Private Solvale Tinkering Pictures

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Solvale,
'Home'
Mid-day

"Is that all of it?" Fiora clapped her gloved hands after a job well done, left eye glancing over to their cargo now left at the side of the house, the latest batch of raw ore they were meant to use on their forge, aswell as a small list of orders picked up along the way for the people of Hanrift.

"Yeup. You can thank Elias for the horsepower this time- And well, you two for dealing with that crystal lizard. Business's been smooth since then!"

May gave a quick pat to the horses, quickly jumping back onto to the driver's seat, giving a good look at the dusty back of the cart before drifting her attention back to the pair.

"Anyways, next time I'll let you two drive it back from Hanrift. Can't always close the shop for a trip like this, even if I'd love to check out the so-called Starcalled architecture over there!"

May smiled, hand pointing out over to the duo's home, built up in so little time she couldn't help but feel a thirst for adventure water her mouth just from the idea of exploring it, held back only by her grasp onto the reigns as she prepared herself for a U turn.

"One day maybe. Landers have weekends, don't they?" The concept felt alien almost. It must be, because she's never seen landers not work their asses off, but that could be a coincidence "Or on closing hours. Don't know if you gonna find anyone at home but you don't miss anything anyways, I think Ronja's got a butler Aidling hidden somewhere in there." She glanced back to the magia, smirk laced on her lips.

"Ugh, so tempting, but I can't now...- Still! I'd love to get a good tour and see how those 'aidlings' of yours work, Ronja. First time i'd be able to get close to anything of this 'magitech' sort without being blasted for it."

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja watched @Fiora Di Angelo do most of the heavy work, mostly handling the smaller pieces before looking at May and letting out a faint giggle. "Ronja is glad to know it was helpful! Especially if that will give us some ride to the town sometimes." She hummed.

Tilting her head, she nodded. "Ronja has a broom at home that just moves around by itself, if it is ever useful for you, May." If anything, that made Ronja look more like a witch than a Magitech, but she wasn't really on the level of making extremely complex contraptions. She had plans to though.

"But don't worry. Ronja plans to make easy-to-use magitech for anyone to use!" She declared with a firm nod, then peeking at Fiora.

"For now though, she has other ongoing projects, even if they still help her to figure out what to do for the future." Her eye lingered on Fiora's.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

"Do we? Always thought that was some aidling broom." Fiora commented, scratching at her chin. Certainly a broom that moves on it's own is more magic than techy, or maybe it actually -was- an aidling broom and Ronja is fooling them both.

Which seemed to work perfectly on May as the girl smiled from ear to ear and shook her head.

"I've seen that trick before! I think the alchemist next door has one of these actually! I'm just too lazy to ask him to charge it up whenever the magic runs dry. If I can't keep my shop clean on my own, then I sure won't dump it all on some poor broom to do it by itself."

She huffed, being proud of both the chaos and her ability to keep it neat enough for her to not get lost in it, a warm smile forming on her face as Ronja's altruistic side surfaced once again.

"Together we can wash off the superstitions in Hanrift. I'll be the first to thank you for it, Ronja."

Her voice quieted down a little, slowly starting to turn the horses and the cart itself to the side, with Fiora taking a step backwards to give it some space.

"Until then, take care you two! And don't forget to come over if you need help. I'm not good at magitech like you, but I'm still a smithy, metal is all the same no matter the purpose!"

Sensing there being more given the way Ronja eyed her lover, May decided to make an exit very pronto, waving at the pair as she handled the reigns with one hand, shouting her good byes in the process, with Fiora waving back with one hand in her jacket's pockets.

"So, I take it you got something you need my help with?" Fiora locked her eye with Ronja's, curious at what's in the magia's plans today. "I have an order of my own for you too." To make it clear, she made a lazy swing her arm, grasping onto an invisible sword.

"Unless you are just admiring my sense of fashion that is totally not Lander?" She teased, hands grasping onto the edges of her jacket to straighten it up. Compared to the old newbie rags she kept wearing all this time or the beaten up armor, it was a change of pace for sure. Fortunately for her, it means Ronja can't poke her about all her wardrobe decisions anymore.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja giggled at @Fiora Di Angelo's statement, and partially nodded, looking at her. "It isn't an Aidling, but Ronja could make an Aidling that uses a broom. It will probably have a better mobility in this case." She pondered, and as May revealed something about an alchemist having some similar magical tool, Ronja grinned. "Really? Ronja needs to talk to this alchemist someday then!"

The encouragement from May brought a smile to Ronja, and her eyes clicked a couple times as she nodded eagerly. "We will. Thank you so much." She bowed her head briefly, and waved at May as she left the two of them.

With a sigh, she hummed— "We are really luck for finding this village." Ronja's eyes flickered to Fiora again.

"Ronja doesn't need any reason to appreciate looking at you." She remarked, turning to face Fiora completely, tilting her head as she saw the swinging gesture. "A knight without a weapon really doesn't seem fitting. Lucky for you, Ronja has been having a few lessons with May." Ronja winked confidently, and then her expressions turned slightly more serene.

"But yeah, Ronja does need your help. Or rather, it is impossible to continue her most important project without you." She rested her hands behind her back.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Fiora looked down, humming at the idea of an aidling to use the broom... "Aidling with broom... A 'Broomling'." A little smile rested on her face after her own joke.

Ronja manifested the idea to meet up the alchemist, and already she had begun to spin the thought wheel to figure where exactly she's seen it before, leaving her to space out a little until May finally left and Ronja's sighs caught her attention back to the magia.

"Not everyone is intolerant. Thankfully some are not even aware what happened on Vintergard, the perks of no TV or news channels." She pointed out, left hand resting lazily on her hip "Being Starcalled is more of a sin to them anyways." Fiora brushed it aside with a wave of her hand.

To add to Ronja's 'appreciation', Fiora shot back a charming smile, paired with a sidestare the likes only magazine models would have. Granted, minus the dramatic lightning, makeup, and carefully placed background, and blur and... All that made these pictures a thing in the first place.

"You've been busy sharing lessons with eachother huh?" Unsurprising to her, moreso it was the confidence with which she said so, "You really are a fast learner. I knew you had your ways with metal, but never thought you could get a weapon down from scratch. Those daily orders May's been filling in for you really are bearing fruits," Fiora shot a glance over to the stacks of boxes then back at Ronja. Nails weren't as exciting as crafting literal fantasy weapons, but it all piled up in the end it seemed, one lesson at a time.

"I can draw you a sketch to get the little details down buut..." Her smile toned down a little, folding her arms against her bust, "First, you got some secret very important project I don't know of," She teased, nodding towards their home as she went over to the front door, pulling the key from within one of her pockets, turning the lock and pushing it open.

"Fill me in, is it something for the Landers and you want another opinion on it before trying it out?" She couldn't think of many things that would fit 'VIP-Project' so much as their idea to translate Aidlings back to the real world.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja opened her mouth to respond to @Fiora Di Angelo when she said 'broomling', pausing for a moment to close her mouth and frown deeply before reaching for a small notepad and writing it up. "Yeah, these are some perks. Ronja does miss having a phone sometimes though." She muttered, closing the notepad and slipping it back to her pocket to look at Fiora, with cheeks flushing upon the sight of the charming smile.

"Thank you... Not that Ronja can make anything wonderful yet, but she can make it do until she can actually make something... Really, really nice for her favorite knight." Her smile perked up, puffing her round flushing cheeks even more.

"Meddling with metals really helped, and Ronja already had made blades for her automatons before, but... How to explain... It turns out that making a blade for a machine and making a sword for a person are two completely different things." Ronja pressed her indexes together and parted them for emphasis, then opened her palms trying to aligh them as if she was weighting invisible pounds on her hands. "Balance, length, grip. May told Ronja all about it, and she didn't expect it to be as complex as that." She slipped a sigh and waiting Fiora to finish unlocking the door, and as she opened it along with a question, Ronja glanced at her eyes.

"No, it is for you." Ronja said, with her smile becoming a bit fainter and uncertain before turning toward workshop. "Well. Which one do you want to go with first?" Either cases, their destination was still the workshop.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

"I hope that notepad ain't a list of all my jokes." She wasn't blind yet, but with how quick Ronja caught herself before talking, it almost felt like a teacher grading her student's poor performance. "That said though, a phone would be nice, but we got our UI to send messages to eachother for now." She added, not entirely convinced of it as a proper alternative. It wasn't the best solution and it's clearly only for players that aren't UI-locked, but it's better than having to send letters that might not even reach eachother in the first place.

Ronja's puffy smile melted through her rather quickly, the words 'favourite knight' ringing on her ears and earning a pearly smile back to the magia, with a coat of red flustering her face, almost a match to her hairs. Wordless, Fiora headed over to open the door, never once breaking eyecontact as Ronja explained the intricacies behind swordsmithing as opposed to merely attaching an edge to a piece of metal for her magitech creations.

"You could always run it through May first. I heard smiths put their swords through quality tests, kind of like gunsmiths do." She held open the door, waiting until Ronja stepped in to close it behind her, "You can make something expendable for now. I'll just try not to break it." She muttered, concerns over the costs pecking at her mind, as holding back her strength wasn't always feasible. "But well, I can punch things pretty fine, and I'm not making you do a set of plate armor. Those things break like paper sheet when fighting monsters." She shrugged. Unfortunately, something that happened all too often for her liking: enemies ignoring her expensive tin can suit.

Her head quickly cranked back to Ronja once she revealed a few more details, mouth half-open with surprise, soon followed by a hearty chuckle and a bright but quiet smile, "Do you need to ask even? Let's get to work on your project. I can go buy a sword on any store until you cook something up for me." A hand reached over to the reinforced doors leading to their workshop, pushing them oven in one motion as she stepped aside, "After you, Princess~"

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja gave @Fiora Di Angelo a judging expression before letting out a brief giggle. "It is just Ronja's name memo. And UI messages are great, but aren't too reliable when there are monsters that disrupt it... And NPCs or UI-Locked can't use it." She frowned at her own way to voice it. Calling them NPCs was starting to feel wrong after being so immersed into Terrasphere, and for so long too.

"Going through May is an idea, but we can always test things out ourselves too. Ronja isn't against rolling up some sleeves, and she does plan to make something really amazing for you." She nodded.

With doors open, Ronja chirped with grateful words for Fiora, stepping into the workshop that was already all crowded with projects and constructs of all types. The supposed 'broomling' was there, sweeping things and trying to poke some stuff to the corners, to make sure no one would trip on them by accident.

Ronja went straight to the working table, pushing some scraps aside and reaching for a mini chest that was magically sealed with complex arcanamantic runes that served as 'wires' for her magitech.

Turning to face Fiora, she smiled. "Well. Ronja hopes it will work. She does understand if you think it looks a bit weird... Or disgusting." Without further ado, Ronja traced a finger on the runes, and it almost felt like those maze puzzles one could find in a magazine. Upon completion, the marks brimmed and faded, unlocking the mini-chest that opened.

On a cushion, what seemed to be an eye rested on it. Eerily realistic, it almost felt like it was real. It certainly looked organic, but if paid attention to, it was possible to see very tiny mechanisms in it, just like lens had.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Fiora replied that judging look with a comical squinty one until Ronja revealed the truth, "One would think the UI would be a bit more durable than wet paper, but everything seems to make it bluescreen nowdays." She rubbed her temples, but that didn't help her get a spontaneous solution, "I keep sending couriers to Finweald whenever I try to get in contact with the orphanage, and it sure takes longer than a text message..." The dangers of the road made her wish she could go herself, yet pouring a little trust on the landers and their mail-people was all they could do right now.

As they headed right into the shop, Fiora pointed over to their 'broomling', wiggling her brows at Ronja, a devious grin on her face spells 'I'm gonna say it', only to be forced to pay mind to where she walks, bumping her foot on a large aidling hanging from a set of straps, that turned out to be half of the golem they found on their hunt for the Rolling Lizard.

"Well I did set up targets and defensive runes on our backyard to practice with. We can do a stress test ourselves, just remember I'm a bit of a brute when I ain't holding back." She chuckled, leaning an arm over the working table, a hand reaching high up for the desk lamp, aiming it over to the mini-chest before turning it on. "Lots of scraps and junk over here. Does my little genius need me on cleanup duty?" She teased, leaning closer to watch the intricate lock Ronja begun to fidget with.

It almost looked like a phone's password, her golden eye catching every trace Ronja would do with her finger until it finally begun to dim down and show what's inside, at first curious, and then surprised at the eerie stare of an eyeball.


Index and thumb fingers reached out for it, giving the eye a careful look with her mouth hanging open. A thought ran through her head just then, reflexes making her glance back at Ronja before she turned around, figuring it was best to be considerate and put it on without showing her the whole process.

"H-how does it look?" Uncertainty tingled at her throat, facing her girlfriend once again as she begun to tap at the side of her head to try and turn the thing on. The colours were a little mismatched thanks to Fiora's actual eye being an actual magic receptacle.

"Wait-" Finally it clicked to her, and Ronja could notice the lens open and close once or twice on the artificial eye. Fiora took a step back, dumbfounded expression on her face as she started to look around the workshop as a half of the world returned to her within a blink, and depth of field with it too. "Doesn't look weird at all to me. Everything looks better even. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to adapt to having two eyes out of the game with only one in it..."

Her eyes locked with Ronja's as she bent over, one hand resting on her cheek as she pressed her lips against her girlfriend's for a long smooch. "Thanks love, this is the best early christmas gift I could ask for." She mumbled, a big cheery smile resting on her face.

And then... An idea made it a little wider.

"Photo-photo." Confidence that quickly died off as soon as she said that and didn't hear no characteristic clicking noise, not even a flash or anything, which made her tap against her temple again as if that could fix the issue. "That's n-not how it works, right." A rush of red coated her cheeks, embarassment almost making her want to cover her face now, but it's probably too late to hide it.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja nodded. "Exactly what she means. Besides..." Ronja cleared her throat, her expressions turning slightly concerned for a moment, but then shook her head, looking at @Fiora Di Angelo with a small 'nevermind' smile, embracing the following topic with an awkward laugh. "Ronja does need to do a clean up, but only after her biggest first project is officially done."

And it was intriguing to see her 'biggest first project' in action. Her reaction was fidgety at first, unsure of how it would work... And if it would work. Yes, it worked on herself, but she didn't truly count when she wasn't entirely made out of flesh— if what she had could even be considered flesh in first place.

But the fact things worked out made Ronja's stiff shoulders soften. The following affection caught her slightly by surprise, but she returned the kiss softly, looking up at Fiora with a bubbly smile and eyes shimmering with water, laughing when Fiora tried to repeat the silliness Ronja herself always did.

"Photo, Photo~!" She tilted her head to the sides a couple times, tapping her temples and making her eyes click like a camera. "Ronja didn't develop something like that for the eye yet. This isn't a completely finished product. She plans to do a lot in it still. But for now, it should hopefully be a perfect biomagitechnogical substitute!" She chirped.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

The look on Ronja's face, the topic at hand, and her avoidance... It didn't take a genius for her to figure out where the conversation would go, and yet Fiora played along, just as unwilling as her lover is to sour the mood with painful memories.

Instead she focused on the magia's smile, squinting as she tried to find any secret switch to make her new eye click the way Ronja's do, tapping her temples and all, but nor catchy phrase neither her silly attempts to match the brunette were successful, something she paid attention as Ronja elaborated on.

"Trademarked for you and only you I see~" She rubbed her chin, smile on her face as she took a step back from Ronja and got a full look at her, "It is perfect right now, but I plan to stress test it against an aidling. Maybe some beefy one so it can take a hit. See if it holds up when I'm fighting." Fiora gave herself a few testing bonks to the side of her head, trying to see if the eye would just plop out after getting shook up a little, only to find it holding surprisingly well in it's place.

"Now I got two eyes to help you clean up. Just need a broom and a frilly maid dress to cosplay with." She said, as her attention turned back to the worktable and onto the scraps and junk spread all over, slowly starting to separate the pieces in bulks of similar pieces, "Should be good practice if you manage to convince your family to take me in as a maid." Her voice didn't hold much hopes for that, as deep down she felt the strangling sensation of something getting in the way of their plans,

"...Since we are on the topic with technology and all, have you found anything about magia cores and giving them new bodies? Does it work?" Her voice drifted off, moreso concious of the thought that summoned that question, "Would be useful to figure out how magias turned players into magias and if it can be done the other way around too." Concern hides the late fears summoned this early.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"For now." Ronja remarked, raising a finger for emphasis and then crossing her arms. "A stress test would be very useful, indeed. An eye socket in a bones and flesh skull is fundamentally different from one made out of synthetic biomagitechnological flesh and metallic structure." It was obvious, but she made sure to point it out regardless.

A laughter escaped her lips as soon as @Fiora Di Angelo spoke of wearing a frilly maid dress, an Ronja squinted looking at her. "It would be a beautiful eye candy. But it won't be eye candy that will convince Ronja's family. Don't worry, she got this." She reassured, pausing to think about Fiora's following question, especially regarding her research.

"Well... The eye you have is part of what she has been working on." Ronja's lips pursed slightly. "Turning back to flesh may be impossible, Ronja thinks. Unless some strong and powerful magic is involved... But turning someone into a magia, or at least transferring their core to a magia body is very feasible. The problem is how to do it."

She frowned, feeling her heart stinging for a moment. "She is still studying on a way though. She has to recover her roommate... And many others she had captured."

Clearing her throat, her eyes clicked a couple times before she looked at her girlfriend with a faint smile. "By the way, you've mentioned you had contact with the orphanage. Any news about it?" She inquired.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

"Yeah. Who knows what kind of adverse reaction could happen because of it. Fleshy bodies don't tend to mix well with attached bits, specially metals and the like." Fiora added, lifting her shoulders on a shrug, "Can't say I know enough about the topic though. Maybe that doesn't apply to this eye or our bodies, I mean, we are awfully resilient compared to our real bodies." Proof being all the punishment both of them could tank from bullets, laser beams, magic explosions and the like without even a sliver of protection at times.

As Ronja's confidence on dealing with her family bloomed, Fiora gave a smirk, loosening up her stance as her shoulders dropped, "Alright, but don't push it all on your own, m'kay? I'm willing to jump into the lion's den if that's what we need. I can act pretty if needed." Confidence only Terrasphere could grant her when it came to Ronja's family, her fingers tapping over the worktable as she leaned her weight against it.

Her expression turned severe as Ronja filled her in on the details and the flimsy possibilities of a proper transition. Time would be all they needed, and with the worst of the storm already braved through, at least now they could enjoy some easy times until the next threat.

"You will get through with it, hun. It's just a matter of time until you crack a solution for this case. I'm just gonna do my best in the meantime and see what I can do for you, probably fetch you materials and magia bits. I'm nowhere near your level in magitech afterall." Her hands ended back in her pockets, pushing herself off the table, gaze darting over to the open windows and the woods beyond them, avoiding the magia's eyes, "Just to be safe, y'know? I doubt I will bite it anytime soon, but, if I ever got stuck in this game, I'd rather be an immortal robot. I don't think we can age as players, at least I don't feel any different compared to last year, but I don't wanna find out..." Her voice unnerved, quaking almost, holding the facade of strength, knowing full well it's see-through at this point yet unwilling to accept it.

The shift back to the orphanage reignited her features, eyes cast over to Ronja, "Oh!" She exclaimed, clearing her throat likewise, "Yeah, the orphanage's sent back a few letters. The orphans made a few drawings of us working on the basement, I left them on the bedroom if you wanna go check them out." She exhaled a giggle just then, a wry smile pushing the corner of her lips back up, "For some reason they put you as the muscle doing all the heavy lifting. I ended up being the rookie helping you out instead." Which... Wasn't entirely off either.

---

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja half-smiled at @Fiora Di Angelo's determination on leaping into the Lion's den, that was a pretty fitting description for her family. However, the smile faded immediately at the implication of Fiora 'biting it'.

Taking her hand, Ronja stared at her with a serious expression. "You won't get stuck in here." She said it firmly, even if she knew the hypocrisy behind her words. In the past, where she considered that a satisfactory outcome, nowadays it was...

"We have so much to do out there. We can't waste that by being stuck in here." Ronja relaxed her body and expressions, with her hand carefully sliding away as the tone turned brighter again, with the mentions of the Orphanage bringing a warm smile to Ronja's lips. "Letters? Ronja needs to read all of them, she is impressed they are grown enough to think about sending those!" She chirped.

A frown crossed her face, but not in a bad way, as a laughter escaped her. "Ronja can't believe in it. We need to fix it, dear. We must go there and show them that you are the heavylifter here. Imagine if they want Ronja to carry something heavy, she will end up embarrassing herself." Ronja pursed her lips at the idea.

Still, it felt nice to know that the children didn't fear her.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Fiora blinked, the pupil of her bionic eye shirinking for a moment then widening once again as the elf reciprocated, giving Ronja's hand a squeeze, "I just want to have a plan B ready in case it happens." She admitted, layering her voice with confidence in an attempt to struggle against the realist in her.

"You are right though," Her free hand sandwiched Ronja's just then, forming a metaphorical truce with these doomsday thoughts, "I would love to at least get to see a proper aidling out there." Finally she let go, closing her hand into a fist as she popped open her inventory's ui.

"You sure?" The thought of Ronja embarassing herself visibly puzzled her, "I've seen you carry heavy stuff before. You got more power behind these noodles than you think." She rushed a few taps in the air, manifesting a rectangular object, stiff at first, before physics begun to load in and it turned woobly instead, "A few of them are 'letters'." Fiora paused to flash her fangs on a smirk, letting her amusement elaborate for itself as she offered the papyrus at Ronja.

Spoiler: ???

"I'm starting to think I don't look too friendly compared to you." It made her curious if it was the emotional numbness from being an elf, or the lack of a mindmeld-fuckery empathy like Luthien's that caused it, "But now that I got this," She tapped her temples with a smile, on the side of her new robo-eye, "I think It's gonna fix that problem. A lil'. Hopefully."

---

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja's eyebrows perked up at @Fiora Di Angelo's trust that they would actually manage to have Aidlings out there, and that was a trust that while Ronja believed very much in, she knew the high probabilities of not being able to manage. But if she could create something nearly as close as an Aidling out there, she would already be beaming in joy.

"You just want something to make sure you won't clean your bedroom anymore." She giggled, eyes clicking for a moment and narrowing her gaze. "That spends a lot of energy. And energy is extremely vital for us, Magias. They are as vital as the HP, without energy, we are one step away from death." Ronja explained, with a grave tone at the end.

"You no, you are just strong because..." Ronja looked over Fiora for a couple seconds. "... Because yes." She tilted her head.

Her attention, however, soon shifted to the 'letter' that was handed to her. Carefully handling it, Ronja's eyes retracted and adjusted as she was ready to read, for a moment forgetting it was a child's letter, and being surprised by the cute drawing.

"Aww, that..." Ronja's eyes clicked, and her hold on the letter became even more tender. "That's adorable, dear!" Her eyes trailed down to the drawing, a smile not ever escaping her lips.

"You may not look friendly, but you are there regardless of that, and it means a lot, you know." Ronja said, with a fidgety smile.