Shopping with Vaan. Really? Do any of you really see this happening? Sure. But will this young kid finally give Basch the idea for the perfect gift? Another interaction of the men, yet Vaan ain't no Alpha. lol

THE RIGHT DISTRACTION

"Dammit!"

The sword he had been using snapped in two on immediate contact with the Saurian's skull. The metal shattered and rendered the weapon almost useless. Though the great beast lay in splattered pieces on the sand (and on Basch's armour), the loss of a decent weapon only made Basch's frustration even worse.

What Balthier had done…what he had said had furied him beyond his control. A jealous rage he never knew he had, reared it's ugly head and unleashed a ferocity that had wrecked the Sandsea. He had also inflicted some injuries on the Sky Pirate, but he didn't care. At the time. Now there was only regret and shame.

As the last of his rage was subsiding from the killing of fiends, Basch began to think clearly. For the first time, he was beginning to question his behaviour towards the Queen. Always he was in conflict, between his attraction and love towards her and his devoted duty and the vows he had taken as a Knight. Always, the gentleman in him won out. Always the loyal servant, the trusted soldier and honoured ally. His training and everything he was ever taught told him, forced him to keep that distance.

But his body…his core and very being ached for her. A disciplined mind was savaged and ripped apart at the sight of her. He elated when he was in her presence, for each time he was finding new things to love. Her smile, her laugh, the way her hands gently clasped to her breasts…everything was new and wonderful.

She grew more beautiful when they met. Yet even after four years, he still could not find the strength to go and see her. He hated to think what she would be like or how he would act.

So it was in this instance, he decided to take Penelo seriously. Ashe's birthday was in a couple of days time. He had to get her something. It would be the one thing that could only come from him. She would know that he cared.

"I want to do this…" he muttered to himself. "I owe it to her."

But first, he had to get another weapon. Heaven knew what happened his Zodiac spear, (he cursed himself for leaving it in the tavern.) If anything had happened to it…there would be trouble and where there was trouble, Balthier normally followed.

There came a screeching howl from above. Basch looked up and saw a Dive Talon swooping down from the skies. He sighed. He didn't need this now.

The broken sword and hilt was jabbed with minimal effort into the bird fiend's skull. The blood splattered all over his face and the huge winged body collapsed on top of him.

Perhaps a bath might be in order first. If he could get out from under this corpse.

000000000000000000000000000000

"Don't patronise me good, sir." Basch said as he picked up the broken pieces of his sword. "I was told, when I purchased this weapon that it was a sturdy piece and it even had the power of the flame embedded into it. This sword couldn't light a candle."

The clerk of the weapons shop was a feeble looking man whose hands couldn't stop shaking. The towering form of Basch before him was certainly a scary sight. So was the blood which still caked the sword. As was the flesh, hair and gross bits he couldn't identify. The stench wasn't helping either, for other customers were keeping their distance from the counter.

"This Flametounge had nothing wrong with it…sir." said the clerk. "All of Amal's merchandise are of top quality…."

"I know." Basch leaned in close. He still stank of Wild Saurion bile, no matter how many showers he had taken. The clerk leaned away from him. "I know I purchased this sword from here…but I'm guessing it wasn't made by Amal or any of his reputable smithies."

"You may say that…."

"I have the receipt." Basch placed a crumpled (and blood stained) piece of paper on the counter.

"Ah…it's got Wolf blood on it."

"Yes. And?"

"No problem, sir. We're sorry for the inconvenience and hope that the weapon didn't fail you in any of your skirmishes…."

"Not at all."

"We will replace this…please feel free to look around Amal's shop and pick an armament more to your liking."

"Thank you."

When Basch turned to face the huge shop filled with weaponry, his rare grin wouldn't leave his face. This was his kind of shopping. If it had anything to do with armour, protectives and things with sharp pointy ends, Basch loved it. He excelled in getting the best deals and he could spend hours in shops such as this.

Even the memory of seeing the Tournesol in the window of an Archadian weapon's shop (Vints!) was a joy for him. He had stood for two hours in that scorching sun just glaring in wonderment at it, but he despaired afterwards for not having the gil.

Amal never had any of the great swords, but his stuff was good. Basch was in a never ending heaven, surrounded by such glorious works of art that he just didn't know where to start looking!

"How much?! You expect me to pay that for this piece of crap?!"

Oh god.

Basch recognised that voice. He turned down one of the aisles and sure enough there was the young man waving a Lohengrin about in a very disrespectful way.

Vaan had plonked the weapon carelessly back on the rack and was now picking up everything in his vicinity, again thrashing and waving the swords in a reckless and very amateur posture. Had that boy learnt nothing from their travels last year? Treat weapons with respect!

Basch didn't want to gain his attention, for he suspected that Vaan would also be under Penelo's orders to help him. So, he looked towards the spears on the other side of the shop (If anyone had taken his Zodiac…!!) but he was not quick enough to hide himself. Not that a tall bulking man like him could.

"Basch!" Vaan cried out, waving a Blood Sword so haphazardly that it nearly knocked a terrified hume man in the head. "Hey! You're here! You're okay!"

Barely.

"Vaan. How fares this day for you?"

"Okay…I guess!" Vaan approached Basch and playfully punched him on the shoulder. Thankfully Basch wasn't wearing his armour, only a thin and light white cotton shirt, but Vaan still winced as his fist painfully cracked against Basch's throbbing muscled arm. "I'm looking for something for Ashe's birthday! What about you?"

Subtle as a bloody brick.

"My Flametounge broke."

"I thought you had the Zodiac spear…" Vaan ignored the astonished gasp from one of the sneaking shop assistants. "Why do you…?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"It's an awesome weapon…pity it's not sold in a place like this."

"Pity indeed." Basch replied. His spear was his most treasured possession.

"They don't have any more Flametongues here. Whatcha gonna get now?"

The Dragon Whisker looked tempting, as did the Scorpion tail, but Basch didn't care. He was on alert once again. He looked to the bright eyed young pirate hopeful (he was no Balthier, but both of them tested his patience) and he simply waited for what would be so inevitable. The question about the queen, the pressure to find the gift…to go and do…"women's shopping."

"I need a spare. A strong and durable piece."

"Oh...sure." Vaan shrugged his shoulders. "Me…I'm looking for a new sword for the Queen. Do you think Ashe would like the Deathbringer or the Runeblade?"

None of those, being as Larsa had told him that she still kept the Ultima Blade.

"Do you think her majesty would want a weapon?" Basch sneered inwardly to himself when he remembered the shop Balthier took him to. "Would she not want more….womanly things?"

Vaan screwed his face up in disgust and teenaged "grossed outness."

"What…go girls shopping? Hang around in clothes stores with all those different fashions, sizes, colours and annoying shop assistants? To endure the endless questions of "Does this look all right on me?"… "Does my bum look big?"…."Does it fit?"… "What do you think?"… "Shall I go for a different style?" or "Do you think they have the bag and shoes to match?!"….No thank you! It's a complete waste of time! I hate it!"

"Did not Penelo…?"

"Try and get me to go with you to find the Queen's gift? Oh sure. I said I would…but she doesn't have to know. Right?"

Basch had a dreaded feeling. He was starting to like this young man more than he thought he would.

"So what is your opinion on the Yagyu dark blade?" asked Basch, pointing to the ninja sword section.

"It's okay…" Vaan bobbed his head in approval. "But I would go for the Katana's. They're lighter and easier to sharpen."

"But the ninjas can inflict more damage." Basch replied.

"No more than the Masamune."

"They have one?" A joyful glimmer of hope sparked in Basch's eyes.

"No. They can't order either."

"Shame." The hope faded. "It would be grand to have one."

"Oh yeah! Hey! You know they sell scabbards and sheaths for Ninjas just down the street? They have a sale too!"

"Really?"

"Oh sure! Wanna take a look?"

"If this place is Panamis's place…I have coupons."

"Excellent!"

0000000000000000000000

They had Demon Shields?!

Basch was impressed. Panamis had certainly shipped in some more substantial goods since he had last been in here, including the shields Kaiser, Aegis and Venetian. Someone had been working overtime to get these babies!

The Knight never knew what he had become. As soon as he entered these shops, it didn't even occur to him that he was as Penelo, with her clothes stores. Or was that Vaan?

As enthused as Basch was, after a few minutes of talking about which was better, Mirror Mail or Diamond Armour, the knight was once again back to his original opinion of the teen. Vaan was annoying and he wished he'd shut the hell up.

There were no need for so many words. Just look…admire…worship and appreciate. Touch the metal, feel it's strength…fell the loving care with which is was created…get the sense of what this weapon truly meant!

"Hey! Would this look totally cool on me?"

Vaan shoved a huge piece of Dragon mail in Basch's face. The boy could barely lift it, let alone wear it. Basch just barely shrugged his shoulders.

The young eager boy went through the whole shop, picking up the armour, shields and protectives thrusting them against Basch, whether he wanted it or not. His heaven was slowly falling. The experience was being ruined. The desire to be on his own was starting to overwhelm him once more.

"Aw! Cool!" Vaan shoved past Basch as he tried to inspect the quality of the demon shields. The blonde boy was holding a rare circlet and was jumping for joy, as if he was a four year old. "How much is it?! Can you see the price list?!"

Basch didn't want to indulge him, but he did indeed look to the board behind the counter. So many items were marked here, the prices were reasonable, but as his eyes gazed down the list he saw something he never expected. No shop ever had one of these.

Ignoring Vaan's continual questions about the circlet, Bash finally remembered the reason he was out here. The memory from his past came back with shocking clarity. The story, Ashe's favourite tale, every word and line came back to him and Basch's heart soared.

He had found it. The perfect…the one true gift he could ever give her.

"Shop keep!" His voice bellowed louder than he planned. The Seeq was so startled that he banged hard against the counter.

"Sir. How can I help?"

Basch pointed directly to the item on the list.

"This! How did you acquire such a ware?!"

"Oh." The Seeq saw what Basch pointed at. "This was brought in by a fellow only a few months ago. Poor guy….he was depressed, saddened so that he wept! He didn't want to part with it, but he had no choice. I almost didn't want to take it, for these are so hard to come by! They hold such a deep emotional meaning for everyone! He insisted. I gave him a fare amount of gil for it…."

"I will give you everything I have if you will give this to me." Basch said.

The look he received dashed his hopes.

"I'm sorry, sir. It is no longer available. A woman came by only a few days ago and purchased it."

No! NO!

"You have…no others?"

"No. I apologise…I should take it off the board." The Seeq made a saddened whine. "I can also inform you that no one else in the city has it. The only way to obtain it is to…"

"Thank you…" Basch interrupted sharply. "I know where."

He had to leave Rabanastre again. He had to travel a fair way to get this rarity and even then, it wouldn't guarantee he could get it. Basch was more than determined.

Dammit! If only he had his Zodiac Spear!

"Hey Basch…." Vaan's voice squeaked in his ear. "Do you think this Mirror Mail makes me look fat?"

Next: Nabudis.