<A> Mouse in the Market (Xun Jiang & Asedri)

[mistalina13]

Asedri sat perched on an empty market stall. She had not been able to find any of her friends today which was not entirely surprising; if they did not wish to be found they would not be, even by her. Having eluded Saljin it seemed a terrible waste to go back to Mystery's quarters so soon after having left. That left her the small problem of figuring out just what to do for a while- she had not thought beyond visiting her friends for the better part of the day. The Mouse nibbled on one of Delphine's cookies as she considered her options.

Soterios peeked out from beneath dirty blonde curls. *At least we haven't been recognized yet.*

Being clean did have its benefits, it seemed; most of the shopkeepers had not even recognized her. So, she was able to do as she pleased for the most part without being accused of being a thief.  

[A Wandering Esper]

It was time to head back home, or at least that was the plan. Asedri would see a somewhat familiar figure exit one of the buildings toward the back if she paid attention, through the Dragon King was hard to miss. He stood at least a head above anyone else, and was quite easy to tell apart from the other two night elves that were commonly seen around the market, thanks to scaly wings and his tail.

He, however, had not spotted the little mouse just yet. Instead, he stopped at a fruit stand, pondering what to bring back. The small berries looked quite tasty indeed...  

[mistalina13]

And indeed the little mouse had been paying attention. That extra tall person there looked quite familiar- even if the wings and tail had not been a dead giveaway the dragon wrestling match in the hall was not something she would forget anytime soon. He had not seen her yet, which was a good thing, but if he did would he tattle on her to Saljin? If he did then Saljin would probably tell Taj! That was bad because she had (sort of) promised to be a good mouse while he was gone.

So she did the only sensible thing a mouse could do in a situation like this- do her best to be invisible. With any luck Xun would not notice her.  

[A Wandering Esper]

The mouse would be both lucky and unlucky, as she would come to understand later on.

The barter for the berries went quickly enough and without an hitch - and now he had half a mind to go tease his lover with them. As he turned the corner, he finally noticed a head full of blonde-haired curls sitting on one of the stalls.

"Hello there, Asedri." He smiled, for all intents unaware that she was not supposed to be out here alone. "Would you like some strawberries ?" He asked, holding out the basket for her to pluck a few berries, if she wanted.  

[mistalina13]

Well...so much for that...

Asedri looked up at him and smiled, offering a small wave. All the while hoping she did not look too terribly guilty. Thankfully it seemed he did not suspect anything, for the moment at least. At the offer of strawberries she nodded, plucking a couple from the basket. <Thank you.> The mouse on her shoulder squeaked in greeting, whiskers twitching in lieu of a wave.

"Have you heard anything yet?" About those that had gone to Aejiss of course. The adults in Mystery's quarters had said nothing, but she was not sure if this was a 'no news is good news' situation or not.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Oh, she did look very guilty. It was that near-universal look children tended to have when they were caught being naughty and doing things they should not be doing, like being caught with one hand in the cookie jar... Or wandering the market with only a tiny mouse for company, perhaps.

Well. It just so happened that she had company now.

He moved to sit beside her - thankfully the stall was nice and sturdy - tail giving a few amused flicks before neatly tucking itself out of the way. The wings likewise folded against his form in order not to take up all the space.

Not that the little girl took a lot of space, but it was the principle of the thing. One bright red berry was plucked from the basket and held up for Soterios to take, if he wished.

Xun Jiang had seen that question coming. It was obvious that the young lady missed Taj very much. "Nothing so far... But that's a good thing. It is too early for them to have accomplished much of anything, so any message so soon would mean trouble."  

[mistalina13]

The mouse took the berry and nibbled on it. The thing was not much smaller than he was so it would probably take him a bit to finish it.

Asedri nodded. That certainly made sense. He was right on the money though, she did miss Tajnevaki very much. The grinning cat had been very good to this mouse; spoiling her with affection and attention. It was strange not to have his company, even after so short a time. The fact that he had gone off somewhere potentially quite dangerous had not helped matters. In the meantime she spent more time with Maddie because the boy missed Mystery as well.

"I hope they come back before too long." She that it would at least be another week or two before they did, though.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"I hope so too. And I hope everything will go well." He nodded, plucking one of the berry out of the basket for himself. "You can hang out with me in the meanwhile, if you like. I would not mind." He did not like the idea of her being lonely.

"We could go swimming, if you'd like. Or a picnic in the forest ? Or even..." His smile turned impish. "Have you ever thought about flying ?"  

[mistalina13]

"Sure."

Any of those things sounded like much more fun than just sitting around in the market. The last made her quirk an eyebrow though. She had gone flying before with Tajnevaki, granted that had only been indoors- flying with a dragon was bound to be quite different than that. "Flying?"  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Hm-m." He nodded. "I have wings, I might as well use them, no ?"

A tiny little girl and her mouse certainly would not be a problem to lift and carry, not really. There was the matter of the strawberries... But they could easily be gobbled up before any flying took place.  

[mistalina13]

<True.> Xun's logic was sound enough for a ten year old. Asedri finished the strawberries that she had taken when he offered them in the first place and wiped the last of the juice from her lips with the back of her hand. Soterios gobbled down the last of his treat and for a moment looked more like a hamster than a mouse with his cheeks puffed out.

She hopped down from the stall and straightened her skirt. <Where to?> The marketplace obviously was not the best spot for something like what they had planned.  

[A Wandering Esper]

No.... obviously not. The little girl really did not speak much, but he found that the more he interacted with her, the more easy it became to figure out patterns and to read her body language. The expectant look Asedri was giving him was clear enough to puzzle out, however.

The strawberries could be finished on the way, really, and he rose to his feet as well. "We have to get out of here first, through. The woods start not too far from here..."

He led the way, but was careful to keep an eye on her. The market was crowded, as usual, and a 10 years old could easily fall out of sight, if he was not careful.  

[mistalina13]

Asedri ducked around and dodged people with practiced ease. Xun was lucky that she was not intent on ditching him, she could have disappeared and been a good distance away before he even noticed she was gone. Going to the woods would be something somewhat new at least- she did not venture that way often. There had been no need to after all.

Once they were free of crowd she glanced up at him again. <How far are we going?>  

[A Wandering Esper]

Of course, she could have lost him easily, but Ti Lung had the feeling that would not happen. He had picked her curiosity, and perhaps Asedri had thought up exactly the same thing that she had.

She could not get in trouble for heading in the market alone if she was not alone, yes ?

"Just a bit further away." He answered upon seeing her inquisitive look. "Unless you would like to wander further, which is perfectly doable. The path is clear-cut here." Too much deeper and the path would vanish in the woods, but he had been there with Glyph often, and knew the way.  

[mistalina13]

The thought had occurred to her, just not right away. Hopefully Saljin would not be too upset she had gone alone, but at least she was not hanging around with a total stranger? Just a sort of stranger, to her at least- the adults trusted him enough after all, otherwise he would not have been included in their plans. If the shifter asked she could honestly say she had been out with the Dragon King.

She raised her hands and shook her head. <No, that's fine.>

Exploring the woods would be an adventure better left on a day, if not more, to itself probably.