Everblooming Aegis

[19:00] Katrin says, "Myk. Gonna do some work. "
[19:00] Ginger released Ember with a pout.
(Ginger)
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[19:00] Katrin asks, "Wanna' come?"
[19:00] Katrin is sly. She plays things close to the vest. It's probably really no wonder that she has a hidden little workshop in one of Achyon's hidden little hovels of the keep.

Now that she's here, she loosens her tie, rolls up her sleeves, and folds her shades, all before lighting a reed cigarette.

Not that it does anything for her anymore. It's all part of some ritual that she remembers from life.

"Need to work. I'm losin' my fuckin' edge," she grumbles tersely, self-disparagingly.

"Pull up a chair. Or a crate or...Whatever."

She starts rummaging through one of her chests.
(Katrin)
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[19:00] "Breathe."

He wasn't going to advise them.

He instead pulls up a single crate and sits down on it as light as a feather.

Lord knows what could be on Katrin's mind, and in truth, he hopes that he never has to be in this situation at all.

"Everything will work out in the end - I promise."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] "I. I know."

A lot was on her mind. A great deal all buzzing around in her skull. She sucks down the reed cigarette and it crackles and fizzles.

She spills a slew of precious metals out onto the anvil. But, more importantly, there is a gorgeous flower. No doubt familiar to Mykael- since it's his.

"It don't matter. None of it matters. What matters is my work. Can't let this distract me."

People would come and go. They always did, even before her situation changed. Their interests always so conditional and fickle.

But her work? Her work would always be there for her. No reason to abandon her purpose.

The artificer starts slowly picking delicate petals from the flower. Each time she plucks one it's swiftly replaced. Truly it gives meaning to the title 'everblooming'.
(Katrin)
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[19:00] They say that it didn't matter, but he knew that it did entirely; it was important to her that the life of a single Ookami would be able to live for the sake of her.

He couldn't understand it entirely.

It was no different from him being in the same way to help Reyleigh be free from any jail that he may be in, and he would only allow himself to let the thought relish, only to then focus on Katrin as well.

"It matters.

You matter.

Did you forget that you do?"
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] She didn't wholly understand it either. And it, on some level, infuriated her. Frustrated her to no end, to the point where she downright scowls.

"...Look. It ain't liable to last. You know that. I know that. This matters more then. Don't it?"

A cold, but reliable, comfort. The artificer keeps plucking petals. Each of them still very much alive even though separated from its host. The flower? It remains unharmed.

They're placed aside in a bowl and she starts to make the basic layer of arcanium that will go beneath. The magically inclined metal is heated, hammered, folded, coaxed into the shape of several plates.

"'Course I matter. And this is what matters to me. Always."
(Katrin)
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[19:00] Mykael knew that this was only a way to stop them from losing their mind; it was obvious from the way that they were talking and having frustration in their voice.

"All of what you do, love, and care for matters."

That was the deep truth of it; it was the fact that they were alive and well and cared the most for the people they love and hold so dearly, that they would do anything for them to strive.

It wasn't a bad thing, it wasn't a good thing - it was simply the most human thing that anyone could do to preserve the very little bits of humanity that could follow; how else would they be able to live their undead life?

"I know we're both tacky when it comes to love,, but that doe snot mean you can't do things to make sure that love stays alive, while also being happy."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] He just had to go and use that dreadful 'L' word. In a context that might not have just been for her work. It was a good way to keep her sanity, the labor, the familiarity. A way for her to exert some control.

The strikes of a hammer channel her frustration, the application of fire magic, the two combined channel her feelings almost too well.

"Yeah, well. I can't let it rule me though. I mean, I won't. It's turnin' me into. Into a mess. I ain't like it."

Being detached had been a simple matter when she kept traveling. And when so many of the places she visited already had their own artificers and people.

"...You ever get like this, Myk?"

She glances up briefly, reaching for the bowl of flower petals, and the central flower, as well as the bottle of rather dangerous tincture.
(Katrin)
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[19:00] Katrin says, "Like. With Rey, I mean."
[19:00] "Always."

There was never a day that he couldn't control himself with the horrible ideas to follow - it was with those notions in mind, that he could lose the one that he loved leaving.

"Every time that I think they would be gone from my finger tips, I always just hope and pray that they can come back safely.

Because of what they are.

Because of what they could be."

These notions always plagued him.

Even when he was happy just not feeling anything; it was those notions that continues to play about like a television set on his mind.

"But if you let go of that - you let go of the bit of humanity that you have left."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] The artificer turns her head just far enough to glance at Mykael.

"...I appreciate your honesty, y'know," she mutters, turning back to her work. She takes up the bottle, swirls it, then uncorks it and takes a whiff.

Is it any wonder that it smells like coal smoke? Coal smoke with a hint of the delicate spices of herbaceous Sinka tea and mulling spices. It catches her off guard for a moment. Her mind wanders.

Katrin violently shakes her head and applies the substance to the arcanium plate. One after the other she layers the petals atop the armor until all the greenish metal beneath is obscured. A sea of floral bits with the flower itself resting in the center. Just over the heart.

"Maybe. Maybe I ain't ready to let go of that yet. I dunno. Doesn't sound like you are either, huh? My lil' brother's real lucky."
(Katrin)
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[19:00] "We're lucky, because even though you are incapable of going back - you still have the potential to have the special part of you that wants love."

That is the love that everyone would want.

Even if it was a painful thing; it would be needed so that everyone would be capable of knowing something beautiful about the world: love.

"I just wish I would be able to tell you how much its needed, but I can only do so much."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] "There's some folks apparently sniffin' around for a cure," she mentions, finishing up the layering of the flower petals. "But I ain't interested. I mean...why waste the opportunity?"

Does she still harbor a grudge over how she was turned? Absolutely. But the mercenary bloodline in her is, charitably spoken, opportunistic. A chance to live forever to truly push the boundaries of her craft, to do all as she likes.

So what it might muss up the lifestream? The lifestream's done nothing for her.

She finishes the careful, intricate application of the petal- tedious as it might have been to do one by one- and takes the great quartz crystal.

It's crushed in her hands, crumpled and ground fine into dust. Even though it is no longer whole the light it refracts still fills her with a sense of strange calm.

The artificer sprinkles it over the petals, where they lie there and continue to shimmer and sparkle like so many drops of crystalline dew.

"...Think that's lookin' good. Nice to make somethin' pretty."
(Katrin)
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[19:00] Why waste an opportunity to be able to live forever and watch all the people you care for die of age, while you are able to live and continue their memory through the creations you make?

No one was meant to live forever, but they were capable of doing something to make it look like they could.

"I would try to flirt with you and tell you that you are pretty.

But that's nonsense.

Your genius and gifts that you are able to establish are proof that the gods have blessed you with the most amazing gift that others would wish to have."

His hands move over to poke at the wrist, only to grip at it for a while and stare.

"You may be immortal, but even you will find the day to die and move on - but your artifacts will forever be in this realm."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] Today has been a cruel reminder of its drawbacks. Though she does not highlight them. She might be immortal now. That didn't mean there weren't still a few things she could lose.

"Pffha. Gods. Blessin' me. I don't think the gods had anythin' to do with this, Myk. I should know. Can't grow my wings anymore.

Not that I liked 'em much anyway," she says with a snicker, looking down to the hand at her wrist. Of course there's no pulse, and she is warm only thanks to fire magic and the ambient heat of the forge.

"Yeah. Prolly. But I got all the time in the world to do what I wanna get done. Then maybe I can shove off when I get bored. When I hit my peak. Don't think you'll see that, but you'll see me get pretty damn good, I bet.

And this here? This'll be proof."
(Katrin)
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[19:00] Honestly, Mykael didn't enjoy the notion of having some gods either watching his back; his entire life was built so that he can find himself as being the god that controls his destiny, but even that was minimal in the grand scheme of life.

"I feel that.

I would never want some god controlling me through, and I would only want to be the best I can be due to my own handy work."

No pulses, but still warm due to the fire magic that still resided in them that made Mykael believe that they were alive from the outside, but he knew that deep inside, they were just as alive as a zombie.

"Perhaps you're your own god, capable of doing whatever is needed with the fun involved with it - to create and create effortlessly without needing to meet an end, and then continue to push further.

I can appreciate that."

The hand is released as he stares at the creation in tow - knowing that it was almost time to play his end of the deal, yet he needs to find out one single thing to come fom this.

"I can't help but love this."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] "Sounds like a couplea' descendants of Therian blood to me if I ever heard it," she says with a little snort of laughter. The artificer very much kept alive the ideals of her forebears.

Even if she wasn't actually alive anymore. The fire magic can fool most. Mykael knows better.

"My own god. Got a nice ring to it."

Once her hand is let go she brushes her fingertips over the petals. She is still filled with that calm; Katrin can still smell those smells too, sharp in her enhanced senses.

"It's nice. I really like it. What I made for Adrian was pretty...but this is pretty in. A different way." Beauty took so many forms.

She flips it over carefully, revealing the interior of the armor plate that would never be visible unless on close inspection. Then she carves there her stamp. The single letter 'W' is engraved. Another small, additional touch she's taken to implementing these days is added.

Katrin takes a little utility knife from her belt, pricks her thumb, and draws a single drop of her blood, blood that contains stolen life. It drips into the engraving, filling out the depression.

"There. Now it's done."
(Katrin)
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[19:00] Katrin says, "A lil piece of me. In every work."
[19:00] "How marvelous of a gift..."

There was nothing more that he could say about something that was so pretty; it truly was worthy of note, and that little bit of her on it was more than enough for him to smile widely.

"You are truly a gift to mankind, even if you are no longer alive."

He looks over toward Katrin, and with that smile going back to neutral, he only finds it fitting to fit in a joke here that would make the most sense - one that was filled to the brim with irony.

"I thought my neck was pretty, but I think this makes my neck look like Eury's blood rather than something worth it.

However, the time is soon for you to get what is yours, right?"

Just another month or two and he would be able to give himself up to his now sister in law without question.

Yet, ultimately, he only desires for them to be happy, and if they can enjoy the warm blood of a man who tastes like Molasses that was heated up due to the fire, so be it.

"You are adored."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] A literal spin on something she's always touted. It felt right. It felt proper. Mykael speaks his praise and it makes her smile wide and toothy. For one of the first times that day she showcases those golden fangs.

"Yeah, well, your neck's way prettier than Eury's. And I can trust ya not to try and smooch me.

And trust ya not to be a fuckin' snitch. Blood's better too my a mountain mile."

And her eyes do linger over his neck. Not by mistake. The shades make it so convenient to hide just where her eyes are going. So much easier to steal hungry glances when she's in the cities.

"'Bout that time. Yeah."

She's been fortunate to find willing victims. How long that might last is up in the air. Life is complicated.

"...Ya are too, Myk. You're one of the closest thing I got to honest kin. It's been an honor to make ya somethin' like this."
(Katrin)
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[19:00] Honestly, the honor was all Mykael; if it wasn't for the likes of Katrin and her gifts, he would never be able to have something that he could give to the love of his life at all.

Yet he smirked.

"Perhaps I should douse myself in Lust potions before hand then?

A joke of course - I won't kiss a woman who has eyes for another man, or one that is gonna bite me on the neck either - sounds weird no?

Especially since you're like my step-sister."

A finger taps on the bottle part of his chin as he continues the filtrations joke for just a little bit longer.

"Though it is tempting...

But I am a taken man, I gotta pass, dear."

The attention diverts soon after as he looks upon the armor and nods accordingly, deciding to leave it where it resides and taking a step away form it all to breathe, even.

"I'll leave it here until I am able to affirm that I have given what you desire - just try not to fall too in love with it or try to hold on too tightly.

Vampire's are dang strong for a reason."
(Mykael Voss)
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[19:00] "And I ain't go for married men! So I ain't think it'd work. Maybe save the potions for Rey, eh?"

Did potions like that even work on vampires? Probably not. All the fun things didn't. Except the blood. The blood was even better now.

"Tsk...you'll get it once I'm sure it's perfect. Maybe a few final touches. Some runes. I won't hand ya somethin' half baked, Myk. I got too much respect for ya and my work."

She looks on it admiringly. It did have a certain pull to it. Even for her. It was an absolutely ensorcelling piece to behold.

"I think I'll clean up here. Maybe go take a lil' visit down to the cells. If it's clear and ya don't need anythin' else."
(Katrin)