Starring:
Date: July 5, 2012
Summary:
Continuation from the previous scene.
"Sagely Advice pt. 2"
Konoha
After cashing in some thieves at the Gate, Goh had not only settled back into the Village, but setup his resident stall in the marketplace. Having arrived semi-early in the morning, he has thus caught the beginning of what can be best described as 'peek hour'. Lots of people going back and forth through the markets, looking for various goods that will get them through the day.
Goh's stall is pretty stock-standard, really. He sits on a rug that is on the ground, with another rug in front of him having several small ceramic jars on display. On either side of him, some temporary walls have been erected just to provide soem barrier space.
Needless to say, he's trying to get his best selling stuff going, shouting slogans and what-have-you. But it seems people are just not in the mood for pickled vege mid-morning! How bothersome.
Ei finds her way to the marketplace this morning in a half-awake state. Mornings are not quite her specialty, even if she can get herself out of bed when necessary. This particular day was little more than the teen helping her mother with some shopping. For this reason, she is adorned in a kimono today rather than her normal attire. The kimono is mostly pink with rose patterns all over it.
While it appears she has a helper, upon spotting Goh, she separates herself from the other woman and walks over toward the pickler with a bright smile. "Goh! Good morning." The other woman seems a little uncertain about taking a detour to talk to him, but Ei pays her no mind as she walks over to stand by his stand. The girl looks thoughtful as she peers at the jars, inwardly trying to determine if she should get some of his pickles for her family.
"Ahoy! Morning, lassy. Well, look at you." Goh intones with a grin. "All decked out and ready to go shopping, huh? Well, good for you. It's a good thing Wanpo isn't here. He'd be going nuts. Heh heh!" Goh grins widely. "Anyway, welcome to the shop. As you can see, there's plenty of variety that I have here. Potato, carrot, lettuce. Even mushrooms! Spiced with rare ingredients I've found in the deepest, darkest corners of the world. Deep beneath the deserts of Sunagakure, and in the watery caves of Kirigakure."
He leans back, lifting up a finger. "I'll admit. It's not the ideal time to be buying vegies like this for most. Well, unless you're an epic fan like myself. But! You best buy some before I run out of stock. They get pretty popular during lunch time! Heh. Are you here with your Mother?" He sort of leans to the side, looking for the other woman. He leans forward in a whisper, "If you like, I can break the news to her about your little relationship thingy. It'll come easier from me. I'll make it sound dramatic!"
With a small giggle of her own, Ei nods her head. "My parents are pretty particular about appearances. Some people recognize me as part of my family so it's preferred that I am… at least somewhat impressive." Rather than respond to the Wanpo comment, she simply grins a little bashfully and offers half a shrug.
Then her attention is again drawn to the jars and she hums thoughtfully. "It sounds like it's worth trying, I'll admit… but I'm not sure if my parents would agree," she begins and then looks a little alarmed by his offer. "No!" she utters urgently, though still at a whisper. "It is not my mother… but the maids — such as this one — tend to gossip a lot so I'd rather not have this conversation right now if that's alright with you."
Luckily, it would seem the 'maid' was a bit distracted by looking for things on the shopping list. Realizing this, Ei gives a sigh of relief and clears her throat. "For the moment, I'd prefer to keep that on the down-low… but thanks for the offer. Anyway, um… well, what kind of pickle would you suggest for a well-off, somewhat spoiled family such as mine?" She grins, seemingly poking fun at her own parents with no hesitation.
Goh's eyes furrow a little bit, before he shuts them completely, and then rubs his eyelids with his index and middle finger. Perhaps trying to clear his thoughts. "You have maids?" He finally gets out, as if that is something worthy of its own subject. "Well-off? If you can afford multiple people working for you, then I would suggest you would be super well-off and rich! Not that this is a problem, of course." He seems to think a little, curious on what is best.
"But yeah, no sweat. I'm a super secret keeper, yknow. Moving on then. What your best bet is probably the best of my range. The stuff that's been pickling for the better part of a few months now. Maximum flavour has been built up, enabling your soul to be charged to the brink." He leans forward, tapping a certain ceramic jar on its sealed cap.
"So really, Ei… how well-off ARE you guys? This is seriously turning into a story of young oppressed girl looking to strike out against her controlling parents!"
"Well… yes… My father is quite the businessman and he would prefer to marry me off to a man that could take over the business and take care of me. I just don't take kindly to the idea of being stuck in a house all day… nor things such as bearing the children of someone I didn't choose to marry." Pausing, Ei blushes and shakes her head.
"Regardless, I was more asking if you think my parents would like your wares. I'm not sure if it might be /too/ flavorful." His question and last comment got a giggle from her and she shrugged. "Quite well-off. I've been rather spoiled. Your idea of the situation isn't far off, though… My parents love me, of course, but arranged marriage doesn't seem enjoyable to me.
"Ech." Goh makes a face that looks like he's a little grossed out at the fact of 'taking over a business'. "Well, good luck to the boy that you like to hook up with." He shakes his head a bit, "Eh — it doesn't matter. You know what you should do?" He pauses, pointing two fingers at her. "You should totally travel out of this country. Hit up the sandy Sunagakure village, or the mountains. Get a bit of culture and stuff! Not that you're the snooty type, but… I dunno. I just think it'd be good for ya."
"Arranged anything doesn't seem very enjoyable to me." Goh replies, with that same grossed out look he has. "And, I dunno. Are your parents AWESOME? Because if they are, they're every chance of loving this. If they're people of good taste. Actually, you can tell a lot about a person given their reaction to my wares, y'know. There's a flash of honesty that they rarely show."
"Actually… that's what drove him away before, sort of. He met my parents and my father got in something of an argument with him because he wanted to wait to learn my father's trade. My father was rather harsh, however, and he took it badly." Then Ei tilts her head a bit when pointed at.
"Well… I did travel a bit with that boy before he ran off… It was quite exhilerating and I planned to do so again, on my own, but I'd heard Kyoumen-sama was in Land of Fire so I wanted to meet with him first. Seems that's out of the question at this point, though… Perhaps I will travel. I'm not entirely sure where I'll head, though." With his following comments about his pickles, she looks a little bewildered. "Is that so?" A pause as she considers it. "Interesting… Well, perhaps I'll try some of…" Another pause, this time recalling what he'd mentioned before. "The potato, perhaps?"
"Aaah. So your guy left because your Father drove him away?" He frowns. "Man, if I had an argument with something like that, I'd just threaten to punch his face off! Show him my strength." He makes a motion to punch the air, as if demonstrating. "Heh. That should be all that's needed, if you ask me. But oh well. Each to their own." He rubs his nose a little.
"Aaah, the potato. Good choice! I'll get you the top of the line version. Not only because you can afford it and it will give me more coin, but because it's the best you could have." Leaning forward, Goh retrieves one of the bigger ceramic pots. Ensuring that it's tightly secured, the blonde wraps it up in some cloth. "There." Handing it over to Ei, he offers some advice. "Make sure you drain it, but not all the way. Have it with some other solid foods. Or, yknow. Can have it by yourself if you want." He does shrug a little.
"If you're looking to get away and onto the road, I can offer you some cool pit-stops along the way. I probably wouldn't suggest going by yourself, but there are some nice inns along the path. Some pretty dodgy ones too. So avoid those. Unless you're looking for a rough and tumble time. Heh."
Ei looks a little amused and shakes her head a bit. "You'd threaten to punch your lover's father and expect that to solve any issues, huh?" A light smirk is given before she shrugs her shoulders. "I think that would honestly cause /more/ issues than it would solve in this case, since my father is not a fighter and would prefer if I avoided being with a such a person. In any case…"
Trailing off, she hums thoughtfully and reaches out to take the pot. A small pouch is taken from her obi and she produces a handful of coins before she blinks. "Will this be enough?" Her 'handful' is about twelve mid-range coins. "You don't suggest going by myself, huh? How else do you propose I go about it? If I allow my father to hire bodyguards, it surely won't go well… and I doubt he'd let me hire them myself. He'd make some excuse about making sure I was properly taken care of or something."
"Well." Goh considers, perhaps thinking through that alternative after all. "It couldn't hurt." He chuckles a bit, conceding at least a little bit of ground. He opens his mouth to yawn then, perhaps the early morning starting to catch up with him. "Na, it definitely wouldn't hurt. Once he realizes the strength everything would overwhelm him. Something like that, anyway." He nods in acceptance, taking the coins and putting them to one side. "This is fine, definitely. Your chump change is certainly enough to tide me over for a while! Haha." He laughs, before scratching his head.
"I dunno. Get your boy to go with you? He's a ninja, right? Or get a friend of yours to help out. I'm sure you have plenty of friends that can escort you across the paths of the Land of Fire. I mean, there are heaps of ninja here that could do the job. With your cash, I'm sure you could pay him or her too. Bonus!"
"You're an interesting guy, Goh… Just keep in mind that some people hate it when others try to use their physical strength to force them into situations. Using threats of bodily harm to manipulate people is quite a… negative way of doing things." Ei reaches up to scratch the side of her neck and then glances around toward the thankfully still-distracted maid with a sigh and a slight glare toward the man.
"He has some impressive abilities, but he is not a hired shinobi for any village. He travels. Keep in mind that it is not /my/ money. It is my father's and he would choose someone himself, whether or not I'd be comfortable with who he chose is questionable at best. In any case… thank you for the pickled potatos and good luck. I better be off before I forget what I came out here to do." Smiling, she winks slightly and offers him a slight bow before heading off unless he keeps her attention somehow.
