A Thank You Gift
Smultronstället
Though Toto was grateful that Shishi was taking him along by himself, he still couldn’t help but be sore that he hadn’t even been complimented by the other. He knew the guy’s pride was a little bruised from being ambushed, but surely it’d be nice to give praise to the one who saved your ? Toto let a sigh leave him as he walked a couple of steps behind Shishi, his gaze forward with a little reluctance. He didn’t really want Shishi to know he was disappointed - he wasn’t thinking that it would make Shishi feel guilty and compliment him, but if it did, he would be even more upset.
He wanted the compliment to come from Shishi of his own free will - not because of guilt. He cast a glance back towards the direction of the guild, almost wanting to bow out of going with Shishi, but then the other would definitely know something was up. “What all do we need to get?” He questioned, trying to sound like his usual upbeat self.
The swordsman hummed thoughtfully. “Mostly more healing potions to replace the ones we had to use due to Joko being incapacitated but there are a few other things we need to check out too...” He responded, his words a little vague but that was nothing new coming from red clothed avatar.
They continued their journey to the shopping district, silence enveloping the two. It wasn’t uncomfortable per se but it still far from being anything remotely comfortable. Shishi wasn’t stupid, he knew that Toto was hurt because he hadn’t given any sort of acknowledgment to what the younger had done at the cave. It wasn’t even a matter of his semi-broken pride that kept him from saying anything either; it was the fact that he was very impressed by Toto’s actions and he didn’t know how to properly express it without sounding like a blubbering fool. He was a man of actions, not words dammit.
“In here first.” Shishi suddenly announced, dragging the thoughtful avatar into the nearest shop before he could look at the sign. Once inside, the swordsman expertly navigated them through the shop and to the very back before finally stopping in front of a display case. There, shining and shimmering from the artificial lights overhead, were pairs upon pairs of gauntlets just waiting to be bought and worn in battle.
“Pick something.” Shishi stated simply, hoping that Toto didn’t take this as his way of getting him to shut up about new gauntlets and took this for what it was instead - his gratitude for saving his back in the cave.
Toto was surprised when he was tugged out of his thoughts (literally) and pulled into a dimly lit shop. He frowned as he looked around, noticing how there were different kinds of weapons. When they reached the back where the glass case stood, Toto looked to Shishi before frowning some and glancing back at the gauntlets. He didn’t mean that anyone had to take him literally on his begging for new gauntlets. He intended to buy himself some more - he would’ve gone to fight in a low level tournament or done some menial tasks around the city to get some extra money.
A thought ran through his mind then — Shishi wasn’t good with words, that had already been proven several times before. Every time before when he wanted to show his gratitude to someone, he did something for them — like the time Joko used the last of his energy to cast a huge defensive spell to protect everyone instead of getting bragging rights for the killing blow to their enemy, which he rarely got being a mage, and Shishi repaid him with a really nice upgrade to his cloak, which he already leveled out of now. Toto gave a sly grin before turning back to Shishi, a pout on his lips.
“I didn’t really mean that someone needed to buy me new gauntlets... I can get them on my own...” He mumbled a bit guiltily, laying it on thick.
Shishi’s mouth dropped open at the younger’s words, having thought (and hoped) that Toto’s silence meant he had gotten his hidden meaning and was at a loss for words. Just like many other times, however, he had misunderstood the other boy. Toto indeed thought that this gift was because of his previous nagging and not his own lack of proper communication skills.
He closed his mouth abruptly then, arms crossing over his chest as he tensed up in defense. “Well... if you don’t want to get them then we’ll just go and get what we came here for. We’ve got other things we could be doing right now...” He grumbled, looking off to the side as he went about mentally kicking himself. He didn’t mean that, dammit!
“...” Shishi cursed, a heavy sigh falling from his lips as he forced himself to relax his stance, arms hanging limply by his sides now. “What I meant was... was that...” He twitched a little, trying his best to force his mouth to form the correct words this time. “It’s... it’s not because... of your nagging. We.... I wanted to get them for you for a job well done and... as a t-thank you gift. You... really saved my back there, To...” He murmured, fidgeting almost violently now.
“I... also realize it’s the pick-me-up you need after the bad day you had at school so... just take the damn gift and quit giving me grief, dammit.” The swordsman huffed finally, tired of stumbling over his words. He sounded even more like an idiot than he had before.
Toto watched as Shishi struggled to get his words out, a playful smile on his lips (he was glad Shishi didn’t seem to notice it though). He beamed at Shishi happily when the guy finally got it all out and turned his head away in a huff. He nudged him in the side, “Thanks, Shishi - it means a lot,” He nodded, speaking honestly. He turned away from the swordsman and began looking at the gauntlets, humming in curiosity. He pointed to one and had Shishi look at it before approving and calling over the shop owner. Once the gauntlets were paid for and handed over, Toto proudly wore them out.
“Now where to?” He asked, adjusting the gauntlets happily. They were a gift from Shishi specifically - he had said “he” and not “we” wanted to get them, so he was going to be sure to take good care of them.
Shishi allowed a small smile to play on his lips as he watched Toto adjust his new gauntlets, happy that the younger boy liked them. Though he’d just been through one of the most awkward conversations in all his time playing the game, he knew it had been worth it. It had put Toto into a happier mood and he’d also gotten to give the other proper thanks. It was a job well done if he did say so himself.
He dropped the smile when Toto turned questioning eyes to him then, realizing he’d yet to answer his question. “Ah... healing potions, status potions of various kinds and I wanted to look at the spell scrolls too. We can’t afford to be completely without use of magic if Joko gets blinded again or even worse - silenced.” He frowned at the thought. Being blinded was one thing but at least the mage could perform magic - his aim was just for . However, with silence, Joko would be completely incapable of performing any sort of magic until they could cure him of it.
“Let’s get going.” Shishi nodded, guiding his younger teammate straight to the item shop.
—
“I really don’t see why Shishi insisted upon you taking me to the healer when I’m just fine....” Joko grumbled to Tats as the latter guided him to the healer’s. “I can see almost perfectly now. I know exactly where I’m goi-- ack!” He squawked, losing his balance as his foot landed into a small pothole.
“I totally saw that.” Joko stated stubbornly after Tats had righted him once more. He narrowed his blur-filled gaze at the fencer then, “Don’t think I didn’t hear that, Tats. I know a snicker when I hear one!” He seethed.
Tats couldn’t resist snickering at the mage - his defiant tugging causing him to run right into the pothole that he’d been trying to pull Joko away from. He rolled his eyes some and held the other’s arm tighter, making sure he couldn’t tug away again. “And what if I meant for you to hear it?” He hummed, making sure to dodge the people walking around on the streets. “Damn, it must be lunch somewhere or something...” Tats grumbled, pulling Joko close to a building.
“Alright, come on... just a little bit further,” He nodded to Joko, pulling him down a short alleyway before entering the door to the healer’s shop. “Ah, hello! My friend here was blinded by a Marilith... can you please cure him? It doesn’t seem like the regular medicine helps much...”
The elderly man behind the counter gave them both a kind smile, his gaze turning sympathetic when caught Joko’s glazed staring. “Of course, child. Right this way and we’ll get you all better.” He responded, gesturing for them to follow him to the back. Once there, the man had Joko lay on the bed, making sure he was comfortable before leaving to get what he would need to heal him.
The mage sighed heavily, staring blankly up at the ceiling. “The Marilith’s venom must be a stronger concoction than what the other monsters we’ve fought used.” He commented, still not happy about being treated as if he were a baby just because the eye drops to cure his blindness hadn’t worked properly; still, he was here now so he might as well take whatever it was the healer had to give him.
“Hey Tats?” Joko murmured softly, turning his head in the direction where the fencer’s ‘hm?’ had from. “Don’t you think it was a little odd for that Molen to be there? I mean.... he was at such a high level so he shouldn’t have even spawned there. And now that I think about it, I think I’ve heard people on the forums mention fighting him and his spawn point is supposed to be somewhere else entirely.” He explained, more than a little perturbed by the Molen’s appearance.
Tats leaned against the wall behind where the healer’s seat was beside the bed. He gazed curiously at the different potions and books in the room, wondering how long this man had been in the healing trade - not that it mattered, he was a good healer. This particular one had been in the city for as long as Tats had been a part of the game - which was a long time. He’d never had to rely on his healing personally, but there was a time or two they’d had to come to him before for another member of their group.
He was pulled out of his curious thoughts at the sound of his name. He grunted softly and listened as Joko spoke, the wheels in his head spinning. “Yeah.. come to think of it, that Molen did seem familiar - some of my other friends mentioned his name before,” He frowned and tilted his head, “But... what do you think it could be? I mean... he’s a rare monster, do you think maybe it was a special event or maybe a glitch?” The game was known for small hiccups here and there, it wouldn’t surprise Tats if that was the reason the Molen had spawned in that particular area.
Joko gave his friend a soft hum in return, mentally weighing the two possibilities. “My guess?” He questioned, answering the question without skipping a beat. “It was probably just a glitch or a bug in the system. The Molen’s spawn point is in the area even if it was supposed to be in a different part of the caverns. Not to mention, if it had been a special event then there would’ve been a lot more news about it on the forums. One, if not all, of us would’ve seen it there.” He nodded with finality.
Unfortunately, none of this made him feel any better. A glitch like that was dangerous and though it couldn’t have been helped, it did very little to ease his mind. If Toto hadn’t been mad enough from the day’s events, they would’ve all been in trouble.
“I’m so sorry I took so long...” The healer announced as he returned to the room, successfully ending their conversation. “I reorganized everything the other day and I’ve had a hard time with finding everything again.” The elderly man chuckled, sidling up beside the bed Joko currently lay on.
“It’s no problem, sir.” Joko responded kindly, offering the man a smile which was immediately returned.
“Such a nice youngster...” The man murmured, twisting the top off the bottle in his hands. He instructed the mage to hold his eyes open as he gathered some of the clear liquid into the dropper, quickly letting a couple of drops fall into each of his eyes before returning the top back to the bottle.
“How’s that?” The healer questioned softly.
Joko blinked rapidly to distribute the medicine into his eyes, a satisfied smile making its way onto his lips when his vision cleared almost immediately. “Vision is crystal clear.” He announced, not bothering to hide how happy he was to have his vision back again.
Tats fell into silence as he thought about what Joko said. It was most likely a bug or a glitch, which wasn’t uncommon - but it was dangerous nonetheless. He made no acknowledgement of the elderly healer returning, instead closing his eyes and thinking over the whole mission carefully. He supposed, though, he was giving it a bit too much thought - glitches and bugs happened, the internet couldn’t be one-hundred percent perfect all the time after all. He heaved a sigh and opened his eyes about the time Joko sat up with clear eyes.
Tats grinned happily at Joko, “Good - now aren’t you glad we made you come here instead of waiting it out for a while longer?” He fluttered his eyes at Joko as the mage glared at him. Tats ignored him easily and paid the healer handsomely, “Thank you so much for your help!” He hummed happily, grabbing Joko and yanking him out of the healer’s shop as soon as he could. “Alright - I propose we head back to the guild - what do you think?” He tilted his head at Joko.
Before Joko could even say anything two pinging noises sounded out, signaling that both of them had gotten a message. They paused in their trek to the guild to look at the messages they’d received, unsurprised when they saw that both were from Shishi wondering where the two of them were, why they were taking so long and if they didn’t hurry they were going to be left behind.
“He’s so kind and sweet...” Joko commented with a roll of his eyes, letting Tats reply that they were on their way to the guild now. There was a touch of affection in the sarcastic tone though because they both knew that, despite the obvious impatience and irritation in them, the messages were just Shishi’s way of asking if everything was okay with Joko.
“Let’s hurry and get there before he has a .” Tats drawled, leading the way back to their guild. Neither of them commented on the fact that the fencer had yet to let go of the mage’s wrist since they left the healer’s.
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