He slipped his arm away from hers naturally, and returned the smile. He felt like he'd mess up somehow if he spoke again, if he was being honest with himself. It wasn't usually like him to be this interested but, what he did know was that he enjoyed spending time with this girl. Maybe it was the newness of it, but maybe not. Still, he'd not let it get in the way of what they were trying to do, and he was fairly sure she wouldn't either. Valerie might be newer than some to this, but she seemed mature beyond her years in a fashion. 

He placed his hand on one last beam that jutted above his head as they reached the mouth of the alley and halted for a moment. "Here we are..." he breathed, uncertainty in his voice at first. He spotted what he was looking for not a moment later, however. He took a step out of the alley, and maneuvered his way past the crowd of men and women walking to and fro. Before them was a row of stalls. To the left, a young woman with blonde hair sold fruit to passersby, and to the right a short man with dark skin selling exotic spices. 

Markus stopped in front of one of the larger stalls. It was almost a small shack, with a roof to help a small group out of the rain or sunlight, and a large table with various items for traveling. At the stalls flanks were small walls lined with various weapons, rope, sacks, and tools. At the center was a doorway behind the salesmen, where he kept most of his stock. The salesman was a curiosity however. 

He was a stout and weather-beaten Dwarf, wearing leather trousers and a studded tan jerkin over a wool shirt. His beard was dark and trailed down to his waist. The curiosity was not the way he dressed, or the smoking pipe in his mouth. He was missing his left eye. In its place was a black onyx gem that gleamed as if it was a workable, baleful eye that could stare into someone's thoughts. Still, he smoked nonchalantly enough. 

Markus gave an encouraging nod to Valerie, before slipping his hands into his pockets and addressing the Dwarf that had not yet looked their way. "Edgar." Markus said. 
"Oh, ye remember my name, do ye?" 
"I just saw you a month ago." 
The Dwarf shrugged. "Men forget things." 
The Swordmage let out a small snigger. "We can't all live to be three hundred years old." 
"Seems to me you, nor the lass-" he said, pointing his pipe at Valerie before smoking some more. "-won't be living past a tenday if yer Elf friend is to believed." 
"You...spoke to him?" 
"No, he's just loud." 
Markus could not help but chuckle at that. The Dwarf continued. "If yer to be taking that contract the mayor's handing out, I have something ye might be interested in." he said, glancing to the left with his one eye, before returning his gaze to the two of them. "I don't know you well, and I don't know yer lady friend at all, but if ye do manage to finish this job, I hear tale of a Sorceress back in Highmast that'll pay quite well fer artifacts, and trinkets of a magical nature to be found in the ruins. I would too, in fact. Ye just come back here and let me know if ye got any. I'll pay a tad less, but ye'll get a discount on me stock too." 
"Ruins?" Markus asked incredulously. He shared a look with Valerie, and Edgar went on to explain that down into the lowlands were tombs and small abandoned cities laid by the ancient human kingdom of Dar'gon, which itself had been built over an old Elvish kingdom. Apparently the rumor was they were haunted, as well. 
"We uh, we'll see what we can do." the Swordmage said openly with a shrug. In all honesty, that sounded like it would get them a pretty penny. 
"Now." the Dwarf declared, puffing a smoke ring out of his pipe. "Ye wanting supplies?"[@Luminosity]