A day at the market! :: OPEN

[synergismus]

Who: OPEN, NPCs if needed.
What: A guided trip to the Aspic Bazaar
Where: Aspic
When: Coardi Wednesday Morning
Notes: OOC post here.

It's spring in Baedal and the Bazaar in Aspic is full of life. The sun shines on colourful buildings, bleaching tentweaves draped over market stalls. The air is full of shouts and animal noises, customers haggling with merchants and tradesmen striking deals. Children of different species rush back and forth, unattended in the crowd.

There are a lot of things on display in the market. Local produce and wares sit next to strange and exotic bleed-through goods, all of which the sellers are quick to guarantee the genuineness and legality of. Less honest characters also visit the market, it is generally known as an official stomping ground for one of the city's more notorious criminal enterprises. The city is aware of this, of course, and while Militia presence here is not as keenly felt in other place, it may be noticeable in the cares some people take.

It's still considered a safe place, or as a safe a place full of haves and havenots in a strange city can be. It's certainly considered a safe enough place to send newcomers for quick introduction to local sights and economics.

The (more recent) residents of the Valhalla Inn and anyone on the CeidaryBlue523 Node have been encouraged to visit the place. They have also been encouraged to not go alone.

Comments

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

It's been years since Sebastian got to really branch out and try new foods, but he still retains the old pleasure he'd get from trying unusual things.

"Sebastian LetMat and it's a bit like custard-but-not. The vendor said you shouldn't eat the pips." Switching his half of the 'heart' to his other hand, Sebastian accepts the handshake and hopes Jack isn't put off by the missing joints on his right hand.

"And this is Velcro," he says, gesturing to where his very patient, very well behaved dog is sitting. For his part, Velcro can shake a paw, but he's wearing his 'work' vest which advises passers by not to pet or fuss over him.

[beiteverso.livejournal.com]

It was sort of inevitable that Dorothy would end up here eventually, wasn't it? Not that she's a big shopper, but if there's one place you can go to really get a sense of a new city, it's the marketplace. All the hustle and bustle can look like a cloud of humanity, hard to distinguish one thing from another to the untrained eye. So many people doing so much at once can be dizzying.

Thankfully, Dorothy's had some practice.

Amongst all the stalls piled high with goods, barking pitches to the shoppers carrying bags and boxes of their purchases, Dorothy does her best to blend in and observe. There's a staggering blend of people-- was everyone here stolen away like she was? It's an intriguing concept. Maybe she's here for a reason...

All the scheming is instantly put out of her mind when she stumbles upon a stall with a wide-open area in the front, fenced off with a low circle of chicken wire. Inside the fence are puppies. Just a big pile of puppies, with white bellies and necks and sandy-tan backs and heads, napping and tumbling over each other and scooting around as puppies are wont to do.

And Dorothy wants one. Lord, does she want one. But who knows how far the money she'd been supplied with would go, and would she be able to support herself and a pet in an environment like this? Still, it would be worth having someone she could trust, and what's more trustworthy than a dog?

Decisions, decisions.

[coffeeking]

Ianto is generally a thrifty shopper. When needs must, Ianto is a very thrifty shopper, and at the moment, needs must. The currency had been easy enough to comprehend, and he knew well that 20 marks would only last him a week if he wasn't careful. And so, on the hunt for groceries for an empty kitchen, Ianto had set himself to bargaining fiercely with every stall proprietor he'd encountered.

Not a half hour on, he's already loaded with two bags of groceries and haggling enthusiastically with a man over a block of cheese. He still has more than 17 marks left.

[andbreathes]

Fabric is mostly what Dominica's here for today, and she's already got herself a bolt of good cloth - sturdy, a plain cream colour that'll take dye well - but with it wrapped and under her arm, she comes to a stop beside the chicken wire fencing to lean over and give one of the little puppies a good scratch behind the ear when it wanders near enough.

"Well, aren't they just the sweetest things you ever saw?" Dominica straightens enough to smile at Dorothy, just a little, easy-going. "Dorothy, wasn't it?"

[51stcentury]

Jack accepts the handshake firmly without even so much as a second glance at Sebastian's hand. He's been through wars, he's seen far worse. He's starting to wonder if maybe that's what happened to this man too, though. With the hand and the carriage and still that something about him that clued Jack in that this man was a survivor.

Jack smiles down at the dog, taking in the vest as well. "Velcro, huh? Nice name. Nice dog." He pauses for a moment, but Jack's not really one to beat around the bush, so then he's out with it. "Service dog. If you don't mind me asking, what for?"

[patricide]

In that moment Lex is thankful that he doesn't have a more loose grip on the vase. Out of precaution he continues to hold it in case he is jostled again from within the swarm of people.

"Don't worry about it," he replies easily to the woman, returning her smile. "If I wasn't prepared for at least one person being in the way I wouldn't have come here. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"Post-war," he says without shame but also without elaborating on exactly what sort of service function Velcro provides. Although, if he's reasonably bright, Jack ought to be able to figure out that Sebastian's limp isn't really pronounced enough to require mobile assistance. "I'd tell you he's brilliant, but if he's smart enough to understand that he'll get smug."

[51stcentury]

Jack does recognize that here's something that Sebastian isn't telling him there, but he lets it go for the moment. They have just met after all, and while Jack doesn't really go out of his way to be polite, he tries not to purposely annoy anyone either. "Well. We can't have that, now can we..." he says, grinning at Velcro once more before eying the fruit in his hand.

"...so," he says. "How do I eat it, then?" He hadn't really been paying attention to the other man's actions earlier, when he was people watching--more paying attention to Sebastian himself then instead.

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

Sebastian appreciates the change in subject matter. While he's overly embarrassed about needing Velcro's help, his mental health is not something he'd prefer to discuss during a first meeting or in a public place.

"A bit like olives, I think." Each pit is wrapped in soft, pale flesh, a little like a creamy version of a lychee. "Eat the fruit and spit the seeds into the rind."

[51stcentury]

Jack looks at the fruit dubiously for a moment more, before picking his head up and smiling at Sebastian again. "Alright. Here goes. I blame you if I look ridiculous eating this, though..."

He takes a bite of the slice that he was handed, and finds that it's actually pretty good. Sweet. Sort of like a pear if it was infused with condensed milk. Interesting. "Well, I can definitely see why you like it," he says, chuckling slightly.

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

"My shoulders should be able to support the weight of your fruit disapproval," he replies, working one of the not-olives free and popping it in his mouth before turning away to spit the seed back into the skin. Sebastian motions that they can continue walking through the market, if Jack's interested.

"What are you captain of, if you don't mind me asking?"

[51stcentury]

Jack's there to socialize, and he's found someone to talk to now. Of course Jack's interested in coming with. He takes a step and moves to walk alongside Sebastian. "The Royal Air Force, among other things," Jack answers, which is probably a bit of a surprise, considering his American accent. "Moved on since then but they let me keep the title. Guess they figure that I've more than earned it," he says, with a shrug.

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

There's a moment where Sebastian has to rack his memory before he recalls what he knows about the RAF. While he's improved his knowledge of history a great deal from his Hogwarts days, modern British history and warcraft has never really been his strong suit.

"I've never been in a plane," he says with a smile and what could be a fondness for the concept of flying.

>_____> I HOPE THIS IS OKAY,,,

[goodtothecore.livejournal.com]

Baedal is bigger and busier than Metropolis, and that's saying something. It's the largest and strangest city Clark has ever been in, which is also saying something, considering he comes from Smallville - home of the uncharitably named meteor freaks. At least when he's in Smallville, he knows his way around and doesn't risk getting lost and overwhelmed in the crowds, his superhuman senses buzzing with the perils of city life.

(Don't ask how many kittens and, uh, other... things... he's had to rescue from trees or narrow ledges so far.)

But today he has something to focus on, and that's following Lex. From a reasonable distance, just to keep an eye on his friend in this strange new environment and make sure he doesn't get hurt. Of course, Clark's idea of a "reasonable distance" is keeping a building between himself and Lex and using his x-ray vision to keep track of his friend, having already memorised his skeletal structure (and later, his heartbeat, for times x-ray vision wasn't feasible) so he can identify it in the crowd. He watches the minor collision with Rachel and winces in mild sympathy, then smiles to himself - trust Lex to find a girl to charm, anywhere in any world.

[beiteverso.livejournal.com]

"Mrs. Norrington! Fancy meeting you here." If there's one thing that Dorothy thanks her lucky stars for, it's that she never forgets a face. It tends to come in handy in situations like these; the ones where she randomly appears in a new land and has to relearn just about everything she thought she already knew.

It's a good thing she likes learning, or it'd get kind of tedious after a while.

Dorothy nods in the direction of the puppies. One of them is wagging its little curled tail so hard its entire back end is shaking. "What do you think? Is it a bad investment, so soon? Having another little person to care for?" What. Dogs are people too.

[gotbottle]

There may be a hint of relief in Rachel's answering smile. After an hour of roaming through the press of people and the nonstop activity, with not quite all of her attempts at conversation or personal interaction going as well as hoped, someone being polite despite the fact that she could have almost clobbered them on accident is a welcome change.

"Thank you," she says. "And pants." She laughs. "Like, when I arrived? They gave me a dress. I'm not really... down with dresses all the time. So some pants would be awesome. Other than that I'm just checking the place and its offerings out."

[paramedicated.livejournal.com]

Mal laughs, a slient huff of air and shaking shoulders, ducking his head down to his chest. "You know, I've never much bothered to think about where the name really comes from. Maybe as a lure to those hoping to strike it lucky in life. It doesn't actually have that effect, though, you're right."

"I'm actually craving a smoke right now if you want to see what the fuss is." He waves the lighter, nickle-plating flashing in the light. There's a second to consider and then he laughs again, self-depricating. "But I don't suppose it actually sounds appealing when described does it?"

[andbreathes]

"Oh, go on- I would." She's not going to, for a variety of reasons including that springing a new pet on her husband might not be the best way of greeting him when he gets home from work tonight, but if she'd come to Baedal all by her lonesome- sure, why not? "It'll give you something besides yourself to be worrying about around here, what's gotta be so bad about that?"

[beiteverso.livejournal.com]

She has a point. "You've got a point." The owner of the stall, who had until this point been hovering around waiting for some sort of indication as to whether they'd get a sale out of this or if it was just two more markless gawpers, seizes his chance and approaches, and Dorothy picks out the puppy with the waggiest tail, as it appeared to have snapped to attention the instant she'd walked up. Dorothy is of a mind that this is a good sign of a loyal pet.

When money is haggled and exchanged, the puppy in question is deposited in Dorothy's arms. It immediately starts licking her chin, and she grins so hard you'd think her face was about to snap in half. The puppy barks twice, and then starts sniffing everything, including Dominica.

"Okay, you're right, this was a good idea," Dorothy laughs. "What d'you think I oughta name him?"

[patricide]

"A time and place for everything, right?" He sets down the vase, having decided against purchasing it after all. Lex cranes his neck a little to see over the crowds, trying to recall exactly where he had seen someone selling clothes earlier.

When he spots the area in question, he points. "I think I saw a cluster of clothing vendors over there. That might be more of what you are looking for. Unless of course you are remarkably creative with pottery." His tone is light, it seemed like everyone who had arrived recently could use a friendly face.

ALWAYS OK, BB

[patricide]

Lex continues shopping, weaving through the people as best as possible. He's used to doing things on his own, but right now in this strange place something about the entire scenario seems a bit off. He withdraws his CiD and types with the swiftness of someone who knows his way around a Blackberry a little too well.

Clark, I'm at the bazaar. Did you want to come check it out with me?

[51stcentury]

Jack laughs at Sebastian's comment about flying there. "Never?" he asks, with a grin, side-eying the man as he walked along beside him. "Where have you been, then? Flying's great." He shakes his head. "Wish I had a plane here, to give you a little taste of what it's like. A plane, a spacecraft, anything that I could get my hands on, really..." Maybe then he can find a way to get the hell out of this place, after all.

[heardmermaids.livejournal.com]

When Jack speaks of finding a plane to fly, Sebastian's expression is part wistful and part amused. There was a time when he could fly and fly as well or better than any machine.

"No. I'd never left Britain until a couple months ago," he says a bit sheepishly. Right or wrong, Sebastian suspects that nearly everyone is more worldly than he.

[cassie_of_troy]

Cassandra shrugged slightly. "No," she admitted. "But then again, there are quite a lot of things in this world that don't sound terribly appealing when described." Sex was the first to come to her mind, not that she would ever say such a thing out loud. Well, maybe to Apollo. But certainly, she wouldn't say it to a virtual stranger.

Her curiosity was really getting the better of her. Cassandra wanted to know what all the fuss was about. "Show me how it works," she said, handing him back the cigarette which, she imagined, might well be very precious to him, especially if he could find no proper imitation or substitute in this city they were trapped in.

[51stcentury]

"Never left Britain?" Jack asks, raising an eyebrow at the other man. "Oh, lord. You're worse than Ianto, and he's Welsh," he says, emphasizing the Welsh bit. "Please tell me that you've at least been to another country aside from England. It'd be a crying shame to not at least get a little traveling done, even if it isn't that far." This coming from a man who'd traveled through space and time in a little blue box. Of course he's advocating going out to seek all the adventure that you can.

He is, of course, just taking the piss, and it's obvious to tell that for all of his shock and awe at Sebastian not having traveled, there are no negative feelings associated with the fact that perhaps the other has stayed right where he grew up. Everyone has their reasons, and Jack recognizes that.