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 Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:13 pm
Chloe scrutinized a large turnip, plucking at a dangling offshoot and turning to the man behind his stand. He seemed too well-dressed to be a farmer. His hands were immaculate and not a smudge could be seen on his dark blue vest. It was possible that these were not farm-raised at all...
"Are these turnips of your own stock?" she asked curiously, displaying an authority she only held when she was monitoring the children, "You've grown then yourself? How long are they from the ground?" A young girl of about 8 stood at her side, carrying one of the baskets and looking curiously over the stand's various vegetables. She seemed hungry, but growing children always were.
"Not me myself, no, but my brother. He lives outside the city on a small farm. What he didn't grow is from my wife's own garden, so they're either one or two days fresh out of the dirt." The man spoke with his own friendly authority, and Chloe offered him a broad smile and nodded.
"So we'll take these four, and then the carrots and potatoes."
"Of course, Ma'am."
Chloe always preferred to buy from the privately-owned farm stands rather than the grocers who imported from various different places. She enjoyed supporting the little man, like her, like the orphanage. Coins crossed hands and Chloe turned to the girl beside her.
"You can cross that out, then. What's next?"
"Well, for food, some amount of beef or beef bone... other than that just things like yarn and thread..."
"Oh, good," Chloe nodded, and gave a soft smile with an affectionate touch to the girl's hand, "I'm glad you're here, Alice. It's extremely helpful."
The girl grinned and hopped on the balls of her feet. "I like doing the shopping!"
Alice was a girl who had only recently become orphaned after her mother's long sickness. She was staying at the home until her uncle could come to collect her, but it would be several days before he could arrive. Chloe had been trying to make the girl as comfortable as possible, to keep her mind off of her mother's death, and she was proud to say that the children had been treating her wonderfully as well. She had a fondness for the little blonde sprite.
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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:18 pm
Viktor felt a little lost in the market.
He'd, once or twice, been hired as a guard here, but they had all been short term jobs.
He felt like he stuck out among all the customers, even though he was wearing dull, peasant's robes. He was big, tall, and bulky.
It still struck him how short people were in the south.
He was terrible in the market. All he could do was intimidate and glare and glower.
Mother and Liam were the clever ones, the ones that talked and chatted and bartered. The friendly ones.
But Liam was elsewhere and... well... he couldn't bring Mother along on this trip.
It was for a birthday present for her. And if she bought it it would ruin the surprise.
He belatedly realized that, perhaps when looking for something pretty for a woman, he should have brought his young sister. Mirram was, after all, a woman.
He dismissed the thought. He couldn't risk Mirram's... abilities to be known. He was worried for her. Always so worried.
But that left him without any womanly advice, and he had no idea where to turn.
Ribbons? A dress? Maybe? He had no idea, and now that he was in the market with several month's saved pay in his purse, he had even less of an idea.
He was so distracted that he ran into a young woman.
"Sorry..." he mumbled, accidentally looming over her and the child she was with. He couldn't help it. He was a big guy, built for looming.
Wait.
Woman. She would know woman things.
The desperate warrior decided to take advantage of chance. He brightened in desperation.
"Ah, pardon me, ma'am... Would you mind helping me?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:39 pm
Chloe barely noticed when she was jostled. The square was always full of people with various schedules to uphold and contact was unavoidable, although whether the person cared or not was only about fifty-fifty. An arm went out to protect Alice without conscious thought, though, and Chloe turned to smile at the man who she assumed was apologizing.
"Oh, it's alri--" He had already moved on from apologizing and turned to asking... or was it begging? The poor hulking mass looked terribly distraught. There was a part of the orphan that told her to ask for money; surely she'd get it if he was so desperate! She quickly scolded it and pushed it back down, a protective arm still around her companion's shoulders. Alice seemed slightly unnerved. "What is it that you need help with, Sir?"
It was possible, after all, that he had mistaken her for a vendor.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:20 pm
"Well, ah..."
Viktor found it hard to ask for things. He felt very unwarriorly at this very moment, and more than a little embarrassed.
"I am buying a present for my mother, and I do not... uh... know what to get her..."
His accent made each word deep and resonant, and he had to say them carefully, otherwise southerners had a hard time understanding what he had to say.
Usually this wasn't a problem because most of his jobs required very little speaking. Growling, yes.
Oh this was so humiliating. Everybody could see him, the pathetic warrior unable to figure out what to buy his mother for a present.
He knew it.
"If you would not mind helping me find something for her?" he was begging now, "I would greatly appreciate it."
It was about then that he noticed the little girl.
Oh no. He'd really stepped in it. He'd scared a little girl.
"I'm very sorry to bother you."
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:37 pm
Chloe looked down to her young companion, and Alice simply smiled and shrugged. The child really did seem rather fond of shopping and any distraction was a welcome one. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes, though, and it was the same that Chloe had learned to hide after so many years. Neither of them had a mother any longer, and that was the sort of pain that never really went away. She smiled and rubbed Alice's back fondly, finally turning to nod to them an that had approached them.
"It's a bit of an odd request, but perhaps we can oblige," the young woman nodded, "I've lived in Palisade my entire life and know a fair share of the vendors here. What sort of budget are we working with?" She idly wondered just how foreign this man was.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:08 pm
Viktor hesitated.
"Well..."
He patted his wallet absentmindedly. He'd saved up for this, so if it wasn't too expensive it would be okay.
"I think I have enough to get her something nice but..." he looked at a high end stall selling fine goods, eying it like someone might eye a camel- a wonderous and puzzling beast from parts unknown. "... not that." It looked far beyond what he knew he could afford.
But what could he buy with how much he had? He had no idea.
"I don't want to get her something too... um... cheap, ya? She's my mother. She's been through a lot, and deserves something nice for her birthday.." he said, half as a reaffirmation of why he was doing this, and his manly pride at doing something for her.
Something he could be proud of despite being completely out of his element.
He left it up to her, this nice lady and a girl he presumed was her daughter, who could surely help him bring mother something nice.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 11:19 am
Chloe followed the man's gaze to a stall that she had admired in the past, but never had the option to buy from. The man sold the most beautiful silver and gold, most of it hand-made and some imported from other countries. His station was just beyond the line between the average people's stalls and those intended for the more wealthy. So this man could not afford the more flamboyant niceties... that could be worked with. Not everyone's prices were so high that he would have to settle for produce.
"Well, what does your mother like, Sir?" Alice piped suddenly, her hands clasped together with the basket hanging from her arm. She had been fairly quiet up until then, but had apparently decided that she had something to offer as well. She had, after all, had a mother for longer than Chloe herself.
"Yes, yes, good question," her companion nodded, smiling at the girl and giving her hair a soft pet, "Her interests will certainly dictate what type of gift to look for. What are her hobbies? Are there any particular events that she enjoys?"
Alice was beaming with pride that she had helped, watching the large man with soft blue eyes.
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Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:46 pm
"Ah...?"
What did she do? What did she like? He racked his brains.
"Well... Jewelery? She didn't get to take very much of anything from the old country..."
Yes. Jewelery but... that was expensive, wasn't it.
"She likes flowers too." he was a lot more certain about that. But he did want to get her something more substantial, something nice that wouldn't wilt.
"There are, um... Fancy..." he mimiced combing his hair, "Combs, right?"
Maybe she'd like that?
He realized he had no idea what she liked. He was such a failure of a son.
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Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:37 pm
"Ooh!"
Alice was suddenly off, dragging Chloe by the arm in the hopes that the man would follow. She'd seen the fancy combs! Chloe laughed and happily allowed herself to be dragged back to a stall that the child had been perusing earlier. The man behind the cart smiled in greeting and simply allowed Alice to pluck up a comb with an elaborate swirling filigree, rethink her decision, and snatch another with a spring flower motif carved into the wood.
"See! Like these?!"
She held them up and gave the man only a moment to respond before she turned to Chloe.
"Jewelry?"
Chloe nodded, grinning ear to ear, and turned to the man again.
"I also know of a couple of particularly reasonably-priced jewelry, most of it stone or wood, sterling silver... a woman can only have so many fancy combs," she offered with a little giggle, "If I may ask, Sir, where is your mother from?"
So he was potentially very foreign, hm?
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:31 am
Ah! and they were of.
Had he gotten something right?
"Ah! That looks..." It looked very nice indeed! Maybe mom would like it? The little girl seemed to like it. He couldn't help but smile at her energy. Maybe Mirram would like it too?
He had never thought about fancy jewelry... stuff... for his sister. He supposed she was of an age for it...
"Oh, ah, we are from... North. Very far north. Very long journey" Very long. Many things had been left behind. He laughed, a little nervously. "Do you think we should look at the other jewelery as well?"
That comb was very nice, but he remembered Liam had said something about shopping around first.
That applied to gifts as well. He also should probably find out the prices? He asked the price and, at the answer, looked at Chloe questioningly.
Was it reasonable? He knew salaries, not prices.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:56 pm
Rather than simply nod and allow the man to continue, Chloe spoke to the vendor of the combs.
"Perhaps a small discount if we were to purchase two?" The vendor gave a chuckle and nodded, and then seemed content with Chloe's decision to continue shopping around. She'd love to be able to allow Alice some small token of love and support for the journey she had ahead. Things like that helped. She knew it did.
The group then went to another stall a fair distance away where a beautiful young woman sat with her father, the latter of the two crouched and carving a rose from a simple block of wood. The young woman stood and addressed Chloe first.
"Can I help you with anything?"
"We're fine for the moment, just looking. My friend here is looking for a gift for his mother..."
Thus began the demonstration. Spurred on by such a simple comment, the young lady showed her family's wares, all beads and pendants hand-carved and of fairly non-valuable materials while holding all of the detail and beauty of metal filigree... of which there was some. Here and there, some delicate burning gave wood depth and detail. Clearly these were from a master of the craft. When prices were mentioned, Chloe looked to her companion from the corners of her eyes and gave soft nods denoting that they were reasonable. She would haggle if need be... it didn't seem like this man knew anything about purchase. Alice, meanwhile, was in awe of the jewelry being displayed.
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