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 Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:14 am
The idea was simple in theory. Weeeelll, for a given value of 'simple'. There were a lot of steps, certainly. As far as Rani could tell, the steps went something like:
Step One: decide to make a singing bird box
Step two, three, four, and five respectively probably went something like – Realize that you didn't have the parts you needed, try to devise new parts, make something up, and cross that bridge when you come to it. John was not a man who planned very far ahead. In this case 'very far ahead' encompassed any length of time between the next two minutes and up to the next two weeks.
As far as Rani could tell, John was currently somewhere between steps one and three. This did not necessarily mean he was on step two. The hind sighed, her breath coalescing into a puff of fog on the cold air. Quickly, she trotted to keep up with her long-legged Chosen, once again wondering if she'd chosen him based on his sheer genius amount of stupidity. She shook her coat off, freeing it of the light snowfall. On the bright side, it wasn't snowing very heavily for once. There was even a hint of sun up in the watery sky, or at least a suggestion that there might have one day be sun.
“See, the problem is the piston valves. I can't make them small enough,” John was saying to Rani, despite the fact that she never spoke back. He generally didn't require an actual answer. In this case, he got a loud snort from the doe. “Don't you start, Rani,” he added warningly. “And you better behave while we're here. I don't want another repeat of that biting business.”
Rani's ears fell back against her skull and she sniffed daintily. A strong sense of bad-man-threat! Angry-Rani-protecting-stupid-human surged through the bond, as palpable as John's own emotions.
“Yes, yes, I heard you,” he said, pushing open the door to a local smithy. It wasn't one he'd visited before, but he was in a bit of a hurry. “Hello? Anyone home?” he asked.
Rani shoved her way past her idiot human. If it was up to him, he'd wander into a dark cave marked, 'warning there are definitely wolves here', so long as there was a promise of something brilliant on the other side. Her nostrils flared, catching the scent of another Guardian. Well. That was a surprise...
“Oof, Rani,” John said warningly, giving her a pat to her flank. “Now be nice.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:28 am
Rosalie glanced up from her cup of tea as the guardian shoved her way in, eyeing her with the slightest bit of surprise. All the same, Aelius also glanced up, though far more relaxed than the doe in his presence. Setting the teacup aside, the smith brushed herself off, standing up to greet her new customer. "Ah, yes I'm open. She's more than welcome in, I would be a hypocrite to not allow another guardian inside." Rosalie nodded, smiling at Rani. Another doe. Add that to the list. Seemed she'd met too many males as of late, and this was more than a warm welcome. "I'm Rosalie. Rosalie Satre. And this is Aelius." She glanced down to the buck, whom was also getting to his feet. He pranced over closer to Rani and bumped noses with her, thinking it polite, though what would happen next was up to her. "What can I help you with today? Would you like some tea? It's rather cold out." Tea was customary in this shop, and it was even more important to offer it in this cold season.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 1:23 pm
There wasn't really a word in the Common tongue to fully explain the noise Rani made when Suddenly Friendly Deer was in her face. The closest approximation was, “Blort!”
“Blort?!” she blorted in surprise at the Very Friendly Deer. Hurriedly, she took a few startled steps back, which really only meant she ran into John. It was like a particularly short-lived Gutenberg machine. She recovered quickly, once she realized that the buck was just being friendly. With a loud snort of affection, she headbutted the other Guardian gently in the shoulder.
“Don't mind her, she's a sweetheart, really,” John said, mouth working on automatic to apologize for his deer. He patted her flank once more moving past her. “Awww! You've got a Guardian too? And what a handsome buck too. I haven't actually seen many others...” oops, he was getting off topic. The curious man leaned over to get a better look at Aelius before the mention of 'tea' reminded him that he came here for an actual reason.
“Sorry, getting distracted again. Tea would be lovely, thanks.” If he was surprised to find a woman working as a smithy, he didn't show it. Digging through his voluminous pockets, he unearthed what appeared to be a napkin with doodles on it. A closer inspection revealed that the 'doodles' were actually intricate plans for a type of music box. “It's this part here, the piston valve. I can't make them small enough,” he explained.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 7:20 pm
Aelius gave a snort as she headbutted him, though took to nuzzling up against her and sniffing curiously. Another doe to be friends with? Another friend? Oh he was just so happy, especially since the day had been off to a boring start. He nuzzled her side, obviously pleased with having a guest. "She seems to tolerate him, that's good." Rosalie sighed, smiling as she watched the two. She glanced up at his comment, smiling. "I remember meeting my first other guardian. It came as a little bit of a shock to me, I thought I was the only one with a guardian of my own." After his acceptance for a nice warm cup, she got right to it, putting the kettle back over the forge to heat once more. "The few others I've met have been inspiration for a variety of my commissions." The smith murmured, turning to take the napkin. "Go ahead and take a seat where ever you like, just nothing too close to the forge." There were a few chairs at a table tucked to the side, with a bed of hay and blankets between too cabinets, obviously the residence of Aelius during shop hours. "A piston valve..." She repeated, taking a closer look at it. "So you need something pretty small, huh? Any special grooves it'll need to fit in?" While she didn't often work with inventors, she had watched her father do it often enough to know you didn't go assuming anything.
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:58 pm
Between the hot forge and the various tools of a smithy's trade, there wasn't a lot of room for frolicking. Rani considered the surroundings carefully before snorting with annoyance over it. No wonder her new friend had been lying down! She huffed slightly and gave the buck another friendly nuzzle and a tentative nibble. While her curiosity wasn't nearly as large as her Chosen's, she was still very interested in seeing what else this place had. Tentatively, she trotted further into the smithy.
“Can't say I've come across many as of yet. Weeeell, I could say I have, it would just be a lie. It still gets me every time I see one. Rani tends to do pretty well with people so long as no one says the V-word around her.” To explain the 'V-word', John mouthed venison. Still, the doe seemed like she made a new friend. Delight surged through the bond, filling John's head with concepts such as Happy-deer-Rani! and New-Friend!. Careful to avoid the hot forge, John made his way to the chairs and sat down in one of them. Well, more like sprawled. He tended to sit like a puppet with cut strings, all languid limbs and there was an awful lot of limb to the man.
“Exactly,” he chirped happily. Gesturing towards the schematic, he explained. “The bird will whistle. The whistle itself will be a sort of tiny organ pipe. The piston needs to be fitted inside the pipe but still be able to move freely to control the pitch.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:53 pm
Aelius was a little off-taken by her snort of annoyance, frowning inwardly. This was his home! And while he did very much so love and enjoy being out in the fields, running and prancing in them, even if they were covered in a blanket of snow, this was his warms. But careful not to get in John's way, he guided her over to his bed, gesturing to let her take it to sit down. While there would be room for two, he wasn't sure she'd want him so close. "Ooooh...." She nodded, glancing at the doe. Rani, hmm? She was beautiful, no doubt of it. And at the least, Aelius was being polite. Rosalie stifled a giggle at watching her new customer sprawl out in the chair, and retrieved a teacup from her cupboard, preparing it for tea to be brewed, before taking an even closer look at the plans he handed her. "Well, that will be something new. I've never done anything like this, but I'd be happy to give it a shot. What sort of metal are you going to use? You'll want it to match, won't you?" She turned it a little in her hands, studying every detail he had laid out for her. "So probably different grooves for each pitch it needs to sing out, right? Do you have a song in mind for it?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 2:25 am
Welll... Rani had to admit. This place was very nice for warms. In some ways, it reminded her quite a lot of John's workshop. Only. Uh. A lot less of things. Her Chosen's mind jumped around like a mouse that swore it had just seen a hawk and it was reflected in his workspace. She gave her new friend an apologetic nuzzle to let him knew that she hadn't meant to be insulting. Really, she liked the warms! Ever the lady, she made herself comfortable on Aelius' nest and waited for him to join her. Well, come on then! There was room for both of them and she wasn't averse to being cuddly. She liked cuddles as much as warms.
“I don't think anyone's done anything like this before. It was just one of those things that struck me. And I have a friend who spends her time in her greenhouses. I think it would be better with some birdsong...” so, in other words, he decided to devise an entirely new type of music box on a whim. As he spoke, John gestured with his hands, as though his voice alone couldn't hold his thoughts. “Copper, I think. I think only copper would work for something as delicate as this. What do you suggest? Also, it's best to think of it as...”
His hands stopped fluttering for a moment, apparently to give his brain time to catch up to his mouth. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, he got started soon enough, going right back into animation. “More like a slide whistle than a flute. No, no tune yet. I'm starting out small. Bird song is the way to go.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:47 pm
Aelius was more than happy to cuddle down next to his guest, nuzzling briefly up against her before settling in to watch their chosen. He wasn't really that protective of his own, though he was more curious about what sort of work she was going to be doing. However, soon becoming bored with whatever it was, probably not understanding, he began to groom Rani, wanting to make sure his guest had a warm welcome! "It does seem rather unique. I'd like to take it on, though I'll need your guidance on it. Especially the detail work." She nodded, smiling. Rosalie rather liked bird songs, so this would be interesting, though her part of it needed to be perfect. "Copper would work rather well, it might just be easy to bend....Though once it's in place, it should have no trouble." The smith handed him back the paper, heading to her stores. Copper, copper.....Ah, a small amount, but she didn't need a whole lot. "Do you think you can mimic what sort of song you want?" She motioned to the rafters. While it might have seemed crazy at the time, soon enough, a rook fluttered down on to her shoulder. "Good boy. Treats later." Rosalie nodded, letting him rest there as she prepared to melt down the copper. "Shuu's pretty good about knowing bird calls. If you're vaguely close, he can probably guess which one." She poked at the forge's life force for the moment with the poker, then added a few more logs to keep it refreshed. "I can probably get the majority of it done within the hour, if you wish to stay. The water for your tea should be done in just a while too."
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:08 am
The brown doe didn't think of herself as 'overly protective' or 'suspicious'. Just 'terribly familiar with her stupid human's tendency to be simultaneously clever and idiotic in the same breath'. She kept a cautious eye on the pair of humans until she was convinced that John couldn't do any damage here that he couldn't already do to himself at home. That was... sort of reassuring? She had a feeling it oughtn't have been. With a huff, she lay her head over Aelius' shoulder and returned the grooming.
If there was a way to harness the power of smiles, then John's grin could have powered a modest city. Not Pallisade-size, but perhaps Old Castle. The point was, the man was clearly absolutely delighted at Rosalie's agreement to take on the project. Enthusiasm! That was always the driving force behind scientific exploration. Even if the exploration in this case happened to be making a toy. “That's the spirit,” he said cheerfully, as he folded the paper back into his pocket.
“Oh. Um.” For the first time, John very nearly looked sheepish, if sheep were in the habit of looking like humans. Offering a smile that was slightly less kilo-watt powered, he admitted while rubbing the back of his neck, “You know, I really hadn't thought ahead that far.” What bird, what bird. It had to be something relatively simple. No nightingale glories or vastly differing tones and oooo a bird! John was not one for attention spans as his attention quickly shifted from the idea of bird calls to birds in general.
“That's... a rook, isn't it?” he hazarded cautiously. Birds were not, for the most part, his specialty. “Brilliant, how they've started to come in so many colors. Just brilliant.” Although who knew why. Some sort of evolutionary adaptive purpose, maybe? “What? Oh, yes, of course, I'll stay. Rani seems quite comfortable. I don't think I'd be able to wedge her out with a lever.”
In response, the doe snorted.
“Chaffinch,” John continued without much of a pause. “I think a chaffinch song would work nicely.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:04 pm
Aelius was more than happy to continue grooming the doe. She was nice and warm, and certainly a friend to add to his list. He was even more careful once she began to groom him as well, not wanting to knock her around. Rosalie was also delighted at his enthusiasm. It seemed there was finally someone who could appreciate her work! No one like inventors to do that, was there? But nevertheless, she started to keep a closer eye on the metal that was slowly but surely melting. Perhaps finding a mold for it, something vaguely the size John needed..... Glancing back to the forge now and then, the woman began to go through her various molds, trying to find something that would work. Too large, too small....But at the same time, trying to listen to John was becoming a little difficult. She tried to keep up, giving a nod now and then, until she found what she was looking for, a rather small cylinder. She could probably hollow the cast out later if need be. For now it would work. "Yes, he's my rook. Shuu." She nodded, her back still to John as she got her working gloves on. "I've met one who was as pure as snow before. She rather fancied him too, that girl. I like the brightly colored ones, but I wouldn't trade mine for anything. We've become family." She mentioned, starting to carefully pick up the tray with the molten metal with her tools. "You're also welcome to any of the fruit that's left, if Aelius hasn't eaten it all." However, it did seem that the majority was gone, a lone apple left in the wake of a hungry buck. It seemed to be untouched. "Chaffinch, hmm? Why don't you go help him, Shuu?" At her insistence, the rook fluttered over to the table and stared at John for a good moment before singing.
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