Ciri beamed when he suggested seeing one of these giant internal marketplaces. She already had her head overwhelmed with the the sights and sounds of the city even before she'd gotten out of the car. A small part of her wondered if it had been such a good idea to come here afterall, and if Daniel had not been right in suggesting a smaller town at first, but she also didn't want to seem weak, and it had been her who had wanted to come here, so she decided to roll through it.
His remark about sausages elicited a giggle, but she took in what he said. Go to that strange banner there in case we get lost. That should be relatively easy. She had actually worried a bit about bandits, not monsters as she'd already learned they apparently did not exist here. But reminding her that she didn't have anything on her worth stealing anyway had been the way to go. She visibly relaxed a bit more after that, though she was still tense and unable to hide that fact.
Though that was probably a good thing - the tension of being overwhelmed with her new surroundings was what kept Geralt in the back of her mind from reminding her that she would have at least ONE thing that bandits would be able to steal from her - but also that they'd be unlikely to try that in front of so many witnesses.



As soon as the door opened, it was as if she'd hit a brig wall. The air was....well, not foul exactly, but certainly different and not in a good way. She gasped.

"W....whati's in the air?", she said, not quite panicking, but certainly concerned. She realized on an intellectual level that it couldn't be that dangerous or he wouldn't have taken her there, but she had not been prepared for this, and it was definitely of concern to her. Once she had been somewhat reasssured, she nodded, and hey headed towards the giant internal marketplace, where, she hoped, the air would be a little better.

But when they entered, while airconditioning certainly made sure that the air was better, she was far too overwhelmed to notice, and she instinctively grabbed his hand without realizing what she'd just done, and that it was "like totally lame" in the eyes of her peers. She didn't notice a couple of girls her own age laughing at her, she was too busy starting at the strange sights and trying to comprehend the strange sounds all around her. She didn't notice the mocking calls of "Daddy's girl" from the trio of girls passing them, as her attention wandered between one colorful ad and the other. And finally her eyes wandered over towards an electronics store where one of the displayed TVs were showing a live football game. Of course she didn't know the game, but she could plainly see what as going on: Two groups of men wearing different colored clothes were running around chasing the one of their number who had a ball at his feet. He, in turn, was running as fast as he possibly could towards the other end of a long field, where he ended up kicking the ball. Apparently the aim of this particular activity was to kick the ball past the man standing in front of a large "almost-square" with a net in the back, because when the player did so, all of those with the same color clothes as him seemed throughly happy and embraced him.
There was something...captivating about this.

"What...what is that?", she asked, and didn't register the mocking laugh and snickering insult "Retard..." of a girl about a year older than her passing them next to the store. She was too overwhelmed, and didn't quite know what to do with herself.

Daniel explains in short that what she breathes is the price of technological progress, but refrains from telling her how much it fucks up people's lungs. She'll find out soon enough, no getting around that these days. When they get inside, Daniel can immediately see she's overwhelmed, and if he couldn't, Ciri says that quite clearly by grabbing onto his hands.



He's also quite capable of giving a murder look to a girl insulting Ciri while explaining football to her. Good thing she didn't notice. But she is dressed rather strangely for the environment, and acting even stranger.



"It's called football. Bunch of people run after a ball and try to kick it in the net. It's rather fun, when you play with right people. It's played in two teams, though I remember playing free for all version when I was a kid." And a version where there's a tree in the middle of the playing field, because you don't have any other and it's not like the adults are willing to go into all the trouble of etting rid of it...


"Kids in the village will play it on the streets when it gets warmer. Hmm, come on, I'd like a snack. I know a nice place." In fact, Daniel is not interested in a snack at all, but he decides Ciri needs a little bit of peace and quiet to recover, and he knows a nice little asian bistro in this shopping center. It's in the not very often visited part and he always thought it's mostly a money laundering enterprise, but it is quiet(er) they've got good food and employees are nice.


All sides are of course still covered by shops, but as they go, the shops become more specialized and there's not that many people around anymore. Crowds, still, but smaller ones now, and one can hear his own thoughts, at least.



"Let's chill out for a while and then we'll go and buy you some clothes." The noise level goes down significantly, when they enter and Daniel finds an empty table in the corner. The noise of the shopping center is still quite powerful, but now it comes as is from distance, it's a thing that's...somewhere else, not all around them. As he sits down, Daniel realizes Ciri's not the only one overwhelmed. He hasn't been visiting the city lately, and now realizes why that was...

Ciri smiled a little. She had figured out the goal, so to speak, of the game for herself by what she'd seen. But his description of playing it as a kid seemed more fun! She didn't know what the tree had to do with anyhting, but she was willing to give it a shot. She was here now - might as well try all that she could, right?
She didn't notice any of the silent exchange with the other girl, who did hurry a bit after Daniel had given her that look. Attitude or not, most kids instinctively try to not get adults mad at them, and she quickly rejoined her friends who were standing next to a clothes shop waiting for her.


For her part, Ciri followed his lead and decided to keep doing so for the duration of the trip. Normally she could easily have decided to run off and explore for herself, but she didn't this time. This place was too strange, and in spite of the instruction to rendezvous at that strange banner, which she had taken great care to memorize the path to as much as she could while her senses were overwhelmed, she preferred that it wouldn't come to that.
She nodded eagerly at the suggestion of finding a quiet spot and also some food. She was getting a little hungry too.


"I...had no idea", she said, by now calmed down enough to realize she shouldn't elaborate too much on what she had no idea about. "This place is...amazing", she leaned forward and whispered to him. "Insane, but amazing. Like a dream of a maze, or something like that".
She took a look at the menu and frowned a bit, though not disapprovingly. Confused. Reading the menu, she decided to opt for spring rolls with a side of noodles.

"Are you any good at that game we just saw before?", she asked with a smile trying to keep up conversation and momentarily think of something else besides how insane it was to have a marketplace the size of a small town, and that this was apparently normal. "And what's your favorite shop here? If you've been here before, you must know where all the good deals are to be made, and which shopkeepers to avoid?", she was already preparing herself for coming here on her own at some point


But not today her inner Geralt told her. Today, you stick close to him no matter what


When they'd finished lunch, and headed for the sports store, she was once again blown away by the incredibly vast selection, and she didn't know the first thing about what to look for. Well, of course pants and blouses and such, but what, and what the difference were between them, she did not know.

"Do you know much about this?", she looked up at him and asked. "I doubt with a shop this large, the shopkeeper has time to help us"

Daniel's not too hungry, so he decides to go just for the rolls and some sweet snack of unknown origin, but it tastes good nonetheless. As he relaxes, free for now from the strain of the noise and having to keep an eye on Ciri and their surroundings, he leans back andnods.



"There's I think...six or seven of these in the city? Maybe they've built more in the meantime, I dunno." He shrugs. Living here has its advantages, but after the time spend in the village, the noise does get annoying.



"Football? Oh, no, not at all. I sometimes play for fun with some friends. I'd suggest you play with other kids and not with us. You'd get bored and there's no need to humiliate the guys." Daniel imagines Ciri, quick and nimble enough to catch a cat on a roof playing with a bunch of forty somethings who sometimes get out of breath after two lengths of the playing field or a knee decides to go wobbly because it's bored or something, and laughs. "No, that wouldn't end well for us, I'm afraid."



"I...know some of these things. But don't worry, someone will be around to help us soon." And true enough, shortly after they enter and start looking around, an employee in a uniform turns up and offers assistance. Daniel quickly explains they're looking for sports gear for Ciri and for what kinds of sports. And as he looks at all the sports tools around, he's got some ideas for the obstacle course he wants to build for her.



Daniel looks around. Might as well buy a football while they're at it, Ciri could learn some trick with that. Climbing ropes, obviously...and some mats in case the climbing doesn't go as expected.

Ciri giggled when he mentioned the part about not embarassing the other players, but preferably playing with other kids. She didn't know any others, but that was likely to come, she realized intellectually.
But would they like her? Nevermind play football with her - that was of less importance. Would the other kids like her? Or would she stand out like a sore thumb somehow? Would the cover story hold? Or would someone clever - child or adult didn't matter - poke so many holes in it that it eventually fell apart?
She was lost for a while in the worry about this, but the assistant's exhortation to come with her to find what they wanted snapped Ciri back to the real world, and removed the frown from her face. She nodded, and eagerly followed the new arrival's advices, managing to ask a few relevant questions that, she thought, didn't give anything away. Like "Why is this pair of pants better than that one?", "Is this set of climing gloves better than that one and why?", and things like that. She kept looking back towards Daniel, though. She'd imprinted on him so thoroughly that she felt a bit insecure being away from him in this particular situation - in a large area with many people where she didn't know her way home.



After a while, and after she thought they'd gotten half the shop, they had finished, and returned to Daniel. Ciri looked mildly embarassed, as she didn't know how much of this was actually needed, and how much was just the assistant looking for easy sells. She trusted Daniel to make that call.



"I...guess we're done?", she asked cautiously.




When they eventually WERE done, and had left the store, Ciri smiled, feeling exited to get some kind of a life - and activities other than running around on rooftops - started. This giant marketplace was still unnerving her, but she was adjusting fairly well, now able to zone out at least some of the impressions. She was getting tired, however, that much was certain. Maybe overtired in the not too distant future.

"Where are we going now?", she asked, still exited, even though she was tired. "I wanna learn all I can about this strange place you live in!"

By the time they get back, Daniel's done with his own shopping for things he deems necessary. He goes through Ciri's selection and removes some things with comments like "we already have this" and so on. But he takes vast majority of her selection, and once it's paid, they push the cart to the car.



"Hmm...food. Yeah, we need to do some groceries. Come on, let's drop this off and go get things." If only the delivery service went as far as his village, his life would be much easier. "We'll be out of chocolate soon, and we're out of all but MREs and neighbor gifts. You alright, Ciri? Cause you look tired." He will, at some point, perform an experiment with energy drink, but preferably not today.



"Anyway, let's go. I've...got the list somewhere, let's see." He pulls out the phone and finds grocery list. Well, that's like two hours shopping, but he doesn't feel like that, so he just cuts it down to necessities and things they can grab along the way. "Let's go." He turns the cart around and starts towards the shop. "So how this works is, we put all the things we want in the cart and pay when we leave. Please don't put anything in your clothes or anywhere one could think you're trying to hide and steal it. Okay? I'm kinda tired as well, and don't feel like dealing with some security guard's bullshit, especially since I'm pretty sure you'd have no such intentions. If you want something, tell me." With that, they enter the house of food, also known as Lidl. The choice might not be the best, but he's pretty sure it's more food than Ciri could ever imagine in one place.

When he mentions not putting things in her pockets, Ciri actually takes a step back, horrified, and the look on her face is one of utter incredulity. That he moments later said that he didn't think she'd have any such intentions didn't help much, as she figured he did so because he saw her reaction to the suggestion.

"I'll have you know", she said with indignation that could be construed as amusing, but which she means in a deadly serious way, "that I have never....ever....stolen anything. And I don't intend to start!". It was clear she was upset at the very idea that she'd do it, but she didn't want to cause a scene, so she followed him without a word, and still stuck close to him. But this time without holding his hand. Partly because the food store was much smaller, less crowded and less confusing than the giant marketplace - or else she'd just gotten very slightly accustomed to it - and she didn't need the comfort, and partly because she was upset with him. Primarily the former, but also the latter.



She was still impressed with the vast stock of food of all kinds. Some kinds were inside small, medium, or large cylinders that seemed to be of metal of some kind. Fruits and vegetables were lying openly on display, and people seemed to just walk up and take them. At first she stiffened and looked at Daniel incredulously, until she noticed that she put them in small bags made from a transparent material she didn't know, and put them in their carts, or smaller baskets. Then she nodded, and moved along with him. When they came to the candy section, she immediately noticed the same kinds of chocolate bars he'd introduced her to, and looked at one a bit longer than merely out of the corner of her eye could justify. But she said nothing. Both because she felt like she'd cost him enough today, but mostly because she was still upset and didn't want to give him the satisfaction of asking.

Would you rather be without chocolate? the voice of reason asked her, and she silently answered it


Yes!


Once back in the car, she strapped herself in like he'd shown her the first time, then took a deep breath. Just as she didn't want him to be angry at her even when she messed up, she didn't want to stay angry at him.



"I would never....ever....steal anything from a shop at a market", she said deadly serious and looked him in the eyes. "And....and just suggesting that I would....is kind of hurtful"
It was not posturing - she was genuinely upset.

So he went a bit far there, even though he didn't mean exactly what she seems to have made of it. That said, it is not an illogical assumption to make. So he leaves Ciri to sulk as they're shopping, and waits for the time when she wants to talk about it. It comes as soon as they get in the car.



"Yes, you are right. I apologise, it was stupid of me." Daniel nods without trying any excuses or what he knows some other people would do in a situation like this. "I didn't expect you'd steal anything, but I did say it like that. Should have chosen other words. I'll do my best not insult you like this." He starts the car and starts driving towards home. He still has to meet up with the customers, and possibly get Ciri her swordplay lessons. Or football lessons, going by the current contents of the car. Maybe sword football? That's a sport he'd watch. He still comes back to that unfortunate formulation though. It's weird how he just assumed she's have no idea what to do. When he was younger, he'd always tell himself he'd never underestimate teenagers, and yet here he is, assuming like a total fool she couldn't figure out shopping by herself, despite spending most of the day in the mall.



"So, I hope I can make it up to you...while I didn't get chocolate, there's some other things you might like, and you can try them when we get home. I'll have to attend a short business meeting anyway. Guys that do historical reenactment will come and pick up some weapons I've made for them. The sword I had in the forest when we met is one of those." The one he almost impaled himself on under very embarrassing circumstances.

Ciri nodded with a little smile when he apologized to her immediately. That showed her that she could trust him to be fair, and her body language relaxed immensely. She would have hugged him, but he was driving, so she merely relaxed and leaned back in her seat.

When he talked about making it up to her, she was about to say that it was fine, but then stopped herself. She'd already signalled - she hoped at least - that she didn't hold a grudge. But if he wanted to do something more, who was she to stop him? And if it was on par with chocolate, why it would just be downright unneighborly to protest, wouldn't it? Ciri smiled and nodded when he said that, and when he mentioned the meeting she shrugged. She wanted to know what happened to Frodo Baggins, after all.

"I'll just do some reading", she smiled "Go do that meeting. I'm impressed how someone who lives in this place still retains the noble art of smithing. I mean...it's great to have almost everything you could want as easily as to simply head to a giant marketplace and everything is right there", she quickly added. She didn't want to be seen as ungrateful in any stretch of the word. "Did the art run in your family?", she asked. "Was your father a smith too?"
She wanted to learn about her de facto grandparents by adoption.

Is that how you think of him? So quickly? asked Geralt in the back of her mind, and she paled a little but said nothing, guilt wracking her as she had to stop herself from audibly contradicting the voice.

She tried to push away the idea and instead rest a little, leaning her head against the top part of the seatbelt, using it as a (very) impromptu pillow. Not the most comfortable of pillows, but a pillow all the same.


When they arrived home, she opened her eyes and shook her head a little, not quite aware that she'd fallen asleep. The day's events had thoroughly tired her out apparently, but she'd had a nap and was ready to go again. She did remember what he'd said about the meeting, though, so when she'd helped carry the stuff in, and carry her things to her room, she made herself scarce and closed the door behind her, taking out her by now favorite book and continued from where she'd left off, waiting for his meeting to be over, and for the surprise he'd mentioned that she was sure would follow afterwards.

It's good thing she relaxed and apparently has forgiven him, as soon as he apologised. Looks like it might not be that difficult after all, this could have been a full blown argument, but Ciri is reasonable enough to talk about it peacefully.



He starts explaining some more about his family, how he is more of a black sheep, but also doesn't care very much since he's the last one left and there won't be any others, but by the time he gets there, Ciri is asleep. It's a very boring history anyway. Of course, she wakes up just as they come home, but at least she helps carry all that stuff. Or at least the less heavy things.


Shortly after she disappers in her room, customers arrive to pick up their new gear. And try it out as well. A couple minutes are spent as they get in all their armor, and then, right under Ciri's window, two pairs of them spar in duels, while Daniel watches and observes how his weapons fare. They don't have all the weight and structural stability of real medieval weapons, but then again, one does not attempt to really get through a full plate armor these days, or spends whole day hacking away at ones enemies.



It's clear the guys know what their doing and are well trained, since not a single hit actually causes any kind of injure. Also the armor holds, so there's that.



"So, I have a weird request." Daniel talks to their 'leader' while they're watching and explains the situation about Ciri and how she maybe would like to train with a sword...