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]

"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.