Sentimental Seasoning

Log Info

• Title: Sentimental Seasoning
• Emitter: Slixvah
• Characters: Slixvah, Aelwyn
• Place: The TarRaCe
• Time: November 22nd, 2022
• Summary: Slix is in way before her shift at the TarRaCe, taking the time to work on a request for a wand. Nothing crazy, just one that heals. But her methods are unorthodox, throwing basically the entire kitchen sink into its creation. Aelwyn is busy dealing with the not-busy dining area, him stopping by to see what Slix is up to. She explains what she's doing, to little comprehension, as well as admitting to working on another wand that was more macabre in its creation. An idle comment sparks some discontent, and no assuage soothes it.

The TarRaCe, Early Afternoon

It's the odd lull between lunch rush and dinnertime. Coupled with the cloudless sky, boundless sun, and rainless air, most patrons have sought food elseplace.

Therefore, the usual night shift bartender has arrived far earlier than usual. Though, most that know her as a human woman has sloughed that guise away, sticking to her true bird self. She's sitting at a table with an array of knickknacks and oddities in front of her on the table's surface.

Face pinched in concentration, her hands are alight with a white glow as she has a pile of pale blue, thin crystals off to the side, and a clean bandage in one hand. Slowly and deliberately, she wraps one crystal up, grabs another one, then wraps that one too, making a loose shape of a stick.

Other oddities on the table are but not limited to: herbal medicines, stitching supplies, a piece of paper that has a soothing poem scribbled on it, an ice pack.

There is a bit of scraping of tables and chairs, before a hot, steaming sith-makar walks by the egalrin's table, a broom held across his shoulder. In his case though, he had his white blouse and waiter's black loincloth-slash-apron, except he also seemed to have taken a fancy to some extremely hot bath somewhere.

"Ribbon," The draconian greets, tilting his head at the table. "These seem kind a selection of garnishes for the drinks." He rumbles, his hand moving down on his hip. The ruddy sith leans in down, sharp teeth visible. "Is she planning to be magical tonight?"

Despite his tease, her attention doesn't slip from the slowly forming creation in her glowy hands. A pinch of the herbal medicine is picked up, being sprinkled into the next set of bandage before another crystal is added to the line. "Tch," she snorts. "I'm always magical. 'sides, I wouldn' want ya garnishin' drinks wit' any of this. 'less ya got internal bleedin', ya dig?"

A finger pinches off the bandage and crystal so she could afford a glance over, down, up at Aelwyn before returning to her task. "Enjoy your bath? Sometimes I can't believe I ain't gonna walk in there ta a makari stew. Water damn near boilin'."

Aelwyn rumbles as he straightens, moving his broom back down onto the floor, before folding his hands over it. "Ribbon quite often is," The unruly draconian agrees, "Sometimes even when her feathers are showing." His tail whips behind him.

"Hmmh, if the water is hot, why not take full advantage of it?" The sith-makar responds, tilting his head. "Ever had a hot stone massage? This one often hears it is an experience." The joking aside, he moves his attention back down towards the table. "So what is she actually up to? Unusual place to be weighing and," A momentary look as he watches her pinch some of the medicine over, "Salting stones."

Slix chuckles to herself, her scooping up the thread and gut to make some stitches through the bandages to clamp off the crystals within and bring more structural integrity to it. "Ya goddamn right," she croons, ego inflating. "Well, tha thing is, hot for you is turning into bird soup for me. But no, I haven't. Feathers would get in tha way of that. I'd have ta prep some mojo ta be somethin' else."

She seems to get to a point where she can finally address the dragoon, her gaze lifting from the project to him. "I figured I just get some of this outta the way before my shift today. I'm makin' a wand!" she declares proudly. "This un' here's gonna do some healin' mojo that I can usually do. Gon' be real useful fo' tha' person I'm givin' it to."

Aelwyn lifts his hands in the air and stretches the fingers back, before they give a pair of faint pops. "Hot stones, Ribbon. All over the cold aching parts." The draconian lets his finger flick out from between his teeth, "Just need to warm up first." Yep, hopeless.

Taking hold of his broom again, he twists his head down and looks at the stones again. As magic illiterate as one can be, he just stares at the stones and bandages with a blank, orange eyed gaze. "... aren't wands usually made out of wood? Steel?" Then he moves to slowly prod at the wand in progress. "... and won't this snap if Ribbon leans on it?"

Slix raises a brow at him. "... al... right? I ain't adverse to the idea, shug, just like. Ya know. These bad boys get in the way." The woman hunches a bit, and all the feathers on her person poof up to a be a fluff ball. "I won't feel it," her beak caws from the fluff.

The wand sways like a limp noodle as its poked. Slix moves it away from him as one hand smooths down her fluff. "Hey hey, the harder materials come later," she informs. "Ya gotta put all tha' magic /in/ the wand first. Insides of wands are /very/ complicated."

She says, as it looks like she's just throwing the kitchen sink of medical supplies into a tube of bandage.

"Once I get all tha' crystals properly energized, I got a cute poem to wrap it all up in, and then I'll get a sheathe of wood ta put it in."

Aelwyn twists his lip, tilting his head to the side with an exaggerated click of his tongue. "Tch, a few feathers? Massages have been given with harder scales, surely." The draconian rumbles.

Attention returning towards the wand, the draconian really tries to understand what she was getting at. Yet nope, it still was a bunch of shiny crystals wrapped in what seems like bunch of herbs and bandages. The bandages part made sense. "A poem." He flatly states, then carefully picks the paper up with the two tips of his claws. "Surely this will rot in a year." The sith-makar states, then tilts his head sideways to try and read the text.

Slix sighs, lulling her head back. "Massages, yes, that'll work, but if they's putting stones on it that heat ain't going through, hon. I'm in a blanket."

That makes her laugh. "Sugar, my mojo is all about intent and sentiment. All this stuff here is ta help the magic happen!"

The poem reads in Tradespeak:

-Heal, heal, little tail of the frog,

-If you don't heal today, you'll heal tomorrow.

It's a child's nursery song.

"Ye of little faith," she tuts.

Aelwyn quietly moves his mouth along the words, his orange pupils turning into tight little slits as finally puts the poem down. "Paper is paper, and paper is fragile." And burns easily. "Should try leather. It will be true even in harshest conditions." Including being burnt, at least to a degree.

Rumbling, he lifts up his fingers again and makes a pointed claw shape with them, jerking his fingers in the air. "Round stones aren't the only sort of hot stones, 'shug'. That's the kind of magic with full intent behind it." He twists his hip to the other side, teeth exposed. "Hmmh, is she then going to wave the wand and recite the words?"

Slix groans. "Aelwyn, honey. It's gonna be in a wooden stick when I'm done wit' it. Sealed. It'll be fine. Besides, I'm gonna make the paper inta some magic bindings, it'll be tougher ta light on fire. That's what the ice pack is for!"

None of this make sense.

With that, she puts the half made wand on the table to give her hands a break. She eyes him. "Yes, you're very warm, I get it," she bluntly mentions before shaking her head. "Heh. Later when I'm done with it to make sure it works. This'll be fixin' folks so... yeah. Hopefully the other wand I finished up fo' someone else works well, it's a bit... spooky."

Aelwyn wiggles his tongue at the egalrin once more at her headshake. "Hmmh, well, this one has scales to shed soon, so she can always have some to keep proper fire off."

The mention of the other wand makes him tilt his head, moving to grab the broom and pushing it to the side. "And what does a 'spooky wand' mean exactly?"

Slix snorts, rolling her eyes. "Sure. Give me some scales. I'll make a bomb out of it or something," she jokes. She's joking. Right? Right??

At that, she rubs her neck. "Weeelllll... ya girl dabbles in some magic sometimes that ain't exactly everyone's /favorite/," she delays with over explanation. "I know a spell that can boost ya life force. Really handy, kept me from dyin' a number of times. Fact is, it's necromancy. And I made a wand recently- gotta deliver it- that does just that spell. The things I shoved in there are... some inquisitors might give me a stink eye."

"Better to blow up than fizzle away." Aelwyn responds with a wide grin. "Just don't put them in some second hand firework."

The ruddy sith-makar then takes in a deep breath and slowly exhales, looking at the egalrin. "If it keeps someone alive, who is to judge?" The draconian replies, then pauses momentarily, as he tilts his head to give Slix a suspicious eye. "... as long as it doesn't stink."

Slix chuckles. "No promises. Sometimes gobbo fireworks is exactly what is needed, ya dig?"

She glances aside. "... er... it might have at one point," she mentions, rubbing her palm. "Jus' the way I do it is basically kind of rude to something. Be it a plant, or some food, or... anything really. Basically crumble it to dust or rot it."

She rubs at her face. "Anywho. What have you been up to? How's da readin' comin' along?"

Aelwyn's nostrils flare as he straightens up onto his toes. "... then this one is glad there is a bath in this place. And strong alcohol." There's the sympathy for the dead. His head tilts at her question, then he rolls his shoulders. "This one should talk to Spellreader. Have not seen her in a while, due to..." He gestures at the tavern and then vaguely somewhere outside. "... duties." The draconian grabs his broom and lets his shoulder droop, as he takes a brief glance towards the performance stage. Quiet one of these days. "How many shifts will she be taking tonight?" The sith-makar asks, as he looks back at her.

Slix slowly nods. "As am I. It was not a clean thing to make. But it is done, and I hope it serves them well." Such musing makes her look to the wand she's currently creating. "I am glad I get to do the opposite. Good palate cleanser."

Her attentions return to the man, a bit of a frown playing her face. "Yeah. Ain't seen her in a hot sec due to similar reasons. Been a busy bird running about doin' different shtuff."

The question makes her sit up in her chair straighter, and her image shimmers and shifts until its the crimson haired human woman in a white button up and slacks. "Night shift, sugar. I'm just here early so I can get this done befo' it. You stuck here 'til then? Or you out befo' that?"

Aelwyn gives a bit of a rumble and taps his flattened snout. "Palate cleanser, indeed. Would be a shame to leave a bitter taste lingering." Another look is given towards her for a time, before he flicks his tail aside and hoists up the broom, placing it on his shoulder. "Hmmh, depends. If it is this quiet, no need to tax Sharkie's pockets." The sith-makar responds, before he gestures outside. "And this one has people to find in the markets. If nothing else comes up, at the docks." He angles his hip to the other side.

A moment passes, and then he nods his head towards her disguise. "Why her?"

Slixvah gives a chuckle. "It would be, yeah." The half made wand is picked up, another crystal being added, wrapped, and stitched in. "If Sharkie cuts ya, then she cuts ya. Though if she's got ya here fo' the shift, easy money. Who ya gotta talk to in the markets?"

The human-Slix tilts her head to the side, newfound lips provide a lopsided grin. "Why this? I dunno. Looks professional. Cute. Easier fo' patrons ta talk to. Her name's Trish. I gots loads of guises fo' loads of different situations."

Aelwyn hefts up his shoulders momentarily. "Anyone. Surely there is someone capable of producing better than second rate flames in this city." The síth-makar responds, "Or something properly fire-resistant." He rumbles with a flick of his tongue. "Hmmh, this one doesn't like taking money for no work. Somebody will eventually come collecting that debt, and sometimes saying that there was no work is not good enough of a reason."

Trish's grin is responded with a more macabre grin of his own. "Cuter without the feathers, this one agrees." Tap tap the chair with the tail.

"Prolly wanna talk to some mages or alchemists. They's prolly got some tricks ta mage stuff fire resistant," Slix mentions before shaking her head. "Staffin' the place is still staffin', even if nothin' is bein' done. If a party came in right now, you'd be the one to deal wit' it. It's still work."

Trish's grin flinches to something a bit weaker as she blinks. "... I think I look cuter as myself, thank you very much," she says flatly. "Take care of your words."

Aelwyn's grin doesn't falter as he looks back at her. "Hmmh, one thing to be cute." The draconian says, then leans in down. "Being a sensual beauty is another." A moment later, he clicks his teeth as he looks towards the wand. "... when she is not doing... the other thing with the wand."

The Dragoon straightens, "This one will see how the night shift fares. There are always towels to be folded."

Trish stares. Lips purse, even as he gets closer. "While your words are slick on their own, the string of them has upset me," she mentions flatly, picking up her wand and bespelling her human guise. Feathers are a bit floofed as she turns from him. "Go fold your towels, Aelwyn."

Aelwyn looks down at her, crunching his lips together. Yet, he bows his head and simply says, "Apologies." With that, he turns on his spot and heads off towards the Bathhouse with his broom and tail alike.

-End Scene-