sent Rhys back to his mother?" Voice wavering a bit and her slight accent a bit stronger than normal, the Olplyn moved her gaze back up to eye level and decided to hold it there, stubbornly.
She didn't need to look like a silly, uncertain girl, and her features changed with the decision she made.
Gunn's brows knit together slightly at the physical contact, followed by that lingering look. She was more than intelligent and the Vhaid had spent many years interacting with jivvins of both sexes, romanticly and otherwise, so she was no stranger to interest. However, she was a bit surprised to receive such attention from Mele. It wasn't that the nautical jivviness was uninterested, but rather that she'd been unsuspecting.
She wasn't the type to pretend that something wasn't there when it was [or vice versa], however she had her doubts as to Mele's gumption. After all, Gunn had been delievering clay for the Olplyn for years. The bright-eyed jivviness smiled slightly, when Mele met her eyes again, her expression becoming determined. Interesting. As usual, Gunn would wait and see what happened. Either way, Mele would be an interesting drinking companion.
"I'll be at the Game House, per usual." Cole always provided her with a room when she was in on Market Days. Letting her gaze search Mele's face once more, she squeezed her hand briefly in response before stepping away and disappearing back into the crowds of the village.
