Master and Mother

Although he had spent years trying to deny it, Guy could no longer overlook that fact that he was, in fact, a pushover. And the blue ball of fluffy cuteness that was hanging from his bag, drawing the attentive stares of every female within the city, only proved it.

When Luke had shown up early that morning at his door, the still sleeping cheagle nestled against his chest, to ask him if he could take the creature for the day, he had tried to say no. Although he bore no ill will towards Mieu, and would even agree at the drop of a hat that the child monster was the cutest thing he had ever seen, under no circumstances did Guy wish to be responsible for the living chick magnet. And the fact that women seemed to flock to Mieu, and thus his owner, aside, Guy could understand Luke's obvious desire for the monster to stop talking, for after a while, the cheagle's voice did get beyond annoying in pitch and volume. He liked Mieu well enough, but that did not mean he wanted to play babysitter for the day.

Unfortunately for Guy, it had only taken one glance at the blush that had spread across his friends face as his eyes darted over towards a certain melodists' room and a mumbled explanation of 'important business while they were in Grand Chokmah,' and he had crumbled.

"Calm down, Mieu," Guy said once again as he stopped the cheagle from falling head first out of his bag, his voice a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep this up."

"Mieuuuuu. Sorry Guy, I just can't help it. I'm so excited at finally getting to see Grand Chokmah," Mieu replied excitedly as he once more popped his head out of the bag, his eyes wide as he gazed upon the water-based city. "Last time we were here, Master made me stay at the hotel so I wouldn't be in the way while you guys went to talk to the Emperor. But just look at all that water," Mieu exclaimed once more, ending with the same phrase that had been his catch phrase since they had left their rooms that morning.

"There's a lot of it," Guy agreed distractedly as he finally found the store he had been looking for, his mind swirling with the list of things their rag tag group of misfits needed for the next portion of their journey. It had been quite a while since they had had enough time for shopping, considering most of their recent visits to towns and cities had ended with them being chased out by someone they had yet again managed to offend, and he was hoping that their plans to stay for the next few days would give him more than enough time to stock up.

"Hey, Guy?" That is, if he did not go insane first.

"Yes, Mieu," Guy replied with a sigh as he bent to expect the sword that sat in its case, his mind mostly focused on the price of the weapon against the meager amount of funds they had left. "What is it?"

"There's a lady staring at me again."

Pulling himself from the mental calculations, Guy carefully turned so that the cheagle was hidden from sight while at the same time putting on a gracious half smile, one that he knew would charm the woman in question. Watching as a slight blush stole over her cheeks, Guy could not help the little laugh that fell from his lips, though thankfully she did not seem to find his amusement in her embarrassment angering. Motioning towards the sword he had just been admiring, it was with a flick of her wrist that a key dangled from between her fingers, her own smiling widening as she leaned towards him.

"Would you like to take a closer look?"

"Yes, please, if you don't mind," Guy said eagerly, carefully shifting out of her way as she came to open the case for him, making sure to keep a respectable distance between them. "I've been looking for a stronger sword, but I'm not quite sure which one I should get."

"Well," the storekeeper said with a slight shrug as she drew the sword from its casing, "if this doesn't suit you, I'm sure we can find something that will." Suddenly turning all business, the woman held out the sword grip first to him, her fingers pointing out the different details as she spoke. "If you look at the carvings on the grip..."