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 Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2024 10:00 pm
One could argue that this sort of work was better done within the confines of one’s wonder, and considering it was summer and her wonder, without power, was essentially an ice box, that would have been her preference, too. The problem, however, was very simple: she couldn’t actually go.
It'd been a couple weeks since her last visit, but it was still too soon, much to her annoyance.
So here she was, camped out at a picnic table in the middle of the park. To make herself at least a little more comfortable she had pulled her jacket, hat, and gloves off, rolled up her sleeves, and tied her hair up into a messy bun atop her head. Ekstrom looked more like a civilian than she did a knight dressed down the way she was, and the Mercury symbols displayed on her uniform and the curious pan that was laid out beside the small pile of clothes were perhaps the only indication to the contrary.
Not that she cared right then. She was too focused on a set of blueprints that she couldn’t make heads or tails of ever since she found it way back when. She put it off and actually forgot about it until now, but now that she’d found it again she wanted to actually try and figure it out this time. It was bound to be helpful, she thought; at this point, anything felt like it would be. A year in and she'd made little to no progress in re-powering her wonder. It was frustrating, and she may have started grasping at straws, but she was far from giving up.
The page was utterly lost, though, despite being the picture of concentration.
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:35 pm
At first the sight of an individual hunched over random papers drew no interest from the cream-furred feline that casually walked by. Illyria was on a mission and even though there was a faint aura emanating from the woman, that spoke of an individual of Order, she only had eyes for the remaining distance that her GPS unit advised her to travel. When the unit signalled though that she had arrived at her destination Illyria paused with thought. Technically anyone of the unoccupied tables could have housed her treasure for the evening. Padding over to the furthest table the Mauvian inspected it thoroughly before dismissing it. It was the same for the next two tables. The fourth table held promise as it looked like something could have been stashed there previously but obviously it had been found and already moved.
The last table in this row to check was the one in which the already occupied. Quietly as possible, in case the individual were studying something important did Illyria pad over before seating herself underneath the table in order to study the underside of the structure. The hole in which a family could stake an umbrella was blocked by something and Illyria hadn't seen any shifting of light which would have indicated papers ... so the cache was stashed in the hole. Moving over to the unoccupied side of the table Illyria leaped onto the bench seat before peering up over the main table portion with violet eyes. Definitely a powered individual but it wasn't a senshi, so that meant a member of the knight order. Clearing her throat Illyria spoke softly as to hopefully not startle the stranger, "excuse me, I need to inspect something but I don't wish to intrude. It'll only take a few minutes if I can have access to the center of the table."
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Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2024 2:12 pm
The page sensed a curious aura nearby but didn’t pay it too much mind. It felt vaguely of Order so she wasn’t worried about it, and she wanted to try and keep her focus as much as possible on these blueprints. Lost as she was, she had to keep on trying. To her surprise, though, a voice from the opposite end of the table soon spoke up and she glanced over with wide, curious eyes. She saw a pair of purple eyes there, and just above them, in the middle of its forehead, was a golden star.
“Evening,” she greeted the Mauvian with a small smile. It wasn’t her first time encountering one, though it was always an interesting experience to talk to a cat. With a shake of her head she pulled the blueprint aside to make room for her to look where she needed to look.
“Go for it. My head was starting to hurt, not to mention I’m not making any progress with these blueprints, anyway.” She sighed and looked at the piece of paper with quiet exasperation. “Maybe if I take a break, I’ll get an epiphany or something when I look at them again.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 1:38 am
Blueprints?
To say that Illyria's curiosity over the papers was now piqued would be an understatement. However there was still the task at hand that she needed to complete and once the Page moved the papers out of the way Illyria pulled herself up onto the top of the table before she padded softly to peer down at the hole in the table's center.
Aha. Bingo. The object seemed wedged in there and Illyria paused to think about how she could go about fishing it out when she gave a small mrrt sound of amusement. Why bother fishing it out when she could apply enough pressure with her paws to have it fall out of the bottom of the hole? Peering back up at the woman who had been using the table as a workspace Illyria gave her a long look before she went down into a crouch to dart her paw into the open circle in order to begin pushing down with a fair amount of weight. It took a minute or two but eventually something clunked onto the cement below and Illyria rose from her crouch to dart off the table in order to retrieve the cache that she'd just successfully found.
It was pretty small. Needless to say there wouldn't be any prizes in this cache but it was the fact that she'd found it that was the main victory this night. Pausing her motions, the Mauvian once again recalled the word "blueprints" before climbing back up onto the table with her prize before she studied the other. She could try assisting this individual with deciphering blueprints, couldn't she? While she wasn't the most technological wizard of her species like others were would it be wrong to withhold information if she could help?
"Thank you for allowing me to get at what I needed to find," here the Mauvian paused as she gave Ekstrom a searching look, "what are these blueprints that you speak of?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 2:10 am
Ekstrom laid the papers back down but off to the side so as not to block the center of the table, but rather than focus on it she had her eyes on the Mauvian. She had a mind to offer her help if needed, but clearly she didn’t need it at all. Soon enough something fell through the center and onto the cement under the table, and before she could say anything she was gone.
Peering through the hole, she wondered what exactly just happened, but she was back soon enough and Ekstrom straightened herself back out in her seat.
“Sure thing. What’d you find, anyway?” she managed to ask before she expressed interest in the blueprints.
“Yeah, blueprints.” She brought the paper back to the center of the table and tapped on the page. “Supposedly it’s some kind of upgrade to this,” she paused to remove and present her signet ring, “but I can’t make heads or tails of it. Not that I’m an engineer or anything, but you’d think it’d make sense if it was meant for the average knight with no engineering or technological background.”
Her frustration was surfacing, but she stopped herself there and ended the little rant with a heavy sigh.
“Anyway, that’s where I’m at with this. I know we just met and all and I probably shouldn't be asking you for any serious favors like this, but if you could make sense of any of it I would super appreciate any input.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 3:40 am
Illyria's head did a curious tilt to the side before she dropped her prize on the table for the Page to inspect, if she chose to. Her paw pointed to the small container before she cleared her throat, "it's a very small treasure chest. Sadly there won't be treasure in this one as it seems entirely too small for items. Have you heard of geocaching? It's like a very large game of hide and seek with caches like this. This one though is new, and rather small, so it's more a point of pride with having found it."
Upon listening to what the blueprints were for Illyria gazed down intently at the ring that the Page presented to her for inspection before sitting back on her haunches. This was extremely interesting. Her paws itched to handle the ring but Illyria instead moved around in order to stare down at the papers in which the woman had been looking at. There was something in the various lines and diagrams that actually made more than a little bit of sense to the Mauvian.
"Most intriguing," she muttered under her breath before looking around. Her violet eyes took in the surrounding area as she tried to tease out if there would be any interruptions before she gazed back to the papers. "Out of curiosity, have you sensed anyone at all in the time that you've been sitting here? I might be able to help but I think it'll be easier if I have access to my other form. The downside is I'll be putting off a more intense aura in order to do so."
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Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2024 9:09 pm
Ekstrom inspected the little prize while Illyria looked over the blueprints, her curiosity very obviously piqued by it, as well as the idea of a giant game of hide and seek. She kept herself from touching and handling the item, in case the Mauvian would take issue with that–some individuals were particular about that kind of thing, after all. Not to say that was the case this time around, but she’d rather not risk upsetting her new acquaintance if she could help it. So she simply leaned in really, really close. for the moment pocketing the various questions that crossed her mind about geocaching.
Normally she would have asked straight away, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Illyria staring intently down at the papers presented to her. If it meant a bit of progress in her knightly endeavors, she felt she could curb her own curiosity. At least temporarily…
The Page straightened herself out when asked the question, and she shook her head. “Nope, it’s been pretty quiet. Actually, that’s sorta one of the reasons I decided to have a seat here and try to figure this thing out if I could.” Her expression brightened though, and with the slightest of smiles she went on to ask.
“Why? Is it making some kinda sense to you?”
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Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2024 9:24 pm
Illyria's gaze dropped back down to the squiggles that were seemingly placed at random on the paper with an intense stare before she returned her violet eyes to the Page. The sound that she made was a mixture between the general noise of agreement but overlaid with a heavy bout of purring, "I believe it is making sense to me. This," and she gestured towards a portion of the blueprint schematic, "calls for some sort of object to be merged with the ring as it now is. Once that process is complete," Illyria paused before letting her gaze settled on the schematic, "you might see a marked improvement in the functions that the ring provides."
Illyria flicked her gaze to her found cache before humming thoughtfully. The idea of having come across the newly posted listing; having been guided here at this exact time when someone, who was of Order, needed Mauvian assistance made Illyria ponder if this was all by chance or not. The feline shrugged off the thought that someone else could be pulling cosmic strings to force this meeting. Because that would just be an absurd thought, wouldn't it?
"I think that I can assemble what it is these blueprints are calling for. It shouldn't take me very long but I think I'd prefer to work in my human form but that might pose a risk to you. Larger auras attract more attention and you might be drawn into conflict if someone comes to investigate what is going on. Will you be okay to defend us if that were to happen?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 9:20 pm
A small hope flickered in her eyes when Illyria confirmed that she understood what was in the blueprints. Whether she understood all of it, or just some, didn’t really matter. The point was that the Page had found someone who did, and from the way it sounded, the Mauvian seemed willing to help her to make whatever was in the blueprints.
“I am!” she said with an enthusiastic nod, and lifted her pot lid. “I mean, as best as I can with this pot lid.”
Ekstrom looked plenty confident as she said this, and soon she slipped the ring off of her finger and offered it to Illyria. “I’m guessing you’ll need this?”
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Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 7:42 pm
Illyria watched as Ekstrom removed the ring from her finger and presented it to her. Her claws came out to gently snag the ring before she gently placed it on the table's surface. Turning her back to the Page Illyria jumped off and landed on the bench before she hopped down to the ground. Her voice piped up from where she now was perched as a sort of warning to Ekstrom, "okay, there's going to be a large aura flare in a moment. Just wanted to let you know."
One minute's grace was all that she was giving the Page before she swapped her form from of a cat to that of a human. Brushing back the curls of hair that was threatening to fall into her eyes did Illyria seat herself down at the table like a human would before picking up the ring once more. Her fingers danced around the object before she placed it back onto the table's surface. There was a curious glint in her gaze as she reached forward to the blueprint papers before she hummed thoughtfully.
"Okay, so I think I have what these call for. If you have the time I think I can complete what is needed."
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2024 8:49 pm
Even with the warming, the flare still took her by surprise. That, and this was the first time she saw a Mauvian in its human form, so she was dumbstruck for a moment before Illyria’s voice broke her out of it.
“Take all the time you need,” she said, shaking off the surprise. “I’ll stand guard while you work on that. With that aura, I finally understand why you asked earlier.”
There was a sense of excitement about her as she turned to her lookout duties. As much as she wanted to watch the Mauvian at work, she still had a good sense for priorities and right now, safety trumped her curiosity. She could always ask questions later…maybe.
Hopefully.
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2024 10:33 pm
Her power level would soon draw too many interested parties if she stayed in this form too long. Even with the Page standing guard Illyria was undoubtedly nervous. Her gaze returned to the blueprints that Ekstrom had been looking at before she summoned a small tool kit that had been amongst the items in her subspace pocket. The ring sat on top of the paper as she stared at it. The tools lay forgotten as she reached out to trace the outline of a diagram that was nestled among the blueprints before she gave a soft murmuring noise of satisfaction. Her toolkit vanished once more and instead Illyria retrieved the ring before holding it in her open palm. There was nothing that really needed to change with the ring but even as her eyes closed she could feel the energy locked inside.
Giving the smallest of mental nudges did Illyria work her own brand of Mauvian abilities onto the ring. There was the sense of the ring's inner workings shifting around before settling into place and Illyria put the ring down back onto the table.
"I think I understand what needed to be done. There's no real way to understand the changes that I made except to say it's sort of ... I guess technical in nature. I could almost describe it as the same sort of changes a Mauvian can make to a senshi's transformation pen."
There would be no more reason to remain in her human form and with the ease that came with practice did Illyria return to her feline state. "It's safer for me and you if I stay in my cat form now that I'm done."
Retrieving the cache she had thought to find did Illyria paw at the lid before she gently squeezed the tube in order to put pressure on the lid for it to pop off. Success. Her paw fished into the inside before she dragged out the sheet of paper to glance over. "I love being the first one to find a cache," Illyria's excitement over helping out Ekstrom, and finding her geocache was palpable as her tail whipped back and forth.
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2024 9:45 pm
It was unfortunate that she couldn’t watch, but Ekstrom glanced over as often as she felt safe to, until Illyria started explaining a little bit about what she did. By the time the Page was back by the Mauvian’s side she was back to her cat form, with the ring sitting quietly on the park table. It didn’t look any different, but Ekstrom peered at it excitedly before picking it up and slipping it back onto her index finger.
“As long as you got it figured out, I’m happy enough with that!” she said, grinning at the piece of jewelry first, and then directing a bright and beaming smile at Illyria herself. “Thank you so much!”
She settled at the table as the Mauvian popped open the thing she found, noting her excitement with a little giggle as she observed, figuring she could look into what the upgrade did for the functionality of her ring while she was on her own another time. She'd probably spend an inordinate amount of time figuring it out, and she didn't want to drag Illyria into that.
“So what do you usually find inside? A prize? A hint for the next cache? Or is the hint the prize?”
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Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2024 11:21 pm
Illyria's ears perked up a little as the Page questioned her about geocaching. She chuckled softly before pointing to the small cylinder that she had retrieved from the center of the table. "Geocaches are like miniature treasure chests. People will hide a cache, log the coordinates and then post them for others to find on websites that other people can access."
Illyria's tail settled down as she crouched lower to the table's surface before she pawed the round cache. Her disappointment that the cache was too small to hold any prizes was eclipsed by the fact that she had been able to help this Page with a task. It suddenly dawned on the Mauvian that she didn't even introduce herself to this Page and besides knowing that she was Mercury-aligned, didn't even know her name.
Pulling the paper more to herself did Illyria make a pen appear out of thin air and made the smallest X on the first line of the log sheet. The pen disappeared before Illyria held out a paw before she cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Illyria."
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2024 11:40 pm
”Ohh, so it could have more, but this one looks a little too small.” Though finding it was impressive all the same, given that it was so small, hopefully Illyria felt satisfied with her find. Ekstrom gave the Mauvian an encouraging little smile at that thought. She watched as the Mauvian marked something off of a sheet, and was about to ask a question when she…introduced herself.
Ekstrom blinked at that, and then her cheeks flushed a bright pink as it dawned on her that she’d forgotten to introduce herself before asking for help from a perfect stranger.
“Wow, I’m sorry. I completely forgot to introduce myself, too!” She sounded as flustered about her little mistake as she probably looked at that moment, but there was nothing to be done about it except to correct it. “I’m Ekstrom. It’s very nice to meet you, Illyria. Mm…”
She summoned a small bag from her subspace and opened it to reveal some freshly baked treats–cookies, mostly, and some little pastries she’d been learning to make. They weren’t perfect, but they were tasty (at least she thought so) and she was happy to share them with anyone that might be daring enough to try a curious looking mini-Danish looking pastry. She always had some kind of snack on her whenever she went on patrol; it never hurt to have some on hand, after all.
“Could I interest you in a little snack? Y’know, as thanks for your help and also as an apology for forgetting. It’s really the least I could do. Please help yourself!”
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