Alright, we’ve got some spare charge packs charged up, and cords, to be able to recharge the phone while we’re away from Mount Solace if necessary. I’ve got the magical tools to be able to make Can’Z’aasian constructions. I’ve got some more craftworks tools that are actually for making enchanted and alchemical things, rather than just crafting normal stuff. I’m tempted to buy out Nietru’s entire stock, though some of that also sounds like stuff that’s just named fancy to sucker people into buying them as well.
Still, purchasing all of Nietru’s stock, hm. I think that might actually be her achievement to load up her first set of unlockables, come to think of it. But, well, a fair bit of her stuff costs in the millions. I know I could probably sell some raw adamantite, mithril, and orichalcum, and make a few hundred thousand per day, but it’s more important to let the dragonkin who’ve been so kind to volunteer their time, do what they want and need to do with the metals first, and even after, it’d be better to craft them into just about anything to sell, rather than selling them raw.
Ugh, this is like some of those mobile or browser based games where the income is time-gated, but essentially limitless. Err, what? Build various buildings that produce certain resources endlessly, as long as you’re there to collect them? Huh. That sounds familiar somehow. Meh, whatever. Deep breath Reggie, get back your train of thought on things to accomplish this morning.
I’m tempted to try to use my once per day instant recall ability on the smartphone to bind it to me, making it recallable on any other day. It feels a bit frivolous, and it might not work, if it’s not actually soulbound. The tome that the instant recall ability came from *implied* that the item needed to be soulbound, but didn’t outright state it. One of us needs to test it. I flash a sorrowful glance at Lu, since she was in the infirmary when I was doing all of the orb-time hivemind enchantment sharing. I wish I’d brought her down. I didn’t realize we’d be successful with any of it. I’m actually just going to put instant recall on the dimensional pouch, that’ll definitely work.
My Wings derails my train of thoughts as she playfully asks, “So what was it you were thinking about Veril a bit ago? Why should he learn to hide his emotions better?”
Blushing and chuckling, I respond, “Well, he’s, uh, extremely attracted to Farzee as they’re trying to have a heartfelt discussion. His brain is nearly like mine is around Errissa. He’s thinking about how incredibly hot she looks in that semi-tight sweater, even though it’s the most modest thing she’s ever worn. I mean, I can’t disagree with him, but, hey, ow, hah. You asked!”
Chuckling and trying to dodge Teuila’s onslaught of of playful slaps and punches, we end up in a Shellcracker Family Slap Fight, until we’re both giggling. Luni rolls her eyes and shakes her head at the pair of us, until we turn our attention on her, to tickle her from two sides, which gets her squealing in delight before we’re all giggling like mad. Alright, alright, alright. I need to focus for a bit, I’m getting distracted and forgot what I was doing while we were here. Where’d Lucky go?
Blushing, Luni mumbles, “Leezahna is doting on him, thanking him for digging her home, and he’s eating it up. Traitor.”
Raising my brow, I glance at Luni who averts her gaze as she blushes more deeply. Chuckling, I hug Luni for a moment before Teuila steals her away in a noogie-grasp headlock. Lu bemoans her fate with a long, “Nooooo,” as Te playfully noogies her, messing up her hair. Still, to think that Lucky could be so easily swayed, when he seemed so apprehensive of Leezahna, that’s a bit odd to me. Anyway, snag a bunch of mirrors from the various shops. Alright, easily enough. Let’s grab a ton of gems from my personal store. Erm, like, my storehouse in my vault, not my shop. You get it. Yes, yes I do. My gals giggle at my internal monologue, as I blush abashedly at it.
Out of the blue—, well that’s a funny turn of phrase, our “The Blue,” Farzee calls out across our mental wavelength, in her as-usual few-stop-consonants accent, “Schism, you really feel tha’ way? Broke One does too?”
Erk, gulp. I respond hesitantly, “You are a very attractive woman Farzhis sweetling. You’ve sculpted an absolutely lovely human form. Come on, you didn’t not know this already. Why do you ask?”
More humble, Farzhis’s telepathic response is almost a mumble in her usual delightful accent, “Jus’, the sweater. No’ use’ to no’ having to show off. Umm. Thank you. Both.”
I flash Farzee a loving smile across our wavelength, and receive a grateful smile in return. Farzhis is back and forth at being able to read the mental monologues of those around her, as she deals with her grief, and moves back and forth from aware to despondently dissociated. It’s going to take a long time to heal. She and Veril are both dealing with the trauma of the Damnations’ repeated attacks, the grief over the loss of our previous, “The Blue,” and the implications of their budding relationship. Veril’s a young enough man that he’s essentially a ball of hormones, and, lacking any previous relationship experience, he’s not sure how to proceed, or even if his relationship with Farzee will become the romantic one he desires.
Coughing for my attention, telepathically Veril mumbles, “I’m, I’m not *that* young, am I? I mean, sure, I haven’t had a mate yet, or, erm. Schism, what should I do? What if Farzee prefers friendship? I’m kind of falling in love here, but, like, I just sort of want to see her happy? Maybe? My head’s all kinds of messed up. Then there’s this really pretty Green who’s starting off on her own, and doesn’t even seem to have any friends, and, glp. I mean, yeah, both of them are effin’ gorgeous, but, um, ugh. What the hell do I do Schism?”
I draw back my lips in a grimace and gulp as my eyes go wide. Someone asking *me* for relationship advice? That’s only bound to end horribly. I’ve literally lucked into or fallen into the few relationships or even friendships in my life. Heck, even one of those, maybe the first one ever, has been put on hold, if not ended completely, and that one only lasted a few days. I glance side to side, then towards Te and Lu who shrug at me helplessly, unhelpfully. Should I just pull a Lil and tell Veril to follow his heart?
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Responding cautiously, I try to assuage Veril’s fears, “Whatever happens buddy, things’ll be okay. There’s no wrong answer here. I’m glad you aren’t pressuring Farzee when she’s vulnerable. Approaching things that way is the right thing to do. You are going to have to wait for her if you want to find out if you two might be able to pursue romance together at some point. If you try to get together with Leezahna, and, well, either succeed, or even just the attempt itself, Farzee will likely be jealous, as that’s her nature, but it also doesn’t mean that she was or wasn’t intending to choose romance with you. Hell, Farzee might choose to wait for *you* if you start dating Leezahna, and that ends up seeming to fall through, if what she wants or wanted was romance, and she cares about you and your friendship enough to be there to support you. There’s a million million ways any of this could go. Whatever you feel in your heart is probably the best Veril. You’re a good guy.”
Veril’s response is a muted, “Huh,” as he mulls over my non-advice. Poor guy.
Luni smiles brightly my way and leans up against my left arm, snuggling close, nuzzling and kissing my cheek. Te, instead of taking my right side, muscles in on my left arm as well, and squishes cheeks with Lu to nuzzle and kiss my cheek. This of course causes Lu to roll her eyes and chuckle, which then earns Lu a Shellcracker Family Squee from Teuila.
Almost jealously, Veril asks, “Like, that, that right there, how do I get that? I mean, can I? Erm, I want Farzee to be happy, and I like her tons, and we’ve been teammates for a long time, and effin’ ay is she sexy as hell, I mean, have you seen her neck in her dragon form? Or her wings? Or that ridge at the base of her horns? Those slender muscles around her jaw. Mm—. Gulp. She can’t hear this, can she Schism? Schism? Please tell me she can’t hear me, that like, your walls are up. Please? Oh hell.”
Biting my lips, I struggle not to laugh at poor Veril’s expense. I sense waves of mixed emotions from Farzee at overhearing Veril’s lusty comments about her. She’s upset that he’s asking me how to pursue someone else at the same time, proud of her appearance, and a whole lot more. Gnawing on my inner cheek, I’m trying to decide if I should respond at all.
Deciding that it’s best to make sure he’s at least somewhat informed, I do answer Veril, “To have an open relationship, to have polyamory, everyone has to be on board. I know absolutely nothing about Leezahna, except that I’ve hurt her. I cannot give you any advice as to whether or not she might be interested in any relationship, let alone one with multiple branches, or being in a relationship with multiple people. I don’t even know her gender preference, or sexual preference. I don’t even know if that’s a big deal for dragons. You seemed open to Indy or Farzee both when you were thinking about them in Kinzul’s den. Ah, heh, sorry to embarrass you. You’ll be okay Veril buddy, you’ll figure it out. Don’t rush it. You’re doing fine. Be there for your friend, your teammate. Enjoy what you’ve got. Farzee’s an amazing, wonderful woman, and I’m glad you want to see her happy, I do too.”
I sense Veril nodding along our telepathic wavelength, and Farzee mentally mutters quietly to me, “Thanks, um. Thanks for steering us both righ’. I’m not sure ye’. I’m—. Like you sai’. A lot on my min’. Not sure I’m ready to deci’e. I like Broke One. Jus', jus' dealing with a lo’ of hur’ an’, and fear. No’ use’ to being scare’. No’ use’ to any of this. Thank you Schism. Thank you. Thank you.”
I attempt to keep Farzee from dissociating into a repetitive plea of gratitude, but she echoes herself for a long while yet. Poor Farzee dear. I do sense Veril comforting her, giving her enough space but showing support as Farzee spaces out, locked in her repetition for some time. Pondering if I should try to accomplish anything else here, I turn up towards the exit of the dugout to see Leezahna standing timidly at the end of the ramp.
Hesitantly, Leezahna asks, “Is, um. Someone has to be behind the shop, to use it? Right? Who—. I’d like a, a desk, with a vanity. I drew some more, in case, um, this isn’t enough green paper. Then, also, maybe a bed? Satin sheets, and—. I can write more, and draw more when I have a desk of my own. You said, you said I could use the parchment and ink, glp, as much as I want, right? Unless it runs out?”
Nodding to Leezahna, I attempt to respond, “Yes, yes to all of that. As long as you treat others with respect to their feelings, and their time, I’m sure that someone will volunteer to stand in the shop for you. Try to also not react too poorly if their shop’s quality isn’t as high as someone else’s. We’re still trying to get everything ready to be able to understand the catalogs, qualities, prices, and everything. There’s a few more steps to get that all set up, but yours Leezahna, it enabled all of this. Take a look.”
Leezahna gazes confusedly at the machines, but she raptly studies the instructions I’ve left, and nods firmly as she commits them to memory. She mouths unfamiliar words like phone, NFC, and copier, which I’ve labeled, so she needn’t look too far to figure out their context. The most difficult part might be dealing with the touch screen on the copier to find and select the file to print out. As Leeza starts to understand more about the process down here in the dugout for the shop, she seems almost hopeful, almost happy. Leezahna turns her eyes towards Luni, pleadingly. She knows that Lu’s shop contained furniture in a style and quality that appealed to her.
Luni grumbles mentally to me, but can’t hide her excitement at being appreciated for her shop and its quality. Lu takes her place behind the shop stall and bows with a flourish as she and Leezahna start a short string of transactions. I’m proud of both of them. Leezahna still eyes me with a cold fury underlying everything, and a strong touch of fear. Like Lu said, I suppose we’ll never end up being friends. I’ll do what I can to heal the hurts I’ve caused her, but as long as she doesn’t lash out in retaliation against anyone I love, or find some way to destroy all I’ve worked for, I can live with that.
Bidding Leeza adieu, I add, “Since we’ll be gone, if you need anyone to run the shop for you, I’m sure most people would be happy to if you ask politely. If they refuse, please don’t treat them poorly. You never know if someone is busy, or upset, or hurting, or in a hurry, or has their own reasons for being uncomfortable or not wanting to run the shop at that time.”
I pause, attempting to let it sink in before finishing, “There are plenty of other people around to ask. Now, if everyone is refusing in large numbers, come to me, and I’ll see what’s up, if people are treating *you* poorly. I’m here for *everyone*. No one deserves to be treated poorly Leezahna. No one. Okay? The kinder you are to your neighbors, the more likely they are to be willing, or even want to help you out.”
Leezahna furrows her brow at me, but nods at my parting words. I know I sort of talked down to her like a child there, a spoiled one at that, but she still sort of is one, at least to me. She’s still slipping up, and *maybe* working to correct that. Likely driven by fear as she remembers me threatening her based on her worth, value, and trustworthiness, every time she says or does something that she realizes I’d look down on. I’m probably an internal subconscious trauma trigger for her, but her response is thankfully to take that fear and use it to better herself and her behavior. I think. Still, she, like everyone else, is free to be angry at me or hate me all she needs to. No one owes me any sort of adoration. Huff. I’m a bully, a monster. She’s right about that. Maybe I’m a kind one, like she also said. Maybe.