.:the Fishmonger and Carpenter:. [Leo and Sandie]

[carbonflight]

A golden tabby tom stood in the street, panting. He held a rope attached to a square of wood of some sort with wheels on it, which he appeared to be using as some sort of cart. On top of the ramshackle cart, was a small boat. It was made of teak and had no paint, but a shinny varnish that left the boat the original yellowish hue. It only was meant to seat two cats, but the tom could easily hold three cats in it. He had been trying to sell it down near the shore the other day, but had no such luck, which surprised him. Not a barnacle or scratch had marred it's hull, and on it's stern was painted in elegant letters the Silver Pheonix .

The beach was far behind him, and hauling the boat could have been harder, but it certainly could have been easier as well. Sweat dripped down the back of the tom's neck as he backed under the afternoon sun. His shop down at the Merchants' Market seemed miles away, when in truth, it was only a half hour's walk. A half hour walk without a huge boat. He corrected himself.

[catmaniac8x]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imgur.com/nTFsN.png] Sandie was off to the market herself. Her current week's haul of fish was a bit better this time. She had almost caught a strange trout-sized fish, almost was the key word, little bugger had escaped her as she tried and wrestle it down and stab at it. The whole situation had annoyed her to no end, and also made her want to find the fish even more. Even now she was walking by the river as much as possible on the way to the market, her spear in one paw, ready to go if she happened to saw the fish's blue scales again. She didn't even notice the cart being dragged by the golden tabby, at least until she walked right into it. Hissing and muttering various curses, she looked up to the cart. Inside was what looked like a new boat, something that made Sandie's knees weak for a moment as she stared at it in awe. The boat was BEAUTIFUL. But if it was for sale, it was probably way out of her price range. Grimacing at the boat and looking away from it, she noticed the golden tom, exhausted from pulling the cart. "EY!" Sandie shouted to him, cautiously walking over to the tom (darn it he was taller than her) and looked over with her hood still over her head. "Ya' look like you could use some help!" She wasn't expecting an answer..she didn't even know how she was talking to him in the first place, usually her anxiety would kick in by now. Maybe seeing the boat wiped her mind of that.

[carbonflight]

The tom turned around, a young, brown tabby she-cat was looking back at him. He noticed her staring at the boat, she was clearly impressed by it, he wondered if this was a chance to make a sale... He shrugged to himself.

"Sure," he nodded, happy to meet someone willing to aid him, "just hauling this down to my shop." He nodded to the boat, "Can you believe it didn't sell all day? You should have seen how low the price got!" He realized that his rant could have sounded slightly like a brag, but ignored that, hoping the she-cat would too.

"The name's Leo Evelyn," he held out a paw, remembering his manners, "I'm a joiner, worked on that boat for a few months, I did." He nodded, "It's an insult that cat's today can't tell a good deal on a nice boat when they see it." He sized up the other cat, pretending just to notice her interest in the Silver Phoenix, "You look like a cat of good taste, you got any money?"

[catmaniac8x]

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[atrb=background,http://i.imgur.com/nTFsN.png] Sandie had to stop her jaw from dropping. He was OFFERING HER THE BOAT..for money that she did not have. Well that was a lie she did have money, nowhere near enough the amount she assumed the boat cost. It was part of why she was going to the market today, she had to get more shillings. Then again he did say the boat's price was getting low at one point.. "Uh..." Sandie stammered, snapping out of her thoughts, he was holding out a paw. "Saidie" she said, returning the handshake. Afterward, she added "...I'm not sure if I even have enough ta' buy a decent sized fish..let alone a boat" she said, trying to sound like she was joking around, and not sad about just how expensive that boat probably was.

[carbonflight]

Leo noticed the sad tone in the young she-cat's voice; he hated seeing young cats so genuinely sad, and felt a guilty pang. He should have known the little she-cat, Sandie, she had said, wouldn't have enough boat. He made an exagerated effort of putting a paw on his chin thoughtfully and stroking his curly fur. He had already decided that he was going to have to give Sandie this boat, but she didn't look like the sort of cat who would just accept a totally free gift from a stranger, so he was going to have to be a bit sneaky about it.

"Ah ha!" He raised a paw in the air, "If you, not only give me a hand with this boat, but also give me free fish, then I" he raised his right paw in the air, "will give you this boat." He beamed.