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(no subject)

Who: Lup + anyone!
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Heron / Iskaulit
When: Nowish

Hey there, fleeter friends, let me pick your brain for a few minutes, get those creative juices flowing.

If you could have any kind of magical weapon, armor, or a fancy artifact- what would it be, and what could it do? The theoretical sky is the limit, here, this is just a fun thought experiment.

[Toooootally theoretical. She's not fishing for new stuff to work on, no sir.

Lup can be found easily enough in person as needed, either in her room or in the kitchen on the Heron, or messing around in the smithy onboard the Iskaulit. It's project time.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[By the time Haggar arrives, Lup has already plopped herself down on the floor to dote on Kova, cooing affectionately at him as she scratches behind his ears and under his chin. Haggar gets a smile as she looks up.]

Hey there. Feeling adventurous today? This one's a role-reversal.

[Not a complaint, of course. Company's always nice, just a bit surprising.]

A bit.

[She agrees, nodding as she watches the pair interact. Kova as always seems pleased with the scritches.]

... Kova and I were feeling restless, so I thought that we would stop by and see you ourselves this time, as a... change of pace.

[Because sometimes that realization of loneliness was just too... keen to bear it alone.]

Sounds about right. Either way, you're welcome any time, so it's fine.

[That's really the only cure for loneliness- company. The kitchen for once isn't a bustle of activity despite her presence there; a couple of dishes and a sinkful of soapy water gives the only indication of what she was there for, and there's a mild scent of something recently cooked and eaten. She's been busy with her other projects today.

She gives the cat a gentle tap on the nose.]

Well, buddy? You wanna hang here, or should I let Ditto tire you out again?

[Her familiar, that is.]

... Thank you.

[It was difficult to not get locked into brooding, after what had happened. Having that chance robbed away, without knowing where it might have led. Company--especially Lup's, because she understood--was what... helped keep the worse of it away, when other distractions failed. Another person's voice, another person's problems, or lighter distractions, anything to keep her from fixating on the worst of it all and backsliding.]

Even so, I hope we have not interrupted any plans of yours. It seems like you're finishing up here.

[Kova boops back at her playfully, rubbing his head against her, and then turning around in a circle.]

[Lup doesn't speak cat, but she can certainly take a guess, and when Kova spins she smiles and snaps her fingers. With a flash of arcane energy the mongoose materializes on her shoulder, who then wastes no time in climbing down and rubbing affectionately up against the cat.]

Yeah, I just ate, so don't worry about interrupting. I've got projects on the go, but they're still in the planning phase. Better to not rush 'em, or they'll blow up in my face.

[Kova certainly has a lot of restless energy, and even though he enjoys petting time with Lup, the chance to interact with the other animal helps alleviate another sort of loneliness. The cat seems pleased once the mongoose makes an appearance. Better to play here than to bother Haggar's poor robots--well, the cat would find that entertaining either way.]

... that is reasonable. Did you receive many requests?

A shitton of them, actually.

[Or like, ten. Maybe. Still a lot, considering how long artificing takes.]

It'll keep me busy for a while, that's for sure. Assuming some folks can afford my services.

[No promises, there.]

Perhaps so.

[She's quiet, considering.]

Is there one that strikes you as more... difficult than the others?

[Not that she's familiar with Lup's particular flavor of item creation as opposed to what she could accomplish with her own abilities, but she couldn't deny that it had caught her interest. And in truth, she was glad that Lup had found something more to do with her time here that would keep her occupied with purpose.]

Hmm... probably the guy looking for interdimensional storage. It's a lot of work, and expensive as hell to prep, besides. Gonna need an advance payment on that one, for sure, and I have to recruit a friend to do some woodworking before I can really get started. The spell itself isn't bad, it's the implementation that might be a nightmare.

[Of everything that she just said...]

Why would woodworking be required?

[... It just seemed like an odd choice of material.]

The component for this particular spell, in my world, is a chest worth about 5000 gold. Something that valuable has to be made by a master craftsman- in other words, real woodworking, not just a junk chest that I cobble together with magic.

[She huffs quietly under her breath, dipping her fingers back into the sink to finish her dishes.]

We're lucky he's here, or this job would be a lot harder than it is... probably wouldn't even bother. I doubt the customer could afford it.

... That is fair.

[Having oddly specific components just seemed to be par for the course. It just was harder, running into unfamiliar terminology at times.

Kova playfully swipes at Ditto, and the scampering game between them is initiated.]

What else is required?

[Ditto wastes no time giving chase; Lup steps from one foot to the other, stretching her legs apart as they run between.]

I need a little handheld replica of the chest. That I can use magic for, but it has to be identical, so the big chest has to be done first. Artificing itself requires like... magic dust? Dunno how else to describe it. I got loads of that a few planets back, though, so I'm good there.

There must be certain properties in ... this dust of yours.

[But she understands that much; anything having to do with magic required some process or added element to make it all go.

She's quiet for a moment, and then, carefully:]

... I would be curious to observe your work in... action, sometime. Not necessarily this project, since it may not come to pass.

Huh... [That makes her quirk a brow in surprise, though after a moment it occurs to her that she shouldn't be. Magic is one of the few things that Haggar actively seems to show an interest in.] Well, I can't say it's all that thrilling to watch, but once I'm done here I was gonna head back there. You can joint me if you want.

Then I will join you.

[She has no other plans and doesn't want to be alone, or she wouldn't have come to seek Lup here. She knows that sort of work can lend itself toward being tedious, but something about it danced between familiar and unfamiliar, something else to take her mind away from the subjects that plagued it most, lately.]

And perhaps... Kova will be too tired to mind another trip.

[It was a joke... but after being kept away from him for all that time on the Atroma, it was hard to leave him behind. At least during a drift.]

Sure, I don't mind. Though if it starts to get all wild-and-magicky, we should probably let those two hang out in the hall. Ditto'd just poof until I re-summon him, but I'm not sure how much of a beating Kova can take, and I'd rather not find out.

[She playfully flicks her fingers in the direction of the animals, spraying droplets of water at them to make them scatter.]

I agree. That is not a risk I wish to take.

[Even if the alien cat was probably sturdier than he looked, caution would prevail.]

I do have a secured area that they could wait in instead. Though it's been some time since I last checked there.

Aww, we don't have to ditch them. They can just wait in the hall, out of the blast zone.

[Something about the concept of locking them away in a "secured area" makes her uncomfortable, illogical as it might be.]

I mean, it probably won't even be that bad. I'm very good at what I do, after all.

... Very well. Then I cede to your judgement. I have no doubt you are good at what you do, after all.

[She had been slightly surprised, but she did trust Lup's judgement in such matters.

Although even considering it, she realizes, it wasn't much of a room. A quiet secured space, but that's all it really was. Good for brooding, not much else.]

Damn right.

[She hums agreeably, dropping the last dish into the rack to air dry, wiping her hands on a towel, and then turns to face Haggar properly.]

Okay! Good to go. Want to head over in the same shuttle, or should I meet you there?

If you are not opposed, I would... prefer to head over together.

[She'd already had one too-quiet shuttle ride and wasn't quite up for another so soon. Still, it wasn't easy for her to always be verbal with these sorts of things.]

Hey, relax. I'm not gonna ditch you, it's just an offer.

[She knows there isn't much to be done about Haggar's general hesitance, but that won't stop her from calling it out when it's unnecessary. They're long past that by now.

She whistles abruptly, and Ditto spins on his heels and swats at Kova, leading him back towards Haggar and stopping at her feet. When Lup snaps her fingers, the mongoose vanishes in a faint cloud of glittering light, leaving behind the subtle scent of incense and (probably) a bewildered cat.]

Grab your kitcat and let's get going. This sort of thing can take hours, and I'd like to be done before dinner.

... Of course.

[She trusts Lup to call her out, at least. They've come a long way, but it's all too easy to take something for granted. Someone.

Kova for the moment seems perplexed, looking between the two of them and about to meow to complain about the disappearance of his buddy, but Haggar gracefully stoops down, holding out a treat toward him. He sniffs at it, and takes it, before rubbing his head against her hand and then hopping up her arm to settle around her shoulders, large thing that he was.

They'd been practicing this. She's not nearly as startled as she was the first time he had gotten up there.]

[When she straightens up, she'll find Lup grinning, half-hidden behind a hand.]

Aww, look at you guys. You've come a long way since that first day, huh?

[Apparently it isn't just the people who've done that.]