Chapter 43 : Walking over to the weapons
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His first stray hunt since the catastrophic failure that was his very first one months ago. He would be lying if he said he wasn't at least nervous to be facing one of these creatures down again, but as Griselda had assured him, they weren't dealing with any uncertainty this time. She wouldn't have brought him on a mission that he wouldn't be able to complete anyway.
Vin's thoughts were cut off when he felt something soft and warm press against the back of his right hand. Looking over to his hand resting in his lap, Vin found, surprisingly enough, that it was Xenovia's hand that had come to rest on top of his own. Pulling out an earbud, Vin looked up to meet the determined gaze of his blue-haired totally not-a-crush.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."
It was funny how that simple statement managed to calm his nerves so much. That's right, he had his allies with him, he could do this, he trained for this.
You know, for as socially aloof as Xenovia could be sometimes, it was kind of miraculous how she actually managed, intentionally or not, to say the perfect things to help Vin out.
Vin smiled back warmly, "Yeah. Thanks Xenovia."
Xenovia nodded, a smile never quite making her face, although if he were to guess, Vin could say that it nearly did.
Vin held out an earbud, "You want to listen to some tunes while we wait?"
Now, Vin had pretty much no expectation that Xenovia would accept his offer, but surprisingly, she did. Grabbing the earbud, before scooching over closer to Vin's side in order to adhere to the limitations of the cord's length. Sitting there, Xenovia closed her eyes as she listened to the softer music being played, some of the tension visibly dropping from her shoulders, as she just looked so… at peace.
Frankly, it was such a departure from Xenovia's standard taciturn professionalism that it caused Vin's cheeks to faintly glow a light pink. It was at moments like these that Vin could remember that Xenovia wasn't just a weapon of the church, but a regular human girl too, something that unfortunately, Vin wasn't sure that she realized about herself. Still, to see her like this was equal parts adorable and heartwarming.
The two continued to relax as the car ride continued on and on, just enjoying the music, and the unspoken company of each other. The peace reminded Vin of better days, before every day was characterized by grueling training; days where Vin would just enjoy himself, and the fact that he was here, alive, and content.
Eventually, the bus began to slow to a stop as the final song slowly drifted into silence, like the sun setting under a brand new night sky. Looking over, Vin saw Xenovia slowly open her twinkling amber eyes, before she raised her arms up, arching her back as she let out a surprisingly cute yawn. Vin's eyes were torn between the tantalizing sight of Xenovia's admittedly very endowed breasts straining against her skin-tight leotard, or the view of her really adorable yawning face. In the end, Vin ended up quickly stealing a glance at both (hopefully) without Xenovia noticing.
Xenovia plucked the earbud out of her ear, "Thank you."
"Ah, y-you're welcome," Vin replied as he slowly stood up with Xenovia, leaving his phone and earbuds resting on the bus like before.
The two made their way to the front of the bus, trailing behind their teammates, as they exited into the chilly, golden fall afternoon. Before them stood a long and thin trail of orange-colored trees, a single path winding its way down deep into the woods before them.
"Alright everyone," Griselda rounded up everyone's attention, "The stray devil has created a lair for itself in a lodge north of here, and we're going to have to make the rest of the journey on foot. Does everyone have their gear ready?"
Various shouts of confirmation echoed throughout the group. Irina proudly displayed a white, frilly band wrapped around her left bicep, Excalibur Mimic, if Vin's memory held true. He'd seen her training with it once or twice over the past few weeks, and from the little glances he stole while focusing on his own work it seemed like, true to its name, could manipulate its own form in order to transform into whatever sort of item the user wanted it to be.
At least, that's what Vin thought it could do. But c'mon, between the name, and the fact that he once saw Irina transform it from that same frilly band into a katana, and then into blade-whip, and then right back to the same band, he was pretty sure he got the basics of what it could do pretty down pat.
Looking around, Vin could see that Ethan also brought along Excalibur Rapidly, a cool sword to be sure, but it's look was just a bit too… haphazard for Vin's tastes. Still, it was anything but impractical.
Vin sighed, it would have been cool to wield a holy sword himself, y'know, give himself another option to rely on. But unfortunately, the only thing he got when Ethan once offered him to try Excalibur Rapidly was the damn thing not making him fast, and then it scorched his own palm, like a hot soldering iron, except it didn't leave a burn.
Walking over to the weapons chest that was brought out from the bus, Vin reached in, grabbing a white and gold decorated cylinder, a big chunky white and gold pistol, and a handful of magazines. Slotting them into various holsters and pouches sewn into his black and grey leather battle costume.
Oh well, he may not have been able to wield an Excalibur fragment like the others, but a light sword or a pistol with some blessed bullets would do just as fine for him. Plus, he had backup from his, admittedly, sometimes unreliable Sacred Gear. Thus, the little bit of assurance that the pistol and blade brought him were much appreciated.
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