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]

If he had to be as strong as to survive being attacked by a horde of large birds, Ales wasn't sure if he was cut out for being a hero. He knew how to get away from danger and have others do his fighting, but there was no way he could be like Luffy and-

-that was a lot of blood.

"Do you have a potion on you?" He turned around to see if Mimi was successful in procuring one from the others. Then another question for Luffy: "Don't you know that anything poking you is bound to make you bleed terribly?"

[gomu_ningen]

"Maybe?"

He simply continues to laugh, looking back to his wound for a moment of worry, then turning back with a grin to his fellow adventurer.

"Potion? Huh? What's that? He pads his hands over his person, searching through his lack of pockets and shirt-wear without so much as a crumb turning up.

[umslay]

His didn't say so, but his facial expression couldn't have spoken "Seriously?!" more clearly.

"I thought Moogles told this to all of the heroes," he said and he walked back around Luffy to face him from the front. "They call basic medicine for healing wounds 'potions' here. I'd assumed that since you enjoy adventuring and fighting so much, you'd carry one on you."

He regretted not buying any while shopping for supplies, but he decided to use his sparse savings to buy tools instead of medicine, since he planned on using the former. Besides, since Luffy was here longer, he should have known this by now, right?

[gomu_ningen]

Most of the information told to him by Pakku had gone in one ear and out the other. Such matters had been left to his doctor, a formidable reindeer with an encyclopedic knowledge of medicine and a masterful hand at apothecary.

If potions existed, this was his first time hearing it and paying attention to it. He blinked before he returned to chuckling, patting his Merchant on the back as he brushed a bit more dirt off of himself.

"Yup. Never heard of 'em before. It's all right, though. I don't usually carry that sort of thing. Give me a lunch pack with lots of meat and I'm good!"

[umslay]

It took several moments of wondering how Luffy ever survived in this world without knowing any of this. What kind of Moogle was he given? No matter, it would be up to him to distribute potions and other basic necessities once he had enough funds to start a business.

"Food doesn't treat serious injuries," he said. "That's something you should remember if you ever get into a fight."

Mimi had finally returned to the two, not as frightened as before, but still slightly panicking, carrying a small bottle in her hand. "I got this from someone, kupo! They said it'd be okay if we borrowed it if it's for Luffy!" She flew up to Luffy. "Here, you should drink this."

[gomu_ningen]

Snatching it from the helpful moogle, Luffy uncorks the bottle and downs the liquid with a dissatisfied face. His tongue sticks out, vibrating as he begins to "raspberry" away the foul taste of the potion.

"BLECK! That's awful~! Why can't I just eat meat to get be-?!"

He looks down at his stomach as a strange, unknown aura washes over him. In an instant, Luffy feels his exhaustion and pain subside, leaving him feeling refreshed and new.

"What the-? How did it do that?"

With a beaming grin, Luffy pats Mimi on the head as his other hand sets the empty bottle down.

"Wow! Thanks, Mimi! That's amazing! Who gave it to you, huh?"

[umslay]

"What-" Okay, he didn't expect the potion to act like that and heal him so quickly. "This is definitely more magic than medicine!" He picked up the empty bottle and looked inside it for any obvious signs of someone tempering with it. Of course, there was nothing unusual about this, and the label didn't mention a thing about magic being used in the product.

Mimi beamed at Luffy's compliment. "Well, no one else here had any spares, but the ranch nearby had a general store, so I bought it with your money, Ales. Sorry about that." They were running low on funds, but Luffy was in danger, and she wouldn't consider herself a Moogle if she came back empty-handed.

"Ales?" She turned towards the Teensie still pressing his face against the bottle. "It's part alchemy and medicine with a bit of magic. Anyone who knows the basics can make them. They're kind of hard to make which is why you have to buy for just one."

[gomu_ningen]

Luffy's eyes begin to tear up as he digs into the pouches around his waist. With a sniffle, he draws out a rather large bone of meat, handing it to Mimi as he looks away with regret.

"Y-You.. You can take this. It's really *SNIFFLE* really good meat. It's the least I can do for.. for.. for you being so kind!!"

Sobbing like a fool, he pushes the meat against the moogles chest as he tries to cover his somber looking face.

[umslay]

Mimi stood in her spot and silently accepted her gift. Whether her mouth was hanging open as if to give words of gratitude, confusion, humility, or something else would never be known to anyone apart from the Moogle.

This scene, of the sobbing pirate and stone-still Moogle holding a piece of meat nearly as big as herself, continued for several minutes until Ales, tired of watching the two make fools of themselves, broke the silence.

"Hm," he hummed loudly to get their attention. "It's good to see that you're not on the brink of death anymore."

Startled, Mimi turned to Ales, still clutching her meat. She turned back to Luffy and to Ales again. "Where should I put this now, kupo?"

"Ask Sparks if he can store it in his bags. We'll need to eat for lunch before it spoils." It certainly looked big enough to feed the two of them.

[gomu_ningen]

If only the pair knew that such a hock of meat was just an appetizer to Luffy's unusual appetite. Wiping his eyes on the scarf about his waist, the pirate watches as the moogle embraces the well kept snack.

"Take.. Take good care of it! It belongs to you now!"

Even with his eyes being spotted for tears, his own mouth hangs open with a pout as drool begins to form at either end of his lips. Despite handing over the food, his insatiable hunger for meat cannot be ignored, even in a moment of generosity.

[umslay]

"I will, Mr. Luffy!" And with that, Mimi flew off towards the others, struggling to hold the meat all the way.

Ales did notice that Luffy seemed awfully attached to his gift. "Are you hungry? You seemed kind of desperate to eat the food you offered." If he had planned to eat it for breakfast, then it certainly would have meant a lot to give up his first meal of the day.

[gomu_ningen]

He sniffles, trying desperately to wipe the tears on his bare arm.

"N-No. I'll be fine. I'm always hun.. hun.. hungry."

Through his tears, Luffy digs into his satchel to retrieve a slab of meat identical to the one handed off to Mimi. Teeth bite into it and pull to tear it, chomping down while trying to explain the gesture.

"I'll miss you, meat! Y-You're gonna' make Mimi happy now!!"

[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.