@learnspells
"—don't actually eat people if they happen to mess up or give up on riddles and stuff, that was all just… Rumors n'tall tales, right?"
The sphinx continues to smile. Today, she's resting atop a tall slab of dark-grey rock, enchanted with magic. Like a lit screen, tiles, colors, and symbols had adorned its face to form a puzzle that Vash had taken upon himself to solve… For an embarrassing amount of time, now.
He's already checked behind his shoulder for any other person willing to help, but any passerby had turned their faces, and beelined it to the less threatening tables. Vash tries to bargain, voice pinched:
"D'you happen to do hints, maybe?" He clears his throat after squeaking that out. "Or—um, just a liiiittle momentary pause on this, n'I c-could come back another day, or—"
"A hint." The sphinx's expression is ceaselessly serene, her voice mild. "At the moment, admittedly, I don't feel charitable enough. Perhaps an exchange would entice me."
"So many sandwiches," Vash replies instantly. The sphinx lifts her head then to address an onlooker, purple-haired and with enough curiosity or pity to stop by.
"Hello there," she calls to Fern. "Care to try?"