Sneaky Shopping (Ka'Ri, Ellowyn)

Eleint 8th, afternoon.

The marketplace is bustling even more thickly than usual today, what with the start of the Alefeast. Extra stalls have been set up to sell the wine, beer, ale, cider, spirits, bread, pickles, kefir, miso, and cheeses which have poured into the city from the surrounding small farms and in much larger quantities from the shipping magnates. Tourists and visitors crowd the streets, buying and bartering and happily shouting to be heard.

The only pockets of empty air on the road are the little bubbles of personal space which appear around the reanimated undead which some shoppers have brought along with them: stricken family members from which they can't bear to be parted. The undead shamble with their heads down, useless for carrying anything or speaking to anyone. Almost all of them are on 'leashes' which wrap around their wrists or waists; the plague victims will walk along when gently tugged or otherwise physically guided, but they are not good at responding to verbal or visual orders.

[OOC: The details on the Alefeast are here (The Devil's Own) and worth brushing up on. Laerdya's list of medications for Gwynnestri are here (Visiting a Grieving Mother). Your cover story from Qiao is here (Pawnshop Shero) and probably important to review.]

Ka'Ri takes some time in the bathroom of Veshti's estate to get into her persona and costume. She unpacks a tight, severe, but practical black shirt and dark trousers, smartly buttoned, but already coming untucked from the "frustration of the day". Additionally, she asks Sunrise for permission to dye her hair, making it a severe blonde and frizzing it slightly before wrapping it into a tight bun, held in place by two marking pencils, with a third tucked into a small black writing book she had purchased that morning.

She was thrilled with the design, just the write mix of practicality and authority. This was the writing book of the type of clerks whose harried word carries the weight of thousand gold decisions. She then donned a small pair of thin glasses, with regular glass she could see through. The point was to look over them and push them up her nose as needed.

As a final touch, she twisted her ring, shortening her ears into those of a human and sharpening her features. She glanced in the mirror. She looked exactly like the dock clerk who had rattled her bad enough in Darkwater to make her nearly forget her entire cover story. Okay, rattled and aroused, but that was neither here nor there.

She stoned up her features, putting on the most weary and humorless expression she could and spoke into the mirror. "I am Cassandra Claymore, she of the docks. No you may not call me Cassie. Yes, I have heard all the jokes, you do not need to waste your time with levity. I represent Wuljhan and his interests."

In character she stepped out, stuffing her change of clothing into a green and gold strapped crossbody messanger bag and met with Ellowyn. She didn't know the kindly gnome cleric well and hoped to change that. At the very least she knew they had one very specific thing in common, which already lent a strong feeling of solidarity.

"What do you think?" She said raising one eyebrow pointedly in intentional exaggeration from what she would do for real. "Do I look like an overworked but nonetheless terrifying clerk?"

Ellowyn upon learning that Ka'ri would be joining them on their excursion out to gather supplies/also surreptitiously questions vendors about strangely large orders of specific things they felt a strange sense of relief like a knot in their shoulders unwinding someone they didn't have to hide their discomfort and disassociating from.

They didn't *want* to make assumptions as they hadn't really discussed it but Ellowyn had assumed with Ka'ri they were in company that understood their complicated feelings towards their body.

It was something in the way she held herself and a look of apology about her. The sadness and the mercurial emotions the sudden outbursts. The cute blushing and flirting with thimb that seemed so scared and unsure. It was like she was a giant question mark like she was asking permission to exist. Ellowyn saw themself in her eyes and hoped desperately they'd assumed right.

The tension flowed from their shoulders and into their stomach light and fluttering as they caught themself thinking of the beautiful pirates sweetness towards the wickedly smart and massively intimidating thimb.

They were both so special in their own ways both so impossibly perfect. So radiant..

as Ellowyn was changing into the smartest outfit for the trip to the market to fit in with Ka'ri's description of her disguise. A cleric on errands with a clerk. Not a cleric on a mission with a beautiful and highly skilled pirate theif.

As Ellowyn caught a glance of themselves in the mirror they cursed their tendancy to blush at literally any intense emotion then they shuddered at least they hadn't inherited their mothers tendancy to cry. That was a lot...

When ka'ri was finished her slightly longer getting ready process Ellowyn was waiting for her.

Ellowyn did a double take. They hardly recognised her. She looked the image of the clerk's they had seen aroound town. Harried and far to busy for your bullshit. Blonde and more human looking.

"Very pretty" they say with a brusque nod. They desperately wished they could finish that sentence with "but I prefer the way you look as yourself" but they couldn't bring themselves to for fear of blushing anymore.

"You definitely look the part. Your a dab hand at this disguise lark."

"Aw, thanks," she said, blushing happily at the compliment before giving a bit of a self-deprecating laugh. "Well, I would hope so, I don't really have all that fancy smarts going for me, so if I wasn't, I'd be practically useless."

The laugh over it is awkward, as if trying to disguise a feeling of truth that clung to it like a crab on the ear of a person letting themselves sleep too long on the sands of hideout.

"So I'm going as Cassandra Claymore. What would you like your name to be? You can choose anything you want. That's the fun part of things like this. The chance to explore different yous."

She tried to straighten her face back into business mode. "So, for the streets, themselves, they're likely to be packed, so it'll be easy to get lost from each other. I figure we can try to stay in the same relative areas and if one of us really needs the other, we can do a whistle, like so."

She trilled under her lip, the noise emanating near but not quite on her but nonetheless crisp and loud.

"I figure based on our backgrounds, you can specialize in looking for the Actious and other medicines and I can specialize in looking into the nut sellers for the Darwood nuts as that seems the rarest of the snacks. But I figure we can mix and match if we happen to hit a stall for the other that the other one hasn't hit yet. What do you think?"

Ellowyn frowns confused before they can stop themselves. "But your a pirate and a theif which mean you have connections, you have skills that are marketable, your kind and are smart enough to not trust folk. As a pirate I imagine you have at least some physical prowess to do ropework or climbing or navigation or something the like AND ontop of all that your good at disguises. How is that useless?"

They were suddenly very worried that if Ka'ri felt she was useless to the mission that must mean Ellowyn was way out of their depth.

"What good is a tinkerer in a mission like this? I mean yes technically I'm a cleric but it's not quite like most clerics. I don't actually heal people often or deal with sick folk. They kind of skeeve me out if I'm honest. I'm a builder, a fixer, an inventor more than anything. But not really that either. I'm well I'm just a bit of everything and not a lot of anything in particular."

They shrug heavily their copious hair piled into their customary bun but much "neater' although for aesthetic they had apparently sacrificed the usual stability, as their bun wobbled when they shrugged.

Then they realise that they could choose a name something that wasn't often done in gnomish culture. Names were family. Names had thought and meaning. Names where where you had been and who you had belonged to. Your name was your people.

"Liana trueheart." It went against every gnomish naming convention they could think of and it was wonderful. It did not feel like them and that felt glorious.

"I'm not sure about splitting up though" suddenly nervous crowds weren't good big folk didn't pay attention and Ellowyn was not particularly good with people.

"Being small in a crowd it's hard to navigate people don't look where they're going and I may well hit someone with my stick" they begin extending it to its full height as a quarter staff and pull out a purple kerchief tying it to the top end. It comes up to just below human eye height.

Ka'Ri squirmed awkwardly as they tried to compliment her. Everything she was saying was true, but it had a long journey through the patterns of her mind that had been growing steadily stronger ever since she had sold her belt. As if she had sold her confidence with it, not that she had been overbrimming with self-regard before.

But that face quickly turned to concern as she heard Ellowyn denigrate their own talents. "That's not true. A tinkerer who can make all sorts of weird awesome gadgets and with connections throughout the city. And you say you're a Jax of all trades as if that was a bad thing. Like ask any pirate, those are the most useful of crewmembers to have."

She made a gesture as if offering a hug before letting herself settle back into work mode. It was there if Ellowyn wanted it, but she didn't want to come across in any way like she was socially pressuring them to hug if they didn't want to. Internally she sighed. She simply didn't understand why so many wonderful people in the party had such a limited view of their own talents and value.

"I love the name and you make a good point about the stalls. We'll need a cover story then for why an overworked clerk is taking time to help a cleric do errands in the midst of her working day. Do you have any ideas?"

One idea was forming in her head as she said this, but she hesitated to speak it as it was potentially awkward.

Ellowyn visibly blushes hard as rush of emotion threatens to envelop them.

This glorious talented pirate had called them a Jax of all trades. She thought they were useful!

An errant tingle runs down their spine making their toes curl. They close their eyes breifly enjoying the sensation only to open them again to find her offering a hug. Secretly delighted they lean towards her in an awkward side hug leaning into her side for a second or two and blushing some more for good measure. Then quickly coming back to the task at hand nervous again. Fidgeting with the bottom of their binder readjusting it. Making sure they look neat and as presentable as possible suddenly aware of how they were hopeless at looking "good".

"Hmm well I suppose I could be spending the money and you've been sent as oversight so I don't spend too much?

Or Im not sure this isn't exactly my forté usually my clients are sent to me or I to them through a third party and then it's talking about what equipment they need or how I can help adjust their braces and what not. Mostly I listen not much of a talker usually. But it's been nice talking more recently..."

Their sentence drifts off as they think about all the lovely interesting people they'd met in the last few days and how even though this was life and death for some it was the most at home in this city they had ever felt. They suddenly had a community even if it was temporary they had folk besides Marta that cared if they died.

"Yeah, definitely," Ka'Ri responded back excitedly before switching to work mode once again.

"Hmm, that's good, but it leaves me with not as much room to ask about distribution and stuff if I'm supposed to be watching you." She thought for a second, letting the pieces of her brain settle into their familiar scheming pattern.

"Okay, so if we tweak that, you could be a new hire to create medical kit standards for the boat crews and I'm taking you along on my rounds because you're new to the pace and expectations of working for Wuljhan and he's killing two birds with one stone."

She scratched the back of her neck and tried out the awkward one. "Another idea is well... it's a bit awkward, but it's a classic," she stammered awkwardly. "It's called the honeymooners. Two people play a romantic couple. See everyone knows that clerks have trouble separating their personal and professional lives, so I could be accompanying my enbyfriend to market to fill out the home first aid kits while also using that time to knock out some work errands for Wuljhan."

"I dunno, either of those plans sound workable to you?" She said with an apologetic air, hoping she didn't come across as some creep trying to perv on every gnome she took to market.

Listening and watching Ka'ri was a joy seeing the light in her eyes flare as you could visibly see her regain her sea legs so to speak this was old hat and where she had managed to find somewhere to thrive and Ellowyn felt like a psychic vampire as their mood lifted too it was inspiring watching her work. They were lost watching her face animate as she spoke until they realised she suddenly looked slightly awkward and they quickly reviewed the audio memory of the last few seconds.

When they had absorbed what Ka'ri was suggesting it felt like their skin was on fire. They felt like they were lighting the entire room with their blush. Suddenly the navy button up with rolled up sleeves and brown sturdy pants werent good enough despite being the smartest clothes they owned. Why didn't they own more clothes? Their hands were unscrewing two small pieces from their cane. They wanted to help with the ruse, they wanted to keep being useful to ka'ri. They wanted to impress her and not let her down.

They stammer but quickly regain a sort of composure. " Y YYes I mean if that's what you think would be the best angle. If you were on about honeymooners though we'd need rings so how about it sugarpie?" It was a name they'd heard gentlemen call their partners before in the market it felt weird on their tongue.

they try to dramatically flourish two ring shaped connector threads they'd unscrewed from their stick. But in the process of flourishing their limbs decided now was the perfect time to not do as they were told they sort of threw the rings at her midriff. They bounced off Ka'ri and onto the floor where Ellowyn hurriedly knelt to pick them up reaching out to hand Ka'ri hers.

It was then that Ellowyn wanted the floor to open up and eat them whole.

They were on one knee in front of a brilliant wonderous glorious pirate queen(she had to be their queen pirates had queens right?) That they had just met with a ring in hand and they couldn't breathe. They bolt upright desperately stammering to apologize.

Ka'Ri sagged with relief that they didn't seem offput by her suggestion and in fact seemed overexcited if anything. Literally throwing her the ring, that was amazing, though her reflexes hadn't been good enough to snatch them and besides, it was worth getting into character.

Ka'Ri put on a world-weary and apologetic face and took Ellowyn's hand with the rings. "Thank you honey bun," she said with a crinkled brow while looking deeply into their eyes. "I'm so sorry I have to work while we go out. It's this damn Alefest. Wuljahn needs those numbers before tomorrow. I swear to you, one day I'll take a proper day off."

As Ka'ri's face lights up and it is clear to Ellowyn that they did the right thing they feel like they could dance. They had the urge to just wiggle, it was bizzare and felt exactly like feeling of finally figuring out a particularly difficult blueprint problem.

She was holding their hand and talking but they couldn't hear anything as all sound had left their world replaced with a hammering heart.

They were completely sure they were blushing more than they had ever in their entire life because they were holding her hand. Suddenly all their focus is drawn to the way the skin on the back of her hand feels against their thumb as they had begun happily and absently tracing shapes against her skin in excitement.

It was perfect....

(OOC just incase it's hard to understand the autism stuff here Ellowyn is so unbelievably happy and overwhelmed that they finally did something right and made this person their crushing on happy that they have gone into stim mode as I call it where during an intense emotion I can be so taken by it that i don't take in the outside world feel free to ask any questions if I've not made things clear but basically Ellowyn is blushing in happy stimmy silence holding and stroking Ka'ri's hand like the queer as fuck autie they are.)

Ka'Ri's eyes twinkled. Ellowyn was a natural, already in character, lightly stroking her hand like a long-time lover. It was the little touches like that that could really sell it, lest you fall into a doldrum of disbelief where you seemed like what you posed as but just off in distressing ways.

She slipped the rings on both of their fingers and then let herself embody her character. She was in love but she had to work and was as apologetic about it as weary and upset. The hands clasped were a good sell as well. She had a good feeling going into the shops with a pro.

Well, time to step it up. She had unfortunately had had months to learn in-depth the ways of the market as a pickpocket and so dug deep into that knowledge, laying out the patterns in her mind like an old map slightly stiff from the sea air.

"All right, let's do this. If you separate the market into a grid with north top and west left, District B9 tends to be where imported snacks tend to congregate and District D5 is where medicines tend to be highest density, but it might be all mixed up due to the Alefest. I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out though! Shall we depart?"

When ka'ri explains what is going on so precisely and she didn't pull her hand away Ellowyn felt a frisson of relief. This sweet lady knew how to make sure they were comfortable and let them just revel in the feel of her skin.

They were besotted. She didn't see them as strange or weird and she let them hold their hand. Its was everything they had hoped holding someone's hand felt like. Secure, like a tether something to keep them anchored when the storm if emotions threatened to drown them. It was suddenly like there was some protection from the overwhelming outside world.

They were marveling at how suddenly sharp in focus the world was her leading the way into a riot of noise and people but they weren't scared. They felt bouyant.

They nod enthusiastically smiling.

Ka'Ri went with Ellowyn to the market and already she could feel her palm itch. The crowds, ripe with full purse-strings and inebriation were a pickpocket's dream and if it were a week ago, she would be right in the mix, making rent the old-fashioned way (through gross theft).

Nonetheless, they had a mission and a cover story. Ellowyn had a good idea with the held hands. It kept them from being lost from each other in the crowd while also selling them as a couple. So she leaned into it. Every so often she would break hand contact to scratch in her notebook as she peered over the crowd or random items in stall, but always let her hand return to theirs, often with an apologetic facial expression.

Together they journeyed together to the B9 grid area and Ka'Ri put on a harried face, scanning across the stalls with a severe expression. Her quest is any of the few stalls for Darkwood dark pine-nuts in the area, starting with the one Laerdya had given them.

Perception:

The street is indeed very busy.

The nut seller whose name they received from Luther has a stall near the middle of the block, on the left-hand side. The owner is a human man who is one of the tallest people Ellowyn and Ka'Ri have ever seen in their lives; he is currently seated and running nuts through a rotating drum over a roaster, and the smell of warm spices fill the air around his stall. People press up to buy paper cones filled with seasoned roasted nuts, which they eat as they browse the other nearby shops.

There are other nut sellers here: Ka'Ri's eagle eyes pick out an elven woman selling candied nuts and a gnome man selling salted nuts. There are additionally some sellers with goods which suggest connections to Darkwater merchandise: an orcish woman with tanned wild animal hides and a young human girl selling herbs and remedies which look wild in nature.

Ok, Ka'Ri adds up quickly. That's options A, B, C, D, and E taken care of. Let's just go through the list.

She kissed Ellowyn's hand gently. "I'll try and make this quick, honey bun." She said in a loud but caring voice before turning to the first individual on the list, the tall human nut roaster. Or rather turning in his direction while frantically looking through her book and making some quick marks.

"Okay, let's see B9, imported delicacies, table 3, and ah yes, Darkwood pine nuts. Excuse me sir, I am sorry to bother you while you're busy. My name is Cassandra Claymore. I represent Wuljhan and his interests. I need to speak with you briefly on sales if you are able."

"I'm sorry but could you give me a moment? Lunch rush." The tall man is as bearded and broad-shouldered as a northern lumberhand, but his voice is as cultured as a scholar. He hands out several more paper cones before his roasted stock is depleted and he refills his drum with nuts and measured spices. Then he turns back to the two.

"Claymore? I don't believe I've had the honor. Willem Mason, at your service. Sure, I know Wuljhan. How can I help you?"

"Of course." Ka'Ri holds her face crisp but professional as he ties up a few orders, making a small show of examining certain things, counting numbers of visitors, and writing things down. When he turns back, she nods politely.

"Thank you so much for your time. I and some of my compatriots have been sent to check in on the sales of some specialty items we've recently brought in to see if they are worth continuing and if so to what capacity. As such, I was wondering if you had a rough guesstimate of how well the Darkwood dark pine nuts have been selling at your establishment of late."

"Oh, goodness, the Darkwood nuts?" He puffs out his cheeks and considers this, blowing air out in a slow noiseless whistle. "Those are a real bear to get nowadays. Not that they've ever been easy, mind. They're just awful to harvest, and not nearly enough people like them enough to justify the markup you have to add for the effort. Though they might appeal to a niche market; I recently had my entire stock bought out by a single customer, which was rather welcome. But, no, if Wuljhan wants to move product, I'd recommend the southern sweet-nuts paired with honey; those are a big hit lately, and much easier to procure in bulk."

Ellowyn follows ka'ri and is deeply creeped out by the shambling dead. But their anchor was blithely trouncing around deep in the role of a clerk sometimes leaving them, which at first sent a cloying panic gripping at their throat, but when she returned after the first few times they knew she wasn't gone long and they started enjoying themselves.

They couldn't believe it they were enjoying a crowded festival in the biggest city they had ever been in. This was a completely foreign experience for them and it felt envigorating.

When they eventually arrived at the stall Ellowyns eye felt like they were on stalks there's was so much to see. This was the first ever festival they'd been to outside of their home village which was a much more subdued fair. Few more small stalls than usual a few games in the square and an informal competition for the local farmers for live stock and produce. Nothing this frenetic.

When Ka'ri kissed their hand they were suddenly simultaneously launched in to the atmosphere and their entire awareness became zeroed into that small patch of skin that touched her lips.

As she began speaking to someone Ellowyn finally noticed the practically gigantic human and is taken aback yet again at how oblivious they can be sometimes.

They liked his voice it was deep friendly.

When they hear about the single buyer they thrilled and quickly remembering the cover. They casually say to ka'ri within ear shot of the stall operator "it might be worth getting those details might be wulhjan can strike up a separate deal direct to the buyer for next time he has the product sweetie pie?"

Ka'Ri smiled sweetly at Ellowyn and kissed their hand again. "Thank you, honey bun." Quickly her scheming mind flittered as she tried to think about the best way to handle this. Sellers don't usually like even the hint of a supplier cutting them out, but then again, he did say that this product was a mess to sell through the traditional route.

She turned back to Willem. "Mr. Mason, do you happen to have any details on the individual who purchased the pine nuts? If it works better as a luxury good for large purchasers, then knowing as much as we can would be of great use to us. But let me just make a quick note about the southern sweet nuts and honey before I forget."

She flipped the page quickly scratching a note on a blank page. In clerk scratch, though still legible she wrote "Southern sweet nuts and honey pair big seller in nut market. Mr. Mason very good and helpful seller, consider upgrading to knight level on selection order for shipments."

Absent-mindedly, she let the book tip just forward enough that a tall human could read the single page as she turned to kiss Ellowyn's forehead. "Should we get anything for the kids while we're here? Or do you think they'd cool down too much before we finish our rounds?"

Turning back, "Sorry, yes, anything you could tell us about that buyer for demographic purposes?" The notebook fell back close to her chest as she made ready to eagerly write down whatever information he seemed fit to part with.

Sleight of Hand if needed to make the action seem accidental:

Willem does indeed seem faintly unsure of this, wondering if he's said too much and if he's about to be undercut. Still, he smiles at the couple, who seem nice and not responsible for anything Wuljhan might do.

"Well, I can tell you that they wanted these packed for sea travel. Not packed for delivery, though, so they weren't planning to resell them. Eating only." He leans forward, lowering his voice. "You know how sailors always have such difficulty with their diets? Anything fresh spoils right off the docks, and the dried stuff is tasteless and lacks a lot of nutrients they need? I'm thinking that maybe these pine nuts might have been found to be helpful staving off Sailor's Rot."

Leaning back, he crosses his arms over his chest. "In which case, there's definitely a market in spite of the markup. But by the Blessed Eighteen, I can't think they'll ever be easy enough to harvest in order to meet demand. Unless someone starts planting groves of the things."

Ka'Ri's eyebrows shoot up excitedly as her hand scritches across the page at a lightning pace.

"I didn't even think of that. If that's the case," she begins saying to herself, "we've been handling distribution all wrong. Instead of targeting major food holidays like Alefest, we should be coordinating it to sellers like you closer to Seacalm instead. Wuljhan is going to be delighted by this. Thank you so much!"

"And thank you for the great question idea, honey bun, she says kissing Ellowyn's hand again happily, clasping it to her own and placing it over her heart.

It takes a second for her to turn back, but she does so with a start. "Oh my, I'm so sorry to be wasting so much of your time, but this could have major consequences for when we get things out so we're not wasting your shelf space with slow-moving goods at the wrong times. Do you know anything else about the buyer in question. Did they seem navy or... freelance? Any particular race? It could be that a particular culture has cottoned on to this trick faster and so pairing choices that brought that in would be a blessing to sellers like you and thus make us happier down by the docks. That might even line up better with the Darkwood harvest months thus giving us a better crop selection bypassing the need for more growers entirely. Oh my this is so exciting!"

Ka'Ri pushes up her glasses up her nose in glee, the sheer hopefulness in her eyes overpowering the clerkly need to portray seriousness at all times. She carefully tries to bury it to seriously respond to Willem, but it still shines through as if in spite of her vain efforts to contain.

"hey babe maybe the pirates wanted them for other reasons. Pine nuts are known for their.." they wiggle their eyebrows playfully enjoying the moment to caught up in the freedom of the moment to worry "aphrodisiac properties" they laugh exhuberantly "either that or their all particularly low on zinc.

Either way it's a shame you don't have any Willem." They risk an attempt at a wink. They have no idea if it will be well received but right now they could take on the world, just to see her smile.

"I'd like a small cone for us to share why don't you pick a flavour beautiful lady?" Ellowyn takes out a some money to pay.

Willem can't help but chuckle at Ellowyn's joke. "I can't say I ever heard pine nuts do that," he admits, "but people will believe all kinds of things. If it sells product, I won't argue with them."

To Ka'Ri, he frowns thoughtfully. "The buyer wasn't the navy, more's the pity for my pocketbook," he offers up freely enough. "I'd say merchant or 'freelance', yeah. I don't ask those kinds of details, for obvious safety reasons. Demographics-wise..." He hesitates and then chuckles. "Well, I guess it doesn't hurt me to tell you the buyer was a little halfling woman. There's only tens of thousands in the city, right?"

Turning to his cones, he grins at Ellowyn's offer to buy. "I've got sweet-honey, warm-cinnamon, spicy-chili, and a salty-caramel I'm trying out new."