"You want some of my machines?" Holding that thought for a few seconds, Dante looked up at his bony friend and let a grin spread on his face. "It’ll cost you."
The faint green glint in Lev’s dark eyes shimmered, and as his smile stretched the weathered skin of his face, it suddenly grew brighter.
"Oh, c’mon, Dante~! We’re friends, aren’t we~!?"
He laughed and shook him with a force one wouldn’t expect from those skinny arms. Dante didn’t resist for a while, and though it was fun at first, he eventually had to wrestle himself out of the skeleton’s grip.
"Okay, okay! I get it!" He held his hands up and gestured for him to calm down. "But seriously, Lev, I can’t just give you the stuff."
"Yeah, seriously." Sighing, Dante smiled wryly. "You know I’ve been trying to get my hands on some Titan Forge stuff, right? I really need the money."
"Titan Forge, huh..." Crossing his arms, the bony guy craned his neck and stared at the ceiling. "You’re setting the bar too high, lil bro."
"I’m the last guy who would bother with brands, but... You gotta admit, they really know their stuff."
When it comes to bionics and cybernetic implants, Titan Forge wasn’t only at the top of the field, it dwarfed its competition entirely. The quality of their products was so high that all other manufacturers dreaded the day they would switch their focus from militaristic applications.
One could argue that Radmir owed its victory in the last war to Titan Forge, and even now that Genomes were slowly taking over, no one dared to make the mistake of thinking they would soon fall into obscurity.
Truth be told, Dante knew all too well how unrealistic his desire was. Titan Forge tech wasn’t meant for a random merc with barely any money to spare. It would take him decades to finish replacing even half of his organs with their stuff so the only sensible choice was to find some alternative, and he wasn’t so stubborn that he would refuse to take that route.
Meeting Volcan had convinced him that he would need to lower his standards, seeing as his time might run out at any moment. That’s what he thought, at least until he discussed the matter more thoroughly in the past few days.
"To be honest, Dante, selling that stuff won’t get you more than a single TF arm," Lev said, his voice more subdued. "And I’m talking about the lower grades."
"It’s good to dream, but aren’t you rushing things too much?" Said Boris. "Why not get some of the normal stuff first, then upgrade when you have the Gs?"
"That was the plan, but..."
Right now, he needed to make money wherever he could. Since he could only do low-level gigs, and since he has yet to get the Gs from his other business endeavor, the machines were his best chance at bumping his budget up a little. He was planning other ways to make money as well, and one in particular required a specific set of expertise. The kind his bony friend was infamous for.
Making a show of thinking about something, Dante let his shoulders slump as he sighed.
"Alright, since we’re friends, I will give you a very big discount, but... well, I need you to do me a favor."
Lev raised an eyebrow and lowered the other, making it appear as if his eyes were changing shape. The next moment, they shot wide open, the light in their depth growing brighter.
"I see what you’re doing." He said and wore his usual grin, exposing his teeth. "Alright, you have a deal!"
Dante opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and frowned.
"That... was way too quick..."
"C’mon, lil bro, you’re making it way too obvious!" Lev let out a short laugh. "Seriously though, you don’t need to offer me anything when asking for a favor, so long as it’s within my means, of course."
"Hey now," Dante’s frown deepened. "Are you guilt-tripping me now?"
"Yeah... yeah it is..."
knowing what kind of favor he was going to ask him for, Dante didn’t expect his bony friend to accept right away. He was preparing for a hard sell before and after convincing him to accept the deal, expecting him to want out as soon as he explained what it was that he wanted from him. Looking at him now, however, Dante got the feeling that he wouldn’t need to do any of that.
"Seriously, man, you got me." Shaking his head, he smiled. "Take your pick of the machines. I just have something I want you to take a look at."
"You want me to check something for you?" Lev tilted his head.
"Yeah. I don’t have it on me right now." Dante motioned for the big guy beside him then spoke with a grin. "Boris here still has his old heart. I don’t want to stop it by accident so I will bring it next time."
"Yeah, count me out." Boris held his hands in front of him and backed away. "I’m done being shocked by you. Make sure to warn me every time."
The three got a good laugh then talked some more. Dante asked for the details about what happened to Lev’s old place and the bony guy recounted the whole thing, bragging about how he had a brief clash with one of the heroes and still got away.
Though they had more things to talk about, Boris suggested they leave it for another time. They went there to deliver a package, and now that it was done, they had to move on to the next errand on the list. Lev had his own work to take care of as well.
"It was good to see you again, Dante." Patting his shoulder, Lev flashed his teeth with another grin. "I’ll look forward to that thing you mentioned before."
"I will drop by in a couple of days so... yeah. See you around, Lev."