Post by Legault on Jul 23, 2023 8:56:26 GMT -5
It had been a perfect day for buskers. A comfortable breeze carried the salty scent of the sea through the busy streets of town. Many new ships were at the dock, bringing visitors, merchandise, and stories a plenty. The sun was starting to set, so most of the bards would be claiming taverns while the other performers retired for the night to count their coins.
Ah. Not that one though. Legault thought to himself—or did he speak those words? “Thinking aloud now, am I?” Legault smiled and shook his head as if acknowledging a joke that wasn’t quite funny enough to laugh at. “I’m finally getting old.” Not a good habit for someone like me.
One last performer was getting ready to make the wide square his pitch. He set down what looked like a bucket of water, and then pulled a great bundle of unlit torches from the large bag he carried.
A fire-eater. Should be a pretty big circle show.
The brightly-dressed man assembled a few short metal stands and set a cold torch in each of them. Finally, he lit one of his hand-held torches and the standing one in front of him. He lifted a jar up to his mouth. A moment later he blew a tall, bright streak of fire straight into the sky above him. Onlookers and other pedestrians hurriedly moved away from the fire-breather—surprised by the sudden spectacle. He dropped his torch into the bucket of water and pulled out a piece of chalk. While drawing a wide circle around his pitch, the entertainer called out in a booming and practiced voice, “Gather around, but not too close! My fire burns, dances and grows—but I control it well. Don’t look away--you may never again have the chance to see. For no one in this world or the next can control fire quite like me!”
Legault was impressed by the man’s charisma. A performer of this quality shouldn’t need a finger-smith on the side. Of course, that was all the more reason to watch for one.
Occasional bursts of flame ballooned above the crowd. A blonde-haired boy with a cap too big for his head excitedly stood on his toes and tried left and right to catch glimpses of the show from under arms and over shoulders. The lad approached a particularly unpleasant-looking woman in a frilly dress and jumped to see over her shoulder. He moved to her other side the and started to squeeze past her before backing out and looking for another way in. He unsuccessfully attempted a similar pattern around a tall bookish man with a vest and glasses. This man moved back and stepped aside, repositioning himself behind other spectators. Still, the young boy retreated back a few steps and frowned. He scratched his head, then circled around to make one last attempt. He stood on tiptoes leaning up against a plump, middle-aged man. He held his cap-adorned head high in the valley between that man’s shoulder and the woman’s beside him. The man half turned his head and glanced at the boy, briefly losing his slack-jawed wonder before returning his gaze to the show. Without moving his head, the boy’s eyes stole a glance down at the jolly man’s coin purse—as if to confirm it was still there. He dropped down and switched to the other side of the man where he crawled past him and squeezed his way up and forward through the crowd. He was just in time to watch the fire-tamer light several torches in hand. The sticks of fire twirled and danced in the air well above the crowd. All eyes looked up except for that young boy’s. He quickly and nimbly weaved his way out of the crowd from a different angle. At some point, he had dropped his cap, but he seemed so distracted that he neither noticed its absence nor the presence of the slender, silver-haired man directly in front of him.
“Careful there. If you leave now, you’ll miss the big trick.” Legault said knowingly. His warm smile reached his eyes, which were kind despite the twin scars across one of them.
“My folks is ‘specting me back for dinner now, m’afraid!” The boy bowed his head and mimicked a tip of a cap before making off down the street and around the corner… No sooner did he turn the corner than did the blonde-haired boy immediately turn back around and sprint towards the fire show. He finally found the silver-haired stranger applauding the show’s finale from the other side of the circle, just a few steps back from the crowd. “Awfully rude stealing from a child,” the boy cast a more careful eye over Legault’s clothes and his surprisingly well-toned muscles, “more’n that, a cutpurse shouldn’t steal from their own. Honor ‘mong thieves, ain’t it?” The boy glanced back towards the crowd, suddenly realizing how close they were to the fat fool from earlier. “Gimme half, an’ we’ll call it square. Heck, don’t even count it; I jus need enough for a few meals. I didn’t lie about my folks waitin’ on me for dinner. They’s jus not my ma an’ pop is all.”
Legault rolled a coin across his knuckles as he replied, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no one here is missing their money tonight unless they gave it away or lost it gambling.”
Confused and a little more anxious, the boy added, “I’m s’posed t’ bring my share. Don’t joke unless you wanna take ‘sponsibility for me ‘stead. F’r starters, let’s walk anywhere but here.”
Legault lifted his chin towards the dispersing crowd. “Like I said earlier, you left too soon and missed the big trick. Look carefully at that man over there. You know the one. See anything missing?”
Bewildered, the boy squinted his eyes and stared for a moment before turning back to the older thief. “I take it this’s a lesson, huh? I should jus take a few coins so they’s none the wiser.” The boy held out his palm, “so give me half what you kept. Or ‘least gimme the one you’s got there.”
Legault frowned, palmed the coin he’d been rolling, then spread his fingers again to show an empty hand. “That coin is special. You certainly won’t ever get that coin. And you didn’t listen well enough, child. No one here is missing any of their money. Not even the guy you robbed. You’re right though that he’s none the wiser. Even gave alms to the fire-eater.”
“How ‘bout givin’ alms to me, huh? ‘Cus if I don’t bring back any money I’ll be in big trouble. You gotta know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout, right?”
Legault let out a sigh. “You’re part of a ship’s crew, right? You can’t go back empty-handed, so perhaps you just shouldn’t go—Let me tell you what. Come with me, and I’ll buy you dinner. After that, I guess I’ll do what you suggested.”
The boy raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, “Better make it at leas’ a few extra coins so I’m not in trouble fer being late.”
As the two of them walked towards a less busy tavern, Legault sighed, “No, the other suggestion. I guess I need to take responsibility for you. Can’t have you getting beat senseless just because I undid your hard work.”
((I got all the way to when the boy ran back to look for Legault before accidentally closing the tab and losing everything I typed. I remember I used to use the Lazarus Project add-on for Mozilla Firefox back in the day. I think I'll just use Word from now on. Feel free to jump in here and RP. Perhaps you know me? Perhaps you're from the boy's ship? Either way, Legault is the character I want to roleplay if anything starts back up here.))
Ah. Not that one though. Legault thought to himself—or did he speak those words? “Thinking aloud now, am I?” Legault smiled and shook his head as if acknowledging a joke that wasn’t quite funny enough to laugh at. “I’m finally getting old.” Not a good habit for someone like me.
One last performer was getting ready to make the wide square his pitch. He set down what looked like a bucket of water, and then pulled a great bundle of unlit torches from the large bag he carried.
A fire-eater. Should be a pretty big circle show.
The brightly-dressed man assembled a few short metal stands and set a cold torch in each of them. Finally, he lit one of his hand-held torches and the standing one in front of him. He lifted a jar up to his mouth. A moment later he blew a tall, bright streak of fire straight into the sky above him. Onlookers and other pedestrians hurriedly moved away from the fire-breather—surprised by the sudden spectacle. He dropped his torch into the bucket of water and pulled out a piece of chalk. While drawing a wide circle around his pitch, the entertainer called out in a booming and practiced voice, “Gather around, but not too close! My fire burns, dances and grows—but I control it well. Don’t look away--you may never again have the chance to see. For no one in this world or the next can control fire quite like me!”
Legault was impressed by the man’s charisma. A performer of this quality shouldn’t need a finger-smith on the side. Of course, that was all the more reason to watch for one.
Occasional bursts of flame ballooned above the crowd. A blonde-haired boy with a cap too big for his head excitedly stood on his toes and tried left and right to catch glimpses of the show from under arms and over shoulders. The lad approached a particularly unpleasant-looking woman in a frilly dress and jumped to see over her shoulder. He moved to her other side the and started to squeeze past her before backing out and looking for another way in. He unsuccessfully attempted a similar pattern around a tall bookish man with a vest and glasses. This man moved back and stepped aside, repositioning himself behind other spectators. Still, the young boy retreated back a few steps and frowned. He scratched his head, then circled around to make one last attempt. He stood on tiptoes leaning up against a plump, middle-aged man. He held his cap-adorned head high in the valley between that man’s shoulder and the woman’s beside him. The man half turned his head and glanced at the boy, briefly losing his slack-jawed wonder before returning his gaze to the show. Without moving his head, the boy’s eyes stole a glance down at the jolly man’s coin purse—as if to confirm it was still there. He dropped down and switched to the other side of the man where he crawled past him and squeezed his way up and forward through the crowd. He was just in time to watch the fire-tamer light several torches in hand. The sticks of fire twirled and danced in the air well above the crowd. All eyes looked up except for that young boy’s. He quickly and nimbly weaved his way out of the crowd from a different angle. At some point, he had dropped his cap, but he seemed so distracted that he neither noticed its absence nor the presence of the slender, silver-haired man directly in front of him.
“Careful there. If you leave now, you’ll miss the big trick.” Legault said knowingly. His warm smile reached his eyes, which were kind despite the twin scars across one of them.
“My folks is ‘specting me back for dinner now, m’afraid!” The boy bowed his head and mimicked a tip of a cap before making off down the street and around the corner… No sooner did he turn the corner than did the blonde-haired boy immediately turn back around and sprint towards the fire show. He finally found the silver-haired stranger applauding the show’s finale from the other side of the circle, just a few steps back from the crowd. “Awfully rude stealing from a child,” the boy cast a more careful eye over Legault’s clothes and his surprisingly well-toned muscles, “more’n that, a cutpurse shouldn’t steal from their own. Honor ‘mong thieves, ain’t it?” The boy glanced back towards the crowd, suddenly realizing how close they were to the fat fool from earlier. “Gimme half, an’ we’ll call it square. Heck, don’t even count it; I jus need enough for a few meals. I didn’t lie about my folks waitin’ on me for dinner. They’s jus not my ma an’ pop is all.”
Legault rolled a coin across his knuckles as he replied, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no one here is missing their money tonight unless they gave it away or lost it gambling.”
Confused and a little more anxious, the boy added, “I’m s’posed t’ bring my share. Don’t joke unless you wanna take ‘sponsibility for me ‘stead. F’r starters, let’s walk anywhere but here.”
Legault lifted his chin towards the dispersing crowd. “Like I said earlier, you left too soon and missed the big trick. Look carefully at that man over there. You know the one. See anything missing?”
Bewildered, the boy squinted his eyes and stared for a moment before turning back to the older thief. “I take it this’s a lesson, huh? I should jus take a few coins so they’s none the wiser.” The boy held out his palm, “so give me half what you kept. Or ‘least gimme the one you’s got there.”
Legault frowned, palmed the coin he’d been rolling, then spread his fingers again to show an empty hand. “That coin is special. You certainly won’t ever get that coin. And you didn’t listen well enough, child. No one here is missing any of their money. Not even the guy you robbed. You’re right though that he’s none the wiser. Even gave alms to the fire-eater.”
“How ‘bout givin’ alms to me, huh? ‘Cus if I don’t bring back any money I’ll be in big trouble. You gotta know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout, right?”
Legault let out a sigh. “You’re part of a ship’s crew, right? You can’t go back empty-handed, so perhaps you just shouldn’t go—Let me tell you what. Come with me, and I’ll buy you dinner. After that, I guess I’ll do what you suggested.”
The boy raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, “Better make it at leas’ a few extra coins so I’m not in trouble fer being late.”
As the two of them walked towards a less busy tavern, Legault sighed, “No, the other suggestion. I guess I need to take responsibility for you. Can’t have you getting beat senseless just because I undid your hard work.”
((I got all the way to when the boy ran back to look for Legault before accidentally closing the tab and losing everything I typed. I remember I used to use the Lazarus Project add-on for Mozilla Firefox back in the day. I think I'll just use Word from now on. Feel free to jump in here and RP. Perhaps you know me? Perhaps you're from the boy's ship? Either way, Legault is the character I want to roleplay if anything starts back up here.))