[voice]

[wannabethehero]

[The audio on this message is a little hard to pick out from some background noise - it sounds like Kiwi is in a public area with a lot of chatter.]

Hi everyone. So, Will is staying with me for a while. He's been really stressed and sad, after the monster attack and...some friends of his getting sick.

So I want to do something to cheer him up; I'm putting together kind of a last minute party. Nothing too fancy...if you want to come over, we can play some games or just talk. I just want to remind Will that we love him and we're still here!

Let me know if you'd like to come...and don't tell Will about it! I want to surprise him.

Comments

[begguiling]

[Of course he's getting that hug returned. Magolor cuddles shamelessly in Will's arms, pulling back after a long moment—but not entirely away, not unless Will lets him go first—to hold something up to present to him. Ta-da!]

Happy . . . well, there's nowhere to go with that, huh? Anyhoo, surprise!

[twistedempathy]

[Will doesn't quite let go, though he does shift to a one-armed hug as Magolor drifts back. He only has a moment to be surprised, before he's beaming in delight instead.]

Awwww, that's adorable. I had no idea you could sew!

[The plushie and the living plushie Magolor both get cuddles now]

Thanks, Magolor.

[begguiling]

[That smile . . . geez. Magolor feels a lift of joy himself. For as much as he's always in it for the profit, there is another part of him that genuinely just loves seeing happy customers, and that extends to when they're not paying customers at all. And it's been hard lately: this is only the third thing he's crafted on this planet, and one of those went to someone he'd never even met, and another was supposed to go to someone who seems to have succumbed to the vanishing illness, if that is what's happening to the newcomers. At last he gets to see a big smile from someone he actually cares something for. Even at a financial loss, it's . . . worth it.

He smiles back, a little smug, but also a little pink.]

Hehe, consider this a double surprise, then. I'm a craftsman of all types! But sewing is especially useful for me. It's not like I can find clothing tailored to me on most planets, so I learned how to make my own.

[twistedempathy]

Ah--I hadn't even considered that! There's no way you'd be getting new outfits without making them yourself or hiring a tailor. Even getting things altered can be expensive, let alone made from whole cloth.....

[He's just gonna carry Magolor over to the couch so they can sit while they talk. He knows all too well the pain of expensive tailoring--he's a man who values style himself, after all, and the selection in Havenwell is rather lacking even for people who have the right body shape for what's available. Maybe Magolor can spin this plushie into an investment?]

I've never really tried making things myself, cooking aside. Do you like it?

[begguiling]

[As per usual with Will, that isn't a question Magolor gets asked often. It's interesting: he'd started out of practicality and then for reasons of profit. But he can't deny how good it feels to design and make something—enough that now he's here doing it for no reason other than that he misses it, and wants to see people appreciate his work.

So maybe the answer's a little more clear than he thought.]

Hmmmm . . . I do! I won't say I started out for the love of the craft, but I grew to like it. I'm good at it, and who doesn't like what they're good at? A good craftsman knows how to exercise his brain and body both to get results!

[twistedempathy]

Hehehe, I guess you had no choice but to fall in love then, huh? I mean, you wouldn't want to be seen at anything but your best!

[A general truism, maybe--but also something he's just noticed about Magolor, period. He's just so poised and polished, so so confident and collected! It's rare to see anything but him putting his best foot forward.

.....Wait. He doesn't have feet. Best hand forward? Either way, he'd surely never settle for wearing anything that wasn't both expertly made and flattering.]

Sometimes the clothes make the man, and sometimes the man makes the clothes--so is it both in your case?

[begguiling]

Now that you put it that way, I can't help but agree!

[He giggles again. There's something a little dark about the humor of this: he remembers, though hazily, when and how and why he began wearing clothing at all. It isn't just that it's hard to find anything on this planet that fits him. Most of his kind don't wear clothes, so it's not even like he could go to some mystical homeworld full of Magolors and hit up a shop there; it doesn't exist. He had had to teach himself how to alter the Halcandran garb both to protect himself and to fit in, and had learned over time how to make it reflect exactly how he saw himself and wanted to be seen by others. . . . The clothing had made the man. Without it, he wouldn't be able to pull off the exact aesthetic he does, or to go undetected so long on Halcandra.]

I'd say it's a chicken and egg type of deal.