Helantri Deru is...well, a calm oasis in ways, but a fortress beneath its beauty. The mansion holds influences from Earth's China, but a good many other sensibilities are merged into that as well. It appears open, well-lit, and airy...but can be sealed to virtual inpenetrability at a moment's notice. The grounds around it are graced by beautiful gardens, practically a horticultural museum or botanical masterwork. There are what appear to be training areas scattered throughout, but they fit into the landscape as though they belong. They do. The protective and cloaking fields around the entire area are exceedingly similar to those around Saea's Gardens.

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Deru Archive
Deru Archive 2
Deru Archive 3
Deru Archive 4
Deru Archive 5
Deru Archive 6

---

Meanwhile, even as Felina's returning to one of her little pocket dimensions, Ting bounces over to about where she senses Makyon, looking for him.

The slip mage is where he's been for a while now, bopping around a wide area off to the side of the house. He's working on that 'platform stepping' trick Felina taught him, and has become quite a bit better at it.

"Hey, Spot, what might I do for you?" He knows Spot will get her blood boiling, at least a little bit.

"I dunno! I'm bored. Whatcha doing?" Ting grins, jumping into a nearby tree.

"Worrying," he admits, though does smile at her antics. He does have such a great fondness for Ting. "When I am tense, I train. I think I picked up the habit from your mother." He tilts his head. "Want to spar, bored little kitten?"

Ting grins broadly at that. Always fun. "You know it! Any particular rules, muscles?"

Makyon shrugs. "No weapons, no biting, no groin kicks... basics. And I will not phase shift. I need to train my 'everything else' first." He removes Felina's gift of vest, folds it neatly to hang over a convenient tree branch. "Other than that, go wild."

Ting sniffles. "How can I go wild without the biting? Hmph." She jumps into the air, sits on her own force platform. For a moment. Crouches, and wiggles, kitty-like, wearing that deliciously predatory, thrilled little expression that crosses her face from time to time.

"Well..." Makyon shrugs. "Alright. A little biting." He lowers himself, and mimics her kitty-wiggle as best he can. "That smile ought to be illegal, you know." And he leaps, hoping to get the drop, or rise anyway, on her.

"No adding rules!"

It's the sort of illogical fighting logic that she earned from her aunt. She springs straight at Makyon head-on rather than any smart maneuver, wanting to take over his jump and land with him on his back, still smiling deliciously.

He has been training intensely, but Ting is still miles ahead of him on the speed scale. In an instant he is earth-bound, though the two do not quite make it to the ground. Instead Makyon thumps against another platform a foot or so up.

Ting pins him, and grins. It's really more for show than an actual lock, really. "So. Now whatcha going to do, creepy?" She really has gotten attached to Makyon in recent months. He's kinda cool.

Makyon grins right back. "Think about sports."

Ting blinks. "Wah! You lose the male award." She bops him, snickers, and jumps to the ground, awaiting retaliation.

Makyon sits up. She's faster than him when he cannot phase shift, by far. "Aww," he whines, "but I want one!" A vertical shield subtly forms just behind Ting, though whether she can sense it Makyon has no idea. He rushes her again, hoping that she'll back into it and he can catch her on the rebound.

She jumps back and up. Whap. "Hey!"

Makyon moves quickly as he can, to try and neutralize Ting's arms before she gets over her shock. In all likelihood she'll just punch him in the nose.

He manages to get ahold of her wrists, actually. Her knee twitches, then stops abruptly. She was going to kick him in the crotch. "Ah, hell." Instead, her semi-feline body twists into very judo-esque maneuver, trying to trap his arms to hers, fling him off to the side, and get her wrists free. All told, it's a touch iffy with their size difference.

He'd cringed, expecting to be soprano by now, but gets his bearing quickly enough to simply plant his powerful legs and heave her in the direction she hopes to send him, employing the thick upper body that Kaies had so thoughtfully built for him. 

"Eep!" And she goes flying. But, of course, flying isn't really much a problem for either of the half-dumen. Her body twists in a less-than-natural way, her feet plant solidly on the ground, and she springs back towards him, this time more aggressively, headed for his shoulders but really intended to switch direction at the last moment and sweep his legs from under him.

As quickly as he can think to, Makyon attempts to form another shield between them, though his window is small. He knows he hasn't the time to mount a physical defense against such a quick adversary.

Ting's pretty well-versed in the force shield methods Makyon's learning, and that's what she uses here. A shield forms parallel to the ground, which a handspring from changes her direction fast and sends her over his quick shield. Narrows what bits of him she can attck, though, since she's not in a more vulnerable overhead position.

Makyon had not anticipated a move like that, though, and quickly finds himself staring up to the sky again.

"You," he notes once his breath is back, "are too quick for me. Blasted cuteness was in my eyes, anyway."

Ting grins, and wiggles her ears. "You should be immune to it by now, I'd think!" She giggles, closer to the "real" voice Ai had caught wind of earlier, and pats his head. "But, you're making all kinds of funky shields now!"

She's actually more right than she probably knows. "Well... I try. One can learn a lot from ears that cute."

Ting beams, and then grins. "Well...is there anything I can helpchawith? I'm not my mom, but...yes!"

"At this point it's mostly just repetition. I have not yet learned to divide my concentration to more than one thing at a time..." he chuckles. "It doesn't help that I am an oaf."

"Hee. Nah. You pick stuff up fast. That's why mom likes you!" Ting grins, and nods.

Makyon tilts his head over just a little. "What brought you out here, anyway, Ting? You seem awfully... appreciative, today, and it strikes me as odd in the face of Mara's trouble." He might be an oaf, but insensitive he is not.

She wrinkles her nose a little. Actually, she's forgotten about her bet-thing with Ai. "Because I'd rather think about things I like than my aunt being in a kitty cat, my father running around with something Moorn and mom both think is dangerous, and mom running around god knows where with just little enough sleep to start doing stupid stuff when she's no doubt playing with fire?" She sniffles. "Good things are better.

Makyon looks distinctly like he's just accidentally hit a deer.

"I'm sorry, Spot. I wasn't trying to be negative, or... oh, bloody goddamn hell." He dusts his remaining dust off, angry with himself for dropkicking a gift horse in the teeth. "I'm not any good at being with people. Forgive me?"

"'Course. But it's not your fault." Ting manages a smile again, though it's not quite as broad as before. "This is just kinda freaky. So. Now that I've gotten all whiny and put stuff in the open..." she pokes him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm a rock, Ting. I have this way of distancing myself from problems... it is how I remained at Shigoriath's side for so long. It wasn't that I didn't care, so much as I felt all the bad things apart from me." Makyon turns a bit, snags his vest thingy.

"Hmm...that makes sense." Ting nods a bit. "Hey, do you know where my mom is?" She's in one of her holding dimensions examining the parasol.

"I have not seen her, Ting." He shakes his head. "I stole a nap and then was here, training."

"Hammock hidden in the cherry trees?" Spot puts on an 'innocent kitty' face. "I know of know such thing."

The slip mage casts a worried glance at her. "Alright, kitten, either that is a fantastic guess, or someone's been spying on me."

Ting grins. "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell mom. Though I wouldn't be sure she doesn't know. Anyway. I live here. And I explore way more than anyone else who does. I find stuff." She actually had found evidence of the hammock before...just hadn't found it itself, or thought another thing of it.

"Oh, I'm sure she knows." Makyon looks down at the ground. He isn't really sure how to react to Ting right now, not really. Mara-kuru's issues bother him more than he would care to admit, of course, but he has no desire to discuss them with anyone. Let alone a chaotic, adorable little ball of ass kicking like Ting. "So..." awkward.

"Ah...right then." Ting smiles a sheepish smile at him, and points back at the house. "I'll just go beat something illusionary up, then, so I don't cause any more weirdness. See you later." She gathers up her naginata, somewhat unhappy with how this had gone, and starts back towards the house.

Makyon bites his lip. That is not how things should go, and he knows it.

And so, he forms a field just in front of where Ting is walking.

Ting stops just short. Blinks, and taps with her claw. "This," she declares grandly, "was not here a moment ago!" Brilliant.

Makyon crosses his arms. "There goes my subtle attempt. What's say we go find your mom and bother her?"

"Hmmm..." Ting turns back around. All told, she's kind of relieved he'd stopped her...just because she doesn't like things to end on a sour note, either. "Okay! Maybe we can try to vote her off to bed. Is this a democracy around here?"

Makyon smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. "We'd have to vote on that."

"Okay! Let's go tell our dictator that. Know where to start looking, or is that my department?" A little hint of a smile starts to return to her face.

"Your department. You look for her, and I'll look at you, and things will be wonderful."

Ting grins at him. "Okay, slapping hand at the ready and...oh! She just got back from wherever she was and...hey! Now she's gone again." Blinks. "She must have been grabbing something. Hmph. Okay, I think I know where she is now, though."

Makyon laughs out loud. "I think your mother needs to take a vacation, Ting. Let's hurry and find her before she flies away again!"

"Hmph. I think she needs a coma to slow down." Pauses. Okay, not really funny. Going on. "She's this way!" Points, winds up to sprint, and then walks calmly in that direction.

Felina, for her part, takes some time to take the same type of cyclographic chart of the parasol that was so important a long time ago, dealing with Ahmin Rei-ono that last time...takes exact impressions of its energies, then firmly seals up the parasol and its energies itself, aiming to block any transfer of energy between it and the outside world and also make it exceedingly hard to remove, even on the outside chance this place was found. This is one of her deepest, smallest, most thoroughly hidden pocket dimensions, more well-contained than even the containing Shigoriath's phylactery and curbing its energy transfer.

She allows herself a yawn once those containment shields are complete and, runic impression in hand, steps from the dimension, sealing it tight and hiding the path she'd taken to get to it. When she steps back into this empty room back in Helantri Deru, she's nearly nose to nose with a certain daughter. Shes smirks. "Personal space, Ting?"

"Nah!"

"Now Felina," Makyon scolds with an evocative finger-waggle, "there is a perfectly good two millimeters between you two."

"Ah, yes, silly me. I shouldn't be so picky." Felina smirks at him, and looks back to Ting. "So. Is there something that you two needed?"

"Still alive, mom?"

Felina looks down. Checks her pulse. "It seems so."

"Yay!"

"You have been on the go so much lately," Makyon adds, hoping to make it look as though they did, indeed, have a benevolent agenda. "We were worried about you."

"I'll be okay, but I do appreciate it, thanks." Felina smiles, and nods. Her face is perfectly even...it's just her eyes that are tired. "I just have a few more things to take care of."

"Anything that a half-useless oaf and a work of art could help accomplish?" Makyon nudges Ting's shoulder.

Ting beams.

"Mmm..." Felina ponders this. "Well, I'm not really needed to get Mara started acclimating into her new body. If you'd like, you two can get her and Iscovis over to Istan Aiga so that Moorn or Iscovis can handle that."

"I think we can handle that, eh Spotter?" Makyon grins at both of them. A light clicks on in his dunderheaded brain, though, and he decides that a smiling Felina will be better rest for her. How, he could not care less.

"So this new Mara. Is she cute?"

"So far. She seems very naive. I'm admittedly idealistically hoping that good friends and all the proper kindness will keep her a friend." She nods.

Ting nods. "She's cuuuute." She grins. "She's in my aunt's body, after all!'

"Well, technically, she was just born, right? It'll be like training a dog." Makyon scritches his hair. "Sort of. Anyway, Ting, want to go and see about getting Mara back into a body I can ogle?"

"Sure! Just ask Moorn that."

Felina snickers.

Makyon rests his chin on his fist, as if in deep thought. "No... I think fiery doom is too unpleasant to risk that." But at least Felina's grinning now. "So let's go already, Ting, you are so slow!"

"Don't make me put a 'slow' spell on you again!" Ting snickers at the memory. "Off we go!" And they're off to Saea's Gardens.

---

Yoru brings herself and Orrin to the front step of Felina's house, or close to it anyway, so as not to intrude on anything. She lets loose of his arm and gives him a gentle shove.

"Now you may lead the way."

Orrin smiles at her, and nods. "Sure thing. Let's try the study first...I think that's a good bet." And he starts off that way.

Yoru hesitates, smiling her thoughtful smile, and follows at a slow clip. Considering. Thinking.

Yes, she decides quietly, I believe it is right. I want see everything, feel everything, but... right now...

I want to break your heart, Orrin.

Her steps make little sound by nature, and she allows her mind to drift away, considering every little quirk of Felina's home as they walk.

Orrin knocks quietly on the study's door...even as he opens it and steps in. "Felina?"

"Hm?" The sentlin looks up from notes she'd "printed" from the cyclographic rune analysis. Smiles a tired smile. "Hi there Orrin, Yoru. Did you to have a nice visit on the nether plane?"

Yoru bows her head to Felina most submissively. "Yes, it was very nice. Orrin is a good host." She looks up with her thoughtful smile. "Are you feeling better, milady?"

"Somewhat, yes, thank you." Felina nods. "Your new appearance suits you well, Miss Yoru, very pretty."

Yoru's slightly more pale than before cheeks blaze with blush. "Erhm... thank you, we worked for a full five minutes on it." She grins at Orrin. "Orrin helped me choose some things. He has lovely taste in women, as I am sure you are aware."

Felina has to smirk at her husband at that. "Oh, does he now?"

Orrin blinks. Raises his hands in defense or surrender. "My lovely wife, of course! And I...ah...oh lovely." He snickers.

"Good save," Yoru nods in approval. She looks around for a chair in which to plop. "Why do you not get some rest, Felina? Your eyes are so weary..."

"I'll take some rest soon." Felina nods. She's be nervous, except tht she's quite positive that that parasol's energies arae thoroughly and completely sealed off, all but impossible to sense. Even she can't feel them, though links to her lockbox dimensions hidden deep in her mind act as alarm systems. Nothing else marks the path to them. She looks up to smile at Orrin when he steps behind her, and leans back on him, suppressing a yawn. "Have you gotten situated into a bedroom yet yourself, Yoru?"

"Not as of yet." The taller Serinian consciously avoids Orrin with her eyes for the moment. "Hey... may I ask what you are doing?"

"Just reading through some energy analyses." Felina nods, and rolls up the scroll. "I really should take some rest, I suppose. Mara's getting situated safely enough into her new body as we speak, and there's nothing to do at this point but to wait."

Orrin smiles a bit at that. He nods. "Yes. You do that." He brushes her hair fully behind her back, and kisses her head, smiling softly, to a similar reaction on her part. The affection between them is more than obvious.

Yoru nods, thoughtfully, averting her eyes. "Before you go," she inquires, her voice rapidly cooling, "whatever became of that parasol?"

"It's safe...but put safely away as long as I'm not convinced that it's not dangerous."

The now taller Serinian smiles, apparently convinced. "And you will not tell me, I am sure. Oh, well." She stands again, stretches her arms. "I think I would like to study a little more while you rest. Orrin, you may come, if you like." To hear her speak, it sounds as though she is making him a concession.

"If you'd like me to, I certainly can," the dumen notes, nodding and smiling.

"Most of the things in this study probably won't allow you to read them when I'm not around," Felina notes as she stands up--she's already adjusted the spells that allowed Mara to, "but anything in the library is certinly fair game."

"Understood. Orrin, come." Yoru spins smartly on her heels and heads to the library, not even hesitating to see if he is following her or not, en route once again to the history books.

Felina and Orrin both blink. He looks over to his wife apologetically after a moment.

Felina pats his head. "Be a good dog, now," she notes, too quietly for Yoru to hear or sense.

The dumen smirks, and hugs her gently. "Sleep well, okay? Everything is as quiet and under control as it's likely to be for a bit."

Felina smiles, and kisses his lips. "Yeah...you should sleep before too long, too, Orrin. You were trying to sleep when I was." She grins at him, plants a kitty-like nuzzle at the base of his jaw. "I'll see you soon, huh?"

Orrin smiles, and nods. "Of course." He catches her hands, squeezes them, and releases them, before heading off after Yoru.

Felina breathes a slow breath...glances at the scroll on the desk. Tucks it into a drawer, shuts it, and then heads off towards that wonderful, illusive thing called "bed."

Yoru cannot describe the sickened feeling in her heart. It is certainly not jealousy, or heartbreak, or anything like that. She fights the understanding, but knows full well that it borders upon disgust more than anything else. Vile, repulsive, natural affection. She could vomit at the thought.

And that terrifies her.

In the study, she heads directly for recent history, searching explicitly for information on the Guardians, and this godforsaken jewel stuck in her wrist.

It's there, in ample supply. Tel-tiono had actually psychically researched and eventually reported the history of the Guardians, starting the work when a friend of his had become one. Felina's immediate predecessor, actually. There are also various third party accounts...some dead wrong. The Guardians are portrayed as everything from great and noble protectors to a psychic conspiracy to wrench control of key worlds from its rightful rulers for their own insidious ends. Neither, of course, is remotely accurate. Felina takes great amusement in them, and keeps them around for that reason.

Yoru reads them in her typical fashion, sifting through the volumes of information for pertinent tidbits, piecing them together. Her mind works as though designed solely to gather information, and though she does not notice it she omits a great deal of what is presented simply because she finds it to be grossly contradicted.

She narrows her search, looking for information on their battle tactics... fighting styles, weapon choices, anything of that nature.

It's flexible, and changes as the members of the group do. The only real constants are the very heavy dependence on dimension jumping and "teleportation" via their crystals, and the fact that they only seldom do anything not related in some way to defense. Counterattack isn't unheard of, but preemption, though present, is rare. Neither Felina nor Diamond--who have directed the group dynamic for a very long time, of course--allow it.

Yoru pulls her hand back from the shelves. So that is how she was getting back and forth. But... they had weapons, signature devices of their own. The more she considers it, the more Yoru believes that the parasol was to be hers. As silly as it seems, it did have a blade end and certainly felt good in her hands. Felt right.

She wonders if there are any books on weaponsmithing.

Orrin wanders in while she's looking for this second topic. Observes what she's glancing at for a few moments. "Looking for books on weaponry, Miss Yoru? What would you like to know; maybe I can help."

"It sounds silly, I know," she prefaces an answer she knows might worry him, "but... I have a jewel in my wrist. That makes me a guardian, does it not? And Guardians have weapons. I thought I might like one, as well." She blinks her newly blue eyes at him. "Something better than a parasol."

"Mmm..." Orrin ponders this. "Well...not all of the Guardians have weapons. Actually, half or less do, since they don't get into armed combat all that often. But, if you'd like to look into various forms of weaponcraft..." Here he takes a book from a high shelf, a slight smile crossing his lips. He does so like this book, and weaponry in general. "...Then I'd suggest looking through this one. It showcases quite a range for you to evaluate."

Yoru reaches for it, but does not take it from him. Instead she lets her mind careen through it, picking up every detail of it down to Orrin's fresh fingerprints on the cover in a rush of information that physically winds her. She leans against the bookshelf, her ears flicking excitedly, as she takes her breath.

"Fans." She looks at him, into him, through him. "Fans, Orrin."

Orrin smiles interestedly...smirks after a moment. He grins, and nods. "Fans...I know how to do. Felina will kill me, but...I can make those." He laughs. "We still need to work with the design...the actual coloured pattern will hardly be set in stone, though."

"Orrin," Yoru reaches out, lays a hand on his arm. "You are a smith, then? Are you familiar with mechanology at all?"

"Sure." He smiles, and nods. "It's one of my two big pursuits in life. Other than the husband-father thing, I mean. I made both the twins' weapons, and all of my wife's armour. Some mechanology...not a lot, but enough to work with." He has a damned good mind for solving physical problems, actually

She smiles a more Mara-ish smile at the father reference. "Would it be an imposition, then, to ask for you to make something like this for me?" She grips his arm a little tighter, so he won't pull away, and sends images of what she has planned floating towards his perception. For now there is no color, only the form of dancing-fans attached to simple-looking bracelets.

"Mmm..." Orrin considers tihs a few moments. "Well...I may need to make a slight modification to your bracelets, but...yes. Yes, I think we can do this." He smiles, and nods.

Her deep, endless blues sparkle, and for a moment the seriousness she had been displaying gives way to the sparkling affection a sister has for her beloved older brother.

"Thank you, Orrin. I will, I promise you, find a way to repay you." Her grip loosens. "Anything you want."

He smiles at her changed expression, and nods. "That's not necessary, Miss Yoru. But...you're most welcome. Well," he makes a beckoning gesture, and heads for the entrance, "let's head down to the forge, then. We can start talking metals."

She nods, with one last glance at the bookshelves. "The forge," she chuckles, "it sounds so deliciously barbarian!" And she follow him, bouncing a bit on her heels with each step.

The forge is completely back in his version of order, now that Orrin's back. This is his pursuit, and so his little corner of the universe. Every man needs his kingdom, after all...and he doesn't have a remote control to lord over. The many rows of sketches lining the walls are fairly neat...a few are still occasionally crooked. It's actually intentional more often than not, a method of punctuation. The tools are all neatly ordered, the floor as swept as an earthen floor can be, and the anvil, alone in the middle of the floor, seems to be just begging for someone to pay it some mind.

"Alright..." Orrin goes straight for his sketchbook, flipping to a clean page. "Let's see..." and gets right to work.

Yoru finds a stool in the corner and perches on it nimbly, tucking her feet up to be comfortable. She watches him work intently... she knows perfectly well that her initial thoughts on the design would never work, and is most curious to know how Orrin will get around the flaws in the design.

For his part, the dumen tries to make some convsersation, but is increasingly distracted by the task at hand. He really does love problems like this. "Okay..." he notes finally... "I think I've got this figured out." He nods, and walks over to Yoru with three pieces of paper that have about nine non-junked sketches on them. "For the fan itself, if we have a thin rod threaded through these points," he indicates these with his finger, then we'll be able to attach the cord in a v-shape, which should solve a lot of problems. It can also be detached, of course...once you get some practice in doing it, this shouldn't take that long to clip back together and be ready to use. As for the bracelets..."

Here the dumen flips to the next paper. "In order to solve some problems with the cord potentially wrapping around your wrist and disrupting the fan's path, we can have a separate topmost section," again, points, "that rotates around the rest of the bracelet. That would slow your ability to jerk and control the fans, too, though it solves a whole lot of other problems, so I'm thinking that we can have them attached to a pair of gloves. Or a couple of rings, or something. It doesn't matter terribly much. Just so long as we have a trigger mechanism on your hand that you can use to lock and unlock the rotating ring on the bracelet easily, probably a squeeze. Unclasp your hand, unlocked. Mmm..."

Orrin looks over his sketches again. "The rest is pretty standard stuff. Diamond-bladed wire threaded through the outside perimeter of the fan, select places on the spokes themselves have true blades, cord will wind and unwind in a compartment below that rotating section of bracelet, still trying to decide the best method for quick winding and unwinding." He blinks. Yeah. It should...work.

Yoru looks over the plans as if she understands them. "Ooh... I like this one." She points at a picture. "This looks really complicated, Orrin. Are you sure it isn't too much trouble? I am sure that I could alter the flight paths psychically, to work with the cord instead of against it, so things would go more smoothly. You should take that into account."

The dumen grins. "Hyperperceptive, telekinetic, check. It would probably be possible to use this without those, but...a lot harder, to be sure. And...yeah. It's really complicated. Really, it looks like a fun project, so certainly not too much trouble. Just know that it will take awhile. There are a lot of individual parts that need to be made."

She straightens up, primly, on the stool. "I can wait," she assures him, almost literally purring. "Unless you feel uncomfortable being watched while you work."

"Well, by 'awhile,' I mean up to a few weeks, even a couple of months..." Orrin laughs sheepishly. "It needs to be fine work to function properly. But, it can be done!"

Yoru wilts. "Oh..." she fumbles for something to say. "I suppose I should have thought of that up front. I was just excited. Well..." she feels like a nit, and it shows.

Orrin's quick to gloss over it. He smiles, and takes a couple of samples of metal from a shelf. Holds out a chunk of a cold, silvery metal her. "Oh, don't be silly. If you've never been in a forge before, there was no way to know. Besides, nothing wrong with excitement." He grins. "Now. I was thinking that this would be the primary material for your blades. What do you think?"

"Pretty," she shakes her head. "But I know nothing about it. Now I think I should have read a geology book too." Her ears, which did not quite grow to match her new size but look a bit more like extra large elf ears, wiggle amusedly. "But if I knew everything it would not be fun to learn. So what is this rock?"

He grins at her. "Very true. This is actually an metal alloy, meaning multiple natural metals have been mixed...it's called 'carbon steel.' It's like regular steel, a mix of iron and carbon, but with a higher carbon content than is normal. That makes it stronger, but also stiffer and so a hair more brittle. I use protective spells to help counteract that and give it back a little of its former flexibility. I like using carbon steel instead of regular steel for weapons that will be exposed to magic because so many attack spells involve heat. This has a higher melting point, so my elemental and heat defensive spells aren't quite as critical...though they're still present." He loves what he does, and is more than happy to explain this. Sometimes, though not always, he's glad to be doing only this instead of using it as a cover for being an assassin.

Not always. But then, Felina understands. He still takes jobs occasionally, when he gets restless, albeit with more discretion in targets than before.

Yoru's eyes practically cross at the explanation. She smiles a hopeless little smile, and nods, pretending to understand. She has quite a bit more reading to do, it seems.

"It sounds peachy! Say..." a thought occurs to her. "Do you have any regular-like fans that I could practice with? I mean... if weeks will pass before you finish, I would have time to figure them out a little."

"Sure." He nods, and heads over to a very large, shallow closet. Opening it reveals a plethora of various armors and weapons. Mostly weapons, since armor is normally made to order and delivered immediately. There's hardly a family of weapon not represented here. "Mm...let's see, now..." actually, it's slightly rhetorical. He knows where everything in here is, and is just moving a breastplate aside to take two tightly folded fighting fans from their peg on the wall. "Here we go." A faint click and smooth hand motion later, and one of them flashes into a fully open position with speed that practically denotes magic. The fan itself is very simple...it's solid white, with a large black circle in the center. The dancing fan borders on funny, really...Orrin hasn't looked this much like a goth chick in awhile.

It's not the most like a goth chick he's ever looked...but that's a different story entirely.

"Before she settled on the naginata as her primary weapon, my daughter went through a stint with fans," the dumen explains, nodding and smiling a little at the memory, eyes soft. He rather wishes she's stuck to them...the really suit her, in a way. "These were hers." He holds both the open and closed one out to Yoru. "Mind the spokes and fan's edge...the edge of the paper is beside the razor wire mentioned earlier, and some edges of the spokes are bladed as well. You'll want your hand placed similar to mine," holds up the open one, "for safety's sake."

Yoru eyes the devices with a critical stare, considering them.

"Like..." she hops down from the stool, reaching for the fan carefully. "Like this?"

"Close." Orrin sets down the folded fan, adjusts her hand gently with his newly-freed digits, and then smiles, and nods. "There you go. Feel how you have control of the base of the fan, now? This is a fighting hold, mind you...for the sake of my saving what little face I still can, you should probably ask Ting about the various holds a dancer or proper lady would employ." He grins.

"Aww... you know, that is a good idea." She beams at him. "I should learn to dance, as well. If you don't mind, I want to ask her right now!" She bounces back and forth on her heels, leaving the ground a bit with each little hop. "Um... where is she?"

"Actually...I'm not sure. Can you sense her? Your senses should be more than sharp enough, once you get the hang of them."

"Oh... right." She smiles sheepishly. "Um... loooooking... hey!" Her eyes sparkle. "I think I found her! It is a very new planet, and there are others with her." She wants to go, but pauses. "I don't suppose saying goodbye with you is the same as saying it to Hal?"

He grins at her. "Anyone with a wedding ring is off-limits, I'm afraid...actually, any man you bid farewell that way will probably follow you until doomsday. He shuffles his notes, and snickers. "Just saying 'goodbye' or 'see you later' constitutes a normal goodbye, sometimes a shaken hand, a wave, or hug, depending on who it is and how well you know them." He smiles at her. She really does have a lot to learn. But, she'll get it.

"Doomsday?" She considers this, pouting. "Okay." She reaches for his hand, thinking that a handshake is probably a good idea for now. Until she can steal his wedding ring, and then, he will be on limits!

He grins at her, and shakes her hand. "There we go. I'll probably be working on your fans. And sleeping." He laughs. "Then with the working. Have fun, Miss Yoru!"

"Goodbye!" She fades into white, as she does, still holding onto Orrin's hand. with the fans tucked into her loops.

---

Ting's ears twitch when she they get back here. "Hmm...I think mom and dad are both asleep."

"Good," Makyon nods, "your mom needed a rest. She was pushing herself again." He laughs his quiet laugh. "I hope you remain laid back, Ting. Felina is fabulous, but she is giving herself panic attacks."

"It's how you tell she's not an evil clone! You know, she baps you a good one in a spar, and you're like, 'gee, what's wrong with you? Don't know that's ouch-causing?' And she says, 'yeah, it happened to me thirty-seven point three times since I got out of bed but," theatric twitch "I'm just fine, so what's wrong with you?' then you know it's the real mom! And if she says 'ooo...I'm sorry, I know I'd never do that to myself now let me kiss it better' then run for your life because it's an evil clone." She nods authoritatively, but then breaks down and giggles.

Makyon steps back from her, regarding her with a quizzical kind of eye.

"Goddess, but you are just like Mara." It's certainly a compliment. Makyon and Mara never really did anything un-platonic together, skipping straight to the 'when you need a hug' friend stage, and he has a distinct fondness for her. Which is probably why he likes Ting as well he does, at least indirectly.

Ting winks, and grins. "I'm part her daughter! Mom doesn't think I know, though. So don't tell anyone. Especially my brother, 'cause I don't think he does."

"Say what?" Makyon shakes his head. "You're just joking, right?"

"Nope!" Ting feels the beginnings of a cramp, and stretches out her leg, pressing it against the side of her head and holding it there. Turning slightly away from Makyon in a way that's not flirty, though, she really just needs to streth. "When mom found out she had a coupla buns in the oven, Auntie was thrilled, but she really plan to have any kids of her own at the time, and that made her sad. So! Mother and father talked about it, and, when Ding and I were still in a really early developmntal stage, Mom took a small part of Mara's life energy, removed a touch of hers from me, and put Mara's there! I'm still more mom and dad than Aunt. It's kinda...mmm...to be waaaay more scientific than I can actually be about it, I'm about half dad, maybe seven sixteenths mom, and a sixteenth Mara-kuru! Even though it seems like a small number, that's really a lot when you're talking about what you're made of, and really does make me partly hers, which was the idea! That and she was kind of around when we were little almost as much as mother and father, so...yes!" She grins, and nods. "Three parents for me!"

Makyon stands still as stone, scratching his head. "... damn," he scritchedly observes.

Ting smirks as she puts her leg down. "Oh, come on. We have to throw you for a loop at least once a week, it's a rule around here."

"Yeah, but usually it is physical." The slip mage returns her smirk, most animatedly. "Say. Want to head somewhere? This standing around is making my spine dance."

"Okay! Hmm...somewhere where?"

"I don't know. There must be more to this planet than your mother's house." He shrugs. He does want to keep an eye on Yoru , but saying as much might come across as hostile towards the newest Serinian.

"There is! Rocks." Ting nods. "There are some caves and stuff, though."

"I think all the rocks," Makyon points at Ting's head, "are right there. Is there nothing you do for fun?"