yogen | cotton candy skies, why can't you be mine?

[ She finds that inside the box is another box, made of warm cherry wood, just large enough to sit the palms of both hands. On the top of the box are engravings of a crescent moon and stars, and a message in the corner as neatly hand chiseled as they could manage: "I love you to the moon and back" ]

...you have to turn the crank on the side, and then you can open it.

[ More feet shuffling, and npckun looks somewhat nervous, not looking at her. There's that sense of anxiously awaiting judgement that weighs upon them every time they deliver a commission, but they did their best to follow the instructions given.

Once the crank is turned as far as it'll go and Nene opens the box, she'll see that the inside of the lid contains a little mirror, wind-up mechanism tucked inside the box proper, and a tinkling melody starts to fill the room. ]

( oh... it's so pretty... nene trails her fingers over the engravings, staring wide eyed and utterly enchanted. the stars are so delicate, the moon has a gentle curve... and the words.

her breath hitches a little, and she blinks away tears before they have the chance to form. following keigo's instructions, nene turns it and then opens it. it's such a gentle, sweet song- like a lullaby waiting to be let free, like stars in the sky.

there's only one person this could have been from. holding the box close to her chest, eyes welling up with tears, nene can only offer a shaky yet bright smile- she loves it. she adores it. she'll never let it go, she'll find a way to take this with her to the next life even-- )

Edited (there is no 'if she can' this is part of her forever ) 2021-12-02 06:29 (UTC)

[ The look on their face is uncertain, teetering on the brink of devastation when they see her start to cry— good? bad? she's crying but she's smiling, and it's not the fake way that they do it so they're not sure... ]

Are you happy with it...?

( nene nods rapidly, hard enough that her head actually hurts a little- she adores it. after a moment of fumbling, trying not to drop the music box in all her clumsiness and bleary vision while she tries to get her phone from her pocket, she types onehandedly... and then retypes again because oh god typos. )

i love it
i'll treasure it forever
thank you
did
someone ask you to do this?

( like she doesn't already know- but confirmation... is always nice. )

[ They go ahead and sidle up next to Nene, shoulder to shoulder, in order to look down at the screen, because unlike a book, the screen is tiny and they have enough troubles with it as it is. But whew... Okay okay, good, they did a good job. Good. ]

Yeah, you're welcome! He said his name is Hanako, and he paid a lot for the commission, so I wanted to do a really good job on it! -—actually, I always do a really good job on my commissions.

[ Mm, turning their attention back to the box, ]

This one was fun, though. It's made of cherry wood, see? It might look nicer if it were varnished, but I didn't so you would be able to smell the wood. Cherry wood is nice and sweet- give it a sniff!

( she knew it. nene's teary smile only widens, and she tries to wipe her eyes clear to appreciate the detail again. --how the heck did he pay for this though, has he been holding out on her? ugh. if she can ever leave this place as herself, she's making him buy her a gigantic parfait, then. after she's done hugging him for 30 hours. ... maybe more.

but you learn something new every day. at their behest, she lifts the box to her face and sniffs. ... oh! nene looks at them like, and forgive the lack of prose, :o exactly. wow!!!! )

[ Yeah, where did he get the money... It's not like he was a student with a PDA containing merit points either, but perhaps he had something else of value that the shopkeep accepted.

Whatever it was, it was enough, and that's what matters. ]

It's nice, right? I wanted to make it small enough to carry around and not take up too much space, but there's enough room inside for you to keep small trinkets too! I have lots of pretty rocks at the store if you wanted to buy them to keep inside!

( TAPS MAP, ORION EXPLAIN

oblivious to this line of thought though, nene smiles and nods. some trinkets would be nice... she has the polished stones still, maybe those. or... oh, if she could get resin she could make little flower necklaces with some of the herbs. wouldn't that be nice? )

have you ever tried jewelry making? i think you could have fun with it
i'm gonna keep it with me always

( and if anyone breaks it, well, there's childe and jason's new tallies lets be real. )

[ npc-npc interactions get to be secret (: ]

Oh, a little bit! Gemstones are very popular to make into rings and necklaces, but that's so simple that it gets boring. Polymer clay can be used to make cute hanging earrings, and shaping wire is also fun! I've tried beading, but that's not very fun either, it's too methodical.

[ They can do it if commissioned, but planning is the fun part and actually following the plan gets boring. Wood, clay, wires on the other hand... they love crafts if they can shape it themselves, and that little joy is clear in the way they chatter on about it. ]

( WEHS LOUDLY.

hmmm! hmmm. --wait shit has she not been using text to speech, let her fix that, please don't mind the apologetic look. )

no i think that makes sense, its fun being able to let the creativity flow more
it needs some safety precautions but have you ever worked with resin?

( the music box comes to a stop. automatically, nene winds it again. )

[ It's nice background music for a conversation like this— and it hits them how rare it is for them to have a conversation like this. ]

A little bit before, but not a lot... I looked up lots of manuals though, and I tried for Tarou-nii's birthday present! Do you want to see? Come here, come here, let's go to Tarou-nii's and my room! I want you to see!

( nene nods, because heck yeah she wants to see? who wouldn't, honestly. she lets them take her along, still holding the music box to her chest. maybe some molds would be nice for them to work with- fold foil and dried flowers and other pretty things that can be placed and preserved so nicely amongst dye. she's sure a lot of people would pay highly for a nice resin art piece, too. )

[ Yessssss okokok, they trot on in front of her, throwing a glance over their shoulder once or twice to make sure she's following, and then unlocks the door to the bedroom. It's filled with pothos, vines trailing over the top and sides of a bookcase bookending the bunkbed, several in pots fixed to the walls, little hanging glass bottles with cuttings in front of the window so that the sunlight passes through and brightens the room with a light spring green. And next to that window is a small personal writing desk, not very big but something they're still proud of. ]

...It's natural split wood, with some rocks on the bottom for the riverbed and epoxy resin poured down the center with dye swirled through it so it looks like running water. Resin looked pretty messy when I was researching it, but this is just pour and let set, so it was easy.

( oh... the plants all over... even with her flowers from kazuki, she's a bit jealous. maybe she should move one of the abandoned jade plants to her room...? ...no, they're for the club. that line of thought is quickly pushed aside though when they show her their creation- it's so pretty! nene gasps, leaning over to admire it with starry eyes. eventually, she manages to remember to actually respond with her phone though- )

it's gorgeous! is this really your first time with it?

[ Nene's smile is a good sign, and the nervous shuffling settles down a little, the shopkeep straightening up a little with pride when he hears the compliment. Praise will never not feel good. ]

Yeah, but like I said, it's just pouring! I'm more familiar with working with wood, so once the table's put together, it's just the natural beauty of the wood and the rocks and the flow of resin.

[ It's pretty, but more importantly, sturdy. A small table but one well put together, though most people aren't super interested in the technical aspects like craftsmanship as they are with how visually stunning something is, so they quiet down again and leave it at that. ]

( hm... maybe if she asks someone, they can help her get them some molds. she loved watching resin tiktoks, she knows there's some pretty ones. who could she ask, though?

but there's no use thinking of that right now when she's in the middle of a conversation, really. nene admires the top a bit longer... and then bends at a bit of a silly angle to see if there's desk legs. is it just a slab that sits on your lap, or...? )

[ There are legs, the table itself low to the ground and meant for sitting on a cushion on the ground rather than up high on a chair, but it's... maybe it's not so obvious unless somebody knows what they're looking for. There are no nails or metal joints reinforcing the wood, but she can see the interlocking dovetail joints most clearly on the short edges where surface drops down to the legs.

...

npckun also bends over at a silly angle to try to see what Nene's looking at. ]

( AH

she's been caught, blatantly moving for a look at another angle! woe!! sheepishly, nene smiles a bit before pointing at the legs, a quick, wordless explanation. )

Huh? Ummm...

[ They look down at the table legs, back up at Nene...

... ]

It's walnut. A different wood than the cherry I made your box out of. Walnut is famous for its strength and durability, so Tarou-nii can bang it up as much as he wants and it'll still hold. The wood will lighten, too, when it gets older, to a honey color that'll look nice against the blue of the resin.

( ohhhh... that makes sense. nene nods in understanding, standing up straight again. and hey, not only did she learn what the legs are made of, but she learned it even has legs! two for one, way to go nene. )

its wonderful
and really well thought out
i bet he loves it so much

[ ... ]

...I hope so.

[ He'd said so, but still, mmm...

If they were to be honest (which they will never be, not about this, not to Amami's face) the present was kind of ... There were complicated thoughts there.

... ]

Anyways, that's what I wanted to show you. If there's anything you ever want made, please come commission me!

i will, promise.

( delivered with a soft, sweet smile- though admittedly, something about being in amami's room is making her feel a little jittery. there's always something about someone else's bedroom that feels off, especially if it's the first time and you don't really know the resident(s) that well. but she can work past that for one more, sincere message: )

thank you again. i'll treasure this music box always.

cotton candy skies, why can't you be mine?

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