Strolling through Town (D4, EA, Municipal Market, Open)

[Richard Winter]

After the Milita had left Pryvidok, Richard did not miss the opportunity to take a closer look at the goods here. He was looking for something special that he could process. Along for the ride was fellow Lance member Scarlett "Harpy" Ramos.
"That was good work the other day," he told her.
"Mhhhm" she responded, with little interest in talking about the work, she was more interested in looking at everything that was available on the market.
Richard scratched his head, not knowing exactly how to connect with the feisty Taurian. She had been assigned to his lance by Captain Aliyu, and she had not been particularly enthusiastic from the start.

[Richard Winter]

He stopped in front of a booth. Inside were all sorts of things made of wood, cooking spoons, bowls, cutting boards, meat tenderizers, rolling pins, but also a few smaller cross-sections of various woods. He rummaged through the cross-sections with interest. Wood was fascinating, back on Old Terra there were already hundreds of species of wood and they all had different characteristics and quirks that had to be considered if you wanted to process it, but the universe was full of other trees and species of wood that in turn brought their own characteristics, the whole thing was amplified by cross mixtures, new processing methods, etc.. The expression wood is a living material was more than true, if one occupied oneself a little with it.

The dapper saleswoman looked up and asked with a heavy Swedish accent: "Hello whatten cannen i do forren you?"

Richard only blinks at her. "Um, what?"

The saleswoman looked a bit annoyed and repeated slowly: "I saidden: hello whatten cannen i do forren you?"

"Aaahh" he replied. "I am looking for hardwood, one as light as possible and the other as dark as possible. I will paint it but it should be relatively sun resistant, I don't want it to fade later."

The saleswoman nodded and picked up one of the stacks of cross sections and rummaged through them.

"What are you up to now?" asked a voice behind him.

"Have a project coming up and am shopping for some materials for it, have you found anything that piques your interest?"

Scarlett shook her head. "A project, then? What is it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"When I finish it, it will be a gift for a friend. Although I don't know if it's the right one".

"Ehhh, don't tell me you've got a crush. Who is it? The little capellan girl with the prosthesis? Or the little redhead? Or the sad head of the crusade squad? Or,... No, no! Don't tell me it's the creepy witch who's always staring at people like that?" Scarlett tried to mimic Yori and stared at Richard, however she quickly started blinking. "Honestly how does she do that, does she have bionic eyes or something?"

Richard blushed a little and was very perplexed at the same time "How the hell do you know who I'm meeting?" he asked, more confused than anything else.

"Oh, come on, it's a small ship and it's not like.... "

Scarlett was cut off by a loud clearing of a throat, the saleswoman who was holding two cross-sections in her hand said: "Herenn takenn a lookken at desenn, shouldlden havenn aboutten der requirennmentsntsen you vantnten."

Grateful for the distraction, Richard picked up the examples. He weighed them back and forth in his hands and touched them with his real hand. He also smelled them, some woods formed a nauseating stench after a while, others smelled quite pleasant. These here had a hearty smell. Not that one would notice it after varnishing, but it was a nice detail to know.

"How much would they cost together?" Richard asked after he was satisfied that the wood was sufficient.

"Hmmmm,..." The saleswoman surveyed Richard. "280 krona if you takenn bodden." she said, nodding.

"Krona,...?" Richard said, more thinking loudly than anything.

"That's the local currency" Scarlett said snappishly, shaking her head " You could have been a little more prepared for the area.... and before you ask that's about 10 C-Bill, you take C-Bill here, don't you" she asked the saleswoman directly, who nodded in return. "Even if I think that is a little exorbitant, for a piece of wood" she added sassily.

"Umm, thanks," he said to Scarlett. "It's true that it's quite expensive" he objected.

"Listennn up," the saleswoman began, folding her arms, "derenn's a varren goingngen on in der nordrden, and roomorren hassen it datten derenn vassen an attackcken nearren herenn, too. i donnen't knowwen howwen moochchen longennr i cannen stayyen herenn and pretennnd derenn's peacenn and harmonynyen," she said harshly. "Takenn it forren 10 C-billllen or findnden a boodden somennwherenn else."

"Okay, okay, no reason to overreact" he replied defensivly. He took out his wallet and procured a 10 C-Bill note and handed it over to the saleswoman. "There you go".

Satisfied and smiling, the saleswoman took the money, put it in a cash box and handed Richard the two wooden cross sections in a bag. "Danknken you veryryen moochchen forren yourren poorchasenn" she said in an artificially friendly manner "I vishshen you a nicenn dayyen".

Richard said goodbye, picked up his bag, and moved on with Scarlett. "Weak," she said. "Huh?" He replied. "She ripped you off, my dear. She only used all the drama she put on because she was hoping you wouldn't look for a fight."

"What should I have said in reply?" he asked, somewhat offended.

"For example" she began "'If you can do without my money the money probably isn't worth the goods anyway' or 'Well, I bet the service is better somewhere else anyway' or 'Don't fuck with me you stupid swamp cow'" she said amused. " Anything's better than turning tail and caving in at the first hurdle. You have to be a little more stubborn about it, people in a market like this all want to rip you off and they won't stop at doing that just because you flash your blue eyes at them and say please please."

Scarlett visibly had fun with it. "I'm not sure if you're making fun of me or trying to help me," was Richard's response to Scarlett's statement, who replied, "Both," and began to laugh uproariously.

"Tsk!" was Richard's response, and he trotted on. "My, my!" she was still laughing "Now don't play the offended one. Besides, we still weren't done with our little conversation! Who is the lady of your heart now? Come on, tell me!" Scarlett pestered Richard.

He stubbornly walked along the booths and tried to think of a way to change the subject somehow.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki can be seen wandering through town himself, definitely in civilian get up, chatting up some of the locals in swedish and spreading a few credits around. He nods in the directions of the other angels when he sees them.

[Richard Winter]

"Oh look Scarlett, there's someone from the Angels" he said, embracing the welcome distraction. Scarlett just rolled her eyes. "Uhhh, Tanaki?" was the man's name to his knowledge.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki waves, "El-Tee, Miss Harpy, how are you both this fine day"

[Richard Winter]

"Fine Mr. Tanaki" Scarlett said before Richard could open his mouth. "Even if a certain someone beats around the bush".

[Tanaki]

"And what is Lt. Winters waffling on now?"

[Richard Winter]

"I'm working on a project right now that will be a gift later" he explained tiredly. "And a certain lady now thinks she needs to know who it's for."

[Tanaki]

"I see... well can she give you her honest opinion on how good of a gift it will be without knowing who it is for? One mans Laji is another mans Jin as my mum always use to say"

[Richard Winter]

He sighed, "It's supposed to be a ying and yang style necklace, hence the light and dark wood." He took out the two cross sections again. "I don't have the exact details yet, but they'll be worked out as soon as I get to work on it." he said, putting the cross sections back. "Satisfied?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yes," she said, delighted. "Although that's really more of a spiritual thing, isn't it? What do you say to that Mr. Tanaki?"

[Tanaki]

"It is traditionally a very important spiritual symbol in Cappellan spirituality. Though they hardly have a monopoly on the concept. I can see a wide range of people who might appreciate a gift sporting a symbol of the balance of light and dark or good and evil"

[Richard Winter]

Richard nodded "I hope it is well received, the person involved could use some balance" he said.

"Ohhh really?" Scarlett teased him.

He rolled his eyes, "Anyway, did you discover something for yourself here Tanaki?"

[Tanaki]

"Not Really I am mostly here to make supply connections and to stir up trouble" He lets his voice drop "Did you hear that 6 regiments and AFFC regulars landed near the southern coast and took out the local communication network? Thats why the Militia pulled all of the troops out of town."

[Richard Winter]

"Ohhhhh"
"Ohhhhh"
Scarlett and Richard said simultaneously.

"You're quite the troublemaker, Mr. Tanaki" Scarlett said impressed.

"Let's hope your plan works out," Richard replied.

[Tanaki]

Tanaki smiles and shrugs, "Every little bit right, all part of the job. Make connections and get supplies, and help my new friends out with information on whats /really/ going on that the local militia arent telling them."

[Richard Winter]

"I guess that's why you're part strategist, huh? Wouldn't have occurred to me to, um, distribute information here." Richard replied

[Tanaki]

He nods, "Back channels are one of the oldest and best places to both get and spread gossip. Same person selling apples to us is likely selling apples to the enemy. That means that they talked to the other side on the regular, and may know things. The problem isn't getting enough information, its usually getting too much. And then sorting through it. Also if you sit and talk with people, and make friends, your much more likely to get better prices. "

[Richard Winter]

"Should I remember" Riachrd nodded.

"You should especially remember not to get ripped off by every merchant that comes along!" said Scarlett energetically. "Can you imagine Mr. Tanaki, Richard didn't even bother to haggle and backed down at the first opportunity" she said agitatedly.

[Tanaki]

He shakes his head at Scarlett, "A lot of people think haggling is the best option, it depends on the culture and the room. I find haggling rarely works unless your well educated and have a clear understanding of the local conditions and language. Taking the offered price is a power move that makes you look rich, and it might help with future purchases if buying in bulk, but the key is to connect personally with the merchant, spend 20 minutes asking about their kids and admiring the artwork they put up, and they will be offering you a lower price instead of you asking for it."

[Richard Winter]

"Hmph!" Scarlett crossed her arms, "In the Taurian Concordat, we definitely have this settled differently!" was all she had to say.

Richared sighed again "Sorry" he said "Don't be an incorrigible stubborn Scarlett"