An Apple a Day [Kari] [FINISH]

[Harpsdesire]

It was a warm afternoon and Joel was on his way to the marketplace. The child felt happily grown-up as he walked down the lightly crowded sidewalk with a net grocery bag across his broad shoulders and money in a pouch around his neck. He was shopping, all by himself. What in future years might become a dreaded chore was currently an adventure. With his unusual size, Joel looked older than his eleven years, but the innocent excitement in his eyes indicated his youth and enthusiasm.

He stopped at a fruit seller’s stand and looked at the shiny produce, then down at his list. The paper said, simply, ‘APPLES’. Hmm. There was more than one kind of apples on the stand. This meant he had to make the choice himself. Joel asked himself outloud, ”Red apples or green apples… ooh, or yellow apples.” They all looked good and Joel liked all of them. In fact, he liked pretty much all food, and he was almost always hungry. His parents said it was because he was growing, which Joel took as a good enough reason to have seconds at every meal.

Just now, looking at the apples, he was getting hungry again, even though lunch was not long past. Whichever color he picked, he was going to get an extra one as a snack. His mother had told him not to buy junk food or candy, and only get the things on the list, so he figured an extra apple was allowed. Maybe he should get more than one extra…

[Kari Muffin]

Josephine had triumphantly escaped the clutches of her Aunt Sage and was now on her own. She was hungry, however, and probably should have decided to ditch her family after eating. Padding down the street she glanced at all of the shops and stalls that lined the way.

What to eat...? She had a bit of money tied around her neck in case of emergency, so it would be enough for something little. Meat was a bit too expensive so she should probably go for fresh fruit? Guh. Fruit. She really disliked it. But it was something she was supposed to eat according to her mother and just about everyone.

Apples. Well. At least they were sweet and she didn't have to try to peal them or anything.

Being fairly young and still growing, she was too short to actually reach the counter top without standing on her hind legs and flailing. She had been trying to get the attention of the clerk for a good five minutes before she flopped down on her bottom and simply stared at the apple dangling out of her reach.

So when she heard the voice around the bend of the stall, her tail wagged happily. Maybe someone would be willing to help her. Her head popped around the corner with a curious expression. "Hello...." she said after a few moments of inspection. "Can you help me?"

[Harpsdesire]

Joel's ears perked forward with interest when he heard a small voice calling from around the corner of the fruit stand. He shifted position to peer around the edge, spotting the small card who had asked for help. She was a bit funny-looking (and also a bit funny-smelling), but her face and wagging tail seemed pleasant enough. A potential friend! Joel considered just about everyone a potential friend, and treated them accordingly, an attitude most people found endearing... and a few found deeply annoying.

Joel grinned at the little girl, who looked a little forlorn, or maybe frustrated despite her smile. "Who, me? Yeah, sure I can help you. With what?"

The friendly young boy was eager to help, but obliviously failed to notice the rather obvious difficulties caused by Josephine's small stature. Joel himself sometimes forgot how much bigger and stronger he was than other children his age, which sometimes lead to broken lamps, getting stuck in small places or unintended bruises on his siblings from overly enthusiastic play.

"My name is Joel," he added with a broad, somewhat goofy smile, "Who are you?"

[Kari Muffin]

The girl's tail started wagging when he offered to actually help her. "Could you get that for me?" she said as she pointed to the apple that was dangling over the edge of the counter. "And can you give the Mister my money because I can't reach?"

Her stomach growled as she continued to stare at the apple. It wasn't particularly loud over the chatter of the street, but she could feel her stomach rolling around in protest. For a moment she didn't hear what the boy had said after he had offered to help. She tilted her head as she looked at him. Joel? That was an interesting name.

"My name is Josephine," She said as she tried to remember manners. What had her mother said about talking to strangers? She couldn't really remember paying attention. Saffron would know... but she wasn't here. And really when it came to socializing Josephine had little experience besides family. "It's nice to meet you."

[Harpsdesire]

"Okay!" Joel responded happily, and easily took the apple from the counter, offering it to the smaller child. "I really like apples." He commented. Joel craved greens and fruit as much as he did meat. It was probably the Deer in him. Now the matter of money. Josephine's coin looked tiny on Joel's front paw as he held it over the counter and its pile of glossy fruit.

"'Scuse me! This is for hers, and I need some apples as well." The fruit vendor took the child's money with little interest, quickly returning his attention to an adult customer around the other side of the stall who seemed to be buying produce enough for an army. This left Joel to select his apples for himself, which he was happy enough to do, as it meant he wouldn't get stuck with any that were bruised or mushy. As he picked out several of the fruits, he responded to Josephine. "Nice to meet you, too. Do you live near here?" She didn't appear to be of any realm he could readily recognize. The strange tubes going in and out of her body suggested that she was at least part Corvie, but the colors and patterns seemed all wrong to Joel.

[Kari Muffin]

"They're pretty good!" she said with a small smile.

Josephine happily took the apple in her paws. Her eyes light up as she took a large bite out of the fruit. Food! It was so wonderful! Though it wasn't as good as pancakes or the things that they had at the Court of Clubs, but beggars couldn't be choosers, right?

She continued to chomp on the apples at the boy responded to her. She practically inhaled the apple, and was finished in record time. She responded to him when she set the apple core on the ground for a moment. It was probably a bad idea to litter (not like an apple core could do that much damage).

"Oh well... it's kind of complicated. Where I live that is..." She shifted her weight so she could paw at the apple core. She did her best not st stare at the feline boy. "My Mom has an apartment here in the city, she has a house in Tulgey, and I live with my Aunt Sage sometimes. I don't think the apartment is that close... but I know how to get there if I can get to main street....I take it that you live around here at least?"


Tulgey Weird: She doesn't smell poorly, and when she stares at you, you get the feeling that she's just taken something you wanted...

[Harpsdesire]

"Yup!" Joel agreed, paying for his own apples replacing the change in a pouch. From many hours of practice in the lab, his fine motor skills were surprisingly good for someone with such large, bulky paws. He bit into a shiny red apple with a small sound of satisfaction. Somehow, the first bite always tasted the best out of the whole apple.

Joel was surprised at how quickly the girl devoured her apple. Huh. He was almost always the first one in his family to finish eating, and it was somehow novel to still be munching while Josephine was merely pushing a core around with her paw. He guessed that her parents were always telling her to slow down and take smaller bites, just like his. Silly grownups.

"I live in the city." Joel confirmed, and then, with a bit of a double take, he realized what she had said previously. "The Tulgey Wood!? That's.. Woah." Joel sounded more impressed than scared. He didn't know anyone personally who had even been in the Wood, and she lived there! He knew Tulgies were generally considered a dangerous lot, and since Josephine didn't look like a Tulgey herself (although he still couldn't pinpoint what it was she did[/u] look like), he figured she must be very brave to live among them. Not to mention that the Wood was full of Jubjub birds, Jabberwocks and other assorted scary and violent creatures!

For the young Corvie, shopping alone in the inner bazaar a few blocks from home had been an adventure, but it paled in comparison to the dangerous escapes from mad Tulgies and wild animals that he imagined Josephine's life was comprised of. "What's it like?" In his excitement, his half-eaten apple was all but forgotten in his paw. He noticed it absently and took another bite as he listened for the girl's answer with fascination.

[Kari Muffin]

The wolf tilted her head at the question. She had never really understood why people were so up in arms about the Wood. Of course the inhabitants weren't particularly fond of her and her sister being mixes, but they normally didn't give Mom much trouble.

Then again things were different in there. And an Outsider had no real rights.....

"There are a lot of trees. And you can't go outside at night or the Jubjub birds and other things will try to eat you. Night is the best time for them to hunt so everyone stays inside unless they have really powerful magic." She said in a matter of fact tone. "Even though my Mommy's a Queen she doesn't go out at night."

The girl's tail wagged slightly, though it looked a little awkward considering how large it was compared to her. She was still growing into her body and everything seemed awkward.

[Harpsdesire]

Joel seemed excited to hear what the girl had to say. He was curious by nature, and places he had never been, especially the exotic or dangerous ones, were always interesting to hear about. What she said sounded pretty cool, although rather more mundane than he expected. Still, jubjub birds!

"I've never seen a jubjub bird up close, not even a pet one." He said, bouncing a little on his paws. "Some people in the city have them, but they mostly keep them inside, 'cause even the tame ones are real mean. I know a kid who got a big scar from one." Joel was still at the age where he thought scars were cool and danger was fun, with very little concept of his own mortality. He slightly envied Josephine for living in a place were things outside might try to eat you.

"I guess I don't have enough magic to live in Tulgey. I do have science, though. Lots of science." He puffed out his little chest rather proudly. Joel was about to launch eagerly into a discussion of his interests and experiments which would probably have been quite boring to a non-corvie child. He stopped himself with some effort, remembering just in time how his mother had told him to ask others about themselves, no matter how much the outgoing boy wanted to monopolize the conversation.

He paused, then changed the subject abruptly, but without any sign of discomfort. "Do you have hobbies or something, Josephine?"

[Kari Muffin]

The wolf's tail wagged slightly. This was nice. Talking to someone other than her sister was fun. "Jubjub birds are scary! I can't believe that people keep them as pets!" She said with surprise. She had never heard about them being domesticated. Then again her mother seemed to be against the idea of having pets other than Aces and her Aunt only really liked Banders and her mechanical Tove. Banders were pretty mean, but paled in comparison to the scary Jubjub bird.

"Science?" Josephine asked with a head tilt. She wasn't one for academics, and she was only learning the basics through a tutor. Her mother liked to lean things towards literature, so science was often neglected. Though she had heard plenty of things from her Uncle who was a Corvie, she could hardly make sense of them.

The sudden change of subject made the canine's tail pause. Hobbies? "Well you know. I play games with my sister. I read. I get into trouble a lot. What about you?"