Bacon! Eggs! Bred?

The streets around the marketplace were busier than any other part of the city had been, including the gate. From all around me came the shouts of products being sold, money being offered, and the occasional crime or dramatic taunt. It was sheerly chaotic.

Beside me brushed a man as round as a fat dwarf, yet standing the height of a high elf. Further behind him was a trail of short individuals, following behind so as to not get crushed. I looked around to make sure I was still with Eekaa, the orc’s gaze wandering around the stalls while she loomed just above the general crowd.

“Watch it ya freak!” some guy distantly yelled, probably at the fat man.

Going in that direction anyway, I grabbed Eekaa’s hand and tugged onwards, waiting for my nose to find something worthwhile. She moved with me, always barely a half step from knocking someone over, though her reflexes helped avoid anything too accidental. I didn’t get much time to worry about that though, having to instead dodge the maze of stamping feet myself, at least when people didn’t notice me.

Suddenly, a woman with ox horns came out of the crowd, her gaze lowered to avoid stepping on people my size. Naturally, she saw me and stopped, immediately agitating the person behind her. She didn’t respond to them, instead taking a deep breath and intently staring. Just like most other people on the street who’d looked at me before, she was almost annoyingly still.

Eekaa, being proactive about the whole situation, put her hands on my shoulders and maneuvered around me, putting herself between the ox lady and I. Thankfully, it worked, the individual breaking out of her stun long enough to turn around at the poor person who’d been barging her beforehand, trying to get her moving. Thankfully, she left a gap for us to slip through as she started berating them.

Sighing, I just took the opportunity, pushing Eekaa forward and holding onto her free hand. Eventually, we could see the fat man again, who was buying from a stall selling something that smelt delicious. Between the smell and the jovial attitude of the large man, it was pretty clear to see that this was likely one of the best stalls on the street.

Tugging against Eekaa’s continued slow walk forward, she too put the dots together, quickly following as we broke through to stall’s front.

“Alright, there you go lovely, three pieces for the ten, and I’ll see you again tomorrow!” The man proclaimed, proudly starting to scarf down the bacon he’d bought. His backing away provided perfect opportunity for us to slip into the gap and grab the attention of the stall’s occupant, a young looking woman in a red leather apron.

Surprisingly, she missed me entirely, asking Eekaa how many she’d like before realising I was there, her gaze going hazier than I would’ve liked. Biting her lip, the woman was soon distracted by Eekaa, holding two fingers up right in front of her face before pointing to both the left and right sides of the stall. This little action got her moving, but it was clear the woman was distracted, glancing at me as much as possible.

I went to turn away, hiding my face from the clerk, when suddenly Eekaa pulled me toward herself, hugging me to her while she waited. My face was pressed into her stomach as the orc almost guarded me. Had she gotten jealous or something? Maybe she had worked it out?

Either way, unable to tell what was going on, I wrapped my arms around Eekaa’s thighs and waited, not minding the little hug we had going on, my head hanging around her side. The comfort helped drown out the noise of the market for a few moments, a tree amongst the flood of interesting engagements going on around the place, visible even through the throng of legs.

I spotted a cage filled with critters, its owner handing them out as food for pets. A thief was among the carts, taking whatever here and there. We even locked eyes for a moment, the kobold no doubt hiding something else under that hood and cloak. Parting the crowd was an elegant woman attracting plenty of attention, admittedly mostly from people admiring her form, though the occasional angry victim got swept up by her group of fans. It was almost scary, the hidden dangers in this place.

Eekaa leaned forward suddenly, distracting me from the sights of the market, squishing me against the stall’s wooden wall. I was considering telling her to let up, not really understanding what she was doing, at least until the food was handed down to me. It was a skewer of sorts, bacon wrapped around something else, practically dripping with grease. Looking back up again, I saw Eekaa had four more ready, and was biting into the fifth.

Quickly, we backed away from the stall, my mind occupied by a place to sit while Eekaa scanned for something up high. It didn’t take long to spot, though I didn’t realise what it was until we were walking up some stairs, a break in the stall letting us reach a room that opened into an open spiral stairway, ropes dangling in the remaining gap.

Atop this tower that Eekaa had questionable access to, was a bell ready to call out the hour, and it’s subsequent windows, allowing a view of this side of the city dispersed only by more towers.

“Wow, this is definitely a good spot to have some bacon and eggs. Even the noise is drowned out from up here.” I commented.

Eekaa hummed before elaborating, “I come here. Eat. Most morning. Bacon. Eggs. Bread if lucky.” She sighed.

Admiring the little piece of routine she’d found, I couldn’t help but chuckle when my mind found something else to hear instead of just ‘bread’.

Explaining to the confused orc, I explained the accidental joke. “Well we have bacon, we have eggs, does this mean if we get lucky, we get bred?”

Eekaa shook her head at me, the amusement making her drip bacon juices on the next bite of her breakfast treat, her shoulders shaking from the unexpected joke. I got barely a bite further before managing the same, an unfair amount of liquid running off my own hand.

The consequence of course, was Eekaa’s smile immediately deepening, her intent clear. Scoffing the rest, she dove after me, wrestling with me for a moment, before shoving her head in my cleavage and licking up the trail of grease. Uncontrollably laughing, I almost drop my own skewer before managing to get her off me.

Peering down, it was pretty clear she’d managed to get it all, annoyingly enough saving the soft wrapping from Ari. Shaking my head, I looked back up and was presented with another skewer. I finished mine off before taking it, giving her a little push while handing back the finished stick, since she was so eager to clean up. Lightly, she grabbed it and my hand and turned the gesture into a hug, pulling me in and looking into the city, a wide smile plastered on her face. Truly, this orc was one hell of a chance encounter.