poor delicate tiny scholarbaby

Autor doesn’t do goodbyes. He prefers to simply fade in and out of people’s peripheral vision, leaving just the barest imprint that he was there at all. At the end of his trip to Lunar, though, he finds he’d be remiss if he’d just left everyone without saying something--a change he finds terribly unsettling.

Plus, he has the impression they’d drag him back by his ears.

So, in an effort to put off the inevitable, he dawdles in the markets on his final shopping trip. He picks up his carpet, of course. A ring, a slew of books, and some giga wasp venom. Then a few potions of floatation and pain reduction. Some giga ant eggs, truffles, and a little bauble he’d put an order in for weeks ago.

And a present or two for the Lunarian residents. The most difficult farewell was to Majesty Lemia, of course. Followed by the children, whom he gifts with little trinkets and croissants. The next set of farewells are to Jessica, Master Mel, Nash--the latter of whom receives a smirk. And Rabastan, of course, with his ever-confusing lady-friend, Elea.

Pockets empty and goodbyes said, Autor hesitates before following Mia through the door to Milliways. But only for a moment.

"I swear, I've passed this fountain thrice already," Autor mutters, wrinkling his nose at his map of Vane, one of Lunar's capital cities.

Mia had told him to go browse for flying carpets on his day off, so here he is, wandering around downtown and losing hope in finding the store he had set out to find. He sees groomed courtyards, crowded marketplaces, and a particularly gorgeous fresco of Althena, the local goddess, but nothing to do with airborne rugs.

Autor frowns. All of this walking around is exacerbating the pinches in his legs, sore from a new morning run routine. Needless to say, the kid is stumped and irascible--something he's thinking about working out on the stupid fountain which he has now passed for the fourth time.