paixaorpg | Sing a Song of Sixpence [Active]

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Sing a Song of Sixpence [Active]

Character(s): Ahiru and Fakir
Content: Ahiru needs some ballet supplies, and Fakir needs a sword (among other things), so the two of them decide to enjoy the good weather with a bit of shopping.
Setting: Starting at the Actua Are at [J7], heading towards [J5]
Time: Late morning
Warnings: None so far!

Fakir glanced around his hotel room to make sure everything was in order. Even if the maids would probably come while he and Ahiru were gone, he didn’t want to leave his room as a mess. After a moment’s hesitation, he also grabbed his journal and tucked it under his arm. He had only been in Paixao for a week or two, but already he was very used to carrying it around — in fact, he didn’t feel quite right walking around without it. How else would someone contact him?

How odd. He had never even cared about that before.

He and Ahiru had planned their trip out over breakfast that morning — Ahiru had mentioned that she wanted to keep up her ballet practice while she was here, but neither Fakir nor Ahiru had come to Paixao with their ballet equipment. Besides, Fakir had been feeling rather unsafe in the city without some sort of sword, and a bag to carry all these things in would be nice…the more they talked about it, the more things they decided they needed. (The fact that money grew on trees certainly helped take away any guilt of how much money they would spend on all of these supplies, as well.)

Finally satisfied that he was ready to go out, Fakir softly knocked on Ahiru’s door, then opened it a little and glanced into her room. “Ready to go?”

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Well, doing ballet practice without the right clothes hadn't been easy. The long skirt and apron of her borrowed clothing didn't lend itself very well to dance. The least she could do was to do some stretches before eating breakfast, hoping that'd be enough until she could find some way of doing it more efficiently.

Fakir's plan sounded pretty good, since he needed new things too. Ahiru didn't go shopping very often in Kinkan Town, since she didn't have very much money, so shopping in Paixao with Fakir sounded fun Even if she still felt awkward about spending money. Still, he'd repeatedly assured her that it was okay to spend as much as they needed, since they could just pluck the money off the plants. (Even if the plants weren't "alive," Ahiru still felt bad every time she picked off more leaves.)

Now, all they needed to do was find a store!

At the knock upon her door, Ahiru glanced up from her journal and nodded. "Just a minute!"

She clicked her journal shut and slipped it into her apron (she was not going to lose it!) before scurrying across the room to grab her shoes. Shoes on and journal intact, she rushed to the door with a broad smile on her face. "Ready!"

Fakir couldn't help but smile for a brief moment when Ahiru came out of her room. She was one of those sorts of people that instantly brightened the mood wherever they went.

"Good," he said, his face relaxing into his typical neutral expression (that really almost looked more like a frown). "It's nice to see you're actually ready on time for once."

He walked down the hallway a little, opening his journal to the map screen for a brief moment as he did so. "The map says that there's a weapon shop north of here, so I thought we'd go there first, then see if there's any sort of general store nearby where we can get our other shopping done. It's a bit of a walk, but I've seen some cycles around here so we can get some for the trip back home...Fine with you?"
He glanced over his shoulder for a moment to see if she was following him.

Ahiru made a face at Fakir's remark about her punctuality, though she knew he was just giving her a hard time. The fact that he said it with that blank face of his made it even more clear that he was just joking.

"That sounds good," she said, after Fakir explained his plan. She'd never been into a weapon shop before, but she imagined it'd be full of.. well, pointy things. She was still a little amazed that Fakir knew how to dance, swordfight and write.

"Though.. cycles? Like, bicycles?" she asked, looking a bit sheepish for a moment. "Um.." It wasn't that she thought it was a bad idea, since it would make travelling quicker.. it was just that she'd never really exactly learned how to ride one. Before joining the academy as a girl, she hadn't had much use for one as a duck!

Fakir stopped walking and turned around. He knew that tone of voice...
"Yes. Like bicycles." He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out why the idea would make her worried like that. "What's wrong with them?"

"Well, there are some things!" Ahiru said quickly, after a long pause. And, as she was wont to do when she got embarrassed.. she rambled. Words tumbled out of her mouth at a mile a minute. "Like how you like chocolate that isn't sweet and Lillie likes seeing other people in pain and Mytho has bad luck with open windows!"

She slowed down, breathed.

"I don't know how to ride one," Ahiru admitted, mumbling.

Fakir would've liked to have told her that the chocolate he liked was semi-sweet, but Duck rambled on too fast for him to get a word in. He snorted when she mentioned Mytho and windows--she probably didn't even know about the time he jumped out to frame Fakir. She doesn't even know how bad his luck is...

When she finally admitted what was bothering her, Fakir raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Is that all?"
Of course the poor girl didn't know how to ride a bicycle! She could barely even dance!
"Moron," he said, although not unkindly. "I guess that would cause a problem..."

He sighed and thought for a moment, trying to figure out how this was going to work. He wasn't partcularly looking forward to dragging all of the items they were wanting back to the hotel...it was a fairly good walk...
"Oh, I know!" he exlaimed after a moment. "They sometimes make bicycles with a seat behind the rider...you could sit on it and hold onto me. If they have one at a store nearby, that is...
"And if not...well...I guess we can just walk back."

Ahiru fiddled with the end of her braid sheepishly, letting out a small awkward laugh. It was one of those things that she ought to know, but just.. didn't. At least Fakir knew about her secret (that wasn't really much of a secret anymore) so he knew exactly why.

"They make bicycles like that..? Well, that'll work!" she agreed, nodding. "We can keep looking until we find one."

Even if she couldn't ride a bicycle, she could help Fakir to look for one! Braid flapping out behind her, she hurried ahead of Fakir to the front door of the hotel, though it was only just down the small stretch of hallway, where she turned to wait for him.

"C'mon!"

((OOC: Okie-doke, sounds good. ^_^))

Fakir smiled inwardly as the girl rushed ahead of him. She always recovers quickly from being embarrassed...
He nodded when she called him, and followed her out the door and into the street.

Fakir enjoyed the walk there with Ahiru. Although it was a fair distance, he spent the time chatting idly with her, and before he knew it they had reached the shop. Even at home, he had never been very talkitive to others (and when he had been heartless, Mytho wasn't really the sort of guy that talked much), so it wasn't really something he was used to...but dispite all his teasing jokes and sarcastic comments on the way there, he actually enjoyed it. It really was nice, having her around...

A bell above the door jingled when he opened the door to Folios and stepped in. He instantly felt at home when he entered--the rows of weaponry and armor made the store feel similar to Karon's shop.
Although there were plenty of things that made it very unlike Karon's shop. For one thing, Fakir didn't recongize the guns sitting up on a rack in a display case--there weren't very many guns in Kinkan town, and certainly none that were that advanced.

...And Karon's shop certainly never had a large shelf suffed to the gills with plushies.

Fakir glanced around, but didn't see a shopkeeper for the moment. Oh well, he could find the swords on his own if he wandered through long enough. He turned towards Ahiru. "I'm going to be looking for a sword...be careful. Don't touch anything too breakable. I'll try not to take too long, I'm sure this sort of store is pretty boring for you."

((OOC: I just realized...which one of us is going to play the shopkeeper here? And the gypsy, too...I guess whoever doesn't play the shopkeeper here gets to play the gypsy. Which would you prefer?))

There's a swishy sound as a big, strong blond man (actually the smaller of the two Mario Brothers) comes down the stairs behind the counter, sharpening a knife. Luigi smiled broadly, seeing first the cute girl. "Welcome to Folios-a. What'sa cute girl like you doing in Folios-a. Obviously you don't want-a sword."

He put down the knife he was sharpening and went to the Wall o' Plushies™, taking down a rather cute plushie mouse (http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j79/WhiteWzrdBakura/npc/angelinaballerina.jpg) and handing it to the little girl. "You like a plushie? It'sa good one. My brother, Mario, he want the plushies in the store. He say that everybody like a plushie. So we gotta have-a the plushie in the store."

Luigi wiped the knife with his apron and took a look at it. "This-a looks good. Excuse me." The tall man walked down one of the aisles to put the now sharpened knife in its stand.

In a moderately loud voice, from one end of the store the big man asked, "Can-a Luigi help anyone else?"

Ahiru gawked up at him for a few short moments, "up" being the key word there. It was hard to be undaunted, what with him being exceptionally large and her being very small. But as soon as a smile spread across his face, she felt herself relax. Maybe it was the whole "pointy objects everywhere" thing that made her a little gawky.

She was about to say that no, she wasn't here for a sword (because she was a dancer, not a fighter), but her friend needed a sword (because he was a dancer and a fighter), when Luigi set down his knife and headed over to the wall.

"Oh-- thank you!" she squawked out, as the man set the mouse doll in her hand. It looked small in his big hands, but when she held it, she found it was just large enough to be hugged.

It was a little funny to have dolls in a weapons store, but the man's brother was right. Everybody loved plushies! (Except for maybe Fakir.)

Fakir was wandering past a stack of armor when the strangely-accented voice called from the other end of the store. He wasn't quite expecting to be helped so quickly, and jumped a little when he heard the voice...but he never liked to show when he was flustered, so he recovered as quickly as possible. He forced a neutral, not-surprised expression on his face, and walked around the corner towards the voice.

"Yes, thank you," he said as soon as he was close enough. "I'm looking for a sword."

Fakir saw the mouse doll in Ahiru's hands, and couldn't help but glance up at the plushies again as he spoke. There was a cute yellow duck plushie high up near the top of the shelf that he was particularly drawn to...not that he'd ever admit it.

"You're welcome, cute girl." Luigi smiled at the girl as she hugged the mouse with the dance outfit.

Upon word from another customer, likely cute girl's friend, he nodded, "Quiet boy need-a sword. This-a way." He cast a sidelong glance at the plushie shelf, trying to guess what quiet boy had been looking at, as he turned to go back to the aisles with the assortment of blades. There was a bit of an amused look at what had caught the dark-haired customer's eye. Apparently quiet boy liked ducks.

Leaving Fakir in an aisle with an assortment of swords from varying time periods and of varying design, he returned to the plushie shelf. Glancing over the pile on the top shelf, he came up with a cute yellow duck in a tutu (http://www.ty.com/3_detail?id=15968) like Ahiru's mouse doll in one hand, and a smaller cute yellow duck (http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j79/WhiteWzrdBakura/npc/duck1.jpg) in the other.

He glanced at the cute girl, bending down slightly to whisper to her, "You a well-behaved girl. I give you and your friend, quiet boy, a gift. Which-a one you think your friend like more?"

Looking at the ballerina duck he said, "This-a one could be friend with little mouse-girl." Glancing to the regular duck he said, "But this-a one cute, too."

Ahiru just barely held in a "quack!" of surprise when the two plushies were presented to her. What were the odds that he'd pick not only a duck, but also a duck in a tutu?! He couldn't possibly know about her, since they'd only just met and he didn't look like the kind of person that could read her mind.. Ahiru imagined that mind-readers would be a bit more threatening and not nearly as fond of plushies.

Maybe he'd read Fakir's story too? How did it get to be that so many people knew about her secret? Fakir was probably a really good writer if so many people were reading the story in his journal.. But then again, maybe it was just all a big coincidence and she was worrying over nothing?

Uh oh, she was looking more and more awkward with each second that she didn't answer his question. He was being kind enough to offer them both a gift, so she ought not be awkward.. but.. Duck or Tutu?

He asked her which one Fakir would like more..?

She glanced over her shoulder to where Fakir stood in the aisle of sword-shaped pointy things, then back to Luigi. Timidly, she reached out and gingerly picked up the plain duck from his hand.

"I think she'd be able to become friends with the little mouse-girl too," Ahiru said quietly, "if she tried."

Fakir winced a little when the shopkeeper called him "quiet boy", but...well...stayed quiet. It was better than "useless knight", at the very least.

He carefully looked over the selection of blades, walking slowly through the aisles. He didn't want to keep Ahiru here for too long -- there was no knowing what sort of damage she could do in a store like this, for one thing -- but he had to make sure he found the right sword. He carefully picked one up, weighing it in his hand. No, too heavy. He set it back down and continued his walk through the aisles, stopping every now and then to test another blade.

Although Fakir hated to admit it, he missed his old sword that he used to carry when he was a knight -- it felt comfortable and familiar. He was about to give up finding another sword like it when he saw a light, thin sword in a black scabbard. He picked it up and again tested the weight. It was a bit lighter than his old sword had been, but the closest one had come to it so far. He pulled the blade slightly out of the scabbard to take a look at it -- the metal of the sword appeared to be of very good quality, and sharp.

It wasn't exactly the same, but the odds of finding a sword that was just like his old one weren't very good. This sword would do well.

Fakir stepped out of the aisle and began to walk back toward Ahiru. In her hands were two dolls -- a mouse in a ballet costume, and...the duck he had been looking at up on the shelf. He could feel his face getting a bit red...had she seen that he was looking at it? He glanced away from her, doing his best to appear calm.

"I think I found what I was looking for," he told Ahiru.

((OOC: I'm so glad you thought of the Tutu/Ahiru symbolism there, because I completely missed it. XD;;))

Luigi held out the plushies, patiently waiting as the girl took a very long time deciding on which duck was better. When she finally chose the cute blue-eyed duck and said if she tried she could be friends with mouse-girl, he smiled, "Maybe you right. It'sa good plushie."

Shortly there after, as he moved back behind the counter, Luigi saw Fakir returning with a longsword in its scabbard. After Fakir announced that he found what he was looking for, Luigi prompted, "What are you using to pay for the sword?"

The city accepted all forms of currency, although at Folios they had decided to work on items with munny as the standard currency and work conversions as they happened. The sword Fakir had was roughly 200 munny and he put the mouse-girl plushie at a discount...after all, his brother didn't need to know he included extra stuff in the price. They never got many customers for the plushies anyway and the girl had behaved quite well.

As Fakir approached with the sword in hand, Ahiru turned to see what he'd chosen. It looked an awful lot like the other swords in the shop to her, but she figured Fakir saw something that she didn't. Though, when she thought about it, the new sword looked a little like his old one. And that was a good thing, now that she wasn't on the receiving end of it anymore.

"It looks like a good one," she said, regardless of whether or not she could really tell.

"Ah!" she squawked, realizing that she was still holding two plushies in her hand. The man had said that the duck would be a gift (which was very kind of him!), so she ought to put the tutu-clad mouse plushie back on the self. So the scurried over to the plushie rack and stood up on her tiptoes in order to place the mouse doll back where it came from.

Fakir set the sword down on the counter. He was a bit nervous when the shop-keeper asked how he would pay for the sword...he hadn't been asked that in the city yet, and he was starting to wonder if simply giving the shop keeper a few shiny objects would really work this time around. He hesitantly pulled out a few silver leaves out of his pocket and held them out.

"I have these, but I don't know exactly how much they're worth," he admitted. "How much would you need for the sword and..."

He glanced around, realizing Ahiru wasn't standing next to him. He turned, getting ready to scold Ahiru for not bringing the plushies up to be paid for, when he saw that she was stretching out her arm to place one of the plushies back on the shelf.
"Hey! Didn't you want that doll?"

Silver to munny that hadn't happened in awhile. After an examination of how shiny the silver leaves were, Luigi said, "Two of leaves for mouse-girl and sword. Cute duck is gift because your friend is very good girl, quiet boy."

He shook his head at Ahiru, chuckling as she attempted to put mouse-girl back, "Keep little mouse-girl. Maybe you make cute duck and mouse-girl be friends like you say."

He smiled at the two, "If sword ever need to be sharpened come back. We sharpen sword too."

"..oh," Ahiru said. She'd forgotten (again) about the new manner of shopping in Paixao. Mouse doll still in her hand, she lowered her outstretched arm from the shelf and laughed sheepishly. Both plushies tucked safely into her arms, she hurried back over to where Fakir was paying Luigi for the sword and doll.

"Thank you very much!" she said, bowing her head out of habit. If Fakir did end up coming back here to get the sword sharpened, she'd come along too so she could say hello to the shop keeper.

Glancing down at the two dolls in her arms, her smile widened a bit. Her hotel room would be a little bit cozier with them around.

((A time jump sounds fine to me! ^_^))

Fakir placed two of the leaves on the counter, then picked up the sword.

"Thank you for all of your help. I'll be sure to come back if I need to get it sharpened."

He glanced over at Ahiru, who was happily hugging her two new dolls in her arms. It was cute, seeing her so happy over them, and he really did like the duck plushie (although he'd NEVER admit that outloud). He allowed a brief smile to float onto his face before turning to leave.

"Let's go, Ahiru," he said. "We've still got a lot more to do before the day is done."

A festive group danced its way down the street, a panoply of bright clothing and gaudy jewelry flashing in the too-bright Paixaoan sun. Tambourines shook out a rhythm, flutes piped merrily, and a lone fiddler played a lively melody as the gypsies made their flashy way down the street, their wagons festooned with all their gaudy wares.

At the reins of the front wagon sat a portly man, his blonde hair treading the path toward silver, in silks every bit as bright, with jewelry every bit as flashy as the lively young ladies dancing around the cart train. His voice, deep and rich, belted out a song to the music, its words entirely incomprehensible to all but the gypsies themselves.

There were carts upon carts full of every ware imagineable, from exotic foods to the finest of silks, metalwork of all nature, and even a few caged Lumens in a cart near the rear, though none looked so ferocious as the great, glowing white horse-like beasts pulling the wagons along.

As the song trailed to an end and the dancers hopped up onto the carts to take a rest, the big man held up a hand and called out a command; the train stopped, and young, strong, blonde haired youths began setting up the sidewalk shops. The air buzzed with the strange language of the gypsies, each calling to his neighbors and putting together their wares with the ease of long practice.

Twas a festive group indeed, but anyone who's ever met a gypsy will know that there's always more than meets the eye...

It didn't take very much for the gypsies to sell their act to Ahiru. Catching sight of the shiny silks and the jingling jewelry hanging from the dancers' arms and necks, hearing the music fill the air, her eyes practically lit up. "Easily dazzled" described her quite well. At the moment she heard their music from farther down the street and stood up on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the group, she had already made up her mind.

It was like a traveling festival. Back in Kinkan Town, they had the annual Fire Festival, but never anything like this. Overwhelmed by their flamboyant presentation, she found herself breathless as she balanced on her toes.

She lowered herself back onto her heels and took in a deep breath all at once, before whipping around to smile brightly at her friend.

"Fakir, let's go see!" she urged, taking hold of his hand and hurrying over to where the gypsies were stopping and laying out their goods.

Fakir's reaction to the group of gypsies were decidedly different than Ahiru's. To him, the garish colors were an eyesore, the music obnoxious. Overall, it was an overload of the senses--Fakir could already feel a headache slowly forming.
(Who ever heard of blond gypsies, anyway? What was with this city?)

Fakir had decided that he didn't particularly want to buy anything they had to sell. The gypsies maybe had the dance supplies they needed, but he wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of practicing while clothed in bright orange silk. (The image in his head when he thought this certainly didn't help the headache.)

He turned, quickly trying to walk away from the group. Next thing he knew, however, Ahiru's small but strong hand was grabbing onto his own and tugging him towards the very thing he was trying to stay away from.

"Fakir, let's go see!"

"No, let's not!" he said with a frown as she dragged him towards the group. "I doubt they have any ballet--"

And next thing he knew, he was staring straight at one of the gypsies.

Great.

The old silver-blonde gypsy's slippery smile would do little to put Fakir at ease as he gave a peculiar bow. "Greetings, my friends, greetings," he said with a sonorous rumble. "Welcome to our little faire; I hope you'll find something you like."

The man's slippery smile took on an added predatory edge as he looked Fakir in the eye briefly. The message was short and to the point; he was going to buy -something- or he wasn't going to walk away. And there was a definite hint in that smile that silver leaves just wouldn't do.

He turned his smile from Fakir to Ahiru, and just like that, his expression was as guileless as a newborn child's. "We have quite an array of dancing supplies, my young friend, though I am afraid the majority of our fair city lacks the appreciation we have of the art. I would be quite happy to escort you around our troupe."

The band struck up another tune, having produced a guitarist from somewhere. The melody was uplifting, but it had a haunting quality to it that spoke of something arcane; the singer spoke the lyrics in a strangely lilting voice, echoing that ghostly quality as she and her bandmates sang the lyrics in the gypsies' tongue.

Underneath a harvest moon where the ancient shadows will play and hide
With a ghostly tune and the devil's pride
Stranger whispered all the town, has he come to save us from Satan's hand?
Leading them away to a foreign land.

Play for me minstrel, play and take away our sorrows
Play for me minstrel, play and we'll follow
Here, listen can you hear the haunting melody surrounding you?
Weaving a magic spell all around you...

Danger hidden in his eyes, we should have seen it from far away
Wearing such a thin disguise in the light of day.
He held the answer to our prayers yet it was too good to be
Proof before our very eyes yet we could not see...

Play for me minstrel, play and take away our sorrows
Play for me minstrel, play and we'll follow
Here, listen can you hear the haunting melody surrounding you?
Weaving a magic spell all around you...

(Sorry for the impromptu lyric quote, but I thought that song just about summed this situation up perfectly. Blackmore's Night, Play Minstrel, Play)

The silent dialogue between Fakir and the older gypsy flew completely over Ahiru's head. If anything, the little bow and greeting that he delivered seemed akin to a fairybook, enough to subconsciously remind her of home. Enough to give the slightest sense of familiarity while maintaining the exotic air that they worked very hard to create.

"Thank you!" Ahiru said, beaming. His expression struck her as nothing but candid. "So we came to just the right place, then."

She started to absently trail after the troupe leader, glancing over her shoulder at Fakir as she did. Her smile almost seemed to say "see, look how lucky we are?" Because after all, the man had said that the rest of the city didn't carry as many dancing supplies as they did. It was a good thing they'd come!

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. The Gypsy obviously had something up his sleeve...although as to what, Fakir was clueless. Whatever it was, Fakir doubted it was a good thing.

But Ahiru--the moron--blithely skipped ahead, turning to him as if waiting for him to come.
Well, he certainly wasn't going to leave her alone...and they did need those dancing supplies...

That was it. Fakir had decided. They'd go, quickly get whatever they needed, and get out before the gypsies could pull any tricks on them. He quickly walked over to Ahiru with long strides, catching up to her until he was standing right at her shoulder. Whenever any of the gypsies approached, he darkly glared at them, his hand resting on his new sword as a silent warning for them to stay away from the girl.

He may have given up on his life as a knight, but he'd still protect her, no matter what. This wasn't The Prince and the Raven anymore--maybe he wouldn't be so useless here.

Anyone who's ever met a gypsy knows that they always have something up their sleeves. Even in the mildest of meetings, a gypsy's hands should never be ignored.

"Yes, little one, you've come to precisely the right place. Perhaps, once you've found what you like, you would like to see us perform a real show? This street dancing is nice, to be sure, but we're much better at night."

The dancers wove through their routine, every movement carefully calculated, timed with the rhythm of the song. That strange, unearthly, eery melody that was at once foreboding and enticing, a forbidden pleasure in and of itself, one which spoke of times long past, of nights spent dancing by the light of campfires. None came too close to the trio; the old gypsy king with his silvering hair, the knight, or the girl. It was early yet, and the sport was only just beginning. It wouldn't do to spoil the game so early, no, not at all...

As soon as Ahiru started to get the slightest inkling that Fakir was really, honestly upset about something instead of just his usual prickliness, the gypsy spoke again and turned her attention back to his show.

"That'd be wonderful," she said quietly, humbled by her surroundings but still every bit delighted at the idea of seeing a real performance. It reminded her of the Fire Festival, almost. There were some things about this world that were really similar to her own, if she just knew the right places to look. She could imagine Edel with this sort of group.

"Where do you perform at night?" she asked, glancing back up to the older gypsy after having another look at the dancers. She and Fakir needed to go back to the hotel with the things they'd bought that day (she was still holding the two dolls from the weapons' store) and it looked like the gypsies moved around a lot.

No. NO! Coming back to the gypsies at night would definantely be out of the question! How could he keep an eye on them if it was dark? That was probably their plan, come to think of it...

"Idiot," Fakir muttered under his breath. How could she be so gullible?

Hoping that she'd understand the danger, Fakir put a hand on the duck-girl's shoulder to get her attention. "Ahiru, I don't know if we could come tonight. We need to get practicing, remember? If you miss too many days of practice, it will start to show. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for us to come tonight."

Sensing that the young man was most definitely buying into the scheme (how could anyone miss that, when he was radiating distrust so openly?), the gypsy king kept his direct efforts focused on Ahiru. "We've a place of our own, a theater of sorts. You and your friend would be most welcome indeed."

They had by now reached a cart-shop laden with dancing supplies, everything from clothing to costume jewelry that was probably every bit as expensive as the real thing would have been. "Take your pick, my friends. The cost, as they say, is on me."

This was a ploy that he had used before; paying for the goods openly, while preparing for other, less overt gestures. Another song had been struck, a slow, mournful tune. The dancers were sitting this one out for the most part; there were only three people moving to this song. A couple, male and female, dancing together, and a second woman, dancing by herself in an obvious lament. It was a story in steps and movements, as old as time itself.

Ahiru glanced up at Fakir, nodding at his reminder. He was right, once again. They'd come out here in the first place so that they'd be able to practice, so she couldn't forget about that. Still, she wanted to see the dances as the gypsy king described them. They sounded like they'd be incredible..

"Well, maybe not tonight.." she replied reluctantly. At least Mr. Cat would be proud of her for this.

As they came up to the cart, Ahiru brightened at the large variety of things available. She could already see a pair of dancing shoes that might fit her. A question about those shoes was on the tip of her tongue when the man announced that the supplies would be free.

"We couldn't!" Ahiru blurted, shaking her head quickly. "I mean-- it's not any trouble for us and they seem so nice, so it's really okay!"

And she might have continued, but her voice died off as soon as the new song began. It was such a smooth and striking melody that she felt her voice would ruin it altogether. Hearing the tune, she couldn't help but glance over at the dancers out of the corner of her eye.

Despite being in the middle of the streets, the dancers and their story seemed to be off in a completely different world. And the couple who danced together (pas de deux, Ahiru thought) were beautiful, to be sure, but she felt herself watching the other woman dancing alone. This was a story she knew.

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Sing a Song of Sixpence [Active]

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[ooc] forgot to add

Re: [ooc] forgot to add

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