[closed post: shadow and bone]

[ravkanwitch]

Nina is back in the library but with a different task in mind today. She has a couple books on weaponry spread out on the table in front of her this time and she's flipping through them idly, glancing at some designs. Weapons have never been her forte; who needs them when all you need to do is think and squeeze a hand and be able to incapacitate a man that way? But death - death is more fickle than life. She can't just defend herself with the concept of death, especially in a place that seems to lack it. No bodies to control, no graves with secrets to collect. She needs something more substantial.

And yet, it's a slow process. She finds herself distracted, thinking about the day of visitors. Seeing Kaz Brekker in the flesh again. Liu Mingyan. Speaking with Baghra about the Darkling. She's thinking about the long, long life that must have led to lead him to who he is now. She's not necessarily sad, just -- pensive. Lost in thought.

Comments

[timebethine]

Laertes glances down, and swallows. "The creature to which they belong would be far larger than our Temeraire."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina picks up one of the bones out of curiosity. "Hadrosaur radius bone," she reads the label. It's two feet long and it's a slightly pock-marked, as if from wear and tear. "Does this seem long enough? It's slimmer than the rhino femur. I wonder if I can take other bone material and... somehow cement this together and make it stronger."

[timebethine]

"It would be a very short sword," says Laertes thoughtfully, eyeing the length of the bone. "More a long poniard than a rapier. But ay, it might do, and a band of metal to support the bone might be of great help."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina hefts it in her hand, debating. "Do you think we should try and find something longer? This sword is mostly-- With the undead, at first I felt a little helpless... until I figured out how to battle them. I'm worried I would be overwhelmed if I faced anything stronger. The sword doesn't have to be perfect, I think I just want an extra level of protection."

[timebethine]

"I felt as thou didst," Laertes admits. "Sagramore was eager to fight, but I had never faced true foes before that day. I had never before known true peril. It took some time for me to overcome that fear and truly glory in our combat."

[ravkanwitch]

"Combat can be fun sometimes," Nina admits. "A revenge scheme that doesn't involve anyone actually dying is even more fun. But if I'm going to be honest, I'd much rather eat waffles with friends."

[timebethine]

That change of subject lights him up a little. "Has Galahad brought thee thy waffles yet?"

[ravkanwitch]

Her expression brightens as well. "He made waffles?"

[timebethine]

"Ay, and I made cream for them, and Magnus made certain they were all thou deservest. I'm sure that, once the Christmastide fast ends, Galahad will make thee such a plate of waffles as will warm thy heart and stomach."

[ravkanwitch]

"I'll be very happy to have them. You can get them from the kitchen here, but they aren't quite the same as fresh." She hefts the bone in her hand again. "If you think this will work for a shorter sword, I'll start working on whittling it down."

[timebethine]

"I think it will--thou hast a good, long reach; that and the handle together will make a good length to keep thy foes at a distance. And better, if thou canst make it fly like thy little knives."

[ravkanwitch]

"I could also ask Lan Wangji if he has any tips on that," Nina says, really starting to warm to this idea.

[timebethine]

Laertes's eyes go wide. "If he can teach thee to fly on thy sword--"

[ravkanwitch]

"Is that something that can be done?" Nina asks, excitedly. "Well, I suppose it makes sense..."

[timebethine]

"He does--when I first met him, he was balancing upon the blade, sailing through the air like a sparrow. But his blade is prodigiously heavy, and no doubt just as strong--"

Laertes pauses, and reaches back into the dinosaur bone drawer. He withdraws the beefiest femur he can find. "Do thou see if thou canst fly with this."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina gives it a dubious look but takes it from him, struggling with the weight slightly. With the flick of a hand, it is floating in the air. She can control the movement of twenty corpses without thinking and without jurda parem; a single bone is nothing.

She lowers it, sitting on it carefully, then raises it in the air again, giving Laertes a big grin. "We should really look up what a dinosaur is."

[timebethine]

Laertes raises his hands in sheer delight, an abortive effort to clutch his face. There is nothing better than watching Nina float around on her bone. With all apologies to Sagramore, this is the greatest moment of his entire life. "Let's."