trans_9 | The Awesomeporium is Open for Business! [Open]

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The Awesomeporium is Open for Business! [Open]

Lash couldn't complain about her life on the ship. In fact, if asked, she might have regarded it as 'pretty good'. In the time she had been there, she had become a Power Ranger (in the brightest of yellow colors), become friends with a rather colorful cast (not that she'd admit it out loud) and even really, really liked a guy (not that she'd admit that out loud either).

During the attack on Galilee, Lash and Zetta had used the distraction to go around and steal--er prolong borrowed some of the items in the nearby shopping mall. It was only fair, considering what they had been put through! Not that neither really cared about morals anyway.

After taking their share, they found themselves with a rather large amount of items and strange knicknacks that might interest the rest of of the ship's fine citizens. Maybe not enough clothing to dress everyone up or to give them a pair of fitting shoes, but she was sure someone could appreciate a new shirt or two, or use them for rags or other creative uses they could find. Therefore their next part of the plan came into motion; if they built it, the others would come.

One of the city's many abandon buildings had been getting fixed and patched up the last few days since their arrival, an old store getting a second lease on life. Only, you know, this one involved demons and afro girls and stolen merchandise. But it was okay! This wasn't going to be a purchasing store, but a bartering one. In between their talks, meets and crashing a prom in the best of ways, they'd managed to get a very crude and badly painted "THE AWESOMEMPORIUM" in dripping red paint over the building front. One of the windows also had the rules, also painted with the same brushstrokes;

1) Find stuff you like
2) Exchange it to us for stuff and service you have
3) We have the right to refuse any deals
4) No Zedds allowed

Truthfully, both Wunderkind and Overlord had very little use of extra materials they might get in return, being people of simple needs. However, just giving items away would label them as being too nice. Turning stolen goods into a store and hiding behind a bartering system? Now that was much more devious. Besides, maybe they'd end up with some pretty cool items and tools in exchange, or having half of the ship owe them favors. Both were prospects interesting enough to follow.

Inside, the store was brightly lit thanks to Lash's repairing skills and Zetta's Merchant Minions (which Lash fondly liked to call Sonja Jr's) walked around the shop, tending to to the shelves and making sure everything looked presentable. Everything was in sections, with the same red paint just put on the shelves (lacking proper materials for labeling) so people would know what they were exchanging for.

Most of the time, Dog, Lash's alien green caterpillar dog was in the store, being lazy behind the counter. Dog was looking abnormally fat lately, barely moving around. The counter sometimes had Lash standing there working on fixing an item, a book lazying around, sometimes the both of them, or sometimes just a merchant minion standing there when neither of them where available. Rest assured, they'd find out what you traded when they were gone.

And just to make sure it could easily be found, one of Galilee's fabulous floating fountains now stood in front, hovering for no real reason that it was built that way. Sometimes you could find Lash was riding in it on a good day or early in the morning.

[[OOC info - this is the list of things that Lash and Zetta have available (one item is slightly unsafe for work). The list will be constantly updated depending on what your characters want and what they exchange for it. Sometimes the bartered stuff might end up on the list if neither of them have use for it.]]

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The book glared at Hit Girl almost as a matter of reflex. "Your price is you keep your mouth shut that you and Ruffnut get first crack at whatever you want. The LAST thing we need is someone complaining about favoritism and all that crap."

"Damn, do you ever get tired of not smiling?" Hit Girl asked, grinning. "But thanks. Yeah, I'm..." she's squinted at the list, "Ten meal packets, ten food cubes, a toothbrush, a Kama Sutra kit to laugh at with Ruffnut, a camera, three pair of underwear, two pair of boxers, a hunting rifle, a scroll of a dragon for Ruff, two pair of torn jeans, two goth shirts, one dumb clone, two (shut up) skirts...oh, and some menstrual pads for Ruff."

She paused. "That ok?"

Sure, Hit Girl. To 'laugh at'. Zetta will just be over here pretending he believed that.

"Yeah, grab away. Like I said, you guys get priority."

Oh, she will laugh at it Zetta, long and hard. Then she will use the knowledge on other people just to make them feel uncomfortable.

"Thanks Overlord," Hit gird said. "So...you and Lash. Interesting...and slighty creepy."

Yeah, her and Ruff, long and hard, those all go together...

"Wait, you're just now figuring that out? Sheesh, that happened way back when I was teenaged. What the hell's so creepy about it?"

The Overlord should be lucky Hit girl has no idea what he's thinking.

"Oh shut up, its not like Lash advertises it! And her dating isn't creepy, but you? I mean, are me and Ruff supposed to be all cautious around you guys so we don't interrupt personal private time or whatever? Because the prom thing was all types of special."

"...That was a goddamn sexy outfit," he said. "I dare anyone to defy that. It caught me off guard. Next time we reveal outfits in advance so that doesn't happen again!"

"You don't lose focus because of outfits when we have a job to do!" Hit Girl insisted. "Who cares how hot she was? We are supposed to be fearsome and raiding the party! A good Overlord wouldn't be phased by something like wardrobe!"

That last part was deliberate ribbing, but she was young: hormones to her are something to take advantage of from the enemy, not HER side.

Zetta blinked.

"...you're taking that whole thing way too seriously. It was fun!"

Hit girl just gave him a look.

"Have you ever noticed that your leering at some chick is never fun for me? I don't even know what that feels like, let alone how I'm supposed to act around it. I hate to remind you, but sometimes? Still totally a kid."

"One of the great things about being an Overlord is getting to do whatever you want," Zetta said. "I think Lash is hot and I'm going to damn well appreciate that... especially since not doing so would be pretty weird and might make her think she's not, when she is. You wanna know how to act, well, try being happy that your Overlord and master has found someone who's really freaking fun to hang out with. It may have some times you think are weird, but it leads to better training for you. There are upsides."

So yeah, 'please try to respect that I'm very happy' just wasn't a sentence Zetta could even form in the darkest depths of his mind, let alone speak. And on the other hand, he hadn't even dismissed Hit Girl out of hand, which he had every right to do...

"Dude, I'm just trying to get the whole thing where you were spellbound for several seconds in our big to do. I get you like Lash, hell, I'd be in love with the girl on pure awesomeness if I swang the way. But I don't swing...any way for all I know. All I have is what we do, what we achieve. It's what I'm good at. So if you have this thing with Lash, fine, good for you. Just get I don't...I dunno, I just feel weird for some reason, ok?"

She really didn't know. She thought she was teasing Zetta, but now she felt something she didn't really understand herself. What the hell was her problem?

"...Look." Zetta exhaled. How the hell was he supposed to properly parent a kid?! Because even Zetta could see that was what this situation called for. "That whole prom-crashing was fun. Anyone there who knows us at all knows we weren't there to ruin things. We weren't scaring or intimidating anyone. There wasn't any need to be on our best game. If that was a fight, if there was something serious at stake, that wouldn't have happened."

He considered that for a moment, then amended, "Okay, maybe it would have, but that's because I'm the freaking Overlord! I'm strong enough that I don't have to be at my best and most brutal every second. I worked hard to be able to do what I want, when I want to!

"You," he continued, looking seriously at Hit Girl, "don't have that self-confidence yet. You're still trying to prove yourself. So it's not in you to just let your guard down even when we're just all screwing around."

That WAS what it came down to, wasn't it? She did have to be at her game every step of the way: hell, it was how she was trained, wasn't it? She remembered hesitating once, and if dad hadn't been snipering, she would have been done. And the last time she let her guard down? Well, that had led to some pretty shitty events, hadn't it? She got shot, dad was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, then set on fire. No wonder she was thinking like that.

"It was fun," she said, trying REAL hard not to think of that night, that horrible fucking night, "and hell, we had a good time. I'm just...I never do that stuff, that letting my guard down, I guess? Or maybe you and Lash dating was just really unexpected? I dunno. Maybe I should be out of my costume more or something."

She shrugged. "I'll get used to it. So I'm guessing you two had a pretty good time then, like, later on."

Sometimes, entirely by accident, Zetta could stumble on an insight or too. "You need more self-confidence," he said. "And I'm not exactly pushing Lash into anything in a hurry!"

"If you want self confidence, you go to Ruffnut," Hit Girl said. "Not that I don't think can get shit done, but I'm also the one has to plan, that has to seize the right moment. You have to be quick, precise, and know the best way to devastate shit. That's what I do. But trust me, Overlord: I am not letting myself sleep in that department."

No, she had plenty of plans in motion to make herself stronger, to get the passion she saw so clearly in her partner.

She grinned. "Good. Anyway, you guys are a pretty good match once you over the whole book thing. You're both kinda nuts, so that's helpful."

"Whoa, hey. You're not getting it," he said. "You don't need some way to get better so you have self-confidence. You need self-confidence now about all the crap you CAN do."

"Wait, you think that I need to be conceited MORE than I already am?" Hit girl said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty amazing, but I'm trying to improve, get stronger so I can kick ass and take names without an effort. And you think I'm just lacking confidence?"

The thought had honestly never occurred to her.

"Duh. You spend all the time trying to prove yourself!" Zetta said. "How many times have you told me, 'Oh, Ruffnut's your favorite,' as if I was supposed to be wasting my time on you for no reason in my own head. Or showing off how badass you can be for other people 'cuz you're sure they're gonna look down on you for being a kid. And you're always trying to get stronger, you're barely ever relaxing, because you think you're not strong enough.

"You spend all this time trying to get the respect and approval of other people because you don't have any for yourself."

Hit girl sighed. He had a point, but she had her own reasons too. "Look. Since we've trained, I've heard lots of praise for Ruffnut, and barely none for me. Now I don't need you to moon over my ass, God knows I usually do well on my own. It just helps to know I'm headed in the right direction. And as for that, yeah, there's a reason I stay in the suit and not in my civvies. I want to be strong that I worry less about that: by then, it won't matter how young I am, I'll be the fucking strongest."

She crossed her arms. "The more focused I am, the more I improve, the better I'll get, the more confidence I'll have. Oh, and it also helps to have something to actually fight too. It's kinda why I'm on the ship."

It would also help if people would stop bitching at her about killing.

"I'm not mooning over your ass. Frankly, it has a few years before it's gonna be worth it," Zetta said, completely misunderstanding that comment. "When it comes to Ruffnut, I understand her better. She's more like me than you are. But if I had to pick just one of you to put in charge of an army, it'd be you and you know it."

The book cracked a smug smile, then. "You can't be the strongest. That spot's mine and it's never not gonna be. But frankly, I think it'd help for you to have a real goal."

Hit was about to burst forth with an angry retort at the perversion, but laughed in spite of herself. Maybe it was her, but she was actually getting used to those kinds of replies. "Look at it this way: the praise from you helps, because no one is going to be harder on me than me, since the guy that trained me can't do it anymore."

The praise did help though. "We'll see about that. I'm not doing this training for my health...well, I am, but not alone. I also wants to be one fucking kick ass Overlord, one that gets strong enough to challenge you when I know I'm at that point."

She gave him a smug look. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I don't know I'm kinda awesome. But I have a long way to go before I meet my own expectations."

"Then set that as your goal. You'll feel better about crap if you've got an achievable goal, not just 'be the strongest'." Sure, that had been HIS goal, but for demons that sort of thing was objectively measurable in mana power.

Also, how cute that she thought she could EVER stand against him. Well, good on her for having ambition!

"I figured getting strong WAS a goal: do you know how many fucking disciplines are out there? Like, the moment you think you know something, somebody's going and showing you some other amazing shit that shouldn't be possible. So I'm gonna get as strong as I have to, believe me."

Fine Zetta, assume she would never try to reach your position! It would be your own fault if you lost!

"Not really. It's more of a journey. You can't set it as a goal just because of what you said. Every time you reach a new level, you just end up thinking about all the people who are stronger than you, instead of how much stronger you became. So it's like you never achieve the goal, so you're never happy. Stick to an achievable goal."

Not that he was sure HOW she could become an Overlord out here in the middle of someplace that was more nowhere than nowhere, but someday, right?

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