Show Bidness

[Sonnie Wu]

Ah, the Spider Bazaar. A large goblin market on the back of a gigantic spider! Who wouldn't want to visit such a fascinating location of hedge commerce?

People with arachnophobia, that's who.

Fortunately, that did not include Sonnie Wu, Queen of River City's Spring Court. She loved this place. So full of sights and sounds and smells and other s-words. It's was a stimulation paradise! It was also great for, you know, buying stuff from hobgoblins. That was why she was here, today. To purchase the services of a group of such fae creatures!

"So, no Glamour, then?" the Beast asked, as she sat at a table inside a tent, located somewhere in the maze of stalls on the arachnoid carapace. She was in full hedgespun regalia, aiming to look every inch the Queen, to impress the weird thing sitting across the table from her.

"Nay, nay! Service for a service! You wants a full song set for your coro-nation? You gives equal time!" The hob was some sort of clockwork man, from the waist up, all ticking gears and clicking cogs. A shabby waistcoat and top hat gave him the air of a business tycoon well past her glory days. Below the belt? The body of a large cricket, with those spindly legs that probably made chirping noises if he rubbed them together.

Sonnie stroked an imaginary beard in thought. "I can live with that, Fulko. What kind of service, though? Nothing risky. Nothing humiliating."

"Cap'n Fulko!" he insisted on the title. His voice was gravelly. Hopefully he wasn't the lead singer. "Nay nay. No dangers. Just labors." The hob gestured around the tent. It too had seen better days. The interior was not neat and tidy. "Fix. Clean. Cook. Monkey Queen too proud to work?"

The Steepscrambler laughed, "Hardly!" She considered another moment, "A day of housekeeping for a day of music. We good on that point?"

"Yes, yes, yes." The clockwork cricket man nodded his brass head. He was eager to book his band, and not good at hiding it. The desperation was almost an odor.

Sonnie steepled her fingers, as if a master plan was coming together. "And the Wyrd boons us both with greater music skills."

"Yes, yes, yes." More nodding.

The Vernal Queen didn't really need the Wyrd's enhancement of her performing talents, but it didn't hurt her, either. The point was to make this hobgoblin musical act even better than usual. "When do I meet the band?"

"Cap'n Fulko's Funtime Faerie Band!" He was also insistent on the full name of his group. The sign out front of the tent had it painted in bright, if faded, colors. "They's not here at the most current of moments. Small tent. If they's here, Monkey Queen will have seen. Will meet them on Coro-nation day. We knows the way to Tavern."

"Of course," she smiled and nodded. It was obvious from the mess that the whole band lived in here. Fair enough. "And you... do what in the ba-- Cap'n Fulko's Funtime Faerie Band? Besides bookings?"

"Fiddle."

"Fiddle?"

"Fiddle!"

"Fiddle."

"Anarosa sings. Like songbird. Vork drums. Halandor plays banjo." Somehow the clockwork chest puffed out under the threadbare coat. Fulko was proud of his little weird group. "Deal?" he asked, extending a three-fingered brass hand.

There were other musical acts available. Sonnie had shopped around first, but their demands were too high. This what she could afford, by way of Pledge. Besides, she felt a little sorry for the state of these hobs' careers. They were down on their luck, it seemed. Also, banjos were cool!

"Deal!" Monkey paw reached out, the vow was sworn, and the deal was struck. The Wyrd reverberated in both Hobgoblin and Lost alike.

"That's show bidness!"

"Fame and fortune, baby!"

[Sonnie Wu]

Bookkeeping

Saber Sloth

[Sonnie Wu]

Making pledges? Easy.

Fulfilling them? Not so much.

A day of service to Cap'n Fulko's Funtime Faerie Band wasn't a dangerous task. As it turned out, it was basically just cleaning up the large tent the Hobgoblins lived in.

The 'not humiliating' part was subjective, as it turned out. Hobgoblins don't necessarily have the same concept of humiliation as humans and Lost do. Fulko has his motley sure didn't.

Many human would find having to don a French maid's outfit to be embarrassing. That would have killed the Pledge right there.

Thankfully, Sonnie Wu was into it.

So, the Queen of the Spring Court of Sacramento spent the day flouncing around the tent in a French maid's outfit, complete with feather duster, and she was having a blast!

"Get cobweb! There there!" Cap'n Fulko pointed to a high corner with a clockwork hand.

"I see it!" Being a Steepscrambler, reaching those high spots was a cake walk. "Don't these webs just come back fast? You literally live on a giant spider."

"Such is life," the Hob shrugged.

The Vernal Queen and Fulko were alone. She'd met the band earlier in the day, but they had cleared out so she could clean properly. The task might be simple, but it was time-consuming and exhausting because these Hobs were slobs.

Sonnie the Maid climbed down, catching her breath and trying not to think too hard about some of the gross things she'd had to clean up today.

"I think..." the Beast looked around, "I don't see anything else."

The half-cricket man looked up from his sheet music and peered about the now very neat and tidy tent. After a moment, he nodded his brass head. "Yes yes yes. Clean. Very good."

The Monkey Girl breathed a sigh of relief, "So then....." she left a pause hanging.

The Hobgoblin looked at her curiously, then nodded once more. "Yes yes yes. Task fulfilled. Your end of pledge upheld. Cap'n Fulko's Funtime Faerie Band will play at Monkey Queen's coronation!"

"Awesome!" The Beast was pleased.

Fulko resumed sorting through the sheet music for the songs Sonnie had requested. A minute or so later, he looked up to find her still standing there.

"Problem?"

"I was just wondering..."

"Eh?"

"Can I keep the maid costume?" Hands patted the skirt.

"No."

"Awwww..." Life was disappointment, sometimes.

Sonnie fulfilling her end of the Pledge, Saber Sloth