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Sundays were one of the few days she walked away from her work of all sorts to try and take some time to herself to breathe. Whittling seemed like an appropriate way to pass the time, an activity she could do in the relative silence of a cafe, with a small bowl underneath her hands to capture any scraps she produced.

Shikora wasn't exactly sure what she was making at the moment, but it didn't matter.

It was something.

And it wasn't a reflection of the chaos of the city, or the mournful stories she confronted every day, or the words of the people who came into her office, nor was it a starseed, nor was it a monster, nor was it a senshi with hair that seemed impossibly long--

Maybe it would be a dog.

A brief noise interrupted her trance and it hit her as wrong.

Shikora's eyes lifted.

Where was that noise coming from?

She sighed and excused it, going back to work.

Shikora was at least attempting to ignore that incongruent noise.

Was it working? That in itself was questionable. She kept glancing up on occasion, her brows furrowing as she found herself focusing on something other than the mystery sculpture that had not shared its identity yet. (Awful rude of it, really, perhaps it would provide a distraction.)

One of the times she glanced up, she noticed someone approaching.

Cute.

"I do. Glad I'm not the only one." She set down her piece of unidentified wood and her knife, adding with an uncertain giggle, "And now I've set it down, so it's definitely not the knife against the wood. A much more pleasant sound, anyway."

What this was? She didn't know, exactly, but it didn't make sense and felt like the static of a malfunctioning PA system from her grammar school days...

"Doesn't sound like it's pitched too high for anyone else to hear..."

Shikora nodded as ne sat down, acknowledging and not telling nem to leave. They had a similar experience that it didn't seem like anyone else in this whole cafe did. Certainly odd. Certainly worth exploring.

"Probably more of those weird holiday things," she murmured, in part under her breath, not certain if ne knew that was really a thing and not wanting to spook nem. "You're probably right though," was added, a bit louder, "kids love to do pranks like that this time of year. Wholly unnecessary really."

Where was it coming from, though?

She briefly patted under her seat. Didn't feel like anything had been attached--

"Oh, I do!" Did someone else carve? Maybe that was enough to get her mind off the noise for now. "Been doing so for years. It used to be an idle activity of mine to try and make interesting shapes with rocks and other rocks, and this felt like a natural extension of that once my parents let me have a carving knife." Her chuckle was fond.

Wistful.

"But I moved here a few years back, so I haven't taken classes near here. Have you?" Shikora tilted her head. "Is there a good carving community here?"

If ne was only old enough now to buy nis own tools, she had to wonder how old ne was.

Adorable, no matter what that answer was.

She giggled at becomes a huge jackass, her eyes dancing as she replied, "That would be a problem, but it sounds like you have a pretty friendly arrangement. I love the idea of having a whole group that comes together just to carve and teach other people to whittle, honestly."

Shikora had missed a lot of things when she moved across the country in pursuit of helping the people in this area she now acknowledged as potentially traumatized, and potentially war-torn. A proper community was one of them, but it wasn't something she needed.

She leaned in a bit closer.

Shikora would offer to make sure the little studio stayed safe, but she didn't know the alignment of the person she spoke to, so instead, she offered, "If you ever need another member..."

Close enough.