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[fellpool]

[It had been a long time since he had relied on his alchemy to this level. While he knew that Symbology still worked to a certain degree, he also knew that having anyone rely on it in this time period would not be helpful without a Symbologist around to regularly maintain the created symbols. So when it became clear that they should be supporting the small village's growth, he found himself once again volunteering his time at the smithy.

Iron and scrap iron had been around in large quantities back in their time, allowing the smithy workers to work on their projects without worrying about resources. That wasn't quite the case in this time period. So, he volunteers in transmutating ruined metal back to a more workable base, though it's a much slower process than he's used to because of the power cap.

Creating crude light bulbs out of glass jars and transmutated wiring is also a project of his, which sends him to the supply center looking for glass containers.

When he's not working on transmutation, he takes notes on the Poké balls he brought, sketching and writing while eating lunch. While he may not be able to do much work on actually building a functioning one, studying them is at least a change of pace. They seemed to work the same, at least.

Most days, he eats his lunch out in the plaza to get away from the sounds and smells produced in the smithy. When the weather is bad, he takes shelter in the smithy's storefront, which is more a repository for tools and other things that require metalwork.

All the while, he wears a pair of black shades on his head, which aren't exactly necessary in this season. But stuff like that had never stopped Precis from wearing them everywhere, either.]

Comments

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[pendantry]

[Raven's blacksmith skills just barely extend to weaponry, so she doesn't participate in that half of metalworking even here; she can make useful things, which today includes arrow and spear points for hunting and metal traps to put in the water and catch fish. Passively. Even Raven prefers a pole to actively spearing fish. She can repair tools. It feels...good, to work on farming tools again, even small ones.

She always smells like fire when she leaves the building for lunch, often - like today - dulled by the soot and dirt of real smith work. Raven tries to shake it out of her hair, at least, before finding Leon in the plaza. She hasn't seen him all day, he has some project to do. This particular day he has her lunch so finding him is extra important.]

[pokeboy]

[ Leon isn't the only one looking for glass containers on that day, with this pokémon trainer - and his ever present Pikachu - studying a shelf just at the front of the store's entrance, eyeing a small pile of glass objects. Not exactly jars, but shaped small enough like they held miniature candles once, perhaps. Weird.

He's got one pinched between his thumb and forefinger when he hears the door open to the centre, turning to look on instinct (oh it's Leon), but then flicking his head back before he looks back away. ]

Oh, Leon! Hey!

[ hey guy hey ]

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[fellpool]

[Leon yawns as he sits on one of the benches near the fountain; working on alchemy for extended periods of time made him tired, and he was thankful for breaks that allowed him to momentarily escape the sounds of metal being worked and wrought. Even if it was unlikely for him to actually fall asleep with the various work around him, his diminished concentration greatly increased the chance of ruining the metal he worked on.

He smiles faintly when he sees Raven approaching. It was nice to be able to continue working with Raven; they both knew where the other was, they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses at work, and there was someone to walk back to the apartment with at the end of the day.]

How're you doing?

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[pendantry]

[She stops at the fountain first, pulling off her gloves and scooping up water to scrub her face with. Then she dries her hands on her coat and joins Leon on the bench.]

I'm okay. Just tired. [Not the bone-weariness of the first few days, but the kind of tired that comes from a day of hard work and sends her to bed not long after the sun sets.] What about you?

[fellpool]

[Though his focus is already on the idea of finding glass, Leon isn't so tunnel-visioned not to notice Red. When he sees him do a double-take, Leon laughs a little and waves.]

Hey, Red. You look busy.

[Okay, that might be some teasing there.]

[pokeboy]

Huh? Not really. I'm just looking for something to grow seeds in. [ whoosh goes the teasing. ]

What are you doing here?

[fellpool]

[S-sigh. Maybe it's best that the teasing went unacknowledged.]

I'm looking for glass jars that I can use for a project. I'm guessing you're looking for something similar?

[pokeboy]

Yup! I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.

[ He twists his wrist, waving the small curved glass in his hand. ]

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[fellpool]

I'm tired too. [If they were being honest...] I could use a nap.

[But they were having lunch instead. While he doesn't mind eating fresh foods again, he does find himself missing some of the more convenient meals that they could get in their "normal" time period.]

Any exciting projects so far?

[fellpool]

[He snorts a little, resting a hand on his hip as he looks from Red to the glass and back again.]

Didn't you just tell me by mentioning growing seeds?

[pokeboy]

But I didn't tell you what I'm growing. [ And he copies the hand on a hip. ] I could be growing tiny bulbasaurs!

[ Pikachu makes a tone quite like oh please, but with some humour mixed in. ]

[fellpool]

Touché.

[He laughs at the thought of Red growing Pokémon, going with it for the time being.]

That would be an interesting way to improve the village -- establishing Pokémon all over the place.

[pokeboy]

I talked about that before with someone, but - [ but wait a minute, let's not be serious ] but that's a plan for another day!

[ He chuckles some himself, then looks down the aisle before them. ]

Anyway, I think there's some jars around. How many do you want?

[fellpool]

Well, I need to see them first. Not all of these jars seem to have lids.

[And he kinda needed the lids. So he steps closer to the shelves to browse.]

Anyway, to answer your question, I'm looking to try making some light bulbs.

[pokeboy]

You can do that? [ He's already trying to imagine it, but... ] The kind that need electric to work?

[fellpool]

Yeah. They'd be kinda shoddy and wouldn't be able to burn as bright as-- well, manufactured bulbs, but I've done the basic work for them before.

[He had to pull some wiring from the tunnels back then, but if he could make the filaments by himself, he could make the necessary wires.]

It'd be a starting point, you know?

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[pendantry]

[Fresh foods are just one part of the smaller village earlier time experience, which feels a lot like coming home, to Raven. They had traveling merchants and shipments in Sharance, but...this is still nice. Simpler, though not always easier, and with an outside sense of something always about to go wrong that she can't shake.]

Not really. A lot of tools. [Somehow her lunch is always a surprise even though she makes it for herself; she looks intrigued by the sandwich as usual before taking a bite.] The things you do are more interesting.

[pokeboy]

It sounds like a good plan to me! [ He's still not seeing how it'll work, but if someone is, why not the guy who made teleporters? ]

Are you going to try and make other things like that too? If you need electricity, Pikachu's got plenty. [ Pikachu tilts his head when Red looks at him there. ] It's not as strong as normal, but he regenerates it everyday. [ !! ] We could keep greenhouses warm through the winter!

[ It's like the world is our cloyster with science!! ]

[fellpool]

[He smiles at Red's enthusiasm, his ears tilting to listen to him even as he picks through the shelf for a few jars that fit his requirements.]

Ah, that would be a good idea, wouldn't it? We have to think of long-term solutions for these people; we know we don't belong here, so what happens to the greenhouse if you and Pikachu disappear in the middle of winter?

[...] Do you think that Pikachu could provide the charge to create batteries?

[pokeboy]

[ -- oh. Oh yeah. What an enthusiasm killer. But though Red's face falls slightly, it's not all doom and gloom with that question. ]

Maybe? [ Hmm. He looks back to Pikachu again, then points to the pokémon's cheeks. ]

You see those red circles? He releases electricity through them. He can control how much power he lets out.

[fellpool]

So Pikachu's practically a living battery. ...I bet it'd hurt a lot to touch his cheeks. [He laughs weakly at that.]

Batteries would probably be really useful here, but building the proper cells would require volatile chemicals that aren't exactly lying around for our use.

I guess, if they really want to get that greenhouse idea going, they'll need to go with some other idea.

[A pause.] So, you didn't tell me what you're up to.

[pokeboy]

[ The conversation reminds him as well of one he had with another smarty-pants person, about how good batteries are expensive to make. Stupid dumb limited in resources world... ]

Well, before that, the guy behind the idea was thinking about making a stove, and then we can keep it going with wood or magic. [ Luceti did have its own magic after all. ] But I think getting the materials together to build a washing machine would be the best use of everyone's time.

[ He's a dreamer....! Alright, it's a joke, and Red pauses before continuing. ]

Anyway, I wanted to check out my venusaur's seeds. She can shoot out seeds that have different effects, and with one of them, she can make them cling onto things and take their energy. [ He turns the tiny glass holder, peering at the inside. ] I was wondering if I could stick them into jars or pots and let them soak in energy from the sun, and then we can use the energy for something. [ Oh, actually... ] Like mini plant solar batteries.

[ He's got batteries on the brain now... ]

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[Leon may notice Emil inching closer to him one day while he's out eating lunch in the plaza... and trying to be surreptitious about doing so. He THINKS those are Pokeballs, but he's not 100% sure, so he's trying to get close enough to be certain without attracting too much attention.

... until he trips over a rock and stumbles a few paces, that is.]

Whoa!

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[fellpool]

Interesting? [He repeats the word with a note of surprise; his work seems pretty bland and uninteresting to him.] I don't know about that.

Things just seem harder in general right now. It's a little frustrating.

[fellpool]

[He snorts at the comment about the washing machine; they could probably make a washing "machine" of sorts without getting into too many mechanical parts, if there was a real push towards that.

But he pays close attention when Red starts talking about seeds and using them for energy.]

Huh. Is that something the seeds can usually do? Absorb solar energy?