The Streets and Connecting Alleyways

Lum looks at Maelik torn between exasperation, and amusement. The demonlord was ill equipped to deal with children. The father of the child was very lucky she was there as well, or his chosen protector, would have been Klur's biggest threat. She is mildly surprised at the strength of the child. She had provided no resistance when he moved her hand, but still she could feel great strength. Moving her hand out of the way, Lum moves her face in, nuzzling his nose with her own. As she does she sings to him gently.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass is broke,
Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat,

And if that billy goat won't pull,
Mama's gonna buy you a cart and a bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark,
Mama's gonna buy you a horse and a cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,
you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."

The child wasn't the only one effected by Lum's beautiful singing as her melodic voice caused Maelik's eyes to droop as well. However the demon refused to allow himself to drift away, no matter how incredibly tempting it was to just allow himself to fall into a trance to the angelic creature's magnificent tune... So very very tempting... Maybe he could just rest his eyes a little... NO! Nononononono! Not on the streets!

Maelik slapped himself awake and cuddled up next to Lum, looking down at the small child in her arms in relief. Thank the forces that be, he stopped crying.

"You're much better at this than I am my dear. This little one is much more frail than what I am used to dealing with. Perhaps we may need to beef him up a bit..."

That's when the call was sounded from his Midnight Sun trinket, his eye telling him that the time has come for the trip to begin.

"Oh, never mind that will have to wait. We'll be leaving soon for the mountains my dear. Let's go back and pack up what we need, I'll send Jeffery to buy the necessary child caring supplies with the jewels."

A single clawed finger made its way to Maelik's lip as he thought about Lum's propositions. He for one was rather fond of his armor, its gleaming black metal telling the tale of thousands of victories and held a special sentimental place in his heart... But Lum said it had to go so for now it was as good as gone.

"That can be arranged, I'll get him to fetch me some softer clothes, although I can't really do anything about my natural spikes and ridges so we'll just have to be careful about that. As for the nanny once again Jeffery will work for now, the child is small yet and with the proper conditioning will be more than receptive of the imp's authority."

The demon laid a hand against a nearby wall and a complex summoning circle spiraled out from it, the central pentagram glowing red. Maelik simply uttered Jeffery's true name and pulled him from whatever hole he was hiding in to stand at attention before them.

"You have orders!" Maelik began, already removing his spiky pauldrons. "You must take this sack of gems and acquire for us... Umm... One second just let me think... Oh yes, a crib, some child sized clothes, similarly sized shoes, a whittling knife, a few cups, sewing supplies, silver and gold ingots, a chisel, a hammer, rolls of various fabrics, and a few sets of clothing for me. Do you think you can handle that?"

The imp (who had a single string of spaghetti still hanging from under his mask) nodded fervently and waddled away at the speed of... Jeffery.

Maelik turned back to Lum and Klur and motioned back to the Sun, his wings busily trying to pry the armor from his tail.

"Shall we then?"

“I can’t imagine you’ve gotten many requests like this.”

The carpenter looks at the rough sketch before him, skimming over the various designs of parts and how they would fit together. He cups a rough hand around his prodigious chin. There were many things he could do with lumber. He always liked how he could change one of the mightiest trees into a bed, fell a ancient oak and make it into a table. The pay wasn’t half bad either. People loved their furniture.

“Doable. Just ‘cause somethin’ isn’t normally done don’t mean I can’t do it. It’ll take time. Cost a touch to get all the right materials.” His clipped speech sounds like one speaking aloud to themselves.

The customer nods, already prepared for the topic of payment to arise. “I understand. If I could have a rough estimate as to the cost?”

“Well, it’s basically somthin’ I make already, just some adjustments. Different materials. These metal parts though. Can’t say I’d have these sitting about. Assuming a bit much of my talent to think I can work metal as wood, aren’t you?” It was obviously intended as a jest.

Across the counter, the visitor looks up into the eyes of their counterpart and chuckles. “Assume the metalwork is done. I would not want to inconvenience you by requiring you to learn a wholly new trade just to fulfill my bizarre order.” A pause. “I will pay you double the cost of what you would ask for one of those chairs over there, the mahogany ones.”

A lazy gesture towards a set of chairs more aptly described as thrones, each high backed with splendid carvings etched elegantly downwards.

The carpenter smiles at this, not questioning the customer any further. Getting paid handsomely for putting the pieces of a simple puzzle together makes up for any oddities the customer might toss put. After a brief glance at the parchment, the workman speaks. “Two weeks. That’s if’n I work on this alone. Four weeks if we remember I’m a busy man.”

“Then four weeks it will be, my good sir. Thank you very much for your time and willingness to take my order. You would not believe how some fellows in your trade can not understand when they have simple request from a potentially life-long customer. I’ll be by next week or so to make the first payment and see how you are progressing.”

With an awkward swinging out of his legs, the customer shambles about to go.

The carpenter holds up his hand, futilely trying to get the figure to stay for a few more seconds.

“Your name?” he calls out, “I’ll need somethin’ for the ledger.”

The customer stops midway through the shop. Leaning heavily on a cane, they turn around and answer: “Raphael. ‘God heals’. Funny, that.”

Raphael makes his way out of the store. Upon leaving, the shopkeeper notes that three figures join the erstwhile customer out in the street, two on either side and one behind. He thinks nothing of it, looking back to the diagram in front of him

Assume the metal is done… he repeats to himself, good thing, too. Where in blazes would he get shapes like that?

Kematian strolled quite leisurely with Moon, idly feeling the scars and calluses on her hand as they contrasted with the smoother sections. It was nice to have her close like this, and for a prolonged period, at that. He grinned back into her excited face. It was such a blessing to see someone so happy, especially this someone. "I saw a few red flowers on the mountains in winter, once. I think they were tulips. The spring flowers were very different. It'll be nice to see what these plains have!"

Flowers: not his topic. But he didn't need to be a florist to talk about pretty colors and scents with someone like Moon. "So, you're named after a kind of flower, I guess? A moonflower?"

Kematian tilted his head, mulling over the possible definitions of "picnic." He did not want to impress upon her that he did not know what one was, especially given how casually she had offered it. The flowers and the sun sounded like a great idea, regardless. "Of course! It'd be really nice."

He nodded. Her name's meaning sounded a lot better than his. It actually featured a story of some interest. "That's quite beautiful," he commented.

He barely even knew how to process the feeling he had when she nudged him with her hip. He filed it away somewhere under that mysterious case of feelings he had experienced since he met her. It was almost instantly overridden by her question and comment. He supposed it was a rather exotic name. Still, he sought to avoid any talk of it... He glanced around, grimaced, drew in breath. After a few tense moments (all the while feeling worse about not answering her), he gave in and answered. "Well, I don't actually know what my first name means. My parents chose it because there was a warrior who bore the name in a very far land, a long time ago. My last name, however, I can tell you the meaning of. It means 'magic' in a dialect in the mountains of Asgeir. We can trace it back to an old spellsword -- you know, the mages who fight like warriors?"

He looked down at her hands around his, then back up into her silvery eyes. Was that his heart rate increasing? Regardless, he should address her concern. He blinked a couple of times. "Uh, no. I'm fine with talking about it, anything really. Where my name came from just wasn't as interesting as yours. It's not anything really bad. I'm glad you're getting to know me, and I'd really like to know you well, too."

Kematian, throwing words out there again. He hoped they were alright.

Well then. Did she really think that he was that interesting? He had moved to Isra in the first place because he was so bland! Moon, now, with her inter-tribal parents, and unique name, and wolf-shifting abilities, she was interesting. And she was now clinging to him. It was... honestly exhilarating. He flushed a bright red, compensating for all the time her own face had... including now. She turned away, and he tilted his head, concerned. She was looking at something... He looked to the skies, trying to find what it was that had captivated her. "What do you see?"

Why did Kematian feel this way? When he saw her, when she looked at him, when she put her lips to his cheek--

WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKBBZSZZZSSLSLLKKRRRFRN. His mind exploded. He just stared into Moon's eyes, an expression of love-struck shock on his face. Had she... kissed him? He had never been kissed before; the man had barely even witnessed a kiss in the past. He could feel his cheeks burning, and his spirit was just as on fire. "I... thank you. You look more amazing than monuments that people called the most beautiful in the world. I..."

Was it that same impulse? Did he merely want to see what it felt like for himself? He did not even know. Either way, it was resisted. Something tugged at him. It felt wrong to just kiss twice in that moment... The one was special enough. He hugged high tightly, wrapping his strong arms around her slim body. This moment was incredible.