♖ street market

@Shin Bora Joshua sighed lightly watching her hold out the money, but he took the money with a smile and a grateful bow. "I appreciate your help." He said nodding. He knew that if he didn't, it wouldn't be easy for his brother when he returned home. "If they are desperate enough, they have to be bold enough to anything of the sorts." He commented lightly before bowing in thanks once again. "I've got to be going back to my stand now." He said and said goodbye.

(I figured it be best to end the plot here?)

@Joshua Hong Something told Bora that the exchange wouldn't be so easy, most people preferring their pride or personal morals over what was genuinely right. But, that food wasn't coming back and the only options were a total loss or accepting payment from her who would hardly be affected. "Come now, don't be ridiculous," she responded, holding out her loosely closed fist to give him the money. "You should be compensated for goods, that's how things work. Otherwise we would be living in a mad world." Madder, anyhow. "Please just accept this. I would sleep much better knowing you weren't suffering losses at the hands of every single person that finds themselves bold, or desperate, enough to steal."

@Shin Bora Joshua sighed lightly hearing the other apologize. It was honestly more than he expected to happen, he didn't even think that someone would stop the thief, as most people just sit and watch when someone steals from the food vendor, and normally let the thief get away. Joshua guessed that today might have been just a lucky day for him. Joshua watched silently as Bora advised the thief and let him go.

Joshua wasn't surprised that the thief left without giving him anything, and of course Joshua could force the food out of his hands, but things wouldn't go well like that. So he just watched as he walked away momentarily before turning back to Bora as she began to speak. Confused, Joshua looked between her, what appeared to be her guard, and the bag she was digging through. "It was just a few bronze pieces." Joshua shook his head, he couldn't bring himself to allow someone to pay for something they didn't get, even if he knew they could afford it much better than he could. "It's fine, though. I appreciate you trying to help me though." He bowed in gratitude towards Bora.

@Joshua Hong The thief continued resisting for a few moments, before he slumped in resigned defeat once he caught the unwavering stern look on Bora's visage. It was rare that she verbally played the noble card, but her attire didn't hurt things at all. He straightened himself up, making a show of indignantly straightening his already rumpled clothes. He mumbled out an apology but didn't hand over the goods.

Disappointed, but certainly not surprised, Bora let it slide. She knew how difficult things could be for those living outside of the castle; she'd seen enough of it in her own home and on her travels. It was a sad fact of life: there was a large, seemingly unbridgeable gap between peasants and nobility. "Away with you. Remember that obtaining your way like this affects the vendors more than you may think." she advised, delivering a gentle shove to the man's shoulder while using her other hand to gesture her guard over.

As he came to her side, she offered a small apologetic smile to Joshua and kept her hand out to receive her money as she spoke, "I'm sorry," she apologized properly in the man's stead. "How much was what he took?" she asked, tilting her head a bit and digging through for a few pieces. "I'll pay it in full and then some for the trouble."

@Shin Bora Joshua remembered the last time he let a thief get away with food when he was still living with his parents and working in the market. They wouldn't let him sell for weeks, and it was the only time him or his siblings would be able to get out of the crowded house or away from the farm itself. He was stuck doing the worst work in the house and farm together. With that as a small reminder Joshua wasn't going to let the thief get away this time, and let his parents find out that his brother let someone get away with free food.

Of course, Joshua understood that it's frustrating working day in and day out, trying to make a living and someone just takes something from you not caring the work that you put into it. However, he knew that if someone was stealing food, they more than likely couldn't afford the food themselves and just needed something to eat. That didn't stop Joshua from trying to keep his brother out of trouble though.

Joshua stopped suddenly as he watched the thief be jerked back and being held in place by a lady who was obviously a higher status than Joshua was himself. He walked up to both the woman and the thief, trying to catch his breathe. "I'm sorry for the trouble." He quickly apologized to Bora. Before turning to look at the thief.

"It's not that I want you to starve, but my brother will get in serious trouble if I was to let you get away with that." He said catching his breath.

@Joshua Hong Bora was in the middle of bartering a bit, always wanting to stretch the money that she kept with her on travels since her returns home were usually far in between. With a relative air of peace in Villeport and the upmost trust in her small advisory board that had been with her family since she was young, it was easy for someone of her status to simply go away for long periods of time. She took full advantage of that bit of freedom, taking extensive periods to search for the missing viceroy. Next to her, her personal guard stood on duty, but there was no denying the hint of impatience that came off of him in waves as she continued chatting and enjoying her exchange with the bread maker.

"Alright, lady, I'll give all of this to you for two silver pieces," he started to say, earning a pleased smile from Bora who actually dumped three from her moneybag to hand to him. The pieces were in his hand with the parcels of bread nearly to hers when the sound of commotion rang through the busy streets. She looked around for the source and found someone running and weaving through the crowd with something clutched in his hands. Stolen food, she surmised. "Take care of my purchase, will you?" she requested of her guard who she knew would have been happy to let the crime just happen. It had nothing to do with them after all. Bora herself couldn't do that, the guilt of not doing anything would have sat in her gut for weeks.

Without waiting for a response, she watched the thief to anticipate his path and got close enough to simply reach out and grab the back of his shirt, the sudden action yanking him back just a bit. "Thievery will get you nothing but a world of troubles, you know?" she said softly, offering an apologetic smile for the light choking. She kept a firm grip on him though and held the other hand out to receive the food. "If you would prefer, I can actually pay for what you need. But you'll have to apologize to that poor vendor." She said, as Joshua came into sight. "He's trying to get by just as you are, just in a more noble fashion."

@Shin Bora It was one of the very few days that Joshua was able to go out to the castle town and visit his family. However, instead of actually going to the farm where the rest of his family would be, he always only decided to visit the little shop they had in the street market, and whoever was working that day would be the one that he seen. It being Joshua's slightly younger brother, he decided to help as the day was too busy for one person to be running the stand.

Having been there trying to sell fresh vegetables, just pulled from the ground, he would occasionally step out from behind the stall to interact more with any customers they had. It was during one of those times that Joshua was talking to one of the customers about the potatoes they grow in their farm and his brother busy with a transaction, when someone took the opportunity to snatch some free food. Joshua catching a small glimpse of the person immediately excused themselves from the conversation, before running after the person shouting "Hey! Get back here!" as he tried to weave as carefully as he could through the crowd without losing sight of the thief.

"Quite busy this week," Bora remarked softly as her eyes took in the sight of the market while her horse slowed to a stop. She turned to face her lone guard for the day, a small smile on her face. "Let's enjoy the day, shall we? We've been working ourselves to the bone," she said, swinging a leg back to dismount her horse, Jacques.

Once both of feet were on the ground, her male companion was instantly at her side, eagle-like eyes scanning the area. "You worry far too much," the young woman commented with a light shake of her head, gently tugging on her horse's reigns to lead him along as they all set off into the market. There was a multitude of sounds in the rather large area: birdsong and the caw of ravens, the droning clack-clack-clack of wagon wheels, but somehow the loudest sound of all was that of various merchants. “Fresh turnips, still damp from the earth!” “Cockles, muscles and herrings still bright with salt.” “Sir! Silk ribbons for your lady-love?” “Strawberries, pretty as your wife’s cheeks in the morning.” That and much more blended together to make the harmonious sound that distinctively screamed market.

Bora took in all of the sights, including a candlestick maker carving away at par-solidified wax, the sun reflecting off of his brass tools, as it was uninhibited by clouds despite the chilly weather that sent crystallized breathes floating through the air. There were some not-so-wonderful scents like the stench from the piled gutters where the offal, blood, and the spoiled fruit collects, but the scent of herbs and ripe berries and other delicious foods caught her attention. The smell of fresh bread in particular, caught the Lady's attention and she found herself tugging her steed toward the baker's stall. "M-milday, wait!" her guard called out, surprised by her sudden change in direction. He managed to push his way through the bustling crowds, keeping sight of her pale blue dress and caught up to the viceroy as she conversed with the baker. "Milday, please. You can't just walk off like that, something could happen to you!" he scolded gently, only receiving an arched brow and a "Don't be so ridiculous, I can hold my own" before she continued discussing prices, earning an exasperated sigh.