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GUARD BARRACKS - MORNING
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Louma wasted no time returning to her duties after returning despite her injuries. After a short rest, the captain made her way through the barracks to salutes ahead and murmurs behind as she enters her office. She keeps a straight face in front of the guards, but smiles shortly after closing her door, glad to be back in comfort after her extended camping trip. Coiling up her tail to relax behind a plain desk and looking over a stack of reports, she notices the top one and remembers her conversation the night before with the new doctor, sighing as she picks up and glances over the assault case.
Nesseth knocks on the door about ten minutes later, having been notified that the captain's back and needed to see him about things. After a moment, he opens the door and leans in. "Ah... Captain Louma, you needed to see me for something?"
Louma looks up from the reports now scattered around her desk, somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect you to get here so quickly, come in and close the door, please." She laces her fingers together with her elbows on the desktop, her long beak hovering over them. "Have a seat." Her tail tip reaches under the desk and pushes the uncomfortable looking 'guest chair' back a bit.
Nesseth nods as he steps into the office and shuts the door behind him. At Louma's statement, he moves to the desk and takes a seat opposite her in the offered chair. To his credit as a hunter, the chair doesn't seem to bother him at all, and in fact he seems to relax a bit more than expected. After a moment, he smiles a bit. "It's good to see you're back, Captain. How'd things go out there?"
Louma smiles, breaking the somewhat intense ruse she was going for as she unlaces her fingers and leans back to relax. "It's good to be back, Nesseth. We found some old traces of the expedition group, but the trail went cold, and I was forced to return when a feral bear tried to eat Garwin." She lifts an arch of her tail above the desk, showing her bandaged section for emphasis.
Nesseth winces a bit at the dressed bite wound on Louma's tail, but can't help but smirk after a short bit. "You sure that wasn't Garwin himself going feral?" He chuckles a bit and waves a hand, "I'm just joking... So still no solid leads on them, hm? Damn, I hope they're okay out there."
Louma nods solemnly, but doesn't comment further. "It seems like chaos erupted in my absence though." She grins, glancing at the reports. "And you've been chasing after quite a bit of it for a part time guard. Vying for a promotion, maybe?"
Nesseth shakes his head with a slight smile. "Nah, not really. I wouldn't turn it down if it came up, but it just seemed like all the weird things kept coming to me." He shrugs, "I dunno if I'm a magnet for trouble, or if I've just been in the right place at the right time, honestly..."
Louma nods, her grin falling to a smile. "At least it's someone reliable that issues are gravitating towards. Catch me up on a few things, hm? This-" she waves her arms at the paperwork before her "-is somewhat overwhelming." She picks up a relatively thick stack pinned together. "Like this... Why is this alley a hotbed for magic accidents?"
Nesseth hums as he looks at the stack, already quite aware of what's likely contained in that giant stack of paper. "That one's easy enough, actually. Strix, the local kobold inventor, has been leaning pretty hard into magitech as of late. More than he usually did before, at least. I guess that alleyway's kind of like his lab or something?"
Louma feels her expression sour at the mention of the kobold, setting the paperwork down. "Mmh, well as long as his misadventures were contained to one place and nobody was hurt, I can see why nobody dealt with him."
Nesseth rubs his neck a bit. "Well... he's managed to injure himself a few times, and there was a bit of an altercation some time ago between him and one of the crabfolk that deliver fish to town, which resulted in some temporary blinding, but... yeah, for the most part he's been pretty harmless."
Louma wears a cold expression as Nesseth presents a losing case, but just sighs and shakes her head, pushing Strix's very own file to the only clear spot on her desk. "If anything else comes up with him, I would prefer it to be dealt with properly, before someone gets seriously hurt." She taps her finger on a single page marked as an accident report with Annika's name written on it. "But this..."
Nesseth tilts his head as he leans in a bit to look at the next file Louma's looking at. He blinks upon seeing Annika's name. "Ah, right... Annika. Yeah, that one, I'm still not sure what's going on with it. There's... something shady happening, I think, but I don't know what precisely."
Louma nods scanning over it again. "Whoever submitted this report - it's not signed, conveniently enough - really wanted it to say accident and read assault." She looks directly at Nesseth, leaning in a bit. "You're being careful not to upset the wrong people, hm? I wont ask who is looking into these events. I wont hope they find anything. I don't want anyone to come forward." She mutters as she leans back; "Until there's some hard evidence."
Nesseth nods. "Yeah, I'm not gonna dive into something unless there's some actual, solid reasons to level charges. But there's definitely something off with an 'accident' victim being brought to the doctor's office in the dead of night, through a back door that, as far as anyone can tell, only Hooktail knew about, not to mention the request for it to be kept quiet, along with the overpayment of Annika's treatment. That last part feels less like a mistake and more like a hush money payment..."
Louma takes the accident report and locks it in her desk drawer, sighing. "There's a lot of hush money there to go around, too. That house always creeped me out, even when someone was bold enough to try and rob the place a couple years ago, they submitted their own reports that all seemed to fall short in just the right ways."
Nesseth rubs the bridge of his muzzle with a couple of fingers as he sighs. "I did some digging of my own, to see what I could turn up. You know, old papers and whatnot." He shakes his head again after a moment, "I dunno, it's weird in a way I can't lay a finger on..."
Louma: "And only foxes, is that some sort of loyalty ploy?" She shakes her head, raising her palms. "Either way, I don't want to know about it, I wouldn't put it past them to know where every single authority figure in the town sleeps." She gets a wry grin, "Or with whom they do."
Nesseth shrugs at Louma's question. "No idea. Could be that they just don't trust any other race aside from their own, which is their prerogative." He blinks and raises an eyebrow at Louma's grin, "Hm? I'm not sure I follow..."
Louma leans back, drawing from some deep recess as she speaks. "Well, if they can't buy you, they destroy your credibility. Adultery, fetishism, tax evasion, you name it, if it's something that can be smeared, they'll smear it. If they can't do that or it doesn't work as intended, well..."
Nesseth nods, understanding. "Ah, right. Trash a reputation, and the person can try to force the target to act the way they want in order to make it stop. If that doesn't work... the gloves come off."
Louma puts on a wry grin. "Well, usually the gloves go on to minimize evidence, but you're pretty spot on." She sighs again, leaning forward and taking up the next page. "Okay this, oh that's the crab thing." She sets it on Strix's pile, finding another page. "The generator. Right, this report tells me it happened, but not much else. No suspicion of tampering, I take it?"
Nesseth shakes his head. "None that May, the engineer, or Brun could tell. May guesses the generator was just run down from the previous engineer's extreme lack of care. Right now, the town's being supplied with intermittent power by some kind of invention of Strix's, which... I guess channels lightning into the power supply somehow?" He shakes his head, "Beyond that, there's nothing else of note."
Louma looks at Strix's pile, then shuffles the paperwork around on her desk, looking to Nesseth when she finds nothing. "Ahm... I will need a report on that lightning invention, a positive point in the kobolds favor." She sets the generator report down next to Strix's file, the set of reports dwindling quickly. "I visited with Brunilda at the clinic, she seemed unsatisfied with her station, but and overall excellent guard candidate. The mechanic wasn't awake, though. What's your take on them?"
Nesseth tilts his head. "The mechanic? She's like a lot of the folks that come to Respite seeking to make something of their life, though I'm thinking she's still trying to get a handle on life throwing her for a loop with the ICEE generator. I think, once she recovers, the city's generator will be in good claws... paws? Things will be looking up, anyway, for the town and her."
Louma nods, looking over a set of pages with a different header, caravan manifest references from the most recent to two months back. The top having a single note. "This says that a personal wagon was pulled out of the line by you a couple days ago, but no notes were made other than that. What was your suspicion about that?" Her palm lies flat over the page as she levels her gaze toward Nesseth.
Nesseth shrugs, holding Louma's gaze steady. "Standard randomized search. Can't be too lax, especially with the odd things going on as of late." He gestures towards the stack of papers holding the information regarding Annika and all the other minor troubles around town, "The wagon was cleared to enter quickly, and the passenger verified that nothing suspicious was given to them, nor anything having gone missing during the trip from Bairnell."
Louma nods slightly as he talks, silently agreeing with his presented reasoning. "Understood, you and I know that random is just a word to put the passenger at ease. For example-" She flips the reports, finding one dated from a week before. "-this one came here with the same caravan, it details a crate of stolen goods being retrieved at the Bairnell gate, because they recognized the thief." She looks back to Nesseth. "So what did you suspect about that wagon?"
Nesseth crosses his arms a bit, but sighs as he gives Louma a look. "Promise me you won't get on my case about it, Louma?"
Louma smiles at Nesseth, but her voice is a little sweet; "Of course I wont."
Nesseth tilts his head a little, the corner of his mouth quirking into a bit of a smile. "C'mon, Captain, you've used that tone with me before. I know you actually mean "I won't unless I have a good reason"."
Louma grins, idly turning the pages back over. "Oh come now, I don't know what you mean. Being out in the scary wilderness has changed me, I bet."
Nesseth snorts a laugh and shakes his head. "Heh, fine... The reason I stopped the wagon was because the passenger was a Snake." He raises a hand, forestalling any objection before Louma can respond, "Not like you! Like... full Snake."
Louma drops her smile slowly, looking at Nesseth a little sideways. "Come again? You're pulling my tail."
Nesseth shakes his head. "Not this time, no. The passenger was a Snake. I'd say... actually, I can't really estimate how long she was, but I think her upright part was a little shorter than you, though."
Louma drops the pages back in place, the note she had been playfully covering up mentioning the wagon and it's driver, and nothing else. "I thought you had finally decided to screw with Albert, that silly drunk! You always said it was cruel of the guards." Her wings start to twitch along with the tip of her tail.
Nesseth chuckles. "I mean... that was part of it, too. Make him sweat a little just for laughs and see what all the fun was about, you know?" He sighs, "But, well, as I said, that wasn't the entire reason."
Louma leans back, stroking her chin and not fully paying attention to Nesseth as she thinks.
Nesseth tilts his head as he takes notice of Louma's countenance. "Something the matter, Louma?"
Louma looks to Nesseth, pausing. "Snakes don't just leave home for no reason. What did they look like? Did you get a name?"
Nesseth shakes his head. "Afraid I didn't catch a name. There wasn't a reason for me to do so at the time. As for how she looked... uh..." He pauses, thinking for a short bit, "Very green all the way down. Lighter green underside... and I think I saw a couple of small patches of... yellow and blue further down in her coils."
Louma relaxes a bit. "Ah, no wings or other plumage then?"
Nesseth shakes his head again. "Not that I saw, no." He runs a hand over his face, "Gods, if I saw feathers on a full Snake, you can bet I wouldn't be anywhere near this calm talking about her."
Louma pauses, giving him a bit of a look and crossing her arms. "What's wrong with feathers on a snake?"
Nesseth blinks and raises an eyebrow. "On a half-Snake like you, Louma? Nothing." He shudders after a moment and rubs a hand over his arm, "But on a full Snake...? They're demons..."
Louma squints at him, stretching her wings and rising up over her desk by a few feet. "Casually up my breeding like that again and I'll show you a real demon, Nesseth!"
Nesseth sighs and gives Louma a weary look. "Captain, c'mon... I'm not trying to start a fight with you. Didn't we have enough of that in the past, anyway? All those times we were almost literally at each others' throats before you got promoted?"
Louma puts on an exaggerated frown, settling back down onto her coils. "Aw come on, you know how bored I was out there? And to come back and sit in an office? I'd rather be guarding the South gate than in here again." She shakes her wings out before relaxing them, sending some loose white down around the room.
Nesseth shakes his head and laughs after a moment. "If you're so bored, we could always head out to the practice range later and compete a bit. Or we could go out and hunt a sand gator or two. I bet the town's tanners would love us for that."
Louma sighs, resting her elbow on the desk and chin on that hand. "There's so much paperwork to do, but we can meet up after our shifts are over. I could use a drink, if anything. Minnow's still open, right?"
Nesseth nods. "Yup. Open same times as usual, with the same food and drinks, though probably a little more crowded than you remember." He smiles, "But yeah, we can make plans to meet up for some drinks afterwards."
Louma smiles and nods, perking up a bit at something to look forward to. "Good, rank doesn't matter when ales are in hand. Just give me a moment here..." She makes a bit of a show of posturing herself to seem more intimidating for when the door is opened. "Alright, I'll meet you at the Minnow tonight. Thank you Nesseth, you're dismissed."
Nesseth chuckles as he watches Louma putting up her usual facade of intimidation, then nods as he stands up. "By your leave, Captain. I'll see you after our shifts are complete." He gives her a sharp salute, then turns and heads out, though he shuts the door carefully behind him.
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DOC'S OFFICE - FRONT YARD - EARLY AFTERNOON
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Maybelline steps outside shakily, leaning upon a crutch to keep weight off her right side. Tired of lying in bed but still not having much feeling in her arm or leg, she knows the only way to fix that is with practice. She blinks wearily, "Ugh... right. The sun..."
Brunilda steps outside after Maybelline, having held the door open for the stoat. The elephant smiles a bit despite also squinting herself: "It is a pretty persistent thing around here, yes."
Maybelline nods. "I miss the fact that Glaushire always had shade. Seems like it it all disappears around here until night." She shifts a bit against her crutch. "Blah. Anyways... I'm out here for a reason. Gotta practice."
Brunilda nods, tentatively shifting her own weight from a leg to another as neither really wants to bear the burden at this point. She steps on the somewhat-wild grass: "Practice doesn't make you perfect. Practice merely stops you from falling into mediocrity." She chuckles: "That's what my old sergeant used to say, back in Ondonga."
Maybelline chuckles wryly, "Ha. I'd be perfectly okay with mediocre walking right now." She shifts the tiny crutch from her left arm to set beneath her right, her injured hand shakely moving to take grip of the handle before she tries to apply weight to it.
Brunilda nods, looking at May and then back to her own legs that definitely don't look 'okay' either. She shifts her weight again, frowning: "Yeah, me too honestly. No way I can do any guard duty when just getting up to do this has my legs prickling."
Maybelline frowns, trying to steady herself. "ICEE burns are serious business. The magic basically burns the nerve endings. Longer exposure can cause permanent disability. I mean, you know. If it doesn't kill you. Which it will. I need my hand working first. A shakey hand is no good for engineering. Once I can hold it steady, then I can worry about my leg. "
Brunilda lifts her trunk, looking at it before looking back at Maybelline: "I suppose I sort of have an extra edge with that." She lowers her trunk, frowning as she glances at her big-fingered hands: "...well, sort of."
Maybelline tilts her head at the trunk, "Huh... Is that thing that prehensile? I know I've heard some folks can use their tails, my tail is worthless by the way, other then as a duster. But I never considered a trunk."
Annika approached the Clinic, looking around to make sure the street was safe to cross, before stepping over. Most of her wounds were okay by now, though her arm was still in a sling "Hey May...and..ah..Brunilda? Was it" She nods "Yeah. Hi to both of you. Are you doing better now?"
Maybelline watches, eyes following the stick. "Huh. So useful, but not quite a precision instrument. Interesting." She takes a few steps forward, leaning uncomfortably on her right side as she shakily moves the crutch forward before she spots the fox. "Aa-ah! Uh, Annika! Uh, yeah... Yeah, I'm doing great! How are you? Arm feeling better?" She glances at the cast and cringes, "Ugh, stupid question..."
Brunilda nods: "Well, it's a pretty good precision instrument with more trained and... you know, experienced elephants than m-" She blinks, turning to the fox: "Oh. Hey there. Up and... not exactly running?"
Annika: "Oh, well..ah, It's doing better too! It's stopped itching now, so I just need to let it heal up fully. You're.." She frowns a little "Well, better, I suppose..but..well, at least you're both up, right?" She takes a seat nearby "What's the talk about? I don't want to shift your conversation about"
Maybelline continues to try and move forward, "Oh uh, trunks?" She points her left hand at Brun. "Just talking limbs, I guess. Working and non-working." She looks down at her bad leg.
Brunilda shrugs slightly, looking at Maybelline: "Yeah." She waves a hand and lifts her trunk up again: "Got these stubby fingers, but at least in theory and with plenty of practice I can do some precision work with my trunk."
Annika: "Oh, well..I suppose 4 out 5 isn't bad for me" She smiles "I'm sure you'll be dashing about soon enough too" She is curious though, about the trunk "How good are you with it?"
Brunilda gives a weak chuckle, then with more than a bit of pain in her expression bends down to pick up the previous stick, this time twirling it with a bit more patience and with something that could be generously called 'decent skill'. "I'm about as good as any elephant."
Maybelline hums, "Just need practice, Brun. Just like you were saying. You can spin that stick, you can spin a screwdriver. Maybe."
Annika: "Okay" She's curious about it "So, it's like another arm..Kinda?"
Brunilda shrugs, dropping the stick: "Well, it is for some. Most elephants never really bother training into things that would need such for much."
Maybelline glances back at her tail, a thin little stick ending in fluff, giving it a little shake. "I'd love a third hand. But I guess it's just what you're used to."
Annika: "I'd love a second hand right now" She giggles
Brunilda gives a wry chuckle: "Fair enough. I've never really thought about it that way... my hands are way more useful in almost all things I've done."
Maybelline lifts her bad hand from the handle of her crutch, watching it shake as she tries, unsuccessfully, to move the fingers. "My hands are my livelihood. I need my second hand back if I want to do anything with the generator now."
Annika: "Well.." She looks over as another lightning strikes the ground "...Uh..When will you be able to work?"
Brunilda nods, leaning on the tree a bit as her legs are silently screaming at her: "Yeah... I'm sure you can find the movement-" She looks at the lightning: "...huh. That was a close hit. Storm's about...?"
Maybelline sighs, "Soon, I hope." She lifts an eyebrow at the lightning, then up at the sunny sky. "Yeah, what is up with that lightning? Is that a... sandstorm thing or something?"
Annika: "..Uh, it's hitting where the generator is. It's making power for the city"
Brunilda blinks a bit dumbly: "...it's... huh. How?" She looks at Maybelline, confused.
Maybelline stares a moment blankly. "I have no idea how. Or why. ...but I would wager I know who." She lifts her shakey hand. "Okay. Oooohhhhkay. Probably need to accelerate rehabilitation."
Annika: "Oh. There's no need to worry! I'm sure it's perfectly fine, and they know what they're doing"
Brunilda blinks again: "...who?"
Maybelline glances at Brun, "Strix." She sighs, "I'm sure he does know what he's doing. At least, I don't think he'd do anything dangerous on purpose. But that much lightning is... worrisome. I can rig up the auxiliry generator without all the lightning. Or, I could if my hand were working. It would only last a month or two, tops. Longer if the town conserves power... but... It'd be something. Until I can build a new generator, at least."
Brunilda nods slowly: "Well... I'm not of much use anywhere else, so I'll help you when you get to it. Carry stuff as I learn, I suppose."
Annika: "Uh...that that Kobold guy? ...Maybe you should work on getting better quickly"
Brunilda looks at Annika, giving a half-hearted shrug: "He's not dangerous... mostly... 'cept to himself. But I agree."
Maybelline nods. "The Generator is my responsibility. So, one way or another... yeah."
Annika: "But..still! Don't rush yourself! I don't want you to get hurt, okay?"
Brunilda gives a wry chuckle: "I think that part's a bit too late for all of us."
Maybelline looks at Annika, and gives her a determined smile. "Promise. I won't push it. Like Brun said... already had the worst happen. I just don't want anything else to happen to anyone else because of this."
Annika: "Right!" She nods "And, remember, you promised that we'd go out and find a place to buy soon too"
Brunilda raises an eyebrow: "Plans, huh?"
Maybelline blinks, then nods, "Oh! Oh yeah! Might be a good way to to get excersize! And I still want to help with that, of course!"
Annika nods! "Right! I can afford it now, so once you're ready to do it I'd love all your advise" She turns to Brunilda "I want to buy somewhere to stay, so May is going to help me"
Brunilda smiles: "Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm happy living alone, myself." If her smile wanes during this, it's obviously an almost invisible movement of her lips.
Maybelline blushes a tiny bit, shaking her head rapidly, "Oh uh, oh no no no. We're not, that is... not going to be living together. I'm just helping her find a home. You know. Uh, never got a chance to shop around, since I got assigned a house with the generator."
Annika: "Ah..yeah! She's just helping me look..as May said, she's got her own house!"
Brunilda blinks in slight surprise, but hides it quickly enough: "Oh. Sorry. My mind went elsewhere..."
Maybelline cringes a little, trying to hide it by lowering her hand and taking a few more practice steps on her crutch. "Y-yeah. We're not... a thing. But we're still friends, and I just... want to help her out."
Annika: "Yes..um..Friends" She nods awkwardly at that, it's all...very awkward
Brunilda smiles apologetically: "Oops? I mean, I had heard of you... uh, not, but it never really registered and I'm not helping so I should shut up." She blushes and is suddenly very interested in the tree branches next to and above them.
Maybelline sighs, "It's... it's okay. It's just something I need to get over." She turns and smiles at Brun and Annika sadly, feeling an inch tall.
Annika leans over and gives May a squeeze on the shoulder. She feels terrible about the whole thing..but leading her on.well...that could never work. Not that Annika hadn't thought about it, if only to spare May's feelings
Brunilda swallows and glances at the two, but mostly keeps looking elsewhere. Basic training certainly never covered this.
Maybelline slumps her head down, then lifts it up to smile at Annika. "I... thanks. I'm staying in Respite, and I'm going to get the generator rebuilt and running. And I'm going to help you search. I promise."
Annika: "Great!" She tries to just move right along past that "If you need any help with the generator at all, you can just ask. Okay?"
Brunilda looks at the two again, managing a small smile. Social mess-up averted, probably. She leans on the tree again, shrugging slightly as she has really nothing to add.
Maybelline nods, "I... will do. I might be putting Brun to work too, if she's up to it." She glances over at the elephant by the tree and forces a smile.
Annika: "Sounds like a great plan!"
Brunilda gives May a smile: "So... how about some of those actual exercises we came here to do?"
Maybelline nods, "Ah! Yes! Have a lot of reasons I have to get back in shape."
Annika: "Oh. If you've work to do, I should leave you to it. I have to head out soon too. Work is starting"
Brunilda nods at Annika with a smile: "Take care."
Maybelline waves her good hand at Annika, "Don't work too hard! I'll see you later!"
Annika: "I'll be careful!" And she's off
Maybelline continues to wave a moment too long as Annika heads away from the Doc's office, then sighs and turns back to Brunilda. "R-right. Sorry... so... exercises?"
Brunilda smiles warmly and starts doing some basic arm stretches: "Guess we can start from seeing if your good arm's movement is where it should be."
Maybelline nods, "Right..." She mirrors the stretches as best she can, working out with her good arm, and then doing her best with her wounded arm, doubly determined to get it back into shape now.
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MARKETPLACE - LATE AFTERNOON
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Maybelline walks along the edge of the marketplace slowly as she gets accustomed to her crutch. Her arm isn't fully up to the task, causing her to take breaks here and there, but she has newfound determination to at least be mobile now.
Vix notices May from a a rooftop and happily calls to her, waving her paws in the air. "Oh! May! Maaaay!"
Maybelline 's ears rotate, seeking out the source of her name. She looks up and tilts her head, "Bwah? Vix?" She lifts her good hand and waves.
Vix nimbly hops down from the roof and makes her way over to May. She starts to move awkwardly as she gets close. "It's um...great to see you!"
Maybelline awkwardly smiles back, "You um... you too." She pauses, then shakes her head, "No, I mean that, I really do. It Is great to see you, Vix."
Vix lets out a relieved sigh. "Ness told me we were cool, but I still wasn't sure. I'm glad to see you on your feet!"
Maybelline glances down at the crutch, her right arm still not so great and the right leg still unusable. "Well, on a foot. I'm getting there. And uh, yeah... we're cool. Nothing quite like thinking you're about to die to make you feel bad for yelling at your friends." She slumps a bit, shifting the crutch to her good arm to lean on. "I... sorry about that, by the way."
Vix pats May on her good shoulder. "I forgive you and you forgive me~. Glad that's resolved!"
Maybelline sighs in relief. "Thanks, me too. Sorry to say I doubt any of those parts survived the explosion, though. Gonna be starting quite literally from scratch."
Vix blinks in disbelief. "Wh-what?! Nooo! Those were worth so much!"
Maybelline frowns, "Well... if you can dig any out of the slag, and out of whatever Strix has set up there, you're welcome to it."
Vix laughs nervously. "Maybe once the contamination clears up... Oh, is your guild going to help out or anything?"
Maybelline sighs, "No clue. Guild support is switching over almost entirely to AMP Generators. Letters have to get out to Sarn and back as well, so it won't be anytime soon."
Vix leans against a wall. "Too bad we don't have a mad genius-type who can just whip up technology outta nothing. Wait a sec..."
Maybelline points towards the generator site, where random lightning strikes are still occuring. "I think he already did that. I'd like a little more... long term solution. With less lightning."
Vix throws her paws in the air. "The booms are keeping me up!":
Maybelline chuckles, "I'm going to fix it, Vix. I promise." She lifts her right hand, showing the cat the shakey paw, still damaged from the burn. "I just need to recover a little bit. But I'm going to fix it."
Vix smiles and resists the urge to supportively slap May's paw. "I can find more healing herbs if you need 'em!"
Maybelline nods, "If you have time. Whatever Doc did with them started to bring back feeling after the ICEE burn. That's why I'm out and about now."
Vix: Oh! They really helped? That's amazing!
Maybelline grins, "I guess so! I couldn't even move my arm before and now... I can barely move it, but I can still move it."
Vix confidently raises up her fist. "I'll bring you another batch this week, just watch!"
Maybelline gives Vix a very shakey thumbs up with her bad hand. "I'm counting on you. A-and... thanks. I know I probably keep saying this to everyone but... I've never had people who weren't my family who gave a crap about me."
Vix smiles and returns the thumbs up. "I used to have a stoat friend back in the city. You remind me of him..."
Maybelline smiles and lowers her hand back down. "Well, I'll try to be as good a friend as he was then?" She tilts her head and thinks, "I don't know how good a friend they were. So, I mean... I'll just be a good friend. Or try. I'm kinda new to it."
Vix gently moves in for a hug on May's good side. "Hey, take it easy. Just be yourself and we'll be all good~"
Maybelline mrphs for a moment, then reaches her arm around to hug Vix back. "O-okay. Will do."
Vix: So, were you headed somewhere? Need help gettin' there?
Maybelline chuckles, releasing the hug, "No where in particular. Just getting exercise, and then back to Doc's."
Vix grins. "Mind if I come along~?"
Maybelline smiles, shifting her crutch back to her bad arm. "Sure. Might need a shoulder to lean on if my arm gets too tired."
Vix starts to purr. "Yay! Let's go~~"
Maybelline starts forward again, her spirits definitely lifted as she sets out with her friend... and maybe possibly coincidentally passing a certain bakery as they walk...