Makina was bored. Incredibly bored. Another week had passed and Cross had still yet to return. Her worry for him was quickly fading to annoyance that he had yet to return or even send message of his whereabouts. Even more bothersome was the fact that no one else seemed overly troubled by his tardiness, though she could at least feel a slight sense of apprehension from Lexi whenever the subject was brought up. It was hard to tell if the feeling was worry or anger. She also felt, but did not vocalize, that part of the reason that Lexi did not seem as troubled was because the mage's focus was often fixated elsewhere.

Sammir had become a familiar face at the guild. More often than not he would spend the day with Lexi, or at the very least take her out to dinner. Though Makina was not well versed in human courtships, Lexi seemed smitten. Makina had met Sammir a handful of times. He was handsome, and seemed polite enough to her, but Romeo often loudly complained about his presence, though not loud enough for it to ever get back to Lexi.

The loudmouthed mage was gone now, though, and Makina almost missed having his annoying voice bouncing around the guildhall. Servilia had mentioned in passing that he had gone off to serve as a bodyguard for a short time. He was apparently highly valued as such. Makina could understand that. Romeo enjoyed fighting, perhaps too much. Simply having the large, brash man around would deter many from trying anything unsavory, even if it meant putting up with his obstinate, oafish personality.

With Cross absent, Lexi busy with her lover, and Romeo gone, Makina had spent a good portion of the morning watching Banksy work his way through various locks. It was extremely boring. More boring than simply staring out the window. Seemingly all the thief did was twist his hands one way or the other before nodding to himself, sometimes saying a few unintelligible words or smiling.

It was highly annoying.

With a harrumph Makina rapped her knuckles on the table.

"Busy," Banksy grunted as he slowly twisted his hand around. A slight glow emanated from the ring that adorned his pinky.

Makina tapped on the table harder.

"You know what might be fun?" Banksy said without looking up. "Why don't you go look through Cross's stuff."

"I did that already. He has nothing of interest. Unless you are finally agreeing to crack the lock for me." Makina perked up.

"Nope… though…” Banksy stopped his work and tilted his head, his dark eyes flicking towards the young Goddess. “Feel like learning something new?”

“Such as?”

Banksy held up the lock. “Cracking.”

Makina mulled the offer over for a moment. “Continue.”

Banksy slid his tools towards Makina. “While you won’t be able to unlock anything hard for a while, I can teach you to pick a simple lock. It’s a good skill to know.”

Making picked up one of the tension wrenches and held it up to her eye. “Is it hard?”

“Depends on the lock, and the person, though I’d assume a Goddess could do it no sweat, right?” Banksy said with a small grin. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small lock. “Basic locks like these are just pin-tumblers. Keys are cut so they push up the pins into the right places when you push them into the lock. So all you gotta do is find the pins, push them up and…” He twisted the lock open and let it clatter onto the table in front of Makina. “Boom, easy as pie.”

“Pie… we should have pie later,” Makina idly said as she reached out and picked up the lock. Clicking it back into the closed position, she turned it over again and again in her hands. “How many pins are there?”

“Well, usually you don’t know until you feel around, but that one is a trainer. It only has three.”

Makina nodded and her posture straightened somewhat. “How do I begin?”

“First step first… check and make sure the lock is actually locked.”

Makina’s head snapped up. “You must be joking.”

“Afraid not.” Banksy gave her a dry smile. “You wouldn’t believe how many people just don’t lock their stuff up. I’ve had safes that are worth hundreds upon hundreds of gold coins be left completely open. Sometimes they just forget, or sometimes they don’t want to take the time to unlock the safe every time. So step one is always the same.”

Makina tugged experimentally on the lock, but it didn’t budge. “It is locked.”

“Alright, good. Now this would be where I usually check for magic but-”

“There is no magic,” Makina said, running her hand over the metal. “Not even a touch.”

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“Oh…” Banksy ran a hand through his hair. “Right. That makes sense. Can you do that with anything?”

“Sense magic? Yes. Human magic is much less refined than my own, so it is very grating on my sense, you see. Those rings you wear around your neck, for example. Many of them are very unsightly.”

“Hey, these are my babies!” Banksy lifted his hand to his necklace protectively. “Fine, fine, so there’s no magic. Now we can start with the tension wrench. Go ahead and insert it into the plug. Yeah, like that. Now be very gentle when you turn it. Tell me what you feel.”

Makina did as she told, turning the wrench one way, then the other, using the least amount of pressure that she could. “It turns somewhat more this way than it does the other.”

“Right answer. So that’s the way the lock opens. Now to keep it simple you basically want to keep a little bit of pressure on it so when you push the pins up, they stay up instead of just falling back down, got it?” He handed Makina a pick.

“Of course, I do.”

“Alright, then get to it. You have to hit each pin in order or it won’t work. Think of it like walking, one step after another. Try to skip one and you’re just going to fall down.”

“That is a very foolish analogy,” Makina mumbled as she began to work.

Banksy watched her for a short while before continuing his own exploits. The table was blissfully quiet, save the gentle clicking of metal on metal, and Makina’s slightly tense breathing.

“This is more difficult than I anticipated,” Makina said after a few minutes.

“You’ll get a feel for it,” Banksy said without looking up. “It’s like everything in life.”

“Mmmmm,” Makina gave an unusually undignified grunt in response and returned to her work, eyes narrowed as her diminutive fingers continued to work the pick back and forth against the pins. “How did you come to learn this? Did you have a teacher?”

“Self-taught, actually.”

Makina paused. “I find that somewhat impressive, all things considered.”

“I feel like you may have insulted me just now.”

“Do not take it personally. I find almost all human endeavors somewhat impressive. You are a very primitive group of beings, after all.”

“That’s big talk coming from someone struggling with baby’s first lock.”

The air in the room grew slightly colder, but Makina did not respond as she continued to work, her mouth pursed into a narrow line. Suddenly she jolted up.

“I just felt a click!” Makina looked up at Banksy, her eyes lighting up for a moment before she composed herself. “It clicked. What does that mean?”

“Means you’ve pushed the pin passed the shear.”

Makina gave him a blank look.

“Right, technical terms. It means one of the pins is in the right place. Only two more to go.”

Makina nodded and attacked the lock with renewed vigor. Only a few minutes later the final pin clicked into place and Makina let it clatter onto the table with a victorious smirk.

“Hey, not bad,” Banksy said, picking up the lock and spinning it around his finger. “Maybe you’re a natural.”

“But of course,” Makina waved her hand. “There are few things I cannot do.”

“Don’t get too cocky. You’re still a long way off from opening anything worth cracking,” Banksy said, but relented when Makina’s joyous expression turned to a pout. “You did good, really.”

“What is the next step, then?”

“Hmmm, I’d say take a break for now. Work too long and it can start to mess with your feel.” When Makina’s pout threatened to return, he quickly added on, "Why don't you go see if Servilia has something for you to do? You've been here a while now. Maybe see if you can take a request? Technically you should be allowed to go, considering you’re part of Lexi’s team.”

"I believe I shall.” She hopped up from the table and made her way over to the request board, but not before pausing and taking a long moment to look at Banksy.

“What?”

“I…” Makina’s mouth twisted as she worked the unfamiliar words over in her mouth. “I wish to express my gratitude towards you.”

Banksy chuckled and began to work again. “You know, that was a really weird way to say ‘thanks’ but don’t worry about it. Next time I’m out, I’ll buy you your own set of picks and give you some locks to practice with. You’ll be the second best Cracker in Voy in no time.”

Makina opened her mouth again, but almost immediately closed it. She stared at Banksy for a long time, a strange feeling welling up in her chest. When she failed to find any further words, she settled on a curt nod before she quickly bounded away.

The request board was far fuller than she had ever seen it before in her short time at the guild. Names, numbers, and dates jumped out at her from the pages that had originally been carefully pinned into place, but were quickly become haphazardly piled.

Makina pulled one down and held it at eye level. It was promptly plucked from her hands and replaced on the board by Servilia.

"Excuse you! I was reading that," Makina snapped. She tried to grab it back, but Servilia deftly deflected her hand away.

"I don't think vampire hunting is quite within your skill level yet, Makina," Servilia smiled. “I’m not even sure what would happen if a Vampire bit someone like you.”

"I am a Goddess, nothing is beyond my level of skill or ability. Ask Banksy, I have already mastered cracking."

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

“Still… It would make me feel better if you would let me find something that is more suited for your natural talents. Could you possibly let me do that, as a favor?”

Makina frowned, but nodded nevertheless. “If it will placate your worries, then I suppose I have no course of action but to agree.”

"I promise I'll keep an eye out for something good."

"Very well… but make it quick. I have long grown bored of staring at these walls."

"Well, since you are learning new skills, why not try asking the Mistress to teach you?” Servilia said as she returned to her desk. "She is always willing to train. Learning to wield a sword is never a bad idea in our line of work, and she is the most talented swordswoman you are going to find within a thousand miles.”

Makina made a face. "I do not need mortal weapons. My magic is more than adequate."

"Perhaps," Servilia said. "But they say that a strong body is tantamount to a strong magical presence. I believe you told me that your brother, Rah, is extremely powerful, both physically and magically."

"He is just a giant oaf," Makina said sulkily.

"Consider the offer," Servilia said. "If you show enough development, other members may actually invite you to join them on jobs. That would alleviate your boredom, you know."

"I will consider it," Makina said with an offhand wave. "For now, you simply work on finding me a request befitting for my divine self. If the others are able to work alone, I can do the same."

Servilia laughed lightly. "I shall do my best."