And they eventually approach the observatory town!

It's huge to Kan Ha-Ten, dwarfing human villages - several individual buildings are far larger than the largest village he's ever seen. The town manages to be larger than the massive plains trade gatherings in sheer land area, and then it expands up, spiraling up a mountain to a massive dome at the top. The buildings are of stone, more rough hewn than magic can accomplish but smoother than human tools, and the roofs are black. Carefully tended gardens create natural breaks between neighborhoods, which seem to be oriented around common points.

Kan is - more than a little intimidated by this. Or overwhelmed, perhaps. He does his best not to show it. He was expecting... well, he's not sure. Something smaller, certainly. 

There must be many fairies in this town. 

"...About how many live here?" He asks. 

"Dunno. Not many? Maybe, like, eight thousand?"

Not many, she says. There are more people in this town than all of the traders together. 

"Ah," is all he says, mild as milk. 

"And where is the observatory?" He asks. "And a place we can aquire gloves," he adds.

"The observatory's that dome up there!" she says, pointing to the top. "And I'll find someone to ask about gloves."

Into the 'town', then, he supposes. No time like the present. 

Once they start encountering people: how do they react to the heartful human among them? Does he seem to be in any danger?

People seem wary of him, but a bit less so when they spot September leading him around. There's definitely some people keeping a close eye on him, though, and some questioning looks sent September's way. She cheerfully ignores those looks, and finds someone to ask for directions to a where they can buy gloves.

...He supposes he might be considered dangerous, to them. Heartless can't use magic - only artifacts. 

That's a change, from the cautionary tales he heard growing up. 

He also ignores the looks, once he's noticed them - aside from keeping enough attention to notice if someone looks likely to attack, for some reason. 

And eventually they will find gloves, he assumes.

Gloves! Very nice ones, even, thick and supple and soft. The proprietor has no solid idea what sets off heartbreak, but thinks that if September's friend (???) keeps the gloves on and doesn't set out to intentionally activate any artifacts he should be fine.

Well, that will be less difficult than he thought it might be. He slips the gloves on, quietly thanking the fairy shopkeeper for the advice.

He appreciates the quality - he expects he'll be wearing them most of the time from now on, given the amount of time he's likely to spend around artifacts.

"The observatory, next?" He asks September. 

"Sounds good, unless you wanna pick up something else?

He doesn't really know what there is to pick up - and he doesn't have anything to trade, either. The gloves are necessary, but he doesn't need anything else - except for food, perhaps. Though he has a few days left. 

"I don't think I need anything else, for now," he tells her.

"Alright!"

To the observatory it is! It's a decent hike, but not as long a walk as it took them to get there, and most people give them a bit of a berth. They're directed towards the professor's office, and September turns to Kan. "Do you wanna go meet her with me, too?" she asks.

"I would prefer to, yes," he agrees. He'd rather not be alone in a fairy city, for one thing, and for another he did swear to guard her. Not out loud, or in so many words, but. 

"Alright!"

And she leads the way into the observatory. Star Meteor Sight completely ignores Kan, and mostly ignores September, apparently more interested in some instrument - she tells both to touch absolutely nothing, but isn't willing to stop working in order to meet them outside of her work area. Still, she's willing to ramble on at length about the stars, and gets rather impassioned when asked to provide a justification for funding. (Apparently she's started on writing proposals but always misplaces them. They're around, somewhere, in the piles of paper.)

Kan is not going to touch anything in this observatory, anyway, even with gloves on. There's no sense in tempting fate. 

Her explanations are interesting, though. He listens, keeping any questions to himself. It seems unlikely she would answer anything he asked, anyway. (Keia liked stars, a stray thought reminds him. He ignores this, and the rush of feeling it brings is pushed back with the others.)

September eventually gets a bit tired of being rambled at, says she'll stop by later to look through the proposals and try to figure something out? And of course she and her guest need somewhere to stay for the night, first.

Star nods, turns, and apparently quickly forgets about them, and September leads Kan out. "Do you got any preferences for inns or something?" September asks Kan.

"Not really," he says. "I haven't stayed at enough to have formed any preferences." He used to bring his home almost everywhere he went, after all. 

"Somewhere quiet then?"

"That would be good," he agrees. 

She finds them a little out of the way bed and breakfast, with a quiet courtyard that their suite looks out on.

Kan stands by the window and looks out at the courtyard, feeling a little closed-in. It's ignorable, though. 

"How long will we be staying here?" He asks, glancing back at her.

"Hm. Maybe a week?"

"Alright." He pauses. He'll need more food - and he doesn't feel right making her pay for him everywhere.

"Do you know if there is any work I could do to trade for the local currency?" He asks.

"Dunno! If you're being my guard, though, you should be getting paid for that, and that's work."