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BOUQUET ESTATE - EARLY AFTERNOON
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Narrator Matters had been progressing slowly enough for Rondelethia, and she was still fully active, with only a small showing. She was heading down to Teis's lab, with a few design requests from 'Head Office' back in Sarn, as well as snacks. It's always a good thing to make sure you bring the good, with the bad after all.
Teis is busy in her lab, currently disposing the contents of her ant farms into large bin bags. Argon Gas has been pumped into the tanks to push out all the oxygen, and the now-dead ants have been sitting in it for over 30 hours to ensure death. A long process, but less risky than her alternatives. On her desk lies a notebook, her writing detailing the progress of the ants. Progress was good, for a proof of concept. But even after all this time, with magical intervention, they're simply not good enough for phase two. On her notebook, in the corner of the page, lies a little drawing of a butterfly.
Rondelethia doesn't say anything, simply raises an eyebrow "There's the feedback about the last batch of stuff. Also, Donuts" She puts the box down, and lifts one up "Your other projects going well? We're turning a decent margin this quarter, but they're looking to expand, so, they're hoping for .." She idly gestures with a donut "More" Which is fairly standard requesting.
Teis' tail flares up briefly in surprise, absorbed in her work when Rondelethia catches her eye, though she quickly settles. Snacks? Not a good sign. But not-not appreciated! She finishes up with her ants, then takes off her gloves to move over to the donuts. Other projects. . .Teis glances back to her workbench. The Mana Condenser is still only on version 2.3, given that the ant project would ideally accomplish the same goal. And the ant project. . .Well. She looks back to Rondelethia. "They're. . .Decent." Teis replies. She skews her lip, "What do you mean, expand?"
Rondelethia: "I think it's just some manufacturing stuff. I've not had a chance to actually go over, and process the details" She chuckles "Honestly? I think it's just a 'business is good, but don't get complacent. I wouldn't worry too much, but I asked to say it, so, I did" She continues her donut "In any case, I just wanted to give you a bit of a heads up. Turns out that dragonic.." What's a polite phrase "Procreation, has a few quirks. There had been no recorded incidents of non-dragons giving birth to dragons, which was worrying, but I've found the reason, and it's..well, it's a relief, but it's something you should be aware of, so it's not a shock"
Teis: "Are they trying to stress me out? I don't react well under stress, Sis." Teis crosses her arms. Rondelethia knows this; though Teis does seem to have more profitable ideas when stressed, rather than personal ideas. She grabs a donut, nomming at it. "Uh. . .What, are you going to explode?" Teis questions. Rude!
Rondelethia: "What? No!" She pauses "Look, I honestly only put it like that so that you can imagine the worst, so uh.." She's dancing around it, it's not bad, just..weird, and sort of embarassing "Wellll, only a dragon can give birth to a dragon, so if the Mom isn't a dragon, the baby kinda.."corrects" that" She makes the air quotes with little flicks of her ears "I think that's why I've been craving meat so much lately" Rabbits normally /can/ eat meat, but it would be odd for them to seek it out
Teis pauses, ears flicking, blinking, then blinking again. "Wat." Teis replies, putting the donut down. She begins to pace around her lab a little. She's struggling with the notion in her head, motioning to talk to Rondelethia but stopping short a few times. Then, "So. . .Like. Are we talking like, becoming a dragon?" Teis questions, "And how does that even work?"
Teis: "Do you become more magical? How much magical energy is involved? Can you even handle the magical potential? Will it drive you crazy? Will you become violent? Will you live forever? Do you need to hibernate? Wait. . . " Teis suddenly stops in her tracks, looking at Rondelethia coldly and calculated for a moment. She steps closer to Rondelethia, placing her paws on her shoulders. "Does Calgwen know? Has he had significant others before? Are you the first he got pregnant? What happened to his other partners?"
Rondelethia: "Lets see" She holds up her fingers. It helps keeping track of question storms "I believe I'm drawing some magic from Calgwen to make it work, form changes are oddly enough pretty energy neutral. Don't ask me why, I'm not a magic theorist" She starts putting down her fingers "I'm already a trained mage remember, I just don't practice day to day" She makes a little spark on that point! "They say all pregnant woman go crazy, but otherwise, no, no reports of mental instability from what I can see. I don't know. Reports are mixed on how long term it is, and I think dragons hibernating is less a physiological thing and more of psychological response to boredom" She's nearly there "Yes, he knows, My child is his first, and the final question is irrelevant"
Rondelethia: "Also, I don't know the nature of 'dragon', that one seems quite variable"
Teis lets go of Rondelethia, nodding along, returning to her donut and nibbling it while she listens. At the end, she stuffs her face full with the remaining donut and swallows quickly. "So. . ." Teis hums, pointing a claw at Rondelethia an inch away from her nose, "You know that I'm gonna study you, right?"
Rondelethia lightly snaps at her finger "Isn't there a saying 'letting sleeping dragons lie'? She's not offended or anything "I'll tell you what. I'll make a deal. You can do your studies, but.." She points to the insects "All that insect stuff has to be back burnered. I'm not gonna go all ultimatum here, but I don't like it, so..carrot over the stick?"
Rondelethia: "Oh, and nothing invasive. That's a firm line, I'm not crossing"
we had dragons." Teis ahems, "Yzzayt aside." She mutters under her breath. She pulls her finger back from Rondelethia. "What? But I've had a breakthrough idea! Caterpillars spend all their lives gathering energy! And with my nature magic, I can give them that energy!"
Rondelethia: "Psh, Yzzayt wasn't a real dragon" That's probably some Calgwen rubbing off on her "I'm not saying there's not potential, I'm just saying..I don't like it. Energy production has never been a real stopping point for you, and I've never quite liked it. So, I'm asking you, as your sister, and offering you something else to just..let it go by the side" She looks over to him "I'm worried, and I don't want anything to go wrong. With your normal experiments, sure you're careful, but..there's accidents, and somethings things get messy, but if you're using live stuff...it could be so much worse, and there's going to be a baby here soon!"
Teis: "Yeah, but we could cut the mana crystals out almost entirely if I were to. . ." Teis begins to argue her point, though deflates as she continues. She huffs, crossing her arms and frowning. It pains her to give something up when she feels as if she's gotten a step closer, but. . .The potential of learning the secrets of dragon magic outweighs it all. "Fine." Disheartened, she agrees. She remains pouting.
Rondelethia boops her nose "Boop" She makes the sound "It'll be fine, and..I'm sure you'll learn alot! I'm rather nervous. It's due to happen..well, at some point. It's hard to get any real solid info on it, but, I'm assured that I will be beautiful" She giggles "Though, that's Calgwen who assured me of that. He miiiight be biased"
Teis: The boop is unappreciated at first, though after a couple of seconds it helps to snap Teis out of her brief funk. She uncrosses her arms, picking up another donut. "So. What, you're not angry that you're. . .Like, becoming a different species? What'll Father say? Wait. . .No. He'll probably love it." Teis sighs, taking a bite from her donut.
Rondelethia: "Uh, I haven't told him yet" She coughs "I'm sure he'll be very understanding, and.." There's a brief sigh, and she sits against the table "I don't know, honestly. I've always tried to say that it doesn't matter what I am, I should be treated just the same, that a rabbit doesn't have to be meek, or cowardly, so..it feels like I should be upset? But..it's so hard, when I've met one example of a dragon, and he's just so wonderful.." She rubs her ear softly "I'm being silly right? Conflicted, because I don't feel conflicted?"
dragon in the family. To have three? The status that'd bring him. . ." Teis sighs. "Honestly, I think the bigger concern will be him treating you like an actual person. . ." She pauses, shaking her head. "And, I get it. Feeling guilty that you're not guilty, or other such things. I am all the time with my experiments."
Rondelethia: "Well, We'll burn that bridge when we come to it" She rubs her ears "I'm just..I don't know. It's the waiting, and the not knowing how, and when it'll happen is the real bummer. I'm meditating, I don't want to put pressure and stress on the baby" She chuckles "The little tyke will do it when they feel ready"
Teis nods. "Well. . .I'll help as best I can. But. . .I'd need to study first." She glances at her donut briefly, contemplating it. "Calgwen will certainly help as well, but. . ." She takes a bite out of the donut, but oddly, out of the bottom. "There's another group. . ." She talks with her mouth full. She takes another bite, this time from somewhere different. Then, she begins using her claws to pluck out little parts of donut to continue sculpting her masterpiece. "That could provide some insight. . ." She finishes her sculpture - a very crude image of a T-Rex. A delicious T-Rex. "Say, a group that worshipped a dragon? Lived with one. Even if it was sleeping. And not-a-real-dragon." Teis eats the delicious T-Rex.
Rondelethia: "I think that I professional have to say that they wouldn't help, because not-a-real-dragon" She replies diplomatically "Either way, this is more about getting ready, making sure that nobody freaks out, and it's just..expected, and accounted for. I'm already tweaking any of the magic stuff to work without being uh..physically the same, and if there's anything around here that wouldn't work if I wasn't a bun, probably fix it too. Still, I think it'll be a good test run. It seems that species inconsistancy disorders are on the rise"
Teis: "Yeah. . .Well. We're kinda in uncharted territory here. Don't turn down a potential source of information." Teis replies. She hums, idly wondering, ". . .Huh. Wonder how big you'll become. . ."
Rondelethia: "Well, Calgwen's not thaaaat much taller than me, so probably not that much?"
Teis: "Yeah, not counting your ears, Sis." Teis retorts.
Rondelethia wiggles her ears brightly "They are a core part of a rabbit, which you well know"
Teis: "Oh yeah? Then I get to count my tail." Teis clicks her fingers, levitates off the ground briefly, keeping the tip of her tail against the floor of the lab. While her head still can't clear Rondelethia's ears, she is able to barely clear Rondelethia's head. She pokes her tongue out at Rondelethia.
Rondelethia: "It only counts if you can balance on your tail without magic"
Teis: "Then you don't count if you're not a dragon without magic either!"
Rondelethia: "Dragons naturally are magic. So, it does! Cats aren't naturally magic, it's learned"
Rondelethia sticks her tongue out
Teis: "Bunnies aren't naturally dragons though. Or magic! Two cons against you. Submit! Count the tail!"
Rondelethia: "Well. Fine. Only because I'm still taller!"
Teis grins, floating down to the ground slowly and ending the levitation. "Good." She grabs another donut. "Not that I want to be tall."
Rondelethia: "Well, maybe I will be soon, regal, imposing..." She picks up another donut "Carnivorous~"
Teis: "What, you want to be called Queen Rondelethia?" Teis chuckles. "You gonna eat the house staff if they misbehave?"
Rondelethia: "Well..no, but I do rather find steak more appealing~"
Teis clears her throat and puts on an over-the-top service voice. "Why yes, Your Majesty. I shall fetch you another steak! Does His Majesty require one as well?"
Rondelethia: "Why, I never thought you'd ask!" She grins "Now, fetch me the two finest cuts, right away!"
Rondelethia: "Ehhh, sounds like effort" She yawns "Maybe I'll just nap instead of being Queen"
Teis giggles in response. "Well. . .In that case, I need to figure out where to even begin researching."
Rondelethia: "Well" She offers a finger "How about a blood test?"
Teis: "Ha, if only I were more of a biologist. No, I was thinking a mana crystal." Teis replies. "Start with you and Calgwen. . ." She muses, glancing to Rondelethia's baby. "But. . .Not sure how extracting mana from that will go. . ."
Rondelethia: "Remember. Nothing invasive. I can give, you can't take. I'm not risking the baby in any, single, way. Understand?" There was just the tinest little growl on that last word, her right eye for a moment going verticle slitted. "And it's not a 'that', it's my child" And the moment was gone.
Teis backs up a step from Rondelethia, raising her paws somewhat defensively. "Alright, jeez. Talk about hormones. . ." She mutters to herself.
Rondelethia gives her a head pat "Well, I'll leave you working on that problem, okay? I have to do up some expense reports. Is there anything I should know about before I check them?" She turns over her shoulder as she heads upstairs
Teis: Teis' ears flick at the head pat, relaxing a little, though not completely. She only lowers her hands when she replies, "Not that I'm aware of?"
Rondelethia: "Sure. All good then!" She heads on hope, to hopefully no surprises on said report!
Teis takes in a deep breath, sighing it out while leaning herself over the nearest desk. "Muffin hormones. . ." She mutters to herself.