^^ Simon ^^

--- Anza ---

The bathroom door opened, and steam poured out, preceding two girls, their skin glowing with the heat of the water.

"I had no idea that a hot bath could feel that good." Tara grinned, and picked up Tina, sitting next to us.

I patted her damp hair. "Yeah? Well, that's good to know! Maybe next time don't take a three hour bath, though. Now dry off and get on some street clothes, alright? We're gonna go get a feel for the city, and get some errands done!"

It was about noon, and a thought struck me, in the form of a song title from the seventies, 'Gold at High Noon'.

"I have really rare Vinyls, Gregor." I said suddenly.

He blinked slowly, and hummed, shaking his head. "I wouldn't ask you to sell your Hoard."

I shrugged easily. "It's not like I would sell the real ones. I can make some of the less rare ones into the rarer ones, and then sell those."

He smiled. "That would be greatly appreciated, Little Sky."

I nodded and opened my bag, setting out my vinyls, and selecting the two rarest, the first being: 'The Beatles-I Want to Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There' (1964), with the Promotional picture sleeve with 'WMCA Good Guys' printed on the B-side of the cover.

According to Cox and Daniels' Price Guide for The Beatles American Records, less than a 1,000 copies were printed, and even fewer are still intact or playable.

The second was a personal favorite of mine, Bob Dylan's 'Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' (1963) the version which featured four extra singles that were actually removed after the first hundred or so were printed, making it extremely rare, as vinyls go.

I took two other tracks, both just copies of Led Zeppelin singles, (not the rare kind,) and focused, making them exactly alike, even down to the grooves and cover art.

I slipped the two new vinyls into their faux-leather protective sleeves, and then nodded. "You have the laptop?" I asked Gregor.

He nodded. "Alright... new plan. Indra, you and Tara go with Anza, and then meet us back here, and we'll all go to the Troll Market together. Tina, you're with me. We're going to do lots of paperwork, and catch some pigeons, but there'll be a lot of buildings for you to look at, alright?"

She nodded and hopped out of Tara's lap, and into his, snuggling. He smiled. "Stay this adorable forever, Valentine?"

She grinned widely, and hugged him tighter.

I stood and nodded. "Alright. Then let's get moving. We'll get the laptop fixed, while we're in the artisan quarter. You take your portfolios."

He nodded and handed me the laptop, sans it's hard-drive, which he'd left in the office.

I gathered the less rare vinyls and two rare copies, then set all of them and the laptop into a satchel, then looked at Indra and Tara. "Stay close to me, at all times. We live here now. There's always another day to go look at something random, but for now you stay with me. Got it?"

They nodded. "Got it." Indra said.

"Suck-up." Tara punched his shoulder.

"Moron." He retorted childishly.

I whacked both of their skulls gently. "None of that. Now let's go."

They grumbled, but followed as I exited the room, and started down the stairs. I paused when a person opened a door on the floor below us, and blinked when a small boy walked out carelessly, toting a giant white dog the size of a black bear.

He spotted us, and the dog woofed gently, to get the boy's attention.

"Hmm? Oh, hi! You must be the new neighbors? I'm Micah, and this is Simon. Simon? Say hi." He grinned happily.

"WOOF!!!" The stairwell echoed from the deafening bark he'd unleashed, and he grinned, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.

"Good boy. Well, are you guys going somewhere? I'm supposed to walk Simon, so I'd be happy to take you with me, if you're looking for something." The boy, Micah, offered.

I belatedly smelled the half-Fae and half-Human scent about him, and nodded slowly. "Sure, that would be interesting. We're actually looking for a music store that sells and buys Vinyls?" I followed him as he started down the stairs.

"Hmm... vinyls... well, there's a store just down on Main that sells 60's music stuff. I don't really go there often, cause a weird hippy guy owns it, but I'm told he buys stuff all the time. He's really rich, I think, because he never sells anything, but he always buys." He explained in one breath.

"Hmm... maybe a Dragon? Hoarding?" Indra asked.

"Nah, he's human. Just a rich hoarder. Some of the weirdest people in New York are actually humans. The Normal ones are what you have to look out for." He shook his head.

We made it down to the second floor when another door opened, and another boy, perhaps two years older than Micah, opened his door, leading two large dogs, one wolfhound and one Dalmatian.

"Come on, Marie! Helga, stop complaining, you know you like the Park!-- You don't have any allergies you lying spotted mutt!" He was apparently arguing with them, his Spanish-accented voice flowing smoothly, despite his disjointed conversation.

Micah grinned. "They giving you trouble, David? I could ask Simon to make them behave."

They whined and hid behind the taller boy.

"Nah, they're just being difficult. It's that season again." He sighed. Then he seemed to notice us, and smiled. "Hey, you're the people who moved up top, yeah? I'm David, and this is Marie the Dalmatian and Helga the Wolfhound." He pet each ones ears as he introduced them.

He, too, smelled like Halfling, which interested me. "Hello." I nodded.

He blinked slowly. "Ahh, Traditionalists. You won't introduce yourselves. That's alright. Where you headed?" He turned to Micah.

"They needed to find a record store, so I'm taking them by Jim's Notes, and if they can't get what they need, next it's on towards the Loco Motives, for some other stuff for their new apartment." He nodded.

David nodded. "Alright, well that's along my route, so I'll go with you, if you want. I just have to get Mrs. Wong's dog for his walk."

Micah nodded. "Sure, hurry up, we'll be in the lobby." He started down the stairs, and we followed.

The door to the first floor opened with an easy shove, having no lock, and we waited in the Gym for the other boy.

"I've known David for about three years, ever since I moved here. You know, you look my age, even though you're bigger than me. How old are you?" He asked Indra.

"12." Indra answered easily.

"Cool, just two years older than me, huh? That's how old David is. I've lived here since I was 7. My Ma says I'm too nice to strangers, but I think that the people in this city need to meet nice people every once in a while. Keeps 'em on their toes, you know?" He grinned widely.

"Micah, taking Simon out?" The little woman asked, appearing from thin air.

"Yes Miss Mary, and I'm taking these people to a music store. And David is taking his dog and Helga to the park." He answered easily.

"Hmmm... how much longer 'till her training is complete?" She asked.

"I... don't actually know, now that I think about it. Why?" He sat on a bench, and Simon laid his massive body in front of him protectively.

"Just curious. And I'd like to know how much longer I'm getting paid for his care!" She chuckled.

"I'm sorry, but I'm confused... so the dog isn't his?" Tara asked.

"Don't be nosy, sister." I grumbled.

Micah shook his head. "It's alright. He's training her for the fire department, and he's training the wolfhound for the police academy. They pay him and Miss Mary for training them and for feeding them and stuff."

"Like... sled dogs? That Dalmatian wouldn't be much use, but the wolfhound had some muscle on it. To be honest, your Simon is much more fit to haul a sled." Tara smiled and knelt to the large dog's level, extending a hand.

He sniffed her, and then leaned away slowly. Not afraid, simply uninterested.

Micah chuckled. "No, no. We don't have dog sleds here... are you from like Alaska, or something?"

"Svalbard, actually." She nodded.

"Uhm?"

"It's north of Norway and Russia, in the edge of the Arctic Circle. And yes, we did have an igloo at one time, and sled dogs, too." She grinned.

He laughed. "Coooool. No, the fire department dogs get trained to find people in burning buildings, and they also go to hospitals and stuff to cheer up the sick kids. And police dogs are taught how to take criminals down."

"I see, like hunting dogs. They find things, and take down threats." Tara nodded, understanding. "My mother was a Tree Nymph, so I was the one who trained our sled dogs, when I was a kid. We lived in the Vasyugan, then."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Siberia, biggest swamp in the northern hemisphere." She explained.

"Oh, okay. Tree Nymph? You mean Dryad, right? That's cool... you ever meet an Ent?" He grinned.

"Oh stop it, of course not!" Mary snapped at him, swatting his knee. Simon lifted his lip at her slowly, showing massive teeth stained red with raw meat and blood, and then to all appearances went back to sleep.

Tara blinked at her. "Of course I have. There's a Clan there, in the Vasyugan, and another in Svalbard. Maybe ten in all, four in Vasyugan, and six on Svalbard." She explained.

Mary blinked. "Oh! So the Wild Places still have them..."

"And I'm sure there's still a few Ünterhill." I commented, looking for the other boy. I was getting impatient.

"Didn't you hear? They were all killed. That's why I thought you hadn't met any. Ten years or so ago, someone told the Fairy Queens that the Ent's were planning a revolution or something, and they were all executed." Mary explained softly.

I blinked. "Oh. Well then. That sucks. A Legacy Lost. Now where is this David boy?"

Saying his name summoned him, apparently, as well as three dogs; his two, plus another, much smaller one. A chihuahua, I think.

"Names have power, as I always say." I popped Tara's chin up, where it had fallen open.

Micah chuckled. "So they do. My ma says that all the time. Never calls me by my name. Anyway, let's go! David, you're ready?"

"Yep, no problems here! Cocoa and I had to have a chat about him trying to pee on my shoes." He said sternly, staring at the small dog accusingly. The dog barked shrilly, and trotted past him dismissively.

"Cool. Come on, Simon!" He whistled softly, and simply walked away, instead of taking his leash.

The large dog groaned softly and stood, then trotted after him lazily. I hummed and followed, moving when the dogs grumbled at me.

I growled back, and they whined, hopping away from me. I stepped ahead, smirking when they kept a healthy distance now that they knew not pick a fight with me.

"Alrighty, let's see here... we've got the barber over here, if you need your hair cut or died, and that building is the performing arts building, with the school under it, St. Ann's." Micah began pointing at the buildings around us, and I hissed when a car whipped past us, maybe six feet to our left.

"What? Oh, right. You had sleds, I guess. It's just cars. You'll get used to them. Just pay attention to the crossing lights, and you'll be fine. We're not crossing any streets yet, so you don't have to deal with it yet. Just get acclimated, yeah?" He grinned, and lead us confidently towards the water.

The dogs stopped a few times to sniff interesting things, but otherwise we simply walked, and I appreciated the way people got out of the way, now that we had the dogs.

"Seems we need to get a dog... I like people going around us." Indra muttered.

David chuckled. "Yeah, manners are a rare thing in the City. People are too busy, or in too much of a rush, to care about anyone else."

"Hmph. They will learn different, when dealing with me." I growled when someone got a little too close, their hand reaching for my bag.

The man yelped and fell backwards into a puddle.

Simon simple stepped over the man, and growled at him lazily.

I smiled and patted his head gently. "I like you, Simon. You're very lazy, and I totally agree with that attitude."

He grumbled, and then caught up with Micah, nudging his knees so he'd turn left.

"Hmm? Ah! Yes, and welcome to Jim's Notes! This is the place you were looking for." He spread his arms, and I looked at the extremely multicolored tie-die shirts in the window, emblazoned with musical notes.

I nodded and smiled at him. "I appreciate the guide! We'll be a bit, so why don't you go ahead? We can check out that other place later."

He nodded. "I'll finish walking Simon, and then come back. If you're not done, then we'll just do it tomorrow, no biggie. Peace!" He laughed at the many peace signs around us.

I smiled and waited as he and David walked away with their dogs, and then opened the door, stepping inside.

A lanky human with crazy red hair grinned at me through multicolor sunglasses, sitting behind a glass counter filled with musical paraphernalia. "Hello!!! My name is Jim, I'm the owner, is there anything I can help you with today?"

I smiled. "Hi, yes, I've got some Vinyls, early 60's, and pretty rare, as well as some Led Zepplin Singles, I was looking to part with them for a reasonable price?" I set the Bob Dylan album on the counter, and then the Beatles.

His eyes slowly widened, then blinked, and he took off the sunglasses, silently tying his hair back, then taking out a magnifying glass, and checking both sides of the vinyls.

He leaned back after he was done, and nodded. "These are authentic... I'm impressed. Strapped for cash?"

I chuckled. "I moved with my four siblings here just today, all the way from Russia, so yes, indeed."

He grinned. "Eyyy, love to meet people from the rest of the world! Sweeeet... and you're right, these are worth quite a bit... the Bob Dylan is priced at around 30,000, at auction, and the Beatles is close to 8,000 at auction... I'll give you 15 for the Dylan, and 4 for the Beatles." He said simply.

I blinked. "And, uh... what's that in Rubles? Sorry, I'm still getting used to your money, here."

He nodded and pulled out a calculator, typing quickly. "That's... ₽1,771,524.00, plus ₽236,203.20." He answered simply.

I blinked, shocked. "Wow... that's... alright. And for the Zeppelins?" I set them on the counter, all seven.

He hummed and placed one on the record player next to him, then set it playing. I smiled at the sound, and hummed along for a moment. He nodded and turned it off. "They're in good condition, so I'll give you 400 for each." He started writing down the numbers.

I mentally did the math. '7*400+15000+4000 =... shit, math sucks... 2,800... 6,800...?'

"$21,800, or ₽1,287,449.16." Indra said easily.

I nodded slowly. "Aha. Alright, I appreciate the business, Mr. Jim!" I held out a hand to shake.

He happily shook my hand, and then carefully put all the records in their sleeves, and set them under his counter, then opened a large metal box on the floor next to him, next to a large shotgun, and a marginally smaller pistol. He set out stacks of bills marked with $100 on them, until he'd reached 20,000, then did the last 1,800 in $20's. Lastly, he stacked them all, and wrapped the middles with a piece of paper that read 20K and 1.8K, and pushed them towards us. "All yours, miss!"

I smiled. "Very good, then! Have a nice day, sir!" I tucked the smaller stack in my shirt, directly under my breasts, then the larger stack in my bag.

"Have a good day." He nodded, and leaned back, placing his sunglasses on his nose, and freeing his mane of hair.

I walked out, and grinned at Indra and Tara. "That went well, huh?" I asked.

Tara hummed. "Why didn't you try to get more out of him?"

"One: I don't know enough about the money to haggle. Two: half the Auction price is a good price, because then he doubles his money. Too much payment, not enough profit, and he doesn't want the deal at all. Ruins the sale." I explained.

She nodded. "Alright. So what do we need to get?"

"Some seeds for Indra to grow into wood for us, first... plants to increase the air quality, as well. So a Florist's shop, first... and some soft pallets. Then I need to find a Job down on the docks. Gregor's job is investing stuff, so I'll give him the 20K to invest, and the 1,800 is ours to play with." I listed everything.

Indra nodded. "I can get the seeds from right over there, in that Park." He pointed at the grassy area we arrived at, which was now full of dogs and their owners.

I nodded. "Then let's go. But we still need to buy plants. Some good Ice-Orchids should be nice, huh Tara?"

She grinned. "Ohhh, don't let me loose in a Florist's shop again. Last time was a little bad..."

"You were 4, and wanted to free the flowers." I said dryly.

Indra snorted when she blushed, and we continued until we met a street.

I looked around. "He said watch the lights..."

"You lost?" Micah scared me, appearing right next to me, and I yelped, swinging my fist in a backhanded punch.

Indra caught my fist, and then chuckled. "Don't sneak up on us, man. That could have been bad. Very bad."

He shrugged. "Ah well. The lights are up there." He pointed at a small display above us, with a red hand on it. "When it turns green, it means the cars have to stop, and you can walk across."

On cue, it turned into a green stick figure.

"There. Now you're going to the park? You're all done at the record store?" He asked.

"Yes. And we're looking for some acorns." Indra nodded.

"Okay, come on, then. I left Simon with David to come help you." He nodded, and walked across the white lines swiftly.

We followed cautiously, and entered the park, where Indra began collecting fresh acorns, as well as some cuttings and fresh sap, which dried into almost-Amber quickly.

"I've got everything I need." He nodded, and stuck the ball of leaves the size of his fist in his pocket.

"Good, because Simon is bored. See you at the house, David!" Micah waved to the boy who was tossing a small red ball for the dogs, who raced to fetch it and return the fastest.

He waved back, and went back to throwing.

We started back towards the house, and I tuned out Micah's endless chatter about the city, staring at the people around us, to learn more about them.