Carrying armfulls of charcoal, Carja was here! She was already haphazardly covered in dye, but there were definitely areas that needed more or just better coverage. She looked like a mess, but with how much dye she brought, it wouldn't be difficult. She'd brought enough to dye nearly two whole dragons.

"Um- Excuse me! Azure?", she asked, "I need some help!"

She had no want or need to become corrupted. But dyeing her scales black would show her solidarity nonetheless. To her friends, her second family.

And of course she'd always return on weekends to sleep over with her own family. She loved them too much. She loved them a lot.

"Can you dye my scales? Permanently?", she called out again, her word slightly garbled by the chunk taken out of her tongue. At least she thought it was cool.

@Azure

The den-workshop-forge was in a far corner of Monoceros, tucked in amongst the stones in a half-natural cave that Dip had spent some time making homey. There were sort of holes in the outcrops to serve as windows, storage places, sleeping rooms, and it was on the floor in one of these that Azure was napping when the calling of her name jolted her awake.

Black wings half-spread, snapping out as if she were falling, as if she had to be steadied, caught; then she blinked fully awake, and heard the tail-end of whatever was being said. She had trouble parsing it, really--who was this? Someone was asking her to dye things; but how had they heard of her, how had they found her? She struggled to recognize the voice, confused that someone would be calling such requests out before even an introduction; and so it was a bewildered, taken-aback looking bird-creature that paced, ruffled by half-sleep, to blink at Carja from the den entrance.

Azure wasn't the rude sort, though; she figured maybe someone had told Carja about her, though she only knew a very few other Gembound. Maybe someone who saw me at the show, she reasoned--and hadn't that been a mess.

Still, it was an... interesting request. It was Carja's shape, though, that put her off--the last dragon she'd met had mauled her back into her fucking chrysalis so she jerked back, hopping into cover again. "Shit!" she blurted, reflexively. And then, dipping just her head out to blink (still half-asleep) again at the dragon-monster carrying armfuls of some black shit, she added--"You're not gonna kill me, right-? Who are you?"

Blank, blunt--and for now, from a crow-like head sticking out, eyes narrowed suspiciously, from a little cave mouth.

@Carja

Carja landed and staggered, falling flat on her face, as graceful as ever. Her head whipped up and she pushed herself up using her wings, walking like Svartis did, her regular arms holding the charcoal.

"Um- hi," she said, setting down her things and standing properly, waving gently, "Um- no I'm not going to kill you, don't worry!!"

She sat down and hunched her neck to be level with Azure, all leg and neck, "Um- I want to dye my scales black, but the stuff I've used isn't staying on. I heard that you were good at that sort of thing? I was at the show thing and I wandered around between uh... matches? I was in wrestling but I wandered with my family and-"

Carja snapped her mouth shut and shook her head, grinning sheepishly, "Sorry! I ramble a lot- um... could you help me dye my scales, is what I mean to ask. My attempts didn't work- probably because I can't reach- but I'd like it to be permanent."

She shifted from foot to foot, nervous and excited about being made a totally different color. She just couldn't wait!! Carja Voidwing, terror of the skies!

@Azure

She watched, bemused, her fear quickly fading as the creature first faceplanted, then rambled on and on. It was a trait that most, she knew, would find endearing; she herself would have if it weren't for that innate, learned distancing. She stayed a few yards off, only emerging from the hut a little, her body language reserved for now.

Her expression and tone, though, were friendly enough--a little wry, maybe, as she spoke, with a short laugh first. "That was--definitely a lot," she agreed, in regards to that whole 'rambling' thing; "...Maybe you could start with--your name?" The suggestion was given with smirking, good-natured amusement, and Azure then looked over the charcoal.

She was already thinking about dyes--about pigments, about what would look good on the dragon. She was wondering if those bright bits actually glowed, and what dye might do to glowing parts. Would it stop them glowing altogether? Or--no, given that those looked kinda sensitive, maybe it was best not to paint those at all. But the rest, she was thinking about.

Why black? Well, black would look pretty cool with that blue, actually... but other colors and patterns flicked through Azure's mind, a critical artist's eye already hard at work.

@Carja

"O-oh- sorry! It's Carja, it's nice to meet you!", she said, sitting down on her haunches and clasping her hands together, drawing her wings up against her sides.

The dragon tried not to seem overly large like she did usually- generally she flaunted her size and her wings, her stance wide and her redacted energy full force in every word. But she kind of nearly got eaten by a tentacle monster, so she wasn't really feeling it that particular day. Whoops.

"Um... I want to cover everything except the wing membranes and my glowy bits," she explained, pointing to her wings, gesturing to her eyes, and then at the vents on her neck.

She then inhaled deeply and pointed to her expanding scales on her chest and where she glowed between them, before breathing out in one big rush, "And only on top of my scales, please, I want to be able to still glow and stuff. Please."

Was she saying please too much?

"Oh and it also makes me do a thing if people touch the glowy bits- even my skin, it's super weird!", she exclaimed, and waved a hand at the vent.

@Azure

She dipped her head at the introduction, expression sweetly amused. "Cool. Nice to meet you, too, Carja. Yeah, I can do dyes? Black with your glow'd look good, it'll take me awhile to... you know. Dye it up, put it on, though. Uhh--I have something else, if you're interested?" She eyed the dragon-creature over. "Just a second."

Azure vanished into the cooler dark of the home, and the sounds of shuffling could be briefly heard. When she emerged, it was with a small, flat piece of driftwood in her beak; she carried this over and laid it before Carja--still a few cautious yards away.

The driftwood had bits of dye on it, here and there, like test swatches from the hybrid's experiments. On this were a bright pink, a neon green, a darker green-blue, a dark green-yellow, and lastly, at the top, a broad swathe of what looked like Orion's ceiling. It was a rich, uneven dark, black with splashes of indigo hues, and across it glittered pale speckles that glowed with their own light. "Some dyes--that one on the top might look good, too, but up to you, 'course. That's my own creation," she added, a little proudly.

A pause, and then--with a critical eye--"You already look really pretty, though--you know?" A tentative remark, but not just a compliment. She didn't know if everyone was as insecure as she could be, but-... just in case Carja didn't know.

@Carja

Carja blinked and nodded, "That's okay, I can stand still for a long time."

She hoped.

"Something else?", she asked, watching the hippogriff go and wondering what she meant before staring at the driftwood.

She jutted her head forward to peer at it, eyes opening and rolling towards it to get a better look. She cooed at the pretty colors, tail wagging gently.

"I love that black one... it looks so pretty," she said, eyes wide and fascinated, "Oh wow- can I have that?"

Carja looked up and blinked, cocking her head. She was pretty? She looked back at herself and nodded slowly. She was pretty... and she was still going to be pretty after this.

"I know I'm pretty," she said softly, "I'm doing this in support of my family."

She nodded again, just as slow, and looked to Azure with determination, eyes glittering happily, "Okay- I'm ready! But when we do this, can you leave a strip of my nose still grey? I want to remember my old colors and my ties to my family here in Monoceros."

Her colors would represent her families and her own strength. She'd be a protector and a guardian, coming from above to deliver justice to those who deserved it. To protect and avenge.

@Azure

"Sure, you can have that," Azure agreed, easy-going. "Wouldn't have offered, otherwise. I might need some of your stuff to like, layer it out, though, you know? Not sure the starlight alone will cover everything," and her tone was the thoughtful musing of an artist regarding her canvas. "But you brought enough black that it shouldn't be a problem."

Azure then considered Carja's other words. She even winced--faintly visibly, for the observant--at the mention of 'family.' As she moved for the charcoal, she asked a question warily; "Black? For a family? Why black, if I can ask?" And, family in Monoceros... dragons, then?

"I hope you're not related to that big ice dragon." But she stopped short of explaining why--to do so would be to open up the explanations as to why the dragon had attacked her, what her own family had done. Azure's fault? No; but it was still shame to be associated with. Not to mention the fucking trauma.

"So lemme just grind up this black here, then get the starlight stuff and I can put it on you?" Azure nudged over a rock, and then focused, intending to use it to crush the black into dye; instead her magic reflexively yanked and sent it rocketing skyward. She was squinting bewilderedly up into the air when it came slamming back down, tumbling against her head between her antlers and sending her staggering.

A yelp, a dizzied stumble, and a blink: "Didn't mean that," she mumbled.

@Carja

Carja pushed all that she'd brought forward, stretching out like a cat to pile it up next to Azure before pulling away again, eyes wide and attentive.

"Black... well," she said, "I have a friend who found a voice in the darkness- the void, she called it, or something like that. She told us and others that she found chaos in it, but with the power granted to her and to others, it came with a loss of oneself. So! She is choosing to try and ignore the urge to do bad things like kill or hurt people- she wishes to enact chaos and stuff without y'know hurting anybody. I think it's great! 'Cause chaos is what I'm all about and it's what I do traveling the caves and exploring and getting into things with my friends! I actually nearly got eaten by a kraken a few days ago- that wasn't fun!"

Carja stuck her tongue out, showing off the chunk missing, "I got this from a Redfang before I got dragged down and nearly drowned!"

She shook herself out and grinned, "So basically, I want to turn myself black to support my friends in their endeavors, but at the same time I don't think I'd like to try and ignore whispers in my head and the urges to hurt someone- what if I fail just once, y'know?"

She blinked for a moment once asked about... Svartis!

"I'm adopted!", she said proudly, "He adopted me! He's my dad- he's a grumpy old fart, though. Why is that bad-"

Carja's jaws snapped shut as she watched the charcoal soar into the sky, her head following it down and watching as it bumped her on the head. A sharp bark left her mouth, a laugh of glee, before she slapped her hands over her snout.

"Oh my gosh- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to laugh! It was just... so convenient! It just- BONK!", she exclaimed, clearly delighted by what had happened.

Carja leaned forward after a moment and pulled some charcoal towards her, "I can help you crush it- sorry for laughing."

She stood up and leaned down on the pile, her paws crumbling it to smaller chunks. She pushed it all forward again and lay down, head on her paws.

"That good?", she asked, tail flicking happily.

@Azure

It took her a few moments to get her head back on track, between the blinking of rich blue eyes and the ache on her head. She shook it a few times, wincing, and then offered Carja a weak nod. "Yeah, that's--fine. That's good," she explained.

She dipped back into the hut, forgetting to excuse herself, and returned with a small ceramic bottle of water--complete with leather strap (Dip's genius never ceased to amaze her) in her beak. This she poured over the crushed coal, then used her forelimbs to squish it all up. As she worked, she slipped an unhappy glance to Carja. "Listen, uh-... I'm not one to be nosy? Usually? But can I tell you something?" she asked, voice quiet. She really didn't want to discuss it but everything Carja had just said was ringing warning bells along her spine. Azure took a breath. "It's... maybe a little, uh. Unpleasant, and personal to me but I think it might be important for you to hear it."

Her bird-like forelimbs, coated in black, lifted to try and start patting black all over Carja's body. That'd be the first, she figured; then she could add scattered starlight as much as she could do.

@Carja