AN: Second verse, same as the first, please comment
Trust II
I decided the best thing to do was to go to the market square first and then
find the prostitutes. And that's what I did sort of. I went to the square but
I didn't actually go into the square.
Instead I stood in the shadow cast by a cobbler's shop. I watched the people
coming and going occasionally, while keeping myself hidden. Because a scaled
man in a skirt and clashing shirt will attract not attention.
"I can't believe they even have a market here." I mumbled, "How can they?
Gods, they've been cursed. Why aren't they doing something about it?" I
slumped against the side-wall. "I'd have done something about it."
"Is that lizard man wearing a dress?" I cocked my head up. A giraffe and a
very small girl walked past me.
"Possibly." The giraffe said, "They've let some odd people into the Keep."
"Hey I'm the son of a Lord! I'm probably raising the value of this dirt by
sitting on it!" was what I did not say. Instead I sat their in silence and
hoped for the Earth to swallow me up. Soon though my anger emerged.
"They think I'm weird?" I snarled at no one. "They live in their own shit and
they want to call me weird?" Now I was beginning to yell at the walls.
Nothing weird about that. I was in propinquity to insanity by now, yet I
continued yelling.
"I'm not weird, they are! Them and their city and their cursed valley and
their...pants with tail holes!" Several faces peered almost coquettishly into
the ally to watch the screeching elyas in a dress, as if they glanced something
forbidden.
I ignored them; I had some stupid screaming to do.
"And I'm sick of the temperature, I'm sick of the food and I want to go home!"
I cried, "I want-
"Hey, I want something to. I want you to stop yelling." The crowd was thrown
open like curtains pulled open. I looked up.
"What, what the hell do you want?" I was in a yarak state, focusing not on
the hunt but on my anger. I was going to rage no matter what people tried to
do.
"I want you to shut up ya jerk." The speaker was a mottled gecko, blue scales
with orange splotches all over her body. She had eyes colored like pea-soup
with pupils that looked like knotted rope.
She wore a blue tabard and cloak with a lantern on it. She carried a short
sword and length of rope, both attached to her belt. "I don't wanna arrest
another scalie so I'm given you a chance, be quiet."
"What do you mean arrest me?" She laughed.
"I will have you know, I am a proud Warden of the Metamor Keep Watch and I
will arrest you if you act like a jackass. Now shut up and move on." I stood
up, rage ready to erupt from me and responded the only way that I could.
"Yes Warden, please don't arrest me." I was many things and a coward was one
of them. The Warden watched me as I rejoined the crowd. People parted to let
me through.
I turned around to see the Warden join another lizard in a similar uniform.
Her partner? Probably. The other lizard was almost solid blue with just
little specks of color. Her tail was so massive it dragged the ground. It
came with a huge sailfin growing out of it.
She's got a nice tail...bet it hides a nice ass... My grin disappeared as fast
as it emerged. "She's an animal, what is wrong with me?" I turned away and
moved on through the crowd.
Anger and confusion coiled within me, fighting to get out. You need to head
back to the market for food. "I'm not going back there with everyone looking at
me. I don't want them...looking at me."
You're a changing lizard wearing a skirt, where else are they supposed to
look? A sign caught my eye. I smiled.
"This a mercer's shop." My eyes drifted from the mercer's displayed bolts of
fabric and my atrocious skirt. "I need something better, something with some
actual color. How can they stand to wear all of this brown?"
A mercer as you know sells textiles. Textiles were an issue in Metamor, I had
yet to interact with someone well dressed.
Other than myself of course.
A bell rung as I entered the mercer's shop. I was greeted by shelves and
boxes filled to the point of bursting with fabric. All light came from candles
mounted on the wall, a questionable choice when you sell flammable goods.
This place is shit. The floor had a carpet of dust, I kicked up little clouds
with every step. The fabric boxes were used as bollards, creating a path that
lead me up to a filth encrusted counter.
"Hello" The counter was empty aside from a ledger also coated in dust and a
hand bell. I picked it up and rung it. "Anyone here?"
"A customer?" There was a sole door behind the counter. This door was....big,
tall and wide, as if meant for a giant. When it opened I could see why.
"Welcome good sir to my shop!" My eyes went wide.
From the back of the store emerged a lion man, one who absolutely towered over
me. He had a redish mane that stuck out in every direction, golden eyes and a
jolly smile. He wore an ill fitting verdant tunic with a waste belt. And no
pants, of course no pants. But there was a reason why.
"You got four legs!" I cried. The lion man looked at his legs and then nodded.
"Yes, yes I do. I have a taur form, I assume you do not?" He cocked his head.
"Wait...you're not done changing yet are you? Oh simply delightful!" He
laughed and his massive body shook. "What are you becoming?"
"What makes you think I'm becoming anything?" I snapped.
"I'm guessing lizard good sir. Wonderful, we could use more scalies." I
rolled my eyes. "Well as a morph like me, you have the potential sir! The
potential to gain for yourself a second set of legs."
"If I leave now, can I not grow more legs?" I asked. He chuckled again. Stop
laughing at things that aren't funny you goddamn freak.
"You may not gain a taur form, or you may. It's not my place to decide, it's
the joy of the curse." He laughed yet again, causing his massive body to
jiggle all around. "We can gain a second set of legs, we also gain
another...form." For just a second the lion's face froze but the joy lept back
again. "So how can I help you?"
"You can choose to have four legs?" I asked. "Why then? Why are you a taur?
Why would anyone want that?" The liontaur shrugged.
"I'm kind of...form locked." He said. "It's actually a fascinating story; I
would love to share with you."
"Yeah no interest."
"It happened about a year after I was first cursed," The lion's eyes drifted
away from me, "Shortly after the Battle of-
"Shut it!" I snapped. "I do not care! The only thing I'm curious about at
this point is how you go to the bathroom."
"Well if you'd like to know-
"Not that curious." I said. "Question, why is it every fabric you're selling
here is so...drab? It's all gray, which I thought was the dust at first. Why
is it so dusty?"
"I don't get many customers." He said, "I don't need them though, I have money
from other sources." I frowned.
"If you have money, why are you running a store?"
"I like to interact with people. It makes me happy." Of course, that reason.
I shook my head. "As for the lack of color, I used to be partnered with a
dyer but he...well died."
"And...you decided to just embrace gray?" Smooth, jackass. The lion's smile
wobbled for a second.
"I've not had time to find a new dyer and there are others who sell fabrics
besides me. They even make money, as I said this is just for fun."
"And let me guess," I said, "You sell your stuff at discount also?" The
lion-taur shrugged.
"I could. We've been talking now for a while, you do realize you've not asked
my name once right?"
"Why would I need to know your name? All I need to know is what you're
selling and how much can I get from it." The liontaur scratched the side of
his head as he observed me.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. My name Jez, full name-
"How much is this?" I asked, pulling out a bolt of hideously ugly fabric. "I
mean, I don't want to buy it but I want to know what you're thinking." The
liontaur laughed.
"You have such a frank way of expressing yourself, has anyone ever
complimented you on that? Even if your language is foul good sir, you say what
you mean. One can't help but respect it." I winced.
"Shut up! What's wrong with you?" I stuck the fabric bolt back into the
bulging crate, though it didn't fit all the way. I took a second to really jam
it in, which caused an even ugly mustard yellow bolt to pop up.
"If you want that one, you can give me whatever you think is fair." Jez said,
"The money isn't that important. I bought all this fabric on discount from
other merchants." I frowned.
"How exactly does that work?"
"It didn't get sold before so merchants got desperate. I took it from them,"
Jez said, "They needed the money anyway." He sat down on his hind legs and in
doing so his stance reminded me of a pillar. "So do you have your eye on
anything?"
"Just...you are a terrible merchant." This finally got that smile to drop.
"Isenport, where I'm from, it's a real city. We sell shit there and no
merchant would act like this."
"How would they act?" I turned back to the box and began sorting through the
mess. Finally I found the least horrible selection and pulled it out.
"How much is this?" Jez shrugged. "No! No no no, you set a price, you set a
high price and you stick with it!"
"But I might lose customers or bother people."
"You take that risk! You need to sell shit or you can't be a good merchant."
"I don't want to be a good merchant!" Jez cried, "I just wannt to meet people
and make people happy." I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, well if you're going to be like this, I guess I will buy something. Do
you have-
"I'm not selling to you." Jez smiled. I froze.
"Excuse me?"
"You're a mean person. I'll sell you stuff when you're nicer but I don't want
to." He laughed, "I'm terribly sorry sir."
"You think I'm mean?" I asked, "Who gives a crap, I have money!"
"I told you, I have no interest in money. Never have." I screamed. "Please
refrain from doing that again, thank you."
"Fucking idiot! Fine, can you at least tell me something?"
"I can try. Please avoid profanity in my store." I grit my teeth and my tail
stuck out in frustration.
"Just tell me, I'm looking for a place. How do I find the Jolly Collie Inn?"
Jez gave me a bemused smile.
"I'm...intrigued now. Why do you want to go there? Do you know the state of
the Inn right now?"
"I do not care. I want to go see the hookers."
"The what?"
"The whores!" I said. "I know there is a brothel in this damn place and I want
to find it." And again the liontaur laughed. He laughed until he almost fell
over, his tunic straining to hold his jiggling mass. "What?"
"I know the...owner of the Jolly Collie, or rather I met him once. I do so
hope you tell him all you have told me."
"Why?" My tail lowered in confusion.
"Oh no reason. Yes I can give you directions."
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