Sins of the First: To Be an Artificer

[CautionCat]

Konane had been busy making a "nest" in the claimed room she and Alastair took. Was she going too fast with this? They've known one another for about... almost four months now. They started dating... about last week... She stood in the room, dressed in her sleeping attire, looking over the mass of pillows on the bed. Thinking. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, hearing the slight creak of the wood beneath the carpet on the floor.

She was used to fast relationships. And by relationships, she simply had "things" for certain people. Short flings. Except that one man- he wanted to be serious. She just wanted sex. Now, she just... wanted to be with Alastair. Something about him made her think differently. Maybe it was because most of the guys she was with- shortly- were just... objects. Alastair was a person- he had a mind of his own, and had a wealth of knowledge. She loved listening to him, and the longer she was with him, the closer she got to him.

She wanted to know more- she was always curious of his work. Artificer. A class that intrigued her. She didn't know what it was until she met him. Now she wanted to know more. She wanted to make things... maybe a flying broom of her own.

Thinking, rubbing her chin, she sighed. He really was a workaholic- it was getting late, and she was getting sleepy. Maybe if she laid down for a bit, he would eventually make his way to bed. So, that is what she did. Crawling into the bed, she got herself cozy with the pillows and blanket, and cozier when she shifted into her hybrid form- nice, thick fur to keep her toasty.

[opius]

It had been months since Alastair had a chance to sink his teeth into a project like this. With so much to build and fix on the ship, there was no shortage of opportunities to slake his thirst. He followed under the patient direction of Lucius and tried his best to stay focused, but truthfully Alastair was like a sponge with an attention deficit.

From one task to another, he kept both mental and physical notes as bursts of hyper focusing stole hours of his time. With his prototype Giant's Bracelet firmly affixed, he has strength enough to keep up with even Jaeger's able body- whom he shared much of the tasks with.

That is until even Jaeger insisted it was time to rest. With the engineering team having called it quits, and at the firm insistence of The Doctor, Alastair begrudgingly relented. It had been a fine day of busy work, and the first real chance to do... Well, what he'd set out to do. He reflected on his travels, the journey so far, and his reasons for leaving home as he made his way to the room he'd picked out.

This was the first time he actually got to act as a journeyman. Not a cleric, quartermaster, spelunker or strategist- but a traveling tradesman working under an actual tutor. It was nice. It was exciting!

It felt normal. He was in his element and it reminded him of home.

He absently entered the room, neither loudly nor carefully. Scanning the dark room he fiddled with the clasps which held his overalls up. Konane had definitely done a lot to make it homey- but the pile of pillows where the cot used to be caught his attention the most. Scratching his head, unbuckling the other strap, he took a seat where he thought the edge of the bed was and started removing the gear.

[CautionCat]

Konane watched him come in, and would cast a few balls of light for him to see what he was doing. Yes, she was still awake. She glanced him over where he sat, and sat up in bed, yawning.

"You have... a different set of clothes." She blinked a little, never seeing the overalls before. "Assuming you found them laying around... they look nice on you."

She shuffled and swung her legs over the side of the bed and pillows, sitting next to him. She got a good look at his face, his messy hair, and shook her head. "You look very messy. Did you climb into the machines?"

[opius]

"Oh! Good evening- thought you were asleep." He chuckled as the lights came on, but proceeded as he had been to disrobe. "The ship came with some abandoned amenities, and the crew scrounged for some supplies at the docks. Can really do ship work in your traveling clothes! These overalls are durable but they're not quite a fit." He shuffled the work wear down from his shoulders and wiggled his body free bit by bit.

"But they get the job done. And yes, it's been a day. I've been told not to follow Albert's lead of climbing into the narrow spaces, but his methods are pretty practical and I'm pretty small. Most of the schmoo is actually from replacing and maintaining- aetheric rebounds tend to manifest as fire or electricity in this ships configuration and both produce a fair bit of carbon buildup." He glanced back at her.

"I'm not too messy am I? I can go find a spot to towel down if it's going to ruin your, uh, nest."

[CautionCat]

She smiled, nodding as he spoke, and giggled when he said not to follow Albert's lead. "No, I do not want you to be getting stuck."

"Mmmn... Maybe Taliesin has the springs to bathe in, in the Glade." She wiggled he fingers to at least get the grease off his face. "I think a nice hot soak after such a day of... events... would be good for both of us. Do you agree?"

[opius]

He scrunched his face as the magic tingled the skin. After the spell subsided he thought it over. "It's been a little while since we had a good bath... Though don't you think it's a bit late?" He tilted his head and thought a bit.

"... Well I suppose I'm still not very sleepy, come to think of it..."

[CautionCat]

"It is late, but we do not have much to do until we get to Astor. So... more relaxing until we have another fight." She smiled, and kissed his freshly cleaned cheek.
"Come, put your weird pants back on." And she would stand up, and ready herself to leave to the Glade.

[opius]

"wh-they're not weird, they're practical!" Alastair hopped and scrambled to get his clothes back on before following Konane out the door.

The thought of Astor City had him thinking quietly, reflecting on their adventure so far. A lot had happened to kick start their travel back there. That's where they'd first met Alain, had their first victory in escorting the duchess of Kyra (though they hadn't known it at the time). Thinking back, it was hard to believe they'd come that far. And to think what they were doing now...

Was this what Fenderberrin's party was like? Had Alain had reflections like this? What of Lilly... He pondered more, imagining these near strangers in similar situations. Who was the 'Taliesin' of that group? The Doctor and that Dragonborn would have made good frenemies, he thought.

Konane found he was silent as they walked through the ship. She knew by now when his gears were turning- his facial movements, his folding and unfolding of his arms...

[CautionCat]

"What are you pondering?" She nudged his shoulder as they walked their way to the Glade. Her baggy night shirt swished with her movements, her tail swaying back and forth with her hips.

"You have that look about you like you are deep in thought." Finding the entrance to the Glade would be easy, Taliesin making a point of letting everyone know where he placed it. Surely he would sense someone coming into it. Maybe. She didn't know how this thing worked, only that it made food and hot water, and a place to sleep. And a meeting hall... and who else knew.

[opius]

He glanced up, coming out of his reverie abruptly, as if he'd been caught doing something he ought not be. "Buh? Oh, uh... Just thinking, I guess..."

He rubbed his chin as they passed the threshold of the glade's door, the sound of ship creaks and engine hums fading away instantly. "... Do you ever wonder how things would have gone if we'd done things differently? If we hadn't gone through the Astor wood, or if we'd gone deeper into the fields of mourning. Or if we'd taken the lightning rail instead of the humminbird." He tilted his head.

"...or if we'd been born somewhere else. Thinking back on our adventure, a lot of things needed to line up just so. I guess I'm mostly reminiscing about the story so far." He laughed. "...I wonder how Jennar will embellish our stories. If they tell our story at all."

[CautionCat]

Konane blinked some, surprised at how deep in thought he had gone in such a short time. But, he also may had this on his mind for some time... She shrugged, chuckling. "I do wonder, I think that is just natural. Especially if you feel like something could have gone differently."

She shrugged, as they made their way to the hot springs, sighing some and turning to him. "I sometimes wish I was raised wherever the other Hengeyokai are. My Nana always wanted me to go there, but my Mam wanted to keep with my Papa's wishes. I do not know what... conflicts he had there, but it seemed like he really wanted to live closer into the towns of Otori than the woods. Maybe he wanted... to be normal?" Konane shook her head, and lifted the hem of her nightgown.

As she did so, she shifted back into her human state, simply because having wet fur was not comfortable. Plus, soft skin from a good scrub was much nicer to feel. She folded her gown, and loosened her ties on her underwear, setting everything aside as she continued to talk.

"As you can tell, my family had a lot of conflict with how I should be raised. If my Papa was not away, my Nana would have never been written to, to come help my Mam with my... gift."

[opius]

He thought on her words a moment. "huh... You know, if you think about it, our fathers kind of set us up on the directions we ended up heading. If I hadn't ended up living with Rose in Liore, I might have ended up... I don't know, in Iliya? At the white tower... Studying under the first Sage. As a Wizard.." He grimaced visibly.

Stripping down, he set his clothes aside and gave himself a quick once over, as though ensuring his freckles were all in place. He then made his way into the steaming hotspring. It was surprising not to run into anyone- but it was also late, and it seemed both Sae and Taliesin, the other night owls, were getting close with their respective... Companions?

"Though... I didn't always have a grasp on magic. I might not have ended up a wizard at all. Or maybe i'd have flourished? Tapped into some wild magic or fae chicanery from Alain's side of the family... Or made a pact like Taliesin."

He shrugged. "It could have been different. It's... Interesting to read it back and see what brought us here."

[CautionCat]

"Fate is interesting." She stepped into the spring, and got cozy next to Alastair. For now, she soaked. There were bars of soap nearby, but she wanted to get her skin nice and warm before she would start to scrub. "I would have never left Otori, if I lived in the woods with those like me. Maybe someday, I will meet them..."

"But, I need to find my Papa first." Konane nodded, smiling. "I will have to get magic spy glass, to peer over the ship as we fly by, to spot him out on the ground." She chuckled, and leaned her shoulder against his.

"He would know where they hide. My Mam does not know... He never told her. Lots of mystery." She shrugged, and looked to him.

"I think you make a better artificer than a wizard. You have too much creativity, how bored you would be writing scrolls instead of making things. You tinker! You thrive with gears and grease."

[opius]

He nodded, slowly. "Certainly I have lots of... Trinkets and tools and things. But Wizards, they're..." He sighed. "... They're on a different level. Whereas I can bend a piece of steel into a shield, they can bend the very fabric of reality. Wizards like- like the first Sage, even- they're on a different level. They know the universe and how to shift it around, and that's just... Inspiring? In a way?" He looked toward her.

"I'd thought it was the ultimate tinkering- using math and movement and words to change the world. And then I met you and -nothing- was quite as simple." He shrugged some. "... Maybe there's a place for Artifice on the cosmic scale. Maybe I'll discover that in my travels. For now... I suppose I'm stuck thinking what if."

He slinked deeper, half laying in the water as his shoulders pressed against the wall of the spring. "...as for your papa... Well, if the Palantir wasn't cursed, that might have been an option. Supposing he's not protected like you are."

[CautionCat]

"Yes... We could spy on him, but I do not know him very well. Just through story, and paintings." She sunk with him, sighing softly as she did so. Her foot nudged his under the water, sole rubbing the top of his foot.

"I was very little when he left. Just... hazy memories..." She tilted her head some. "Magic works in strange ways, with all people. Wizards have to study their magic, they have rules. For me, I just... do what I feel. I can... make little wishes and change things." She tapped her nose, smiling.

"But you can make something do the magic for you, and give it life. You can... do wonderful things with your own skills. Look at Hermes and Emmet! I would love to make things like that! Or bring life to something... You make it work, too."

She pursed her lips some, and sat up to face him. "How difficult would it be if you taught me more than just how you did things? Have me... try making something..."