With the new Market Festival approaching, several out-of-town merchants have parked their wagons here already. A group of Kavis unloads and checks over a canvas-walled, prefab structure from one wagon, while a Rath'ani dressed rather foppishly and sporting a monumental pompadour oversees them. All of the wagons already present show distinct Sylvanian styling, a few of the more ornate ones even sporting gargoyles.

On another side of the campsite a group of colorful, and a bit ragged, figures mill about, securing down battered wagons and seeing to their beasts of burdens. It looks like a band of gypsies is also making camp. To one side is a teenage Skreek leaning against one of the wagons. He's watching a small group of women. The group is composed of various species, two Lapis, a Rath'ani, a Skreek, and a singular Eeee. The Eeee apparently is the leader of the group, as she seems to be giving instructions to the others. Every now and then she has to pause to walk over and swat the male Skreek, who can't seem to help himself from making the occasional lewd comment.

Walking out of the forest as if it were a perfectly ordinary thing to do is a young man with a distinctly foppish, or perhaps feminine, cast to his style and manner. He's dressed in a mostly black outfit consisting of loose trousers, a blousey shirt, and soft looking leather boots with the shirt and trousers featuring purple rose-and-thorn embroidery up the arms and pant legs. He wears his hair long, loose, letting it flow in the breeze as he approaches the gypsies. "Hello there," he calls out.

The Eeee pauses in apparent mid sentence. Her head droops and she lets out an audible sigh. "Ech. Can't get Djivan to shut up long enough to get som' practice in, an' now ve gets hellos. Vha' ever happened to bein' suspicious of gypsies, I ask you?" the Eeee complains. She spins around and the arrivee find himself facing an Eeee who's rather close to nude when it comes down to it. She's dressed in mostly translucent scarves and various jingly bits of jewelry. She blinks, then says, "Vha? Another tribe in the area?"

Morgan's eyes widen as the Eeee turns around and he suddenly coughs, then turns to try and look like he's inspecting the wagons. His inner ears pinken, however. "Tribe, um, study … " he clears his throat and says, louder, "No, I'm not a gypsy. You are the only gypsies within a distance of here." He sounds quite certain. "I came to see how you were doing, and to welcome you."

The Eeee's muzzle twitches with a mischievous smile. She walks up to Morgan, her hips swaying obviously a lot more than they should need to. "Oooh, velcome us, yes? Now, how does such a cute fellow velcome strangers, hmmm?" she asks, her head canting to observe the Kadie with glowing red eyes. "Does dat include showin' us a good time?" she adds with a wink.

Morgan tries to remain fixedly studying the wagons. He does, however, begin to shift himself so he sort of rotates away from the Eeee as his ears darken. "Well, er," he licks his lips, tail twitching, "I suppose. I mean. I figure you should feel, erm, welcome. I like to judge people on their … ," his eyes flicker to the Eeee, then they almost immediately look skyward as he reddens all the more, " … personal merits and deeds and wouldn't… unwelcome want you, feel."

The Eeee starts giggling now. She reaches out and uncurls her fingers slowly, then cups that hand on Morgan's cheek and tries to direct his gaze back to her. "Tsk. I guess I make you uncomfortable?" she says lightly, "Sorry. We don' get many people who jus' come say hi. Especially cute ones. I shoul' behave … sigh. And pish, manners. I'm Liliana. I was jus' tryin' to get the others to work on some dance moves, but Djivan over dere is intent on being distractin'." She thumbs towards the male Skreek, who promptly raspberries Liliana.

Morgan inhales when the Eeee cups his head and turns him to look at her. His hands begin to fidget, too, above his tail and he suddenly giggles nervously. "N-no," he stammers, staring wide-eyed like a deer caught in headlights, "not uncomfortable. W-what makes you think that? Cute, ah," he giggles again, "thank you. Y-you're very, … very … VERY." He nods a little. "Um, ah, I'm being rude here. C-came to say hi, m-making a mess of it. I, um, dance? What?" Morgan stutters.

Liliana's ears flick and jingle with amusement. "Tsk. So cute," she says and shakes her head with a melodramatic swoosh of her black and red stripped hair. "Let'sstart over, yes? I'm Liliana, or Lily if vou prefer. And who vould vou be? Or should I jus' refer to vou as 'cute' all day, mmm?" she says playfully.

Morgan clears his throat again, inhales, and exhales before saying much more calmly, "It's nice to meet you Lily. I'm Morgan, Morgan Nightshade." He smiles a little. "You could just call me cute but I'm not sure if I can explain the looks that might cause."

"Vha? You can't explain bein' cute? Vou live in a log all vour lif'?" Liliana says and giggles. She pats his cheek gently and then says, "Now, vou ver asking 'bout dancin', hmm? Vell, I usually only teach vomen how to dance… "

The man adjusts his collar when Liliana mentions explaining about being cute. "It's not that it's … Oh, don't worry about it. Town business." He shrugs slightly causing a few locks of his long hair to slide off his shoulders. "It's funny though, I usually teach women too. It looks like we have something in common."

Liliana smirks a bit. "Vell, in my case … most guys look a bit silly shakin' der hips, no?" she says with a fangy grin. She reaches over and curls one of Morgan's locks around her finger.

Morgan grins weakly. "I guess most guys do," he agrees. His eyes flicker to the woman's finger and his trapped hair and he mumbles, "I use a very nice acorn wash on it which, um, oh never mind."

Liliana releases the hair and wiggles her fingers. "Vould you be more comfortable if I go change clothes?" she asks.

"Oh!" Morgan shrugs slightly, looking down, stirring some dirt with a foot. "It's all right. Sometimes I dress a little, um, unusually too you might say. Or at least an outsider might think so. I can understand if you have your customs."

Liliana reaches up and trails a claw tip along Morgan's jaw line. "Oh, vell, maybe vou can show me how to dress more in line vith vour customs sometime, yes?" she says, almost purring. The bat then suddenly shakes her head and says, "Ech, sorry. I am bothering you. I should get back to the girls." She looks over her shoulder, then hisses, "Vho have snuck off vhile I vas distracted. Pft."

Eyes flicking to Liliana's tracing finger, Morgan says, "I'm sorry. I've caused your work to be harder. Can I make it up to you?" At this rate that blush of his might well become permanent.

"Ech, no, vou haven't," Lily says, sounding a bit annoyed. "Dey is lazy. Here ve finally find a town vere we can perform and get some supplies … and they don' vant to practice. Fft!" She waves her hands around dramatically and yells over at Djivan, "Dey listen to vou too much, vou leetle goon!" Djivan just offers Liliana a smug smile.

Morgan fidgets with his hands a bit, looks around, then steeples his fingers at his waist. "Young women can be so hard to motivate," he agrees. "I didn't know you planned to perform within Stonebarrow though. Our pretender lord is organizing things but the real people you want to speak to would probably be the mayor, and the mayor's wife. Then the lord. My mothe-" he pauses mid-sentence as he gives Liliana a glance, reddens deeper again, then clears his throat and says instead, " … mothering"

Liliana turns around and looks at Morgan in disbelief. "Vha? Can' you figure out what ve perform?" she says, blinking her red eyes. She traces a finger along Morgan's muzzle again and says, "I and de other girls of age perform rare and exotic dances to entice de males and excite de minds of course. In return ve ask for donations of supplies or money." She the slinks a slow circle around Morgan, hips rhythmically swaying once more. She then leans over Morgan's shoulder and whispers in his ear, "And ve find it is usually quite popular and successful."

"Oh, um, the women's … " the man eyes the bat, turning to watch her, " … council … witches and may … not … " his hands wring, " … approve … might … bring men … um … " His muzzle quirks in a slight grin … "I … think it's a great idea!"

Liliana grins fangily and curls her finger into Morgan's hair again. "Aaaah, so dere is somethin' hidin' in dere afterall," she says, looking rather pleased with herself. She places her free hand on her chest (which is just barely covered by a scarf), and adds, "An' don' worry. Ve won't try to steal off anyone from de town. Not even if it's … tempin'" And at the end of the sentence, she gives a light tug on the bit of hair she's holding.

Morgan stumbles a little despite the little tug. Apparently he was quite on edge there. "Me? A gypsy?" His eyes widen. "I'd, well, never thought of that. You know I never thought of ever leaving? Or of being anything else. Family tradition an' all." He reaches up and pushes some hair back over his ear, looks briefly at Liliana's face, then reddens again and looks down. "A gypsy. Me. Ha, ha. Maybe I'd let you have me. That'd sure be unexpected wouldn't it."

Liliana releases the hair and giggles. "Sorry. De shy ones are always sooo much fun to tease. Especially when dere cute," she says, sounding apologetic. She coughs, stands up straight, then says, "Ve are entertainers and craftsworkers, mainly. Ve used to do pretty vell going from town to town, but de unrest in de south has made things much harder now. Ve have already promised a Miss, ah, yes, Blacktail ve vould cause no problems."

"Oh Amelia," Morgan says as he looks up again. The blush fades from his face, and he frowns a little. "Yes, she's our Frog Princess. I'm not surprised she'd come and see you. I sometimes greet guests too, when the other leaders are busy. Mostly I, well, heal." He looks past Liliana and towards Djivan, asking, "How are your people? I should have asked earlier."

"Frog Princess? Ech, I'm not sure I vant to know what dat is," Lily remarks and waves her hand. She glances back ad Djivan and says, Vell, he vould say ve are doin' fine, but… Ve're not, not lately. Madame Natasha is under a lot of pressure lately. Not too long ago she had to hold off a band ov undead for I tink, about tvo days straight. Plus, the stress of knowin' the future veighs on her. Ve're surviving, Morgan, but not much else." The bat sighs and runs her hands through her hair adding, "An, I guess it's made me more willin' to tease. Not had much fun lately. Sorry. Shouldn't have done dat to you."

Morgan looks straight at Liliana, and this time he doesn't blush. "No, it's all right. Actually I think that was a … a big boost to my spirits. I'm just not used to it, that's all. I don't mean to seem like I don't like it. It's nice." He smiles a little. "A nice change of pace. No one around here treats me like that."

Liliana glances back and says, "I don' understan' vhy not. Best lookin' guy I've seen in dis town so far. Unless for som' reason you hide yerself." She reaches back and pokes Morgan's nose with a clawtip lightly, "Do vou hide yourself, hmm, Morgan? Does dat mean I might hav' to hun' vou down if I vant to spend time with a nice lookin' guy?" She gets a rather creepy and predatory grin after that little statement.

Morgan's eyes widen when he's poked, then he leans a little back at the grin. "Oh, um, it's nothing. I guess it's the … way … I heal." He giggles nervously again, then runs a hand back through his hair and adds quickly, "I suppose people just treat their healers differently? Um. Er. Oh! Is anyone sick?"

"Good at changin' the subject, I see," Liliana remarks and smirks. "To answer de question, no. No one is sick currently," she says.

"Oh," says Morgan, and he sounds a little lost. Not disappointed, just defeated and uncertain how to think of that. "So, ah, um … "

"So … is a healer all vou are? Is there nothin' else vou do, or vant to do?" Liliana asks, then brings up both her hands to cup Morgan's muzzle. She leans in till they're nose to nose and for a moment looks serious. "Let me give you a bit o' gypsy wisdom, handsome. Vou say others don' see you as I do … vhy? Everyone can show, and be, differen' things to differen' people. If vou don' think people see vou, then show them what you feel dey don' see, yes? Lif' is short and hard. Don't squander thos' moments you can spen' enjoyin' it by either hidin' vho vou are, or balkin' at chances to do somethin' you really vant to. Otherwise… " She releases her hands and holds them out wide, adding, "Poof, and vou lose it."

Despite the seriousness, Morgan still blushes deep crimson. He at least sounds serious, though when he says, "My family is very, um, traditional. I have to be repectable in my work or we lose trust. I think I'm so used to acting that way, and so used to being seen that way, that's the me everyone sees. I'm not sure how to act outside of it. I think I lost something because of it. Not being … different." When she releases her hold he reaches up and rubs his own muzzle consideringly, brows narrowing in thought before nodding. "You're right. Funny, I think I've told this to others before. I suppose it's my turn." he takes a deep breath. "I wonder how I can be more … spontaneous. Different."

"Vell, vou just need to understand vhen it's acceptable and vhen it isn't, den," Liliana says and raises a clawtip. "Such as vou say, vhen vou are vorking, vou must be respectable. But, are vou always working, hmm? I doubt dat. Anyvay, I really should find de others and get dem to practice, ech." She shakes her head, then gets a really mischievous grin on her face. She looks at Morgan, and the grin gets wider.

Morgan looks like he was about to say something when it was broken by Liliana expression. He blinks at her, brow raising, mouth slightly parted from his aborted response.

"Vou said vou usually greeted and velcomed people," Lily says slowly, grinning in her creepy way. "Good! I expect vou to be here tvo hours past sundown vith a nice bottle of vine. Ve can toast to meeting, and I can show you our dances … privately, so vou can see ve are safe, yes?" The bat then winks and adds, "An' maybe I can convince vou to let me do some dyevork on vour fur. Olivia wouldn' let me, alas."

"Wine? All right, but I get clumsy when I try to dance after drinking and I … oh." He flushes, again, and fidgets with a foot. "Sundown. Wine. I think … " he glances around, bites his lip, then seeing there's no escape – or perhaps deciding he doesn't want to – he grins a little at the bat, " … I'll be sure to be there. Two hours after sundown." He replies, no words about dyework. Maybe he just lost his ability to process to that point, briefly. "Yep."