003 ☁ Infliction

[suppress]

Characters: Presea Combatir & Open
Setting: Floor Fifteen
Format: Starting in action, but will match.
Summary: Presea works on carving charms.
Warnings: None.


[Today Presea can be found in the workshop. She sits, leaning forward in a chair, carefully whittling. On the table next to her are various small charms, largely consisting of bears and other forest creatures, small enough to be used as a keychain. Despite their small size, they're all quite detailed, and it's obvious that a lot of time and effort has been put into them. Laying next to her is a dog, one that would fit perfectly on the night stands that furnish the dorm room.

That one, at least, she hopes to give a home.

Right now she's putting the finishing touches on what appears to be a masquerade mask intended to cover the face. Unpainted and incomplete as it is, the mask is far from an impressive sight, but even so, she continues to work at it. The message that she received regarding the ball, as well as the quirk that the floor featured, had inspired her to try her hand at a different kind of charm, one that could serve a purpose in the tower.]

Comments

[princeofjunes]

[Yosuke doesn't exactly spend a lot of time in the workshop - he's not what some people might call 'good with his hands' - but he's a little familiar with the pink haired girl in it, and when he sees her hard at work he can't help but take a look]

[He's not sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn't the super cute and super detailed wooden keychains. He hadn't meant to interrupt, but he just can't help it]

Wow... you really make all these yourself? You never mentioned you can do this sort of thing!

[suppress]

[She stops to look up, a small smile appearing as she sees the familiar face.]

Oh...Yosuke.

[She sets her knife to the side for the moment, gripping the mask with both hands. If nothing more, she seems genuinely pleased to see someone interested in her work.]

Yes. I enjoy making good luck charms in my spare time. I was able to sell them back home, but I haven't been able to decide what to do with the ones I have created here.

[princeofjunes]

[He picks up one of the bears, looking it over closely]

I'd offer to buy a few, but I don't think I really have anything worth the trade. Doesn't mean you couldn't still go into business though!

I mean, if you're this good, I'm sure there's tons of stuff you could make that people need, and just because I don't have anything worthwhile it doesn't mean other people won't, right?

[suppress]

If you would like one, I do not require payment for any of them; however, I do not believe that good luck charms would be very popular here.

[While she's confident enough in her work, she's also prudent enough to realize that people are less likely to depend on a charm in a situation where torture and life-or-death situations were commonplace.]

[princeofjunes]

I don't know... I mean, I guess we don't have much luck here, I get what you're saying with that. But you'd be surprised - sometimes it's the little things that get you through your tough spots.

They might be a lot more popular than you think.

[suppress]

Of course. You're right. It would be nice to be able to do something for my fellow residents.

[It's probably hard to tell with how slight her smile is, but she's genuinely pleased with his encouragement. She doesn't want all of her creations go to waste, after all. Giving it further consideration, she adds,]

...perhaps I could offer to make furniture as well.

[princeofjunes]

[He breaks into a broad grin at that, because even a slight smile? He'll count that as a victory]

Furniture? With all the egomaniacs in this tower? I can't even imagine how many requests you'd get for a gaudy throne.

[suppress]

A throne?

[She's just going to take that at face value.]

I'm not sure where they'd put it. I do not believe that they could easily fit in the dorm rooms.

[princeofjunes]

Oh, I'm sure they'd just use it to claim a floor as their territory. There'll be a throne on every floor before you know it!

[suppress]

Ah...it would be troublesome if they were to use them to disrupt the peace in the tower. I will make sure I add a disclaimer explaining that that thrones are excluded from the offer.

[princeofjunes]

Good idea! Might want to exclude crowns too, package deal and all that.

Hmm... no doomsday devices either, though I guess that goes without saying.

[suppress]

[Today is a good day for Yosuke. He's gotten a smile out of her and now even a small laugh!]

Of course. I do not believe that a doomsday device could be made using carpentry tools alone.

[princeofjunes]

[TODAY IS THE BEST DAY OMG. SHE KNOWS HOW TO LAUGH! IT'S A MIRACLE!]

Sure, you say that now, but how do I know it's not just part of your plot to trick me and take over the world with carpentry?

[suppress]

Take over the world with carpentry...?

[She echoes his statement as she tries to think of a way that such a thing could be accomplished.]

I do not believe myself to be capable of something like that.

[princeofjunes]

[Nope, he's on a roll now, even if she's too sincere to really get his teasing]

Oh my... I'm too late, aren't I? Well, I better join the winning team at least.

[He drops down to one knee, bowing his head]

All hail Queen Presea!

[suppress]

[Yosuke is just going to get the most confused look. She honestly has no idea how to take all of this.]

Yosuke...?

[seriously, what're you doing, bro?]

[princeofjunes]

Yes, my queen? What would you have me do? Just give the order, Lord of all Carpentry, and it shall be done!

[suppress]

I think you must have misunderstood me. I'm just a woodcutter.

[princeofjunes]

The Queen of All Woodcutters! The Lord of Lumber!

[suppress]

No. I'm not good enough to be called that.

[It's not a sense modesty or even low self-esteem that leads to her saying that. She's confident in her work, she just can't fathom being called that. She also hasn't quite caught onto the fact that Yosuke is joking.]

[princeofjunes]

Hmm. Would you prefer the Princess of Pine?

[suppress]

Just Presea is fine.

[princeofjunes]

Princess Presea it is!

[suppress]

That's not what I meant...

[yosuke staaahhpp.]

[culbutiri]

[Nesir came in here often to carve, since it calmed her. At the moment she was mostly hiding from people; her face was still scarred. The words You will die if you read this message written over it. At least the madness was over now, but still it was proof of her stupidity of the last few weeks and so she tried to avoid people.

When she saw the other girl whittling though she wandered over, her eyes lighting up when she saw what she was working on.] Do that be being a mask? [Ral had made all their masks for the Ball of the Justice god every year and Nesir had been hoping to make her own the next year; she wasn't quite good enough yet though.]

[suppress]

[Presea looks up at the sound of another person approaching, nodding quietly in approach to her question. She notes the words across her face, finds concern beginning to bubble up inside her, but ultimately decides against immediately commenting.]

Yes. I've been working on it for some time now, but it still needs a lot of work.

[culbutiri]

It do be looking good so far. [She looked at it for a moment, and then noticed the other things around her.] You do be being very good!

[clumsyjesus]

Oh hey, Presea! What are you up to?

[And suddenly, she spots the little doggy] Oh wow, what a cute little dog!

Did you make him?

[suppress]

[Presea immediately brightening at the sight of her friend.]

Hello, Colette.

[She nods, placing her knife down before reaching down to touch the top of the dog's head. She's pleased with how he turned out.]

Yes. If you'd like to take him with you, I'm still looking for a home for him.

[More specifically, she made it with Colette's love of dogs in mind.]

[clumsyjesus]

[And she comes forward to take a closer look.] Wow, he's beautiful! You did a great job with making him.

[geometry]

[There's a weird alien kid usually hanging around in the workshop, and he's been going about his own projects for several hours. But it's tiring work, and eventually Equius turns around in his chair, catching sight of Presea's charms as he does so.]

...What are those?

[MUST INVESTIGATE]

[suppress]

[Presea pauses her work, setting the mask down on her lap before looking up at the stranger.]

They're good luck charms.

[geometry]

...Do they work?

[He sits down at the table next to her, staring very intently at the small totems.]

Um, they're very nicely made. Like, the details are. Really good.

[martelapproves]

You... you're here, too?

[ The voice came from the stairway. He knew Colette was here, and she had mentioned Presea. But... this was the first they met. Maybe it was for the best; he almost killed her, after all, before Altessa jumped in front of his attack and took the proverbial bullet for her.

He enters the floor, his fists clenched. ]

I guess you know why I'm here, don't you?

[suppress]

[Her hand slips, leaving an unpleasant looking gash in the face of her mask. Presea knows that voice well. It belongs to the boy that responsible for splitting the two worlds. The one who was responsible for all of the suffering the the Chosen and exsphere experiments such as herself were forced to undergo.

She returns the carving knife to the sheath at her side. Her shoulders tense and she finds herself unconsciously reaching for her axe. She stares at him, her voice low and serious, the cold look in her eyes not quite matching her young appearance.]

Do you intend to try and finish what you started?

[martelapproves]

No. If I'm here for why I think I'm here, Lloyd already did that for me. [ He still doesn't think it was a 'virus.' He thinks it was Lloyd screwing up the processed for reuniting the worlds, or humans using magitechnology agian, or something along those lines. Besides, even if he did fight her, she'd just come back to life anyway. No point. ]

Colette says she's from a long time ago, whatever that means. So you better have the answers I want.

[midnightblackandgold]

[Marisa sits down next to the young-looking girl and picks up one of the carvings to look over.]

Cool. What else can you make?

[suppress]

[Her eyes flick to the girl sitting beside her, but she doesn't immediately stop her whittling. It seems she's in the middle of putting the finishing touches on the mask in her hands.]

I primarily work on good luck charms, but in the past I have made masks and furniture as well.

[midnightblackandgold]

You're really good, ze. This level of craftsmanship would lend well to enchantment.