THE MOMENT
"Welcome to my throne room, Hero," Dark Lord Darkmoon began his greeting with his back exposed. Then he slowly turned to formally appraise his guest. "Here you will face your dea--what the hell are you wearing?" He asked and rushed to close the gap between them to get a better look. The thief for hire appeared to be wearing a pond as a trench coat. The watery surface fell down around her shoulders and down below her knees. The defined shape of her sleeves was only visible if she moved her arms. At rest her arms and torso seemed to belong to the same body of water. J.J. the Hero laughed as he grabbed the liquid-like cloth of her coat.
"I don't know how to tell you this Aury, but Ozone's got you figured out," she grinned.
"Yeah, he's good at his job. What is this?" He asked while playing with the fabric. He held his hand inside the coat, supporting it, and touched the outside to make it ripple.
"It's called hydro-cloth," she said. "Starla unloaded some unused Chroma Corp. assets with Ozone, and it was in the box."
"Can I try it on?" he was already trying to pull it off her shoulder, and she took a step back.
"We're in a game, and this is part of my equipment," she said.
"Fine, I don't care," he nodded and stuck his hand out at her. "Hit me, defeat the Dark Lord."
"Are you sure?" she sighed. She did expect it, that was why she wore the jacket. It was what she'd wanted, but now that she was at that point, she did feel kind of guilty. "I mean... you paid for me to be here." He'd hired a mercenary to game with him. It might've been overkill for some, but he insisted on challenging himself.
"Yeah, it's fine. I'll just do it again later, this jacket looks awesome," he nodded again and wiggled his fingers at her.
"Alright, here goes," J.J. nodded and gave his hand a playful swat.
"The Dark Lord wishes to surrender," he said. He immediately logged out, and his imposing armored form disintegrated around him. The crumbling dust revealed a portly teenager with bushy brown hair. At the same moment, J.J. received a 'Quest Complete' notification in her vision.
"Job done," she nodded and slid out of the liquid duster to let him try it on.
"Whoaaa...," he stood still with his arms straight out to take in all the sensations. He felt like he was underwater without any of the pressure. The coat was lighter than air, but constant streams flowed past his arms like a lazy river. It was a strange, ghostly sensation without any of the wetness associated with water. "How much?" he asked. There was no point in pretending he wasn't interested or trying to haggle.
"25," J.J. smiled. She didn't dislike him as much as some people did, but she also had permission to take whatever cut she could get on this particular sale. It was part of the reason she felt so guilty giving the game up so easily; she was already planning to walk away with most of his money. 25 was just a high starting point. She might as well have said 37 kajillion.
"25 times your fee...?" he asked. J.J. perked up; was he considering it? She'd been told she had to earn twice her standard fee for her boss, and she could keep anything else. She'd also been given the advice that '15' wouldn't be unreasonable, so she aimed even higher.
"I can do 20," he nodded. "Any chance you'll let me get it comfortably?"
"For you, Aury? Sure," J.J. nodded. He was an odd negotiator and only good at it when he wanted to come out ahead. Any other time, he always went after whatever he wanted in the most direct way possible. If he accidentally realized it wasn't worth that amount, the price would drop fast.
"Awesome, thanks," he nodded. "So... can I hire you for another game?" he asked.
"Sorry," J.J. shrugged. "I'm booked right now."
"You were booked to be my hero," he reminded her with an encouraging nod.
"Job's done," she replied with a nod. From one moment to the next, she was suddenly wearing her usual black leather duster. She was about to leave.
"So, why can't I hire you again right now?"
"I separated a whole chunk of time for this, but I got the job done early." She smiled and disappeared into a black hole at her feet. "And, Ozone said I get to keep anything extra I earn."