klutziness | ic; contact [pixie led]

Will any gem work? I have parts of a sapphire that I can give you for your project.

i dunno, that's the fun part!! i get to figure it out!!!! but with all the magic running around, something is bound to work
no way, really? that'd be so super generous of you

Of course. I don't have any use for them really and if you need them for your project, I'm happy to share them. I was really just breaking off pieces and using it to pay for things but it's a really good quality sapphire. It's almost a waste just giving it to the fae.

thank you thank you thank you!!!
you are literally the best!!!!!
i'm gonna do awesome things with it, just you wait

I'm excited to see what you do with it. Let me know if there's anything else I can do or help with.

i absolutely will
it's mostly going to be testing to be honest

The testing was always my favorite part. Not that I didn't like the designing or the building, but there's something to actually getting to see all that work come to life that I've always enjoyed.

same here
seeing your work come together is something special
even if it doesn't work the first time, it just gives you concrete things to improve on

Watching it blow up just means you have a better idea of what went wrong. Not that I recommend working with faulty prototypes all the time, but every once in a while, it's fun just to run with something.

it keeps you on your toes, y'know?
but don't worry, i'll be careful
and there will be lots of testing, trust me

Yeah. It's definitely good for that. And just let me know if you want another set of eyes on anything. I'm always happy to pause what I'm working on to help.

you know you're always my first call
don't worry, when i have something cooking, you'll know
and likewise, by the way

Edited 2025-06-13 01:59 (UTC)

I'm working on a few commissions now, but I'm going to be working on breaking down a dagger forged with magic soon, if you're interested in working on that with me. I have a feeling it's not going to be an easy project.

breaking it down??
why???

I was asked to. The owner wants to use it for something else.

sounds tough
not usually my area, but how hard can it be to reverse that kinda thing?
rikku is on the case!

It's been kicking my ass, so yeah. There's some kind of enchantment on it that is fighting me, but I appreciate the help. Maybe another pair of eyes can see what I'm missing here.

Haru heads downstairs from the dorms, intending to pass through the common room and outside - and draws up short. (Now she's very glad she attached a picture to her Leaf profile; she wouldn't have bothered at home, but this is a much smaller community.)

"Excuse me - Rikku-san, right? I have the gems for you to work on my armor - and a couple others you can use to test for effects you can't cover yet."

Will either of them work? Haru has no idea at all, which is why her customisation request is sticking to something Rikku already knows she can do. But they'll never find out if she can't test anything.

When she isn't bothering the blacksmith, bartering in the marketplace, or working on her equipment orders, Rikku is usually tinkering with some machina or other in the common room. The last one is exactly what she's doing when Haru approaches her, but she quickly abandons her work on the table when she recognizes the other girl.

"Haru!" She sounds genuinely happy to see her, and it isn't just because of the gems. Just mostly. But who can blame a girl for wanting to get her hands on some shinies? Especially magic ones.

A grin spreads across her face, and she hops up from her chair. "Awesome! D'you have them on you? I wanna get a look at them as soon as I can so I can start experimenting." Without her chipper demeanor, that might have sounded a little concerning; but as things stand, she's just excited to have something new to work on.

"Just a moment, everything's upstairs." And with that, she briefly disappears back in the direction of the dorms, returning with an armload of armor and a couple of small baskets.

"These are for the actual work," she says, passing over a basket with an assortment of rubies and garnets, eight total. "I figured fire resistance is generally a very good idea." (She flipped a coin between that and lightning; water's not something she usually has to deal with in combat situations, and she has a natural resistance to ice now.)

"As for experimenting, that would be the other basket. Based on the colors of spells that I've witnessed, the green ones might work for wind, and the others might work for psychokinetic. I can help you test the latter, but for wind I'll need to ask if one of my friends could do it."

There are a dozen or so gems in the second basket - emeralds, jade, opals, and something that she thinks is topaz, but whatever it is it has the proper pink-cyan-yellow haze of a good Psy spell.

While she's gone, Rikku clears up space on the table, shoving various tools and bits of machina into the pouches at her waist. She expects a few gems, but not this many. Her green eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees the second basket, and sucks in a breath.

"You've been busy! What'd you have to trade away for all this?" It's only a half-serious question, and she's already pawing through the red stones, setting aside the ones that seem likely to work. She can have Jayce help her break them apart later, once she's sure.

"I have a little patch of garden at the clinic. Where people weren't glad for fresh flowers and vegetables, they accepted errands in trade." Haru is doing her absolute best to avoid getting tied down in too many open-ended bargains.

It's clear that Rikku is impressed with her work ethic. Once she's done looking at the red gems, she moves on to the basket with the assortment. She takes more time sorting through these, trying to figure out what to look for. "Who knew produce could get you so far, huh? You must really have a green thumb."

"I try. But I have to admit, it's going better with a proper patch of land than it did in planters on the school rooftop."

...Where she could already get useful, edible vegetables in a week or less. In November.

Even if she doesn't know these magics, she has a few that she thinks will be strong contenders. The only trick will be figuring out what they do, and how to incorporate that into equipment. So, a pretty big trick.

"There isn't much gardening where I'm from." She holds up one of the gems and squints into its depths, like she's looking for something. "I grew up in a desert, though."

"That would cut back on the possibilities somewhat." There are plants that thrive in deserts, but they have very different needs to the ones Haru's more used to working with.

"Yeah, lots of cacti, but some of 'em talk back if you get too close." It had taken her a while to be able to tell the difference between the sentient old cactuars and regular old cacti.

She sets the gem aside, satisfied with whatever she's seen. She pushes the "reject" basket towards Haru. "I'll work with this stuff, and you can take these back. Uh... minus this one. Payment for my services, y'know?" She grabs a regular topaz and flips it in her hand with a winning smile.

"Truly talk back?" It could also be some kind of metaphor, but Haru's not inclined to rule anything out.

"That's entirely fair. Let me know when you're ready to test things out with the new ones, and I'll see who I can grab to toss some Wind spells at you."

"Yeah, but it isn't like, an easy language to learn. We've got just a couple of Al Bhed who speak cactus." Benzo being the best, and he's just a kid. Rikku herself has zero interest in learning it, but she also hadn't been interested in the fae language. Look at how well that turned out for her.

"You got it!" She tucks the payment gem away in her pocket, and leaves the others in the basket. "Thanks for going to all the trouble. I really think we're gonna come up with something super cool!"

"That would be so fascinating." Haru would give quite a bit for the chance to talk to her plants properly.

...Not to their captors, though.

"You're quite welcome. I know it'll take time to get results, but it's somewhere to start."

hey how do i get a charger? do they work on different devices? i have something i might be able to trade...

you've come to the right place! rikku's awesome al bhed emporium is open for business!!
i've got different adapters you can take a look at, and if none of them work, i can work on a new one
whatcha got?

[OH GOD THE CUTE GIRL WITH THE CHARGERS IS TEXTING HIM. HOW DID HE NOT THINK THIS FAR AHEAD]

okay so it's really good so i want the best value you can give me for it okay? maybe chargers + an IOU. or whatever

but I came here with my whole backpack from school. So I still I have my school laptop. i need a charger for my phone and a charger for my nintendo 3ds. also if you want to use the laptop you'll need to charge it. plus an iou for the cool armor stuff or... something.

[he attaches a picture of the laptop open and closed. it has a big "PROPERTY OF SHUJIN ACADEMY" sticker on the back.] ((OOC: it's kind of a shitty chromebook situation, but rikku could absolutely grift this guy if she wants to.))

[oh no he's so bad at this, she's laughing on her end of the leaf]

slow down there, bucko!
i've got a whole host of different adapters for phones, so you can look through them
the laptop and 3ds might be trickier, but nothing i can't handle
not much of a bargainer, are you?

i've um

i've like traded pokemon cards before but uh.

no not really.

but it's a good deal! even if you don't use it the laptop has like

hardware. in it.

how about this
you lend me your laptop so i can take it apart, check out its insides, and put it back together
i won't even keep it

that's really reasonable! thank you!!! where should i um... bring it?

[now he just has to try very hard not to look at her boobs when he meets her. oh god.]

[good luck bud]

oh yeah i'm the most reasonable person you'll ever meet
i'm usually in the common room in the mornings

good 2 know.

I'll be there tomorrow, then!

[And he is! An awkward teenager with raven black hair and grey eyes waits at the furthest corner of a table, his laptop, 3ds, and phone laid out neatly on the table in front of him while he pretends to scroll the leaf. Has he slept? Don't ask.]

O-Oh! Hi.

Edited (wording) 2025-09-07 03:35 (UTC)

[Rikku is dressed like she's about to go on the world's most fashionable safari, and it's easy for her to spot the guy she's supposed to meet on account of all the electronics in front of him. She knows very well now what cell phones and laptops look like, though the 3DS is a new one.

She flops down into the chair beside him, pulling her bag from her back with a big smile.]

Heya! You're the one lookin' for a charger, huh?

[Oh no. She's even cuter up close. Breathe, Yuuki. Breathe. At least she's not in the bikini top. His voice comes out a little too loud at first.]

YEAH! Um. That's me. I'm Mishima. Yuuki Mishima, but everyone calls me Mishima.

Here are my. Uh. Electronics!

Nice to meetcha, Mishima! I'm Rikku.

[Rikku pulls a magic charger out of her bag--it's about the size of a cell phone, with a cord and adapted on one end. She then starts to pull half a dozen different attachments out, lying them on the table.]

So, we'll get you and your electronics fixed right up. Just go ahead and start trying stuff out to see what sticks, okay?

I know. [Idiot! who says "I know" after a girl tells you her name?! Mishima's palms already feel a little sweaty. Woah, her eyes are cool.]

I m-mean I recognize you. Uh. from the. The Network. [Not much better.]

Oh! Yeah. Let's see. [He seems a little relieved to be given a task He starts to sort out ones that look like they might work, and gives them a try]

This is really impressive. How'd you get it to work?

ic; contact [pixie led]

text — un: defender;

text; un: kerplowie

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text | un; mishimashi

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Wow this tag is old! feel free to handwave/drop