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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - AFTERNOON
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Robin settled into his seat at the bar a few minutes ago, drumming his finger on the countertop with a distracted air as he waits for his meal to show up. The chipmunk is dressed down a bit, only sporting a sundress that rests lightly on his frame, no hat today. He lets out a soft sigh, his eyes idlycataloguing the bottles behind the bar.
Mia is also by the bar, though she's now trying something. Hard Liquor. She's done some tests, and worked out she can drink it safely! What fun. "How are you doing today?" She sips at her drink "You seem a little bored"
Robin blinks as he hears someone speaking up, looking about to Mia. "Who, me? Nah. Not at all. Jus' nearly finished a project, with nothin' really on the horizon other than trying the damn thing out which, if I'm honest, it's gonna work perfectly, which is terrifyin'." He grumbles, "More interetin' when things don't work, actually gives me somethin' to do." He stops to watch Mia for a second, "Ain't it a bit early in the day to be drinkin' that kinda stuff?"
Mia: "Oh. I don't get drunk~. Need a bunch of organic bits that I don't have to get drunk. It's just fuel for me" She takes another drink "Fun to watch the reactions to me drinking it all though. So. What's the project?" She leans in "Tell me~"
Robin leans a bit away from Mia as she leans towards him, giving her a concerned look. "Uh... Alright, if ya say so, missy. I'm one'a the two people workin' on the Cawlins airship. Shirly being the other. Of the two. What do ya mean 'organic bits'?"
Mia: "Oh. Can't you tell?" She leans over to Robin "Go on, give me a head rub~"
Robin leans further away as she leans closer in, chuckling quietly. "No, I can only tell ya might be drunk as hell but if it'll let me keep on my stool, fine." He reaches for Mia's head, scritching beside one of her ears. He pauses, blinking at her in the relatively low light. "Wait... Ya got some kinda... Huh, you ain't all cat."
Mia: "Oh I am Cat!" She giggles "I'm just not really..flesh and blood like yourself"
Robin stops leaning away, tilting his head a bit as he reaches up with his other hand, curiously cupping the side of her head as his fingers trace over the surface. "Uh huh, it's what I meant. Some kinda... I dunno, construct? Like magitech? Huh, but ya talk and think." He pushes up Mia's chin, looking at her jawline. "Creat craftsmanship, I don't even see the rivets or nothin'!"
Mia: "I'm fully a person, like yourself, just..well, yes, Magitech, rather than organic" She flexes her fingers "And yes, I am rather proud of myself"
Robin pauses, releasing his paws off Mia. "Ah, o-oh. Uh, sorry? But like... Weird, I don't get how."
Mia: "Well. This town is full of weird stuff! You just got to learn to adjust to them at times" She settles back "I'm an technomancer by trade. Magical Engineering stuff, y'know?"
Robin shrugs, nodding to the barkeep as his veggie dish arrives. "Oh, yeah guess I kinda holed up in the airship getting it workin'. Haven't met too many people yet. Not weird ones, anyways. As for technomancy, only know folks like you do your thing, don't know a bit about it more than that. I'm barely an engineer of not-magitech stuff, after all."
Mia: "It's science, just the same as normal engineering~ Just..y'know, with magic! All the same concepts apply"
Robin shrugs again, poking at his food for a moment. "Kinda? I dunno, magic just seems less predictable to me. Ya cut a cog and a gear, they're always gonna do what they do. Ya use the wrong magic crystal and suddenly your hairdryer is shootin' lightning or whatever."
Mia: "Magic follows all the same rules as a gear does, you just don't understand. It's like how if you cut a gear wrong, the engine wheel can fly off and chop your airship in two"
Robin scoffs, "Not when I'm involved." He taps his temple, "Ain't no machine ever failed when I looked at it 'fore it ran. Shirley's got all the skill for ideas and design, way more than I got, but I got a knack for seein' a thing run 'fore it runs, you know?" He laughs, "Long as nobody flies it headlong into a storm, or hides a big air pit in the metal. Even that, got pinging forks to find that nonsense."
Mia: "Of course, and my hairdryer only shoots lightning when I turn it to that setting! It -is- the same!"
Robin blinks, thrown off a bit. "Your hairdryer actually shoots lightnin'? Why?"
Mia: "I mean, It usually just blows wind! But what if I want my hair to look frizzy?"
Robin gives Mia a look, not sure if she's serious or not. "Well eletrocutin' yourself doesn't seem like the most efficient way, but whatever works for you, missy." He absently strokes his head for a moment, thinking about frizzy hair. "I prefer a good smooth look, myself."
Mia: "Oh, it's only very light lightning. Perfectly safe"
Robin smirks. "Light lightnin'. Uh-huh."
Mia pinches her fingers together "Just a bit of a spark"
Robin shakes his head a bit, turning to start in on his food. "Sure. Ya know what, I gotta see this little spark to get a proper idea what ya mean, else it just sounds like weirdness."
Mia: "Oh" She rubs her fingers together "I can do that~"
Robin monches a mouthful of food, chewing as he semi-absently responds with a muffled, "Soumbs goob. Whun?"
Mia pokes Robin! She feels a mild tingle pass through her...but then all her fur 'poofs up!
Robin lets out an undignified squeak as he feels the rather sharp-ish poke, his own fur standing on end before the chipmunk slides sideways away from Mia and directly off his stool for a further destruction of his dignity. His sundress only half follows him off the seat, snagging and tearing the side seam from hem to waist.
Mia giggles at him "Oh, What do you think?" She steps forward, and pinches the seem together, repairing it with a little cantrip "You okay?"
Robin glares daggers at Mia, though the food stuffed into his cheek dulls the intensity of his expression a bit. "Thank you but no thank you! Damn cat, whadja zap me for? Cruel!"
Mia: "You asked me to!" She pouts "It's not my fault you didn't expect me to follow through"
Robin stands up, fixing his dress with an annoyed squeak before hopping back up onto his stool. "I didn't mean on me, ya nut. Lookit me, you got my butt all dusty and my fur all frizzed!" He's trying to be relatively nice, not wanting to make the strange cat sad, but really!
Mia: "Well, I thought you wanted your fur all frazzeled! Why else would you want to be shocked? Your dusty butt is your fault for falling anyway~" She giggles "You'll be fine. The charge will die down in a moment, and your fur will smooth out"
Robin gives Mia a flat look, sighing. "I meant show me the lightning. Whats your name, ayways, so I can stop callin' ya 'cat'? I'm Robin."
Mia: "Mia! Nice to meet you Robin, despite the misunderstanding"
Robin narrows his eyes a bit before laughing. "Sure ya didn't just want to zap me for a giggle?"
Mia: "Well, not JUST for a giggle"
Robin observes Mia's still pouffed fur, suppressing his grin by turning to his plate and scarfing down the rest of his food. "I hope I don't look half as nuts as ya do..." He nearly does.
Mia: "Oh, I look fine" She focuses and her fur settles down, it's not really 'fur', it's just a facsimile to make touching her not weird, more akin to felt "You look great too~"
Robin blushes a bit at the compliment, even if he's not sure it's entirely genuine. "Sure, I got the ol' scruffy hobo what stole a skirt look goin' on. What's not great about that?" He lifts a paw, patting his fur smooth again. As smooth as he can manage without a comb and a mirror, at least.
Mia: "Eh, you can pull it off!" She continues chatting about mutual work, and fashion
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RESPITE CLINIC - MORNING
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Tarbin walks into the patient care room of the clinic, letting the curtain fall back across his tails as he pauses just inside the doorway and looks about the room. He has been less and less energetic in his normal daily routine now that Melia has been away for a while, though he can't deny that the solitude has been entirely bad, either. He has been spending more time in town lately to counter that, and still keeps up his spirits for patients, though. Speaking of, his eyes fall on the most recent victim of magical explodening, the twin-tailed lizard observing the folf from where he stands.
Narrator: The whole world seemed to remain still for the folf. His ears would twitch in reaction to the footsteps of the person in the clinic, but he didn't respond. He stared at the wall with a blank look. One hand was rested on his chest, the other at his side. He would hum some sort of lullaby to himself, seemingly trying to keep himself calm in spite of everything that has happened to him so far.
Tarbin hums to himself, his tails swaying in unison as he walks into the room, bare claws tapping the tiles. The rest of him is rather unprofessionally dressed other than the labcoat that Plume insisted he wears while working for them. "Awake, yes? That song is nice. Music is good for healing, I think I hear." He doesn't get close to Claudio's bed yet, but does look toward the jug and cup set aside for the patient to drink from. "Have you drinked?"
Claudio: would go quiet in response, shutting down at the slightest of interaction between other people. His messed up fur looks matted under the eyes, and his face looks sad and defeated. He fidgets a little, answering in a very shy and reserved tone. "N-No... No... I haven't..."
Tarbin sighs quietly, nodding in response. "Should, water is in all life. But since I am here..." He turns away, stepping to a table in the middle of the room. His tails drift to his side as he kicks open a small hatch in the floor- a request made to Plume so he and Melia could help better- through which his tails droop as he works at the small table preparing some hot water. "New in town, hmm? Doctor Doctor Plume has no record for you."
Claudio: would shake a little, just due to nerves. He was extremely physically vulnerable after his explosion but now it seemed it had transformed into an emotional vulnerability. His feetpaws would rub together nervously as he attempted to form a response. "I'm new... not been here long... what are you doing?"
Tarbin nods along. "Was new, too. Suppose everyone was." He holds a sheaf of dried herbs up as a streak of his blue scales shift to orange starting from the tails under the floorboards, up under his clothes, until the hand holding the dessicated plants shifts in color. "Fresh medicine, will be good for your muscles after all that cold." As he speaks the herbs flourish quickly to life, seeming to grow beyond just becoming refreshed. He wastes no time in cutting into them and staring them steeping in hot water.
Claudio: watches with a vague interest, his paws remaining near his chest as he attempts to sit up in his bed. It's no use though, the muscles in his arms giving out as he falls back into the bed in his original position. He lets out a pained whine, sighing heavily immediately after in response to the sudden drop. "That's strange... it's like... you give life to the plant...:
Tarbin chuckles quietly, shaking his head a little as his scales fade back to blue. "No, the Flow does. I just make a path for it." He turns to look at the folf, his tail tips twitching on the dirt below the floor. "A gift of a sort." He tilts his head a little, resting against the table as he waits on the brew. Something about this patient's circumstances tells Tarbin to keep at bay for now, or else such a situation would be easy for him to start healing. "How did you get hurt? It might help me help you."
Claudio:'s head turns away from the male, turning to lay on his left side away from him. He sighs, having to remember his experience. He doesn't recall well, as it's mostly a blur. He doesn't remember much up to the point of meeting Gareth. "I don't remember much... I just... exploded... the ice will have given me little cuts... I assume that those were treated..."
Tarbin watches Claudio, nodding though he knows the patient can't tell. "Yes, most. Only surface, though. Your ice? Are you a mage?" That would give Tarbin an idea of why the folf makes him uneasy.
Claudio: nodded, though the male wouldn't be able to tell. He would play with his paws while he lay in bed, groaning softly before he responds to the doctor. "Technically yes... I'm a wielder. A powerful one at that..."
Tarbin hums, his tails swishing a little, though he feels better with more knowledge. He sniffs, noting the medicine is more or less ready. Picking the warm cup up, Tarbin approaches the bed, presenting the medicine. His tails maintain their tips through the hatch, keeping his contact with the ground, such as it is. "Here, try to drink. Will relax muscles and numb some aches."
Claudio returned to the position of laying on his back, he reaches shakily for the cup and takes a few sips before downing the whole thing. He would whine in response to how hot it was, but then cough and splutter due to the strange taste. He did feel incredibly relaxed after he calmed down though. The pain and tension in his body melting away almost instantly. "What... is this?"
Tarbin nods in approval as he takes the empty cup from the patient. "Not much. Chamomile most, [tiny regal blossoms] for deep effect. Vervain, I think Doctor DoctorPlume called it." He sets the cup aside, turning to examine the state of Claudio's cuts. "Well, now you wake, what is your name?"
Claudio: remains quiet as he is spoken to, raising a brow at a specific word during his speech. He didn't raise a fuss, though. Everyone is from different places here. It's natural. Raising his paws briefly in defence, he allows the male to analyse his small wounds, wincing every so often as he touched a tender spot. "Uhm... Claudio... I'm Claudio..."
Tarbin smiles a toothy lizard smile, nodding as he gently examines Claudio's wounds. "Tarbin. Glad to meet, Claudio. May I?" His scales once again show the path of earthen magic travelling through him to his hands, though his hands remain unshifted, ready to work.
Claudio: eases up a little at the smile, but keeps his guard up. His paws return to his face briefly to guard him, but he slowly lowers them to let the lizard work. He inhales and exhales deeply, closing his eyes and laying back for the male to get to work.
Tarbin takes that as a confirmation, resting his hand over a number of scabs from the ice. His efforts will fast-forward the folf's natural healing, though he doesn't push it to any extreme since this patient needs to rest and so has time. "What brought you to Respite, friend?"
Claudio:'s whining would cease once he was asked the question, sighing softly to himself again as the occasional wince broke his character. "I was... driven away... War. In a sense..."
Tarbin hums, nodding as he continues his work, though he would never call it that. "I see. I do not judge, there are many reasons to look for a new life. This place is as good as any. Maybe better, even?"
Claudio: "I don't know yet... I've only been here a few days. I've yet to meet a lot of people, and I might... I don't know... I feel alone here still. Some part of me still lingers at home... if that makes sense."
Tarbin lets his smile slip, looking to Claudio's face for a long moment before he smiles again. No need to worry a patient any more than they already are; "It does, yes. You will find friends here. Many who will understand."
Claudio: would make eye contact for the first time, a vacant expression in his eyes. His eyes were still emerald green and almost shimmered in the right light. He broke eye contact after, looking down, or whatever he could look at beneath him.
Tarbin looks back to his work, the smallest scabs and scars already healing over nicely as Nature takes an incredibly accelerated course. The talk would continue to be light and mostly inconsequential between the two, before Tarbin eventually has to leave Claudio to rest.