No worries!! You write what you have the time/inspiration for :)

Madrigal took Sage's arm, smiled, and then pulled him into the crowd. As she walked, she looked around, eyeing objects on stall fronts, observing the natural movement of the crowd and the behaviour of the guards. Everything looked and felt fine, but madrigal forced herself through her breathing exercises anyway. "See anything you like?" She asked Sage, smiling like the loving partner she was pretending to be.

He scanned the shops and nodded in the direction of a clothes shop that held some heavy cloaks and some winter type clothing for people traveling. "I think you'd like that cloak," he chirped, pretending to point at a fancy one that would work for this climate, but he figured she would figure out what he really meant by that. At first he was wary of both the physical touch and the guards, but as time went in he got used to her holding onto his arm.

Madrigal cast her eyes in the direction Sage was pointing. The first thing she saw was the gaudy cloak the colour of over-ripe limes. It had weird black swirls and patches of lace, and she thought it was the ugliest thing she'd every laid eyes on. And, the winter clothing caught her eye, and she laughed. "Yes, honey, I think it's exactly my style."

The winter cloaks were a mix of blacks and greys. She could see one had wool and leather, and some fur lining the collar and she almost began to droll. "We'll definitely come back for those..."

She caught the aroma of cheese and looked around, spying a large stall. She nudged Sage, "that'll keep for a while, and it'll be perfect for the journey."

Then, she spotted her favourite shoemaker. His stall was smaller, but he had an array of boots that looked perfect for their intended climate. Madrigal knew that any hassle to take them would probably be worth-it.

Sage nodded to everything she said. "If you see any good cuts of meat we can make jerky out of it tonight" he muttered to her. "That's keeps like nothing else " He could feel all of the dirty looks people were giving him, which he was used to, but it still felt odd now that they could see his face.

He pointed over at a stall that had a bunch of random items. "There's probably maps in there," he pointed out. "And maybe things we didn't think of needing."

"Dried meat sounds good. Good stuff to chew on whilst you trek through the mountain," Madrigal said. She cocked her head, studying the store to which stage pointed. "Let's go in, have a look around. Couldn't hurt."

He nodded and started walking towards the tent. There weren't many people inside, but there were a few. As much as he hated being in public areas, the way they were going about this it would have been bad to be the only ones in there. He pointed to a corner. "There's a bunch of maps and travel stuff over there." There canteens and pots and an array of other things, as well as some detailed maps showing different parts of the world around them.

Hey, sorry, I've been uninspired lol))

Madrigal looked around the shop, in awe of the beautiful things the vendor had. Her gaze traveled to where Sage gestured, gliding over the various maps that were on display. She scrutinized each one, each a map to display a different land, but none were of the continent itself. "They're nice individually, but we need one that combines all of them, and we can't buy them all..." She trailed off, gaze catching on a glint of gold. To their right, sitting amongst pieces of small traveling gear, was a gold compass. Madrigal reached for it, entranced.

"This is-"

"Can I help you two?" The vendor, a thin-looking man, cut her off. Madrigal startled, stumbling a step into Sage. She flushed, embarrassed to be caught so off her guard. She smiled at the vendor, hoping that she just looked like young and innocent girl.

(it's all good lol)

Sage felt her jump against his chest and caught her before stepping next to her and putting both hands on her shoulders protectively. "Just looking around," he assured the vendor, blushing slightly that while to Madrigal it seemed like he was pretending to be the protective husband, he actually had done that instinctually. He wondered why he had done that. Maybe it was because he had his dagger but she didn't have her weapons. He truly didn't know. Either way, his eyes told the vendor that they would be respectful as long as he didn't pressure them into anything.

The vendor's snake-like gaze snapped between the two of them before he nodded slowly and slinked off.

"Gods, that guy is creepy..." Madrigal murmured to Sage, patting one of his hands clenching her shoulders. She eyed the gold compass. "But that... is breathtaking," she said slowly.

It was a pocket compass, with a ring and chain to hang around a neck. She could almost feel the metal, warm as it nestled in the centre of her chest, hanging a couple of inches below the dragon pendent. She wanted that compass. She was going to have that compass. But, she knew that if she took it now the vendor would know, and there would be no comping back tomorrow. Frustrated, she turned her head to eye Sage.

"There are a number of things here that we could use, and I have a small amount of money for some of it- I was hoping to save it for emergencies on the road- but, I think it's best we move on for now..."

Sage nodded, waiting her carefully. "I think that would be best," he agreed. He took his hands off her shoulders and pushed her forward.

Once she moved along, he followed her and snatched the compass, replacing it with a leaf he grabbed from another table so the shop owner wouldn't notice until after many customers had come and gone and he couldn't tell who took it. He would give it to Madrigal later, once they got out of here.

As he walked, he looked around at the other shops around them. "Anywhere else you want to stop by today?"