Log:Meeting at the Market

Meeting at the Market
Participants Nathania, Soleil	5 March, 2017 Nathania and Soleil get acquainted over tea at the Riverside Market
Location FB02
=========-< << Fort Brunsett - Riverside Markets >> >-========== Serving the needs of three districts, the riverside markets are a two-mile tangle of brightly coloured buildings, eclectic and bold, which follow the gently curving eastern bank of the lazy Tam. Umbrellas and awnings advertising names and wares form a rippling canopy above street vendors' stalls. A number of popular ethnic restaurants make their home here, tucked among boutiques, salons and curiosities. During the growing season, a stretch of grassy common land along the river is rented every weekday by a farmers' market, selling fresh produce from local growers and, when Autumn comes around, dried corn stalks and decorative gourds. The brilliant white paint of the Riverside Hospital gleams from its sprawling lot on the Tam's other bank, the public park a splash of living colour and less frenetic energy down at its feet. Bridges can be glimpsed around the bend to north and south. Soleil is just arriving, coming through a gap in the stalls, or to Lost, out the hedgegate. She carries a heavy backpack overloaded with odds and ends, with a baseball bat tucked into it at her back. In hand she has a large basket, heavy with scavenged goods from the wilderness. She waves hello in a friendly, familiar way to anyone who happens to look her way, pausing frequently to chat with vendors or those hanging around, occasionally slipping them little jars of golden honey. Nathania is a new vendor in town. She sells handknit goods. Her socks are quite popular this morning! She upnods to Soleil, smiling at her between customers. "Hello," she says in a soft voice as the Fairest comes by. The rag dolly is high Wyrd, a bit eerie in her Wyrdiness; but even still, she is kind, polite, and soft-spoken in her odd speech. "It's nice... to see someone... so cheerful this morning." The dolly is all bundled up, a hat pulled down over her head and a cowl around her neck. Makes it hard to see the feathers running down her arms and in her hair, but they are there, regardless. "I have... a thermos... of hot tea. Are you able... to accept some as you... pass by? It is... a black tea, unsweetened, with... chocolate and chiles... in it. Good and... warming on a... chilly morning," she offers with a kind smile. Soleil pauses, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet as if standing still is difficult, but still patient as she waits for Nathania to finish speaking. With a bright laugh and a nod, she eagerly steps closer and says, "Oh wow, that'd be great. That sounds like an interesting combo for at tea. Do you /want/ some sweetener? I've got, like...tons of honey samples in here, if you want some." She leans in to peer more closely at the knitwear, offering casually, though without much time for breath between thoughts, "Your stuff looks great, really perfect time for this sort of thing. Seems like everyone's cold. I might get a few pairs. I know some folks who could use 'em." There's the breath. Just a second, before she finishes up with a grin as she looks back up, "I'm Soleil, by the way." Nathania smiles warmly despite the deep chill around her. That Winter mantle, yo. "I would love... some honey." She moves to get some tea, pulling up a couple of mugs--both from vendors here--and pouring generous, steaming cups. "Is the honey... from a locally sourced... farm?" she asks, curious, as she hands over the mug with maybe-surprising fingers for a rag doll. "Thank... you. If it... is for... people in need, I offer a discount. At-cost." She nods firmly at this. "I also... make mittens." Then her voice drops so only Soleil can hear her. "My last... Freehold, I made... a lot of goods. In all... sorts of sizes, if you... catch my... drift." Then she blushes suddenly, bright red triangles on her cheeks. "I'm Nathania, Soleil. Forgive... my rudeness." She offers a hand, even if it means carefully putting down a mug. Soleil takes the mug of tea, but quickly sets it aside to shake the offered hand- a bit too enthusiastically, if we're being honest. Once Nathania has been released, Soleil dives into her basket and pulls out three small jars with different colored honeys in each. "Oh sure, my bees are the ones that make all the honey. This one's apple, this one's blackberry, and this one's...well, a little less local. I sent some of my bees down to Florida for the oranges, so there's that." She sets each one down carefully and gives Nathania a warm smile as she sips the tea, "Oooh, this is lovely. Now, where are you from, and what on earth caused any place to be willing to lose such a clearly wonderful craftswoman and generous citizen?" She adds, almost as an afterthought, "Oh, if you like doing mittens and things for needy people, you should come to the homeless camp with me some time. They're like, super needy, and generally pretty sad. I mean, I go to cheer them up and stuff, but...you know.." She shrugs, letting the obvious 'different harvest for different folks' hang silently. Nathania nods. "That might be... good. I like... spreading smiles." Surprisingly, this isn't a lie from the rag dolly. They might be *sad* smiles, but they're smiles, nonetheless. "There is... a town in Maine called... Aleswich. I came from... there." She gives a soft, sad smile. "I left... after my husband... disappeared." The 'into the Hedge again' bit is left unspoken, hanging. She carefully picks up the samples of honey, and considers which flavor would go best in her tea, before deciding on apple. She patiently waits for a small dollop to drop into her tea mug, and lets it dissolve. "There's a great... tea company in... Aleswich that... blends this tea, but I hope... to find a place that... does tea blends... more locally. I can order from... the company online, but why... not support... a local business?" She smiles a little to Soleil, then. "My goodness. Where... is your stall?" she says, as if she suddenly noticed how laden down Soleil is. "I don't mean... to keep you. I... hope you're next door though." She gestures to the empty stall next to her. Soleil laughs and shakes her head, noticing Nathania's worry and setting down her basket and, with a bit of an 'oomph' her big backpack as well. "Oh I don't have a stall here in the city. At least not yet. I've got a farm stand up in Tamarack Falls, at the farm, but...still working on getting a place down here. I was actually just passing through, really." She waves vaguely toward a back alleyway, as if that explains everything, "Just a bit of a shortcut home, really." She considers, then says, "Aleswich sounds lovely. Too bad you moved, and I'm sorry to hear about your husband. But it seems pretty cool here. I mean, everythings just getting hopping, but cool so far. There /is/ a tea place here in town. They sell my honey sometimes, but I'm not sure if they do custom blends like that." She digs around in her pockets, coming up with a wallet overflowing with bits of paper and business cards, eventually handing Nathania one, "This is the place. Give 'em a call and tell 'em Soleil sent you. They might be willing to do a little something special for ya." It's Nathania's turn to bounce on the balls of her feet. "Oh!" Her face lights up like you've just made her day--hell, week. "That's awesome! Thank... you, Soleil! I will... call as soon as... I'm done!" She beams at the Fairest. Her whole face lights up, really. It's adorable. She pockets the card and smiles. "Well, should I ... keep you, or are you... on a schedule?" Soleil laughs and shrugs, giving a little grin and waving off the notion of schedules, "Oh, I've got lots to do always, but I'm always happy to chat, and most of the things can wait, or the crew up at the farm can handle it." She seems genuinely delighted at the fact she's made Nathania excited, adding, "If you need any other recommendations, let me know. I grew up around here, so I know lots of people." She considers, then asks as an after thought, "Are you busy? I mean, was that, like, a hint for me to go and I totally missed it? I can be bad about that sometimes, you know? It's just so lovely to get the chance to meet new people and everything I just..." And then she stops abruptly, realizing that her rambling effort to explain that she's happy to go if she's being a bother is, in fact, just prolonging such a bother if it is the case. Nathania laughs softly and shakes her head. "No!" She means it earnestly. "I was worried... I was being... a bother... to *you*." She laughs again, delighted, and finally sips her tea, which is probably icy cold by now. Ah well. "I am... happy to meet... more locals." She considers Soleil a moment and adds in a softer voice, grateful for the break in customers, "I have... a Hollow.. in Singing Sky. You... are welcome... to visit. It's kind... of industrial, but I want to get... some homey touches... in there. You seem like... someone who could help." And she *beams* at the Fairest. Soleil laughs and nods, "Oh sure. That's a nice enough area," she says as if she's talking about a subdivision down the way, rather than the dangerous hedge. "And I know what you mean, about homey touches. It can take /forever/. But what are you looking for? I've got plenty of plants and stuff." She starts to dig in her backpack, as if she might just have a plant on her to offer as an impromptu housewarming gift. But no, it's just a date book. "Or are you looking for a shopping trip? 'Cause Striker's napping right now. He's insisted today is a definite, all-day nap day. But we could go soon, if you like." A brief pause in the onslaught of words, and then she continues, almost embarassed, "You're welcome around my place too, any time, of course. I mean, just be sure to bring a steak or something, but you're welcome to come by and relax a bit any time you like." Blinking, Nathania tilts her head as if not fully comprehending, but she says, "I'm... free whenever. Would you... like my number?" And the dolly pulls out a smart phone, her gloves being smartphone reactant. "Who... is Striker?" she adds finally, her curiosity getting the better of her. Soleil grins and pulls out her own phone, nodding a bit as she sets up a new contact under 'Nathania-Knitter' and hands over the phone for the other Lost to enter her information. "Oh, Striker's my dog. Well, not /my/ dog, really. He just hangs around and helps out a bit. He's super good at finding things. Best nose in town. But he always comes to the market with me. He thinks I get into too much trouble on my own." She shrugs and rolls her eyes, clearly disagreeing on this front. "But anyway...What sort of things do you get up to when you're not knitting? I mean, do you like parties? Because I've been thinking about throwing an end of winter sort of party. Like, one last cold-weather bash. Snowball wars, hot cocoa, ice sculpture competition...You wanna come?" It actually sounds like she's just decided this minute that such a thing needs to be done, inspired by the Wintery woman in front of her. And notes start getting written in the margins of her datebook. Nathania puts in her own number after putting Soleil's name in her phone, offering it to the other Lost to do the same. She grins once the phone's back in her hands. "Sure!" she says happily. "I like... Wintery parties." Her button eyes shine briefly. "I'm pretty... glad we met. And I just... met you! You're... a ray of sunshine, and even I need that... sometimes." She winks. "So... tell me." She sips at her tea, holding up a finger, and turns to deal with a customer for a moment. She's a natural saleswoman despite the speech impediment. She's just so friendly and *warm* despite the sad look in her eyes--people love to love the dolly. "Anyway." She turns back to Soleil. "Tell me. What... do people do... for fun here or in... Fort Brunsett?" Soleil laughs and rolls her eyes goodnaturedly, "Yeah, ray of sunshine, that's why they named me Soleil." She waits quietly as the customer is helped, offering a friendly grin and a helpful, "That'd be nice," to the customer as they decide. Once it's just the two of them again, she smiles and settles back, "People? Well, everyone's got a different idea of fun. I mean, there's all sorts of things to do. Bars if you're into that, and theres lots of great hikes, and a couple good nightclubs in Ft. Brunsett. There's plenty of town events to join in on if you're into that, or..I think a paintball range too?" She shrugs and grins, "There's all sorts of things, but first I'd have to know what you think is fun." She waits, looking rather expectant. Nathania perks up. And she -thinks-. "Paintball..." She looks calculating. "By... chance, do you know.... a pretty rainbow-haired... woman named... November?" Her button eyes are now bars, not the four-holed round buttons they were a moment ago. She's calculating. Soleil smiles, considering, then nods, "Oh...yeah, I think so. I haven't had the chance yet to get over there, but that sounds like the right name." She tilts her head to one side, curious, and asks, "Do you know her?" Nathania nods. "She's from... Aleswich, too, or... at least, lived there for... a while." Nathania beams. "I'm so happy. That sounds... exactly like... November." And with that, Soleil seems quite thrilled, and starts to collect her bags, "Well, I'm really glad to hear it. I hope it is the same person you know. It's always nice to see a familiar face. Its been really nice to meet you, Nathania, but I probably should get going." Possibly the Spring just fingures she should quit while she's ahead, having made a Winter happy, you can't get much better than that! "We'll definitely have to get together again soon."