concoursec | Three cheers for sharp pointy things

Entry tags:

Three cheers for sharp pointy things

Characters: Luki and Grell
Location: Heading into town
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed, ongoing
Summary: Shopping for weapons. Because clearly the problem isn't with a ten year old buying a gunblade - it's letting her shop without supervision

Luki waited eagerly at the Garden's gate for Miss Red. If Miss Red knew how to modify weapons, then she she could give good advice on what kind of weapon would be best. Of course, Luki had already settled on a gunblade for her chosen specialty solely because it was a way to combine her fighting style with her sister's - when Noki came back (and she was positive she would), Luki would show her how to use a gunblade and they could become the Invincible Luki Noki twins once again. Well...it might be hard if they had to wait until they were at least fifteen to take the SeeD exam, but maybe they could ask the Headmaster very nicely.

In the meantime, she'd brought her knives to show Grell. Miss Red would probably like them, Luki thought.

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Grell didn't let Luki wait too long as he came up with just a simple pair of black, women's sweatpants and a red t-shirt. He decided to travel lightly, as it was just a run to the weapons shop. Maybe there would be some showing off of their toys?

"Hi there~!" Grell gave a light wave to the young girl.

Edited 2010-08-09 15:22 (UTC)

Luki was wearing her favorite t-shirt (http://community.livejournal.com/witchesreign/59125.html), along with some black sweatpants with a pink stripe down the side. Why yes, she was proud of learning how to use a silk screening kit, and most people had liked the shirt when they saw it.

"Hi Miss Red!" Luki's waving in return was more enthusiastic. "Do you like my shirt? I made it myself!"

Since some people were 'fraidy cats about weapons, Luki had tucked hers into a large black backpack with pink ribbons tied to it. Perhaps that was another reason she and Grell got along - they both were rather fond of a particular color scheme.

"Hmm? You made it?" Looks to the shirt, appraising it with small sounds here and there. "Goodness, this is well done!" Looks to the little girl with a grin. "You must make one for me one day!"

Grell looked over to the bag with a raised eyebrow. "What's in there with such cute ribbons. That aren't red." Hey, Grell was biased.

"Just bring me a t-shirt and let me know what colors you want the fabric paint to be, Miss Red," said Luki cheerfully. "I'm gonna make one for Sokka, too. In blue. I made one for Noki already, except the t-shirt is pink and the circle part where the T-rexaur's getting kicked in the head is black."

Luki was convinced her twin would be back, and it was just a matter of time. She was learning stuff that Noki didn't. Luki planned on gloating for a minute before helping her sister get caught up with lessons - especially the fun ones.

"My toys!" With that, she pulled out a very large knife with one hand, and several more normal sized knives with the other hand. "See?"

"I'll definitely be doing that! You have a knack for designs." Blue would definitely suit the Villager Boy.

Grell gasped in amazement at the large knife and its other sibilings. "Oh, what a darling thing that is! I'm impressed, Luki!"

Ah, youth and their toys!

"Thank you!" said Luki cheerfully. "Me and Noki used to draw when we had to stay Underground. Mama and Miss Fuu didn't like us to run around without adult supervision even though we're the Invincible Luki Noki twins. But sometimes we'd go and catch bad guys for the police since they weren't as good at tag and hide and go seek as us. Then the police would give us money and we'd go eat pasghetti!"

She was chattering on a mile a minute, although her words were still articulate enough. She occasionally made grammatical errors and said things incorrectly, but she'd been taught to do her best to pronounce words clearly - even when she was babbling on at a rapid-fire pace.

"Noki's gun was pretty cool, too! So that's why I wanna have a gunblade."

It was a bit hard to keep up with the speed at which Luki was talking, but Grell was doing his best to listen. He snickered at how cute her use of 'pasghetti'.

"Youth these days are sure resourceful! I bet the police wished you two were a bit older so they can get the best detectives." Grell looked to the knives and nodded, turning the blades as he examined them. "It certainly looks like you two are capable."

Grell looks to Luki with a grin. "If you're so set on that gunblade, we better get going and pick one out! We can't let anyone outclass you!"

"Well, I don't know if Mama would have let us work for the police," said Luki thoughtfully. "Mama was a...sci-en-tist. We were supposed to be good and stay in the Underground except when Miss Fuu went with us and told us what to do, but sometimes we'd sneak out and have adventures anyway."

She put her knives back in the backpack once Grell was done examining them. Even if Luki wasn't following the rules strictly, she was trying to follow them somewhat simply because she liked going to school at the Garden.

"Can I see your scythe sometime, Miss Red? I bet it's cool!"

She nodded in response to the suggestion to leave right away and get the gunblade. She was eager to have one of her very own, and she trusted Miss Red's tastes...mostly. Black and pink were still her favorite colours and that was unlikely to change anytime soon.

"Yeah, let's go!"

Luki was a good little girl, somewhat. Those big knives said otherwise, but Grell wasn't one to judge.

"Oh, you want to see my toy~?" Grell grinned and held out his hand, palm up, and made his scythe appear. He didn't care much for the rules, and besides, it would go right back to where it went anyway. "Isn't it precious? It looks far better dipped in crimson."

"That's super awesome cool!" declared Luki with a little squeal. It looked like a pretty fun weapon, and it suited Grell quite well.

The comment about crimson made her head tilt a little. "Eh? Like crimson paint? Or blood?"

Either way, it wasn't like it bothered Luki. But she wasn't sure whether Grell was talking about some good old fashioned ultra-violence or if it was simply that preference for the color red coming into play again.

The weapon disappeared a moment later, its owner quite proud of it and loving the compliments.

"Blood. I wouldn't stoop so low and use paint!" The life liquid could never really do his beloved scythe justice. "I bet with a gunblade, nothing would be its original color again~." Maybe he should get one too! The only thing stopping him was how unconventional they looked.

The walk to the weapons shop didn't take very long. It was probably a good thing that the shopkeep hadn't overheard the earlier conversation between Grell and Luki, because when he found out that it was Luki who was going to be purchasing the gunblade, he was noticably uncomfortable with the idea. Or perhaps it was the fact that it was obvious that neither customer was originally from that world.

"Now see here," he said. "These can be dangerous. They're not meant for children. You should get a wooden practice replica if you're that set on learning how to use one."

"But I like dangerous things," said Luki. She gestured to her t-shirt. "See? I'm gonna be the best Seed ever."

Unable to determine whether Grell was male or female, the gruff, elderly shopkeep simply asked "Are you this child's legal guardian?"

The store was full of lovelies, which Grell imeediately went all around to swoon and 'ooooh' and 'aaah' over. "Oh, this is just darling!" And there he goes, playing around with a meteor hammer.

There was a crash when his concentration was broken by the man asking him a question, the ball of the meteor hammer colliding into a display of blades. "You're kidding, right?" Grell sighed dramatically, tossing the weapon away and walking over to this man who happened to be denying Luki a weapon.

"First, we are off-worlders, so why in Hades would anyone have a guardian? Second, this girl needs a gunblade for class!" It seemed as if the more Grell talked, the higher his voice got, and the angrier he was. "Third, she's handled far worse weapons than you probably have!"

His hands were balled into fists by the time Grell finished. Oh, he hoped the argument continued!

The gruff elderly man's expression remained calm in spite of Grell's rage. He looked as non-plussed as he would have if Grell had stuck a wad of chewing gum on his counter - displeased but in no panic.

"Well, your first point's valid, I s'pose," he said thoughtfully. "But they don't let kids take the SeeD exam until at least age fifteen, and guessing that the little lady's even twelve years old is pretty generous. There's no need to specialize in weapons just yet."

He looked wryly amused at Grell's third point. "As to your third argument...I've made each and every one of these, and I can handle each and every one of them just fine."

Luki looked back and forth between Grell and the shopkeep. "So...I can't have a gunblade?" Tears began to well up in the ten year old's mismatched eyes. "Waaaaaaah! Old meanie! I brought money and everything!"

The grizzled old shopkeep was left drumming his fingers awkwardly on the counter.

"Now, now, don't cry, young lady..."

"B-but you said I can't have a gunblade!" sobbed Luki.

"I didn't say that," said the man uneasily. "I just don't think it's a very good idea for children to be handling such dangerous weaponry..."

"It doesn't matter if she's not of age! If she can take the class, then it means you'd better provide her with what she needs for class." Grell closed the space between them with a creepy smile, licking his sharp teeth as if he was debating on whether or not he was going to eat the shop keeper. "You wouldn't be denying her an education, would you?"

He ignored the crying Luki for now. If they teamed up against the shopkeeper without getting physical, then it would be interesting.

Otherwise they would need to stab him and take the gunblades.

Instinctively, the shopkeep stepped back and eyed some of his weapons before steeling himself.

"Well, I guess if they've decided Garden's the best for all the off worlders," he said with a sigh. At this point, he just wanted these two very odd customers gone from his store, and the best way to do that was to sell them what they wanted.

At last, he motioned to the models of gunblades he had in stock, motioning to three of them first. "These three are the best for a beginner. This one's 150 gil, and so is this one. This one here's 200 gil, but it has a custom matching sheath as opposed to the base one I include with all of them."

He pointed to some of the others. "I don't recommend these for someone who hasn't had at least a year of experience handling a gunblade. They start at 400 gil and up, and although the performance is higher, they're a lot trickier to get the hang of using if you're not used to handling a gunblade already."

Luki instantly dried her tears and listened raptly. Although she was prepared for any challenges that might come her way, she supposed that someone who had made all of these weapons probably had some idea of what he was talking about.

She looked over the beginner gunblades thoughtfully. Their design and general shape varied a little, though not drastically.

"Which one do you think would look nicest decorated with ribbons, Miss Red?" she inquired.

That's better. Grell gave a triumphant grin and followed the man around the shop, taking in the different blades. He couldn't tell which were different than the others, but accessorizing was key! As long as the blade could make crimson fountains, it was all good to him.

"I say, the one with the custom sheath. You can match it to your ribbon colors~." Oh yes, Luki knew how to prioritize!

"You're right, Miss Red," said Luki thoughtfully. "That would be really pretty."

"I can have the custom sheath made up in a couple of days," said the shopkeep, silently relieved that this had seemed to pacify his two very odd customers. He supposed there was no point in worrying about responsibility - whatever the Balamb Garden cadets got up to fell squarely on the shoulders of Headmaster Cid Kramer rather than himself anyhow.

"Make it black with a little bit of pink," Luki instructed. Aside from the Garden cadet uniform, Luki didn't really deviate from the color scheme. She varied her clothing styles more than she varied her choice in colors. They were part of her identity, after all. "Then everyone will know it's mine."

"All right then," said the shopkeep, writing up an invoice. "That'll be 200 gil."

Dutifully, Luki dug into her small bunny-shaped purse and counted out the gil to the man proudly. "So, I can come get it in two days?"

"That you can," he said with a nod. "Is there anything else I can help the two of you with today?"

"Of course I'm right, little girl~." Colors were important in battle. They could throw off your enemy or inspire a glorious battle. "Yes, this blade needs to make a statement." There was a dark chuckle from Grell as he watched Luki pay for her sword.

Green eyes looked over to the damage he had created earlier and shrugged. "I think we're just fine." As long as they didn't have to pay for the damages...speaking of which!

"Come, sweetie! We should really get going~!" He tried to usher the girl out of the store as quickly as possible, grinning brightly to the shopkeeper. "Thank you~!"

"Okay Miss Red~!" said Luki, skipping along. She turned and waved enthusiastically. "Bye bye, Mr. Weapons Shop Guy! I hope my gunblade sheath is really pretty when you're done with it!"

The shopkeep watched them cautiously as they left. It was only after they were out of sight that he noticed the damage. There was an indistinct shout coming from the shop a minute later.

"I think we'd better walk a liiiiiiittle bit faster!" Grell grinned to Luki, hearing that shout behind them. "Race you!"

"Okay!" Luki strapped on her backpack properly so that she could run well, and got into a sprinter's stance. "On your mark...get set...1 2 3 GO!"

She was quite fast for one so small - fast enough to keep up with a very athletic adult. Grell would have to put in some effort in order to win the race, though it wasn't as though there were any stakes on it, or that the race was for any other reason than getting far away from the shopkeeper.

Luki ran back to Balamb Garden, focused on her goal. She would never be an academically oriented child, but she was athletic and comepetitive about it as well.

Grell wasn't even prepared to run like that! His jaw dropped, seeing as she was halfway down the block and he was...still where she left. Oh boy.

"H-Hey!" Grell ran after her, using his own ability to stay just a few feet behind her. Well, this was a very interesting little girl! This wouldn't be their last adventure, that's for sure.

Luki glanced back as she ran, having a lot of fun. She was delighted to see that Grell was managing to keep up.

"You're pretty good at this, Miss Red!" she exclaimed happily. "Most grownups can't keep up with the Invincible Luki Noki twins~!"

Then again, Grell could summon a chainsaw. That, in and of itself, was awesome in Luki's books. Luki tended to respect battle prowess...and cooking talent. Although there were a number of non-combative talents Luki was indifferent to, she respected people who could make delicious food.

"I can certainly see why! Yet most grownups you know are human, perhaps?" Grell grinned. Really, he could have just teleported back to the Garden, but this was kinda fun to do.

Don't look to Grell for cooking. He burns water.

The Garden was not too far away, so Grell slowed his pace to a simple jog before walking the rest of the way to the entrance. He didn't mind losing since there wasn't anything at stake.

"Yeah," said Luki with a nod, still running at full tilt until she reached the Garden entrance. "GOAL! I win! Yay!"

She waited until Grell jogged and then later walked up to the entrance.

"I'm mostly human," she said after some thought. "Mama made Noki and me stronger than human. And same with Big Bro Haine and Big Bro Gio. But Luki and Noki are Mama's favorites. Big Bro Gio follows the rules and is all responsible and stuff and he still gets lectures just like us~"

"Congratulations, then~." Luki looked quite happy to win. Lets not crush that.

So, Luki and her siblings were made? Sounded like something you would read only in books. It would explain a few things though. It mattered not though. Not without more information.

"Your family sounds...unique. No family reunions?" If there were different weapons involved, Grell may need to pay a visit, for curiosity's sake.

Edited 2010-08-30 01:55 (UTC)

"Well...me and Noki got to find Big Brother Haine and play with him and Big Sis once," said Luki cheerfully. "And Big Brother Gio lives in the Underground, too. Miss Fuu takes care of us more than Mama because Mama's busy."

Luki didn't really know how to explain her 'family' very well. Noki was the only one who was a blood relative, but that didn't really matter to Luki anyhow. Family was more than DNA or any other letters of the alphabet.

Grell...understood little of that family tree. Yes, Luki wasn't doing a good job at explaining. More or less because family was few and far between for his kind.

Time to change the subject!

"Well now!" Grell clapped his hands once with a grin. "There is a long length of time before your wonderful little gunblade is ready. I bet you're excited to get it going!" He giggled, imagining Luki and that weapon creating such a stir! "Now, will you need company to go get it?"

That shopkeeper must want to see them again. Together.

"Would you mind coming with me again, Miss Red?" Luki asked. She didn't think it was a problem, but it was polite to at least check first. Miss Red might have plans, after all!

"Mr. Weapons Shop Guy listened to you and you didn't even have to punch him in the face first~"

"Punching is so barbaric!" And sawing people to bits was not! "I'd love to come with you and visit our dear friend again. I bet he's all a shiver when he thinks of our arrival~!"

"Let's bring him cookies!" suggested Luki. "Maybe he'll be happier to see us next time we visit him after that if we bring him a treat."

The cafeteria made enough cookies for everyone, but not everyone took advantage of that. Luki took advantage of the extra cookies to help herself so that she always had a snack stash on hand.

Bringing a gift to appease the surly shop keeper seemed like a good idea. It would make them seem as if they were actually good people who meant no harm.

Good. That would be a nice cover.

"I think that's a lovely idea! As long as we don't have to bake them..." Grell was sure he would make a disaster of them.

"I'll bring them from the cafeteria," said Luki. "Nice and fresh ones. He didn't look like someone who gets to eat cookies all the time. I think he'd be happier if he did."

She hoped that the shopkeeper would be friendlier next time (she was already certain she'd pick up more things from the weapons shop) if they bribed him with cookies first. It made sense to her. She'd automatically like a person a little bit more if they were always feeding her cookies and other tasty things.

Grell was relieve to hear that there would be no cooking involved. "He did look quite surly."

He thought the shopkeeper needed more than cookies, though.

"Then it's settled. We'll bring a treat for the grumpy shopkeeper, and get your gunblade!" Hopefully with less damage to the shop.

"Let's meet the same time in two days, then," Luki said brightly. She eagerly anticipated the trip, but there would be plenty to do until then. Including classes, unfortunately. At least there were other things she could do as well.

Grell gave a nod at the plan, knowing even with classes, he's still find time to go. "Best before this ship thing floats away."

Not like he couldn't get back even if it did.

"I'll see you then, little Luki!" Really, they should have more adventures together!

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Three cheers for sharp pointy things

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I love her questions! XD

XD Kid logic is fun sometimes

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