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[Eleret]

Eleret straightened once the otter had bounded off, snatching up the figurine as she went. She regarded it somewhat helplessly for a moment, then shrugged and set it on the merchant's table amidst everything else -- maybe he'd fine someone to buy it. Glancing over towards her companion to find the Svefra intently sorting through the shop wares. She smiled and left him to his rummaging, taking a moment to review the products of her own gleaning. The last bundle, she untied to examine more thoroughly; it proved to contain the a set of cooking tools and... The Konti picked out a couple of the small satchets and lightly sniffed at their tops. Yes, spices. Exactly what she'd been looking for. Sirroco set the jar down beside her collection a short moment after Eleret set the cooking supplies with the rest. She glanced at him, then bent to examine the jar's contents; they seemed reasonable for fishing with. Certainly, they must be if the Svefra said so! Eleret smiled at him, and nodded. "Thank you!" She paused to cast a last surveying glance over the stall, but saw nothing else on offer that fit her needs. " I think that is all from here. I will take these," she said to the merchant, shifting her attention his way; which suited him just fine as long as the Konti paid for them. Of course, she did. Eleret took time afterwards to load her purchases into her backpack, all but the staff; that, she'd have to treat as a walking stick for the time being. Checking to be sure Sirroco had everything he wanted from the merchant as well, she set off into the rest of the bazaar. "Do you fish more with the spear?" the Konti asked as they walked. "Is there much difference in... in what you get, the fish, each way?" ledgertoolkit, herbalist - 20 gm healer's kit - 50 gm staff - 1 gm toolkit, cook - 10 gm fishing kit - 10 gm total: -91 gm

[Sirroco]

Making sure that Eleret had seen the fishing supplies he had found, and confirming that he had all he planned to get at that particular stall, the Svefra settled with the merchant from his quickly dwindling coin pouch. He took a moment to lay out the hammock and blanket, then wrapped the remaining items up in them, to make a more managable bundle. Tucking the roll under his arm, he glanced around for his otter companion. "Tain, come on!" Sirroco called, and the sleek creature appeared from around a table, giving the Svefra an innocent stare and a twitch of his whiskers. "Ready!" Giving the Konti a nod and a smile, they stepped back out into the busy market. Considering Eleret's question for a quick moment, Sirroco gave a slight shrug and a small laugh. " To be honest, I have only rarely fished with a hook and line, or a net. My specialty is fishing with a spear. It all depends on where you are, of course. You fish with intent. If you want to catch small fish with a hook, you use a small hook and small bait. If you want a bigger fish, you use a bigger hook, heavier line and bigger bait. Of course, you pick the kind of bait the fish you want likes! But when you fish with a hook and line, you have to sit around and wait for the fish to bite." The fisherman offered a humorous demonstration with a crooked finger on one hand and his other opening and shutting like a big mouth. There was a sparkle in the Svefra's eyes, especially as he continued on. "Now, with a spear, you can look for the fish you want, kind and size, even pick the healthier looking ones. You don't need to have a certain bait, or wait for them to decide to bite. I like tide pool fishing the most, the fish are smaller, but easier to spear. I love to work where the sea meets the land. In the deeper water, you can get bigger fish, but if you can't spear it from the boat, you have to get in and swim with them, and some of them may actually turn on you!" Sirroco realized he had rambled on about his occupation. Few were the people that ever showed an interest in his job, and he allowed himself to go on about it. He offered the Konti another sheepish smile. "Anyway, the key to any kind of fishing is knowing what kind of fish you want to get." Bringing his monologue to an end, Sirroco looked around at the diverse crowd, and the variety of vendors. With a sudden revelation, The Svefra discovered that he was rather at ease at Eleret's side, unlike the excited nervousness he had encountered at the gathering, and earlier that day. With the waning of his anxiousness in the older Konti's company, Sirroco found that he wished to learn more about her. "You are a woodcarver, right? How did you get into that kind of work?" Ledger : Hatchet - 6sm Fish knife - 1cm Hammock - 5gm Leather apron - 6sm Sandals - 2sm Blanket - 5sm Soap, 2 lb - 1gm

[Eleret]

oocLook, a post! Thank you for your patience... Eleret looked for the otter as Sirroco called to it; when the creature appeared, she smiled and wiggled her fingers at it in a wave. She turned back to the Svefra as he spoke, nodding amusedly at the hand-play which accompanied his words. "How do you know what... bait the fish likes?" she asked curiously. "Do you watch first, or only guess?" At least, from the perspective of one who knew comparatively little about the livelihoods of fish in the sea; the Konti enjoyed swimming among them, but had never made a detailed study of all the different species' habits. She smiled as he concluded, and bobbed her head sharply. "I will remember that!" In the pause which followed, Eleret spotted a stall full of books, and nudged her companion in that direction. "Carving?" she echoed as they approached the table, musing over the word and the greater subject behind it. "I have done a long time. In Mura, there are many who make art. I liked the wood best, when I was small, and I asked my mother to give to me. That was my twentieth birthday," she added, in the offhand way one might when a reminiscence corresponds with an important milestone. And not, from tone and words alike, a very recent milestone. Eleret lifted her hands, smiling ruefully. "I still like it, so I still do it." From the eminently familiar wares on offer, Eleret quickly picked out ink sticks, blank books, and a sewing kit. Coins and goods exchanged hands, after which she turned back to her companion. ledgerink sticks x20 - 6 gm book, blank x2 - 6 gm sewing kit - 18 gm total: -30 gm

[Sirroco]

New purchases bundled in his arms, Sirroco made sure Tain was tagging along as he and the Konti moved back into the stream of bazaar patrons. Eleret gently urged the Svefra towards a stall that sold writing and reading things, items that the fisherman had little interest in, or knowledge about. He was, however, rather interested in the young blonde daughter of Mura, so followed her happily under the merchant's temporary roof. Sirroco did not mill about this place as much, his attention fixed on Eleret as she surveyed the vendor's wares, sharing the details of how she became a wood carver. As the Konti spoke, one fact jumped out at the young man. Eleret said her interest began long ago, when she was small, when she was twenty. Small at twenty? Now, Sirroco knew a little about Konti, that they lived longer than humans. But that was clinical knowledge. In reality, he had come to perceive Eleret by his eyes and not his knowledge. In the Svefra's mind, the Konti looked like an older teenager, even if she spoke much more maturely. But her answer brought to light the fact that Eleret was not some youngster. She was older, and probably much older than the twenty three year old man. Between darting glances at the mischievous otter, Sirroco's curious eyes followed Eleret as she selected a few writing tools and a sewing kit, trying to reconcile her attractive youthful countenance with the mature woman she was inside. It was a bit intimidating to think the woman was his elder (though he had no way to guess how much older), yet the Konti never made him feel inferior or even less mature than she. After the Konti paid for her things and they moved back out underneath the Cyphrus sun, the curiosity finally got to him and Sirroco posed the question eating at him. "So, how old are you anyway?"

[Eleret]

As they stepped away from the merchant's stall, Eleret cast a glance at her companion. He had fallen very quiet after she mentioned birthdays, and seemed to have forgotten entirely the question she'd asked earlier. No matter; they would have plenty of other opportunities to talk about fishing. She had a pretty good idea what he was stewing over, what quandary inspired the anise scent of his mood; it had come up at other times, with other humans. The Konti managed not to keep a straight face all the while as he reflected -- but she couldn't once his curiosity at last won out. She gave Sirroco a slow, sidelong smile as they walked, her amusement as plain as the day's sunlight around them... though of a tenor which made it an invitation rather than taken at the human's expense. "Maybe a little older than you, I think," Eleret remarked, her tone dry enough that it might have been teasing. Probably was. But she made no secret of her age, which was old to humans but not so old for Konti: "You are in your third decade, yes? I am in my sixth. I will be 54 this Fall," she finished, giving the precise number. She waited, then, to see what his reaction would be -- shock, surprise, disbelief were usual in her experience, at least initially. Hopefully he wouldn't take the age difference as a reason for sudden distance; that would be a pity.

[Sirroco]

As the two of them wove their way through the market crowd, Sirroco's gaze darted from Eleret only long enough to ensure he did not walk into someone. The Konti's lovely features brightened into a knowing smile, her endearing youthfulness only making the answer to come more stark in its revelation. But Eleret preceded her reply with a teasing remark, the Svefra looking at her askance with a suspicious grin. Then came the jaw-dropper. 54. Eleret looked easily more than thirty years younger than that, yet she was old enough to be his mother. Sirroco found his mouth agape as he stared at the Konti woman, struggling to reconcile Eleret's true age with the smooth-skinned, bright eyed girl next to him. The Svefra was jarred when he bumped into an Akalak who grumbled something at him in Tukant as he moved on. Once he recovered Sirroco again met Eleret's gaze, his smile huge and dopish. "Well, I uh, didn't expect you to be that old." He stumbled, realizing what he said may have come across offensive. "I mean..." he quickly amended, one hand held out as he carried his bundle, "... I knew Kontis aged differently. You just look so young and...pretty." The fisherman concluded, sure now that he had made a fool of himself. Having been forgotten, Tain now chittered at Sirroco from his feet, as if to mock him.

[Eleret]

The Svefra bounced off an Akalak, and Eleret shook her head slightly, reaching out to set a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Careful!" He turned back and smiled up at her, the vivid scent of yarrow tracing through the Konti's perceptions. Anxiousness, perhaps? She took that as a positive sign. Eleret glanced down to the otter who planted himself at Sirroco's feet and seemed almost to twit him. On impulse, she held out a hand to him, because offering to pet was just one of the things one did with companion creatures -- if they were friendly. In the meantime, she also responded to Sirroco. "You would say, I think, that my mother does not look much older than I. Even the very old Konti do not look old like others do. The leader of the Konti, she is over two hundred years, but you might say..." She stopped, having to think about equivalence -- humans of known age who resembled the matriarch's appearance. "I think maybe thirty to forty years? That is her look." Eleret finished diffidently, not actually sure her comparison was correct. And of course, he couldn't verify -- but it did illustrate her point regardless: Old Konti didn’t look old as humans understood it. Smiling ruefully at the Svefra, Eleret lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. "It is fun sometimes, to know what people guess." Then she chuckled, a quick grin flickering across her expression. "And it is never bad, saying someone is pretty." Gesturing past him, the Konti indicated another stall, one which seemed more dedicated to craft-type tools and supplies. "One more place, if it is okay? Then, I think, I am done here."

[Sirroco]

The gentle steadying of his Konti companion was a tick of pleasure as he recovered from the impact with the solid Akalak, and the revelation of Eleret's age. Sirroco was afforded a moment to gather himself as the Konti stooped to reach for Tain. The otter pattered closer to the small white hand, whiskers twitching, inviting the welcomed caress of the beautiful young-for-a-Konti girl. Tain very much approved of Eleret's company. The Svefra could not take his eyes off of the small ivory-skinned woman as she explained that their leader was two hundred years old. Somehow, he imagined the woman looked somewhat like Eleret, maybe graced with a bit more maturity around the mouth and eyes, but still lovely. Konti were amazing creatures, mystical even to the simple fisherman, yet Eleret was more down to earth than many Sverfra women he had known. Sirroco may have blushed as Eleret so graciously accepted his compliment, but he had turned his head strategically to look elsewhere after she spoke. The fleeting moment of shyness was gone as the Konti indicated a last stall to visit. With a boyish grin and a nod of acquiescence, The Svefra joined her as she entered the makeshift stall. Arms already laden with purchases, Sirroco simply glanced over the offerings of the vendor, noting that Tain now followed Eleret as she combed through the items. I see how it is. The Svefra laughed to himself.

[Eleret]

The otter seemed quite happy to be petted, his pelt thick and somewhat oily under the Konti's fingers. She affectionately scratched the animal for a little while, Sirroco a silent and introspective presence beside her. The weight of his silence, she thought, wasn't heavy or negative, but more the opposite -- a conclusion which would have been strengthened by his blush, if Eleret had been in position to see it. In any event, he tagged along amiably in the last part of her errand, though it seemed the Svefra's own purchases had been completed long ago. In any case, the company was the important part: the opportunity to forge a connection with one of those whom the Konti would be spending a great deal of time with in the upcoming future. Eleret found the satchel of tools she wanted fairly quickly, the picks and brushes and journal she would need to remind herself how to use properly. Something else caught her attention, glimpsed between a bolt of cloth and strips of leather: wan brown grain on pale background, too tall to be part of the supporting table. Brushing back the cloth and leather revealed a block of wood -- ash, she thought, pale and lightweight. Whiskers and fish-breath whuffled at her ankles about then, Sirroco's amusement drifting in over her shoulders, and Eleret's lips stretched in a slow, pleased curve. Yes, she would add that too; she had an idea for that little bit of wood. Everything but the wood piled in her backpack; a heavy pack, by this stage, but not intolerable. They only needed to make it back to Atri's Place, after all. The staff, she held in one hand as if it were a walking stick; the block of wood she retained in the other. "I am finished now," she said, turning to Sirroco with a slightly apologetic smile. "Thank you for waiting. Is there more you want to do in the city, or do we go back?" ledgertoolkit, archaeologist -- 45.00 gm wood, ash, 3 lb -- 0.3 gm total: -45.3 gm

[Sirroco]

The Svefra waited patiently, more interested in the curious new friend than any of the wares surrounding them. Tain had seemed to take a liking to Eleret as well, employing his irresistible cuteness to garner some affection from the daughter of Mura. Sirroco watched with a twinge of jealousy, then he laughed at himself. Jealous of an otter, it was kind of pathetic. The fisherman's musings and surreptitious observations of the attractive woodcarver were quickly abandoned as Eleret completed her purchases and returned to his side. Sirroco's arms were full of his own purchases, and since his mizas were sparse, he planned no further buys. "No, no, I think I have everything." He grinned at Eleret, a small hoist of his armload to prove his point. He turned towards the nearest exit from the marketplace, looked over again at the Konti. "I really enjoyed your company, Eleret. It was my pleasure!" Looking down, Tain tagged along, now dancing behind the Konti's heels instead of the Svefra's. "And I think Tain found your company a pleasure as well." He laughed as the otter waddled along behind them.