"A light? --Yeah, that sounds good," Jinyi agreed, and held out the polymer figure to Ember. He didn't know if it showed, but it surprised him, a lot, that Ember was willing to just--give him an enchantment like this. He'd said it was taxing, after all, and they had only just met each other. Was this what Gembound could be like, when they weren't so filled with distrust and negative preconceptions about each other? Unexpectedly, he felt a pang of bitterness in his chest. If only so many had not already made themselves enemies of the Hive, could they all--or at least most of them--have been befriended like this?

Actually, speaking of lights: "Do you know the magic to make things glow?" Jinyi asked. " I had thought to make a glowing dye to decorate my gift, but I don't know the spell myself. Is it like enchantment in how taxing it is? I might need to think of something else, then, so I can save my magic for the most important enchantments..." It seemed like a simple concept of a spell, and not one of the explosive dramatic ones that surely took a lot out of a Gembound. But Jinyi had very little grasp of what the elemental magics were like outside of Order, so he wouldn't be surprised if he was wrong, either.

@Ember go ahead and take as many posts as you want!

Ember was cheerfully oblivious to any inner turmoil that Jinyi was undergoing. He took the figurine carefully, but didn't actually remove it fully from the drone's hand; instead he kept it touching his palm, so that maybe he'd get some sort of... understanding, somehow, of the magic. Ember wasn't sure if that'd work, but it was worth a shot, at least.

He spoke as he drew his magicka together. "Oh, I don't work with dyes but I know some do? You can either--do you know the magic to make something just glow?" he asked, glancing up and blinking at Jinyi's sort-of-face. "It's a lot simpler, but not very bright. I don't think it is as taxing, no. And it doesn't really give off light, but it's nice to look at? Dye... You can make a rock glow like that, crush it up, put it in dye. But I don't really work with that kind of stuff, myself!" Sure, he was repeating himself a bit, but his tone was friendly, easygoing.

He placed claws carefully around the little figurine, eyes sliding half-shut. A flicker of magicka surged up, and he was pleased to note that it was one of the strongest he'd felt while working with enchantment. "Feel that?" he murmured, holding it as long as he could, sort of... hovering it there, in the hopes that Jinyi could feel it. Just in case he couldn't, Ember tried to describe the sensation.

"I'm... pulling up magic. It's like opening a door. And then just putting the open door... on the sculpture. Can you feel it?" he asked.

image credits: [x] [x] [x]

With an exhale, the dragon-wolf released the magic, imbuing it into the figurine. He then took a breath. "Okay, it's--ready now. So then you pick another magic..."

He focused for a moment longer, drawing on his more innate power: flame. When it surged up, though, it didn't enter the figurine--and maybe that was for the best. Perhaps it was still the intensity of power he was pulling on, but it flared up along his forelimbs, igniting with flame and light.

"F--FUCK!" he cried. He didn't usually swear, but he jerked back, leaving the sculpture in Jinyi's hands for the moment as he rolled away, plunging his limbs into his quenching trough. A hiss rose, thankfully eclipsing his stream of alarmed profanity.

A moment later he turned, wide-eyed, and stared at Jinyi before grinning that horrified grin again. "That's how not to do it?" he half-suggested, voice high with fading panic.

image credits: [x] [x] [x]

Jinyi focused intently on the polymer figure as Ember gathered his magic. He wasn't sure what kind of change he was waiting for, but since enchantment apparently took so much out of you, he had to be sure to focus every sense to not miss it and waste this opportunity. He made a note of the dyes thing--it was good that the glowing spell was much less difficult than this. He'd look into it more later.

He thought he felt something change within the figure when Ember prompted him, so he nodded hesitantly. "I think it's like... a new potential just opened up. I think that's the word--it feels more open." He watched as Ember prepared his next spell--

And set his forelimbs on fire.

A wave of heat hit his face. Jinyi made a sound like someone inhaling into a harmonica and reached out toward Ember without thinking, dropping the sculpture. The last time he'd seen something like this--he almost expected to feel the phantom pain of burning in his own mind, but nothing came. Of course, because Ember was not Hive. The magic that flickered at his fingertips died down again, finding no damaged Clearstone target to repair, so Jinyi just watched helplessly as Ember rushed to quench his flaming limbs in water.

"Oh- oh," he half-whispered as Ember turned back and offered him that panicked-looking grin again. "Are- are you okay? Does it- hurt still?" He didn't know how to fix this. He didn't know how to fix this. Fuck, what were you supposed to do when someone who didn't have a Clearstone gem got hurt? He didn't think he had any magic for this. What made burns feel better? Water? Ember had already done that. His face flashed between grey and white repeatedly like an error-ridden screen. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't know this was dangerous magic. I didn't-" He hadn't wanted anyone to risk getting hurt.

@Ember

It took Ember a few moments of breathing (and sizzling steam upward) to formulate a reply.

"Happens," he started, voice a bit tight, but then he pulled his forelimbs out and gingerly shook them off. Some of the fur was singed away, curled and blackened at the tips, but by and large he looked mostly unharmed. "Used to it, with my work, and this wasn't too bad. Hurts a bit but the fur took the worst of it?" he half-asked, turning his claws this way and that as if to inspect the damage. "It's not strong magic, anyway. If I'd used real fire--that can get ugly."

After a moment he shrugged, and sort of waddled on his back legs and wings back to Jinyi. "Here," he said, and reached for the figurine again, though he didn't quite make eye contact. There was no asking for a new first impression this time.

This time, the magic took; the half-wince already on his face faded into tired relief and then a genuine smile as the magic flickered from claws to statuette.

The warmth and bright glow quickly made it obvious that the enchantment had worked, and he looked to the drone hopefully. "'New potential' is a good way to put it, I think? Did you feel the rest of it, there? -Do you understand, sort of?" He really hoped he'd helped; not because he didn't want to have to repeat the act, but because he wanted to be helpful!

image credits: [x] [x] [x]

"If I'd used real fire--that can get ugly." Jinyi was... aware. Such a destructive element, for a magic that was not yet Corrupted. He remained quiet as Ember laid a paw on the figurine again and it warmed in his hands and began to shine with a bright glow. A smile spread across his face at the same time as Ember's.

"I felt it. That's awesome!" he said, looking up. "Wow. Do you..." Jinyi looked around the workshop eagerly. "Do you have anything else you want to enchant? For yourself? Maybe I can give it a go. Then we'll both have a souvenir from each other! Or... if you don't have anything, I can make something again." His hands hovered, the magic to synthesize polymer gathered and ready to go if Ember wanted something made from it.

@Ember

Ember tilted his head, thinking, his expression warm. He sat back and did his best to blow on his burnt forelimbs, as if that'd fix much; also, as if he could actually blow air out of a canine face. The result was silly to say the least.

After a moment he squinted at Jinyi. "Would it be weird to ask for a... memento, I guess? A souvenir, like you say, but--a figurine of you? It'd be cool to put on a shelf, I think," he went on, and gestured up to the shelves. "You could pick a spell? Or one of mine? Or if you're uncomfortable with it--you can pick a shape. Just, um. Careful with your fingers," Ember added, and grinned.

No more melting digits... please.

image credits: [x] [x] [x]

"Sure!" Jinyi agreed easily, and got to shaping the polymer in his own image. His own mannequin-esque form was easier to sculpt than Ember's, with smooth oval-ish shapes all around. The robes were harder, but he tried his best to replicate their form, pinching at the polymer until waves formed in the 'fabric'.

"All done. With all my fingers intact." He showed Ember the figurine with a smile. Then the shadows on his face intensified as he stared at it, hard, and tried to replicate the magic he'd just felt from Ember. Something clicked, and the figurine became open with new potential.

"It worked," he beamed. "All thanks to your teaching!" A wink flashed on his projected expression. As for what spell to put on it? Jinyi mentally flicked through his list of spells one by one. Most of them weren't all that useful for people outside the Hive, like the healing spell that had failed because Ember did not have Clearstone or spells that most tended not to appreciate, like producing fungus or imbuing the ground with Order. "What spells do you know that could go on something like this?" he asked instead. "A light like mine might be cool for souvenir reasons—like we'd each have half of a matching pair!—but you probably have more ideas, since you've been doing it for longer?"

@Ember

Ember brightened, excitement and enthusiasm crossing his features. He looked intently at the figurine, and grinned a brief canine smile. "Oh! Hmm. Matching is a good idea," he agreed, but then he hesitated.

An expression that looked almost shy stole across his face, and he looked to Jinyi, then to the figurine, then back to Jinyi. He looked for a moment like he wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say, and then he gathered himself and cleared his throat lightly. "This might sound... stupid, and I don't mean it to be weird? But, uh. You have a beautiful voice. Would you mind if I made it, um... musical? I can make it make sound, and it sort of sounds like you. Is that--okay?"

He was really, really worried he was coming across flirtatious or just odd, but it was meant as an honest compliment. And the magic he knew did remind him of Jinyi's voice: a kind of gemstone music, resonating with chiming song.

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"Oh, thank you," Jinyi said, a surprised pink washing over his face. It was rare that he got any compliments outside of the Hive, but on his voice? That was something he really liked himself, so it felt extra nice to have someone else acknowledge it. "That sounds like a fitting souvenir. I'd be excited to see how it works, too."

He offered the figurine to Ember. "Go ahead."

@Ember