[Great Bazaar] Just a Little Browsing (Seven)

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Season of Summer, Day 7, 511 AV

It was the middle of the day, and the Great Bazaar was full of people bustling back and forth going about their various errands or jobs. Most people who came to the Bazaar did so with a specific purchase in mind, but as Jaelyn carefully made her way through the crowds she had none, or at least she had nothing in particular she was looking to buy today. She had come hoping the crowd would help her avoid bumping into anyone she knew.

It wasn't that she was doing anything wrong, at least nothing most anyone would consider wrong, but it was something she wasn't comfortable with anyone else knowing about. A secret desire that felt... inappropriate for a good Squire to have, especially one who was the daughter of a Captain Knight. She normally told herself she could wait, at least until she was a Knight, but after the confusion and emotional ups and downs of last season she needed something to take her mind off of it all.

Gray eyes glancing back and forth as she meandered her way through the crowd Jaelyn eventually caught sight of a merchant that had the object of her guilty desire. Twinkling in the flickering torchlight it drew her in, and a soft smile touched her lips as she slowly approached the stall and the glittering jewelry it contained. Not the most grand or elegant, but the pendants, rings, broaches, and other worked items were still more than pretty enough for the Squire. In particular there was a small golden pendant, worked in the symbol of the Windoak with little sparkling gemstone stars, that drew her attention completely.

"Might I hold this one?" Jaelyn asked the merchant, and when he smiled and nodded she carefully picked up the pendant and held it in her hand.

The crowd and Bazaar vanished from Jaelyn's perceptions as she smiled down at the cool pendant, and dreamed of what it would be like to have and wear such fine things.

[Seven Xu]

Seven weaved his way through the busy marketplace, fighting off the urge to run for less populated pockets between the stands as he made his way towards his ultimate goal - a bakery stand, and then the search for suitably priced and ripened fruits and vegetables would begin. The onset of summer had brought new oddities and imports to the buzzing, scrawling fourth tier of the citadel. The smell of cinnamon mixed with ginger stung Seven's nose as overwhelmingly as the sound of the droning crowd that would suffocate him if he spent too long dwelling on those that surrounded him.

A flash of sun-kissed skin and brown hair framing a familiar face drew Seven towards a shimmering cart of jewelery and equally dainty ornaments worked out of precious metals and gem stones. A smile hinted at the corners of Seven's mouth as he traversed the shuffling crowd of merchants and patrons alike until he broke out of the current and stood at the woman's side. A second glance reaffirmed his suspicions - it was the squire from Soothing Waters he had met briefly in the late spring. She was marginally taller than the halfblood and of a far thicker, but athletic build.

Apprehensive of startling the young woman, Seven kept his voice calm as he leaned over the table to admire the glittering jewelery. "Afternoon, Jaelyn." Technically, Syna had not hit her highest point in the clear blue sky yet, but, it was close enough. Her name escaped him but for a moment and the hesitation was clear, but he covered it with a polite smile. Seven deduced that it was far easier to find confidence when one was wearing clothing.

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Seven's eyes caught the shine of the pendant in Jaelyn's hands. "That's pretty."

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"Afternoon," Jaelyn absentmindedly replied to Seven's greeting, her attention on the pendant and her little daydream, and she nodded in agreement with his comment, "Yes, it is very pretty."

The realization that she was talking to someone took a moment to sink in, but when it did Jaelyn blinked and looked up quickly, "Oh, I am sorry I," her voice caught as her gray eyes met Seven's startling red ones, and she froze for a breath as a flush started to creep into her cheeks, "Seven! I... Um..." she floundered a bit as butterflies flitted about her stomach.

Jaelyn could feel the warmth spreading on her cheeks as she continued to stare at Seven's handsome face, and finally she pulled her gaze away and it followed naturally to the rest of his body. As handsome as he had been at the Soothing Waters his clothing only seemed to enhance it more.

Struggling to try and regain her composure she offered her empty hand to Seven, almost losing the pendant in the process, and softly spoke, "Nice to see you again," and after a moment of nervous thought added, "How have you been?"

[Seven Xu]

“Wonderful!” Seven lied with a playful grin. Jaelyn would not want to hear of his pathetic emotional fallout. In truth the onset of summer had, for the most part, healed his mental wounds – or at least, patched them up. The incident no longer dictated his thoughts. His pale hand met hers and he shook it briefly before letting his digits slip away and back into his pocket. Seven had picked up on her tension; the blush and her general demeanor were familiar. He was often the one caught off-guard, left astonished and red faced. “The pleasure is mine. You’re looking well this morning.” Compliments always went far, didn’t they?

“That’s pretty.” A bony finger gestured towards the glittering jewelry in the squire’s free hand to punctuate his comment. “I never thought you would be one to wear such eye-catching things.”

Way to put your foot in your mouth. Seven’s eyes widened a fraction and his pupils grew small as the burn of his own blush jumbled his thoughts. “That isn’t to say you aren’t eye-catching yourself, I-, uh.” Seven caught himself before he dug a deeper hole. “I’m sorry. It’s lovely, is all. And so are you! Everything is lovely.”

A forced smile tugged at Seven’s lips and in the back of his mind he was devising an exit if the meeting went sour. He hadn’t been there two chimes and he’d already made an ass of himself. As a list of what not to say to a proper lady was being formatted in his head as his mouth opened and closed a few time, comparable to a fish pulled out of water gasping for air that would do little to save its life.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Seven's warm and happy response to Jaelyn's awkward greeting helped to sooth her nerve's a little bit, but his compliment did nothing to came the fluttering of her stomach, "That is good, and you look good as well."

If given enough time Jaelyn might have grown flustered at her comment regarding Seven's appearance, but before she could he brought up the pendant. Glancing down at the object that had been half forgotten Jaelyn's blush only grew more at the realization that someone she knew had found her looking at jewelry, "Ah... well," she started to mumble, but Seven's next words rolled over her own, and the meaning of what he said dropped her gaze to the floor in embarrassment as she felt the heat of her cheeks spread to the rest of her face.

Seven thought she was lovely looking? It wasn't a compliment Jaelyn was used to hearing, and certainly not one she'd ever thought she would hear from a man as exotic and handsome looking as Seven. Seeking something to do her hands started to fumble with the pendant as she fidgeted a bit, "I... Um... T... Thank you Seven, that is very sweet of you to say," her voice was soft as she spoke.

[Seven Xu]

Seven’s smile almost twisted into a frown at Jaelyn’s response to his compliments. Had he done something wrong, or did she simply believe him? Pink rushed to the apples of his cheeks and his gaze darted down towards the glittering table between them. His fingers twitched forward and he grasped at a glittering red stone set in a pewter barrette. It was dazzling in the low light, catching flecks of gold within its prismatic shape. Holding it to Jaelyn’s temple, careful not to touch her directly, Seven beamed with an unmistakable Symenestra grin.

“I like this one.” Seven often came off as more feminine than he intended with his polite demeanor. This was most certainly one of those instances. His arm drooped and the pin was placed gingerly back on the merchant's table where he found it before he lifted a dark nail to his lips in thought. “Actually, they all look nice.

“So how is everything, with you?” The broad question was asked with that same smile. He actually knew very little of Jaelyn, outside of the fact that they shared a few acquaintances in common and that she was a squire in training to become a Syliran Knight. Perhaps if he made more friends as squires, he wouldn’t have to worry about garnering unwanted scowls from knights anymore. The thought nearly made him laugh.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Eyes downwards as they were Jaelyn just caught a glimpse of Seven's fingers as he grasped something off of the table, and her head lifted again out of curiosity to see what he had picked up. She had a moment to wonder at the sharp canines his grin revealed, but as he held the barrette up to her temple those thoughts were quickly swept away.

"Ah, you think so?" she asked softly, his words certainly not helping to reduce the ferocity of her blush, "Do... Do you know much about jewelry Seven?"

It seemed the more she saw of Seven, the more he reminded her of Kendall. Except she doubted that Seven was actually a girl like Jaelyn's friend. That would just be too much of a coincidence. Still, the similarities were enough that she found herself wanting to get to know Seven better from a bit of a desire to fill the gap that Kendall had left.

"I am doing well," Jaelyn responded to Seven's general question with a soft smile, trying to get her nervousness under control, "My training has been going well lately. How about you Seven? How are things going for you?"

[Seven Xu]

“Jewellery? No, not a thing,” Seven admitted with a jovial laugh, fingers dancing over various glittering objects that caught his short attention. “I just thought it looked nice.” Seven would argue his taste in the finer things life had to offer had rubbed off on him from his sisters – always looking their best, passing for classes above their modest Aisha family while they graced the Surya Plaza: mirrored beauty. He missed them.

Jaelyn’s smiling response made Seven’s eyes light up. While she seemed apprehensive enough at first to make Seven regret sneaking up on her, it was a relief to see that she had calmed down. “I’m glad to hear your training is going well.” A pause; how were things going for him? Less than ideal, Seven thought, though his smile never faltered as he carefully chose his response. His speech was slow and deliberate, his fragile white fingers slid off of the table and back into his pocket. “I was feeling a little down at the beginning of the summer, although lately I am much better. Time heals everything, as they say.”

Since visiting Syliras, Seven hadn’t made many lasting acquaintances. One of the only real friends he had was gone. Another budding friendship was in the works, although only a few days old Seven was sceptical of its longevity. The track record wasn’t exactly in his favour – how was he to know the Ravokian wasn’t going to up and leave as well? There was one common denominator in these short-lived relationships.

Seven’s self-depreciating thoughts weighed heavy on his shoulders, but his smile remained as bright and genuine as it had been moments before. His stomach was struggling to make itself heard in its morning hunger. “Have you had breakfast yet?” The question was less a dismissal of Jaelyn’s efforts in shopping and more a declaration that he was not long for the jewellery stand.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"Well, you seem to have a good sense of fashion then," Jaelyn replied softly to Seven's jovial laugh, "Unlike me. I've never been particularly good at picking things that are pretty."

At Seven's response to her question Jaelyn's smile shifted to hold a hint of apology to it, "Well, I am glad that you are doing better now," she hesitated a moment, and then softly added, "If you would like, I could listen to your problems some. I do not know if I could help with them, but I know for some people talking about things helps," she finished with a warm smile to the handsome young man.

She knew it might be a bit forward to offer such a thing, but Jaelyn was trying to be more Knightly and part of that was being helpful to others. There was a little desire to get to know someone as handsome as Seven a little better as well, but only as a friend of course.

"I have not," Jaelyn replied to Seven's question about breakfast, and a faint flush touched her cheeks at her next words, "Would you... like to go get some together?"

[Seven Xu]

Seven’s mental shopping list nagged at him. There were still groceries he needed to attain before he left the bazaar. “We could grab something while we’re here,” He offered and subsequently followed up with an unassuming grin, “The smell of freshly baked bread is driving me crazy.”

As they stepped away from the jewellery stand and back into the current of Sylirans going about their morning business, Seven managed to twist his fragile white fingers around those of Jaelyn’s, a precaution in his paranoia of losing the squire in the bustling crowd. “I’m just a bit down lately because a good friend of mine left town,” Seven admitted one of the lighter issues he had been plagued with lately. There was no reason to dive right into his daddy issues with this girl. “I regret that I did not see him more knowing full-well that he was leaving at the end of the season, we barely had time to become friends and he was on his way.” It was admittedly hard for Seven to reach out to people. Most often, his acquaintances were those that happened accidentally – he was not one to approach someone with intent to establish a connection. Maybe that was his problem; one of many.

“I suppose it’s better to have known someone for a brief period, rather than not at all.” An optimistic tone replaced one of regret and he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the girl attached to the hand he was holding on to could hear him – or was even listening.