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"Oh, I do," the man said eagerly, and threaded the daisies all carelessly onto the brim of his hat. He took a lick of his candy, and gave Kitty a wide, very nearly ethereal smile, lips stained with some old peeling compound that made them an unlikely blue. "The thing is, I always do."

He gave her a cheerful wave, rocked back on his bare heels, and disappeared into the humming crowd.

Only to reappear five seconds later. "Oh, and the daffodils thing? For true. I died of it like ten times, I got better though." He disappeared again.

Esmerelda felt the grin upon her face. She knew, she would do her best to not get in the way of anything .. eat only small amounts, and help as much as possible .. it was the least she could do for the kindness Hikari was showing her.

It was then, the words caught her attention.

"Execution?"

She supposed it was a public event .. but why would she bring a young child with her? Well .. maybe she was preparing the child for the future .. after all, everyone attended these events, why not start her out now.

Nodding, Esmerelda smiled, "Lead the way."

Annie had ducked down beneath the counter as soon as her bakery was empty of people, tucking rolls and various pastries into a large oval basket. She stood, wavering slightly, steadied herself, then hoisted the basket onto one hip. There we go. And then, on to the counter. She studied the basket for a moment, then added a few long loaves of bread, and a few small casks of fruit juice. When that was done, she ducked down beneath the counter again, reappearing on the public side. Annie grasped the basket, settled it on her left hip, and meandered out of the bakery, resisting the temptation to whack the door with her cane on the way out. "Lovely day for an execution." She murmured, walking as briskly as she could towards the University.

Sure, Marius Quinn was dying - whoever he was, it sucked to be him - but it didn't mean that she should have to suffer. She would go to the execution, mingle a bit, sell her goods, and keep the profits to herself. Easy enough. At least it wasn't raining, and her rolls wouldn't get wet, soggy, and lumpy. Annie blew a stray hair out of her face and continued walking. She didn't even know who Marius Quinn was. Most of the people who were executed had some sort of public following, or at least had a name. The kind of name that made people go silent when it was mentioned. Or the kind of name that caused the uneasy, sudden tittering of whispers, like undercurrents in the sea. Annie knew a lot about the sea, at one point. She couldn't remember much now, but she remembered undercurrents. "A public execution..." Yes. That was most definitely a sign of something. Annie didn't know what, but living in Wynander taught her one thing: something didn't start in plain view.

But that was for people who didn't have to scrounge to survive to think about, and Annie had rolls to sell.

A couple seconds of silence were enough to excuse Eli, so he placed a hand on the doorknob, gave a nod and a murmured 'thank you' before slipping out the door, infant in hand. He did hope he wasn't entirely on his own, though... The youth stopped in his tracks. First of all, where's Mutt? And second, where is he?

There were people bustling about, a lot more than when he'd entered the Velvet Room, and the smell of salt was stronger here. Spinning around, he noticed the door was different, and looking up, so was the sign. Utterly confused, Eli took a few steps into the crowd, flowing with it. Where was everyone going? As he rounded a corner, the sea came into view, and he knew he'd somehow misplaced himself. REALLY misplaced himself, for this is the Harbor!

As the infant silently played with Eli's forefinger, the youth lent an ear to the surrounding conversations. Something about an execution? Glacing to the setting sun, everything clicked. Should he take the young one to the execution? Surely not, she's just a babe! Then again, she wouldn't remember. And if he stood just right, she wouldn't see a thing.

So despite his hate for Sehket and anything to do with him, Eli followed the crowd toward the University. He didn't try to push his way forward as if this execution were to be the most exciting thing of his life, but he didn't walk away, either. There would be excitement here, that's for sure.

Where is that dog?

Ishemerai stared down one particularly curious passer-by before responding, "All of them are desparate, most of them have given themselves over to that desparation, the same way they gave themselves over to happiness before."

He was silent a moment before amending, "Not all of them are this way, of course. I would like to believe that many of them are hoping, or trying to hope, and are not just standing here out of boredom to watch a man die."

"I understand. I'm a little on the distractable side myself. Right, then!" Larry released Severin, scooping up Miriam and rooting around on his desk for his keys.

"I can do some detectiving afterwards. No one really has a proper sense of time around here. Sunset isn't very specific. Although it's more specific than evening, and we still managed that, but I think it's best to err on the opposite side of late. Early? Erring on the side of early doesn't sound quite right, does it?"

Larry held up his keys triumphantly.

"We've spent enough time hanging around here! ...Oh, and please keep Fifi a secret. I'm not even technically...just don't say anything about her, okay? ...Did I say that earlier?"

Miriam was retrieved before she could respond, but made a happy sound and clutched Larry's shirt.

Feyd followed closely, covering Syrin as best he could. At Adalei's words he nodded his dark head, shooting a glance to Elliot. "I'll do my best." After all, he had promised to help.

He was rather keen on finally seeing this Quinn after all he heard about the man. It was turning out to be a very interesting day.

The babe for his part had taken an interest in the fabric of Feyd's cloak and was gumming it soggy. Much more a sleepy child then a fighter of any sort.