Chapter Text
“Greens! Get yer greens!” Aria called from the fountain. She wasn’t sure how Carla had gotten permission for them to set up a stand for their “fundraiser” at what was probably the most visited spot in Akademeia, and she wasn’t about to ask. The important things right now were the facts: she was running the stand, there were plenty of potential customers walking around, and how much gil she got directly depended on how much she sold. “Greens! Get yer motherfrickin’ greens!”
“Greens?” A cadet from Class Second stopped in front of Aria. “I came to look at the Vermilion Bird and immerse myself in culture like a responsible student.” She looked up at the stone sculpture, then to the items Aria had on display. “But damn, I love me some greens! Whatchu got, girl?” Aria smirked. “Oh, we got that real good shit. Farm fresh, locally grown. Plenty of variety too. Here’s the stuff you actually feed your chocobos.” She gestured toward a large bundle of greens. “Then we have what you’re really lookin’ for.” She pointed to different bundles. “Between Truth and Lies – not to be confused with the sandwich, though if you put ‘em together it’s frickin’ amazing. Meme It Green It, real popular around here. Crazy Chocobo, probably the best deal we got, aaaand if you’re just plain frickin’ nuts, we have…Ultima.”
The cadet looked over the display. “Hm…How much for a bundle of Meme It Green It?” “Eight thousand gil,” Aria replied without missing a beat. “Oh. Uh…” The cadet scratched her head. “That’s a little over my budget…I don’t suppose you haggle, do you?” “Take it or leave it, lady,” Aria said. “Hm…Next time then,” the cadet sighed before leaving. “Every frickin’ fricker around here is so cheap,” Aria muttered to herself. “These’re the lowest prices Akademeia’s seen since last month!”
“Excuse me.” Aki smiled at Aria, who nodded. “You finna buy some high quality greens?” “Of course,” Aki said. “The…young chocobo that I’m tending to at the ranch is very, very hungry.” “Is it now?” Aria asked, her interest piqued now that Aki had taken out her wallet. “Just how hungry?” “Starving,” Aki said. “And I want to make sure that never happens again.” Aria began to gather bundles of greens for her customer. “Yeah. It’d be a real frickin’ shame if that poor thing were to go hungry.”
“And just like that, I’m outta stock and hundreds of thousands of gil richer,” Aria reported. “How’s business here?” Carla looked around the Ready Room. “You know how it is. They’re not keen on…fundraising…inside the building, so we have to keep it discreet. They come to me, though. Pay up front while Mr. Chef over there isn’t looking, then pick up some ‘study material’ later at my room. It works for me!” “Yeah, okay, whatever, how much you make?” Aria asked. “About twenty thousand,” Carla said. “And like we agreed, we’ll split our combined profits fifty-fifty.”
“While I don’t believe you only made that much for one frickin’ second,” Aria said. “Gil is gil. Catch ya later?” “Oh!” Carla paused her third count of her revenue. “Can you go check and make sure Izana hasn’t passed out in the field again?” Aria folded her arms. “Wait…he realizes he doesn’t get paid for this, right?” “I told him we’re donating a portion of the revenue to fight chocobo abuse,” Carla said nonchalantly. Aria gave a blank stare. “Nobody abuses chocobos…unless ya count letting ‘em run away into monster territory a few minutes after summoning them to be abuse…But that’s nature.” “It is,” Carla said. “Now, go make sure nature doesn’t kill our supplier with death beams from the sun.”
So, Aria fulfilled one of her many duties as a vendor of greens.