Nyr - "Mrrrrrnnnn.. Ahhhhhhhhhh.."
Returning to the world, Nyr's body creaks and grinds back into action with a satisfying yawn and stretch.
While not strictly necessary, such actions help reacclimate oneself when returning from their suspended existence.
Nyr gives a cursory look around the room to confirm her surroundings, and to her side she sees the expected sight of an unconscious girl.
Nyr - "Hmm.."
She leans over to give Syr a good shake.
But there's no response.
Nyr - "[Sighs] Well, as expected. Maybe she'll at least get the disturbance notification. Though who am I kidding, everyone turns those off.. But she is a noob, on a technicality, a brain damage based technicality.."
She wanders back to the events of last night, and what she had said just as Syr fell asleep.
Nyr - "Eehhh!"
Her hands shoot up to give her face a couple of synchronized slaps.
Nyr - "Welp, no use thinking about that now!"
She says as she jumps out of her sleeping bag, grabbing her gear and running out of the door with an unnecessary swiftness.
Nyr - "Bhh.. She knows how to contact me anyway.."
Standing outside their house and taking in the morning view, she raises her card to her head, waiting for a moment.
Nyr - "Yooo Flux! What are you doing on so early?"
...
Nyr - "Ahh uhuh, well, I was just calling to ask about-"
...
Nyr - "Nooo! No more handouts I promise!"
...
Nyr - "Eheh.. Syr just needs an actual armor set if we're gonna hunt some stuff that'll really fight back. So just wanted to make sure you're down. But it sucks to have to go back already considering we just got here.."
...
Nyr - "What do you mean that won't be necessary?!"
...
Nyr - "Up..?"
She looks up on cue to spot an industrial cargo airship fly into view over the village clasping an entire small building.
Nyr - "Uhh.."
Watching dumbstruck, her eyes follow the structure down as it's lowered from the airship into the village, now obstructed by the treeline.
Nyr - "..See you soon.."
The card beeps as she moves to place it back in storage.
Syr - "Woah, what was that..?"
Nyr - "Ahh!!"
Startled, Nyr flings her card upwards, flumbling as she tries desperately to catch it.
Syr grabs it effortlessly as it slips between Nyr's grasp, and hands the card back to its owner.
Nyr - "Nnnn, why would you scare me like that!?"
Syr - "Not intentional.."
Nyr - "Hmph.. Uhm, you didn't.. hear anything last night.. Did you..?"
Syr - "Huh..?"
Nyr - "Eh, nothing! C'mon, we've got somewhere to be!"
Syr - "Huh..? Eeehh!"
Her confusion turns to annoyed surprise as she's once again forcefully tugged around the village by the arm.
⧖
As they quickly arrive in front of Flux's shop, Syr has to do a double take as she realizes what's in front of them.
For a moment she questions her past reality trying to figure out if maybe the shop was always here and she misremembered it.
Syr - "Wah..? Is-"
Nyr - "Whatever you're about to say, yes, it is."
Syr - "But-"
Nyr - "That's an excellent point."
Syr - "How di-"
Nyr - "Great question. So let's go get some answers."
Syr - "..."
Syr - "Before that.."
She removes Biggs from her shoulder.
Syr - "You should go stay in the pouch for a while, I don't want you causing any trouble in there.. or anywhere else for that matter."
Biggs - "[Chiiirp..!]"
Nyr - "Eheh..!"
There's a minor protest, but the unruly creature is finagled into the pouch for safe keeping.
The skeptical duo waltz into the shop like a pair of building inspectors ready to bust the joint for operating illegally.
But before they could start rattling off their interrogative questions:
Flux - "Nyrelyyye! If it isn't my favorite customer!"
Nyr - "Eh, aren't you being way too cheery.."
Flux - "Pff, why wouldn't I be with this incredible new business opportunity?!"
He laughs almost maniacally under his breath.
Nyr glances at her partner who looks just as confused as she does.
Nyr - "What business opportunity..?"
Flux - "Can'tcha use yer noggin? A newly opened luxury village in a prime hunting spot soon to be flooded with thirsty high rank hunters with no other options? Tcheh, sign me up! So I had my shop airlifted in as soon as I could."
Nyr - "I didn't even know you could do that.."
Flux - "Even a hunter like yerself would do well to keep up with the ever changing industrial possibilities."
Nyr - "Righttt.. So about that armor.."
Syr perks up at this, finally understanding why they're here.
Flux - "Yeah yeahh. Gimme a sec."
He wanders off to some back-room.
Nyr - "Soo.. Crazy weather we're having, huh?"
Syr - "..It's bright and clear out.."
Nyr - "Sheeesh, everyone's a meteorologist these days.."
Flux - "Alright so, this isn't the most fancy stuff. Defense ain't great, but for the price it has a pretty decent amount of mounting points, and it should keep you lightweight."
Carrying a set of stylish but barren armor pieces designed to be worn on top of existing attire, Flux returns from the back room.
Flux - "Ah, just one more thing."
He takes one of the shoulder pieces and presses it into a machine and activates a short process which modifies the part in an initially imperceptible way.
The piece is then handed to Syr, the rest of the set laid out on the counter.
Syr - "That's it..?"
Flux - "What? Not flashy enough for ya?"
Syr - "Just was expecting a bit more fanfare after last time.."
Flux - "Tcheh.."
Syr - "I thought this place was a weapons shop anyway."
Flux - "I can work with anything metal or field, really any kind of craft related to hunting. Even got a small research setup for coming up with new functions."
Nyr looks antsy having been left out of the conversation for this long, also possibly anticipating seeing Syr in the new armor.
Looking down, Syr observes the shoulder piece she was given attempting to discern what was done to it by the machine.
It doesn't take long for her to see what it was, her name was etched onto the surface in a cool stylized font, but:
Syr ~ It's spelled wrong..?!
He must have gotten a bit caught up in the moment and assumed it a certain way, as the text on the armor reads 'Sear'.
She puts on her best appreciative face trying to hide the annoyance, only a minor eye twitch would give her away.
Syr - "Thank you..! It's very.. cool..!"
Flux shoots her a dubious glance before moving on.
Flux - "Ahem, anyway, speaking of my research.. I've got a proposition for you two that I doubt y'all even have the allowance not to take me up on."
The idea of such an enticing proposition paired with the strange way in which it was proposed immediately piques the interest of our prospective hunting duo.
Nyr - "Wha- What proposition..?"
Nyr knows Flux too well to take this at face value, to her the offer sounds almost ominous in nature.
Flux - "Oh relax, you're going to love this."
His words have a calming intent but his face has a cocky smirk on it.
Nyr - "[Gulps]"
Flux - "As I alluded to before, I've been researching new kinds of field tech. And not to brag, but I got some real zingers you're not gonna find anywhere else."
Now that she can see where this is going, Nyr's expression morphs into an acute intrigue.
Flux - "So, since you guys are flat broke, no offense-"
Nyr - "Offense taken."
Flux - "-but also inexplicably some of my favorite customers.. I figured I'd offer yous a deal. Obviously I ain't a hunter as should be self evidential, so I can't test this stuff in practice myself. And what kind of self respecting businessman would I be if I sold a custom product I wasn't even confident in?"
Nyr - "..Go on.."
Flux - "I'm sure you get it by now-"
He shifts his gaze to Syr.
Flux - "-I know that Nyr there is way smarter than she leads on. You've got a real catch there."
Nyr - "W-Wha..?!"
Syr's embarrassment climbs.
Flux - "I tease, I tease. Anyhow, suppose I could lend a couple of my latest and greatest fabrications to you, not for fun of course. In return I require a detailed field analysis on the performance and reliability of the components. I'll also need you to work out the field cost for usage and overdrive characteristics. The whole works."
There's a brief skeptical pause before Nyr replies.
Nyr - "And we.. don't have to pay for them..?"
Flux - "You'll pay with the work you're doing for me."
Nyr - "Right right, and we get to.. keep them..?"
Flux - "Well.. Ehh, they're prototypes anyway, whatever."
Nyr - "Alright we're in."
Syr - "Wait but we don't even know what-?!"
Nyr - "Uhp uhp uhp.. Do not question the uncharacteristic generosity of our benefactor."
She looks on with a greedy, almost drooling, smile not unlike that of a child about to receive an exciting new toy.
Flux - "Heheheh.. I knew you'd make the right choice."
As he heads back into his secret research space, Nyr is practically bouncing up and down while Syr is still unsure and feeling marginally betrayed.
He returns holding a couple of outright gaudy components, even for this world, with plenty of intricate details and lights that all presumably serve some kind of purpose.
The prototypical nature of them lends to an almost futuristic steampunk aesthetic.
One of them is quite low-profile with sleek angles and a polished finish, as well as two sort of prongs reaching out with delicate looking parts attached.
The other has a small ring-like piece with many field channels arranged in strange patterns of arcane purpose, though they look slightly different to the typical channels commonly seen adorning armor and weapons.
It has a couple of thin yet heavy-duty cables coming off either edge of it that run off and connect to another component that has a fair bit more bulk to it, but still unobtrusive enough when mounted on the fore-arm.
It's a fitted plate that mounts onto a bracer, there are two rows of five short cylindrical glowing tubes that angle outwards away from each other lining the top sides of the plate.
Based on conventional design cues, the vaguely astute observer might perchance ascertain its purpose as an energy storage device.
Flux - "Nyr, your armor has a palm mount right?"
Nyr - "Yeah yeah!"
Flux - "Then this is for you."
He practically chucks the thing with wires at Nyr who catches it without issue.
Nyr - "Oooooh.."
She admires the mechanisms with a simple wonder before looking back up to Flux.
Nyr - "What is it..?"
Flux - "That, is a 'pulsed field disruptor', or PFD for short."
Nyr - "Oooooh.."
Nyr - "What is that..?"
Flux - "[Sighs] It emits a very powerful field pulse that temporarily, and somewhat violently, disrupts the functioning of all field related devices within its range."
Nyr - "Oooooh.."
Flux - "Actually, it's two components, as you can see they are connected. This is because it requires so much power, I had to come up with another purpose-built creation. One which I'm dubbing the.. 'Flux Capacitor'.."
He shoots them a knowing look, only returned with a couple of sidelong glares.
Neither of the girls are particularly amused.
Flux - "A-Ahem.. At any rate, it simply just slowly siphons your field energy and stores it until enough has built up to discharge the device.."
Nyr - "Wellll, what's so special about that? We've had field batteries for years now.."
Flux - "How'ya gonna go and make a fool of yourself after I just talked up your intellect?!"
Nyr - "Ehhh heh.. I could never get my head around electronics.."
Clearly embarrassed, Nyr's presence shrinks slightly as she fidgets with the device.
Syr ~ Cute..
Nyr - 'Now, if there's code in here somewhere..''
Flux - "Hff, a capacitor doesn't just store the energy.. It allows it to discharge insanely fast as well. All known previous attempts at this have ended in rather.. explosively undesirable outcomes.."
Nyr - "I see.. Is this like, dangerous.. to me..?"
Flux - "Heh, not unless you point it at yourself. The pulse is emitted in a near hemispherical shape from the palm of your hand at a radius of about forty centimeters."
Losing interest in this conversation, Syr wanders off a bit to fiddle with her new armor pieces and manages to equip some parts after some minor tribulations.
Flux - "Unfortunately as you probably guessed, it does take up two mounting points, but it'll be worth it I tell ya! Besides, the capacitor could also be used to power other components, who knows what kind of other super powerful things it could support."
Nyr - "Ah who cares!? It sounds sick!"
Having heard enough and snapping out of her awe at the device, she quickly mounts the components to her armor on dedicated points.
Each one makes a satisfying mechanical clunk as the standardized mounting mechanism engages a lock of the two surfaces.
Nyr - "Plus it makes me look even cooler, like somethin' out of a sci-fi game!"
Nyr - "Oh.."
Flux - "Heh, and for you, Miss.."
He presents the remaining part to Syr who takes it carefully.
Flux - "That, I'm calling the 'field coupler'. It couples two regions of space, physically. Well, physically as in the forces are transferred between the two regions, but there's no physical connection between them."
Syr - "Woah.. How does that work..?"
Flux - "Oh, it's actually really interesting, it involves a targeted entanglement of the-"
Flux - "Bahh.. You wouldn't understand anyway.."
Nyr - 'Hmph.. I wanted to hear it..
Flux - "All you need to know is activate once to initiate, hold until aligned with the target, and then release. You can experiment with the region size and projection distance on your own, just put it in the report."
Syr - "Uhh.. Right.."
Trying to look cool and poised she aligns the component to her wrist attempting to install it to her new bracer with a notable lack of mechanical interlocking.
Syr - "Soo uhm.."
Nyr chuckles in a friendly way at the unintentionally humorous moment.
Nyr ~ Cute..
Nyr - "Eheheh..! You just have to actuate the mechanism on the armor the same way you use abilities."
Syr concentrates for a brief moment before-
The telltale clunk of the lock engaging sounds off shortly thereafter.
Syr - "I knew that."
Nyr - "Suuure..!"
Nyr - "Oh-!"
Having just recalled something, she quickly reaches into her storage pouch and begins to pull out one smelly wind component after the other, stacking them on the counter.
Flux's reaction starts off unimpressed and somewhat annoyed his counter is being dirtied by the filthy circuitry, then gradually becomes one of surprise as the amount grows without sign of stopping.
Flux now speechless, Nyr gives her query.
Nyr - "So, what can we do with all these?"
After taking a moment to collect himself-
Flux - "U-Uh, well, as you know, wind parts aren't the most valuable as is due to their limited combat effectiveness.. But ehh.. with so many of them I guess they aren't worthless.."
Flux - "Where on earth did you scrounge all these up anyway..?!"
Nyr - "A Moldgrol."
Flux - "Wha..? I ain't ever heard of anyone salvaging this many winds from a Moldie.."
Nyr - "Yeah well, a certain someone here [gesturing to Syr] got a little too into it and came up with a new strat nobody else had the sheer brainpower, the raw mental capacity, the untapped cranial potential, to even think of."
A hint of sarcastic exaggeration adorns her voice.
Syr - "Hey..!"
Nyr moves to slump herself onto the little remaining free counter-space with an expression that says 'get a load of this'.
Nyr - "Can you believe this broad sniped the wind-box right out of that thing?"
Obviously not appreciating the sudden focus of attention being placed on her questionable past actions, Syr locks up into an awkward stance, unsure of how to react.
Nyr - "Launched her grapple straight down its throat with perfect timing and pulled, rather, yanked, out this nassttyy thing. Some massive hunk of like decaying flesh fused with-"
She makes a sly gesture to the pile on the counter, having the intended effect of Flux now wearing a face of disgust.
Nyr - "All while it was still alive! So we could get to it before the rapid decomposition."
Flux - "Blimey.."
Syr - "It wasn't thaaat bad.."
Nyr - "And what was it again?"
Nyr - "Oh right. 'I had an idea.' she said!"
Barely finishing her statement without laughing, she breaks into a small fit, snickering at the absurd tale and lightly smacking her fist to the counter.
Even Flux can't help but be a little amused at the outcome.
Flux - "Heh.. What were ya even thinkin'..?"
Syr - "Ah well, eheh.. I-I don't know.. I just thought if it worked it would stop it from messing me up again with that stupid wind attack.."
Nyr - "Uhu hu hu..! See what I mean!?"
Nyr - "C'mere!"
She reaches out her arm to throw it over Syr's shoulder and pulls her in, squished against each other.
Syr - "Uwah..!"
Nyr - "All that just out of spite for messing up her attack and getting her all smelly, ahah!
I love this gal!"
That last exclamation at a different time might've been cause for fluster, but for now they're both wrapped up in their commotion.
Maybe she'd just acclimated to the situation, or maybe she was subconsciously soothed by their skinship, Syr loosens up to share a genuine laugh having understood she wasn't being made fun of, but rather admired.
Flux tosses one of the wind parts at them, causing them to swiftly separate in order to dodge as it flies between their heads.
Nyr - "Hey-?!"
Syr - "Uwehh!"
Flux - "No intimacy in my shop."
Nyr - "Intima-? Eh!? S-Since when is that a rule..?!"
Both of the girls share in the embarrassment.
With Syr especially dazed by the rapidly unfolding series of tomfooleries.
Flux - "Since now."
Nyr - "Eh..? Oohoooh..!"
A realization evolves in her mind.
Nyr - "Hu Hu.. You wouldn't happen to be.. jealous..? Hmm, Flux..?"
Flux - "Tcheh, yea right. It's a workplace hazard."
His demeanor unwavering, not even a hint of reaction in his response.
Syr - "C-Can we just.."
Nyr - "Heheh, Flux is jeeealouss!"
As she closes her eyes in laughter making her provocative remark, another particularly moist component soars through the air to splat her on the forehead.
The impact immediately halts her brain functions as she silently falls to the floor stiff as a board with a goofy expression on her face.
Syr - "U-Uhm.. Are you ok..?"
Nyr shoots right back up after resuming her process, apparently spring-loaded.
Nyr - "What was that for?!"
Syr - "You were kind of asking for it.."
Nyr - "Wha-?! Even you..?!"
Changing the subject entirely-
Flux - "Ahem, looks like you got about twenty-five of these.. things. Best deal you're gonna get from me, I can fuse a few of em into automatic wind shields and I'll take the rest as payment."
Nyr - "Hhhhhhhhh.. fine.."
Reluctant to argue after that engagement fearing making him any more angry, Nyr concedes to the first offer.
Flux - "Alright, this'll take a hot minute so sit tight for a bit, will ya."
He tactfully picks up a few of them trying to minimize contact with the parts as he brings them to another one of the high-tech stations in the shop.
Placing three of them into the machine's dedicated component holders, he watches closely through a magnified viewport while manipulating a flexible robotic arm with various tools on the tip using some kind of holographic control scheme.
Poking and zapping the parts with careful precision, the girls make note that fusing components is not as easy as it sounds.
Syr wanders off to look at other bits of machinery having gotten the gist of what Flux was doing, while Nyr watches intently, fixated on the steady flashes and sparks with the loud whirr of the machine's debris vacuum.
Nyr - "Say, Flux."
He merely grunts curiously.
Nyr - "Why do you work so hard on all this stuff anyway..?"
A brief pause elapses without response, trying to calculate the intent behind the question, before she elaborates anyway.
Nyr - "You're always online from what I see. Why spend all that time here, trying to figure all this stuff out and dealing with.. I dunno.. business logistics..? Instead of having fun out there doing stuff you couldn't hope to replicate IRL. With your skill, surely your job out there is doing similar things, no?"
The gap between flashes increases momentarily before continuing normally as Flux replies.
Flux - "Well.. There's probably a few reasons.."
Flux - "Maybe because they wouldn't let me do this kind of thing in the real world, as you might be surprised to learn. Could never get into any of the good schools. And despite being passionate about it, with my own self-taught knowledge, it was never enough. Couldn't get so much as an internship at any of the tech companies.."
Nyr - "O-Oh.. I'm s-"
Flux - "Don't. I gave up on that stuff a long time ago now, since I found this place. Tell the truth, I don't even have a real job out there. You'll have to forget this conversation ever happened but, let you in on a little secret, there're people out there, players who pay big money to get their hands on this stuff. One-of-a-kind gear that nobody else can get. And I'm not talkin' Zenni, real money. Anything for a power-trip I guess.."
Nyr - "Woahh.."
Nyr - "I guess I should've known something like that was going on behind the scenes, but the TOS is so strict about it.."
Flux - "You didn't hear anything from me."
Nyr - "Why would you tell me any of this anyway-?"
Flux - "I didn't."
Nyr - "-I mean I'm just some rambunctious rabblemouth.."
Flux - "You didn't hear anything."
Nyr - "Who's to say I don't just tell the next person I see about this juicy gossip?"
Flux - "What gossip?"
Nyr - "Gasp.. Could it be..? That maybe.. you actually.. wholeheartedly trust and believe in me?!"
Flux - "If I say yes will you go away."
Nyr - "Ohhh you shouldn't have, Flux!"
Overjoyed at the half admittance she tosses herself haphazardly around the hefty blacksmith.
His expression is one of utter disdain for the current happenstance, yet he does not flinch.
Whether because doing so would ruin the fusion, or because he doesn't mind as much as he lets on, it can't be said for sure.
Flux - "Get off of me before I remove you myself."
Nyr - "Hohooh, okay, ya big softie~"
A grunt of suffering leaks out of his mouth as she peels herself out of the embrace, leaving him to finish the fusion.
Syr - "What are you talking about over here..? And why is it so tense?"
Nyr - "E-Eyy, Syrrr..! Hahhah, oh it wasn't anything much interesting, Flux here was just telling me about the secret-"
Flux nearly breaks concentration on his work.
Nyr - "-gerbil he keeps at home."
Flux - "Wha-?! That's-!"
Syr's face is suddenly much closer to Flux than before.
Syr - "It's okay. I understand exactly."
Flux - "I don't feel like y-"
Syr - "They're just so furry and small and cute.."
Flux sighs deeply and a certain tiny critter pokes his head out from the pouch wondering if they're talking about him, before retreating back to the peace and quiet.
As the distractions approach the limit of what one man can take, finally the fusion is complete.
Flux - "Man.. This was so not worth it.."
Nyr - "Oh please, I know somewhere in there your heart is feeling the opposite of how you're acting..!"
Giving her last teasing words she reaches in and grabs the fused wind shield.
Flux - "Ey-! Oh whatever.."
She playfully scurries around the back of Syr and presses the newly fused component to her armor.
Nyr - "Hehe, lock it, baby!"
Syr - "W-What..?!"
Nyr - "The component, silly, lock it in!"
Syr - "Right.."
With a thunk, the quasi clover shaped adornment is affixed to her upper posterior.
Nyr - "Uuhooh, now you're definitely looking the part!"
Syr - "Is that.. good..?"
Nyr - "Yes yes, now do me!"
Syr - "Okay, eheh.."
Mimicking Nyr's actions, she aligns the other shield to the appropriate socket, locking it in place to finish off their tune-up session.
Nyr - "How do I look?!"
Syr - "Mmm.. I think you look cool.."
Nyr - "I knew it, haha!"
Flux - "If you two are done, I'll briefly just explain how these work."
They look guilty for goofing around with patience already so low.
Flux - "The wind shield will automatically deploy when the sensor detects an attack from behind. It can't block anything of course, most kinetic projectiles are a no go, but a big burst of wind will easily deflect a fireball or any similar such attack. Of course, this comes with a pretty strong eh.. recoil, if you will. It's gonna be a fun surprise sometime."
In hushed tones
Nyr - "Five hundred Zenni says he added the recoil intentionally.."
Syr - "I don't think you can afford to make that bet."
Nyr - "Oh yeah.."
Flux - "[Sighs] The activation cost isn't too bad but you can put it into a couple different modes. One only activates if there's enough energy available, the other will activate regardless of the overdraw it might cause. Deal with that as you will."
Nyr - "Hm.. Alright got it. And thanks for everything today, Flux!"
Flux - "Yeah.."
Nyr - "Welll I think that about does us here."
She does an about-face and begins towards the door.
Nyr - "Now if that's all, we'll be on our waaaeeehhh-!"
Flux grabs her by the collar as she tries to make a sneaky escape.
Flux - "Don't you think you're forgetting something?"
Nyr - "Uhm, whatever do you mean..?"
He rolls his eyes.
Flux - "Money."
Nyr - "Ohhh, h-hahah.. Silly me, nearly forgot.."
Nyr - "H-How much do we owe ya..?"
Flux - "Mmmm.. That cheap armor.. I'd say about.. all that you have on you."
Nyr - "W-Wha-?! But-?!"
Flux - "We both know even with that you're still getting a discount with how broke you are."
She fumbles for a comeback but knows she cannot argue with such a true statement.
Nyr - "B-But we still need to buy furniture.. and things.."
Flux - "Not my problem."
Nyr - "But, you said yourself I'm one of your favorite customers..! Come on!"
Flux - "The mood fades quickly doesn't it."
She pushes herself into his space getting as close as she feels he would allow before physically removing her from it, making the saddest puppy-eyed expression she can muster.
He looks virtually disgusted and averts his eyes, but otherwise doesn't budge.
Nyr - "Pleeeeaaase..?!"
Flux - "You promised earlier you weren't going to ask for any more handouts."
Nyr - "Buhh.. That was before I knew you were going to take all of it.."
Flux - "Empty those pockets, now."
Nyr - "C'mon just half, please..!"
Flux- "Let's see what ya got."
She plunges her hand into one of her pockets, furiously digging around trying to excavate all the loose change, one eye closed, tongue sticking out ever so slightly.
When she finally reveals the haul there's just a few coins of different sizes, some pocket lint, and a few specs of loose dirt.
Flux - "Yeah, I'm taking all of that."
Nyr - "B-But..!"
Flux - "Them's how it is, champ."
Nyr - "Fiiiinee.."
As she lets out her exasperated cry, Nyr deflates down to the ground, spilling the whole of their money all over the floor.
Flux - "Jeeez, are you going to make me pick that up?!"
Nyr - "Small price to pay for everything I'm worth.."
Flux - "Oh please, I let you keep your items and gear."
Nyr - "Yay.."
Syr, embarrassed at her companions' conduct, picks up the few coins of various denominations, handing them to Flux.
Syr - "I'm sorry for her behaviour.."
Flux - "Tcheh, at least someone around here has some decency.."
She does a small bow of respect before him, a curious gesture in this place.
Flux - "Well, see ya round I guess.."
Syr - "Until next time.."
A light thud rolls across the shop floor from a gentle kick to the side by Syr to the depressed huntress.
Syr - "Come on, let's go."
Nyr - "Don't wanna.."
Syr - "No pouting."
Nyr - "Behhh.. Pick me up, please.."
Syr - "Wah?! No way..!"
Nyr - "It'll cheer me up.."
Syr - "Huh- Oh fine.. Whatever gets us out of here fastest.."
Syr stoops down to scoop the ragdoll into her arms, carrying it bridal-style.
A small smile begins to form on its face as they awkwardly shuffle sideways through the doorway.
Outside, they start to make their way deeper into the village.
Syr - "Why did you even act like that..? It's embarrassing.."
Nyr - "I-Idunno.. I just wanted to be able to buy- ..something.. And I don't like walking around with literally nothing.."
Syr - "Still.. Plus we're gonna make plenty from quests now anyway, y'know..?"
Nyr - "I know.. Idonno.. I'm sorry.."
They move out of the shade of the buildings and into the main village square, catching a few stray curious glances from onlookers, but they don't notice.
Syr - "[Sighs] I guess it's not all bad.."
A gentle breeze blows through, carrying her words off while Syr gazes down to the precious cargo she's holding, to find it staring back up at her.
Their hair fluttering gently, subtly swaying side to side.
The mid-morning sunlight glinting off the damsel's eyes.
As the neuronal activity in their brains catches up to realtime, her words having been processed, their eyes quickly unlock.
No doubt blushing while telling themselves contrary.
Nyr almost wonders if her heartbeat is audible, only making things worse.
Nyr - "T-Thanks for putting up with my nonsense.."
Syr - "Ehyeah.. Of course.."
Nyr - "Y-Yo-You can put me d-down now.."
Syr - "Oh..! R-Right, hahah.."
End of chapter nine