'Tis the season of giving (with other people's money). [Pre-Christmas RLs with Naoto]

Dec 21, 2010 07:23

People can not gain anything without sacrificing something else.
In order to gain something, something of equal value is necessary.
That is what is known in alchemy as the principle of Equivalent Exchange.

But Greed has a sugar momma so none of that applies to his Christmas shopping. )

Leave a comment

truthinfortune December 21 2010, 19:27:10 UTC
Naoto did not exactly appreciate having someone setting their shoes on a piece of antique Edwardian furniture. Especially when said piece of furniture also housed her laptop and a small tea service. And Greed was the foot tapping sort of person, so that was a bad combination.

Reaching over, Naoto pulled the laptop onto her lap, having enabled the safe search feature beforehand, just so that nothing "interesting" would pop up that would give the greedy Homunculus any ideas...

"All right, name everyone you're buying Christmas presents for. I want to keep a list so I can keep track of who is getting what."

Reply

material_guy December 21 2010, 20:15:45 UTC
Greed remained shameless even in the face of her obvious malcontent. His foot did tap, with every name he listed off, given with a dramatic full arm motion before another finger held up to count them off.

"There's the the kid's girlfriend, Envy's Hot Mom, and the zombie, but I got them taken care of already." His four held up fingers--wasn't that a miscount? Perhaps his thumb was just extended for sheer style?--curled back in, starting from scratch, for relevance. "That leaves the kid, Armor-kun, Touchdown, J.D., the monk, Prussia, Glasses Chick and Hot Shot."

Reply

truthinfortune December 21 2010, 23:14:24 UTC
Naoto pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger, her eyes squinted closed in frustration.

"You know, some of those nicknames aren't very descriptive at all. Some of them are obvious, but there are plenty of girls who wear glasses... Is there some reason why you abhor the use of proper names? And for that matter," Naoto quirked an eyebrow at the greedy Homunculus, "how come only Prussia doesn't get a clever nickname?"

Reply

material_guy December 21 2010, 23:39:58 UTC
"Touchdown is his name," Greed insisted. His head tiled in confusion, reaching for the laptop again. He had searching to do, damn it. "So's J.D. John Doe just takes longer to say. And he doesn't look like a Johnny. And Prussia's got another name; Prussia's just more... Awesome. I don't remember the glasses chick's name, but as long as I know who I'm getting what for, it's fine!"

Reply

truthinfortune December 21 2010, 23:49:00 UTC
Naoto made a small noise of annoyance as Greed reached for the laptop She pulled it away from him. "Don't touch that. You'll probably break it..."

She began typing in something into the search engine and brought up the website for Amazon.com. "Do you have any idea what you're going to get for everyone? I have a few ideas for Issei... He loves gardening and poetry, so perhaps a book pertaining to those interests would be best..."

Already she's running a search on gardening books. The screen brings up a list of available items and she begins to scroll through them, reading the titles to herself.

Reply

material_guy December 21 2010, 23:52:45 UTC
"Marquis de Sade," Greed cuts in immediately, his expression sure and free of jest.

Reply

truthinfortune December 21 2010, 23:55:25 UTC
Naoto's response is terse and immediate: "No."

She continued to search for books on gardening. In fact, she found something on bromeliads that looked interesting! She clicked on the item and put it in the shopping cart to purchase for later.

Reply

material_guy December 21 2010, 23:56:22 UTC
Greed proceeded to stare, thoroughly unimpressed with his hostess's hospitality.

Reply

truthinfortune December 22 2010, 16:46:36 UTC
Naoto gives him a level stare right back. Well, as level as one can do, given that she's much shorter than the Homunculus.

"If you want to get it for him, then you're going to have to pay for it yourself. I'm not going to purchase something I know he'll hate with my own money."?

Reply

material_guy December 22 2010, 17:03:44 UTC
"I'd buy it all myself if they took Cenz," Greed insisted, deciding to take matters into his own hands more forcibly. With one palm on Naoto's forehead to keep her from having the forward range to grasp it again, he makes another go at the laptop. "The presents are from me, so if they're not what I wanna give 'em, there's no point. How'd you feel if the kid just said 'Ah, my girlfriend's better at this kind of thing!' and had her buy somethin' for you and slap his name on it? There's a big difference between gettin' advice and gettin' someone else to do all the work for you!

Besides, he's my monk. I know him better than you in some areas. He's secretly a pervert like this. And he's got a sense for history."

Reply

truthinfortune December 22 2010, 18:41:58 UTC
"I'm sure I could do a special exchange rate for--Hey!" Being much smaller and shorter of limb that Greed, Naoto can't make a grab for her laptop. She squeaks indignantly as it's forcibly taken from her.

Her lower lip juts out in a pout. Okay, so maybe he did have a point...

"I'd like to think I know Issei better than you do. I've known him longer, anyway...

Reply

material_guy December 23 2010, 04:33:16 UTC
Laptop in hand--or in lap--Greed twists and begins typing, albeit it slowly. He glances back at her pouting face and flashes a triumphant show of teeth, secure in his two victories; the lap top, and her clearly starting to crack on the matter of Issei's gift. "Hate to put it to ya this way, but maybe I just understand that part of him better as a man!"

And, hitting search and two clicks later, Greed suddenly turns, holding the laptop out to her expectantly.

"They do make things like that, now! Haah! Leave it to the future! Oi! Make one of those!" He pointed to an image of a mirror with a reversed--or, more precisely, a non-reversed image. "It's gotta be full body sized. At least six feet tall--no, let's go with seven! He'll probably wanna get up real close with it."

Reply

truthinfortune December 23 2010, 06:21:16 UTC
Her eyes narrowed even further at the blatantly sexist comment.

But the expression quickly changes to one of surprise as she stares at the screen before her.

"Erm... I'm afraid that I'm not well-suited to that sort of metal-working. I've only worked with silver in small amounts. To create a mirror would require a great deal of silver, plus special tools and equipment that I don't possess on hand. Plus, it's very time consuming. I'm not certain if I could finish it in time for Christmas, not with all my other projects in the works..."

Reply

material_guy December 23 2010, 06:48:29 UTC
Greed stared, not really understanding anything but that he was being told no, and that he really didn't like being told no. This was a future world where fully human like robots could be made with a repertoire of drink recipes that took professionals a lifetime to learn by rote and longer still to know so perfectly in practice.

If he stared long enough, maybe it would become possible.

Reply

truthinfortune December 23 2010, 07:01:27 UTC
He was staring at her. Like a kid that could not believe that you just told him that Santa Claus isn't real.

She sighed, putting a hand to her head. "Look, do you even know how mirrors are created? You have to dissolve silver nitrate in distilled water, then add diluted ammonia until the mixture goes through distinct chemical changes. A second mixture is made using silver nitrate and Rochelle salts. This mixture must be boiled and filtered. By pouring these mixtures on to a very clean piece of glass sufficiently heated to the proper temperature, the silver will precipitate and form an even coating on the glass. After drying, one can coat the back of the silver with a solid paint to help prevent degradation of the silver. The result is a fully functional mirror."

She paused, expecting Greed's eyes to glaze over at any minute.

"For a mixture of this size," she said, reaching over to retrieve her laptop, "I'd need a few galleons of silver nitrate, which isn't exactly cheap, you know? Plus, I'd have to create two mirrors to achieve ( ... )

Reply

material_guy December 23 2010, 07:04:24 UTC
To his credit, Greed's eyes didn't glaze over. He even remained silent for a few seconds after the fact, as if to process it all. He did spend several years of his life with a lover who was a genius of alchemy and the other supporting sciences beneath it; even if that had been centuries ago, it was amazing how much the fundamentals really meant even in the future. He was familiar with ingredients, even if not their exact properties, and the difficulties procuring them for science. He knew good taste didn't come cheap.

Yes. He understod.

"So, it'll be a really good present... is what you're saying." He nodded, even more decisively. "I want one."

Reply


Leave a comment

Up