[Oba PRP] Onto The Streets [Celdarin & Ila]

[Tasinei]

So much had happened in what felt like very little time. Ila felt like she had packed up just yesterday, said her goodbyes and left her family home to fly over to Tendaji. The journey however had not ended there, she had had to arrange travel all the way to Oba. That had not been easy either, but she'd secured the back of a cart for her luggage but she had to walk. It hadn't been the best or easiest method, there had been many days of sore feet and aching muscles.

And again, the journey did not stop there. The weather changed, Ila began sweating like she never had before and her days turned long and painful. Ila had had enough of Tendaji already and would have gladly flown right back home. At this point, she knew she could not go back. Her family would give her grief for the rest of her life. Nope, she could not go back and so she endured. When they finally made it, she immediately got an inn and stayed within resting for a good few days, only going out for food.

That didn't last too long though, once Ila felt like she had at least somewhat adapted to the heat of the dessert. The innkeeper was very kind and when she saw Ila directed her to the nearest baths for some much needed recuperation. The baths were truly wonderful and helped ease the aching muscles that still hurt. Refreshed Ila debated changing into her clothing but felt that it would be too heavy. Which meant it was time to go and do some chopping.

The innkeeper directed her to the market and Ila made her way there. The place was incredible, so many things and people to see. Ila had never seen such beautiful chaos in all of one place! Firmly sitting her hat on her head, she decided to slowly make her way around the clothing section. There were so many bright colors, Ila didn't even know where to start or what would look good on her. She really wanted to run off and check the plants she could get her hands on but in something a little more appropriate.

Ila was glad she had her hat on. She didn't know if people were looking at her but she'd put her hair up so unless someone looked at her eyes they probably couldn't really tell she was Geian. Or at least it seemed to her that Oban's had similar enough skin colors that she might pass around without truly being seen as being Geian so that was nice. A little incognito work never hurt anyone and Ila usually kept her eyes down anyway.  

[Fluffesu]

Tasinei

Girls.

As a man with copious amounts of free time on his hands and nowhere special to ever be, Celdarin had nothing but opportunity to watch market-living unfold around him. As a child, no one had paid him any mind. He'd been small and insignificant and hardly worth bothering over, so long as he didn't cause trouble. But now that he was a grown adult, and small by no earthling's standards, his presence was a little more noted and significantly less wanted. Merchants were apparently not overly interested in poor, dirty street rats lingering too near and scaring away their pretty female clientele.

He couldn't even bother to be offended. Instead, Celdarin had migrated to the recesses of a dismal alleyway. It was shelter from the sun and heat, but more importantly, the exposed entry opened to an unobstructed view of the market square, while still secluded and unobtrusive enough that no one felt put-upon by knowing he was there. It was also where the shops to either side of the alley dumped their garbage, so more often than not, there was food involved.

He leaned with his back to the wall, munched on a half-eaten and slimy meat of some variety, and allowed his pink irises to survey all the unwitting passerby.

Inevitably, they landed on girls. Celdarin's experience with girls amounted to basically two tidbits of information that he'd learned. First, he liked girls. He liked when they gathered in little laughing clusters and flitted about the market stalls touching wares with their long, slim fingers. He liked when they wore bright, draping fabrics woven with beads, clinking coins, and shinning sequins. He liked watching them perform, dancing and fluttering about while waving fans or casting magic. He liked the type of girls that observation had proven that practically all men must like: the girly, showy, bubbly kind.

But, given all the time he had to watch and learn and observe, he found that he liked the less noticeable women just as much, the ones who sat outside tea shops in less vibrant clothes and read books instead of danced, the ones with the booming voices who peddled wares as aptly as any man, the ones who worked as seamstresses or bakers or even simple assistants who swept sand out of shops all day for a living. Each with at least one definable skill to even his eyes. ...And a pair of other assets that Celdarin could not conceivably find fault with anywhere.

He liked girls. But the other thing he knew about girls was that they never liked him. Whether he was immediately near them or just ambling from a distance, if women happened to catch him while his eyes were on them, they didn't ever respond positively.

Unfortunately, Celdarin was persistent, and no amount of rebuttal had dampened his spirit and like for girls yet.

His gaze had landed on a peculiarly unusual straw hat as it slunk past his alley, and before anything else could register, Celdarin could only thing that was an odd choice of garment for anyone, and that in itself was interesting. He slipped from the alleyway, hands in pockets, and followed her. It became more obvious that the young woman wasn't from around here as she picked her way through some of the clothing choices offered by the merchants, and though Cel couldn't see her face, he thought her posture lent itself to making her seem like a very... meek and uncertain type. "Y'know, everyone looks good in a nice sunshiny yellow," he prompted with a smile.  

[Tasinei]

Fluffesu

Ila stopped briefly to look at some fabric. Perhaps she could get something made in Geian fashion but with Oban colors? At least she would blend in a bit more, or maybe even Oban style with Geian colors? That would probably be the better option since they would know what was proper to use in such climate. The colors they used were so vibrant! The Geians used a lot more earthy tones. Such vibrant reds and oranges, even the Oban purple, was over the top. Though she could see a Geian wear a deeper shade of the purple. Still, she was tempted by all the beautiful colors before her.

They seemed to have sturdy fabric too, Ila had tugged at a few pieces and she felt it could withstand a good amount of hiking and such. After she'd rested another day or two she was looking forward to getting out of the cramped city and into the outside. That's when the fun would really begin, she could study all the plants outside and see how they did in this kind of weather. Get some samples, grow a few of them...

At the sound of someone's voice, Ila turned around so quickly from her daydreaming that she had to hold on to her hat else risk it falling off. Some of her hair strands fell away from the brash movement and dropped light silky threads along her jaw as she stared at the broad dark chest before her. Ila blinked a few times, cheeks reddening before raising her eyes to the man's quickly because the bare chest was bare. Very bare.

Ila was probably quite short for an Earthling and she was used to people being taller than her, but this one, this bare... no, this man was towering over her, quite literally blocking the sun with his status. Granted that was from her small perspective, maybe other's didn't see him as such. In any case, Ila stared at him with her eyes wide.

"Oh well, uhm...hm" Ila squinted a bit, not sure how to react really. Sure she had seen yellow about, lots of gold. Obans seemed to like the gold color. He even seemed to have some in his turban.

"I do suppose the Obans like gold a lot." Ila nodded, lips tight as she tucked her strands of fallen hair back into her hat. She wanted to hide under a rock right about now. "Maybe I'll find some nice yellow fabric." Even though she was pretty sure none of it would look good on her. Not with her hair at least, or pale eyes.

She briefly wondered if it was normal for people to go out bare-chested as such. Ila turned her eyes away back to the fabric but not before checking out the bare chest again. He did seem kind of dirty, didn't he? She wondered if he lived on the street, or what if he was a thief! Ila gripped her bag a little tighter, looked back and gave him a small shy smile, and scooted over to the next stall trying not to cause a stir.

She really did need new clothing though, not a distraction.  

[Fluffesu]

Tasinei

She was so small, Celdarin realized once he was standing at a more intimate proximity to the girl- or rather, the young woman before him. Small and, now that he had opportunity to look at her more fully, peculiarly-colored. He'd thought something like a straw hat was a strange accessory here, but Oba was full of strange people, so it wasn't that unusual. But her pale green eyes and hair were much, much more so. And her words, 'I do suppose the Obans like gold...' led him to suspect that she couldn't have been in his country very long.

That was good, Cel thought, since she wouldn't be any more familiar with his culture than he was with hers. He had almost zero knowledge of girls from other countries and couldn't even begin to try and name where it was that she'd even come from...

But she was here now, clearly uncertain and confused, and her gaze kept flicking to his chest in a way that Celdarin didn't immediately classify as disgust. So even after she scooted away toward the next stall, he couldn't help but think that since it hadn't gone worse, and since she hadn't actively dissuaded him from doing practically anything, he might as well make the most of it. It seemed to him like making sure she accomplished whatever she was out to accomplish would be the most hospitable thing to do. And no one else was stepping up.

Celdarin trotted after her, smiling as he did. "You're just looking for fabric, then?" He prompted. "Rather than anything already crafted? Does that mean you can sew?" Being someone who wasn't allowed to touch most things, let alone actually purchase, he wasn't sure he could help with the knowledge of what would be best in that regard, but extensive time watching people and places had shown him enough to know where what people considered to be the 'nicest' selections were.

"Do you want me to show you to someone who might be able to help you a little more?" He offered with a tilt of his head. "It seems a little sad to let a lonely foreign girl go wandering about such a busy market so helplessly..."

Not that wandering around with a stranger was really much better... He stuck out a hand toward her. "I'm Celdarin, by the way."  

[Tasinei]

Fluffesu

Ila glanced between him and the merchant, hoping the merchant might be of help in this situation but this didn't seem to be much bothered to help her. In fact, the merchant seemed to be eyeing the Oban who was following her in a way that said he didn't trust him. Ila briefly wondered if perhaps the two had some unsaid history of some kind of the merchant to be acting as such but dismissed the thought quickly. It was none of her business, though some help would have been appreciated, if not with the Oban following her but with actually picking something suitable to wear.

"Well, I was thinking of buying fabric and then finding a seamstress to complete the work." If the merchant wasn't going to help, then she would ask this Oban. He already seemed quite enthusiastic about helping her anyway and he was the only one willing to talk to her.

"I wish I could sew but that is not a skill set that my family learned unfortunately." Perhaps she could learn while she was here?

"Do you know how to sew?" The people of Tendaji seemed to be skilled in many things that most Geians didn't really think about. In the reverse, the people of Tendaji did not seem to be interested in the same skills as the Geians. The Belreans seemed to have a higher degree of technology, thus their education would have been different. Well, if she wasn't able to complete good work here perhaps she could pick up one of their skills along the way. Her family wouldn't see the use, but sewing was important, as were all too many skills Ila did not have.

"That would be quite nice of you, I would be very thankful." She turned to him with a smile. If someone could just pick out what she needed, it would make her life so much easier.

Ila had relied a lot of her family before then, but here she was far too alone. If she met someone who could just show her how things were done it would definitely help her and she could keep on task. "Do you know this area very well? I need to go out of the city for a bit and I am not quite sure where to start."

Ila stared at the hand offered to her and gently shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you Celdarin, I'm Ila." Why did she feel so awkward? She gave him a small smile before moving to the next stall. "I'm not sure if I should dress in Geian or Oban colors while I am here." She mused to herself and Celdarin as well. Perhaps he had an input so she may as well share her thoughts with him.