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+---- Thread: [SE] working my miracles (/showthread.php?tid=12272)
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RE: working my miracles - Nikandr - 01-02-2026
Never one to shy from praising something well-crafted and clearly made with talent and affection both, Niki leaves the set of chimes with only a parting, lingering look, before he and Asta are perusing the bits and pieces on the workbench that might one day become masterpieces in their own right. [say]"A knife handle might be a good place to start, if you would like to collaborate on something,"[/say] he says with open curiosity, and as Asta steps aside the boy takes in the items more fully, admiring a length of bone that might be a perfect starting point.
[say]"I wonder if I could inlay your carvings with gold or silver,"[/say] he muses. [say]"It would certainly make them stand out."[/say] It would also give them a chance to see how both they and their supplies work together before embarking on anything more complex. [say]"I could draw something up design-wise, if you would like? With your input and sign-off, of course."[/say]
RE: working my miracles - Astaroth - 01-03-2026
The agreement of the knife handle settles in Asta’s mind, already beginning to pick out which portions might be best suited for such an endeavor. He reaches out, fingers trailing along bone and pieces alike, while Niki chooses to take his own perusal. Gesturing to the chair at the table for the young man to take, Asta turns to snag one for himself – lifting it and carrying it over to the table to join him.
Taking a seat while Niki offers out ideas, the butcher sets the handle of his cane against the top of the table – leaning over it as his tail sweeps out in easy strokes behind him. “[say]Gold would be perfect, darling.[/say]” The butcher blossoms, plucking a human-looking arm bone from the pile of them scattered, inspecting it for any fragility. “[say]If I were to carve a design into the bulk of this, perhaps you could inlay the design with the gold so it would be smooth?[/say]” He asks, tilting his head and handing the portion of bone over to look at the younger man.
RE: working my miracles - Nikandr - 01-03-2026
[say]"Ah, thank you,"[/say] Niki says with a warm smile as Asta offers him out a chair, the boy gratefully taking a seat at the worktable and allowing his cane to vanish back into a ring that glimmers on one of his fingers. He's continuing to peruse the bones on offer while Asta gets another chair to join him, and as he offers out a piece that's potentially suitable - a humerus, he thinks - Niki takes it with all the practicality of both an artisan and a former mortician's apprentice.
[say]"I think this would be a very suitable piece,"[/say] he agrees, inspecting it with a keen eye before nodding his approval and offering it back out to Asta. [say]"I brought a few tools with me, though most of them are at the inn where I am staying. I could purchase some materials and return in a couple of days with everything if you think you could have the design carved in that time?"[/say]
RE: working my miracles - Astaroth - 01-04-2026
The shark tooth grin he shoots Niki’s way is as good of a you’re welcome as he gets before he’s snagging a chair for himself to come and set down at the table and slip into. He notes the way the cane vanishes, clear appreciation in the craftsmanship of it even if he didn’t have the opportunity to upgrade his into something unique like that.
Instead, Asta’s hangs off the edge of the table with a touch of menacing flare — the fire reflecting off the hard blade that with just the press of a button becomes flexible and broken up like a terribly sharp whip.
He doesn’t focus on it as he tries to find the most suitable bone to use for this gift, nodding his agreement as Niki says it will work. He draws it back toward him, running his fingers along the smooth surface of the bone before he snags a thin piece of charcoal set aside on the table, marking out where the handle will end for the blade before he can get started on the design, looking up to catch Niki’s suggestion and offer him a pleased little grin. “[say]That would be perfect, darling. Let me sketch out the general idea, but it shall not take me long to carve out by any means.[/say]” He hums, the charcoal twirling between his fingers before he descends into the scene.
The charcoal moves across the bone with practiced ease, evident he’s done this many times before. His design slowly comes to life, like it’s a cut out from the climb, a gore crow with its wings spread to a backdrop of volcanos and a bright sun. Each mark makes it seem as if it’ll be carved out inversely from how he usually would, so that Niki’s gold addition would make the bone pop even more as the backdrop and the shadow.
RE: working my miracles - Nikandr - 01-05-2026
[say]"Apologies if I am being forward,"[/say] Niki says slowly as Asta takes back the bone and procures a piece of charcoal to begin sketching out a potential design for their collaboration, [say]"but would you mind if I took a look at your cane? It always catches my eye, the way the pieces fit together so seamlessly. It is not just for walking, no?"[/say] Sharp-eyed as ever, the necromancer has of course located the button that sits along the length of the cane, the way it glimmers in a way that seems more than for menacing aesthetic (of which the butcher has plenty anyway).
Falling quiet after that to let the other man work, whilst Niki doesn't mind being watched whilst he's mid-design, he knows others aren't as comfortable with it, and there is luckily plenty to look at while Asta makes his draft. Only once the design has come together do the necromancer's eyes flick back to the bone, widening a fraction in macabre delight. [say]"Beautiful,"[/say] he says, the praise falling easily from his lips. [say]"Have you always carved bone like this?"[/say]
RE: working my miracles - Astaroth - 01-06-2026
Tilting his head toward Niki to hear the request, the butcher’s grin brightens as a low chuckle leaves him. Nodding, he takes it from the edge of the table and offers it out for Niki to inspect. “[say]I do not mind at all, my dear.[/say]” He hums, the shifting of the flames in the fireplace dance against the multicolored blade portions, fit perfectly together to make the hardened and far too sharp edge of the cane that clearly defines it as a weapon. “[say]In its main state, it is just a bladed cane. However, it can become a bladed whip.[/say]” Pulling his attention from the bone to Niki to see if he can read his expression before he settles in to mark out the design in the charcoal.
Once he’s sketched it out and slips it over for Niki’s thoughts, he sits back in the chair – reaching for the pipe that sits there, dumping some of the loose leaf tobacco into it as he absolutely doesn’t let the praise get to his head. “[say]Mm, yes. Long before I wsa an Ancient.[/say]” He offers out, holding the pipe an inch or two away from his lips to flash the necromancer a small but still sharp smile. “[say]Knife blades, mainly. Less décor. Much of our energy was spend on surviving the cold but I happened to have a lot of downtime when I was back in the village.[/say]” Placing the pipe between his lips, it sparks a flame in the bowl of it that he draws on.
RE: working my miracles - Nikandr - 01-07-2026
Niki accepts the cane with another murmur of gratitude, taking it with all the reverence of an object he already knows to respect, and his eyes are sharp and keen as they take in the metal pieces more closely. [say]"A whip?"[/say] he repeats as he turns it this way and that, careful of the honed edge. [say]"That is remarkable - for the wielder, in any case. I would not want to find myself on the wrong side of it."[/say]
His thumb brushes over the button without pressing it, lingering there for just a moment, before he's offering the cane back and accepting the bone in return, careful not to smudge any of Asta's delicate charcoal markings. [say]"I think this would be quite something with a gold inlay,"[/say] he confirms, glancing back towards the butcher just as he lights up his pipe. [say]"Ah, I see,"[/say] he says. [say]"I remember you saying. Halo, right?"[/say]
He can well imagine the bitter climate and harsh environment, where hunting is not sport but survival. [say]"I am glad you can do it more for yourself now,"[/say] he says, a touch distantly, lost in his thoughts.
RE: working my miracles - Astaroth - 01-07-2026
A low laugh leaves the butcher, the incline of his head in a nod. “[say]Most people prefer not to. It is what keeps them behaved, more often than not.[/say]” He says with a knowing grin, one that suggests it’s a reaction he gets more often than not - especially on those rare occasions that he does have to use it. It’s a good reminder, at least.
Taking the cane back, the butcher draws from the pipe and exhales in a slow plume that curls around his nose as he hooks it back against the table and collects the bone. “[say]That is correct.[/say]” He agrees, quietly pleased that the gold would make for a good fit as he peers back down at the design. “[say]Far from the Citadel and their heating magic.[/say]” Though it wasn’t like the butcher hadn’t ventured out that way a few times, trying to steal stragglers for survival. He’d learned quickly that wasn’t the way to go about it, though.
At least those old patrols had been amusing at the time. “[say]I am glad too.[/say]” He hums, setting the pipe down for the moment so he can snag a rolled bag – unrolling it in front of the both of them to reveal a large variety of different instruments to carve the designs in – each impeccably sharp. “[say]What tools do you require for the inlay?[/say]” He asks as he pics a thin one to get the outline just right and starts getting to work, the pipe settled between his lips again and bone shavings starting to litter the table in a fine dust and the occasional shard.
RE: working my miracles - Nikandr - 01-08-2026
[say]"I do not know about that,"[/say] Niki jokes, his smile a wry little thing as he hands the cane back to Asta. [say]"I saw how the people reacted to you out on the main floor. I think it is more you than the cane that keeps them well behaved."[/say] He'd be willing to bet money on it in fact, and more money at that to say Asta knows it. But he isn't any of those people out on the main floor, and in here it's bone and pipe smoke and creating something from nothing, and he settles in his seat to watch the butcher begin his work in earnest.
[say]"Mm, for an inlay into bone...?"[/say] Niki frowns at that, his head tilting ever so slightly as he considers it. [say]"Ordinarily my jewellers' tools should work fine, but I think the adhesive onto bone may be a little different. It may take some trial and error, and I may need to use gold leaf. I will see what I can find out in the markets that would be suitable."[/say] The challenge, clearly, is something he relishes rather than dreads.
RE: working my miracles - Astaroth - 01-14-2026
Asta can’t help the soft rumble of a laugh that slips from his lips, his smile twisting into a quirked smile, enough that the sharpened tip of one of his canines is visible – elongated and sharper somehow than the others. “[say]That is fair. Perhaps it would be the same if I had a crowbar rather than a cane.[/say]” They might never know, though, partial as the butcher is for his canes and general brutality.
Either way, Asta begins to carve out the lines, marking which spaces will need the majority of the bone to be removed but only starting superficially to start. “[say]Perfect. You can take this one to test with, if you would like?[/say]” He sets one of the tools down, reaching for the scrap sample where he’d practiced different strokes and carving techniques as if to refine it, leaving a perfectly hollow spot for the necromancer to test some gold inlay before laying it into the one they’re working on.
RE: working my miracles - Nikandr - 01-14-2026
[say]"The same if not worse,"[/say] Niki remarks, the boy's expression caught between fascination and horror at the idea of Asta lurking in the darker than dark corners of the Dusklight, crowbar in hand. He's content enough to sit and watch and chat for a while, but when the butcher offers him a test piece to try out for the gold inlay, his slate blue eyes light up. [say]"Thank you - that will be very helpful,"[/say] he says, accepting the bone and turning it over in his hands to admire the different etchings made with the carving tools.
He's silent, then, for a bit - comfortably so might he add, before eventually flashing a sheepish smile across to the butcher. [say]"Would you consider me terribly rude if I were to head off?"[/say] he asks with a soft chuckle. [say]"Now that I have something to work with, I find myself keen to find some supplies and try it out."[/say]
RE: working my miracles - Astaroth - 01-14-2026
The bone is accepted and the butcher concedes it with a grin, settling back in his chair and picking up the tools again to get back to work on the bone while Niki inspects it and sits in silence for a time. Settling in a little easier and placing the pipe back between his lips periodically, he catches the sheepish smile on Niki’s face, huffing a soft smoky laugh to the request.
“[say]Not in the slightest, darling.[/say]” He offers, in case it helps. “[say]I look forward to seeing what you’ve come up with. Thank you.[/say]” He offers easily, standing to help Niki slip out of the room and ensure he knew where he was going ahead of time before the butcher gets back to work, letting his perfectionist streak flow in making sure it was absolutely perfect for when Niki returned to do the inlay.
- FIN