Robert checks on music boxes

     After a fair bit of time of working hard, Honami was... working hard! Not really on anything particular, just continuing to tune and gently work on things for that music box. Work was never done, really, and in something like this, being able to reproduce it was almost as important. Also she was letting the music box play for any landers that were passing by, the little cait sith figurine placed atop of it doing simple little dance movements as Honami hums absently.

Never any rest for the wicked, it would seem. In stark contrast to Honami, Robert apparently has all the time in the world to spend just wandering around Eas. Regardless of whether his amblings are for work or for pleasure, today he finds himself strolling on past when, as is the case for many Landers, he finds his attentions caught by a familiar, tinkling sound. Thus it is that his elfin-head can be seen occasionally bobbing up into view as he pushes his way through the gathering crowd.

At last he makes his way to the front. He pauses, surveys, stares at Honami a bit too hard. "You know," he asserts at last, tones mildly amused, "-most- people resolve their creative moods by doing something -else-."

     "Yes, but! ...I made this basically in a feverdream, I have to make sure that I properly remember how to make it instead of just rlying on how it feels." Is Honami's response, as that tinkling song continues, the figure doing a few slightly jerky movements in its rotations and spins while it plays, something fun to watch, even if nothing particularly spectacular. "Besides. It's fun~."

SpritesHero steps forward, dropping to one knee to bring her creation to eye-height. He remains this, squinting as an analytical eye filters over the device. "I must confess some surprise," he admits, though his tones still carry hints of teasing rather than criticism. "To think that the wicked Demonrose Honami, General of the Armies of the Scrapped Princesses, Destroyer of Worlds, would have chosen to make a music box." A pause. A harder squint. "With a dancing cat." There is a solemn, regretful shake of his head.

     A kneeling, squinting Bob before her, questioning her decisions. Honami's eyes twinkle ever so slightly. "Ah, but you know nothing of what this music box means. It is capable of being changed, of its music being swapped and moved. A beginning to something much greater! One must start humble, after all, when they intend to destroy the world as we know it~." Mhmhmhmhmhm~! ...Luckily most of the landers have gotten used to Honami around this area, otherwise that might be very concerning for them to hear. Instead, they just smile and nod. Yep. Definitely. Definitely what Honami's going to do.

Ah. So Honami has already laid the groundwork for her upcoming campaign. The populace is already lulled into blissful, contented submission. "Don't force me to arrest you for subversion in a time of war," Robert suggests, affecting a watchful air. "I've got my eye on you and your wicked ways. You will not succeed." To emphasize the point, he indicates his eyes with a pair of fingers, then points at Honami.

The box is indicated with a dip of his chin. "May I?"

     Really, the fact she says silliness like that and then proceeds to turn around and help out with odd jobs the townsfolk need doesn't really hurt matters on them seeing her as harmless. "Arrest me? Hah! As if you would /dare/ to do such a thing~. Do you not see, this town loves me. Truly, if either of us was to be arrested, it would be you!" She retorts, her tone joking, though she is starting to get into things a bit it seems. She stands as he indicates his eyes and then points at her, and she carefully sets the music box down. "And who will stop my wicked ways?! You?! A mere adventurer!" She gives a wicked laugh, 'Aaaahahahahahahahahahaha~!' and then Bob asks if he can see the music box. "Oh yeah sure here you go." She holds it out towards him. "Be gentle though, it's made of many small parts. While I made it to be durable, it probably would need some heavy repairs if you dropped it."


See? That's why the townsfolk aren't scared of her at all.

SpritesHero's chin juts forward, even as he mimes pushing his nonexistant hat lower over his eyes, then tucks his thumbs into his pockets. And then she laughs. Oh, truly wonderfully done. "Oo, do it again," he urges her, momentarily out of character. And then he pitches his voice lower. "Maybe not today. Maybe you've not done something yet. Maybe you just plaster over your sins with a thin layer of charity. Maybe you've got these folks deceived. But someday, you'll slip up. You'll show your real colors, and people will see the blackness of your heart." Never mind that she's dressed entirely in black. "And on that day I'll be here, watching. And that will be the last day of your wickedness." The character vanishes, lickety split, and he accepts the music box gingerly. He even sets it on a nearby table to make absolutely sure nothing breaks. "My grandma used to have one of these. Gave it to me as a kid," he comments, tongue jutting through the sides of his mouth. He lifts and lowers the lid a couple times, experimentally. "Where's the metal cylinder doohickey?"

     "A thin layer?! Hah! ... It's actually not that thin, I legitimately enjoy helping people. Frankly, destroying this world seems more like it will be more of a 'by changing it' kind of thing, but that's just the character anyway." Honami chuckles softly, seemingly slipping out of the persona because of the music box talk. "Anyway! ...It's not the same as the one your grandma made, this one is able to be swapped out with the roll there." She motions towards a small metal roll which has some thick paper made with cloth fibers to make it stronger. "It's like one of those old style auto playing pianos that played using parchment paper. Only we don't have pianos, so I made a music box instead."

"I know," Robert concedes. There's a momentarily affectionate look, but he refrains from any hair-ruffling. Affection turns to somber intensity as the matter at hand turns back to the music box. There's a good deal of looking. Not so much in the way of touching, though. Finger grease in the real world probably isn't great for these devices. Here? Who knows, but he isn't taking the risk. "The old player pianos," he muses, gaze following her motions from part to part. "And the cat?" he queries. "Is it isolated, or do its motions link with the underlying swappable parchment?"

     "Its motions are linked too, it has its own special readers, though it does function similar to a music box, since it mostly plays by tensioning the springs and letting them loose to strike their notes. Like I said. A start! Very crude, very much in need of refinement, but that's fine. This is something that I just made with bringing joy during a time of war in mind." Honami says softly, absently putting her tools away and streeeetching out. "Maybe next I'll make a proper little dancing girl~." She says cheerfully.

"You are quite possibly the worst Destroyer of Worlds ever," is Robert's assessment. Gingerly, ever so gingerly, he places the music box back in its original position, and it is only once he pulls back that he releases a breath he hadn't even been aware that he'd been holding. He almost looks back towards her as she stretches, but at the last moment averts his gaze. "A proper little dancing girl?" he queries.

     Honami reaches towards the music box after it's carefully released, slipping it back into her inventory. "Well, you know. Clockwork has many uses. It might be fun to make a whole steampunk Thing! I mean, sure, it wouldn't really be Honami's theme, but that stopped mattering when she became me and I became her, so!" Honami flashes a grin, slightly wild. One has to be just a little crazy to enjoy being Chuuni on some level, after all. "Anyway, I'm not talking like something combat ready, more like a larger scale of the cait sith on this music box."

Judging by Robert's skeptical, lengthy look, clockwork indeed simply Does Not Match with Honami's current theme. But he settles for a helpless little shrug, in a clear gesture of 'to each their own'. "Soooo," he drawls, attempting to mentally scramble to catch up with Honami's thought process. "Are we talking some kind of exoskeleton eventually? Little explosive autonomous robots?" Beat. "Music boxes that are traps?"

     "Nope. Why would I make little explosive robots? That's /so much work/ for something I could accomplish by learning the fire magical school and then casting 'fireball'. If I want to hide it, mix it with some dark magic to make it a delayed blast fireball that hides in an area instead." Honami says, shaking her head. "No, it would just be for fun and practice. Why would I make it into traps? Geeze. Rude."

"Well, you -could- use it to walk your fireball-substitute, say, into a complex. Or a bunker. Or anywhere you might not ordinarily have access to," Robert points out. Admittedly, her mannerisms have him a bit off-balance at present. "Alright. I'm confused. If you are switching to a steampunk theme, what exactly are you trying to do?"

     "Make things that bring joy, I already said that. Also I could make cool weapons, but a little explosive walker would be /so/ expensive for something that would probably only last for one blast, I don't have that kind of money." Honami says with a soft laugh. "Though, I must admit it would be /cool/, it would definitely be easier to do with a golem type spell instead. Possibly earth and fire?" She muses out loud. "But again... might as well just make directed blasts that appear below the target if it's not an infiltration like that."

SpritesHero squints. Lifts his hand. Scratches at his head. "Oh, I thought you were aiming for...well..." He trails off indicating all of her with a sweep of his hand. Whatever that means. "So it's -not- that you're changing your entire theme to clockwork, it's more of a side-hustle. When you're not off being Honami. Do I have that right?" One eyebrow lifts. "And yes, I supposed you are right. It really is a rather inefficient way of fighting, isn't it."

     "I mean, having some cool clockwork weapons would be neat, magitech is always cool~." Honami replies, her eyes twinkling with amusement. She doesn't honestly seem sure of it herself. "Either way, I'll always be the dark heroine who shall destroy the world, Demonrose Honami~." She smirks playfully, standing up straight again. "Just as you, Robert, shall be the ... the Bob Man who Shall Help Destroy The World!" Look she's not necessarily good at coming up with things on the fly.

SpritesHero outright winces. "The...Bob-man?" he queries, expression somewhere between stricken and outright depressed. He shakes his head vigorously. "And nonononono. Also, since when did I become your sidekick?" He too straightens, flexing his shoulders and stretching out his neck, jaw jutting forward. On Mike Tyson it would look intimidating. On him? Not so much. "There's no dramatic tension if we head down that path. Unless it's, like...a sith thing."

     Blink blink. "I'm not talking about a story right now." Honami says softly, closing her eyes. "I mean. I don't really want to destroy any world, but. We are trying to break out of this one. I don't know if this world will survive that. Though it would be nice if we could move in and out of it freely instead... though I'm not sure how much better that would be, since that would expose the real world to the dangers of this one." She muses out loud. "...Then again, it's all just a computer program gone wrong, right? Which is why we still have all of the game systems intact."

SpritesHero's wince turns to a grimace. Someday, someday he'll figure out her pace. He sighs, looks behind him to make sure he's not about to sit on Honami's workmanship, and leans against a nearby table. "I mean, I think you can make a reasonable case for a number of scenarios," he suggests. "But I do think your suggestion--the simplest one--certainly has its merits. There's a few aspects that simply don't make any sense in that framework, which does bother me though. Out of curiosity, what dangers do you think we'd expose the real world to, if free passage were an option?"

     "If there's a portal or something, there's no guarantees that it would just be adventurers that could come in and out of this world." Honami responds simply. "Which could easily mean, well... I don't know. Modern weapons might make it easier to deal with them. Hm." She shrugs helplessly. "Anyway! ...I'm just glad that this world seems to be welcoming to us for the most part. I can't imagine the torture that the poor people of the palace lands have gone through."

"But the only way that happens is if this is an actual world, right?" Robert supposes. "As opposed to just a computer program gone wrong. I don't think the portal-idea works if it's a computer program gone wrong. But then, the fact that we can actually bleed....like, for real. That doesn't make sense if this is just a computer game either, does it." Her shrug is mirrored by one of his own, coupled with a frown. "The palace lands do have it rough," he agrees. "Say. If you thought someone had been unwillingly crowned and was trying to fight back against it, would you risk helping? What if there's like a seventy percent chance of it being a trap?"

     "I mean... none of this makes sense. Realistically, we should probably have started dropping by now, I think... I don't think people can stay on life support this long safely, and I doubt that anyone would pay for it either." Honami says softly, frowning ever so slightly. Hmm. "...I don't know though." She shakes her head, beginning to turn a bit, looking towards Castle Eas. "Mmm..." She glances towards Robert. "I'd probably die in that situation, because I... probably would try to help. I mean, that was half the point of making the music box. To increase my ability so I can understand those crowns." She shrugs helplessly. "...I'm going to go rest now. Have a good evening, Robert." And she starts to wander off after that.

SpritesHero blinks. It takes a moment to get up to speed with what has just happened. But he shrugs, chalks it up to 'Honami', and turns away to wander off as well.