Greer> On the edge of the Java Quarter, this outdoor market holds a display of food varied enough to dazzle the senses. It is organized rather haphazardly, but wide spaces between the various booths make wandering the market an altogether pleasant experience. As the market caters to the folks from the Complex, the array of food is near-dizzying. One section in particular is devoted entirely to pears.
Try 'roomhelp' for available help.
Greer> Contents:
Greer> Niko
Greer> Obvious exits:
Greer> Java Quarter
Greer> Niko, as his beard-attempt is just sprouting, looks rather scruffy. He's peering at a display of alcoholic beverage, most particularly a bottle of clear stuff. He shakes his head, then, scratching lightly at his beard, before he turns and spots you. "Hey, there. You supposed to be wandering around on your own?"
Greer> Greer skips through stalls, trying to get a look at everything all at once, but Niko's voice brings her up short. She swings to look at him, and giggles, hands clapping over her mouth. "I can now. Mama said so. Cause I'm a big girl now."
Greer> Niko grins at that. "You're a big girl, eh? Well, congratulations, that's happy news. Hope you're not -too- big, though," he adds. "'cause, you know, some people say that when little girls get too big, they don't like chocolate any more. What do you think?"
Greer> Greer snorts softly. "They must be wrong. Doctor Clara likes chocolate, and she's a very big girl." She pauses to inspect a rainbow of fruit, then nods. "I'm -seven-," she beams proudly. "Not as big a girl as her or Mama, but still big enough."
Greer> Niko blinks at that. "You're seven now?" he inquires. "Why... that means that you must have had a birthday." He puts on a rather sorrowful look, at that. "And you didn't even tell me. Now, I'm just hurt. I thought that was -surely- the sort of thing that I'd be told."
Greer> Greer nods, then blinks, blanching. "Oh, oh no!" She reaches out with a hesitant hand, almost as sorrowful. "I'm sorry, I really really am. I don't like hurting people. But... it's just a birthday."
Greer> Niko considers that for a moment. "Well," he says slowly, though his brows quirk at the reaction. "You could make it up to me, how's that?" No, he's not a dirty old man. "You could let me get you a birthday present. That would make me feel -much- better."
Greer> Greer pauses, then beams, reaching for Niko's hand. "Really? It would? I do want you to feel better. Chocolate won't do it?" Her other hand withdraws a half-melted handful of chocolate kisses from a pocket.
Greer> Niko shakes his head as he takes that hand. "It would make me feel just as good as new," he promises. "You should keep the chocolate," he adds. "I think I'll be able to content myself with buying a birthday present for you. Now," he muses aloud, "We just need to find something. Was there something you wanted?"
Greer> Greer unwraps one of the candies and pops it into her mouth before giving you an inquisitive glance, then shrugs slightly and shoves the rest back in her pocket. "Books," she says, a little bashfully. "Always more books. Or horsies."
Greer> Niko looks as if he's considering this quite carefully. "Well," he says slowly, "A horse would probably not fit in your room, so why don't we go with a book instead, hm? Maybe a book about horses? Best of both worlds, I think." And there's also the fact that a horse is a little beyond his budget, but we won't go into that.
Greer> Greer's eyebrows rise. "Ooooh! Books 'bout horses! Do they really have those?" She holds up her hands, not letting go of yours, measuring a space about eight inches long, and giggles. "I mean little horses. Col-lec-tor models."
Greer> Niko looks decidedly relieved. "Okay, I could swing one of those. But seeing as how your mother seemed less than thrilled about the dart gun, I figured she'd be really less cheerful about a horse. But a collector, sure, yeah. And they -do- have books about horses, lots of them. My sisters all read them, so I ended up with a couple as well."
Greer> Greer tilts her head, a little surprised. "But she has -fun- playing with the dart gun..." She trails off, and beams, distracted by talk of books and horses. "Really! Oh, that makes sense. Knights should know 'bout horses," she nods, satisfied with her logic.
Greer> Niko chuckles very quietly. "Maybe I should get a dart gun for your mother, too, hm? So she doesn't play with yours." He grins, then. "Just let me get something here, and we can go find your birthday present. Sound good?"
Greer> Greer nods vigorously, grinning. "Whatcha buying?" is her curious question. "And that way, Mama and I can have big battles!"
Greer> Niko gestures towards that bottle. "Something to drink. The man says it's ouzo." And Niko's voice suggests that he might not -quite- believe said man. "And that's something that people drink on my homeworld." And, one-handedly, he offers over the appropriate amount of cash, receiving the bottle in return, in a drawstring bag. "Having battles sounds like lots of fun, as long as it's just with the foam guns."
Greer> Greer gives the bottle a curious look. "What world are you from? Can I try your ouzo sometimes?" Her pale complexion turns red, and she scuffles a toe on the ground. "Well, sometimes we use paper balls. We go through a lot of paper."
Greer> Niko grins at that, somehow managing an attempt at hair-ruffling despite not actually having a free hand. He's gifted, and fingertips are enough, for said purpose. "Paper balls are okay, too, as long as your mother doesn't mind. And the world that I'm from is called Hellas, but I don't know that you should try ouzo just yet. It's got alcohol in it, and even though you're a big girl, you should probably be a bigger girl before you try it." With an engaging grin, he inquires, "Shall we go find your present, now?"
Greer> Greer's nose wrinkles. "Alcohol? Like beer? Ptooey." She looks up at you with an adoring grin. "If it'll make you feel better, sure."
Greer> Niko manages not to snicker. "Ptooey, exactly, but some folks like me are weird and like it from time to time. And it'll definitely make me feel better, much better. Why don't we go to the bookstore and see if the folks there know of any good horse books, hm?"
Greer> Greer nods fervently, glancing around to get her bearings. "Or even bad ones! Ones with lotsa pictures."
Greer> Niko's bearings are quite had, and he starts in the proper direction, though he shortens his stride such that you won't have to hurry to keep up. "Well, certainly lots of pictures," he agrees. "I'm sure we can find a good one with lots of pictures, though. The people in the book store," he adds, "Are -very- nice, very helpful."
Greer> Greer hurries anyhow, rather eagerly. "You been to the book store before?" she clues in.
Greer> "I have, yup," Niko replies cheerfully. "My youngest sister wanted books in Standard, and she can't get them where she lives, so I got them for her. That, and it's just a fun place to snoop around."
Greer> "Where's she live?" Greer asks with absent politeness. "And how come she wanted 'em in Standard?" She looks up at you, eyes widening. "Mama says it's not polite to snoop, unless you get paid to do it."
Greer> Niko stifles a laugh. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said snoop. I just like looking around the bookstore, that's all. And she lives on Hellas, in a village called Mathraki. She wants the books in Standard so she learn Standard a little better."
Greer> Greer ohs! "I like looking around in the library. All the li-brar-ians know me. Oh! That's very smart of her."
Greer> Niko grins as he opens the door to the bookstore. "It's definitely smart of her. She's a very smart girl. And the library is a good place, too. You just have to take the books back, that's the only bad part about it."
Greer> Greer nods, her nose wrinkling. "But you can always get 'em again," she enthuses optimistically. "And they're always gonna be there." She takes a deep breath of paper and that aroma of new books, then gives you a curious look. "Are you smart too?"
Greer> Niko ponders the question as he closes the door, with a grin for the jingling. "Sometimes," he replies. "It depends on the subject. We all have our strengths, after all."
Greer> Greer giggles. "Like you know about SecOff stuff, right? Mama says you're -probably- good at that sort of stuff, but that taking the... position?... wasn't too smart." Her eyes widen as she gazes around, and she comes close to drooling. "There's more books here than at the library!"
Greer> Niko's grin turns just a bit wry at the parrotting of Tara's words. "Yeah, your mother has a point," he mutters. "I know SecOff stuff, though, you're right." He grins broadly at the reaction to the bookstore, though. "It's an amazing place." He releases you to wander, going over to talk to one of the clerks, presumably about horse books.
Greer> Greer moves toward the nearest shelves eagerly, running her fingers reverently over book spines, and turns her head sideways to read the titles available, her mouth moving as she does so. "Gonna come back here a -lot-," she murmurs.
Greer> Niko thanks the nice clerk lady, then pads back over. "Hey, get this. They've got lots of horse books. So which would you like--a story about horses, or nonfiction?"
Greer> Greer starts, and glances up with a blink. "What's nonfiction?"
Greer> "Books that are made up of facts," Niko replies. "Like a textbook would be nonfiction, or a book that explains how to do something. Or, in this case, a book about, say, different kinds of horses."
Greer> Greer nods, comprehension in her expression, and she looks -so- torn. "It'd be easier to understand horse stories if I learn about them first, wouldn't it?" she reasons. "That'd probably be the best thing."
Greer> Niko's grin is sympathetic. "Or," he suggests, "We could just get one of each. I think that would be perfectly reasonable, and then you wouldn't have to decide." Yes, he's spoiling, but, hey, his budget can stand two books, rather than one.
Greer> Greer gapes up at you, her eyes shining. "-Two-?" she breathes. "Really?" The girl tries to hug your leg, all she can really reach.
Greer> Niko brightens quiet a lot, and hunkers down so that the hug can reach his proper destination. "Really," he agrees. "Two horse books, that would definitely make me very happy... if you don't mind, of course."
Greer> Greer just beams happily, bouncing a little, and looks around wildly. "That would be so neat!" She gets herself under control, mostly, grinning a lot. "I want you to be very happy, of course. Where are they?"
Greer> Niko chuckles very quietly, and gestures. "The nonfiction ones are right here, the next shelf over." And, conveniently enough, the child-age nonfiction is on the child-height shelf. "The stories are over on that shelf with the red spots on the side."
Greer> Greer glances back and forth several times, almost dancing on her toes, and finally chooses to check out the nonfiction books first, reaching for those. "Do you know good horse stories from your sister?"
Greer> Niko considers that for a moment. "Yes," he decides finally. "It's a very old book, mind, but it's one that all my sisters liked. Let me see if they have it, and you can look and see if you're interested?"
Greer> Greer nods eagerly, mouth round with delight as she starts pulling promising books from the shelves. "That sounds like a very good re-com-men-dation."
Greer> "They have it," Niko calls quietly over one shoulder, padding back over with a book whose cover reads 'Black Beauty.' "It's a very old book," he repeats, "So it might seem a little stilted, but the girls liked it."
Greer> Greer peers at the book, and grins. "I dunno why horses would want to walk on stilts, but I'll read that one. And this one." She taps the book currently on her lap, then flips through colorful pages with lots of diagrams. "'History, Conformation, and Care of Terran Equines'."
Greer> Niko nods amiably. "Sounds good. Okay, so we have your birthday presents. If you will let me borrow that one, I'll take these over to pay for them, and then we'll be set."
Greer> Greer giggles, handing up her chosen volume, and stands carefully to start replacing the other contenders on the shelves. "Mister Niko? Thank you, very very much."
Greer> "You're welcome very very much," Niko replies, grinning as he heads over to pay for the books. That done, he comes back and offers over the bag in which the books were placed. "I'm very glad to do it."
Greer> Greer reaches out for the bag, hugging it to her. "Why?"
Greer> Niko grins at that. "Well, for one, it makes me happy. And part of that is because it makes -you- happy. Making people happy is a good thing, right? Especially people who are friends."
Greer> Greer nods firm agreement, then her jaw opens a little. "Oh! I'm a friend?" Awed, she is.
Greer> Niko nods firmly. "You're a friend," he confirms, grin growing slowly. "Most definitely. But, my friend, I'm afraid that it's getting on towards late." Offering a hand, he inquires, "May I escort you home?"
Greer> Greer wows softly, looking up at you adoringly. "Oh!" She glances toward the door, seeing darkness through the glass, and reaches for your hand. "Yes, please," she giggles, murmuring something about shilvery. "Mama's still in her meeting, probably."
Greer> Niko frowns just a touch at that as he starts for the exit. "Will you be okay by yourself, if your mother's still in the meeting?"
Greer> Greer nods, a bounce in her step as she follows along, precious books clutched to her chest. "She always says, if anything goes wrong, to call Security." She rattles off the emergency comm number.
Greer> Niko walks towards the Java Quarter.
Greer> Niko has left.
Greer> You move towards the Java Quarter.
Greer> "Tell you what," Niko suggests. "If anything goes wrong, or even if you just get a little scared or something, why don't you give me a call." And then he offers over his own comm number. Aww, isn't he nice?
Greer> Greer blinks and, slowly, repeats the number, a lilt at the end asking for confirmation as to its accuracy. "Really? Woooowwwwww. I never get scared though," she adds stoutly, and actually expecting the statement to be believed.
Greer> Niko nods first to the confirmation request, and then to the statement. "Okay, maybe if Murray gets scared, then. It's okay to be scared, though. I think everybody is, sometimes."
Greer> Niko heads towards the Massive Open Air Pavilion.
Greer> Niko has left.
Greer> You head towards the Massive Open Air Pavilion.
***** Travelspam go bye-bye *****
Greer> You head towards the General Housing Hub.
Greer> General Housing Hub
Greer> Contents:
Greer> Niko
Greer> Obvious exits:
Greer> Elevator Lounge
Greer> You arrive from the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.
Greer> Greer seems dubious. "I bet -you- never get scared. Murray does, sometimes, though," she admits.
Greer> Niko hunkers down and shakes his head, expression serious. "I'm afraid you're wrong, there. I do get scared, sometimes. And that's okay. That's just something that happens sometimes."
Greer> Greer considers that for a moment. "It's really okay? Don't people laugh at you when you're scared?"
Greer> "It's really okay," Niko says firmly. He considers that last question for a long moment, then shakes his head. "Not the people that really matter, no. Like Doctor Clara, or my brother Riley--they'd never laugh at me, just for something like being scared."
Greer> "I bet they don't get scared either," Greer notes softly, eyes distant as she concentrates on this information. "So people that laugh don't matter then?"
Greer> Today is the day of tough questions. "Hm," Niko says. "Well, sometimes they matter. It depends on why they laugh. Like Kathlyn--do you know her? She's the little Security lady with the blonde hair. Sometimes she laughs because -she's- scared. And I can guarantee that Riley and Clara get scared sometimes. I'll bet they'd tell you the same, if you asked them."
Greer> Greer listens carefully, then shakes her head. "I don't think I know her." Tara'd probably be horrified if her daughter -did- know Kath. "I'm going to have to ask them. Her. I don't get to see Riley too much. But Doctor Clara lets me have his fudge," she grins.
Greer> Niko grins at that. "You should definitely ask Clara. And I think maybe you should be heading to bed, too, hm? It's a little late even for big girls."
Greer> Greer blushes, turning as she fishes a key card from yet another pocket. *click* "Thank you for walking with me, Mister Niko. And for the books. And for being my friend?"
Greer> Niko gets to his feet, with a fond smile. "You're very welcome, Greer. Have a good night."
Greer> Greer beams, being cute, and offers a final hug before heading in. "You too!" She waves, and slips through the door.
Greer> Niko watches you go through the door, something not quite readable in his gaze.
