Quite some time has passed since the mute Kattha and her calico companion left Kia's shop. Despite Silk's promise to write, there hasn't been any word on what became of them. Still, things have been busy and Kia's had enough things to keep her mind occupied in the meantime.

Shingle, the Kavi junk collector, has managed to pull up a piece here and there of the mechanical Khatta, usually a collection of small gears or a bit of wire. His luck at just accidentally coming across the small pieces has been rather amazing, but with chaos magic at work, it's not completely unexpected. The "azul" has been assembling just nicely, although it's still lacking its legs.

After a busy morning, the lunchtime lull has finally hit the shop and things have quieted down, giving the mouse some time to devote to personal projects once again.

The white and brown mouse shopkeeper sits behind her counter, humming softly as she tinkers with the robot, sealing a small fracture along one of the pieces, then buffing it back to smoothness. Her ears stay perked for customers, even as her eyes and deft hands are intent on her work.

The mechanical Khatta looks almost perfect, although the serene closed-eye expression on its face seems unsettling at times. The walking cane (somehow Patch had managed to fold the umbrella back into the handle when he had visited last) sits where Kia left it alongside the machine.

From its box, the vermite, which has grown impressively tame under the mouse's care, squeaks softly to itself while it grooms its fur.

Finishing with the part she was working on, Kia sets it down and glances over at the vermite's makeshift cage. "You ought to be going back to the wild," she tells it quietly, standing to move over to the shelf behind the counter she has it set upon. She studies the small creature. "You certainly look plenty healthy enough to take care of yourself."

Indeed, the missing leg has grown back nicely and the vermite has plumped out a great deal. It chitters to itself as it preens a foreleg.

The mouse lifts the hinged lid on the vermite's box, and cautiously starts to reach in with one hand, gauging the rodent's sociability and level of aggression today. Her tail tip swings from side to side as she lifts to her tiptoes to more easily reach into the box.

The bug-rodent pauses in its preening to sniff at Kia's hand, but doesn't look all that aggressive this morning. Probably breakfast mellowed it out somewhat.

Kia pats its head gently, then ruffles the fur along its spine slightly with one finger. "Yes, you'd definitely better set back out on your own," she tells it. "You're practically getting domesticated."

The vermite taps at Kia's finger with its antennae and then gives her finger a light lick. After the fact that she's not carrying any food sinks in, the vermite starts to focus on cleaning its fur again.

The Skeek settles onto her heels again, replacing the lid and latching it. She putters around her shop, adjusting the positions of some of the displays and flicking away at stray dust for a few minutes, then drifting to the opendoor, looking out at the passersby on the street.

Outside, the crowds have thinned, although there's a sizable gathering at Binter's today for lunch patrons. Some Jupani cubs appear to be having a playful wrestling match, while an older wolf examines some bits of jewelry at a tent that recently opened up that week. A prospective customer also appears to be on his way to the shop as well; it looks a bit like a young Savanite cub, but his spots are different and his build is slightly off.

Kia tilts her head for a moment, trying to get a look at the proprietor of the new tent selling jewelry, then turns her attention to the spotted feline once she notices he is headed towards her. She offers him a friendly smile as she stands casually in the doorway.

The jewelry merchant looks to be a plump Skreek with bright red fur. A lot of his trinkets look to be closer to prettied up bits of junk – but with the right sales pitch, you can sell almost anything in the Bazaar, and most people do.

The proprietor of the restoration shop makes a mental note to say hello to her new neighbor sometime soon, but she waits to see if the jaguar cub headed her way is coming in. He looks familiar, and she takes a moment to place his face.

Recognition dawns, and the mouse's smile widens as she waves to the cub. "G'd afternoon, Enos," she bids him, in a voice pitched to carry over the noise of the Bazaar, without being a shout.

The cub clutches a paper-wrapped bundle to his chest as he wanders closer to the shop. His ears blush a little at the mouse's words but he manages a smile. "Good afternoon ma'am." His tail flicks from side to side. "I was wondering if you could look at something for me? I accidentally broke one of my sister's things." He holds out the small bundle to the mouse.

The mouse accepts the package gravely, nodding to the cub. "Sure, I can look at it. Come on in, Enos." She gestures with her free hand through the open door, to the interior of her shop.

Enos' grin grows much wider and he quickly scoots through the door. "Thank you so much! Are you very busy right now? I'd like to get it back before Pouncer notices what happened."

Kia follows Enos in, and clears a space on the counter for the small bundle, which she places carefully on it, then seats herself on her stool before starting to unwrap it. "No, as it happens, it's been pretty quiet this afternoon," she tells Enos, smiling at him again, then returning her attention to the package.

The paper contains what looks to be a small decorative bug fashioned from chitin and a cord hanging loose, probably broken away from it.

"You'd pull the string and the wings would open up and you could see a picture inside. I was playing with it and the string broke off." The jaguar wilts a bit. "It's my sister's second favorite thing in the world."

The mouse clicks her tongue against her teeth as she examines the toy, using one finger to gently attempt to nudge the wings apart in the fashion Enos Zoltan just described. "What's her favorite thing?" she asks the boy, curious.

"She won't tell me," the cub giggles. "But I think it's her toy bug."

The wings are loose, as though something that held them shut inside had been broken perhaps. When they slide open, a small peep-hole can be seen.

Kia opens her mouth for a silent "Oh." "She has another toy bug that you've not gotten to yet?" she asks, a little teasingly. She holds the object in her hand up to the light, peering through the peephole.

"Pouncer's too big for toys," Enos says with a nasally tone in his voice, probably attempting to mimic his older sister.

The mouse returns her attention to examining the outside of the toy, attempting to determine if the cord connected through some mechanism within the bug itself, or if it should be attached to the wings. "I see," she answers the cub. "So then she shouldn't mind if you play with all the toys, right?"

Inside is what looks to be a family portrait of sorts, although it's several years out of date. Two young Jaguar cubs sit with two female Savanites, both with headbands on their heads. There are also two large black Vartans and someone that looks like Nicodemus, the owner of the Shiny Shoppe that died in his sleep about three years ago.

Enos grins and folds his elbows across the tabletop. "Sis says I'm too big for toys too, but I'll never be too old to play." He looks around the inside of Kia's shop. "Do you like models? I'm working on a model right now… "

As the mouse continues her work on the bug, her smile has a tinge of sadness to it. "Yes, I do, Enos," she answers the cub. "I love putting things together, though I don't work too much with models. What kind of model are you working on?"

"I don't know yet. I'm just kinda throwing pieces together and seeing what they look like. Sis tells me it kinda looks like a Creen Chigger, but I think it looks like a Goliath." The jaguar giggles to himself and then adopts a bit more sober look. "Can you fix it?"

"I think I can," Kia answers, lifting up the device to get a look at the underside of its wings to see how they were originally held closed. "I'll probably need my jeweler's tools for it. Is Pouncer home now and you're just hoping she won't notice it's missing, or is she due home soon?"

"She's home now, but Master Testament-Blaze is teaching her this afternoon and she won't be back in her room until later this afternoon. She usually spends study time in Papa's garden," the jaguar replies, tugging at a necklace that is made of beads of different shapes and sizes. "I wasn't supposed to be in her room, but she hogs Nana's things sometimes." The cub wipes at his nose, doing his best to look "adult", but it's fairly obvious that the boy is having difficulty keeping his composure. "She'll probably never let me play with them again after this."

The mechanism looks to be largely dependant on a small spool of elastic zolk; the string looks to have broken, but the fault was that of a jagged corner of the spool it was wrapped around more than anything else.

Kia wrinkles her nose for a moment at the mechanism, then sets it carefully on the counter and hops down from her stool. "Mmm. What would you do if Pouncer had been in your room and broken one of your things, Enos?" she asks him, as she walks to the door.

The mouse ducks her head out the door to look across the street, checking if Astaro is at his shop.

The cub flattens his ears and looks down at the ground. "I know … I know … Papa's told me not to mess with Pouncer's things. I just wanted to look at the picture. A lot of stuff happened when I was a kid and I don't remember it very well. The picture helps me remember Uncle Nicky and Nana, and Pouncer hogs it all the time. I never get to look at it."

Indeed the Eeee's shop appears to be open. Those bright colors of Astaro's make him easy to spot.

Kia smiles as she spies Astaro. "What does Pouncer say if you ask her if you can look at it, Enos?" she inquires. She plucks up the broken-off cord from her counter, and holds her other hand out for the cub's. "Come with me for a minute; we'll see if Astaro can help us get your picture-bug back in order."

Enos hesitantly takes Kia's hand. Although he's only about eight, he's almost as tall as Kia herself – but then height isn't what makes someone an adult. "She tells me I can't take it out of her room, and that I'll break it if I use it. But you can see it so much better in the sunlight." His tail smacks against the floor.

With the cub's paw safe in her own, the mouse heads for the zolk-merchant's shop, nodding soberly at Enos's words. "They do work better in strong light, though it looks like she was right about you breaking it," she says, not without sympathy. "Were you tugging hard on the string?"

"I dunno. I didn't think I was," the cub replies, scrubbing at his eye with his free hand.

The Skeek squeezes Enos's hand gently in reassurance.

As they reach their destination, Kia offers a merry "Good afternoon, Astaro!" to the shopkeeper, looking about to see how busy he is.

"Good morning, Miss Kia!" The brightly colored Eeee waves to the mouse as he folds a patchwork patterned cloak across a tabletop. The Eeee glances upwards at the sky. "Or should I say afternoon? How are you?"

"I'm fine, Astaro. How's business?" the mouse asks pleasantly.

The bat rubs at a bright green patch of fur on his cheek. "I've just gotten a new shipment of dyes from Abu Dhabi! They're absolutely gorgeous; you really must let me make a cloak for you some day, or some curtains for your windows. Perhaps I could dye gears into the patterns, help you drum up business, eh?" He grins.

Kia shares the other merchant's grin. "If I could afford your prices, Astaro, I might at that. As it is, I think I'll need the business before I can pay to drum it up," she teases. "I'm here for a much smaller purchase, I'm afraid." She sets the frayed cord onto his table. "Would you happen to have anything that matches that?"

Astaro picks up the thread and eyes it critically, stretching it and even tasting it a little. "Hmm… not platinum zolk, otherwise it wouldn't have broken. It's stretchy. Yes, I believe I do have some of this. I use it for waistbands or elastic cuffs." He hands the string back to the mouse. "How much do you need? Any particular color?" The brightly colored bat's eyes light up at the end of his sentence.

"The same color as this broken one would be best, I'm afraid." She taps her fingers lightly against the tabletop, then adds, "Does platinum zolk come in elastic, Astaro? Perhaps I should get that instead."

"It's all in how you refine it from the Gooshurm. I believe I have some that could be dyed to match the string, but it would take me some time." Astaro ducks behind a table and pulls out several spools of thread. Who knew that there were that many different hues of blue in existence? "Platinum is also the most expensive zolk, although you only need a small amount. It would be a tenner for the amount of string that you need."

Enos pats his pockets and winces.

The mouse smiles in delight at the possibility of using platinum zolk, then glances down to catch the cub's dismay. "Well, Enos, what do you think?" she asks. "If we don't match the color, Pouncer will know something happened to it, but if we wait until Astaro can fix some up for us, she'll probably notice it's gone."

"I'd rather get it fixed, ma'am." The cub holds out a ten shekel piece. "But this is all I have. I don't think I can pay… "

Kia considers the situation seriously, then offers Enos, "If I cover it now, will you be able to pay me back? Say, one shekel a week until it's paid for?"

Enos nods. "Yes ma'am!" he barks and then shyly puts his hands over his mouth as Astaro winces at the noise.

"I can have the string done in about an hour; it will be an easy task." The bat bows regally.

The mouse smiles. "Genuf," she tells the cub and the Eeee. "Thank you, Astaro," she adds with sincerity. "We appreciate the trouble."