Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chalcanthite poured over the small pile of crystals on his desk, checking over the quality while comparing them to a few sketches he had on the open notebook in front of him. They looked and felt good enough for what he was planning on doing. Pulling a mask over his face, he started with a bit of sandpaper to get the edges cleaned up. They wouldn't need to be the same shape as a standard one if everything worked in line with the theories he'd been brewing. It was slow work and he periodically looked up at his youma as it preened and sat on the small perch he had next to his desk. They'd done a good job keeping an eye out for any trouble during that last visit to the Rift with Aoede, Katya, and Benitoite.

"Here, for you Voce. I think this one would be good for your collection." Holding up one of the prettier ones, a deep blue and free of any imperfections. It had an interesting feel to it but felt unstable in a way he couldn't quite place. Not in a dangerous way but also enough that it wouldn't work for his purposes.

Voce reached out and grabbed the crystal with their beak, fluffing up as it came into contact with them. The next moment, the crystal disappeared down its gullet. "Good crystal." Chattering back each word with a different voice, strung together in that disjointed way they normally spoke.

"Yes, good crystal. I'm glad you like it, Voce." Aloysius reached over and scratched under his youma's chin, a place he'd figured out that they liked over time. After a bit longer, he turned back to his work and finished up the first one. Taking the shade off his desk lamp, he held the crystal tuning fork against the light to check his handiwork. There were no rough spots that he could see or feel and it had the same slight humming feeling to it that the crystal rings on his weapon did. Tapping it lightly, it began to ring with a soft harmonious sound. It felt unstable still, something that made sense given that it was made of crystal instead of metal. Voce made a noise, startling him into dropping it. The fork ceased its sound and a small fissure had formed on its surface. "Ah, sorry. Are you alright?"

Fluffing up, Voce chattered a string of intelligible words. Voices weaving together, sounding like a radio signal trying to stabilize. Hopping down from their perch, they pecked at the fork before eating it as well. Fluffing up more and more, they grew a bit in size as the chattering started to form words. "Chalcanthite, I like you and your crystals. Can I have more?" Tilting their head from side to side to stare at the rest of the crystals on the desk. The voice that came from them was a mix of a few, no longer just mimicked clips and phrases but stolen and warped voices.

Chalcanthite froze and watched as things unfolded in front of him. As Voce grew larger, he pushed back from the desk a bit. Each move he took was slow and careful so as to not startle his youma. All the alarm bells were going off, the ones from that warehouse, from those haunting memories, every single one until they spoke. A motive, a reason, something he could work with. It was a mix of voices, both male and female but wholly new to hear. Some of the oldest ones he could remember them picking up, ones he really hadn't wanted to hear anymore as the hair stood up on the back of his neck. "Yes, here, you can have these." Leaning over to reach into the drawer of his desk, he pulled out a sack of near-perfect crystals and offered the whole lot to Voce. There were so many questions swirling through his mind as he watched them peck and snack at the crystals from the sack. The growth in size had ceased at least and they were still a manageable enough size to still perch in his office.

"Pretty sounds, they all make such pretty sounds. Just like that long crystal of yours, it sounds so pretty. So very calming, I like it. I like finding those humming crystals but I want you to give me more. Such pretty things, I want to keep them. Can I keep them here? Away from all the others, where I can make sure they are mine and mine alone?" Turning an eye over to their general, they hopped with the sack of crystals and tried to get it onto their perch. Working the loop of string over the edge so the sack hung closed from the wooden stand.

Exhaling, not even knowing he'd held his breath as they spoke, he nodded and fought down the nervousness. This was his youma, bonded to him and not going to betray him. He just had to keep focusing on that fact and all the years things had been going smoothly. "Yes Voce, you can keep them here and I will keep finding more that you may keep. Only for you and safe here where nobody else can touch or take them. Maybe when we look for more you can tell me how they feel and sound to you. It will help me find better ones for my work and to give to you." Reaching over to scratch under their chin again, he watched them carefully.

"Yes, I will help find the ones that sing, the ones that scream, and the ones that cry. All the pretty crystals for us both. Toss away the weak and fragile ones. " Leaning into the scratching, Voce settled in on the perch before tucking their head beneath a wing and hunkering down to rest.

Sliding down in his seat, Chalcanthite sighed and pulled his notebook close. This was something to write down, to sketch, and to keep to himself. Flipping to a new page, he started taking notes and sketched his youma as they slept. He'd keep an eye on them for a while, to make sure nothing else was going to happen and to keep on his toes if things started down a path he didn't want to go down. A shiver went down his spine as he recognized the voices that made up the way they spoke ones he really had wanted to fade to the past. Thumbing the black feather on his fife, he knew it was going to be a while before he would be used to hearing that voice, even in part, more often. Ghosts were being thrown out from his memories and shoved into his daily life and he really couldn't run from it no matter how hard he'd tried. Sighing, he laid his head on his desk and looked up at them for a bit longer before heading out and towards home. It was late enough already and he already felt bad that he might wake Liam up when he got into bed.