A Process of Mending [Casey]

[Juno]

Dominik wasn't normally one to hold a grudge, but he was still hopping mad about what had happened last week. When he'd been in the market trading his most recent furs, some little brat kids had snatched his crossbow and managed to play with it, kick it and smash it pretty good before he'd even noticed it was gone. Now, it was in pieces, or at least what pieces he'd been able to find of it. For days he'd tried to stick it back together, but his skill was not in this and his efforts proved very fruitless indeed.

He was about ready to give up now, ready to scrap the whole thing and try to buy a different one, but he figured he might just want to give someone else a crack at it. What harm could that do? While he hadn't ever needed their assistance before, he knew of a few places and had heard good things about one shop in particular.

Standing before that place now, Grey's Shop as it was so humbly named, Dom gave a sad, but hopeful sigh as he looked down to the sack at his feet containing the pieces of his beloved crossbow. He was dressed simply with brown trousers, a plain black tunic and boots to match. A bracelet made of a few thin strips of soft, woven leather adorned his right wrist. His dark brown hair looked a bit tousled, but that was just the way it naturally lied, and his face bore an obvious five o'clock shadow below those expressive green eyes. Beneath his shirt his wings were flattened expertly to mimic the natural curves of his spine and secured with a black bandaging wrap around his torso beneath his shirt as an added precaution to keep them down on days spent among other people.

With a hopeful look in his eyes, he finally moved to pick up the sack and headed for the door. "Um, hello?" he called as he stepped through.

[Casey]

A pair of emerald green eyes poked out from the back room of the shop. They were placed into a fair skinned face that was speckled with light brown freckles from the bridge of the nose, out to the edge of the cheek bones. Rich colored, auburn hair was pulled back with a tattered, ragged piece of black cloth. The auburn tresses fell in waves just slightly past the shoulders. Matching eyebrows and eyelashes adorned her face.

Olivia stepped out of the back room. She was dressed in baggy mens clothes, from patched up, dirty tan trousers to an old gray baggy shirt, big leather boots and a pair of working gloves. There was a smudge of dirt across one cheek that she was blissfully unaware of. "Hey!" she called to him. She half frollicked across the shop to greet him.

Quickly, she removed her gloves and tossed them on a counter before reaching out to shake his hand enthusiastically. As her hand locked with his, she looked at his green eyes, his dark hair, his tall height, the slight stubble on his face. Well now, wasn't he an attractive one? It would be a delight to help him with whatever he needed. "I'm Olivia Grey. James isn't here today," he was her father, "if that's who you're looking for. But I'd be glad to help you in his stead."

When she finally noted the slightly sad expression and the bag in his hand, she realized he wasn't here to purchase anything they had on display. There wasn't a free space on the walls to be found. They were covered in all sorts of materials: woods, metal, glass. They had anything from a simple toy to an intricate sword, pieces of armor, wooden practice swords, lanterns. Everything was hand crafted, and they all bore the symbol of their shop. It was a unique symbol for their family name, a cloud adorned with intricate details.

Olivia took a step back and looked up at Dominik. "So what have you got for me?" she inquired. Her demeanor was relaxed; a grin was on her lips, her hands hung loosely half out of her pockets, her hip stuck out in one direction as she leaned more on one foot. "Have you ever been here before?" she asked, firing off questions at him.

[Juno]

After closing the door and walking further into the store, Dominik took a moment to look around at all of the pieces for sale along the walls. The things that were closer to him obviously had wonderful craftsmanship behind them, but he only had a few moments to admire them before he caught sight of someone coming out from the back room. The voice he heard in greeting surprised him; it just didn't seem to match the appearance presented to him now.

The baggy clothes made it difficult to discern her gender at first glance and even as she approached he couldn't easily make out how he should greet her. The hair wasn't any obvious giveaway, her gloves covered her hands and her boots were a far cry from the more delicate shoes he was used to seeing a woman wear.

As she removed the gloves, though, he began to realize his mistake. Wide-eyed for just a moment, he blinked as he tried to get his bearings over their handshake. Olivia...? That would be an awfully unfortunate name for a boy... "I don't mind who, no... I've just heard good things of your shop, here." Seeing her close-up, he could see very clearly that she was actually a "she" and felt a bit embarrassed for thinking her otherwise at first.

"Ah, this?" He lifted the bag up a bit in indication, but a sad little smile appeared for the noise of broken pieces rubbing together. "I haven't, no. I haven't been able to fix it and, well, I was hoping you could maybe help me out? It's my crossbow." Dominik held the bag out to her now. "Could you... Would you take a look, um, Olivia? Miss...Grey?"

[Casey]

Olivia took the bag from him delicately. "Just Olivia is fine," she said with a pleasant smile. "I didn't catch your name?" she asked as she practically buried her face in the sack of pieces. Pulling them out one at a time, she laid them in a line on the counter. The look in her eyes seemed to be truly empathetic to the inanimate object. There were so many pieces. Thankfully the metal hadn't been too damaged, a little bent in a couple spots, but otherwise fine. However, the wood was in many pieces. For a crossbow to be functional, the wood has to handle an amazing amount of pressure.

"Is there any part of the wood you'd like to save?" she asked, looking at him sympathetically. Her plan was to carve out a new piece of wood for him entirely, and to fit it just right to the metal pieces strewn out before her. She had to completely dismantle and refit everything back together. It was tedious, due to the perfection that went into its strength. But for her, this was exciting and fun. She loved solving complex puzzles and being put up to a challenge.

Finally, when she'd figured out how she wanted to go about fixing the crossbow in her head, she turned her gaze away from the parts and back to Dominik. "Yeah, I can fix it for you no problem. It'll take a little while, but... patience is a virtue. And it'll be better than new," Olivia promised optimistically.

[Juno]

With a nod and smile for the gentle correction, Dominik watched with sharp eyes as she took the pieces out one by one. "Ah, I'm Dominik Morzae." He winced at the sight of everything set out along the counter, but he gave a sad little smile and sigh all the same as he waited to hear if anything could be done with it. "Save? Uh... nah, however it can be rebuilt, I'll take it," he offered with a chuckle, a gentle smile there as he watched her stare down at his beloved crossbow.

"Ah, really?" A particular enthusiasm brightened his voice as he was already nodding his permission. "So long as it can be fixed, I don't mind at all. How long do you reckon it's going to be?" he asked gently, reaching out to pick up a fragment of the broken wood to fiddle with in one hand.

[Casey]

"Ah... I'd say a week at the least, I'm afraid. Perhaps even two if I run into any complications," she explained apologetically. "Do you need it by any particular time, Dominik?" Part of her hoped he'd say no. Dominik seemed nice, quiet, even a little mysterious. She hoped he'd stick around as long as possible.

After gathering the pieces she'd be keeping into her arms and carrying them into the back room, she called out to him, "Are you a drinking man, Dominik?" She strode back into the room, a goofy smile plastered on her face. "I know a great tavern around here if you ever need to quench your thirst."

[Juno]

A week? Two weeks? The crossbow being his primary weapon, he figured a lot of hunting would go undone. On the other hand he hadn't really had any sort of real break from his work in a long time. "However long you need to keep it for will be fine," he assured her. "I'd rather it be done properly and not be rushed." Watching her walk away, though, he realized as he began putting the rest of the pieces back in the bag just how long he'd be without his precious weapon by the time he'd get it back. Three weeks give or take. Guess I'll have to break out my normal bow. With my luck, though, it'll get broken, too. That'd just bring me back here with something else for her to fix. Then I would be down to knives. No... No... That isn't going to happen. A few weeks to let her fix it and I'll be back in business. Just don't go breaking the bow now.

Upon hearing her call out, though, he lifted his head from his task to peer at her with a twinkle of curiosity in his eyes. "Oh yeah? What's it called?" he asked, a small smile replacing the somber look he'd had gathering up the rest of the broken pieces again. "I do love a good drink."

A small itch at the base of his right wing was beginning to form, but for now he ignored it with the hope that he might be able to get out of the shop soon. It was difficult to will his wings to lie still, though, much as they ached to stretch, the instinctual urge to shudder to combat the annoying little feeling almost irresistible. "Ah, just so I have a rough idea... how much do you think it might be when everything's finished?"

[Casey]

Olivia nodded enthusiastically to his statement of items being built properly instead of rushed. "My sentiments exactly." His agreement to go out to dinner with her perked her interest greatly. She tried not to look too excited, but a wide grin had taken over her face. "Really?" she voiced brightly, and then reflecting on herself, forced a more relaxed disposition on herself. Forcing her lips down so that she might look more nonchalant, she said, "Oh, nowhere special. It's called The Green Dragon. The ale is particularly good."

She walked towards the back of the shop to drop off the supplies she'd kept for reconstructing a new crossbow. When Domink's question of money floated towards her from the front room, she called out, "Oh, not much!" She explained the price. Really, it wasn't cheap, but it was still a great deal for what she offering to do for him. Having to go out a get a new piece of strong, healthy wood, carve it by hand, and assemble the entire thing from scratch. Well, she could have charged a lot more. But to her, the business was more of a passion than a way to make tons of money. She liked to be able to help anyone.

She walked back out of the back room and pointed to the weapons on the walls. "I think I have a few crossbows up here if you want to see how I've made them. Bows, too. Are you a hunter by any chance? You can borrow one of these in the mean time. You and I could go hunting together," she talked excitedly, loving an opportunity to show off her work. Then she realized what her last sentence sounded like, and her face fell again. This time, a blush spread into her cheeks. "That is so say, I go hunting, and I wouldn't mind you tagging along, if you wanted to. I'll be going either way."

Olivia stood there awkwardly, silently scolding herself for sounding, at least to herself, so obvious. She may not have been very lady like most of the time, but it was very much not the womanly thing to do to be thought of as a pursuer of men. Men did the courting. He may not even like her. They just met. Just relax! He's just another customer. Don't be so weird. she thought to herself harshly.

[Juno]

The tavern she mentioned was one he'd heard of and seen enough in passing but had not visited. The way she jumped from enthusiastic to stoic was something he found amusing. Such a bubbly girl in work clothes had been so unexpected upon choosing the shop, but she had already made it clear enough that she knew what she was doing that he figured he need not worry about her skill. Either way, though, there wasn't much else that could be done to further deteriorate his crossbow or what remained of it, and the price she offered was far less than he'd expected for the work.

Upon her return, his eyes followed her pointing finger to what hung up on the wall. Glancing between the weapons and her, however, his face was slowly taking on a look of utter surprise at her gestures. She was doing it again, though, showing that excitement and then carefully tucking it away again. Dominik just found himself gazing up at what had been offered, chuckling softly beneath his breath at her offer. It certainly wasn't traditional in his eyes for her to make such an offer, but it was welcome all the same. "Well, I am a hunter, yeah," he began as he stepped away from the counter to wander towards the weapons, all thought of leaving so quickly now gone. One long arm reached up to run fingertips along the pieces nearest him. Her flustered awkwardness went unnoticed now as the unattended itch began to intensify.

"Do you really hunt?" he asked, quirking a brow as he looked over his shoulder at her. She definitely wasn't a short woman, but even in her current attire she retained such a girlish air that he couldn't help but wonder if her words might be some small bluff. He just smiled and shook his head as he tilted it to face forward again. "Well, I've been itching to get back to work, but I wouldn't mind a bit of sport at it if you'd really like to have a go. I have an old bow I could use, but these... Would you really not mind if I borrowed one?"

Dominik lowered his hand slowly and, as he turned again to step back to the counter, made a quick swipe along his shoulders making to look like he was trying to get at some normal itch as he tried, in vain, to relieve the tingling along his wing. His hand came around again, uncurling to rest along his side. "Huh. I guess it'd be a good test to see what your work can do, right? Let's go hunting, then. That'd be nice. Spend the day in the forest and the night at The Green Dragon?

"When might you have the time to spare, Miss Grey?" He hadn't forgotten her name so soon, but he felt her generosity earned a bit more of his respect.

[Casey]

"Yes, I really hunt!" she said exasperatedly, a small chuckle escaping her throat simultaneously. She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, a smirk on her face despite trying to look annoyed. "Shocking, I know. Who knew a woman could hunt her own meat?" Olivia was a firm believer of being as independent as the men she hung around with. She made her own money, and killed her own meat. Being self-sufficient was not only rewarding, but she enjoyed the intense negative reaction it stirred up in the noble side of her family.

She listened to him further, and pulled down a dark wood crossbow and a light oak long bow, holding out both of them to Dominik. "Trust me, you'll be shocked at the quality. At risk of sounding conceded, I think we have the best work around." She smirked, her chin raised in confidence. "So let's test them out! And please, call me Olivia. Miss Grey sounds too formal for my liking."

She walked off towards the back room to get working on his crossbow, and called out as she went, "Meet me here before sunrise tomorrow morning. We'll see what you can do!" She looked over her shoulder at him, giving a devious grin, and then disappeared into the back.