Nemo


"Traveling low is good, but I feel like I'm missing something ya know?" Nemo flaps awkwardly, and gestures upwards, while also lifting one leg and shaking it. "Besides, walking is taking a massive toll on my feet... I'm not built for this, I guess."

A small and sharp tap, and his foot meets stone once more. Watching the other Gembound nose a rock...

Them explain what they attempted - "I mean- I saw some of what Glory does, but not much honestly, they'd kick me out of the forge when there was stuff to be done. Feathers are very flammable, and I'm covered in 'em crown to ankles... unlike Glory, who has some more leg to work with... and much more experience not being. You know. A fire hazard." A humorous chuckle, and he bobs his head back and forth. "That's the baseline of my experience with magic from others, honestly. I think you're the first to show me multiple kinds of magic."

Make stuff... huh.

"You guys work sort of like Glory but not, eh? Well, if you think I can help I'll be happy to tag along-" he starts to chuckle, looking at how Azure lights up when she's struck with an idea- "But- yeah, magic is finnicky. Sometimes it works, other times you get thrown into a wall." Another nonchalant shrug.

Nemo shuffles a bit in place, not really sure if he wants to accept the offer to follow Azure to her house, but she seems so alight with the idea that-

"I'm curious to see what your idea is, yeah! Lead the way!"

- he agrees without much more of a second thought. Let's hope he doesn't regret this.

@Azure

Excitement seemed to ripple through her, eyes still wide as she turned. She began to lead the way, slowly for Nemo's sake, but it was clear that she was restraining herself from just flying off. Her walk would begin to speed to a near-trot purely out of enthusiasm, and then slow as she glanced back apologetically.

"I'm not super sure how he works, myself. Dip's hung out with him--he uses fire?" She thought about this, for a moment, as she walked. "That makes sense, I guess. Dip makes fire--with her hands--to make the metal uhh... Malleable, I think she called it? It gets red hot and then she kinda hammers it down, sharpens the edges and all that." Azure snorted, a bit, not in mockery but in a self-deprecating sort of way. "I should really know more about it than I do, considering I live with a blacksmith but uhh. She's never really gone over all the details. Like--she's explained what she does, but I don't totally get how it works, you know? Like, I dunno why metal bends easier when it's hot."

She came up on the house a moment later--it wasn't too far from where they'd been--and rushed inside. She didn't call back as to whether Nemo should follow her in, or not; she didn't think of it. Instead she ran for the little pouch of blue glow-dust.

"So, we found out--if you glow a stone, and then grind it up, the dust glows! I can make stuff glow blue, so-..."

Azure used her beak and claws to pull out a twist of dust, and carefully arranged it on the rocky floor. Then she concentrated, again. "Okay, magic; don't fuck up this time," she said, with humor.

The gemstone that formed--well, she'd intended a rich blue sapphire. What she got was pale blue, more a blue topaz, if she was any judge. But within, she'd captured a long, twisting streak of rich cobalt-blue glow dust, not unlike a galaxy suspended in the rock.

"Here!" she cried, breathlessly enthusiastic, turning wide-eyed to push it toward Nemo. "I can put it on a string, if you want-? Uhh--if you want it at all, that is. As a gift," she explained, suddenly realizing she'd been a little presumptuous.

@Nemo

Nemo

He hops and flutters after the other- at first being able to keep pace with longer strides, stretching legs and wings to stay balanced and moving but eventually he takes to the air with a sharp huff.

Nemo can't be mad- he likes seeing the light of excitement in the eyes of the other, and despite having to get off the stone to follow he can't really find it in him to mind.

As the pair make their way, he nods along to Azure, and interjects with a "Glory uses fire, yeah," as the other talks about the process of molding metal. "I know that folding it is important too, and I don't know how it works exactly, but folding it is definitely needed." He honestly isn't sure himself how it works, but he knows that solids going liquid needs heat, and making it solid again the right way would sometimes need wind, like what he can make. What the right way is exactly he wouldn't know, again... he wasn't paying too close attention.

"Maybe metal works like water.. like, warmer caves have water? And the colder areas have white fluffy snow." He hums, and then comes to a landing outside the shelter, only following in after he spots the glowing dust, muttering a quiet, "Fire makes it... not... whoa..."

Nemo's beak drops open, and he watches her organize the glowing dust and then literally pull gems from the... who knows where but its a crystal now and its BLUE and it GLOWS-!

"That's phenomenal! Are you- are you sure I'm allowed to keep it? he's hopping back and forth like an excited cave rabbit, head low to the ground and going back and forth and back again, looking at it from every direction, beak nearly scraping between his talons with his tail feathers high in the air.

@Azure

Folding hadn't occurred to Azure. "Metal folds?" She wasn't aware that Glory worked with liquid iron or the like; Dip only heated and changed existing objects, warming them red-hot and reshaping them to suit her needs. Folding sounded--strange. Folding was for soft things. Azure hadn't ever seen metal get that soft--but maybe Nemo was right, about the liquid-and-snow sort of stuff-?

His enthusiasm at the gemstone, though, distracted her from comment. She turned back, bright-eyed, a happy expression on her face. "Yeah!" she answered, and his excitement had spread; "That's what I do! I make this stuff! I could make one for you with a blue flower in it, if you like flowers--I wasn't sure. But--hold on."

She turned back, touching her beak to the stone. Another moment's focus and the entire smooth gemstone had a soft, dark blue glow--not enough to overpower the bright scattering of blue 'starlight' within, but almost to enhance it.

This she then nudged out Nemo's way.

"I can put it on a string, if you want--so you can wear it? Or you can just-carry it around. Glory or Dip might be able to set it in metal--if it doesn't break from the heat," she added, nodding.

@Nemo

Nemo

"That's amazing!" He'll need to figure out more words to apply to this but he's all fluffed up in excitement, bobbing up and down like one of those office toy water birds as he looks between Azure and the crystal. " I'd like this one please- I'm not super sure what a flower is but this looks like Orion!"

The request to have him hold on has him take a half step back, wings open again for balance as the other leans forward and adds even more glow to it.

Nemo is totally speechless for a good few seconds, leaning forward again and using his left wing to cast a shadow over it, nudging the crystal around with his beak so that he can marvel at it from every angle.

"I...don't want to risk breaking it," He finally gets out, processing all the options that Azure had told him, and he lifts his bearded face up to stare at the larger Gembound once more. "I want to wear it, though. I'm planning on moving around for a while, so carrying it would.. I don't want to lose this. It's too pretty."

@Azure

A glance down at the gently glowing gem, and he looks up again. "Would a string be okay? "

Azure beamed.

He couldn't know how much his gratitude, his enthusiasm, meant to her. She'd been raised by those who only wished to destroy, and bring misery; to be able to create, and bring joy, was something incredible and wonderful to her.

"I'm really glad you like it," she told him. "Wait here just a second."

The hybrid walked off quickly, vanishing into one of the living or sleeping areas within the den. She picked through her collection--an eclectic bunch of preserved flowers, long leather strips, pouches, gemstones, baubled rocks--ahh, here; tightly-woven dried grass strings. She spent a great deal of time winding these up, first pinning them down with her claws and beak and then using magic to tie them all together. This string was made of a couple dozen thread-thin strands of dried, tough grass, and was more a thick twine than thread; it would hold.

She carried it out in her beak, and lay carefully down before Nemo's gift, settling herself with the air of someone about to perform a difficult, but familiar, task. One foot-pad, just before the crow-like claw, gently held the gemstone down. Her beak pushed the string down, and her other foot held one end.

Then, Azure concentrated.

It took longer than it should have, really. The magic wasn't all that finicky, but the string was: stiff and tough, and it was like trying to thread a needle with one hand. Eventually she got it, though: a carefully-woven pair of crossed and knotted loops held it in place, and tied again to form a necklace.

She pushed up and sat back, exhaling. That level of concentration was always hard. "There we go!" she said brightly, looking to Nemo; "You can hang that over your head, now, if you want! Or--well, around your neck."

@Nemo

Nemo

When Azure comes back with the string, she would see him lifting the crystal with one foot and eyeballing it, balancing himself with his wings placed on the floor.

Placing the gem back down as the other settles onto the floor, he nestles himself to the floor as well- excited to watch closely and see what Azure does to secure the glittering gift to him.

The loop has him... confused, as does all the looping she had done beforehand honestly, but it looks like its not going to move, and so he lifts his head up to look at her, tilts his head, but he does as she recommends-

Shuffling hilariously in place, he manages to extricate his left foot and reach out for the loop, dipping his beak down and lifting the bauble at the same time, and managing to slip the thick cord of grass over the back of his skull before he pops up, making the necklace slide down to rest on his shoulders and lay against his keelbone with a muffled thump.

Nemo is absolutely enthused, feathers all fluffed up every which way as he open his beak again in a smile, beaming up at Azure. "This is so cool! I didn't even know doing things like this was possible... It must have been hard to figure out! I'm going take this everywhere, and when people ask I'll say you made it- if," He catches himself, looking up at the other Gembound with an embarrassed chirp interrupting his speech, "If I'm allowed to, of course."

@Azure

Enthusiasm at his excitement jolted away as he spoke of telling everyone what she had made.

She hesitated, briefly, though her pleased expression mostly remained. Well, why not-? They know I'm still alive, now. They weren't after her anymore, at least.

Azure took a breath, raised her beak slightly and settled her wings across her back, and nodded.

"Sure!" she answered, trying to sound as cheerful about this as she could. "Tell everyone they can trade for my stuff soon, in Orion--and lots of stuff from Dip, too. Real blacksmith stuff!"

She nodded, a little, and then turned, using beak and claws to quickly clean up the scraps and pouches. As she replaced them back where they belonged, she spoke again. "It took awhile to figure out, yeah! I've been experimenting with magic for awhile now. If you ever wanna learn from me or Dip we might be able to teach you, a little? Otherwise--you can visit whenever you want, you know."

She reemerged from the room behind her, and paused before Nemo, eyeing the stone that now rested against his chest. "You know, that doesn't look half bad on you!"

@Nemo

Nemo

You know when you can physically feel the mood in the room drop? That's how it feels to Nemo when Azure responds to him asking to share.

"Are you sure? I don't wanna make you upset at me." he asks, sidestepping a bit back and forth as he starts up his tapping again. He's a noisy bird...

Then, he has an idea. "I'll only tell people I like about you, then. Is that better than everyone? I'll tell them about Dip if they ask or have stuff, but I'll only tell friends about you." he nods to himself as if he's very pleased with his compromise, watching the other finish cleaning her workspace with a keen red eye.

"I'd... like to visit in the future, yeah. I'll bring you guys anything interesting I find, if you'd like... and learning more about my magic would be nice. At least so I don't get thrown into someone's home again." Making a light joke at his clumsiness, he watches the other leave the room, using one wing and the wrist joint to nudge at and lift the bauble on his chest, and nearly jumping out of his feathers when she comes back.

A quick glance back down at the gem and he lets go, letting it hang from the cord again as he looks back up at Azure. "You really mean it? I know I like the color a lot, but... something in my brain says I'm not... dunno. Glittery? Flashy enough? Who knows. That's why I'm going on a trip, really," he shrugs both his wings, and looks sheepishly at the ground, "I wanna figure out what I feel like I'm missing."

@Azure

Azure arched a brow.

"No, you can tell whoever. I'd say if I wasn't okay with it." This was said fairly indifferently, but Nemo's offer to come back, to bring cool things, to learn magic, had her a little more happy-looking. "Yeah, any time!"

As for his comments about being not--glittery, enough?--Azure just sort of peered, as if she didn't exactly get it. Beauty hadn't ever been anything her family valued, so she hadn't been raised for that, really. "Being glittery'd probably just make it easier for predators to find you or something. But--I hope you find out what you're, uh--missing?" A tentative, somewhat bemused smile--friendly, but she clearly didn't grasp quite what Nemo meant. "But yeah! You can come back any time."

@Nemo