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Today, the potion maker and her new assistant were on their way to do a little shopping for something special. The sun beat down with a heat that threatened to melt Layne's fur, and so today she wore a sleeveless sundress of a soft cream color. Not her usual attire, but when the heat struck it was nice to have something light to wear. Her dark furred rabbit companion walked by her side wearing a vest and trousers that she had managed to fish out for him, but unlike her, he didn't seem to mind the heat at all. Though the heat wasn't bothering him, Jun still had a bit of a nervous look on his face. Before they had left Layne's home, Jun had expressed his concern that Layne would be spending too much coin on getting him this gift, but Layne had waved him off and at least tried to soothe him by explaining that her protector should have a proper weapon if he couldn't use magic all that well, of course, that was partly just an excuse. She wanted to pamper her precious rabbit friend. He had been so kind while staying at her home, and though he seemed to have some troubles on his mind, he was more than willing to help her around the store and her home. He certainly was welcome to just laze about and recover from his journey, but instead, he helped, and so Layne decided a gift was in order.

Down the hill from her store and just a few steps away was the twin's home and forge. Kusa and Sura were good friends and surely would give her a good deal on a sword for her rabbit friend, if not, then she was certain she could convince them to part ways with a fine blade for something else a little bit more closer to her heart and beneath her clothes. Either way, once she was at their home, she stepped around the front to where she knew the forge was hoping to see Sura working on something. At the outdoor forge they found nothing but a few tools lying around and so instead they tried the front door.

Layne brought a paw up to tap at the door very daintily. She waited there with her paws held behind her back, a smile on her face and Jun by her side looking as nervous as ever about receiving a gift, "Perhaps they aren't here?" He asked in a quiet voice as if trying to persuade her from continuing on.

The potion maker could only chuckle and wave him off with a flick of her wrist. She dismissed his concerns entirely and refused to even humor him. She knew that he was just being difficult, after all, there was no reason to further trouble his host, at least, in his mind there wasn't.

Again Layne brought her paw up to give the hardwood door a knock. Just as she lowered her paw, the door opened and there stood the shorter of the twins Kusa the enchanter wearing sleeveless robes, his emerald eyes shining for a moment as he beamed at the sight of Layne, "Why, Layne! Isn't it good to see you? What do I owe the pleasure." For a moment, he paused, his eyes narrowing and a smirk tugging at his lips as he looked to Jun before continuing, "And my! Who is your friend here? He's quite the looker dear."

Jun's reaction and expression seemed as if Kusa were accusing him of something foul, but the rabbit answered on his own rather than waiting for Layne to introduce him, "I ah, my name is Jun. I am staying with Miss Luness."

Kusa's eyes gleamed with some sort of mischief as he chuckled, "Ah! I see. I hope Layne has been treating you nicely. I know she can be quite rough when she wants to be, or perhaps you're the one handling her. Why I wonder if you're staying because you're looking to give Layne a good husband."

Layne couldn't help but giggle as her friend's fur on his cheeks grew frizzed from the unwanted attention. He stuttered and stammered as he tried to get a response out until Layne came to his rescue with her paw on his shoulder, "Now now Kusa. Leave him alone. He's from out of town and came a long way. He's agreed to help me around the shop in exchange for a home and he's done much more than I expected, so I'm here to get him a sword."

Kusa tilted his head, "Oh? Come a long way? Where do you come from Jun?"

Jun cleared his throat and took a breath to compose himself before answering, "I come from Volcus, but uh, I'd rather not talk too much about it."

Kusa blinked, "My, what a long way. If you were deep in Volcus then it would have been quite the trip too. I have to admit, my curiosity is peaked, but I'll be good, for now. Layne did say she was here for business, so I suppose I should take you to Sura."

Layne raised a brow but said nothing. It was a curious thing that her friend had come from another portion of the continent. Indeed if he had come from the inner portions of Volcus then he would have had to travel for more than just a day. She had to wonder what drove off the little rabbit from his home, and moreover, was he even at his home when he had run away? It was hard to say, but still, she shouldn't even be thinking about it. At the moment, she should be thinking about defending Jun from Kusa. She could see his eyes examining the rabbit with a sort of hunger and curiosity that she herself had when she had first seen the rabbit. The difference was, Kusa wasn't one to stop his teasing especially if it got a reaction out of the person he was teasing. For now, though, she wanted to shop for her precious friend.

The shorter of the two twin's kept on eyeing Jun rather than letting them in, much to Layne's displeasure. She turned Kusa's attention with a swift flick to the ear that had him squeezing onto the point she tapped. He looked sorely at her with a frown and narrowed eyes before huffing and stepping back to open the door wide for them, "Of course, you're welcome to come inside. You'll be glad to know that Kusa and I have set the shop up since the last time you visited."

Last time Layne visited was for more than just inspecting their shop, but that was for another time. For now, she followed along with Jun at her side until they reached the storefront, and my had they done so much since last time she had been here. There had been an empty room with dusty floor boards and boxes stacked up high that was going to be their storefront, but now, now it was something to behold. The floorboards were polished and pretty, and the walls were bright with wisp flowers lighting the way to a new front counter. Behind that counter stood Sura, the taller of the two twins who was now humming to himself and wiping down the countertop with such love and care you swore it was his child. Behind Sura, the potion maker spotted an array of blades of various lengths and sizes mounted on the wall along with a few empty ones signaling that there were more somewhere to be displayed

A whistle touched the air from Layne's lips as she took in the sights of the room and stepped inside. Excited ears perked on Kusa's head as he saw Layne trotting along to him. He set the cloth aside he'd been using to clean and vaulted over the counter to meet her with a bone crushing hug, more so from his strength rather than his intent. Layne simply chuckled and returned the embrace with a loving squeeze of her own while the large twin went on, "Goodness! Layne it is good to see you here again. What brings you here anyway? Here to spy on how our storefront is looking? As you can see I've got the blades nearly ready, we just have to get a section set up for Kusa's stuff."

Layne giggled at his enthusiasm and when she was allowed to part from his arms she smoothed her dress and answered, "Well, I'm not here for myself really. I'm here to shop for my friend here."

She stepped aside and presented Jun who brought up a paw meekly to show that he was there, but he said not a thing perhaps intimidated by the taller twin's size.

Though the taller twin was much more kindly and soft-spoken than the smaller one, Sura still had a bit of Kusa in his manner, especially when he introduced himself, "My! Layne. What a cute friend you have here. My name is Sura friend...What is yours?"

Jun cleared his throat to speak quietly, "Jun."

"Well Jun, you're welcome here, and if Layne has brought you then you're welcome to the bed as well. Although, the sheets may get a bit sticky."

Layne snorted and controlled her laughter, "No Sura, we're here to purchase a sword for my friend."

Kusa stepped around Layne to make the comment, "Of course, you and your friend are always welcome to making sticky sheets with us should you two like."

Jun's ears perked high and his voice came out quickly, "No thank you! Just a little shopping is all, naught much else I'm afraid."

Kusa purred and was about to say something most likely to tease the poor rabbit, but Sura was there to rescue the poor thing this time by tugging on his brother's ear and interrupting, "We'd be happy to help you with a bit of shopping, what is it you're looking for?"

When Jun wouldn't say it, Layne was only happy to chime in and grab her friend's shoulders, "A sword for him."

A big smile played on the larger twin's face along with a twinkling in his eyes as he answered, "Really? Now that is something special certainly. Is your friend a swordsman then?"

Jun answered quietly, "I ah...I dabble a bit."

Layne gave Jun's shoulders a tight hug as she couldn't help but tease him just a bit, "He's going to be my protector and assistant you see and he says he can handle a sword well enough! Though, maybe I should get myself some steel too. Then again, I've never touched a sword."

"I could teach you!"

The whole room paused for a moment. All eyes were on Jun. Even Layne stared at the other with curious eyes. He had said just a few moments ago that he only dabbled, and now he said he could teach. When the silence still cut the air, Jun amended, "I mean, I could teach you if you want. Just...That would probably cost a bit more since we'd need practice swords as to not hurt yourself."

Layne thought about it for a moment, learning how to use a blade might be interesting and it might be useful. She'd always relied on magic, but there were a few situations where she imagined a sword or a knife coming in handy and so she shrugged, "Why not, I can spend a bit extra for my sweet friend. What do you think Sura?"

Sura chuckled, "So long as you don't hurt yourself, Layne. I trust the rabbit knows how to use a sword, but I couldn't stand the thought of you hurting yourself on something that I've made...Now, these blades up here are for show certainly, but they aren't everything we have to offer and perhaps, just perhaps I'll have the itch to make both of you something a bit more personal, for now, come with me."

Both the nervous rabbit and the potion maker followed along with the smaller twin in tow towards the back room. The twins stood at either side of the door with curved smiles full of pride. Kusa opened the door revealing the shadows within. Layne watched as the simple storage room lit up on either wall with wisp lights and she saw the glimmering blades within. Knives, daggers, dirks, stilettos and more. Staves, spears, halberds, bardiches and then some. Small swords, large sword, bigger swords, things Layne had no names for, although she was rather impressed with herself for knowing what a bardiche was. Kusa saw her eyes light up and for a moment he looked as if he was going to stop her from going inside, but he let her go and she moved about the barrels and containers looking at both naked blades and blades hidden in scabbards. Jun was much less of a curious kitten that was certain.

The rabbit moved to a barrel full of simple swords and brought one out of the scabbard. Keen red eyes looked the length of the blade up and down and Jun himself couldn't help but give a comment, "These are fine work...Certainly can't be cheap either."

Kusa had entered the room with a sort of serpentine grace and stealth that had Layne squeaking when he placed his paws on her sides, "Well you see dear Jun, I'm certain Layne can find many ways to pay us back. We're in no short supply and no great need with what we've saved up to start this little business of ours...And some time with the dear potion maker would be more than just a bit enchanting."

Layne reached to give his whiskers a pinch and simply smiled as she tugged his chin onto her shoulder while he hissed and cursed quietly to the sound of her voice, "Ahhh, you're such a charmer Kusa...You know, I was thinking about that, but I'm sure I have enough coin. Now, stop bothering Jun. Okay?"

Kusa winced and spoke in a strained voice, "Oh, the rabbit? I never meant to--OH! Oh oh stop tugging please, my comments will be kept to myself."

Layne let go and turned her head just enough to kiss Kusa's cheek. She could only tolerate so much miscreant teasing of friends who were quite timid, and well, Jun was certainly a timid one. She could see the fur of his cheeks frizzing and his red eyes had grown wide for a moment. When he heard Layne's response he looked to the sword and then to Layne, "I can't pay this back Miss Luness. There is kindness and then there is this...Why...I don't think I could stand--"

Layne interrupted quickly before he kept on, "You never have to pay me back. This isn't some sort of blood debt. What this is, is me saying you are welcome to stay as long as you want and that you have a home here to protect. Don't think of the sword as a gift, think of it as a symbol."

She thought he would argue, but then she saw the barest of smiles on his face, a wry thing as he gripped the scabbard he was holding tightly, "So then...rather than Miss Luness...Shall I play knight to your queen?"

The potion maker brought paw up to her lips and she giggled. She hadn't expected that one, "Please, if I lifted that thing to try and knight you I'm pretty sure I'd knock your head clean off your shoulders by accident. Besides, I told you to call me Layne. You're far too polite."

Kusa was still bemoaning his tugged whiskers while Sura took the sword Jun had picked out for himself. Layne herself wasn't sure if she really wanted to learn swordplay. Such a thing just didn't seem like something she would do, or something that really fit her knowledge, still, she settled on something shorter for herself and was glad to see that Jun was relaxing a little. She had more than enough coin in her bag to pay for the swords, though, she knew Kusa and Sura were giving her an extreme discount. While they were walking back outside, the shorter twin showed a softer side, "If you're ever back, I could always enchant those things for you."

The words had been said while Layne and Jun had been walking away from the store. She paused and turned her head with a small smile, "I'd be glad to have you teach me your secrets." Her eyes twinkled and Kusa remained quiet at that one. She knew he was jealous of his methods of enchanting, and that he had promised once to teach her what he knew.

With business settled, Jun and Layne began walking again. It was a short walk back up the hill, but still, she had a question she had on the tip of her tongue that came out almost without thought, "I wonder. Why are you so polite besides the obvious? You're always tripping up and using my last name too, not that I mind too much."

Jun walked beside her. For a moment he seemed as if he would simply let the question hang in the air and settle, but he began while looking forward, "You see. Volcus is a beautiful and dangerous place in the wilds. Bandits who worship fire often attack caravans and capture folk to use them as stock. We protect ourselves in Volcus, and we protect our own. Often, they brand the backs of their victims and should one of a group escape, then the others are surely going to burn for it. I wonder if those rumors they spread are true though? And I wonder if Countres has bandits too..."

Layne thought to answer his question quickly. There were no bandits in this portion of Countres, not that she knew of, but when she looked to him she could see he was clutching the scabbard with tight digits and his fiery eyes were staring deep into the forest, and so she only asked with a quiet voice, "Did you leave anyone behind?"

Jun answered with his eyes shut and his ears falling, "My sister."

Carefully, gingerly, as lovingly as she could, she took his arm and led him back up the hill. She could not give him his old life back, and she still wasn't sure about the full details of what had happened, but she could provide him with a home and succor, and so she would.