Welcome to Gaia! ::

“You know, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Dark Mirror Senshi,” the Merchant said; he watched the man as he approached–without saying hello, how rude–and smiled politely. Mostly politely.

There was still something slippery about his expression, something a little unreadable that made him look a little unpredictable.

“So quiet, so mysterious.” He noticed Morpheus staring and deliberately brushed his hair out of his face so it was on full display. “Are you just admiring me or do you have a question?”

“I do trade things,” the merchant said pleasantly, and leaned forward to inspect the bracelet Morpheus wore on his wrist, and then his eyes landed on the crystal from Mirrorspace. “Oh, a tempting offer, the both of them. The bracelet is really something gorgeous. But that crystal.”

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth thoughtfully. “Well, I can’t find that just anywhere. It takes a very special sort of person to get something like this. A very special person to catch my attention, as well. My name is Almadel, charmed to meet you.”

He smiled, like he really was charmed. Or just really good with the act.

“Tell me about yourself, Morpheus. Are these the sorts of things you like? Pretty jewelry and shiny crystals?”

"I suppose I'd like something that would help me remember what I've forgotten, I'm trying to figure out if my faction is one to stand by or if I should get out while I can and go feed my birds in peace. "

“Oh, I mean. I usually just use a notebook to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything,” the Merchant hummed. “But I suppose that’s only useful if you’re making sure you don’t forget something, not if you’ve already forgotten.” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

“Well, let me dig around, I’ll see if I can find something. You can leave the Dark Mirror Court? I suppose nothing’s perfect. I was excited to learn about them. Do you know, I’ve never found any off of Earth? I’ve always thought that must make them special. What’s got your heart in such a place? Might be easier to give you a bird,” he hummed, before pulling out a small mechanical bird with fierce maroon eyes. He twisted something just under its wing and it seemed to come to life rather convincingly; it twisted its head and hopped around as if it weren’t made of smooth, black metal. “You can teach it songs, too. It’ll sing them back to you. And fly. You could probably teach it to remind you of things, if you wanted.”

The merchant smiled and leaned back, pleased with Morpheus’ enthusiasm. “That’s the spirit. Your smile is contagious. I don’t think any decision that big should be made hastily but whatever path you choose, I hope I’ll meet you again in the future. You seem like a very interesting young man. Not at all the type to give up. I bet you’ll have some good stories for me the next time our paths cross.”