An Unnatural Love of Shiny

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Now that Nehaalista could work a little bit more naturally (her leg still ached, but at least it wasn't hard to walk on), she'd set out to find a forge. And found one she did, recently used, if the embers in the forge were any indication. With a little, strange sort of almost-grunt, she dropped her box of ore on the ground beside and relit the flame, stoking it until heat boiled from the red mouth of the forge.

While on shore leave, Nehaalista had been able to purchase some ore. To not do anything with her hands while stuck aboard Stacy would have driven her crazy, and Nehaalista wasn't about to let that happen to her sanity. After all, what would happen if she did go crazy? Start gyrating wildly while standing on a mailbox?

She wasn't a night elf, for Light's sake. Sorry, Choline.

Nehaalista prospected half the box, pulling away a few dozen uncut gems and setting them aside. They were strange, and Nehaalista couldn't think of names, but had arranged them by color. The rest of the ore was melted down into bars, one of which Nehaalista hefted in one hand.

Now, what to make? She pushed away a limp, sweaty curl and swished her tail against the chair, thoughtfully.

Comments

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista smiled at the girl and went back to work. Shape, and tap, shape and tap, until the ring had grooves to hold the stone she had polished up earlier. She wasn't sure what to "say" exactly, and so motioned the girl closer.

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph took a few steps forward and smiled widely in the Vindicator's direction. The taller woman looked scary in her earth-vision, but seemed to have a pretty easygoing stance. She was favouring that one leg, though.

"Do you make jewelry?" Toph pulled out her hunk of space rock and began to bend it, to make oddly shaped bracelets in one design after the other.

It hasn't quite clued in yet that Nehaalista can't talk.

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nor had it clued in that Toph couldn't see. Nehaalista signed quickly, [I do, at home I was a jeweler. And a miner, but mostly a jeweler. My father was one, too, so I suppose I have a talent for it.] She shrugged and her eyes widened as she watched Toph work.

[Is this some new Shaman trick no one's told me about?] Boy, wouldn't Akirum have loved to see that?

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph could 'see' Nehaalista's gestures, but she had precious little idea what they meant.

"You're very quiet, aren't you?"

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista sort of rolled her eyes and glanced upward. Well, of course, she was quiet. She couldn't speak. She tapped her throat with one finger and shook her head, the easiest way to signal to her inability to speak.

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

Toph's face flamed.

"You can't talk. And I only see through the ground." She held up one of her feet, surrounded by a very thin layer of something crystalline. "This is either going to be very fun or very annoying."

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

[It will be an adventure,] Nehaalista signed and nodded in agreement. She tapped the ore and pointed to Toph's feet. [How do you... do that?]