Catch All

[cryptsleeper]

Comments

[cryptsleeper]

The colors though?

[He asks because the route he's taken is on purpose. They're going through the cloth merchants entrance, rather than the food one. Alucard wants to let Trevor see the colors here, because even with the laws being what they are? There is so much color. There is so much brightness. The dyed bolts. The completed works. The rugs that pile atop each other.

Alucard moves slower. He knows Trevor will want to look.]

[miraclewhip]

They're lovely.

[ He's been refraining from talking about cloth too much. In part because he knows it's unfair. These people have mastered their crafts as far as humans can, and he respects that, but it's hard not to be a little critical. Nothing here is perfect, woven so closely that there's no sign left that there were ever individual threads. Because humans can't do that. ]

They're not like the ones in the queen's lands, because those ones- they're just there because she wants them to be there. These ones are- people have had to find them, haven't they? Find them and make them and be sure they're as bright as possible.

[cryptsleeper]

Mmmhmmm. There's those who spin the thread, others that dye the thread or cloth, more who weave it. some who sew it into a final form and some who don't.

[Worth it. So, so worth it.]

I'll take you to the Grand Bazaar when she's well. There's an entire street full of cloth merchants there.

[miraclewhip]

There's a bigger one? With more of them?

[ He's delighted by this news? And also by the fact that they're already arranging a second date! And that Sypha gets to come on it! ]

It's beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here.

[cryptsleeper]

Mmm. Much larger. More like a labyrinth, if I'm being entirely honest.

[Oh....

Oh that face.]

I'm just glad you're enjoying it.

[miraclewhip]

More than I'd imagined I could.

[ Finally, finally, he turns his attention back to Alucard ]

What do you need to collect from here? Do you want me to carry things?

[cryptsleeper]

Ah, we'll head to the food now. Ready?

[miraclewhip]

I am.

[ He stares out, wide-eyed as they move from cloth to tools and fuel to stalls piled high with bread and vegetables. And after a moment, he reaches out a hand to Alucard's non-cane side. He doesn't expect much, but it's worth a try. ]

So you just keep all the things you'll need here?

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard knows they can't fully hold hands in public. But he brushes his hand against Trevor's for a fleeting moment, hoping he'll take the hint and understand.]

Well, people bring things in from all over, sell it here, and then we take it to our own homes.

[Fruit and veg first. He goes to one of the stands with an older woman sitting beside it, and they immediately launch not into a haggle over food, but catching up over the last few days. Alucard admitting his absence is due to a patient, and that he'll need a little more than the usual for it. They talk as the woman bags things up, as Alucard exchanges coin. And then they farewell each other, and Alucard looks to Trevor.]

That's part one.

[miraclewhip]

[ It's enough. More than enough, and he grins. It keeps his attention on Alucard through the whole of the discussion, even through the tempting distraction of the cut flowers a few stalls away. ]

What's next?

[cryptsleeper]

Vegetables. Then bread, then we'll get a little bit of meat.

--I'll give you coin, if you want to bring home flowers.

[miraclewhip]

Really?

[ There are a few gardens here. Up on rooftops or window boxes. Attached to the houses of the richer men in other parts of the city. But it's been a while since he'd fed on anything nicer than dust and scraps of meat and the cloth that he bundled the speaker in and scrappy old bandages that wouldn't survive another boiling. He's not suffering, but that doesn't mean a treat wouldn't be nice. ]

Please? I'll make something good for you.

[cryptsleeper]

I'll meet you here in five minutes.

[He gives Trevor more than enough coin. Explains each one in brief, and then steps away. Trevor will want it to be a surprise, and that's important.]

Surprise me.

[miraclewhip]

[ It's asters he returns with, bright and colourful, along with a little change. Cheap enough, even if he didn't exactly manage to get a good deal on them, but nectar is nectar and he has plans for the brightly coloured petals. ]

These ones. I like these ones.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard has a bag of vegetables now. Along with the fruit, and he's gone and gotten a few different types of bread. All that's left is the meat, and Alucard knows he has to do a real haggle.

But he comes back for Trevor first, and oh. He did get a riot of color, didn't he?

His smile is soft when he realizes how pleased Trevor is with the acquisition.]

You're just going to add color wherever you can, aren't you?

[miraclewhip]

Only a little. I have a plan.

[ He strokes a finger over the petals of one of the flowers. They'll make good thread. Bright, but not in any shade that they've not already seen on the cloth market stalls. Probably safe enough. ]

Mostly? I'm going to eat them a little.

[ Nom nom nectar. ]

[cryptsleeper]

--Ah. I could buy some honey, if you'd like.

[He's not sure what the plan is. But he's looking forward to it.]

[miraclewhip]

Really?

[ Every moment he seems to grow more excited about something or another, but the promise of honey seems to be the most exciting thing yet. ]

It wouldn't be too much, would it?

[ He has no idea what things cost in human money, okay? ]

[cryptsleeper]

No, it's common enough here.

[It's a little expensive. But not by too much.]

Let's go get some.

[miraclewhip]

Where do they keep it?

[ Honey! For him! He's going to have flowers and honey and he went on a date with Alucard and Alucard is GIVING HIM PRESENTS this is the best day. ]

Show me?

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard gestures for Trevor to follow. He knows one of the dried fruits sellers usually has it and---

--he's right, and he haggles for the honey alone with a new supply of dried dates because he is actually running low. It is more expensive, but it means Alucard is walking away with a larger jaw of honey than usual.

He hands that bag of goods to Trevor.]

Can you carry this please? It's a little too heavy, and we still have to go get the meat.

[miraclewhip]

Of course.

[ It's theoretically one of the reasons he came along, after all. Even if the real reason was closer to just wanting to spend time with Alucard. It seems like it would be difficult to carry much and to use the cane. He hooks the bag from a wrist so that he can continue clutching the flowers, and now the jar of honey, against himself. His presents. His presents from Alucard. ]

What's left? Just meat?

[cryptsleeper]

Yes. Sypha's diet needs more protein, now that she can stomach it. Chickpeas and other legumes are fine, but it'll be better like this.

[He takes a sudden turn, and things change. There's now meat behind all the counters. Chickens and cows, fish brought in from the sea. No pork for all the obvious reasons.

But it's fish that Alucard goes for first. Picking three out, hoping Sypha will be willing to try and eat the whole thing.

His eyes go to Trevor every so often, just watching him react.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Oh. It's an entire sea of flesh. That's neat.

He looks around, finding less game than he expected. Much of the meat is from livestock, and he's not very accustomed to the idea of farming. Chickens, he knows, and those are what he gets distracted by while Alucard pays for the fish. They're laying hens rather than birds for eating, and he crouches down by the cage to look at them as they wander about or sit in perfect chicken-shapes to snooze, unbothered by the crowds. ]

I wanted to find birds to put in the garden, before. [ He says. ] For eggs. And company. But I think Eight would have bothered them.

[cryptsleeper]

Eight probably would have chased them around too much. Stressed them out so they couldn't lay.

[The chickens are where Alucard heads next, so it's actually rather good timing. He looks at Trevor, then the hens, then back to Trevor.]

I'm nearly done. I'm getting some of their less living relatives, and then we can head back.