Chapter Four

"So uhhh . . . remind me again why we need to go grocery shopping?"

Louise turned and scowled at her companion. He'd asked that same inane question at least five times already, and she was only halfway through her list. If he kept going on the way he was, she wasn't sure she could handle it without snapping and using him for 'target practice'.

"I already told you, it's not grocery shopping. I'm restocking my stores of alchemy reagents."

It was infuriating the way his eyebrow slowly rose with practiced fluidity as the two walked through the aisles of shelving within Peyman's Potion Emporium, as if to say "Are you sure you actually know what you're talking about?" Of course she knew what she was talking about! She was the mage, not him!

"But it just looks like a bunch of weird plants and bottles of juice. . ."

"They are not weird plants and bottles of juice, you twit! These are very potent ingredients for the crafting of potions and elixirs!" the petite, strawberry-blonde mage heatedly exclaimed while gesturing toward the hodgepodge of plants and vials of liquid she held in her arms, "These are Moongrass and dried Waking Willow moss, which can be used to craft sleeping potions and antidotes; this vial contains a mixture of powdered salamander scales and-"

"Alright, yeesh . . . no need to give me the whole spiel. . ." the girl's redheaded companion interrupted, before yawning into the back of his hand, "What I meant, Louise, is 'why did I need to come'? I could've just stayed at the Academy and, ya know, slept. Like normal people do in the morning."

Louise scoffed at the question, "And leave you to your own devices all day? I think not. Founder only knows how much trouble you'd end up causing."

John gave a pout at that, lightly nudging the younger girl's arm with his elbow as she reached for another ingredient on the shelves, and receiving a sharp glare in response.

"C'mon, I'm not that bad. . ."

"You ARE that bad. And stop that!" the blonde cried out, as her companion's elbow once more bumped her hand off course, nearly causing her to knock a bowl of dragons' teeth onto the floor.

"Stop what?" the boy returned as he nudged her reaching arm a third time.

"GHAAAA! I SWEAR, IF YOU DON'T CUT IT OUT I'M GOING TO-"

"Ah-hem"

John and Louise both turned and looked towards the shopowner, who sat behind the counter gazing at the pair in disapproval.

"I-I'm so sorry! We'll be done soon, I promise!" Louise quickly bowed her head towards the man before turning around and swiping what she needed off the shelf before John could interrupt her again. The two recommenced their wandering through the shelves in silence, for a few minutes at least.

". . . So why are we here again?"

Louise twitched.

'I'm going to kill him. I swear by the Founder, I'm going to kill him.'

-)|(-

"Jeeeezus, I thought we'd never get out of there. . ."

Louise turned and aimed a sharp glare at the boy who'd been nothing but a thorn in her side all morning, "Well maybe if someone hadn't been such a nuisance, we'd have gotten through it quicker."

"Sorry Louise, but I'm afraid my hands are tied. Annoying you is in the job description. Trust me, I read the fine print."

"You're the worst."

"I know you are, but what am I?"

"Incorrigible."

"Gesundheit."

"Do you practice being this insufferable or something?"

John thumbed the side of his nose and grinned down at his petite companion, "Yes, actually. It's a skill I've been developing since birth. I'm quite proud of it."

Louise's shoulders sagged in defeat as the two slowly made their way from the backstreets of Tristania back towards the stables at the edge of town. Why couldn't she have summoned something easier to handle? Why couldn't she have summoned something more impressive, like Tabitha's dragon that she could show off in front of everyone with? Why oh why did she have to get stuck with this boy as her familiar? He'd been nothing but trouble since he showed up. . .

"Oi, Louise. . ."

She turned her attention to the boy at her side. . .

"What is i-AAAGH!"*THUD*

. . . and promptly tripped right over a misaligned cobblestone, spilling all the alchemy ingredients she'd toiled the last two hours to purchase right out of her arms and onto the street around them.

"Watch your step."

The boy's woefully delayed warning fell on deaf ears, as Louise was too busy lying face-down in the middle of the street in catatonic shock as the various herbs and tinctures she'd spent all morning acquiring ran together with leftover rainwater from the previous evening, eventually settling into so much unusable sludge.

Expensive, unusable sludge.

Expensive and unusable sludge that now pooled around her prone form and soaked into her clothes.

John nudged the younger girl in the side of the head with his foot. Repeatedly.

"Hey Louise, you alright? Louise? Louiiiiiiiiiiiise? L-Money? Ground Control to Major Bomb?"

He received no response.

AN: Just a quickie to keep you all satisfied while I keep working on the next chapter, in which we'll meet the second Stand of the story! Have fun guessing who it is! (Here's a hint: It's a Stand from the JoJo canon)

As far as this particular chapter goes, I like to imagine John and Louise's relationship to be similar to that of contentious siblings- they tend to drive each-other up the wall, but they do care about one-another and they'll always have the other's back when the chips are down.

'Till next time!

Disclaimer: I own neither Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, nor any associated characters and settings.