The Shopkeeper's Daughter: Act 2

[desertbloomed]

Characters: Lots!
Where: The hospital; the shopkeeper's shop; just outside the Chocobo Farm; in the wilderness; on the plateau.
When: September 12-13
Summary: It's time for The Shopkeeper's Daughter to get properly underway. Here we have act 2!
Warnings: Possibly some violence...

Overture
It’s market day in Aqures Ixen. People stream out of their homes and into the common areas, carrying all kinds of items, for bartering is just as popular on these days as buying things outright. Market days always bring with them a special kind of energy. Anything is possible on these days. One never knows what treasures one might find for sale. Except, of course, for Baltoro’s Blooms.

Comments

[umslay]

Ales watched in silence as Luffy ate the other piece of meat he had on him.

"Always hungry? That's why you eat so much?" He waited for Luffy to finish eating before answering, and in the meantime, he laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. This trip was already frustrating him, and they hadn't even left yet.

[gomu_ningen]

The tears have all but disappeared as the pirate happily chews on the ration of food. Looking down to his Merchant, he speaks with a partially full mouth.

"Yup. Gotta' eat to stay strong! Besides, the meat here is real good!"

Luffy digs once more into his satchel, the seemingly bottomless bag holds even more meat for consumption. Taking out another cooked and cured slab, he holds it up for Ales as he continues to feed on his own piece.

"Here! We're nakama, so we share!"

[umslay]

If there's anything Ales learned from this experience, it's that Luffy can always be cheered up with food. It could be useful in the future if he ever had a favor to ask of the pirate.

As much as he wanted to show how unimpressed he was by the meat, Ales put on a smile and accepted it. "Thanks, Luffy. This will really be helpful during the trip." He ripped off a small chunk to taste it; it was surprisingly hot and tasty.

"Where did you get this? Better yet, how many do you have in there?"

[gomu_ningen]

Luffy quietly counts on his free hand, nodding his head along with each finger he raises while he continues to feast on the slab between his teeth.

"I packed enough for a week. It's pretty tight in there. It should last for quite a bit."

The pack itself looks as if it has been filled with a bevy of watermelons. What would be a week's supply for Luffy appears to be at least a month's ration for the normal traveler. There's enough meat in his parcel the feed the entire lot of them, but that might take some wrangling to do.

"I got them from the market. Why?"

[umslay]

All of that's meat? It certainly was enough to feed the group for a week, though with Luffy's appetite, Ales wondered if everyone would be able to get their fair share.

"I wasn't aware that a single vender could give you so much. Hopefully you went to different ones and got a variety of meats, right?" As tasty as his bone was, Teensies needed variety. It would be back to fruits for the rest of the trip if Luffy only pulled out the same thing the entire trip.

"And you're going to carry all of that?" How strong were humans anyway?

[gomu_ningen]

"Yeah. Of course I'm gonna' carry it. It'll get lighter as I eat it, though. I got most of it from a single guy, but a few other things I saw that looked good made their way in there, too. I ran out of money before we got to the gourmet booth, thought, so there's still a lot I wanna' try!"

Luffy adjusts the strap of the satchel, making sure it stays closer to him now that Ales has taken a sudden interest in his rations. It isn't that he doesn't trust his crew mate, nor is it unlike him to not share, but one can never be too careful with a bounty such as this.