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 Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2025 11:52 am
Almadel tilted his head slightly, watching her with a sort of amused fondness. “Oh, we do speak the same language. Yes, of course. I love a good trade. And wouldn’t it be just savage of me to show you something so lovely only to tease you with it? No, that would be cruel. And you look at it like it’s something very valuable. I like that, in my trades.” Maybe he meant it. Maybe he didn’t actually care, as long as he got a good deal out of it. Maybe, he just needed to have a good time. “Yes, let’s make a trade. I’ll give you this, and–are you offering those scales?” he asked, tail twitching behind him. “I’ve seen quite a few of them lately, but I just can’t help myself.” His eyes flashed as he looked at them. The scales reflected brightly in his eyes, and there was no denying that he had a fascination with them. But then, he seemed to like all sorts of shiny things, so he made no effort to hide this interest. “I wonder what I can do with them if I collect enough.” His eyes darted from the scales to Saiph’s face and he smiled sweetly again.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2025 1:24 pm
Grinning in response, she knelt to retrieve some of the fallen scales. At least he was interested! And given his remark about collecting them, she thought she had something to make the bargain a little sweeter for him. Riffling through her subspace, she found what she was looking for and withdrew a necklace that was still a bit of a work in progress. Though, it could be finished quite quickly.
She'd been bored one day and the amount of small scales had given her a moment of despair before random YouTube recs had saved her. The scales were pretty and much sturdier than a normal snakes. They could be turned into beads reasonably easily. Which was what she'd done. Three scales had had their edges wrapped in gleaming, extremely thin silver wire, which had then been hammered and polished until it looked like each scale had a band around the outer edges. Some of the scales even had wire covering the body of the scale, recreating the phases of the moon. And the chain she'd gotten for them was equally glimmery.
"I wanted to see if I could do anything with them and started messing around," she explained as she pulled a small set of pliers from subspace and began attaching the wrapped scales to the chain. "And they're shiny and white like the moon, right? My mom helped me get wire that was real silver and the chain is the good stuff too. She said if I was going to do jewelry making, it was important to use quality materials. It took forever and I watched so many tutorials, but I learned a lot too. And I have enough scales and wire and chain left to make more later if I want."
As she chattered, she was carefully closing off the last o-ring and holding the finished piece up for Almadel to examine. The necklace was more of a choker style, but in the lighting of the tent, scale and silver shone softly, showing the faces of Earth's moon.
"Is this a good trade? I have a couple bigger scales if you want just scales, they're roughly the size of my palm. You might be able to carve designs into those?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2025 10:30 pm
Visibly pleased, Almadel scooped up all of the scales–and the hard work she’d put into them–with an approving smile. “What talent you have! Such creativity. It is a good trade, yes. I will take as many scales as you will give me, though I do not yet have a plan for them. Of course, if you find that you are no longer interested in any of your projects, save them for me. I will take any–all–off your hands. And I’m certain I’ll be back again soon enough. I just cannot stay away from Earth,” he sighed wistfully. “And, thank goodness, that it seems it will be here for a while yet.” Briefly he looked to the sky, searching for a second before his eyes landed on something distant, far away. He turned his gaze back to her and smiled. “I hope.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2025 11:31 am
Grinning triumphantly, Saiph rapidly withdrew the palm-sized scales from sub-space, keeping only one. The unworked, smaller scales she was willing to part with came soon after and within seconds, a tiny hill of shimmering white rested on Almadel’s table. “I’m glad you like them! It’s kind of neat working with them and I am super glad that they don’t generate lightning, since I’ve had enough electric shocks for a lifetime.”
Actually chuckling, she nodded agreeably, quite pleased to have Almadel call her talented, even if it was less talent and more stubborn boredom. And if she got tired of them, it was nice to know that someone was willing and more than happy to take the scales.
“I’ll remember that,” she said, nodding. She couldn’t help the little chill that ran up her spine as his eyes searched the sky. She’d gotten the impression after fighting the Hallow that only the people who’d been there were able to easily find his prison in the night sky. So, Almadel was probably trying to spot it himself. Even so, the moment of searching followed by the ‘I hope’ made her shiver, even though the night was warm. “Believe me,” she said fervently, “I hope so too.”
Giving herself a mental shake, she brought herself back to the present and tipped her head to the side. She wasn’t exactly sure what the protocol here was. Could she just take the feather now and say thanks and goodbye? Did she have to sign anything? She’d never dealt with this sort of thing before.
“Do we… do I need to do anything else?”
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2025 5:39 am
Almadel laughed only one and nodded. “I suppose, only to shake my hand and say goodnight.” He gestured for her to take the feather. “Go ahead, my dear. It’s all yours. Thank you for this trade. And for your company.” For propriety’s sake, he offered his hand–took hers–and shook. There was nothing performative about the smile on his face or the mirth in his eyes. “Let’s do this again soon.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2025 10:13 am
Well, she could certainly do those things. And happily. Smiling without reservation, she gave his hand a grateful squeeze. Short of him kicking a baby in front of her, there was no way that she was ever going to think badly of the Merchant. He’d been kinder than manners required, understanding and encouraging. All excellent traits in a grown up space alien.
Answering the mirth in his eyes with her own, Saiph said, “Thank you. For everything. And I really hope we can do this again.” Taking the feather carefully, with clear regard to its value, she carefully tucked it into her subspace for safe keeping. She wasn’t about to risk carrying it as she ran through the dark park and damaging it somehow. Turning, she headed for the tent’s entrance, only turning back briefly to give the Merchant a wave and say softly, Good night!”
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