Why is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?

Jigano nodded, a wry smile quirking his mouth, but gentler than it usually was at Remi's gratitude - for more than just the suggested bottle size. If his brow rose at hearing that the alchemist and his friend had encountered a banshee personally it was only in genuine surprise, followed by a companionable grimace of agreement at how 'pleasant' the situation must have been. "I've not met the local version yet," he murmured. "But after what I've read about them, I don't want to!"

He shrugged at Remi's astute observation, spreading his hands in acknowledgment of the alchemists's point. "I'd prefer it to be a tool first, and a weapon as last resort," he admitted. "I hadn't been thinking of its cauterizing potential, but as a first aid tool it would be much easier to control if it's contained like that," he agreed. "True, anything I might try to fight with it would be less impressed... but if I'm fighting at dagger range I doubt I'd have time to wait for whatever attacked me to bleed out anyways." He chuckled, though his humor was on the dark side.

He listened curiously to Remi's cautionary warning about his powers, but the bard waved his hand in easy acceptance of the risks. "I've got the end of a shaft clamped into a lantern at the moment, but it's still too dangerous to use for much more than light, as it is now. If something happens in the making of this feather-dagger and the feather is damaged or changed... well, it's a risk I'm willing to take, for the possibility of it being far safer and more useful if you succeed." He raised a brow, smile quirking to something a little warmer. "Besides, Rory trusted your skills with his feather. How can I do any less?"

Я

Opening his palm as if the two objects inside had always been there, Remi placed a set of earplugs down on the table. They were created out of what looked to be leather that had been beaten and soaked and then beaten again, formed into the shape of a bean-almost, and scuffed to make soft. "For if you ever do. It's wail was ...." Instead of answering with a word, Remi merely shivered the latter end of his description.

"Can you control it?" Remi asked with genuine curiosity. "Rory could not control his...or at least, I did not think he could. Given that it sets ablaze whatever it comes into contact with, maybe I was wrong before. Maybe it wouldn't actually cauterize, but merely light on fire?" Tapping his chin thoughtfully—an action Aoife thought was a game and she too quickly began to hit Remi's chin with a cackle of pleasure—he twitched his lips, gently evading the baby's antics.

Because Rory and I are friends, the alchemist wanted to reply. And given that even when it came to matters of creation Jigano still seemed to act as the more knowledgeable party, Remi found that he needed to willfully curb his expression and the words he wanted to say. An activity he was not particularly well-versed in. Instead he just shrugged and smiled. "Hopefully it will not come to that. From what I have heard it was a fairly terrible thing you had to do to get this one feather. I would not have you repeating it for another if I can help it."

The gift was unexpected but appreciated all the more for its spontaneity. "Thank you," he murmured, scooping up the earplugs to examine them with curiosity before tucking them into one of the pickets hidden in his wide sleeves. "Best to be prepared, just in case." Given that he was heading out into the unknown forest tomorrow, it was handy indeed, if they ran into banshees outside of the barrier. Like the Wicker Women, he could only assume the creatures beyond the bubble's stifling influence would be larger, healthier - and even more dangerous.

"I can't," Jigano had to admit, with a faint grimace. "It's a dangerous gift, as likely to bite the one who holds it as anything else. That's why I'm hoping the crystal dagger idea might help to contain it in such a way that it can be controlled... Well. It's a worth a try at least, I hope," he smiled wryly, giving a rueful shrug. "Though I'd probably test the cauterizing idea on a Magna Vermis steak before using it on anything living!" Best case scenario, he'd get a tasty dinner out of it! Worst case, well, he could use the flaming chunk of meat to cook something else, maybe.

The mention of what the feather had cost brought a slight tightening to the bard's eyes, a wince only partially controlled as he nodded acknowledgment. "It was... not something I would wish even on an enemy," he sighed, glancing down to his folded hands. Picking up Remi's list he began to toy with it idly, folding it and creasing it as he looked up again with a smile that held more shadows than humor at the memory. "I take it Rory told you what happened...?" he asked, a little hesitant.

Я

"I do not know much of crystal to be honest." Remi admitted, rolling a hand as if that action would be enough to hearken back to his past. As a commoner such fine things were more than beyond him. Perhaps it would possess some quality that would make it a good candidate for this sort of thing? "Do you have any that I might experiment with? Or, know where I might find some?"

With a boyish and affable grin at the mention of Jigano's test subjects, Remi nodded. "Best case, success! Worst case, a feast."

For a moment Remi looked slightly confused, the name Rory inciting memories that immediately clashed with the rather darkened conversation they'd found themselves within. But then slowly the hospital room prodded his thoughts, and Remi nodded with a latent comprehension. "Ah, no it was not. I heard about it second hand, actually. Edrei told Vai, and Vai mentioned it to me."

Remi's entirely practical question had the bard blinking a moment in surprise, and then chuckling, a rueful sound as he gave a shake of his head. "To be honest, this wasn't a project I had much hope of following up on," he admitted. "Crystal seemed... poetic, I suppose. Though I had been thinking that I wanted something clear so that its light could still shine through, but strong enough that, if I did have to use it as a weapon, it wouldn't shatter as glass might," he explained. "If you have a better suggestion, I am open to your expertise in crafting." He hummed thoughtfully for a moment, brow furrowed as he considered the unexpected challenge Remi's request represented. "If crystal seems like the best option to you as well, though," he said slowly, chasing a thought. "I might be able to find some... or at least, the raw materials for it." He raised a brow at Remi with a slight grin. "Walking the streams to hunt for geodes, like I did as a boy," he clarified. "I have a friend who can transmute things. She might be able to transmute the crystals inside into clear sheets... though, I admit, I'm uncertain how transmutation works here," he admitted, a slight frown overtaking his enthusiasm. "I don't suppose you know...?"

He was surprised to hear that Remi had heard about the perch... incident... from such a roundabout chain, but he nodded slightly in comprehension. "I would not have any of us repeating that night," he said soberly. "Rory's scars are the most visible ones, but all of us..." he trailed off grimly, and gave a decisive shake of his head to try and free it from the shadows of memory. "Vai saved three lives that night, if not four," he said softly, reaching out to gather Isuma close and stroke along her wings as she cuddled reassuringly against him, peeping quiet affection. Jigano's smile down at her was fond, and he gave a nod as if at something only he could hear. "But the light returned and the sun rose again, hey? How..." he hesitated, clearing his throat a little self-consciously as he looked up at Rory again, solemn and a little uncertain how to continue. "How is Isla... and how is she adjusting?"

Я

Remi wanted to like Jigano, in a strange way. He wanted to because everyone else seemed to, and because it wasn't in Remi's nature to properly dislike anyone. In that world, Remi would laugh at the idea that Jigano might want something simply for poetry's sake, and make a joke about trying to accommodate him. In this world though, Remi almost felt strangely punched; a cold and hollow feeling rising swiftly in his stomach that seemed to cry out he gets to be whimsical when you do not?

"Ahh, I see." Remi said wanting to sound understanding, but probably sounding just a bit muddled and slow. The mention of his expertise in crafting made the alchemist feel sheepish and shameful for the dark and sickly thoughts of seconds before. The bard was trying far harder than he was, and without any reason at all to hold onto his feelings of anxiousness or upset, Remi found himself deeply appalled by the fact he still was. "Let me think on it. Perhaps we can run some tests on different materials using your feather to see what might work best?" He'd wanted to add in something about finding a poetically appropriate material as well, but worried it would come out too couth, and so left it off.

Remi's lips twitched gingerly at the thought of Jigano as a boy, especially splashing through a stream as young boys did. With a chuckle then quickly turned quietly contemplative, the alchemist nodded slightly. Reaching forward, he pressed his fingertip against the table. Where it touched, gold began to spread out, though not merely just in a circle. Instead it wibbled and wobbled, creating what looked to be the rings of a tree now embedded in the wood. "Do I know how it works? No more than anything else, I suppose." He said with a grin and boyish shrug.

"Yes. I did offer to heal them for him but.." Holding his palms up with a shrug, he shook his head. "I think some scars heal better when you can still see them, perhaps."

The mention of Vai was met purely with a warm and adoring nod, the look of a son pleased by the accomplishments of a parent.

"She..." Remi began as if the words would just come, but of course they did not, and so he fell into a silent stupor for a moment as he considered the table. "Frustrated at first of course. Not having hands to work with was perhaps the greatest aspect of the change she noticed. Unfortunately though I.." Looking across the table into Jigano's pale stare that had never held any warmth for the alchemist before, he chewed his lip and sighed. "She is the same in so many ways, but it is like the heart of her is not there any more. She speaks like Isla, remembers all the things Isla did and who she was...I like to think that when I am in my shifts I am still me. I know I should have thought it through but...when I saw her there, like that..and Ludo was already with me, I..."

What he wanted to say, was that when you plead I'll do anything, normally you aren't taken up on it. But Ludo did and..."I wonder all the time if I've made a mistake. And for her part Isla...can't seem to answer. She says she knows why I did it, would have done the same, and is fine in her new body."

”Of course,” Jigano agreed easily. ”I would like that.” Running tests to determine the properties of a magical item? That was practically a holiday compared to his frantic searching for answers and information about the barrier, Spire, and Voice… and now that those questions had been, in large part, answered there was the mystery, excitement, and danger of what lay beyond the barrier that he needed to seek out and understand, for his own curiosity and the sake of those who lived within the Hollowed Grounds who might be affected by it all. Testing the feather would be a pleasant interlude in comparison, even if it was with Remi… well. They were on better terms now than when they had parted before Long Night, at least, and their last and current conversations seemed proof that they could interact civilly, so long as they took a bit more care with their words.

At first the bard thought that Remi’s touch to the table was an idle gesture, nothing more, but as rings of gold spread out a pale brow arched in surprise at the casual display of power that slid a sharp blade of jealousy between his ribs. He quashed it firmly – or at least, tried to ignore it for the moment – and hid his wince at the alchemist’s casual defacing of the Guild’s main table without so much as a warning or request for permission. Showing off again… and leaving his mark in the Loreseeker Hall for all to see. Jigano stifled a sigh as he wondered mournfully if Rexanna might be able to fix it later, but Remi’s boyish grin showed only youthful innocence and no ill intent, and so he forced a smile and nodded. ”I didn’t realize your talents included that as well,” he admitted. ”Though that makes it easier. Can your magic reshape something of the same substance? The geodes, for example… do you know if it would be possible to transmute the shape of the inner crystals into something easier to work with?” He paused, remembering what he had seen Rexanna do. ”Or increase the size of the crystals, so that fewer crystals can be stretched to do more?”

Jigano dipped his head in grateful acknowledgment that he had offered to heal their mutual friend, and nodded soberly in agreement with Remi’s opinion on scars. Vai was someone they both admired, though Jigano from far more of a distance, but it was something that brought them back into synch again. He almost regretted the question that he asked next, but it wasn’t just for his personal curiosity this time. Isla was – had been – a dear friend and he needed to know. Remi was the only person who could tell him, really, in words he could understand for concepts too complex for simple yes or no questions that the unicorn’s form required now.

And, oh, it was not what he wanted to hear, but it was what he had achingly suspected since he had heard of her return. There was still no warmth in the blue eyes that met Remi’s briefly before the bard bowed his head, but that was because they were filled with pain he could not entirely hide. The alchemist only confirmed what he had feared, and it was not Remi’s fault… but still…

”You did what you thought was right,” he said quietly. ”I cannot say I would have done differently in that place, at that time… and now it is done and we cannot change it. I am… glad… that she says she is fine. It feels wrong to mourn her when she is still among us but…” He sighed, cuddling Isuma closer as she clicked her beak softly and stretched up to butt her head against his chin. ”If she is happy as she is, then that is all I can ask of the gods.”

Я

"Mmm." Remi hummed in humble agreement . It still felt strange to be able to do so much and something about the way Jigano seemed to scrutinize everything he did made the alchemist feel ashamed about the abilities he know possessed. "I think so, yes." Remi replied with a bob of his head. "I have never tried to increase the size of something...I...am not sure that it works like that. But it is certainly something to be tested."

Cuddling Aoife closer to him, Remi let his gaze drop back to the table just as the baby in his arms began to squirm unhappily. "I do know what you mean. It seems improper to mourn her and yet...she is not the friend to me she once was. She is different somehow. I think she knows it too, but is not human enough to care anymore." Struggling in earnest now, Aoife pounded her small fists against Remi's arms and wailed a mournful note.

"Aoife-lvove, remember we said we were going to be quiet down here?" He whispered into the girl's ear, who promptly squawked in return. With a sweet and adoring smile, Remi tapped the table as he stood and the golden rings vanished.

"Apologies, it is her lunch time. We should go. But please do come by the guildhall when you would like to test out the materials for your feather."

"Excellent," Jigano grinned, blue eyes sparkling with optimism at the line of inquiry they could undertake - both on the feather itself and on the potential crystal blade to encase it in. "I hope this will prove to be an enjoyable project for us both." It wouldn't erase what had come before, or change his opinions of the pup in a single day, but proving that they could work together civilly, at least on a professional basis, would be more than enough improvement on their previous circumstances to satisfy him.

Unfortunately not everything could be so satisfying. Talk of Isla, necessary though it was, brought a definite pall of loss to them both, and Isuma chirruped worriedly as both men seemed to draw into themselves. She comforted Jigano, even as Remi was distracted by Aoife, and the bard nodded solemn acknowledgment and mournful acceptance of the alchemist's words. He didn't even seem to mind the baby's wail, glancing up only belatedly to offer a rueful - if distracted - smile. "Ah, it's alright, I'm the only one down here today," he murmured, a far cry from his usual discomfort around small humans. But then, with his thoughts on his changed friend and what they all had lost, Aoife's protests of healthy life weren't nearly as unwelcome as they might normally have been.

He did notice the golden rings vanishing from the table, and he didn't entirely hide his sigh of relief - or his rueful smile for the alchemist as he stood as well to walk them to the door. "No apologies needed, Remi. I'll come by as soon as I've found some geodes to test, and I'll keep an eye out for your list of ingredients. I suspect that Safrin might want you to collect them yourself, but I can at least guide you to them, or make a map if we find some good landmarks in that forest." He had yet to learn of the Wildwood's unsettling propensity for turning unwelcome visitors right back around, but that was an adventure for another day. "Take care, you two."