[PLOT] Shopping for Solutions (Esmée and Luminița) [FIN]

[Seiana_ZI]

"So, Fernand, what were the results of the attempts to harvest toxin from Lisandru's bubbles?"

"Not ideal, Esmée. It works, but the output is low. Still, it is much less invasive than the alternatives."

"Fine. Convince him to give me a bit more. If I can get enough of a sample, maybe I can test the latest attempt at an antitoxin a little better."

It may have looked a bit odd to some passersby, that was, the fact that a pink angel was having a loud and obvious conversation with a penguin that was not only not responding, but also frankly looked like it did not belong in their particular climate. Others might recognise it as someone who had a deep bond with their familiar, talking to it a lot like an assistant and a friend.

"Fernand, remind me. I was looking for something, but I can't quite-"

"Silver, I believe."

"Ah, right! Thank you."

It wasn't terribly infrequent to find Esmée at The Markets, always looking for new tools or ingredients for her varying experiments. Arguably, besides for her trips to the library, it was the most likely way anyone would find her outside of her abode. (Being holed up in a laboratory all day was not exactly ideal for being found outside, after all, unless her experiments involved the outdoors.)

"There might be something of use over there?" The familiar lifted a fin to gesture towards some jewelry stands.

"Perhaps..."

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

There had probably been a surely specific reason that Luminița had decided to go by the markets on this day. Certainly. Absolutely. That was why she carried with her a bag, and within that bag a hastily written-down list that she intended to pull out and look to. She likely had a reason that it was such catscratch handwriting; perhaps she had remembered an engagement that she was meant to attend with a certain something with her and had forgotten until soon before.

Perhaps for the same reason she was forgetting about her place and time at this moment.

Rather than pulling her list from the bag, she found herself fawning over a strange bird walking among the others at the market, the subject of another angel's speech. Luminița paid her little heed though, because that bird was...

So very incredibly cute~!

Slowly she moved closer through the crowd, hoping not to scare it (or its angel) away in the process. Gone were her previous responsibilities, replaced instead by the presence of a simply extraordinarily cute animal.

As she neared, her eyes about glinted from the excitement of being so close. Carefully she tapped the pink one's shoulder, hoping to get her attention. "Umm... Excuse me~?"

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

"You know, that's right, Fernand. I could probably find some way to melt the--"

The pink rambling angel suddenly realized someone was talking to her and whirled around, spotting a woman with a poinsettia marking and a mohawk. That was fascinating. How did she get her hair to stay up like that? Esmée's own fell victim to gravitational forces more often than she'd like to admit.

She hadn't quite figured out how to fix those yet. One day, she would! After all, this very City had. There had to be something about it that kept it suspended...

Fernand's small prod with a flipper reminded Esmée of what she was actually supposed to be doing. Right.

"Hello fellow angel! What do you need!"

Fernand slapped a flipper to his eyes.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

Luminita laughed lightly as the pink angel looked to her, her eyes quickly glancing down to the penguin not once, but twice as she caught her attention. Oh, how she could barely stand how cute it was!

Fellow angel...? What a strange way to address somepae...

"I was wondering..." a fidget, "...hoping actually..." another, "that you might let me pet your simply adorable bird!" There, she'd said it.

For all the pae living in the city, it was a bit strange that pets weren't so commonplace. She'd personally love to have one, but she'd yet to find a place to acquire it. Was there such a shoppe like that here? There should be!

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Pet her... familiar?

Esmée blinked one moment, and then another. Really? She came up to a brilliant scientist and all she wanted to do was pet her familiar?! She could tell her such other things, like what it was, or how it behaved...

Well. She paused for a moment, before shrugging. She supposed touch was another way to learn. "Fernand, would you mind?" Her head jerked towards the red-winged angel in front of them, both asking for permission and ordering all the same. The penguin rolled his eyes.

"Most certainly I will let her pet me, almighty Esmée." While the pink angel snickered at something unheard by anyone but herself, the familiar waddled its way over to the other angel, settling to be pet just as she requested.

Esmée did not do the petting thing often, so Fernand was legitimately curious.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

A wide grin passed across Luminita's face as she was given a positive(?) response and the bird, Fernand it seemed, waddled closer. Oh, look at that little waddle: left, right, left, right. Simply, positively, absolutely adorable.

When he stopped, she had to mute her instinctive squeal at the chance.

Forward her hand moved before it came to gently rest on his head, pausing for a moment to take in the cool and soft feel of his feathers. Then she moved it- front to back, lifting, repeat- in a happy sort of trance.

Oh how she loved cute animals.

Looking up to the pink one beside her, hand motion continuing, she commented. "I'm Luminița by the way. What's your name?"

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Fernand glanced up at the over-excited angel, wondering what exactly had her so thrilled. When she started petting his head, his eyes glanced back at Esmée, blinked, and then turned back towards the poinsettia-marked angel. It didn't feel bad, at least, and her hand was rather warm, though he honestly felt warm most of the time in this climate...

Esmée blinked. Some pae were so easily amused.

She supposed she was too, but she was more amused by explosions and emissions and strange bubbling noises than petting her familiar. What, what was a 'Luminița'? That was a very strange sound; was it some kind of t? She was not familiar.

"Name, Esmée."

"Ah!" The pink angel grinned. "You may call me Esmée! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

That was correct and totally not awkward at all, right?

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

A few more moments passed before Luminita stood, satisfied with the amount of petting she'd been allowed, and smiled over to the pink one. Esmée, as it were.

What a pretty name.

If there was something awkward about their exchange, she was completely unaware. As if effortlessly, she changed her tone and replied in turn, "The pleasure is all mine." Her hands fell to her side. "You looked like you were concentrated on something before I caught your attention. What were you looking for?" Perhaps she could help to thank her for her time.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Ah, good! It would seem this 'Luminița' thought that Esmée had just given the appropriate response to her words. Excellent. The pink angel would have puffed out her chest and given her penguin a snarky 'I told you so' if it wasn't for the fact that the other angel continued to talk. Maybe she should keep the gloat to herself for now.

She had learned that much in her life.

"Ah, yes I was!" Esmée was also always eager to talk about what she was looking for, though. "I was attempting to locate a place where I may be able to find some silver. You see, I think it may be the solution to my latest experiment. I have been trying a variety of different ingredients, and I have a hypothesis--"

Fernand nudged her with his fin. Pouting, Esmée looked down at the penguin. "What?! I am sure this Luminița would benefit from knowing what are the latest developments in--"

"Esmée, I believe you should get to the point so if she knows anything, she may assist you."

"Ah!" Esmée swirled around, looking back to Luminița with a grin. "Do you know any place where I might find some silver? Or perhaps some silver jewelry? I could always try to melt some of it down, though it is likely not pure..."

Fernand's sigh was nearly audible.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

Experiment...? Hypothesis...?

What...?

The angel's blank look of mild confusion and stronger curiosity was surely not lost on Esmee who continued on her own little tangent. What were these experiments and hypotheses and the like? Now, Luminita wasn't a scientist or anything even remotely similar, but she'd studied it in her schooling many seasons ago and was at least familiar with such words and concepts.

As to what exactly silver might have anything to do with anything? Well, she certainly didn't know without any background of the subject, not that even an explanation of things would probably help.

Luminita had to bite her lip from laughing as the penguin silently expressed its opinion.

"Silver...?" She repeated, making sure she had understood properly. "Silver..." again she mused, her eyes glancing away as a hand came to hold her chin, the other supporting the elbow. She was certain she'd seen something like that at some point or another, but where had that been...

Aha!

Her head popped up and she hit her fist against her palm, a metaphorical exclamation point suddenly appearing above her head. "I remember!" she grinned, looking to Esmee, "Come! This way this way!" She motioned before reaching forward to grab the purple angel's wrist and pull her along into the crowd.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Ah! She did know where some silver was!

"Excellent! You may lead the way!"

"Esmée, see how useful getting to the point -- hey, wait up!" The poor little penguin waddled as fast as he possibly could after Esmée and new buddy Luminița, who seemed to know exactly where that 'silver' Esmée was looking for was. At least he would not have to watch Esmée attempt to melt valuable jewelry down...

Easily, Esmée let the other grab her wrist, running along after her with all the ability of a scientist who did not spend a whole lot of time running around. Nevertheless, she was able to weave through the crowd, sometimes getting distracted by things that looked interesting to her until she remembered that they were going to get silver, and that was important because she needed it. If she could get enough silver, maybe she could use it for other things.

"Are we heading to a silver peddler or a jeweler?" asked Esmée, curiously. "Or, ah! Perhaps we are heading to a potion-brewer! Magical potions are just so fascinating..."

If left to herself, she would likely keep babbling.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

So their running in and through the hustle and bustle of a busy market was all the slow and awkward that one might imagine. That was no concern of Luminita's, though, as she went. Actually, moreso was her attempting to hid the fact that while she knew there was silver here somewhere, she was a bit hazy as to the actual where. Surely she kept them from going in circles with about all the confidence of a baby giraffe, but it kept them moving forward.

To their destiny.

To the silver!

While Luminita wasn't ignoring her new-found friend, she also was concentrating so much on figuring out where they were going that she didn't respond until a sharp, "Aha!" came out and she stopped.

Directly ahead of them, past a number of others who passed the pair looks that combined the very confused, the highly concerned, and the moderately annoyed, was a peddler of silver. "Found it~!" Her tone was very victorious and happy that she could be of some use before she again continued forward, still holding onto Esmee less she disappear off the island and into the abyss of strangers about them.

As they came to a stop in front of the little shoppe, Luminita let go to motion to the not-entirely-comfortable-looking male running the establishment. "I present to you: the silver shoppe!"

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

And so, indeed, she kept babbling.

"Have you ever been to a potions shop? They sell such fascinating things there! Some of the potion makers are quacks, clearly, because they have never set their eyes among even a beaker or an ounce of magic, but others are quite adept and make very interesting things! I've tried to make a few potions of my own once. I've given a couple to Lisandru. I don't know if they work, but perhaps he will have more luck with them. Perhaps something bizarre will happen and it will cure him? I doubt that much. You see, I need to work on something that will cure him--"

Esmée's blathering on slammed into a wall when Luminița suddenly interjected with an 'Aha!' and, honestly, Esmée probably forgot what she was babbling about. The silver! The science! The purple angel was absolutely delighted.

"Yes! Silver!" She grinned widely at the somewhat uncomfortable shopkeeper, perhaps not even noticing he was concerned. "Excellent! This is exactly what I needed! There is more silver here than I could possibly need for my experiments, yes!"

After a few more victorious moments, Fernand waddled in behind the two angels, stopping beside his bonded.

"Fernand, what do we have for trade, today!"

"They're in your bag, Esmée."

"Ah, excellent! You are so thoughtful!" The shopkeeper looked mildly confused that Esmée was responding to someone who ... clearly wasn't responding back. "Good day, Shopkeep! You sell silver, do you not!"

Esmée was being, perhaps, too enthusiastic in her dealings.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

Perhaps she was just too adaptable when it came to differing situations with differing sorts of pae'il with highly differing types of personalities, but at the moment Luminita was clearly beginning to move and think at the same off-rhythm beat as her newly-made friend. The pride she felt practically slipped off her shoulders, almost infectiously bright.

Looking back at the shopkeeper that would clearly be simply delighted to just send the pair of them off and never hear from them again (only the Guardians could know how badly they were affecting the poor guy's business just by their sheer presence), she couldn't help but wonder, just for a moment, a passing thought really, why Esmée so desperately needed silver.

Would this be an appropriate time to ask?

Of course. It wasn't as if the shopkeeper was going anywhere!

"Say Esmée, why exactly do you need silver? It is really that useful to the experiment you are working on? It seems (more than) a bit expensive to me."

Pandora's Box... Opened.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Fernand almost saw the poor shopkeeper pale at the question.

"Expensive?" Esmée's laugh was nearly uproarious, but she stopped it after a moment to wipe a fake tear from her cheek. "Nothing is too expensive in the name of science, Luminița! Sometimes, no expense can be spared for a good idea that must be followed through with! If we put aside things because they came at a great cost, there would never be progress."

The shopkeeper may have not been going anywhere, but it was likely his other customers were. Having the two angels standing there babbling was not exactly the best of ways to draw people to come into his shop and buy things...

The purple angel cleared her throat. "Now, why do I need it is an excellent question! I am currently working on something for my son. See, he's toxic. To the touch. Not very good. He would like me to find an antidote," actually, he had never asked her -- she was just experimenting herself, but Luminița didn't need to know that. "I have been researching what is contained in the toxins and have found there are certain ingredients that may perhaps combine well with silver to make a salt. If I can make a salt, perhaps this will neutralize the effects the toxins have on the people who touch them..."

She was probably ignoring the 'how' part of making a salt, but that didn't matter. It was her idea, and she had to see if she could make it work.

For science.

Daisicle