Gradually the pull away from the spider came to his attention. He couldn't sharply pull her back, but rather swayed into her a bit. From anyone else's point of view it might've been a husband playfully teasing his wife while she got distracted by a stall. But to Zion, it was his gentle way of reminding the girl where they were. If anything went amiss, Father would be *devistated*.
"We eat after shopping."
He declared, steering her back in the correct direction. Eventually, tucked away behind one of the larger fruit stalls was an older man, his hair greyed with age as creases fitted his face. His wares were of seeds, more than just bird feed. Everything in season that a family would need to support themselves for a season. Zion knew the man, having bought from him prior, or the young lady when she was working in his stead.
Lumi looked down for a moment before raising her glassy eyes up towards the older gentleman. It would have been obvious to him that she was blind, for though she stared at him, she could not meet his gaze with hers. "Do yeh have sehd available?" She asked quietly, her pale face appearing gaunt under the shadow of the stall.
The elderly man studied her for a moment before gazing up at Zion, recognizing his face. He bobbed his head in confirmation to her question before turning away from the two, muttering concerns to himself.
"Two barrels, please."
Zion called to him, giving Lumi a pat as if she'd done a good job. Just as he would've done.
After lifting each barrel over to the couple, he eyed the two once again, wondering if either of them could handle the weight of each barrel. Especially the girl-- although Zion stepped ahead of her, prepared with the approximate amount he was to ask for.
"8 a'piece 'er something a' equal worth."
He mumbled, lowering his eyes to his patron's hands. He counted each coin out individually for the two to painstakingly wait through and hear before nodding, waving a hand, and shooing off the customers whose business had finished. Neglecting the oddities who might've bothered any other potential clients by lingering or loitering around his stall.
"I'll carry barrels. Hold onto my arm, yes? Let's get a now-snack. Moon-ie picks."
Lumi flinched at the little gust of air from the man's hand that waved them away. She turned from the stall with Zion and her eyes followed each shape and figure that passed them. " Yeh ah strongeh than meh." She agreed regarding the barreIs, then obediently took his arm into both of hers.
"Ah! Hmm..." The girl exclaimed, taking an inhale to browse through the aromatic variety of snacks.
"Cinnamon sugah bread!" She declared, smiling up at her companion.
Hoisting the barrels up into his arms, Zion fought the itch to use his second pair of arms to assist him. He could’ve used them for anything, really, but knew better than that. It would bring the pair unwanted attention, to which they likely already had some eyes watching.
“Strong smell, ok.”
He closed his eyes, silently sniffing the air along with her in search of the scent. After repositioning his hold on the barrels, he gently pulled his arm, leading Lumi over to the stall of baked sweets.
The young woman running the stall noticed his focused gazed and smiled, readily reaching to grab two treats for the couple, though could easily add a third.
"Yes, two." Lumi replied, quickly reaching down and grabbing the remaining coins she had. Her eyes searched for the shape of the woman before them, face full of wonder at the sound of a lady's voice. "Yeh sound beautiful." She said quietly to her.
Dark brown ringlets bounced up and down, reacting to each wave of her shy giggle. She reached down for payment, collecting it before exchanging the icing-covered churros. Before the two had a chance to move away, however, she poked the girl’s shoulder, shuffling her a cloth-wrapped cranberry muffin to her.
“Enjoy.”
She beamed, as Zion carefully eyed the mysterious delicacy he couldn’t quite make out. Nevertheless, he continued on their path, back through the small crowd and onto their way home.
Lumi gasped at the unexpected touch, looking round then down at the gift. Lifting it up as they walked away, it's delicious smell wafted up and kissed her nose. She stared down at it, before suddenly pulling away from Zion and hurrying back to the girls stall. "Ah did not peh for this, mahm!" She exclaimed, unable to believe that it could have been a gift.
Nearly dropping the barrels as Lumi let go of him, he was quick to turn towards her, practically knocking someone else over in the process. Instead of being able to immediately follow her back, he had to apologize to the irritated and enraged bystander. His eyes stuck to her the entire lecture from the man, however, waiting for the moment to return to her side.
Meanwhile, the baker's hickory brown eyes widened, surprised that the young lady came back with the gift in hand. She shook her head, having the urge to laugh, yet holding it back. The gaunt-like woman in front of her simply looked too serious to play around with.
"Keep it. Three for one and... Two for half? So that's half."
Although the logic was made on the spot to support her reasoning, she grinned and hoped the girl would take it without further objection.
"Now don't worry about it, hun. Eat well and stay warm, the cold season's coming up sooner than usual and I'd love to see you again."
Lumi frowned a little in confusion at the equation, but when the woman mentioned wanting to see her again, she blushed in surprise. "Yeh would..?" She asked quietly, stunned in place. A little smile formed on her lips, before it suddenly vanished.
Lumi leaned forward towards the shape of the girl, insistently handing her back the muffin.
"F...Fah sehs I cannot have friends." She whispered in caution, "Ah'm afraid he would smell yeh on this...and he would hurt yeh. Us too. Yeh understand." The girl added plainly, as if that was quite normal for anyone to mention.
"But I thank yeh, mahm. Yeh like an angel." At that Lumi hurriedly looked behind her and reached for Zion, wherever he was. "Zohn?"
Although Zion couldn't hear a word his partner whispered, he saw her quiet rejection and thought nothing more of it. That was, until he saw the concerned yet bewildered expression of the olive-skinned baker she was speaking to. He straightened up in posture just as the man finished his annoyed speech and walked off. Only after their conversation ended would he be able to join back at the flightless one's side, cautious, but mostly worried.
"Thank you, miss. Come, come."
He held out his arm again, repositioning the large barrels to allow space for the blind bird to hold. The baker stood behind her stall, dumbfounded, her mouth slightly agape, but he didn't wait for her to speak. Hurriedly, he pulled Lumi over to an alleyway to breathe. To think. To figure out what to do if he heard. How would he react?
"What did Flightless say to bread-bird?"
The tone in his voice was similar to their Father's-- unsure if he it upset, concerned, or enraged. Either way, he set the barrels down for a moment to rustle his hair, thinking, thinking...
"Moon birdie and I says same. No later-snack, no talk, no trouble. No. None. We get seed, we eat snack, no extra. No trouble."
Following him, Lumi's face became grim with fear. "I sehd I cannot have friends!" She exclaimed, her little voice chirping loudly in the alley with both frustration and grief.
"Bread angel sehd she wished tah see meh agehn so I told hah no I could not be hah friend! Because Fah says NO!" Suddenly, the young woman threw her empty coin pouch down onto the cobbled stones and flailed her hands as she usually did when she had meltdowns. She cried loudly and smacked her head a few times with her palms to show her sadness and pain.
"Fah says no!" Lumi sobbed, her foggy lavender eyes filling with tears, "No friends and weh must go back theah! Ah'm scahd Zohn I'm scahd and Ah'm so so sad!"
The spider's anxious fidgeting abruptly stopped upon her answer. His extra pair of arms slipped out from under his shirt and cupped the flightless one's mouth, attempting to silence her. The bustling market was loud, but not so noisy enough to overshadow her whines and cries. His other hand held her throat, the last two holding her arms down and at her side.
"HUSH, or Zion gets AnGRy. Father, AnGRIer, meANeR. Quiet, yes? QUIET or I show you web! SticKY, sticKY web. HUSH."
Slowly, he'd remove his hand from her face, readying the silk under his tongue... just in case.
As the dark shadow of the boy enveloped her and she felt him take hold, Lumi cowered and cried beneath his hand. She was shaking violently in fear, her eyes searching the air wildly. She did her best to cease her weeping, but her whimpering could not be silenced entirely, even if she wished it to be. "No hurt meh, Zohn, no hurt meh Zohn-!" The girl was begging pathetically as he removed his fingers.
As she wished, he didn't hurt her. Instead, he immediately retracted all of his arms and shot out web, catching around the flightless bird and entrapped her. Alike Nicodemus' web, flailing around trying to escape from it would only get one tangled further in its silk.
"No hurt, o-k. If talk, if yell, if anything, anything! Then hurt. So hush. Yes? Hush."
Tapping a finger along his temple, he considered how to carry the two barrels and the girl. Using one arm for each object to bring home, he shakily lifted them all and shot a web upwards towards the top of the building. With his one free arm he was able to pull himself with the web, up to the rooftops and out of the town's sight.
"Home. We go home. Now."
Even if his speed slowed due to the carried weight, he made a beeline back, conjuring up excuses to get himself out of trouble. Lumi, however, would have to fend for herself.
