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RESPITE MARKETPLACE - NOONISH
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Jennica is sitting on a sidetable of her and Emmeline's tent, munching on a sandwich. She hasn't put up an 'out to lunch' sign on the front but might as well have. All of one sale this morning didn't make her feel all that enthused to try and cajole folks she actually has no desire to talk with - that is 'Em's job. If she harbores any thoughts of giving up though, she's pushing that far back in her mind. Besides, she has a sandwich to destroy.
Annika approaches, wringing her paws nervously as she does "Um..hello? Are you..uh..Jen? Emmeline's partner? I'm Annika..I think Emmeline might have mentioned me maybe?"
Jennica blinks and looks up from her focused task: "Umhm. H-hi." She swallows her mouthful before speaking: "Mm - can I help you? I'm Jennica."
Annika: "Well, I have a sort of magic problem, and I'm hoping you can help" She holds out her paw, back up, to show the gem embedded there "See? It's..sorta..stuck"
Jennica gets up to standing - which really isn't that tall - and she leans over to look: "Huh. T-that's weird."
Annika: "Uh..yeah..and uh..when I got it..I grew the extra tail" Both tails wiggle behind her, as if to emphasis the point.
Jennica 's tail swishes if just from a nervous reflex: "Oh. Wow."
Annika: "Uh..do..do you know anything about it?"
Jennica blinks in surprise, then gives a lopsided nervous smile: "U-uhm, about what? That -" She points at Annika's paw: "-I don't know what that is?"
Annika: "Oh.." She's a little disappointed "Do you think you can help with it in any way? I...well..I've been told I should get it out"
Jennica hesitates, reaches her hand towards Annika's... then withdraws hers. "I uh... n-never really seen anything like that." She pauses, thinking: "T-though I've heard."
Annika: "Heard?" She perks up a bit "Heard of what?"
Jennica shies away slightly: "Um, not much. Just that getting a gem like that, it's... it's..." She gathers herself, taking a breath: "It's a tough job, getting it out, depending."
Annika: "Oh.." She bites her lip "I was afraid of that. I..I don't want to like..cut off my paw, or anything like that"
Jennica blanches visibly at the idea, then quickly shakes her head: "Oh, no no no. T-that'd be bad. Much bad." She looks at the paw again, frowning, thinking.
Annika: "Well..yeah! It would! But..you said it was hard so..."
Jennica nods, gears in her head turning: "It... i-it can be done, I think..." She picks up a piece of paper and starts scribbling some notes, now largely thinking to aloud to herself: "It... yes, maybe? If one would... enchant a companion gem of sorts to it, and... combine the... flows. Hmm..."
Annika blink. Blink "Well, if you think that would work..." She understood some of those words Jennica said!
Jennica nods, scribbling for a few more lines: "I... I c-can't promise, but... hmm." She looks at Annika once more, frowning: "I can maybe create a trinket that might help... alleviate the flow of the gem, sort of reverse it temporarily so it c-could be taken out."
Emmeline approaches the stall after having finished dealing with the last of the necessary paperwork and then lunch. She notices the familiar fox talking to Jennica and smiles to herself, coming up quietly so as not to interrupt the pair, just listening for now.
Annika: "Um..okay! If you think that would work!" If Jennica is paying attention, she might notice the magic in the gem subtley shifting itself to be super easy to 'sync' with such a trinket, and make such a project totally straightforward!
Jennica nods, humming: "I... I can c-create the trinket, I think." She then goes a degree paler: "B-but y-you have to f-find someone else to do the, uh, c-cutting off it. I d-don't do well seeing, uh, blood." She looks definitely ashamed admitting this to someone she just met, problem or no problem.
Annika: "Uh..wouldn't a Doctor be the one to that anyway?"
Jennica blinks, then hastily nods: "U-uhnm. P-probably. S-sorry."
Emmeline cocks her head. "That's probably for the best, yes. As skilled as Jennica is, she's no surgeon."
Annika: "It's okay!" She smiles cheerfully "You're doing something important anyway!" She waves over to Emmeline "Hi! Welcome again!"
Jennica starts upon hearing her friend: "O-oh! Hey, 'Em."
Emmeline smiles at Jennica and Annika both. "Afternoon. So you can do something to help her? That's good. I wasn't sure if this would be up your alley or not."
Jennica nods with a small smile: "It is! ...probably. Maybe? I think?" She pauses, frowning: "...p-possibly?"
Annika: "Yes!" She nods, happily "I think it'll work!"
Emmeline walks around to the back of the stall and enters it, joining the others at the front again. "Well, just do your best. That's all anyone can expect of you, Jen."
Emmeline: ((expect-->ask))
Jennica nods slowly, picking up her smile some: "Uhm, yeah... I got to try, right?" She gives Annika a warm smile.
Annika smiles back, nodding "Exactly! And..if it doesn't work! We can just try something else, right?"
Emmeline nods a bit. "Yeah. Magic talent is pretty sparse out here, or so we heard. Part of the reason to come here in the first place. Makes our little lucky charms all the more special, right Jen?"
Jennica nods, humming: "I have to do some... calculations and confirmations, b-but I think I should be able to to create it." She nods at Emmeline with a a bit of a blush: "T-they're not that special..."
Annika: "Um..well, thanks all the same!" She wiggles a little uncomfortable with the running down of selves
Emmeline gives a little sigh before very gently giving Jen's shoulder a mock punch. "Oh come on now. None of that... not in front of our new friend at least."
Jennica blinks: "Oh, r-right." She looks at Annika with a smile: "C-come back in like few days and I should have it ready."
Annika: "That's great!" She darts forward, to wrap Jennica up in a hug "Thanks!"
Jennica lets out a squeak entirely too high-pitched for her stature, blushing: "Eep!" After a moment of shock, she hugs back.
Emmeline remembers something and ducks into the back of the stall, returning a few moments later with something held behind her back.
Annika lets go, and returns back to standing with a smile "Really! I'm happy you're helping. I can't wait to see what you're going to come up with!"
Jennica blinks and smiles a bit confusedly: "Uhm, me neither?"
Annika nods happily! "So..um..is there anything I can help you with?"
Jennica hums for a second, before nodding: "Y-yeah, uh... can I see your hand again?"
Annika: "Sure!" She puts out her paw, showing the gem, now ideally attuned for the exact plan Jennica had. It was going to be so easy!
Jennica looks at the paw, getting a good mental image with a moment of intense staring. She then nods, satisfied. "I c-can do this."
Emmeline waits quietly. Once Jennica is done, she walks up to the counter. "Oh, Annika, before you go..." She brings the item from behind her back and holds it out to the fox. It's one of the small potted plants that Annika was eyeing up yesterday. "Here. We ended up with an extra one."
Annika: "Oh!" She takes the plant, holding it to her "Thanks a bunch!"
Jennica looks at the exchange with a smile, but her mind is already wandering to the magi-theory plans she scribbled earlier.
Emmeline smiles. "It was only a few gold, so we can add that to the cost of whatever Jennica makes for you."
Annika: "Yes! Of course!" She smiles again "This will really pretty up my flat"
Emmeline looks at Jennica, but sees that her mind is spinning up on the problem, so she looks back to Annika. "Ah, well, I'm sure it will. Jen and I still need to find something more permanent than the little apartment we've leased for a month. Assuming business picks up enough, of course."
Jennica nods absently at Annika, before turning towards the notes she made earlier, mumbling to herself about the whole issue and how to solve it.
Annika: "There's probably lots of places you can get! I found a place without a massive amount of difficulty"
Emmeline: Oh, I'm sure, it's just finding such a place while we're still trying to get the stall running, get used to the town, keep up enough inventory, work on your problem, et cetera... just a lot of plates to keep spinning, you know?
Annika: "Ahuh! I can understand that" She nods "So, you said that it would be a few days?"
Jennica mumbles as she scribbles: "Spinning? No, that wouldn't work..."
Emmeline leans in and whispers to Annika. "And you can see how Jen can get when she's working on a project, so I have to handle the big picture stuff."
Annika nods back to her, and giggles, not saying anything.
Emmeline giggles too before speaking up again, turning to her partner. "Jen, how long did you say?"
Jennica blinks and looks up: "Oh. Um... two days? Three? I forget."
Emmeline shakes her head. "Right.. so how long do you think now?"
Jennica looks at Annika, her notes, then at Emmeline: "Uh... two days?"
Annika: "Okay! So come back..two days from now?"
Emmeline nods. "Late afternoon should work, yeah." She leans across the counter to give Annika a gentle hug. "I'm glad that we'll be able to help you."
Annika returns the hug! "Glad to be helped!"
Jennica smiles warmly: "Glad to... uh, yeah."
Emmeline releases the hug. "Well, take care of yourself... and maybe tell some folks you know about our little stall here, OK?"
Annika: "Okay! Thanks again!" And Annika, with her two tails, would head back out into the town
Emmeline watches Annika go before turning back to watch Jen working on the solution. She doesn't say anything, but just smiles contentedly before turning her attention back to the market crowd.
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ERIKA'S GARDEN - AFTERNOON
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Erika is working around the garden, as usual... or at least we think she's working right now. There are certainly sounds of someone working in the garden, but the okapi is at a glance nowhere to be seen. Her happy humming is unmistakable, though.
Fiora walks into the garden pretty casually, having been there enough now when searching for Erika. The noise is a pretty big giveaway too. "Erika! Hey, what's up?"
Erika steps from behind Fiora with a grin: "Oh! Hey!" She doesn't ambush her Sister with hugs, although it's possible she's tempted to.
Fiora spins with a practiced flourish, but isn't so on guard as to bring her hands up into a defensive position. Instead, she's got a pretty big grin on her face. "Hey! Uh... hey! How's your day been?"
Erika grins brightly: "Pretty amazing! You'd think I have already found everything about this garden that there's to find, but nope! I found a new root growin' in the underbrush I had not seen at all!" She holds a small rather nondescript brown root in her hand, smiling at it.
Fiora chuckles, "Uh, nice! It looks just like any other root to me I guess, but that's why you're a plant expert and I just punch things."
Erika giggles and waves her hand, looking at the root: "I was gonna call it 'Bob', but that would just be silly. But I'll find a spot for it, just you watch!" She flails her hands in excitement, enough to cause the root to fly beside Fiora's shoulder and somewhere into the underbrush.
Fiora dodges the root, tilting her head back to watch it fall aside, she chuckles slightly, "Shoot, watch it, Sis! Gonna hurt the root if you let it slip from your grip like that."
Erika looks at the root fly, putting her hands to her cheeks: "Oh no! Bob!" She looks sad and defeated for a moment, before perking up: "...I'll find him again. Unless it's the kind of root that can grow legs and not just fly."
Fiora chuckles, "Didn't look like a Mandraga to me. They're on my list. Big mobile plants with huge jaws in the jungles of Orela. Never seen one myself though. Don't think they can fly..."
Erika blinks, then shrugs: "Eh, probably not. Pretty far for a migratory plant to cross an ocean... I think." She looks at the underbrush suspiciously for a moment, then shrugs again.
Fiora cracks her knuckles, glancing at the brush. "Well, if it did, then I'll protect you AND get to cross another thing off my list of cool stuff I want to punch."
Erika frowns at Fiora: "No punching my plants! Even the carnivorous ones. They're delicate."
Fiora raises her hands in innocence, "I'm not gonna punch Bob! Or anyone else in here! Unless they start it."
Erika looks at Fiora for a moment, then nods with a smile: "Okay! That works." She looks about the garden, thoughtful for a second: "So, um... how are things with you?"
Fiora chuckles, "Slow. Still healing up, but my chest is mostly just sore now. And I think I made up with Brunilda? Again? And then I made it all complicated."
Erika tilts her head: "Complicated? How? I thought, uh... it was all okay? Or was it?"
Fiora starts counting on her fingers, "Well, first she liked me, and then she tried to admit her love of me, and I yelled at her, so then she hated me. Then we made up and she liked me again, so I tried to have her come along on a job, but she hated that, and I thought she hated me again. But we talked it out and we're okay. Again. And then I think... maybe I asked her to start dating me? But she hasn't really made a move since then, and I don't really know what I'm doing or if it's even what I want so..." She blinks a few times blankly. "Uh... sorry. That's a lot."
Erika blinks several times in rapid succession: "That... huh-wow. That is a lot. So wait, are you with her or not?"
Fiora sighs. "I... hell. I don't know. I guess? I mean, I like her and all. Never been with anyone before. So..." She shrugs. "I'm certainly screwing it up a bunch now."
Erika shrugs: "I'm not the best to say, just been with..." She looks towards the vague direction of where the forge is: "...Cavro?"
Fiora nods, not quite catching Erika's tone, "I'm a bit jealous of you two. I didn't have any crushes growing up. At least, none I recognized. Beat up a lot of boys though. Maybe that scared any crushes away?"
Erika looks aside for a moment more before nodding absently: "Maybe. You are a bit... rough, mayhap?"
Fiora sighs, "I know, I know. I can't fix everything with fighting (I can try though). She manages to laugh. I guess I should do some more work with Cavro though, if he wants. Has he mentioned my work at all? I want to believe I'm okay at smithing at least."
Erika blinks, thinking: "I... I can't recall if he has. Possibly? There was some project he was working on, but..." She shakes her head, not remembering.
Fiora crosses her arms, suddenly a bit worried for Erika. "But? Erika, you okay? Cavro is like, the number two topic on your mind after plantstuff."
Erika looks at Fiora: "He is? I mean, he is. I just got uh..." She recalls her conversation with Nesseth and blushes: "...d-distracted."
Fiora raises an eyebrow. "By?"
Erika taps her fingers at each other, blushing a bit: "...Cavro?"
Fiora nods, "Okay, so you were distracted by Cavro, heh. That's believable. You sure you're okay though?"
Erika nods perhaps a bit hastily: "Yup! I'm fine. I'm... fine?"
Fiora sounds a bit doubtful. "You're fine?"
Erika nods, a bit more certain now: "I'm pretty sure."
Fiora glances around the garden. "How long you been working out here today? I guess it's only the afternoon but... you should get some water. Sit down. Relax."
Erika blinks, looking about the garden that is her lifeblood: "I haven't..." She looks up at the sky, at the late afternoon sun: "...that long? Oops."
Fiora sighs, "Alright, yep. Time to leave the garden. C'mon. You need food and water and ice cream. Maybe not in that order. Maybe though? I guess it depends on how fast we get the water. But lets get you something, alright? And then maybe a nap?"
Erika looks at the garden somewhat wistfully, then reluctantly nods: "Maybe a break isn't... too bad, yeah? Also ice cream is a strong argument." She gives Fiora a warm smile.
Fiora grins, "A very strong argument." She giggles, walking up to Erika to give her a hug.
Erika returns the hug with a fierce grip of her own, laughing: "I got a bit silly there, I think."
Fiora shrugs, tightening her hug in response. "Don't worry about it. Trust me, I get silly all the time."
Erika nods with a grin: "Both silly? But that would be like... exceedingly silly, then."
Fiora giggles, "Well, maybe we should try not to be that silly at the same time? Or maybe we should totally be that silly at the same time."
Erika hums: "I don't know. Would it be wise to even find out?"
Fiora shrugs, "I've never been all that wise, to be honest."
Erika shrugs in mirror: "Me neither." She gives Fiora a sheepish grin.
Fiora gives Erika another squeeze before letting her go, "Then we'll just have to find out, eh?!"
Erika giggles and waves her hand: "Yeah, guess we gotta, then."
Fiora grabs Erika's hand, "Then c'mon! Lunch! Ice cream! Silliness!"
Erika eep's slightly at being pulled, but laughs right after: "Eyuh! Coming!"