A Couple of Very Strange Crafters

Over the course of these past few days, Haru and Tian had largely worked without anything that one might really consider actual communication. No words nor signs, as the two seemed to work in tandem as if they were one mind. It's an unusual feeling, as if having an extra set of limbs that are not your own.

However, there are limits to this synchronisity. At the moment, it seems to be Tian's rumbling stomach that seems to break that unspoken communication. Looking down, the Cait Sith blinks at their stomach, then squints out one of the windows as if trying to figure out what time it is... or what day it is.

There are a couple of blinks from their amber eyes before the fox-wolf questions, "<When was the last time we ate?>" Followed by their stomach growling yet again, audible even over the sounds of the forge.

For as jester-like as Haru is in social settings, the Artificer is easily absorbed into his work. That state of flow when eyes, hands, and mind just blurr together in a series of concept, trial, reconceptualization, prototyping, note taking, and many other feverish activities. Literally feverish as it is hot in the forge. Haru has gone from a jacket and shirt to a shirt to no shirt at all. The focus never interupted the flow with Tian. Its eerie. A refernce book is always there and back when one of them needs it. A tool swapped or in use, even if it isn't one of their personal collection. A note on metallurgy placed here that responds to another elsewhere. A mad crafter's layer!

That is to say that the body doesn't appreciate the stress of prolonged amazingness. It needs sleep. It needs food. It needs to move and get certain stimuli. Haru snaps out of a vacant, near dreamlike trance when the fox-wolf questions. "I think it was," he pulls up his menu. The Artificer set a stopwatch, "Fourteen hours, twenty-two minutes and a handful of seconds," he says. The sheer notion of skipping multiple meals has his stomach rumble in a 'Yes, feed me Haru-mour!' as if to respond to Tian's.

"I wonder if some friendos would deliver if we asked nicely," he says, thoughtfully and leaning on his allies during these crucial moments.

It wasn't strange to find members of Olympus with their fingers in a lot of proverbial pies, as they considered themselves movers and shakers in a multitude of matters (and carving their own little piece of said pies for themselves like proper power brokers). This was a textbook example, as this Very Important Job of Breaking Crown Control had engulfed some of the people that Kauchemar had also appropriated for her own project. So when someone is asking for food, well... typically Messengers deliver messages and other things, but for this case she will make a personal exception.

Fortunately Dun Loireag makes food aquisition easy, as a pitstop at the Isekai Ryokan along the way is all it takes, and the nightmare were fang trots in with a full load of takeout. "You people can just be glad I don't have to actually try and cook it myself."

Where Haru may have dismissed excess clothing over the course of time spent toiling at the forge, Tian has largely remained in the same state of dress. However, sweat is obvious across the Cait Sith's back and their ombre hair sticks to their forehead. Much of the makeup they wear has been completely wiped away other than a few hints of black around their eyes.

As Haru makes short work of answering the question, Tian walks over to where a waterskin is hanging on the wall and chugs down a good draft of water before walking over an offering it out to Haru. Apparently, despite the heat, the Cait Sith isn't the sort to go shirtless. "<Too long.>" They sign, then move to stretch out arms over their head.

There is a curious tilt of their head, though, as Haru suggests food delivery. It's a concept that seems quite foreign to Tian. It's likely that they have relatively few friends, especially being quite so new to Yamato. "<Your 'friends' are quite something.>"

Tian's ears normally don't respond much to sound, though they twitch randomly before Kauchemar eventually appears. It's possible that they see the motion rather than hearing the passage of nightmare hooves. Tian's nose twitches, eyes widening, but not questioning the quick 'delivery'. "<Very much something.>"

And that's when the doors are kicked open and a familiar face - to at least some of those present - bulls her way through them. "Hey, Monkey," she calls as she spots Haru. "Rumor has it you haven't poked your head outside this place in a couple days. They chaining you to the desk again? Do I need to find someone's ass to kick for this? Or are you working on something nifty and special for my birthday?"

Haru of the shirtless tribe of Shirtless Haru Artificers, is rated for 256 degrees of forge heat with proper Fire enchantments. SHA-256 one might say. It speaks nothing for his hydration abilities and he graciously takes the waterskin before kicking back a gulp of it. "Thats the stuff," he exhales with a Coca-Cola level 'ahh' of refreshment before handing it back. It isn't long before Kau delivery be there from a quick chim.

"Some of the best, really. Kau and I even share some familiarities in our last name," the white haired human says with greedy hands outwards for a takeout bag. Those noodle arms attached to a swimmer's frame remembers their etiquette, giving a bit of a thankful lingering and nod of the head in thanks for Kau's rescue. At this point he would be okay with Soggy Cracker style food, but is delighted when it is some of his favorite brain food in rice form. "My champion," he sighs in relief to nommins while turning his head to notice the door kicking.

Chew chew. Swallow. "Monkeyfren?" Haru looks over his shoulder. Then he looks back to Chikako. Oh right. Human. Monkey. Brain needs more carbs. "Here of my own designs. Only person who could chain me to a desk is Fuka." He thinks about that. Pause. Longer Pause. LONGEST PAUSE. Chew of riceball. "Yes, working on special projects. The most popular time of the year for accessory crafting next to Bonded Hearts times." He looks back to Tian as the whole 'very much something' starts to click more and more. "Was there anyone you knew that would drop off food when they were worried about you?" He motions a rice free hand to Kau and Chikako. "More precious than any jewelery I've ever fashioned."

"And certain skills when it comes to the management of monsters." An ear twitchs as Chikako makes an even more bombastic arrival. But what else do you expect from an Oni? "Maybe we should of asked her to bring something. Could of been, like, deviled eggs." Tch. Not quite the same thing, but close enough for word play.

Fortunately she thought to get more than one takeout bag, passing off the second to Tian. "Even if he does, no need to wait. I figured there'd be more appetites in need than just you, considering the scope of the project."

"<They call you 'Monkey'?>" Tian asks, moving two hands like claws as if they were 'scratching' at their chest. This is apparently the sign for the creature. There is some interest there as the Cait Sith tilts their head.

There is a nod of thanks to Kauchemar, and then a look of interest to both before the Palace Lander offers out an introduction, "<I am Tian Lang. It is good to meet you.>" The Cait Sith seems to be utilizing American Sign Language, despite being from China, though most don't know enough about either to recognize the difference.

Almost immediately, they start to dig through the bag of food and pulls out what looks to be some sushi-like pieces, popping one into their mouth before looking over to Haru, brows furrowed.

Setting the bag down, Tian signs, "<Most uncrowned didn't have access to food like this.>" Then, that expression seems to falter a bit. "<All those that would have worried are on the other side of the sky.>" This is likely Tian's way of referring to the real world, since it doesn't have the same connotation as death. And, unusually, it seems to utilize the same sign, motioning their hand over their head, as their own name.

"Well never say nobody tried to break you out," the Oni girl says, her eyes gleaming with mirth. "As for Fuka..." She pauses, considering. Starts to say something. Pauses again. Lifts a hand, one finger up for emphasis, and again abandons what she was about to say.

"Special projects, right," she finally gets to. "Sounds to me like it's a good time to ask about an upgrade to little Mari Sioux here." She pats the massive tetsubo, surely too large and ponderous for her human form to easily manage, where it rests cradled against her shoulder. "Deviled eggs? Hmm, been a while. Has anyone managed to find any paprika? Just not the same without it." She reaches over and steals a piece of sushi, popping it into her mouth and chewing with relish.

The one visible blue eye lights up with Kau's joke. Haru is cautious not to eat and laugh at the same time though his face does the jovial notion for him. He cleans his hands off at a nearby water basin and splashes some of it onto his face. Salt has crystalized on his brown with the heat and time spent focusing on the work. Multiple tables are strewn with metal bands and links as warm as copper and cold as silver. A rainbow array of gemstones dot the side. He takes a moment to look them over as his mind wanders to the project at hand while his actual hand dries his face off with a towel. Then his bare neck and shoulders. "Only Chichi there calls me Monkey. Presumably because of my excellent grip and prehensile tail," he flashes a grin to Tian there as his hands open and close in grabby motions. Haru has no tail, though.

"On that topic," the tall shirtless human motions to Kau, "I finished up techniques with my Water and Air Sprites, Fou-Lu and Yumi. When all this and your staff are finito, I'll have to show you. I think you would get a kick out of both in how the elemental summon utilizes a focal enchantment object similar to Terra and the drills." Nerd gotta nerd out now and then. The genuine excitement is pure joy. "Terra, being the Earth Sprite. And I'd want to see what that thing of yours can kick out." Puns intended. A snerk as he thinks back to an earlier one, "Deviled Eggs." Snerk again.

A degree of that glow makes its way towards Tian as there is a sombering thought of how things might have been for him. "Well, Tian. I hope we can all be friends. Then you can safely say that plenty of people that worry are on this side of the sky was well." He snaps his fingers and gives a set of finger guns. Because cheese feel goods need an emote to match it. The same fingerguns go over to Chikako, "I fear for the people in your way if I ever do need breaking out. The guards, the jail, the cells." He starts a list, looking off to the side to continue, "the infrastructure, the tax collectors, the postman. A whole collapse of society left in your wake. But! I would be free... and probably also under a pile of rocks."

"Yeah, I haven't been able to get mine to do that object thing, at least not something as intricately moving as a drill. Must be an enchanter thing. Terra does keep a good beat with those things, though." Every summoner has their own niche they fill with their minions. "Ah, I was going to ask about that." Kauchemar gives a little bow towards Haru. "I appreciate you being able to do some work towards that even with everything else eating up your attention faster than that sushi."

Idly she picks up a hammer, letting it tilt from her hand without actually falling, and musing what she could do with a Binder posessing such a tool. "Well you've got people to look after you now." The name of Chikako's tetsubo does not escape the nightmare's attention, but she just smirks a bit. Sounds like a very chuuni thing to name your BFS.

Tian's head tilts again in that confused-puppy sort of way, looking towards Haru's rear-end as if they need to confirm that he doesn't have a tail. With the level of distraction they have both been under, it wouldn't surprise Tian if they missed something like that but... It's at that same moment that Tian seems to realize that Haru is shirtless as well. "<Were you always shirtless?>"

The distraction that innately comes with a strange mood is obvious. When Haru's eyes look back over the various bits of equipment they have been experimenting with, Tian's eyes glaze over as if the mood wants to drag them back down. Thankfully it doesn't last as Tian's gold eyes flick towards the Oni who just snatched their sushi.

The fox-wolf's ears tick back slightly and their tail swooshes. Since these people had brought the food, it's probably not Tian's place to argue if they want to eat it, but there is that natural instinct to protect your dinner if you're hungry.

Looking between Haru and Kauchemar, Tian's expression softens and they offer a nod and a ghost of a smile. "<I appreciate that. More friends is good. Together we are stronger then apart.>"

"Sounds about right," Chikako muses. "Last time I pulled a rescue... well, there was definitely a pile of rocks afterwards." She doesn't bother to explain that she wasn't the one who'd knocked it down. Pretty sure no one would believe her, they didn't when it actually happened, after all.

She does, however, grin at Tian. "Truth to tell, it's been so long since I've seen him with a shirt on, I'd forgotten how it looks." She grins and waggles her eyebrows at the smith.

She starts to reach for another piece of sushi, then she catches the look on Fox-boy's face and stops. "Can't argue there. Friends are useful as all heck. If nothing else you can always ask them to go for takeout for you."

Haru has to think about that one. Was he always shirtless. "When I wake up in the morning, yes," the Artificer considers, "and further back from that I sure I came to be sans a shirt." That would be a rather awkward experience otherwise. Hello world! Baby Haru in a little tux. The thought goes wild before he remembers something Goldenblade once told him: Get it together. A finger snaps. "When working? I am pretty sure I started with my Jacket and Shirt on." He tries to remember how and when he removed them, but its one of those 'I have no idea' moments where it happened without him noticing it. "I checked if Gwen could make me something more temperature appropriate for the forge, but the Men's section in Chainmail Bikini Plus One is," he finishes the sentence with his hands. They make a small gesture with each palm close to each other to denote 'not a large selection'.

"But I did get this hat, thanks to Uta's help," Haru continues, opening a menu and adding in his newly found hat. As one might expect from Haru and Uta, this hat is that of a court jester's with little bells on it. It also looks like someone singed it with a fireball. He shakes his head a few times, the shirtless man with a jester's hat, as it jingles. He waggles his eyebrows back to Chikako as he jingles, creating a jingle-waggle two hit combo.

There is a deep breath and a new jingle from Haru's hat, "There is a lot going on, but if you take a step back for a moment? Tian and I are hard at work in a passion project. Miho gave us a place to work since this takes a lot of space, safety, and access to market materials. Chichi is, well, willing to level a city block like a Bouncer." He gestures a hand out, the whole 'good feels today' vibe being comedically mired by the jingling hat, "its worth counting the good times and the blessings. Maybe Kau, Uta, and a few of the other Songsters can put on a little concert in the future to celebrate and unwind." Haru has always been a smidge sappy, but he isn't ashamed of what it is he is fighting for. Simple things that make up the building blocks of happiness.

"Oh trust me, when this is all over we are going to throw one hell of a party." Kauchemar mimics holding a mic stand, the hammer still in one hand. "Especially with the projection that staff will allow me, won't wear my voice out." The hammer is twirled a few times, then set back where she found it. "But that's just my personal pet project. You guys are working on something much more substantial." Then she hmms softly, tapping her chin while recalling her own time in the thralls of such a mood. "Well, there's one advantage to working in the forge like this, no one is going to really complain about you getting all sweaty, that's kind of expected."

"<I only have a few sets of clothing and they are all basic things.>" Tian explains. Though they are wearing something sleeveless at the moment due to the heat, the idea of going shirtless doesn't seem to have dawned on them at all. "<Shopping is difficult if you don't wear a crown.>" They motion towards the array of jeweled headpieces and then shrug once.

There is a flick of those golden eyes to the oni and back again, eventually just offering out some of the sushi to share. Even if their stomach wants them to consume the food without concern for others, Tian is the sort of person who generally takes others into consideration.

With a curious expression, Tian seems to hone in on the discussion about Kauchemar's staff and it's amplification properties. "<I wonder if such amplification would work.>" With a motion towards their own fox-like ears, the Cait Sith shrugs. The prospect of celebration seems like a distant thing to them, likely not having the festivals and other joyous moments that have gotten many Adventurers through the last year.

With their stomach briefly satiated, Tian looks over to Haru. "<I should rest while my mind is clear. I need to think over some of this research and come up with a plan.>" There are dark circles there under the Cait Sith's eyes that are more than just smeared face paint.

"One of the nice things about a real town," Chikako says, grinning. "Nobody bothers looking for stupid crowns. So you can buy whatever you want." She looks Tian up and down, pausing and considering. "Maybe we can pick out a few things for each other later?" She grins and winks. "We can get some dinner while we're at it." She plucks up one piece of sushi to munch on, now that it's been offered.

"But I did have an actual point coming here. And not just the ones on top of my head." The girl clearly isn't an Imp, the werefang marks are quite visible, and the horns are in fact false and held in place by a headband. She's not about to let the issues surrounding crowns make her do without her horns, after all!

"Now, what was it," she asks, tapping the handle of her tetsubo. "Oh, right! Mari-chan here wanted an upgrade! You got time in the schedule for it, Monkey-boy?"

The mention of amplification makes Haru quirk to Kau. He lacks Cait or Were ears, but it practically looks like he grew some and they turned to the Nightmare. "You know, I was thinking about something like that a month ago during an Enchantment tangent. Like the idea of an audio projection Enchantment." His bare hands clap together, "I'll have to grab some time after recharging from the current projects to pick your brain about it." The human does acknowledge that working too hard can burn you out even if the current state of his Mood doesn't reflect the sentiment. It is with this mindset that Haru gives a nod to Tian's comment on rest. "Smart," he says, "they say the mind processes things while you rest and the speed is ten times faster than when actively working on it. So really when we rest we still /are/ working on solving the problem!" Haru, walking down the path of a workaholic at such a young age.

"I can always make time," Haru says as he looks at the handle of the tetsubo. "And whatever I can't do, you can always tap Miho for the weapon at large. Thinking of adding ornate embelishing or plating along the cap or upper grip points?" The purple lens of his monocle comes to life with small white semicircles that rotate around the center. He begins to assess the item for finer details. "Warm tones like copper and ruby can sit well, but there are also mineral options given the heft and aesthetic. Polished Ignis and obsidian for example. The later has a glassy sheen to it."

"Enjoy the reprive while it lasts~" Because it won't for long. Kauchemar was there long enough to know. But look at those circles. He's probably going to pass out as soon as he's out of their sight.

There's plenty of other going-ons still to claim one's attention. "Such enchantment does exist. They use it for the announcers during the tournaments when they have them. Never got a chance to see if that arena in Kallamore had something similar." Tch. So picky about who'd let fight. Oh well. "My voice is already plenty powerful, this will just make it easier to synchronize with my spellcasting and really put on a showstopping performance."

Raising their eyebrows, Tian seems to consider the offer from Chikako before inclining their head ever so slightly. "<I would like that.>" The hand-signs and their expression confirming this sa much.

Haru seems to have his hands full with both their investigations into the Crowns as well as others coming for various upgrades. One of the benefits and banes of using this locale is that often people came in for weapon work. In other circumstances, it would be a good chance to make new contacts and find new customers, but in this distracted state, Tian doesn't seem to be able to focus on proper mercantile techniques.

"<If you need assistance, I can work with weapons, as well.>" That is all that the Cait Sith manages to offer before stretching those arms out again over their head, giving a soft sound of a sigh followed by an audible yawn. It is one of the few sounds that the deaf Adventurer tends to make, with most of their communication done by sign.

There is a tip of the head and a motion of farewell before the Cait Sith makes their way out, likely to crash somewhere until the next wave of inspiration strikes. Which is likely to be sooner rather than later at the pace their experimentation is going.

"Audio projection?" The Oni girl hmms. "Wasn't somebody working on a music player?" She isn't quite sure who, though. "Maybe we could make a working record player?" Heh. 'We'. Girl has -zero- crafting skill investment.

She steals one more piece of sushi before Tian heads out, while she considers Haru's suggestions. "Mmm, I'm liking obsidian and copper, maybe," she decides. She waves casually to Tian, "Yeah, I never got into the tournament scene myself but I kept meaning to watch. I was always off doing other stuff when it came up, though."

"Records are a bit beyond what we've got available. So far." Kauchemar huffs into her bangs. "As much as I would give for a good turntable." Oh well. "That does make a good color combination. Really strike a presence. While you're striking off their limbs." That sounded better in her head, not going to lie.

Haru motions a hand to where Tian was before they left to get some much needed sleep. "You could always go over all the details about what works best with Tian over a bite to eat, assuming he gets to eat at all in that scenario," muses Haru with an eyebrow waggle up to the similarily tall Oni. Eyebrow waggling commences. Hat jingling assists. "Dueling tournaments and me have a," he also takes a sushi bit with a pair of chopsticks, "bit of a history." He pauses to politely nom his food. Such regal etiquette even when having zero shirts and one one jester hat on. "Though it makes sense that projection already exists there. I was doing a lot of research the last two months about the relation of vibrations, or harmonies, and Enchantment itself." He takes a deep breath and exhales.

"What Kau says is true. A month of research came to the same conclusion. Enchantment crystals can't store the notes like that. So a recording device is not viable outside of Alv technology." He is a little sad about that, as noted by a pointed silence. The single blue eye wanders to his work bench. "Maybe one day. Accessory Forging handles fine precision instrumentation. It isn't outlandish to think if I keep down the path between that and Enchanting that we will yield some new results." A smile on his face, if a bit practiced, "though since the projection exists, I'll just need to spend time researching that instead of starting from scratch. I might be able to use it to improve Terra's Drillbeats."

Chikako nods, grinning at Kauchemar. "Yep. Always good to know that an enemy's impressed when they're dissolving into pixels." She hmms softly as she considers the predicament when it comes to audio recording. "Well, damn. Maybe you could try and Tesla it up or something? I remember reading in school that they did some early recordings in, like, wax, or something?" She reaches up to scratch her head, hmming. "Well, sounds like you've at least got a plan, yeah?"

She unslings the massive tetsubo and sets it down on the workbench with an impressive thud. "Maybe you can add an enchantment for some extra durability, too," she adds, pointing out a few spots where the metal studs have cracked where they've impacted her targets' armor.

Kauchemar points a finger at Chikako. "-That- is what the current apparatus that Uta found operates on, yes. Which take a lot of work and time to recreate, as I am sure Haru can confirm."

"When one runs out of theories, one runs out of things to test. No shortage of theories," Haru says as his jester hat bells jingle at the thud of the tetsubo. "Now durability enchantments fall under Earth typically and I happen to be rather good at that. Would require getting ahold of various earth enchantment crystals to establish a reinforcement matrix from wood and metal." Enchanter babble, commence! It gets cut shorter than a full paragraph on how Earth includes both natural and metallic sources due to a mention of the Song times. "Yes the phonograph. Music is one of things I think was easy to take for granted when here." As opposed to 'there', where they are 'from'. "Reproducing one at a delicate level is like building a wagon from scratch. That said, it does work to a degree. The research I did with recording song and enchantment was a little different. It was the idea of replicating enchantment based effects or modification of them based on recording the unique frequency an enchantment crystal gives off and offer replay for similar results."

The big brain talk takes a pause. Haru motions in a circle, "the power of Song and Enchantment are a linked partnership. You can see examples of it in Enchantment frequencies, such as the hum you hear when holding a crystal close to your ears. You can also see historical representation on how, say, a 'Sirens Song' is enchanting. The practical applications don't, well, apply outside of Alv relics. The ones that do, like a durability enchantment, require a natural state first and the enchantment circuit second. Synthesized states dont hold memory and become unstable. Enchantment is a delicate process. Alchemy is too." A thought there, "And Accessory Forging. Basically I work with delicate things with these hands." He waggles his fingers in a 'spirit fingers' sort of way. "Crafter Life. Enchanter Life."

"Stug Life," Chikako adds, finishing Haru's line with a smirk. She nods and pulls a bag out of inventory, emptying it onto the workbench. "Six tier-c Czjapok Onyx. Ought to fit the bill nicely, hm? Let me know if you need more." Mat-hunting is a familiar part of the game, even if all the crafting and such goes over her head.

As for the enchanting technobabble... "Mm, well. Sounds like you've got a good grasp of the basics. Still dunno why you can't just do it like they did back in the old world, but, hey." She shrugs. "If all you've got is a graviton particle beam and a deflector dish, you play basketball, right?"

"Let's be honest, I can probably do more with the combination of music and magic anyways," Kauchemar replies with a chuckle. "But having suitable equipment doesn't hurt. Those elemental machine parts I had will make sure it can channel things as I desire once it's all come together." She raises one hand to her brow and then flicks it aside in a sort of salute-wave combination. "For now though, I'll get out of your way. Ta ta."

Though as she makes her way to the exit and back onto the street the bard does so with a song that just goes to show that yes she did pick up on your reference there Chikako.

~ Aand I said bounce a graviton partical beam, off the main deflector dish
That's the way we do it lads, we're making shit up as we wish ~

Haru holds one of the Onyx up to his monocle. It does the monocle thing with the white lines against the purple lens. "No these should work plenty fine, especially if I refine a raw material into a processed one before heading to market for the dust and gems and side bits," he says. Now material hunting is what gets him out of the cities more than not. Plenty out there and things like a Maidensong Heart won't show up just like that. You have to treasure hunt! "Its an interesting topic, honestly. Think of how the Alliances are structured. Some want to bring Old World Tech in the way we knew it. Some want to adapt the way things are here to the output we are used to. Refrigeration takes freon, right?" Right. "But why create a chemical when we have water crystals and enchantments here? Plus." On this one he hums, "some fundamental laws are just different than what we are used to. Sound is tied to Song and although a good concert used to make me feel pretty hyped up, it didn't let me punch through a wall."

"Then there is, what, machina?" Haru asks, looking to Kau on that one. At best he has heard about them if not counting the Terraform Isle ones. He notices she is on her way out and gives a raised-hand wave, "Be safe, Kau. Short of that, have fun."

Chikako waves cheerfully to Kauchemar, singing along as the nightmare departs. (Okay, so she barely manages to avoid the key of 'off', so what?)

"Yeah, yeah," she says as she gets to the part of the song that she always forgets, and Kau is out of earshot by then so she can't cue off of the bard's lines. "Be safe, have fun, study hard, do drugs. Wait, no, that's not right, study was the other one. You know. Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil." She grins merrily.

"Way I figure it, doesn't matter -how- you get things done, matters -that- you get 'em done. Do it clean, sure, we don't need London Pea Soup, but when you can't do it /with/ you find ways to do it /without/. Right?" She shrugs. "Well, Mari-chan doesn't care. She does like more durability enchantment, though. And that copper/obsidian deal sounds great. How much?"

"I'm sure Mari-chan likes looking her best when she is conducting interviews in blunt force trauma," Haru says with a charming grin. It comes with a wink or a blink. There is just one eye so it is hard to tell. "There is a time we were without coffee," he remembers and gives a shiver, "but if its important enough, we will find a way. Its pretty exciting when you think about it. You get to find and invent all these things in a different way. Really make your mark." A hand pats the large weapon, "in Mari's case? Rather literally. "

Chikako grins, nodding. "Yep. Always wanted to have something named after me. You know. A battleship. A tank. A law of nature. That kind of thing." That's the Oni for you. Things that go 'Dear Grid Square: You Are Dead' are never boring.

"Now, I'm gonna go catch up with Fox-boy and do that shopping and get that lunch and see if he's up for a game or two of was-that-six-drinks-or-floor, so I'm gonna leave Mari-chan here with you." She, too, pats the weapon, in her case quite affectionately.

"Now," she continues, "You be good to her. I come back and she tells me you've been naughty..." She grins wider. A bit wider than humanly possible, really, and wasn't her top a bit looser a minute ago? And are those fangs? Wait, Oni, right.

Oni Ohmy. "Ha. I will only be appropriate levels of naughty with Mari-chan," Haru winks. "Though while you are having your games, Tian should really take a look at 'er too. I think his view on physical expertise and weaponsmithing will give rise to a whole new level of..." he begins and considers his last word with care, "... impact." From there he offers a wave, "Be safe. Short of that, have fun."

"Eh, you know me, Monkey-boy," the Oni-girl says, still grinning. Still showing a bit of her monstrous self. "Fun is a state of mind, and I moved in ages ago." With that, she spins about and heads for the door. "Just remember," she says, pausing at the entrance. "Life is too important to waste on being -boring-." And then it's time to go Tian Hunting.