The Night Market

Ichor's spindly, undulating legs shuffle and shift it just beyond the circle of light cast by Rosy Chex’s stall. Damp tendrils strewn from the Ptisilith’s enthusiastic smash-through slowly rejoin the rest of Ichor’s amorphous mass, with a SCHURRRRLLLP! and a GROWLLLLOLLLIP! Ichor's mass begins to twist and bubble and with a slick coalescene it rises to grow into a pulsating, spherical mass with 1,000 rainbow-colored eyeballs.

Ichor looms. Ichor threatens. Ichor --

At the sound of Monday’s question—Do you ever worry about losing control?—Ichor’s inky body stills and shrinks back down to a shallow, oily puddle, surface rippling with a stuttering shimmer. Two bright pinpricks of light form atop the puddle, their attention clearly on the wand in Gertrude’s hands.

The bright lights contort into fully-formed human eyes. They are watchful, cold, waiting to see which way Gertrude’s heart will tilt under Monday’s subtle probing. After a few seconds, those eyes blink and dissolve. Ichor pools, quiet and alone on the unsettling periphery.

Gertrude swallows audibly. Their question cuts right to the heart of the very thing Gertrude has been wondering herself. Am I who I want to be? Who would I be, if I could be anybody?

"Um, well, I don’t know," Gertrude stammers. She doesn’t feel ready to answer such a heavy question yet. "I think I’m still trying to figure that out."

To change the subject, she gently leads the Moon Prince over to another stall to see what they have for sale.

Moon Prince stands transfixed by the miniature tree and its spectacular transformation and inevitable dissolution.

"What a marvelous display of the cycle of life and death in the natural world!" they exclaim. "The moon has quite a bit of dust you know, so I have read all the family histories of the journey of dust on the moon. My grandfather always said everything turns to dust in the end." Moon Prince smiles wistfully.

While Gertrude doesn’t seem to want the gorgon’s help, Demi can see Monday is more trickster than sweetheart. And… is it really my business? The gods cursed me, and I’m making it work to this day.

She turns to Whiskered Tim.

"Sorry to interrupt." (She isn’t.) "You were calling out to mortals. What about those who aren’t? Where might I find an outfit more comfortable than my own skin?" She half-twirls to show off her glittering gown, made from her own snakeskin. "You’ve heard of One-Size-Fits-All? I’m looking for a One-Fits-All-Size dress. It’s for a role. I’ve got to slim down for one part of the film, then for another part, I’ve got to be plus sized.

"It’s called Me Myself and My Plus One, a comedy that takes a serious look at body expectations and pokes fun at it, but in the end, there’s a heartwarming lesson. So the studio claims. The script is full of raunchy fratboy humor, which doesn’t fit anywhere in the blurb other than the word ‘pokes’ sans ‘fun.’ I’m only in it for the money.

"Speaking of, which kiosk..?"

"Sparkle Jess, darling… love the outfit." She assumes Jess can tell her own gown is snakeskin, and won’t point out the obvious to such an elite fashionista. "Perhaps you have what I need or the means to craft it…"

She gives Jess the gist version of what she told Tim.

"…or perhaps you’ve something else that suits my taste? I’m all eyes, isn’t that right, ladies?"

Her snakes hiss in delightful affirmation!

Demi Gorgone is definitely interested. And this is not the immortal’s first time at the Fairy Market.

"I love it. Enough that I’ll purchase it for the right price. What is the cost, and… how many applications might I get out of one jar?"

She knows the game. The fey can see right through feigned unenthusiasm. Haggling comes in the form of an informed counteroffer. Never be desperate to buy, for the fey are not desperate to sell…

The Moon Prince stares in wonder at the tapestry of the moon. "How amazing! I am not used to seeing the moon shift through its phases from so far away! I think I can even see the Moon Palace over there." A sad look passes over their face and they look down. "I try to avoid looking at the Moon since I came to Earth. Silly I know, but I don't want to doubt my decision to leave."

Gertrude puts a comforting hand on the Moon Prince's shoulder. "I don't think it's silly, MP. Sometimes, I think it about if I made the right choice leaving home, too. Despite all the bad stuff that happened there, there was a bit of good, too. Why don't you get the moon tapestry, and I'll get the Earth one, and we can both put them up in our rooms so we have a matching set? It'll be like... a friendship locket, with two halves that come together to make a whole."

---

Gertrude looks over at Monday. "Oh? Um, I don't know... A girl in a mask. Maybe. Just a plain, kind of... Bigger..." She shifts uncomfortably as her old insecurities start to flare up. "Sorry. I hope they see me better than I see myself, sometimes." She pulls her hoodie closer around her.

Demi Gorgone is highly suspicious of Monday footing the bill.

"Then if you have no set price, you’ll not object to me paying you. Snakeskin, venom, a statue of my third ex-husband? If none of those suit your fancy, at the very least an autograph, or something immaterial: my heartfelt gratitude."

She peers over her star-shaped shades just enough to reveal her brow. It’s as close to a look in the eye a gorgon can safely exchange—a look that ensures Sparkle Jess she knows the rules. Accepting Monday’s favor puts her in their debt.

"A gal cursed by the gods can never be too careful."

The Moon Prince turns to Gertrude with a smile on their face. "I love that, Gertrude! I will cherish this tapestry and our friendship. To friends who head into the unknown away from home to find a home of their own making." The Prince carefully takes the tapestry nodding at Tim's advice. "Thank you, Whiskered."After watching Demi's exchange with Monday, the Moon Prince says to Demi, "That was amazing! I felt like I was watching your performance in Twelve Angry Serpents again! You really are amazing. Did I say that? Oh well, I just really mean it. I have always loved your movies and followed your personal life in the tabloids. I wanted to buy a pair of sunglasses just like you wore to your third wedding, but I couldn't get them with prescription lenses. I still bought them but just kept running into things and had to stop wearing them."

The Ptisilith hovers about the stalls, humming monotonously. As the deals are done and conversations are had, the large stone inches closer and closer to Whiskered Tim, hoping for another display of magic.

Demi is never one to ignore a fan.

"You’re from the Moon, aren’t you? I hear the gravity is much lower… I had a bit part in Amazon Women on the Moon, but it was filmed in a California desert, near the statue of the original director.

"But never mind my fourth husband." After a pause—"’s statue."—she smiles at the Prince. "What’s the Moon like? What with you being a Prince, is there a… Moon Princess? People you wave at from the palace balcony? A cinema… or a stage?"