slightoverkill | 3rd Form

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3rd Form | Audio/Action

[Mihawk is currently standing to the side of the main crossroad near the Good Spirits Bar, absently looking around and watching people fuss about their way what with the holiday spirit and such.]

Does anyone happen to have an estimate of how long will this glittery, colorful, over the top... celebration is going to last?

[Because he's seriously considering hitting the forest for a while until you people and your lights and trees and holiday cheer are done making him vaguely ill. And given how disgruntled he sounds, you can totally tell by his tone alone.

Congratulations, Luceti, you have a Grinch among your ranks.]

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[Sorry, but no. Norma blinks herself over the rim of her mug, raising a brow. Did she just...really almost make this stone wall of a man almost smile? Oho, she did, didn't she?! ha! Leader of the Laugh Brigade's still got it in her after all. She'll count it as her achievement of the day.

So, with a triumphant smirk, Norma just shrugs her shoulders and leans back to brace herself against the bar counter. She's not-so-subtly looking at Mihawk's sword now, admiring just how...expensive it looks. She was much too busy cowering before to appreciate such a thing before. But now that she can get a proper look at it...hm. *__*]

So where's you get that thing anyway, Bright Eyes? It's almost as big as I am, jeeez... Must be worth a fortune, too. ♥ Bet you could hack apart a whole cargo ship or something with that thing!

[lololololol because that's totally not possible at all, r-right? >__>]

[Mihawk arches an eyebrow at the question.]

For a single ship? That would be overkill.

[Now if we were talking about a fleet, that's more what it was made for. He nurses his drink slowly, vaguely entertained by Norma's curiosity. Hey, at least she's asking, instead of speculating outright. And he's in a placid enough mood as it is, so no explosions or violence for now.]

As for where she came from, that is a long story.

[A long, long story. Are you sure you wanna hear that?]

[For a second, Norma actually has to think on what Mihawk said firstly - overkill? Well, yeah, it'd be overkill! I mean, who the hell can really cut a ship in half? Ha...hahaa...She regards him, and that sword, with muted and expertly masked hesitation, then slides up to sit on the counter behind her.]

Everyone's out doing this holiday stuff, so...I've got time to spare. I mean, stories are meant to be told, right?

[She grins and reaches broadly. Maybe she can even crack open some of the alcohol for herself if the story gets really good. Something not too intense, and also easy to masquerade as a non-alcoholic drink. In case someone sees her. She's still underage, so...h e h.]

I do suppose you're right.

[Mihawk shrugs a little, taking another sip of his drink. It's an old story, really. But that's what you do to bartenders, he supposes, you tell them stories. He hasn't told this particular one in a very long time, not so much because he cares not to tell it, but because no one asks. Everyone just assumes Yoru belongs to him - and it does! - but they don't stop and wonder where it came from. Mihawk wonders if they think he crawled out of his mother's womb swinging Yoru about.]

I got it from the greatest swordsman in the world.

[With a tilt of her head, Norma waits for the weird-eyed man to speak, kicking her legs rather impatiently. Come on, get on wit--...man, that better be it, otherwise she's gonna be really, really disappointed. Her legs stop swinging and she casts Mihawk with a bit of a look, raising her eyebrow.]

Jeez, there better be more to it than that, otherwise that's the shortest "long story" I've ever heard. [But she waits. This guy just doesn't seem the type to just come across something like that. It looks too fancy and expensive to just randomly find or buy or something.] Sooo...you obviously beat this super-duper swordsm--

[Waaaait a minute.]

...Wouldn't that make you the greatest then? I mean, if you beat him and stuff.

[Norma, shut up and let the man tell his goddamn story, good lord.]

On a technicality, only.

[He sounds oddly amused by that.]

I would not be the greatest for a few years after that.

[Which is his roundabout way of saying: yes, yes he is. Except it wasn't getting Yoru from its previous owner that made him the greatest. It was taming her that made him the greatest. Subtle, but potent difference, there.]

Her previous owner was a rather irritating man, truth to be told. Lazy.

[Mihawk made laziness sound like the sin among sins, the way he said it.]

Unspeakably lazy. He made her do all the work for him, though admittedly she's good at what she does.

[He gives the blade a lopsided smile.]

He lived in an island all alone, with a so-called graveyard of swords outside his door. A terribly melodramatic man, you understand, the kind that has no finesse whatsoever, no understanding of subtlety.

[Said he, most melodramatic man on earth.]

[Norma knows how roundabout comments and vague wordplay goes, she's pretty good at that herself, so when it clicks that holy cow, she's talking to some like, super awesome greatest swordsman ever her eyes actually widen and take on a glaze of awesome. Now, she's usually a skeptic when it comes to these kinds of things, but there's just something about this guy that tells Norma he's being entirely truthful. Maybe it's the way he's speaking about his sword - which Norma gives another long look when he does - or the aforementioned look he gives the blade. Obviously it's got some value of a different sort to this old guy, so...yeah. This is kinda awesome right now. She's making friends with a total weirdo, but a strong one! And a really, really cool one!]

Well, I'm not one to talk about laziness - I got plenty of it - but I know how it goes when you really wanna do something for yourself. Something important. Something you could get help on...because it's available at the time, but you don't. You do it yourself, even if it's stupid and hard and takes a really, really freaking long time...

[Er--ahem. Whooo...spoke a little too much there, oops. Perking up again, Norma leans forward with a smile.] But that's so awesome! I mean, finding and winning something like that - that's definitely what I'd call a piece of treasure for sure! Can I touch your sword? Pleeeease~?

[Yep, she did so just ask that. WHAT, IT'S SHINY AND GOT GEMS AND SHIT ALL OVER IT. ~~Maybe she can pick one off when he's not looking...~~]

[The look Norma gets is the closest thing to a WTF look Mihawk has. It's priceless. It's also very short-lived. Soon enough, he's tilting his head to the side, squinting a little at her.]

I beg your pardon?

[You want to what.]

Edited 2013-01-15 20:54 (UTC)

[HAHA, wow, what a face. Norma barks out a quick laugh, grinning broadly. Was what she said really that surprising? Jeez, it's not like she's really gonna steal it! She'd never get away with such a bulky thing fast enough.]

Aw, c'mon! Please? From what you told me, that thing's a real treasure, right? And as the world's greatest Treasure Hunter [Yes, yes she did.] it's my job to inspect all sorts of rare and valuable treasures!

But seriously, I just wanna look at it. I've never seen a black sword before. [What kind of metal is that anyway, she wonders.]

There aren't many black swords left, these days.

[The comment is almost absent-minded as he's still trying to figure out what's going on inside her head.]

You might lose a hand in the attempt, she is a fussy sword.

[The inner working of Norma's mind are an enigma, truly and honestly. She is a special kind of creature through and through. However, now she's giving the sword a wary look, glancing from it back to Mihawk.]

...Jeez, you talk about that thing like it's alive or something. [A pause, before she leans away, a little, looking uneasy.] It's, uh...not, is it? Alive, I mean.

[Because living and/or possessed swords are actually a thing in her world.]

[He is officially trolling the shit out of you, Norma. He shrugs elegantly, expression neutral save for the small twitch of lips of his.]

Sometimes I wonder...

[Yeah, she's all but caught onto that fine little detail, though she does give the sword another hesitant look. It's honestly hard to guess correctly if this guy's being serious or not. Norma's finding that to be really, really annoying. Annoying, but fun at the same time. At least he's got a sense of humor! She kind of thought he was just one of those straight-faced homicidal maniacs that likes to bathe in the tears and blood of the innocent.

Yep.]

Wouldn't be the first time I've encountered that... Though yours is a heck of a lot nicer looking than the ones I've seen, that's for sure.

[And, despite Mihawk's threat, Norma's still kind of, slowly, carefully, SNEAKILY, edging one hand toward Yoru, her fingers skimming the surface of the counter.]

Swords tend to be like women.

[Mihawk watches her attempts to be sneaky with an amused twitch of lips.]

The prettier the deadlier.

[He's totally not thinking of a fellow Shichibukai. Of course not.]

[Norma's hand stops, if only because she herself has to pause and digest his words a little bit. Slowly, she turns her head to face Mihawk completely and gives him a very pointed look.]

...If you tell me you're married to this thing, I will lose whatever respect I've stored up already for you, Bright Eyes.

[A single eyebrow arches at her.]

You must have very interesting customers, if that's your logical conclusion after that statement.

[Norma grins a rather wolfish grin and leans forward to brace her elbows on the counter top, leaning her cheek on hand hand. The other resumes it's sneaking toward Yoru again.]

You don't know the half of half of it. Ha! [SHE GOT IT. Or, well, at least she's got one finger touching the large, circular jewel topping the blade's hilt.] Victory!

[Because Mihawk is Mihawk, as soon as she gets her hand on Yoru, he subtly nudges the sword with a foot, so it slides slightly to the side. Of course, given the size of the thing, slightly is enough to seem like it's moving on its own.]

Careful with that, now.

[Trolling? Of course he's trolling.]

[Uttering the most girliest of squeaks, Norma retracts her hand faster than anything else, holding it close to her chest. The amount of space she jumped back (crashed back, really) is hilarious in it's own right.]

[...Uncool, man. B|]

That wasn't funny!

[Mihawk arches an eyebrow at her, expression not so much innocent as carefully blank.]

I am not laughing.

[Yes, yes he is.]

Yeah, but you look smug about it!

[Just remember, Mihawk, she can very easily spit in your glass the next time she serves you.]

[This is not a very deeply rooted fear and he's fairly certain an acceptable danger of teasing one's bartender.]

Do I?

[He even blinks, as if surprised by that notion.]

I suppose I do.

[Deadpan, Norma. ALL THE DEADPAN.]

[She deals with Marco's deadpan on a regular basis, but good lord, there is something inherently more obnoxious about Mihawk's. And she has to fight back the temptation to deck him - it's a powerful urge.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WHAT SHE'S GONNA DO?! HMMMMM?

She is going to pout. But then she is going to put her entire hand on the top of Mihawk's sword like a boss. AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE?!]

I'll tip it over.

[YEAH, YOU HEARD HER.]

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