Central Bazaar

All roads in the weyr ultimately lead here, to this center of commerce. Canvas awnings jut out over time worn, sandy cobblestone, sheltering customers and wares alike from the majority of Igen's elements, and funnel scents both mouthwatering and vomit inducing through the thin streets. Almost all store fronts are open air, delineated by sandstone arches with intricately carved facades. The insides of these stone-shingled buildings act as an amplifier for the salesmens' bawled enticements, and are held up by the chipped swirls of marble pillars.

Thankfully the weather has cooperated today - the skies are pristine blue, the breeze is light and the sun is warm but not too warm. All in all, a perfect morning to have to distract two small children for a few candlemarks. The streets of the Bazaar are bustling, but not overly so, making the trip to R'ku's family's spice shop fly by. The shop itself is neat and well appointed with a red and gold awning above the door and the tempting aroma of spices wafting from within. R'ku has one arm around Beris' waist as they walk, his gait casual and unhurried as he approaches the door and the person waiting impatiently outside it. Ouza, R'ku's mother, is there, obviously waiting to leave on her errands until her son comes to pick up the children. She has the judgmental motherly stare down pat, her eyes a pale grey. The resemblance to R'ku is obvious, though her stature is shorter and figure curvier from turns of childbearing. "Finally!" is her first word once they're in sight, one hand going to adjust her head-wrap so it covers her dark hair a bit better, "I thought you had forgotten, what with all the nonsense happening at the Weyr lately." Ouza then turns her gaze on Beris, giving her a penetrating and assessing once-over, "You're Beris, then?" R'ku clears his throat and interjects, "Yes - this is Beris .. and we're not — " But his excuses are cut short when two small girls come running out of the shop and pretty much glomp themselves on R'ku with squeals of delight - R'ku's youngest sisters, likely. Both slim and dark-hared like R'ku - one 5 turns and one 8 turns.

In the face of that particular motherly stare, Beris offers up a smile, half greeting, half apology, when Ouza comments on the timeliness of their arrival. Fortunately, R'ku deals with the initial talking, which gives Beris a gap of time to get a look at his mother, observing the familial resemblance with a softer smile. Whatever was going to be further said is interrupted by the appearance of the two girls - no doubt the very same girls they're here to babysit! - and Beris shuffles aside so she doesn't get knocked over as they rush R'ku. "You must be Zasha and Kora?" She asks the girls, though her gaze also includes Ouza, for whoever might reply to the rhetorical question.

Ouza narrows her eyes slightly, still somewhat assessing of Beris, "Yes. Zasha is 8. Kora is 5 — " From her spot clinging to R'ku's leg, Kora pipes up with, "5 turns and a /half/!" in a defiant sort of corrective tone. Ouza heaves a sigh, " — 5 turns and a /half/, yes." Ouza, still perhaps unsure of Beris' suitability, merely presses her lips into a thinner line and snaps, "I'll only be a few candlemarks. Just distract them for the morning. The others are watching the shop and won't have time to spare making sure they aren't getting into mischief." R'ku manages to peel himself away from his sisters, "Calm down a second - let me talk to mother!" Heaving a sigh, R'ku casts Beris a sidelong glance before nodding at Ouza, "We'll take good care of them - no worries. I'm sure we can find something to entertain them with for the morning." Ouza casts one last sort of assessing look at Beris before adding, "Nice to meet you. I'd talk more but … I'm late already!" The last words are a bit harsher than usual and she casts a scowl at her son before she heads off into the bustling crowd of the Bazaar.

Beris is trying not to grin too much at Kora's interjection. She's still trying to earn Ouza's approval after all, and in her mind, that means looking at least somewhat serious about this babysitting business. "Nice to meet you too-" Beris manages as Ouza heads off into the Bazaar. A breath she didn't know she was holding comes out in a long sigh, and Beris looks up at R'ku. "D'you think that went okay?" Brief as the meeting was, the anxiety of meeting the mother-in-law is a strong thing! And now she has two girls to look at too, Beris already pondering how, exactly, they're going to keep them entertained. As if on cue, Lyira and Zeba appear - most likely having sensed their human's thoughtfulness about the task ahead - and whirl around near Zasha and Kora, Lyira trilling sweetly.

Once Ouza has disappeared, the little girls seem to suddenly buzz with energy. Kora, still clinging to R'ku's side, begins to tug insistently on his jacket, "Mommy said you'll take us somewhere fun!" Zasha, standing a few feet away, bobs her head energetically in agreement, flashing a gap-toothed smile, "Yes! You did promise something fun, right? Maybe you know a special place in the Bazaar? With something fun? Somewhere mom won't let us go usually?" Zasha's voice, pitched high in excitement, seems to go a mile a minute. R'ku tries his best to ignore these entreaties for the moment as he reaches out to Beris, taking hold of her hand and giving it a squeeze, "I think it was fine, love. We're lucky it was a shorter visit, though. She really didn't have time to dig into — " Zasha interrupts, skipping over to peer between Beris and R'ku, before her big blue eyes fix steadily on Beris, "You can be all lovie with my brother another time - we're supposed to have fun now, right?" The hint of a whine is in her voice now. Kora seems content enough to cling to R'ku's leg, at least, letting her older sister do the talking for now. But she does seem transfixed by the circling fire lizards, a silent look of awe on her face.

Beris's smile turns into a full-on grin at the girls' enthusiasm. Though she hasn't exactly got much experience looking after kids, and has had her reservations about helping to look after the girls, their energy does amuse her. She squeezes R'ku's hand back, but - perhaps fortunately for the girls! - is too embarrassed about any such stuff in front of them. Beris grins at Zasha, a hint of pink in her cheeks at the interruption of the little moment. "Well - what do you guys usually do for fun?" Maybe that will offer an idea of where they could take them. "Do you like seeing the animals in the menagerie?" Speaking of animals… Noticing the look that Kora's giving the firelizards, Beris silently calls them to her. Zeba lands on her shoulder, sitting there watchfully, while Lyira clings to her arm so that Beris can hold her close enough for Kora to pet, if she wants. The gold is humming softly, eyes a happy blue-green. "She's friendly. Her name's Lyira," Beris explains to the younger girl.

Zasha seems to think about this for a moment, face scrunched up in obvious thought before she brightens, "We usually play a jumping game or run around or play with the other kids or tell stories or — " The girl nearly runs out of breath with her endless amounts of 'ors', until R'ku interrupts, "How about we find some sort of thing to eat first? A treat, maybe?" Zasha stops looking put-out at being interrupted and suddenly starts to bounce with excitement, "Treat! Yes!" Kora, who had been transfixed with Lyira, her pudgy little hand petting the gold with a look of rapture on her face, suddenly blinks at the mention of treats, "Treats! Can the pretty get a treat, too?" She pets the gold gently with one hand, her other arms till looped around R'ku's leg, "Then we can go see the aminals." R'ku flashes one of his wide grins at Beris, "Food - always wins with them. Do you happen to know of any stalls nearby that sell anything sweet?" Hopefully they can give them back to Ouza before the sugar rush hits, though.

Honestly? Beris is rarely one to turn down food when it's being considered. "Treats sound good to me," she says to R'ku's suggestion, taking a moment to think what's nearby while she observes Kora petting Lyira. Lyira is always thrilled by such attention, her eyes half-closing in delight as she continues to softly hum. She'd be happy just to lie like this forever, but alas, they're going to have to move in a moment! "Hm - well, there's the stall that does flavoured ices, they're nice if it's warm. Or the stall that does all the sticky honey pastries…." Even as she says it, her eyes widen at R'ku as she realises giving the kids sticky, gooey treats may not be the BEST idea in the world.

Zasha brightens immediately at the suggestions and butts in, "Honey pastries!" Of course she seems to take a liking to the sticky, gooey confection and R'ku grimaces right along with Beris at that. "Sorry, Zash - that may be a bit /too/ messy if you want to go see the animals afterwards. You'd be too sticky!" Zasha's face goes from delight to disappointment in a moment. Kora, on the other hand, is too busy giggling and petting Lyira to really care at this point, her attention successfully diverted. "We'll get some ices - you like those, right?" R'ku cajoles with a grin, "Theyre just as good. I'm sure they even have honey in them for flavoring." Zasha looks a little less upset but nods her head in a thoughtful sort of way, blue eyes intense. "And," R'ku pauses to consider this, "mMaybe we can pick up a honey pastry on the way home after the animals." Zasha brightens at this, back to her bouncy self in minutes, "Alright! Let's go - ices, ices, ices!" R'ku reaches down to unwind Kora's arm from his leg and takes her hand, "Sorry, Kora, we're off to get some ices now! You can pet the pretty later." Kora's face briefly falls but she nods her head solmnly, her eyes still focused on the fire lizard. "Alright. Lead the way, love," R'ku says, grinning, "To the ice stall."

Very clever, R'ku - get the sticky treats on the way back, so that they don't have to deal with the aftermath for too long before mum gets home! Or will that tarnish Ouza's opinion about Beris, before she's barely even had time to formulate one? Beris is torn! But, they can get the ices first, so that's all good. "Lyira might like to lick some of the ices," Beris offers as a bargaining chip to Kora, for the sadness of having to interrupt her time with the fire-lizard. Zeba gives a croon - he'd probably like a lick, too! Lyira climbs up to settle on Beris's other shoulder, and she reaches for R'ku's hand before taking the lead with a suddenly shy grin at the two girls. "Um - this way." It's not far to the little stall, the awnings pale blue and white. It's delightfully cool near the numerous containers of ice that keep their wares cold. There's a variety of different flavours on offer and - yes, even runny honey to be drizzled over if one wants! "What flavours do you like?" Beris asks of both girls, glancing at R'ku as if to ask, 'am I doing this right?'

Zasha skips along in the wake of R'ku and Beris, sometimes darting ahead and sometimes falling back. R'ku has to stop several times to call her away from some alley or another and keep her attention on track, but thankfully they don't lose the girl on the way to the ices. Zasha gives a lot of thought to which flavor she want, brow furrowed in thought as she considers Beris' question. "Redfruit!" she announces loudly, grinning her gap-toothed grin, "With a little honey." Then, as though remembering something, she adds a meek, "Please. Thank you." in a rush that makes the words almost blend together. Kora seems a bit overly excited to get an ice merely to be able to feed Lyira, by the sounds of it, and she grins, "Redfwoot, too!" R'ku stands back and grins, giving Beris a nod of encouragement, "Thankfully it's not too hot. I think we may be safe in letting them eat them on the way to the menagerie?" Though the fact they both chose red-colored ices may be troubling for the mess factor. But oh well.
Maybe it's fortuitous that there're two adults to the two children - it means Beris can keep an eye on Kora, while R'ku wrangles Zasha. Was she expecting the kids - especially the older one - to have this much energy? Probably not. There's that smile again, aimed at R'ku as zasha has to think ever so hard about the important decision on flavour. "Two redfruits it is. and one mango. What're you having?" She asks R'ku, glancing over at him. "Yeah, I reckon so," will be her answer to his thoughts. She hasn't even considered the mess associated with the colour of the ices - that might come back to bite her. She rummages in her trouser pocket for some marks, as the man behind the counter prepares the first part of the order.

R'ku keeps half an eye on Zasha as he distractedly answers Beris' question, "Hm? Oh. Mango, too! That sounds delicious." When he's satisfied that Zasha is preoccupied with watching with fascination as the ices are made, R'ku finally is able to turn his full attention onto Beris, "Knowingm y luck lately, that'll be a cue for a sandstorm to blow in without me even realizing it." He squints up at the clear blue sky skeptically for a moment before shrugging, flashing one of his usual grins, "Ah well. We'll take whatever comes. It's only for a few candlemarks, at least.Though, I admit, it's been a while since I've had to look after two of my sisters all on my lonesome." Kora keeps one pudgy hand in R'ku's, her eyes fixed on Lyira for the moment. R'ku glances down at her, amused, "Maybe I should have given some of Cava's eggs to my sisters. But I'm pretty sure my mother'd have a fit."
"Two mango ones," Beris tells the shopkeeper, after flashing a grin at R'ku, amused that he's following her lead. The two redfruit ices are handed down to the girls; once the mango ones are also handed over to the adults, Beris pays up and slides the change back into her pocket. "Don't tempt fate," she warns R'ku teasingly. "And you're not on your lonesome," she corrects him with a cheeky smile. Both fire-lizards are watching the ices intently - Kora's especially, since Lyira's got her marked as the softer touch of the two sisters. "Your mother's not a fan of fire-lizards, then?" Beris asks, between licks of her - very cold - ice.

Zasha accepts her ice with a brilliant grin and immediately starts licking it happily. Kora manages to grab hers, as well, and licks it a bit before she holds it out unsteadily towards Lyira, "Pretty want some now?" R'ku licks at his own ice before grinning at Beris, "True! Not alone. Though I usually had some of my other older sisters to help, as well, growing up. Though I still got stuck as being 'in charge' when my parents were gone." He'll wait until Kora's interaction with the gold goes through before starting to slowly chivvy the group into a slow walk in the direction of the Menagerie. "Mother thinks fire lizards are noisy and messy and dirty. She doesn't want them contaminating the spices." He makes a face, "I didn't get one until after I was a candidate." He grins, the expression turning mischievous, "Though, since I'm not living under her roof anymore, I suppose she can't be too angry with me if I give some of my sisters eggs."

Oh, Lyira DEFINITELY wants some of that food. Beris being distracted by R'ku and all, she creeps down the woman's arm a bit, then stretches right out in order to flick a tongue out at the ice. Her eyes whirl rapidly at the coldness, and she lets out a little sneeze. Beris suppresses a laugh as the gold learns a lesson about cold treats, managing not to let her shoulders shake too much with the barely-contained mirth. "I don't know if I'm glad I didn't have that responsibility, or if I wish I did have it." She falls into an easy walk beside R'ku, watching both kids to see what sort of things they do. "Ah." Ouza's opinions on firelizards are pretty blunt. She raises an eyebrow when he suggests giving eggs out, though is still smiling, intrigued by the naughty idea. "Maybe she'll come round to them if she sees how well trained they can be…?" Maybe there's a possible positive outcome?

Kora giggles happily at the sneeze and, without any reservations, licks the ice again. She apparently has no qualms about eating something that has been licked/sneezed on by Lyira. But then the group is on the move, so she can't really offer anymore for the moment and is forced to walk and lick her ice at the same time. Zasha, too, is curtailed in her explorations due to the distraction of eating the ice. Distraction success! "Maybe," R'ku makes a face of skepticism at the idea of changing his mother's mind on anything, "I've sent her messages with Cava before, but she just ends up complaining about her getting too close to the spice barrels and 'what if she fell in? That'd be a whole barrel of stock lost!'" He takes a contemplative bite of his ice and then shrugs, munching away, "Mm. The only way to do it, I suppose, would be to force her to interact with one daily instead of every several sevendays unexpectedly. That's where the eggs come in!" He grins cheekily, obviously amused at this potential mischief, "Granted. My two oldest sisters may be in the clear - one's married and has a child of her own now. The other one is engaged. I'm pretty sure the next one's not too far off from being either setup with an arranged marriage or choosing someone of her own accord." He snorts a laugh, "Mother's still bent out of shape she didn't manage to convince me to choose a wife before I got asked for candidacy, as then I would have been ineligible."

"You've thought about this way too much," Beris laughs. "And what if they end up with absolute demons of fire-lizards? Somehow I don't think that will convince your mum they're a good idea." She licks her ice idly, watching Zasha and Kora as they walk along with them. Hey, food really is a good idea to keep kids distracted! Or these ones, anyway. Beris will file the knowledge away for the future. "Yeah but…." She reaches for something to say to show the positive side of the whole thing. It's probably something she's said before, in similar discussions. "You're a dragonrider. That's not something many people get to be. And…marriage isn't everything there is in life." There's a sharp little nod as she says that, and then a determined lick of her ice.

It couldn't be all smooth sailing - Zasha gets distracted by some stall's pretty fabric and, still clutching her ice in one hand, starts to lean forward intently to peer closer at it. The slow drip-drip-drip of red juice starts to get a little closer than might be comfortable. "Zasha!" R'ku's scolding tone echoes across the Bazaar and his sister backs off sheepishly, "Sorry! They're very pretty!" R'ku merely sighs and adds in a gentler tone, "You can see them from far back - your hands are too messy to touch." Zasha, chastised, licks at her ice while staring forlornly at the fabric stand as they walk by it. Kora, thankfully, is still entranced with watching Lyira as they walk and is still nomming on her ice, though she's gotten quite a bit of red around her mouth and dribbling down her chin. R'ku, noticing this, breaks out in a laugh, "They look like they've murdered someone and drank their blood." He doesn't seem too upset about the whole thing and merely takes another bite of his mango ice. "Mmm. Yeah. I suppose you could say I married a dragon instead," he notes with a laugh, "In a kind of platonic way." He works at getting the children moving again, directing them down a different street to head t the Menagerie, "Didn't you ever want to get married? All my sisters used to sigh and moon over it and the ceremony and such."

R'ku gets there before Beris has to consider what to say to nicely ask Zasha to be careful around the fabrics. She settles for shooting the person behind the stall an apologetic look, and then barely restrains laughter when R'ku points out the effects of the melting red ice. Her shoulders wibble wobble with the effort, and Zeba opens his wings to steady himself, still eyeing the ices hopefully. "Oh no…we should clean them up before your mum gets back, in case she gets any ideas?" She's long made her peace that Kabelkath will always be number one in R'ku's life. The nature of the bond between dragon and rider is undeniable. She smiles back at his assessment, before considering his question. "I…not really. I guess I didn't really hang around with any other girls who talked about it, so I never thought about it like that." The menagerie isn't far off now, and the faint sounds of bird calls can be heard.

By the time the Menagerie is actually reached, thankfully both Zasha and Kora have finished their ices. Though they do have sticky red hands and mouths, looking fresh off a murder spree. "We can get a damp cloth on the way back," R'ku notes as he pauses at the threshold of the animals, watching both Zasha and Kora squeal with delight and run off to peer at the animals. "Shouldn't be too much trouble to clean off their faces and hands." He doesn't make any mention of what might happen if they get some of that stuff on their clothes, though! His own ice long finished, he moves over to Beris and slips an arm fondly around her now that he's free of clinging children, "Well. Ceremonies aren't for everyone. Though my Wingsecond, A'lira, did end up doing one with his weyrmate, though probably more on the suggestion of his weyrmate's family … since I think she's part of a Trader family." He trails off, seemingly thoughtful, before leaning down to press a quick kiss to Beris' lips, "I love you, anyhow - ceremony or not." He may look a tad relieved that Beris isn't into the whole huge ceremony shebang, anyhow - likely the mention of marriages suddenly got it in his head that maybe that's something he should have offered to Beris some time ago. Either way, there's not much more time to discuss anything further - a squawk and a laugh comes from one of the animal exhibits and, with a sigh, R'ku has to rush off to try to supervise his sisters before they scare the birds anymore.