cocktailparty | vroom vroom

[ He claims to be an uninteresting guy, but truthfully he stands out the most wearing a brightly colored kimono with odd markings on his face walking around in a pair of geta. He looks as if he'd been pulled right out of a Japanese woodblock print and planted in the middle of Holly Heights. ]

[ 1: shopping gate ]
[ Surely a medicine seller was nothing without his wares. Since he'd been somehow mysteriously thieved of his usual medicine case, he sets out to find replacement medicines, herbs, and incense. He's poking around a few different stores to find his supplies, though he stops at a bookstore to marvel at how books look different than during his time. ]

[ 2: shopping gate - his store. ]
[ the medicine seller has opened up his own shop! Come in for medicines, lotions, and even love charms. ]

[ 3: elsewhere ]
[ The odd-looking medicine seller kneels down to scritch a cat under the chin. Is it your cat? A stray? ]

[ 4: pick somewhere ]

[Veronica wasn't exactly in the neighborhood for medicines, lotions or love charms. She had just been lured in by the new shop with its rows of dried spices and herbs, and the sharply elegant scent of incense.

Taking her insatiable curiosity along with her, she pokes her head through the door, eyes wide and interested as she drinks in the smells and sights of the shop.]

Excuse me? Is there anyone here?

[ the shop was well organized, many spices and herbs hanging and numerous jars filled with something stacked neatly on the shelves. A fresh stick of incense was burning on the front counter next to a beckoning cat, a maneki neko, holding a large coin with good health written on it in black. The incense had some sort of vanilla or similar smell, something quite pleasant yet somewhat indiscernible.

The medicine seller himself had knelt down behind the counter, entertaining a small cat which had meandered into the shop only moments before. Hearing her enter, he stood up, turned around, and offered a polite bow in greeting, his long bangs temporarily falling into his face and obscuring his features before standing back up. ]

Welcome to my humble shop. How may I assist you today, miss?

[She had decided she rather liked the smell of the incense when the owner of the shop himself stands up and greets her. She gives him a bright smile even as she watches him carefully (not with malicious intent though, just curious and direct, as if she were trying to puzzle him out)]

I was just wandering and made my way in here. I apologize if I am in the way, I was merely wondering what kind of shop this was for I have never seen one like it. Are all of these herbs for sale? There are many that I do not recognize. Are they for the preparation of medicine?

[She could talk all day if no one stops her.]

[ he pays the watchfulness no mind. Even with the humanizing effects of Holly Heights, the medicine seller still looks highly unusual with the markings on his face and still sticks out against the scenery of the place with his attire. ]

Certainly no trouble at all. This is... [ he motions towards the number of bottles and herbs ] ... indeed a medicine shop. I am a medicine seller by trade.

[ he could go on for days about his trade. ]

I do also offer herbs, incense, lotion, and charms. Are you versed in the art of medicine making?

[She had already mentally dismissed his attire and outward appearance as interesting but ultimately unimportant at this point. They were nothing but the barest trappings after all. What interested her was the person inside, which is why she keeps her eyes on his expressions and his movements, only looking away when he indicates the neatly lined-up bottles and piles.]

I know a little. Herbs that will speed the healing of wounds, and cooling herbs for fevers, but I have never formally learned the art of medicine making.

[Her knowledge was limited mainly to what she'd been able to learn from squires, so it was mainly practical in the event of war. A pause and then she turns back to him from her perusal of the medicines, eyes bright.]

Perhaps you could teach me? Or do you deal only in the selling of medicines?

[ Color him intrigued. He'd refined his medicine making over many years but not once had he considered teaching someone else the art. Certainly it's not out of his range of capabilities. He simply had never considered it. ]

My my. [ he waved the hand he'd used to indicate the shelves before placing it back at his side. ] Never have I found someone interested in the art itself instead of simply the result. You are quite interesting, miss. I would be honored to teach you, though it will be quite the time consuming art. There is much to learn.

[Veronica's expression is one of surprise when she learns that apparently not everyone was lined up to learn about medicines. (Then again, this is the girl who had to learn soapmaking, trebuchet-building, and gardening on a whim.)]

I do not mind at all. I would very much appreciate your teaching me about it.

Although I do not understand why more are no interested in learning. The results are important too but surely it is best to know as much about it as possible? Is it because it is time consuming?

It would be my pleasure.

[ he tilted his head slightly, waving his hand dismissively. ] Those of higher class hardly wish to learn what us merchants know by heart. Although if they did, then I'd be out of a job.

[ back home, merchants were the lowest but often most skilled class. That was simply how it was. And while things were slowly changing during the reformation era, he was still a merchant and not one of the nobles or even a businessman. ]

['Hardly wish'? She tilts her head at him.] Is that an assumption or something you know as fact? Have they ever told you that they did not wish to learn?

And I do not think it is quite so easy to put you out of a job. You did say, did you not, that it is a time consuming process? Learning does not end when one reaches a certain point. So will they not always be trying to catch up to your level even as you continually improve?

Silly me. [ he muses at his own folly. ] The class system does not transcendent realms, I see. Nor do my attempts at humor. It is something which has existed for centuries and is simply understood. Certainly a lord would never do the job of a merchant, but it certainly doesn't belittle one job or another.

[ though there was that one time a lord who accused him of selling him potentless medicine and threw him in jail, but that's a story for another time. Lies, of course. He would never swindle someone. It would ruin his reputation. And a medicine seller believed to falsify his customers got no business ]

Medicine isn't something learned overnight, indeed, miss, and it is as you say, something which continues to improve as time progresses. It is complex system of amounts of this and that to create something beneficial. The incorrect amounts or ingredients could become deadly. Certainly a powerful skill, nothing to simply belittle so easily.

Oh. I was not aware that you were being humorous. [Because she tends to take everything at face value.] But the country that I come from does have a class system. Those who are of noble blood, those who are not. And even among them, there are hierarchies as well. I do not really see the point of them, but I do know that they exist. I was merely wondering why you would think that they will not wish to do the job of a merchant. Is it because they are born as lords? Surely that cannot be the case.

[Because she was a princess and she was plenty interested in learning what he had to teach her.]

[ he taps his finger on his chin for a moment. He simply never humored the thought before. It simply never happened. Lords hardly wished to do what was beneath them, after all. And they had their own affairs to handle. ]

Perhaps they wish to not get their hands dirty.

[ he means that mostly literally and only somewhat figuratively. Lords always had soft hands. The gods forbid they develop any sort of calluses, although if they did, he could always find a lotion to relieve them. ]

[She looks down at her own hands, clean and neat. They weren't as soft as they had been by any means (since she was a hands-on kind of person and there was no Adel to despair over the state of her hands from doing chores and making dinner) but she'd never thought that getting them dirty was a bad thing.]

But dirt will wash off.

[Veronica looks back at him, gently closing her hands again.]

And once you have washed your hands, they will be as clean as they were before.

[ she takes things quite literally, doesn't she? He'd simply have to change his wording some to have a proper conversation. Pity, he does enjoy some colorful speak now and again. ]

True this is, though many wish not to even find themselves in such a position initially. It is simply... [ he extends his index finger to make a point. ] merchant's work.

[She meant it both literally and in an unconscious way: figuratively as well. But he doesn't call her out for it so she doesn't elaborate.]

That is a strange way of thinking. Even by just living every day, you are already putting yourself in a position in which your hands will become dirty, you will get paper cuts from books, soil under your fingernails, and after making dinner, your hands will smell of food. I have always thought that it is a wonderful thing. It is the mark of having accomplished something of your own. Surely that is more important than the state of one's hands.

[ he's not the type to call someone out on something so trivial.

But even so, it is her words that interest him. Her open mindedness is something which he hadn't really encountered back home. Sure, the restoration era on the horizon was attempting to change the ideals set forth by the previous eras, but most were resistant to change.

Humans could be such fickle creatures. There was a chance for things to be different, but not too different. It would put him out of a job. ]

You have an intriguing way of thinking, miss.

That is the first time I have ever heard it being described in such a way.

[Although she imagined that would be one of those things that would make Glen laugh and make Rida shake her head. Most other people would just give her a despairing look, almost used to her strangely unprincess-like ideas by now.]

That is surprising, miss. Your open mindedness is

[ he doesn't offer any sort of despairing look, though he does have an odd tendency to simply stare. ]

quite unique.

[ J is a curious teenager, so of course, when he spots an interesting-looking person looking at herbs, he peers curiously at the stranger for a little while. And since he isn't exactly a shy person, he strolls up to him, an intrigued smile on his face. ]

What're you going to do with that?

[ he glances at J when he approaches before turning just enough to fully see him. For him, he knows the properties of the herbs, what they can do to benefit or detriment. But for most it's probably just a weed. ]

Making medicine.

[ his reply is simple and short, straight to the point. ]

[ He makes a thoughtful sound, and his head tips just a fraction to the side.

Even if it's simply weed, J knows enough to know that it can be used for more things than feed a goat. Or something like that. He's a bit in the know when it comes to viruses so he should know at least a little bit about what to use to counter them, being a bio-terrorist and all. Even if the truth of Bloody X was a bit different from what one might expect. ]

So you are a doctor of some kind?

[ An interesting question, one he hadn't expected. He waves his hand dismissively, showing off his long purple nails. ]

I am a simple medicine seller.

[ Interesting. He doesn't know any guys who has that kind of nails. Unless it was for blending in with the type of crowd that had painted and long nails. ]

That so? [ He looks a bit more than, well, simple, though. ] I haven't met any medicine sellers before, is it fun being one?

[ if this place hadn't rounded off his ears to make him look more human, he'd look even more interesting.

He offers a nod at the first inquiry. He hadn't really thought of 'fun' or what else would be fun. It was his profession. ]

I enjoy it.

[ it is profession which requires much thought and preparation. It does entertain him, at least. ]

[ Oh he's like to see that, there are no supernatural stuff where he's from. ]

Mm-hm, that's great! One should always try to enjoy ones job!

[ it's how you stay sane in the business of murder, at least. ]

[ he feels so odd without his usual features. ]

Certainly.

[ it's unknown how he took the job in the first place, given it probably wasn't succession from parent to child. Or maybe it was. It's a mystery. But whatever the case, he's very knowledgeable of his trade. ]

What is it you do?

[ He smiles innocently, adding a tone of confusion to it, like a child who didn't quite understand the question.

But then he is a child, still 16 years old, and doesn't have to understand everything. ]

What is what?

[ he tilts his head curiously. ]

Your job.

vroom vroom

Kusuriuri (the Medicine Seller) || Mononoke

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