let's get some shoes

[guerrilla]

Who: Robin Hood & Hakuno Kishinami
Where: Various shops in Shehui
When: 2/18ish, between receiving Brie and Genette's shopping lists and leaving Shehui
Open/Closed: Closed.

[Robin's list looks a lot longer than the items that Brie and Genette suggested everyone pick up. Naturally, everything they talked about is there, but...]

All right, see if you can find some rope. Get as much as they'll let you get away with. Chains will work in a pinch, but rope's easier to manage, and if I pull it too tight it's less of a big deal.

[He's talking about building traps, but he's probably not helping the vaguely concerned-looking bystander who happened to be in the same aisle by turning to Hakuno and asking:]

You ever been tied up before?

Comments

[sealeted]

No, just paralyzed, or trapped in a place where I had to crawl to move. Ah, and there was a pain-based barrier once, too.

[Sorry, concerned citizen.

Hakuno checks her own list.]

While I'm doing that, see if you can find anything to keep the girls occupied; little brain twister toys, or something musical. Or materials to make either, if you think we'll have the time.

[guerrilla]

It's almost kind of touching that you think I can make things like that. I guess I can get some stuff if you want to try, though.

[Technically, it's not like he needs any of this stuff back on the hub, since he'll have access to Sabotage again, but being caught off-guard with no materials here wasn't great. He may as well plan ahead for the possibility of low-frequency worlds in the future.]

Let's just try to avoid stuff that runs on batteries, since we don't know if we'll be able to get them from here on.

[sealeted]

Can't you just make a tiny, ineffective trap? I know you're good with your hands.

[Hakuno please, think of the poor bystander...]

Do you think we should we look at nonperishable foods, too? Get a little emergency survival bag put together?

[guerrilla]

Uh, no, I think we should get four emergency survival bags put together at the very least.

[Between him, Hakuno, and the two Palai kids, that's four people, after all.]

And when we get back, I'm teaching you some simple knots. If you want tiny traps so bad, you can make them as practice.

[He really doesn't like the idea of teaching someone else how to do this, but he's thought it through enough to decide that it merits entertaining.]

[sealeted]

If it's knots, then we should save the rope and just use string. We could probably grab a few spools for cheap. A few of the Palai taught me how to make friendship-bracelet sort of things, a while ago. We could teach them that, to pass the time.

[She rubs her chin thoughtfully.]

...sewing kits and some extra socks, we should get those too.

[guerrilla]

We'll see if we have enough. Who knows, maybe some string will turn up when we least expect it.

[He's actually considering stealing string, this is pathetic.]

...I know this list is all stuff we need, but if you see something you want before we go, you should get that too.

[The kids aren't the only ones who deserve to have a hobby, after all.]

[sealeted]

I'm pretty easy to please. There's never a dull moment with you and the girls around, you know?

[She reaches past him, and hefts up a coil of rope.]

...I have no idea how to assess quality for this sort of thing.

[guerrilla]

I dunno, "easy to please" always just sounds like a fancy way of saying you don't have standards.

[Before he can sass her any more than that, Hakuno holds up the rope, ans Robin peers at it, frowning.]

I'd go with something thicker, but hold onto this one in case we can't find anything better. We never know when we'll need hammocks or something.

[And there's nothing worse than a hammock that falls because the rope isn't strong enough to keep it up.]

[sealeted]

I'm still working on those. ...How much thicker?

[She curls her forefinger against her thumb in a circle.]

This big? Bigger?

[guerrilla]

Working on...your standards?

[That's probably fair, given her circumstances, actually.

Robin takes her hand and adjusts her fingers until the circle is about the size of a quarter.]

I wouldn't go much bigger than this, personally. If it's so thick you can't tie it, that creates its own set of problems.

[sealeted]

Try thinking about just how long I've been alive, and able to pursue my own choices and hobbies.

[She stares at the little circle studiously for a moment, before giving him a short nod.]

Got it.

[guerrilla]

I have a few things I could try to teach you, if you're looking for hobbies. Not that most of the things I'm good at are things you should do for fun, but I'm a decent cook, at least.

[And he can patch up holes in clothing.]

[sealeted]

Besides rope work?

[What... did they do back in Ye Olden Times...?]

..............like, whittling, or bird-calls?

[guerrilla]

Do you really think I spend my free time whistling at trees like an idiot?! Even if I did, it's not like my stupid bird's gonna whistle back!

[On account of it being gone, and all.]

That's it, we're buying a pack of playing cards. I learned a lot of games at Chaldea and I'm gonna destroy you in all of them.

[What he isn't mentioning is that he actually usually loses.]

[sealeted]

You're a bird now though. If I learned, you could whistle back for me.

[She rubs her chin.]

Speaking of gambling, you like your drink, right? Should we try and get some of that for the road, if we can?

[guerrilla]

That's not really bird calling, is it? That's just signaling to each other.

[And it's a good idea, actually.]

...We'll see what we have left after we get everything we need, but worry about yourself and the kids first, okay?

[sealeted]

...are there squirrel calls?

[Inquiring minds!]

Will do.

[He knows better. He's going to find a pack of cigarettes tucked in his hood later, just you wait.]

[guerrilla]

I don't think so. All I ever saw them do was put too much food in their mouths and forget where they buried their acorns. Dumbasses.

[No offense, Hakuno.]

But you should be the squirrel expert, not me.

[sealeted]

You think I'm anything like a normal squirrel?

[guerrilla]

[The fact of the matter is that Hakuno is rather squirrel-like in various ways. But he just called the entire species dumbasses, so "yes" seems like a bad answer to give here.]

...Well, squirrels are cute.

[Nailed it?????????????]

[sealeted]

...wait, are you saying I’m cute, or...?

[His verbal gymnastics are hard to follow sometimes.]

[guerrilla]

[Just the way he likes them.]

Well, you're a squirrel.

[That's not really an answer either.]

[sealeted]

...huh.

[It's closer to one than he usually gives.]

Well, when they're not being jerks, birds are pretty cute too.

[guerrilla]

Not the word I'd use, but I'll take the compliment.

[He's not cute...he's handsome.]

We should do food next, I think...it's gonna be where most of our money goes. Before you ask, the amount of salt is right.

[It's a frankly absurd amount of salt, but that's how preserving meat was done.]

[sealeted]

[He's tiny and blue.

...as a bird.]

For preservation, right? Will we be able to carry it, or are we doing the preserving before we leave?

[guerrilla]

I'd like to get it done before we need to leave, but...anything we don't get to we can smoke.

[Maybe there will be something better back at the hub, but thinking on the huts they left behind before coming to Shehui...he doubts it.]

You're okay with dried meat, right? We can save some fresh stuff to make stew, but it would have to be right away.

[sealeted]

I once had to eat an entire feast prepared by Lancer. It damaged my avatar and soul.

[She gives a faint shudder at the memory.]

I can handle dried meat just fine. The girls, though...

[guerrilla]

...Honestly, even if they don't like it, the only other option is to just eat bread all the time unless we find big refrigerators in the huts.

[sealeted]

...I mean.

[She coughs.]

That's all I used to eat. On the Near Side, anyways.

[guerrilla]

You didn't have a real body in the Moon Cell, let alone a growing one.

[What if they get scurvy from just eating bread?? Can Palai get scurvy?]

[sealeted]

....do you think the two of us would cut down on how fast we go through food if we stay in our smaller forms?

[Ah, but—]

I don't like not being able to pick up the kids and bolt if the need arises, though.

[guerrilla]

Once we're back at home base, I won't need to eat.

[Don't get him wrong. He likes eating, and it does provide him with small amounts of mana, but he's a Servant.]

So don't worry about it.

[sealeted]

...I wonder, what makes me so different from a Servant? Do I... actually need to eat?

[She's a simulacrum made by the Moon Cell; nigh indistinguishable from the real thing, but she has to wonder...]

[guerrilla]

Uh, let's maybe not test whatever stupid idea just popped into your head. If you die, I die, remember?

[Please don't orphan two children on a whim.]

[sealeted]

I'm not going to!

[She puffs her cheeks out, sullen.]

But, it would be good to know before anything happened. I took... a lot of punishment, back in the Moon Cell. If I can't do that outside of it, then that's important to know. Obviously I don't want to be put in any situation like that again.