Difference between revisions of "Log:In the Market for Adventure"

April 29, 2018

Gabe, Cardinal, Mabosa and Long Night head out to market in search of Adventure and come home with some hedgefruit clippings and a map pointing toward 'something silver with sharp leaves' all for a bit of booze and jerky and a promise to return to Suzy Two-Eyes to tell her what the blindbird says.

Where the Wild Roses Grow

Here, in his natural environs, Long Night didn't have the look of the most appealing of steeds, not dripping that murky water and flashing gnarled flesh-rending teeth with every lazy yawn, but he was as stalwart and unconcerned with the world as ever. He plodded along, long tail dragging behind him, with his head hanging lazily and ears swinging back and forth with each step. Gabriel had tied a few sacks over his back with a collection of odds and ends, those things he had handy; skulls of small animals, furs and feet of the same, a few bottles of his berry wines and several jars of brightly colored jams, trinkets and baubles and charms carved from bone and wood and the like. He'd laid down a thick blanket over it all to keep Cardinal's backside dry should she take a mind to ride while he lead the kelpie-cousin through the crowded paths. At the other end of the excitement spectrum from Long Night, Mabosa was beside himself, darting ahead and back and off again, weaving through people to follow all the smells before he doubled back to bound back toward the trio. Gabriel was somewhere in between the two. He was only a little on edge, the hermit not at all in his element here, but he wasn't overly worried either. His tail over his waistband and the frequent turn of his ears echoed the alert turn of his eye to each new sound while he strolled along. Given that they weren't just hanging around the bayou or the cove, he'd bothered with pants, with a number of pockets holding all those useful little things a survivalist might require, but the knives on his belt and the bow on his back had all been knotted with the white ribbon.

What does one wear to Market? Well, one does /not/ wear rose. Or pink. Or red. Or anything that might be mistaken for rosy. Which is to say that Cardinal is in yellow and denim today. Her tee shirt reads Welcome to Tattooine beneath a two-sunned mountainous backdrop in brown. It's paired with comfy, cut-off jean shorts, starry gold-on-sheer tights and a pair of clunky boots which would be great for stomping about if she had need to stomp. She does not. She has taken Gabriel and Long Night up on the offer of a ride, though she hasn't spent the entire time upright, enough time on the trip between the bayou and the roses spent with her body laid forward over the sorta-horse that she might be damp in a few places, not the least of which is her hair, a few wisps clinging weirdly to her cheeks. She's more alert--closer to the Mabosa level of giddy attentiveness--once they make their way down the fork to where the roses start to grow and all the hobs and lost begin to pass, the Market doing a brisk bit of business today. Her bright eyes flick this way and that excitedly, eager to take it all in. Probably a good thing she's on the kelpie and can't just dash off any which way.

One of the pink-clad Rose Wardens moves past awfully close, as if getting a scent for the whole lot of them, but the slender pixie gives a nod of approval upon catching the peace tie and moves along. A rather large and... furry hobgoblin with large horns and a friendly face seems to be sniffing them out, too, from behind his stall. "Oi! Oi you! Has food, yeh? Gorge can smells it. Whatcha wants for it?" He holds up plastic watch. Pink. Barbie-themed. Probably found in a McDonald's Happy Meal years and years ago. "Ain't never have to waits in line. You likes?"

Cardinal had rubbed off on Gabriel quite a bit in the last several months. He didn't mind being out in the world as much. He didn't glower and grunt at the people he had to deal with as much...but his ears still drifted back and pinned to the sides of his head as he drew himself up at little taller anytime he was too closely inspected. He kept neutral though, kept the grunts bottled up, gave the odd polite nod. It takes him a moment to notice the bark in their direction, assuming at first it was for someone else. It's not until Mabosa goes running up to the stall and plopping his furry ass down to tip his head at the plastic watch that Gabriel glances that direction to put the pieces together. He glances back toward Cardinal with a lift of a brow, then back towards Gorge as he turns his hooves that direction, giving Long Night a subtle tug at the lead to redirect him as well. He doesn't say much in return until he gets right up to the stall, where he doesn't need to raise his voice all that much. "Don't spend a whole lotta time in lines. Got some jams 'n rabbit jerky though, 'pendin' what else ya got," he answers, turning half away mid-way through to offer a hand back to Cardinal to help her down if she had a mind to take it.

The stall is rather neat and well-kept, the large, furry gentlehob who operates it likewise neatly tended. Which is impressive given how the place fairly well reeks of grease, of burgers and fries and milkshakes, of three-day-old burritos and flat soda and the insides of empty chip bags. Rather well-preserved bags and boxes from fast food chains line the shelves in the back, layers of empty snack food containers stacked and neatly filed. Gorge, it would seem, is an afficianado of junk food. However, in front of all of that, standing before his prized collection, arrayed on display for patrons from all about the Hedge are cases of peculiar toys and trinkets taken from happy meals and cereal boxes, many of which radiate a faint magical energy--only noticeable if you really look--after spending so very much time on this side of reality. Then there are the crates of various goblin fruits, the packets of seeds, the jars of preserves. "Jams and jerkies sound nice, real nice. Gorge has got jams, too. Jams what heals and jams what makes people likes you." He holds up a clear plastic soda bottle with something thick and brown in it, giving the sludgy stuff a shake.

Cardinal, meanwhile, is practically half-bent over Long Night as they draw up to the stall to see if anything catches her interest. When that hand is offered over, she takes it in a heartbeat, gladly dismounting, though there's a loving rub given to the near-kelpie's side once she's got her feet beneath her, silent gratitude for his kindness. Then she's off, peeking at the various toys and trinkets, the plastic decoder rings and Hello Kitty bobbleheads. It's all so weird and normal and interesting!

Gabriel scratched through the twist of a beard on his chin as he surveys the stall, considering the rows of containers. Things were looking a little unlikely - but then he does notice the crates of fruits annnd, there was something that caught his eye. Being the frugal sort, he didn't look at much he wasn't in the market for, not even to oogle at it. He did give the thick brown sludge a curious glance before nodding towards the seed packets. "She likes me 'bout as much as I can stand bein' liked by folks. But whatcha got in those packets there?" he asks, stepping back to unknot one of the sacks from Long Night's back, jars and bottles knocking against each other inside.

Cardinal pauses in her perusal to sign something cheerfully up at the big, one-toothed Gorge who gestures back just as happily. And entirely nonsensically. Gabriel's got a firm enough grasp on ASL by now to know that whatever the hobgoblin was doing with his hands was not useful in any way. Still, the little moonbeam seems pleased with the attempt, nodding agreeably at whatever imagined conversation the pair have briefly had about how much liking Gabriel can tolerate. Without a peek over his way. Not from her, anyway.

Gorge, on the other hand, is glad to shuffle over to the containers with seeds, some of which are old candy tins, others of which are more soda and juice bottles, some of which are snack-size chip bags which have little chip-clips to hold them. "Lots," he answers. As if that might be enough. "Cheerroot and wyrmthumb. Babelgum and coralscalp. Judas yew and stabapple." He gives this container or that a shake as he names each pair. There are more to go through. He could keep going. But there's a shift in his thought as he saks, "Whatcha gots in those pouches over there?" with a look toward Long Night.

"...Mmhmmm..." smirked along with the side-eye cut Cardinal's way when he catches the tail end of the teasing and fairly one-sided converation on turning back with the old flour sack in hand. "I'ma remember that, darlin'," snickered. He glanced over the various containers the hob was shaking and made mental note of what was rattled off. He finds a mostly clear ledge at the edge of the stall to set the sack on, and unknots the twine around it to let it fall open and pulls out items one by one, lining them up in a row. There's two jars of a dark jam, another jar of a bright red chunky something with spots of orange and green and tiny seeds, a fourth jar of something brownish and buttery looking, then three corked bottles, all of those having numbers written on the side that look to be years. Then there's the jars of jerkies, wrinkled up strips of brown, each with a different dusting on them, three in total. "I have...Two mixed wildberry jams, a tomato and pepper jam, wild apple and pear butter with nutmeg...Three bottles strawberry wine....And rabbit jerky, peppercorn, garlic ginger soy, and red wine." He'd tapped off each jar or bottle along the way, and as he gets to the last one, he glances up to add, "Hunted, foraged, or grew it all." He glances around all the store bought signs and can't help but wonder if that's going to degrade the value at this particular stall or not. When he looks back to the crate, he goes on to ask, "Got any Damp-amp seeds in there? Or..wineberry, whisper willow...whisper-step..."

Cardinal bats her lashes dramatically at Gabriel as she adopts a beatific smile, that moonglow of hers lending itself well to her feigned innocence. As the bundle is unwrapped, she takes some interest, drawing closer, closer, until she's snugged up against the brewer's side as he starts naming off what he's got, a hand settled on his back, just above his tail. Now, she's watching the merchant, seeing what catches his curiosity, seeing where she might help.

"Any ofs 'em got bubbles?" Gorge asks of the bottles, bending his large body low so that he can get a better look, so that he can draw in a deep sniff of all that loveliness. None of it's greasy enough for his tastes, but oh! That rabbit jerky's something all new. He smacks his lips a couple of times as Gabriel talks, tongue pushing up against his single tooth as he straightens back up, looking a little too distracted to have heard the requests. "Gots that like this," he eventually says, plucking up a kinda fuzzy black fruit in his big hand and showing Gabriel. The whisper-step. Whole, not in seeds. From another crate, he pulls out a squishy purple fruit, better suited to his size. "And this." There's a moment of thought before he drops the whisper-step back down to pluck up a mountain dew bottle and give it a shake, the pale pinkish liquid therein looking a little odd for the green tint of the bottle. "Wine, yeah? Good for crazies. Ain't enough bubbles." But then, setting that down, too, he plucks up an altoids tin, daintily opening it to show off some seeds. "Whisper willow. Gorge's got it all. Mosts. Cept what he doesn't. But mosts." There's a flick of look down to the goods out on display. "One jar, one bottle, all the jerky for whatever one you want."

Gabriel lifts an arm without much thinking about it when Cardinal inches near enough to register in the edge of his vision, until she's flush up against his side and it settles back down around her shoulders. He's glancing from one thing to another as the hob presents them, ears edging back as a small frown touches his lips. When Gorge finally makes his offer, Gabriel sighs and glances again over it all like he's taking some kind of tally. He glances towards Cardinal then with a lift a brow and a tip of his head with a shrug of his opposite shoulder. "Anythin' got your eye on 'fore we get too much further into this?"

Cardinal's eyes brighten at the question turned her way. Doesn't take more than, oh, a heartbeat for her to point at a little plastic snowboarding Hello Kitty figurine. The big hob goes 'heh,' a good-humored sort of sound as he sidles over to pluck it up. "Watch," he says and gives it a shake. Glittery snow falls around it, as if it were inside a snowglobe. When he sets it down on the case, frost stretches out a couple inches. And then fades beneath the spring warmth which permeates the Market. He looks from Cardinal, who looks delighted by the utter silliness of it, to Gabriel, giving a tongue-push to his tooth before offering, "This too. One jar, one bottle, jerky. For snow and one fruit."

There's only the most befuddled look on Gabriel's face for the little trinket, one with ears turned either way and a deep confused furrow in his brow. Then it's more a look like Cardinal's grown a second head for just how giddy she is about the thing. Which in turn melts his look into a softer smile and a chuckle. He turns his attention back towards the stall, sliding out several jars from the rest, dividing them up. "The snow thing, the whisper-step fruit...an' the cheeroot seeds. All th'jerky, both bottles an'..." He glances over them all before nudging the more unique butter and tomato pepper jam off to the offering pile.

Gorge looks a little skeptical when it seems the antlered man can't count. That's two fruits! But then he's adding some more to his offer. Another jar and another bottle! Not really stuff he's likely to like, but he's willing to try. "Yeh. Yeh okay. Alright. Here's for the glower." The little snow-toy gets a light, underhand toss to Cardinal, who catches it one handed and holds it, to her chest, giving a little shiver when it cools her where she holds it. Gorge dips down to pluck up a brown Arby's bag, shake it out, and put two Whisper-Step fruits into it along with a pink plastic container which once contained a long roll of gum. He folds the edge over neatly, twice, and hands that out to Gabriel to free up his own hands to... well, to first just grab up some of that jerky and start gumming at it as he collects the rest of the goods, making happy and surprised sounds while he does.

Gabriel squeezes Cardinal's shoulders before he pulls his arm free to take the bag and to retrieve the unbartered jars. They all go into the burlap sack that he knots up around the top with a rumbled, "Thank ya kindly," for Gorge, a small departing nod as well as he turns back to hang the knot of the bag from a slipknot on the improved rope harness over Long Night's back. "You like any of it in partic'lar, can bring it back 'round next time." He gives a short whistle for Mabosa before he catches Cardinal in his arm again, close around the waist and a lead from Long Night's rope halter to lead him on a ways. Mabosa isn't long darting from between two stalls to fall in step between them.

His attention turns out more thoughtful over the rest of the bazaar, grunting some thoughtful sound in his throat when his head dips down to nose absently in Cardinal's hair. "Reckon we can find any slick out here? Might be good to have on hand with havin' couple ordinary folk trompin' 'round back home." His head tips a bit left and right before he pauses in his steps and twist back and call, "Gorge! Any tips on who t'talk to 'bout rumors 'n gossip?" Cause they still had an adventure to find as well! Couldn't leave without that.

"Bring back gorditas," instructs Gorge, his taste for the finer things in life decidedly questionable.

Cardinal offers an enthusiastic nod to the junk food enthusiast, that wordless assurance interrupted as she's tucked in close to Gabriel. Her shoulder shake with silent laughter for a second before she sinks more properly in against him, both of her arms wrapping about his midsection. For all of a step or two. It's really not particularly convenient to travel like that. She's also not going to be able to sign like that, and she does feel a need to sign when he starts asking after slick to help intoxicate their houseguests, her eyes wide as she stares up at him. <<Who is this Gabe? Are you okay? Are you talking about making mischief on our houseguests?>> And then she gets suspicious. <<This isn't so that they never come over again, is it?>> Nevermind that he hasn't picked up any truly frightening hedgefruits, but who knows what a spirit-maker like him might be able to do!

When he calls back that last question to Gorge, the big hob taps his forehead, slightly off-center, and says, "You wants Suzy." He then points off thattaway, where the path through the market curls off to the left.

Gabe looks off in the direction pointed out, and nods once more to Gorge. "Suzy. Got it. Thanks 'gain," offered before he falls back into step, nudging Long Night's nose aside to lead towards a necessary turn. Glancing back down towards Cardinal and her teasings still in the buffer of his mind, he settles back to a more conversational volume. "It's pragmatism..." he defends first. "Got th'likes of you an' me there...These fuckers- " with a nod towards the kelpie and Mabosa. "A gate...and heap of garden crops that ought not be 'round...Just seems prudent to have somethin' 'round to help 'em forget anything they might accident'ly see." He cleared his throat a bit before adding, "And if it happens to make 'em ammeniable to a lil bit of fun in th'process...well...It's good t'see ya laugh."

Cardinal reaches over to give Mabosa an affectionate scritch when Gabe speaks of him, smiling over at the handsome hedgepup. It's that last remark that has her attention turning back to the antlered man at her side, her shoulders shaking with just a touch of laughter. <<Fine.>> She makes an overly dramatic face, making a show of giving in. <<Just remember that Jack's family, so you gotta be nice to him. OH!>> She remembers something, surprise obvious on her features. Then she remembers something else which has her face scrunching up in conflicted thought. <<Jack's not normal either. Not like us, but not normal.>> There's clearly more she wants to tell, but she's struggling with it.

Lucky for the redbird, there are distracting vendors all around. A pair of hobs--one all long-nosed, brown and spiny and looking something like a hedgehog and the other tall and pale, bluish and finned--try to grab the pair's attention, holding up items which look vaguely familiar as they ask, "Lost something? We've found it. Whatever it is you're missing!" And, really, some of those things could be theirs: lost socks stolen from dryers, old toys abandoned in childhood, a photograph of... is that Aunt Mabel? Do either of them have an Aunt Mabel? There's certainly a nostalgic pull to the stall.

"Nothin' horrible," Gabriel promised, and likely the warning wasn't required. He watched himself do enough horrible in his nightmares, and vented the lingering impulses through their more deviant play. There was no real desire to be horrible to some poor soul lured into dinner by his social butterfly better half. "Thinkin' 'bout just tryin' out some cheeroot 'shine," explained in the next beat. It was easy enough to turn up they might not even have to wait for the seeds in his bag to grow. The mention of not being normal has his head tipping down and his ears doing that inquisitive swivel once more. "There's a whole lotta not norm-" is started before he's stalled up by the more immediate stall.

Nostalgia was a hard pull to ignore to the likes of a homebody like him. Just the sense of it made him yearn for kudzu and spanish moss, so of course his hooves took a turn in that direction. There's a ghost of a frown, just a muted downward tug to the corners of his lips, when he looks over it all for anything that registered as familiar or his, some little lost treasure from his youth perhaps. It seemed unlikely, given his youth was spent so very far away from here, but the cursory look over was made just the same.

Cheeroot moonshine--or, well, any moonshine, according to Little Miss Moonbeam over here--is alright. Cardinal gives a firm, approving nod for that. Not that she'd worried too much. It was more about family meeting the man she loves than anything else, little bit of butterflies over two worlds colliding in her home. Cuz, really, it is her home now, and she's as invested in keeping it safe and lovely as he is. When they're nudged to the stall which seemed to have little pull for the redbird, she looks up at Gabriel curiously while he stares at the veritable yard sale of Other People's Stuff, all the knickknacks and trinkets that someone lost somewhere along the way, all the keys to doors somewhere far away from here, all the photographs of faces that aren't quite precisely right. With a nudge of her shoulder against him, she signs, <<There's no adventure here, beautiful,>> trying to urge him on while Prickl and Spitz try to convince him otherwise, playing a game of hot-and-cold as they see which toys and tokens catch his eye only to offer up others of similar ilk.

There was, among all the things, very little that caught his eye; a whole lot of ice cold responses registered as little more than a dismissive glance to what was offered up. There were a few things though, gathered together, a bit of stray sports memorabelia. A football someone lost camping, some kid's missing jersey. His brow furrowed a bit looking over those, but the jersey wasn't the right colors, and he couldn't really remember losing a football that had meant anything to him. It was more the subject matter more than anything else. He did glance down towards the nudge, to the words signed at him, before he glanced back towards the old equipment and absently signed, <<Probably not.>> In his little language of various types of nods and grunts, he gave the pair of hobs a grunted upnod that should read something the lines of 'Thanks anyway.' and returned to the path for Suzy. Hands occupied again and more focused, he returned to spoken words when he asked, "You were sayin' 'bout him not bein' entirely normal?"

The taller of the hobs sticks her tongue out at Cardinal when their target opts to move on, identifying the redhead as the source of distraction, but neither of them dwell on it too long. These two aren't the only folks wandering where the Wild Roses grow today, and so the merchants move promptly on to reeling in someone else. The moonbeam leans into Gabriel affectionately, placing a little kiss on his shoulder, before she signs, <<He can talk to animals. I mean, he can understand when animals talk to him. And I'm kinda not sure what that'll mean when he tries to talk to Mabosa.>> She looks over at the hedgedog and wonders to him--nevermind that he probably doesn't understand her signing, <<Think you can lie to a MIND READER?>> with her eyes going all wide.

Not too much farther up the path, Gabriel might notice a spry, brown-skinned hobgoblin staring at him with her two good-eyes. The number of her eyes merits mention because there's a third, her left eye all clouded over and milky. She's watching him with her right eye and another, mismatched and off-center, on her forehead. They do not blink at the same time. She's wearing a smile, though, her whole demeanor expectant. As if she's waiting for them. And in no rush for them to get there. The stall itself is fairly small, though there are boxes and filing cabinets and big old books behind her. In front of her, a few trinkets, none of which look, at first blush, exceptionally impressive. A sign hangs in front of the table declaring: FORCHUNS RED + FEW CHERS TOLD - YER SEEKRITS AND THEERS!

"Huh..." sounds more thoughtful than just a passing sound as he considers that question of just what it might mean with the likes of Mabosa, or even Long Night. The latter didn't have much to say, or at least, he'd never voiced much, but the former had made an art of being crude, lewd, and generally living without a filter. As one might expect of a dog. Mabosa circled back around to nose at Card's hip and lap at his muzzle, watching the waggling of her fingers and wave of her hands with pricked ears and wide dark eyes, just to huff, "It's like you're trying to speak to me I just know it!" Then he was off again, chasing down some new smell.

"Gonna be weird to 'im if he can't talk to him, isn't it?" Gabe hazards to guess as they approached the stall. "Worse off if he can- " trailed into muttering, looking up towards the hob staring back at him. The sign, well, it's lost on him. He still only knew a few words and even the phonetic spelling didn't help him much. The location though, and that she seemed to be waiting for them, did catch his eye. "You Suzy?" he asks curiously, tugging the horse to a stop.

Ever so cheerfully, Cardinal flips Mabosa off as she makes a face at him just before he dashes off in search of something more interesting. She looks up to Gabe with a nod of agreement. When he considers that alternative bit of awfulness, her cheeks go a little luminescent pink. Who knows what fairy weirdness Jack might see in Mabosa's head. She tries to find a reassuring smile, but doesn't quite manage. And it doesn't quite matter anyway given that his attention's already moved on to the hob they've been looking for.

Suzy's got a cheerful, "Yep!" for Gabe. "And you're looking for something." She blinks asynchronously. "I mean, obviously. Everyone here is looking for something. But you, fine sir, are looking for something that only Suzy Two-Eyes can provide. There's something you need." Her top eye strays while her right eye remains steady. "Want? Whichever. That silver thing. With the sharp leaves?" The upper eye checks Cardinal out before settling on Gabriel again. "I'm glad to help. What's it worth to ya?"

Gabriel's lips press tight together at 'need', and his head cants when she offers want instead. It's the description that gets a more confused look about him. "Hard pressed t'be wantin' or needin' somethin' I don't recognize none," he grumbled, vaguely annoyed that yes, his curiosity was piqued. He glances down towards Cardinal and signs, << Sharp leaves - >> with a fleeting grin. When he looks back towards Suzy, he scratches absently at the growth on his jaw and lets his eyes unfocus from much of anything at all. "Guess that 'pends on whatcha like t'trade in don't it? Got couple jars of jam left, some skins 'n bones 'n trinkets...Reckon there's a few less material things too that could be offered up."

Suzy doesn't look troubled that Gabriel doesn't seem to recognize whatever it she's selling. She's been doing this long enough to trust in her visions. Might be, too, that she recognizes curiosity when she sees it. There's no interruption to his exchange with the redhead--whose cheeks go pink again as she signs back, <<Maybe she meant clever!>>--and no rush to sell her wares. She simply waits until he's drawn back in. "Less material things are my favorite," the odd-eyed hob croons. "Secrets, memories, things other people wouldn't want you to know, things you wouldn't want other people to know, promise I'll keep it safe! Or there's always favors. Since you're going to be heading out that way anyway." If she's missed some big of logic in there, she doesn't seem to notice.

Skeptical, that's what that particular grunt meant when Card suggests the alternate potential for 'sharp'. The look is equally that when the hob says she would keep their secrets safe. He might be more skeptical still if he could actually read the 'theers' part on that sign. It's the last bit that catches him though, chuckling when he asks, "Am I?" with a lift of his ears. He straightens up some and decides, "Favor sounds good t'me. Rather put in a bit o'work than lose anythin' else out m'head. Whatcha need doin' while I'm out wherever it is I'm goin'?"

Suzy Two-Eyes looks like she may well be enamored of Gabriel when he says he's willing to do some work. At least, one of her eyes has that kinda cast to it. That off-center eye on her forehead is busy looking off in some other direction, clearly doing its own thing. "Just listen to the blindbird. Come back and tell me what he said. You have to come back. No dying out there, alright? I don't see you dying, so you probably shouldn't, but sometimes everything goes some other direction without my knowing." Distracted and unfocused, there's a moment of silence as she considers alternate paths. But with a shake of her head, she's moving to pull up a big binder which, when she starts to page through it, seems filled with various maps of disparate quality and content. The one she stops on and draws from its plastic sleeve is drawn on regular old lined notebooke paper, though its rough right edge indicates it was pulled from a spiralbound notebook. On it, there's as much map as there are words, paths interrupted to explain ideas, to indicate the vagueness of certain things. It's definitely a hedgemap. She does not just hand it over, but instead draws up a black sharpie to draw a thick little X near what might be a pond. "That's where the blindbird will visit you."

Gabriel cleared his throat some and shifted his weight where he stood, glancing down and away from that enamoured look. It was difficult enough to be center of attention for ordinary conversation, and another one entirely to be looked at like that. When the map was produced though, he's stepping closer to lean over and peer at it with a small frown. He had no idea what those words all meant, and how difficult a path it might be, much less just where it might be in the hedge. He scanned it over, looking for some clue in the lines drawn that might be familiar to him rather than in the notes. His eye darts then towards the X marked, and back up towards Suzy. "Don't spose th'bird's red is it?" he asked curiosly as he straightened up. "And what's th'silver thing with th'sharp leaves I'll be findin'?"

Cardinal taps Gabriel's arm and signs up to him, <<Your redbird isn't blind, is she?>> with a little hint of good-humored horror in her expression as she worries about where that prediction might have lead. Suzy tells the redhead, "Don't wear black if you're going with him, okay?" The top eye moves toward Gabriel before the other follows. "The blindbird is black. They usually are. But it might be metaphor. Visions are half dreams and dreams are only half-real." She points at another spot on the map, marked with radiating lines as if to suggest something shiny. "That's where you'll find it. I don't know what it is. Only that it's for you. Just promise you'll tell me what the blindbird says, and the map's yours." No more smitten looks. Just business. Just that creepy staring from her uneven eyes.

Gabriel returned, << Not right now...but blind doesn't always mean bad eyes either.>> with a sly grin. But no, it's a black bird and Cardinal was being warned off of the black, so it wasn't likely from Cardinal's throat he'd be hearing this bit of secret, which really was more for the better. Who knows what kind of nonsensical shameless mumbling might have been brought back for that deal. He glances back towards where the lines were drawn out, with still no further clue as to just what he would find there. But, it ticked the box it was meant to. An adventure, and he wouldn't die apparently, so that should leave it tame enough to bring Cardinal along. Still, in the interest of not coming off as too easy a mark or sale, he stared at the map a while longer, glancing up now and then to the strange eyes - even by his fae-touched standard - to finally nod his agreement. "A'right. I'll go see 'bout this bird and come back 'round and tell ya what it tells me," more vocally agreed as he reached out to take the map, which he offers over to Cardinal without so much as a glance. "Shouldn't be more'n a couple weeks," added for good measure.

The map has a few points of reference which might seem familiar, an intersection or two with hand-sketched landmarks which Gabe might recognize if his interpretations are right. The wordy bits are harder to suss out, all the more reason to bring the redbird along. Even if she's pouting now. Both over the suggestion that she might be blind in some way not involving her eyes and the suggestion that she'd ever wear black. Nevermind that she totally wears black sometimes. Cardinal's just gonna take a moment to pout. Insincerely, to be sure, but it's a fine enough reason to let her attention stray to some of the other oddities on Suzy's table. Like that warped hand mirror with the mother of pearl inlays that makes her face look so very strange when she peers down into it.

Suzy's watching Cardinal with her good eye, trying to gauge the girl's interest in that weird mirror, right up until the guy her third eye's set on agrees to the terms. Then her eyes swap their directions, and she smiles cheerfully up at Gabriel as she offers over the map. "Wonderful! Remember, all deals are binding. Don't be that guy." Focusing on Cardinal then, she says, "All it costs is a secret about him!"

"Don't care to be," Gabriel remarked for being 'that guy'. "I'll be seein' ya soon," he added then with a nod to Suzy as he started to step away. But then there's a bit of further apparent sale attempt being made, and Gabe glances back over his shoulder towards Cardinal, and just what she's looking at. He leans over to peer down past her shoulder towards the mirror himself, but when the cost was laid out, his ears swiveled back to his head and he wrapped an arm around Card's shoulders, giving her a small tug. "Not gon' happen," he snickered, well humored at least, more to Suzy than to Cardinal, doubting the lil bird would give up his fiercely guarded privacy for a simple little trinket. "Let's go see if there's anythin' else and head on home, see 'bout gettin' geared up to head out after this company business."