Vey has scratched at that same groove in the table significantly more today than Sera has ever seen it do before, and she sort of understands why. Vey wants to find a way to make paper, but needs more paper before it can make a spell to help it make paper. A vicious loop that requires its output as an input, with nothing to kick-start the reaction. Or at least, that’s what Sera thinks the proper phrasing for it would be.
The truth, from Vey’s perspective, is a little more nuanced than that. It has enough paper to probably find a way to turn wood pulp into paper using magic, but it doesn’t have enough knowledge of how to actually make paper to feel comfortable attempting it. Making a spell to process a basic resource into another is easy, in fact, it can already fully construct an [Infuse Water] spell from its own mental capabilities alone, without the need for a spell circle or examining a written matrix. Re-shaping the materials of one thing into another is incredibly simple magic, fundamental transmutation magic, most not worth even calling true spells. The issue is that one needs to understand how to make the thing out of the materials in order to do that.
Vey could turn pure water and salt into salt water easily, it knows how to mix salt into water. Vey could turn a wet stick into a dry stick and some water using magic without even paying attention, so long as it wasn’t interrupted. Vey simply doesn’t understand how you turn a mixture of wood chips and water into the light tan-brown colored paper in its hands. If it had even a single explanation on what the mortals do to make it, it would have already crafted the spell for it. As it stands, Vey can only think itself further into frustration at the incredibly simple concept of paper. The fact that Sera is in the room with Vey is probably the only reason it hasn’t stormed off to do something else in frustration.
Sera put her chair on the opposite side of Vey for now, and is slumped over on the stone table, being sure to keep her injured shoulder away from the hard stone. Honestly, her injury feels more or less healed. She knows that the actual flesh part of the wound needs some more time to fully close and heal over, and that the likely bruised bone needs more time still, but she expects full function, if not comfort, to be back in a couple of days. It is more out of her concern for Vey’s apparent anxiety about her bodily health that she is still being careful with it.
She’s beginning to wonder if perhaps she should finally come out and just ask Vey what exactly it is doing with her, since while ‘pet’ feels the correct term, as nothing more serious fits and nothing more cruel fits either. Lab rats don’t receive rudimentary emotional support, companions aren’t kept like a captive audience. If she had to come out and ask though, how should she phrase it? ‘Why do you keep me around?’ will likely only result in something like ‘I just want to’ or ‘I don’t want to kill you yet’, but any more specific ways of asking, like ‘What do I mean to you?’ have a different connotation to them that Sera fully expects Vey to completely not understand. Ultimately, she decides to kick the proverbial bucket down the stone hallway, by exiting the lab via the hallway, but not before at least attempting conversation.
“Vey… What are you currently thinking about?” A normal, reasonable, sensible question, to test what type of mood it’s in. She thinks to herself as she waits for the response, or a completely moronic one, since it's probably just thinking about paper.
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“I was starting to wonder if maybe you knew anything about how to make paper, or if there is anything else I could write on for research purposes.” Vey’s tone is more natural than usual, which Sera doesn’t yet know how to interpret, but she does know that it means Vey isn’t frustrated with her.
“I don’t… I only know that Hialta- A large town about three days cart-ride from the village, has a paper mill. As for other things to write on…” Sera thinks to herself for a moment. If Vey’s issue really is just that it needs something to write on, is the issue that it needs to write or that it thinks it needs to use paper. An idea comes to mind as she watches Vey’s claws sort the stack of notes laid out in front of the skeleton. “If you want to write in ink it would be difficult, but your claws have no trouble scratching stone, why not try that?”
Vey almost wants to exclaim that her idea is brilliant, but refrains. It should probably wait on congratulating Sera on the useful idea until Vey has tested whether or not it works. “I will try that… Where were you getting up to go?”
“I was going to go lay down… I haven’t had anything to do but watch you, so I’ve been feeling bored and… Kinda depressed if I’m honest.” Vey watches her ears droop a little as she finishes answering, something Vey had previously associated with it saying or doing something uncomfortable for Sera. It begins trying to re-associate drooping ears to Sera feeling ‘mentally lethargic and cyclically depreciating’ as Sera’s definition of depressed.
“What would you want for something additional to do?” Vey sees Sera’s ears perk up, and would swear it saw a small twinkle in her eyes as she looked up at it, but Sera quickly looks away, and a bit of red flushes into her cheeks.
“I couldn’t really ask you for anything… It isn’t like we have much here to begin with… But going outside might be-” Sera cuts herself off, and she pretty much instantly deflates. “Just having something to do, like work, would be ok…”
Vey looks down at her, pondering how she went so quickly from that hopeful, lively look, back to the droopy, unenergetic look she has now. If Vey hadn’t seen it happen in real time, it would assume someone had stolen energy away from her with magic. Still… What would I even have you do, you can’t help the undead train, and you aren’t fit enough to help with the process of cleaning some of the rooms. Not to mention I can’t let you into areas you might try to escape from. Hmm…
Sera sees Vey’s focus trail off away from her and mentally sighs. That was my one chance to ask it if there was something I could do to help or please or anything, and I blew it on practically asking for a chance to run instead… Stupid stupid stupid stupi- She feels one of Vey’s hands on the top of her head, and the distinct motion of the skeleton stroking her hair. Not quite petting, but not quite sitting still either. She flicks her eyes to the side, and sees that what Vey is actually doing is examining her hair, or at least that’s what she thinks, until Vey puts one of its claws against the base of her scalp, and she hears the very distinct sound of hair snapping along with the tiniest amount of pain. Sera sees Vey hold up the stolen strand to its face, before setting it down on the table.
“I wasn’t washing your hair while you were injured. I only focused on your wound and the more urgent functions of your body, I apologize. Do you think you could handle washing it yourself now? While I think of something for you to do?”
Sera almost reels in shock at that string of words, but relents by simply nodding and turning to walk out of the lab. She hears Vey’s feet shuffle towards her, and she looks over her shoulder to see what Vey is doing, only to find Vey holding up a strand of her hair to a [Light] spell, before setting it down and turning to the wall behind it, scratching at the wall with one of its claws.
“Good luck with that, Vey.”