Smythe and Gem walked down the long pier, with Daida pawing along at their heels. Along the pier there were many men yelling, crates being moved onto the pier from dozens of ships, and the bustle of dozens of merchants trying to pawn their trinkets off on sailors and pedestrians alike.

One of these merchants, a very filthy old wick with a long unkempt beard, approached Smythe and said

"Care to buy this hingle foot? Great piece for luck friend."

Smythe looked at the man with discust, and then said,

"No thank you crow, I am in no need of dusty trinkets."

He passed the man by and continued to walk. He then turned to Gem and asked,

" Is there a specific part of the pier that you would like to see from Dove?"

Meseli had floundered about to the pier and now had claimed a crate of his own. Precariously perched he looked about with wide eyes. He could not help but to smile as he spotted Smythe.

"Good sir!" He yelled waving a long arm in the air. "Would you care tyo buy something?"

"Not so much," Gem responded. "I just like walking out here. The sea breeze, the warm air... I love it really. Makes the daytime wondrous, if you ask me..."



Gem stopped dead in her tracks. Placing her fists firmly on her hips, she glared at him, "Ugh, you again?! This is ridiculous! Alioe, can't you take a hint? Go smoke something or I'll knock your face in."

She didn't mean it at this point, but that was usually enough for the crazies around here to clear off. And the idea of smoking something usually appealed a great deal to them. She tried to push past him.

Meseli laughed. His voice like a crows call. Bells jingled as his body shook.

"Oh come now! I do not smoke such things. My vice lies within potions and mystics. I have a potion that can give a man a soul should he so desire or perhaps even damn them." He said amused as he pulled out a small bottle. "In this soulless place it is a rare commodity you see."

Smythe had a rather smug look on his face, and put his hand on the hilt of his rapier. He then glared at the man, and ordered,

"Listen crow, under normal circumstances I would deal with you, and maybe hold a conversation. But M' lady here seems differently inclined. I'll tell you what, I will converse with you later this evening, if you promise to leave me and the lady alone for the remainder of the day. There may even be a bit of profit in it if you scam. I'll meet you in the Blue Umbrella common room, around 8. Is that good for you crow?"

Smythe then bowed, motioning to the hand on his rapier very obviously.

"I won't take no for an answer crow."

Smythe said, as he gave a slight wink.

Meseli smiled a yellowed grin.

"Most certainly my good man. I shall be there promptly at the desired time and shall bring he very best of my best of my most auspicious wares." He said smiling.

With a stretch he stood upon his crate towering above those around him.

"Till then I can only say that you should have fun with this most hearty cheeked day and be wary of those who offer trinkets carved of lies." With a final bow he hopped from his perch and bounded away.

Gem watched the strange, mildly creepy man bound off. She didn't like him.

She turned to Smythe and raised a skeptical brow in a look that would rend flesh from skull,"'Deal' with him? You mean buy that bugger's crazy juice? Look, I appreciate the sentiment and all," she laid a hand over her chest and gave her best 'grateful damsel' expression,"for saving me from the nutcase and so forth. But if you do that junk, I'm pretty sure I don't want to be around you. I get enough of that in the streets or at work. Be straight with me: do you do it?"

She meant drugs, of course, but she doubted he did them. He looked too clean cut. But he could be a new user... She stood, hands on her hips and raising every bit of her 5'7" (and three inch heels) up, looking at him like she'd caught his hand in the cookie jar.

Smythe laughed joyfully at the statement, and returned

"Of course not Dove, do I look like the kind to use drugs? Never."

Smythe straightened his jacket out, and relaxed.

"Also Dove, I can tell you probably didn't need my help getting rid of the likes of him, but, I see no reason to harm the old crow. He seems a bit eccentric, but nothing compared to some other crows out there. I think he may actually be of some use to me. You see I'm afraid that my dear Criegory might catch mites in that god awful stable."

"You look clean cut," she said, "And I didn't figure for it when I looked at you. But I have to say, you never know!"



"I just don't exactly care to deal with them," Gem replied, continuing down the pier,"And yes, I can deal with them. I don't have a problem with the homeless, or even the ones that use opium, or whatever, but I just don't want them," she shook her hands in a get-it-off-me motion,"all over me. All up in my space... Not so much. I can deal, but I don't like unwanted... nyaah in my space."

"Well, that's perfectly understandable, the crows and sparrows just interest me, that's all. Sometimes they can be useful for small tasks and what not."

Smythe walked to a clear point on the edge of the pier, a rare occurrence on the bustling dock. He leaned over the railing and took a deep breath of the salty sea air.

"Ahh the sea is beautiful. It's charms still pull me in, just like they had when I was a child."

he then turned to face Gem, a natural smile on his face.

"So, Gem, how long have you lived in Old Rose?"

Gem sighed. The sea was glittering fiercely, the waves crashing along the shore... It was beautiful. She had to agree with him on that. Living in Old Rose had given her a love for the sea with which very little could compete. She watched a gull soar above--



She jumped slightly-- she had been lost in her reverie. "Oh, all my life," she gave him an impish look,"and you're not allowed to ask how long that is."

She laughed and turned back to the ocean. "But, yes, Old Roser, born and raised. Daughter of a tumble, raised in a bar. Like most of Old Rose," she gave him a raised-eyebrow you-know-what-I'm-talkin'-about expression. She shook her head,"I'm so attached to it though... The city and the sea. I don't think I'll ever leave."