Chapter Text
Nell heaved out a sigh, as she slumped over her workbench, repolishing a pair of handguns absentmindedly. Business has been unusually slow the past few weeks due to a massive demon outbreak in a neighbouring city calling away all of her usual customers.
While the demon hunting community was small, no hunter didn't know the name of the .45 Calibre Virtuoso, the best gunsmith this half of the hemisphere. As such, Nell was used to having a backlog of orders constantly vying for her attention, but the lull in business meant that for the first time in a long time she had absolutely nothing to do, and Nell for one was bored out of her mind.
Just as she was considering closing up the shop, the bell on the main entrance gave a cheerful twinkle, accompanied by a pair of heavy footsteps.
Hearing this, Nell immediately straightened up and hastily wiped her hands on a rag before heading out to the front desk.
“Welcome to .45 Caliber Art Warks, what can I do for ya…” Nell trailed off as she got her first good look at the person who walked in.
The first thing she noticed was his hair, a shockingly pure snowy white that shone through despite being caked in a layer of grime and dust. Coupled a flashy and loud red coat, he looked so outworldly that Nell almost missed his scrawny stature and gangly limbs that gave away his age.
“Hey kid, you in the wrong place or what?” Nell asked with a raised eyebrow. “This shop ain't for lil squirts like you.”
“HEY! Who you calling a squirt you old fart? I’m 18 dammit, not a kid!” The kid spluttered indignantly, his brow furrowed in clear annoyance.
“Old fart?! How old do you think I am you little brat? Get the hell out of my shop before I throw you out! Don’t think I’m scared to throw hands with a baby like you. I’ll do it!” Nell growled, slamming her hands on her desk threateningly.
The kids merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow, before swinging his backpack off and placing it in front of her with a loud thump.
“You Nell Goldstein?” he asked. “I heard you buy spare parts.”
“And who told you that?” Nell asked as she leaned back to cross her arms, eyeing the beat up backpack with disdain.
“The guys at Bobby's Cellar.” The kid replied with a shrug before opening the bag to reveal a large number of spare demon parts crammed unceremoniously inside.
Nells eyebrow, which was already raised, climbed past her hairline as she took stock of everything in the bag.
While the parts all clearly came from low level demons, with a couple of Marionette masks and a handful of Empusa legs, it was still a rather sizeable collection.
“I got some red orbs too if you want em.” The kid said casually as he dug his hands into the pockets of his coat, oblivious to Nells growing scepticism.
“ Alright kid,” Nell said with a sigh, pushing the backpack slightly to the side to look him in his eyes. “what's your name?”
The kid stiffened ever so slightly before slouching back down down, trying to play off the uncomfortable tense in his shoulders at that question. “Tony…”
“Ok Tony, I’m gonna level with you. You can tell whichever sleaze ball from Bobby’s to come to me themselves. They aint scoring any extra sympathy from me by sending a scrawny kid to do their business for them.” Nell said with a gentle but firm tone as she zipped the backpack back up and pushed it towards the newly christened Tony.
“What?” Tony replied, confusing written all over his face.
“You heard me kid, let's not play this game. We both know you ain’t the one who caught all this.” Nell said, waving her hands at the back pack.
“Trust me, you don’t want to get caught up with this whole demon hunting business. I’ve seen too many good men go down due to just one bad day or one bad move. Get out while you can.”
“Wait what? You think I’m some errand boy?” Tony growled indignantly, finally catching on to what Nell was saying. “Hell no! I'm not working for anyone, I caught all these bastards myself!”
“Uh huh” Nell said sarcastically, folding her left arm onto the desk and propping her chin onto her right. “Sure you did, bet you strangled them with your bare hands? Or maybe you asked them nicely to please die for you. Nice try.”
“UGH! Fine! Fine! I’ll prove it!” Tony scrowled as he slapped his hands onto the desk before shoving his hands into his breast pocket and drawing out a crumpled flyer. “This your job?” he asked as he shoved the flyer at Nells face.
Nell instinctively drew back, shooting Tony with a glare before reaching out to take the flyer and studying it. It was an old job posting she put up for some Riot tails. Unfortunately Riots tend to show up in large hoards, which made this job extra dangerous, and only groups of experienced hunters would even consider taking it on. Coupled with the fact that the city was currently a ghost town in terms of hunters, it was no wonder her commission was still unanswered.
“Yeah it's mine… dammit I really needed those tails for a custom build.” Nell scrowled. “I could probably send the call out to my contacts, but that could take months… or maybe I should just replace it…”
“I’ll take the job.” Tony cut in, breaking off Nells musing.
“What? Don’t be stupid kid.” Nell said, waving him off absentmindedly, already making plans to contact a few brokers she knew.
“I’m serious dammit. There's no one else in the city that can take this job, so if I bring you your tails you know I’m legit.” Tony said defiantly, swinging his backpack on his shoulder and turning to walk out the door.
“Hey! Hey! This ain’t a joke kid! You’re gonna get yourself killed!” Nell called after him, but Tony just gave a dismissive little wave as he pushed his way out the door.
“Your funeral kid, don’t say I didn't warn you!” Nell yelled after his retreating back.
“Not a kid!” was his distant reply as he vanished down the street.
“Geez… what a weirdo.” Nell sighed, running her fingers through her hair.
She sat idly for a few minutes, drumming her fingers on her desk while eyeing her phone, before picking it up and dialling up her contacts.
“Hey, I need you to look someone up…”