[Alements] Smell the Roses... or the Herbses (Caelum)

[Kailey]

Timestamp: Spring 7, 515 AV Spring had been birthed anew, and although it had only been Kailey's second, she could feel it upon the winds. Its ethereal hand caressing her bare flesh, lifting her dress away from her legs, as it forced her hair to sway back and forth across her neck. She could sense it within her sight, as grass sprouted from the soil, and flowers and vines began to blossom here and there- wherever they found space. Taste it within the air; that sort of faint, fresh hint it seemed to carry with it. Smell it with the change in cooked foods, and hear it in the way the waterfall crashed as it overlooked the city. Feel it as she skipped along the few tiers that made up Riverfall aimlessly, as she had yet to be in the city long enough to come to the point where she always had a destination in mind after having left the warmth of her bed for the day's happenings. As she moved along, Kailey hummed a merry little tune to herself, and held the edges of her dress, as though she were collecting it for the purpose of gathering things in the little pocket it had formed. It swished around her as light filtered down through the waterwall, and onto portions of each tier she moved through, allowing her to travel through both light and shadow as she came upon the third; one level with a strip of the docks. There, she noticed a few different things that seemed to be shops, with their intricately carved signs, (or even simply carved, or painted ones). She smiled gayly as she looked upon each one, and then, shrugging, pushed the door of another open at random. The moment she had, and the heavy door had shut behind her, the Kelvic's nostrils were assaulted by a multitude of smells. So, she sniffed the air, her tiny nose twitching as she absorbed a great number of scents. Some she thought she recognized, and others which seemed exotic, foreign, and generally intoxicating, if not a tad intriguing. So, she walked forward, guided into Alements by what felt an invisible string. The Kelvic looked left to right, then up to down, frantically. Not sure where she should allow her eyes to settle as there was just so much to take in. Rugs in many colors. Greens like the grass, blue like the sea, and another like the night sky, oranges like pumpkins, and yellows like daffodils, and then so many other things in-between, in hues the girl couldn't quite describe. Then there was this big reflective thing, which showed a picture of everything else, and her in their midst, and if she walked up to it, or poked it or anything, her image got bigger and bigger, until she felt like it would eat the whole darned thing. Kai wondered vaguely what that was. But then shrugged it away as she caught the scent of more herbs. Clovers, she thought, and something else, which had a soft, sweet smell, and seemed as though it could be yummy. The Kelvic followed her nose, and noticed that a lot of the things she thought might be yummy seemed to be way up high, in or next to these little window-like thingies. "Now why would you be way up there?" Kai asked, as she cocked her head and blinked a few times, all the while wondering if she could jump high enough to get at them and take a bite. Kai started hopping. Such a shame, because nope, she couldn't, which, not so surprisingly, made her want all the leafy greens she saw even more. As she was musing on how she might acquire them, she heard footsteps and laughter, and began to notice the shop's other patrons and occupants. Most specifically, a lithe-looking man with a goat's horns, which made her feel as though the shop's layout had now been explained. Because goats weren't exactly the type that liked to share.

[Caelum]

A trio of glasses sat on the marble topped bar. They shone in the sunlight flowing naturally through Alements interior, caught by the windows and throw by the copper sheeting backing the bar. The rest of the walls were flat grey stone, a soothing contrast to the bold colors of Alements mains. Square cubes of bonafide ice were stacked three to a drink, taken from his ice house that was kept in good supply by a few resident reimancers. A bottle of sweet white wine was uncorked with a practice twist of Caelum’s hand and he tilted it at the proper angle over the first in the line of glasses, pouring a three count before twisting his wrist to avoid spillage and repeating the process over the remaining two glasses. The next step of this particular concoction required Caelum to mascerate dried blueberries in a mortar with a dollap of simple syrup. When they were thoroughly crunched, a spoonful was put in each glass. Everything was topped off with a healthy pour of sparkling water before he gathered all three glasses in his hands, balancing them by their stems between his fingers, and moved out from behind the bar to carry them to a table of matrons near the windows. He lingered there for a minute, fielding a few questions regarding the drink, before turning around to spy the young women peering longingly up at his wild cabbages. The ethaefal approached on a loose hipped stride, lithe but broad shouldered, and the wild colors of him toned down somewhat by the plain white and dark brown colors of his attire. They were of fine material, however, and in good condition. A tall waisted black apron was tied about, gorgeously embroidered with the name of his business in sunset orange. It had been part of a gift. A clean bar towel had been tossed over his shoulder at some point and then utterly forgotten. “Miner’s lettuce,” he informed the young woman, golden eyes curious in their inspection of her. “Wild cabbage, and a bunch of tasin onions. Here –“ And he reached up, more than tall enough, to take down one of the stone cannisters overflowing with pale green and purple cabbages so as to show her. A strange smile hooked his mouth, suggesting good humor. “Nothing that blooms, though I have more than a few of those in the back. You have an interest in herbs?”

[Kailey]

There was a man's voice; a soft, distant thing, which drew the Kelvic out of her reverie. She turned to face the source of the sound, and blinked a few times, as though not believing her eyes, as the apron-laden Ethaefal stared knowingly at her. His eyes glowing to her, just as much as his skin and horns. Kailey cocked her head as she took in the sight of him; her gaze fixating upon the horns that sprouted out of his head, making her wonder if he were some sort of old, or fancy Kelvic that had somehow mastered the art of partial shifting. A Kelvic that could, perhaps teach her, if he wasn't as stubborn, ornery, and generally rude as some of the other goats she had met; as she thought she would enjoy being able to keep her ears and her fluffy little tail. They made her look cute, after all. Especially when the tail twitched. Everyone loved a good tail twitch. "Why is it called that?" Kailey inquired, "do the miner's own it?" she paused as her brow furrowed. "Can they do that? Can someone own an entire kind of cabbage?" she asked, as she had already learned that people had a strange idea of ownership. You could eat grass. Any grass really, as long as it wasn't on their lawn or in their garden. Because in that case, you'd best run. "And how can they be wild?" Kailey added, as an afterthought, as the scent of onions filled her lightly twitching nostrils although the cabbages were those being brought closer for her inspection. Idly, she admired their leaves. "They're nice," she said, softly, not sure what else to say, as she shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the next, all the while silently wishing she could return to her hopping again. As it simply felt better, more natural as it were. The Kelvic smiled weakly as another scent filled her nostrils. Something sharper, and something more pungent. "Only if they're tasty," she replied to Caelum's final question. "Do you have anything like that?" she asked, as her mind spun through all the possibilities. Clovers, daisies, carrots... All so tasty, but in different ways; and those that weren't quite tasty, but were still a little, and at times, quite satisfying when you had nothing else to munch on. Things like iceberg lettuce, or celery sticks. Actually, strike that, celery wasn't her favorite. Not in the least bit. But that wasn't what the strangely nice goat-man was asking now was it? He was asking if she was interested, and what she might like. Oh yes. Kai tapped her lower lip as she glanced up at the ceiling a moment and thought, before returning her gaze to the Ethaefal. "Something sweet maybe, that would go nicely with radishes. Do you have anything like that?" she asked. OOCSorry this rambles a bit.