we can get a little crazy, just for fun, just for fun (part LXIV)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part LXIII.)

Zack stepped out of the portal, looking at the woman standing in front of Steamopolis. "Good day, Lady Emilly!"

For her part, Emilly had walked out and had been peering at the roofline, before sighing and turning to head back into the house. She startled slightly, turning.

"Oh! Or not. I wanted to make sure everything was back. It's not, but...we can live with the missing bits better."

Zack looked at her, eyes slowly traveling down from the top of her head to the tips of her painted toes, and smiled. "You look...quite sexy in that outfit, if I can allow myself to say."

Emilly smiled. "Thank you!" She looked down at the dress that was more two panels of silk fabric held on by side ribbons, embroidered with arcane symbols. "This is more, um...touch of grr-argh from Mont Nuit, I think."

Zack grinned. Emilly blinked. And then looked surprised, but smiled again.

"No, not for that reason--that was yesterday, anyway. This was more...They're going to decide if I'm too furry to be a fur on their sim, and grr, but still...I have options."

Zack's smile warmed. "Still have quite a bit of an erotic side..."

She grinned. "Well...I'm me...I think there's always going to be a thread of that..." She thought for a momment. "The possible exception being Dinkies or chibi dragons."

Zack laughed. "Indeed...Well, you do look charming either way."

She inclined her head. "I thank you."

"So, hmm...about the potential clinic buildings," he began.

"Ah, right," Emilly replied. "If none of them exactly suit, tell me what you are looking for, and I'll see what's out there to drag back."

"I actually found somethign that would probably fit in Marketplace...hold on, I'll send you the link."

"Oh, cool." She pulled out her hand unit, scanned the dimensions, the prims, and nodded. She put in the order, then looked up.

"All that would be needed is to furnish it," Zack said.

"That, I may or may not be able to help with, but that's possible too, depending on what you think of the layout."

Zack blinked. "I didn't buy it, or see what it looked like when rezzed. But from what I've seen, it looked good for Gearhaven."

She nodded, rezzing it into being, positioning it slightly better between the stone circle and the lighthouse. "It really does," she said, walking forward. She opened the door and stepped in. "It's gorgeous inside," she called over her shoulder.

Zack stepped in, looking around. "Indeed."

Emilly clapped. "So, yay! You have your clinic. So two questions--"

Zack looked at her.

"One, do you want it on the port network? And two, if you do, inside or outside for the port circle?"

"The port network?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Oh!" he said. "You have a teleport system."

She nodded. She rezzed out one on the ground, mossy stone base under the pale glow of the protective Vegvisir marking. "This one's not named, so it won't bring you back here if you go, but these are scattered around and about."

Zack thought. "Well, I think outside, at the entrance? Close to the stairs, would be good."

She moved it into place, naming it at the same time.

"Exactly, right there!"

"Now you're linked!" She smiled at him.

"About the furnishing? What do we decide? Do you want me to do it, or someone else will?"

"You can, or if you'd rather we do it, just tell us what you think you need. Otherwise, you can build freely with the estate tag."

"I can think of a few things, but I would like to propose that Phoenix can also work here if he wishes...I think he is also a bit of a healer himself, isn't he?"

She nodded. "Mostly spiritual, but yes. He does massage, a bit of work with healing salves, as far as I know, so it would fit."

"Then I'll speak with him to have his advice on the clinic's furnishings." Zack looked around. "I hope Justine and Hiro will like it."

Emilly looked up at the structure. At the steam chimneys on the side, the stained glass windows, the red and black tiled floor in the main room. She smiled. "Oh, I think Hiro's going to love it. Also pretty sure Justine will like it."

Zack nodded, thinking. "You know what I would do if we had to put someone with a medical emergency up in the wild?"

Emilly looked over. "Hmm? What?"

Zack reached out into the weave of elemental forces, summoning up thin sheets of rock that formed a simple shelter. "This," he said, chuckling.

She smiled. "Very nice."

"One of the few little magic tricks that I've learned." He paused. "Oh...when we speak of Justine, I think I can...feel her presence."

Emilly tilted her head. "Oh, that's interesting. Side effect of the healing?"

He shook his head. "No, something innate."

"Now, that is intriguing."

Zack nodded. "Intriguing indeed...When I think about it, I'm surprised to see how magic works in Gearhaven."

Emilly pondered how to explain. "I think...part of it is, some of it's magical, and...some of it's quantum theory put to practice. For example...my shapeshifting is partially genetic, partially an enchantment, but when I fold space? That's something I picked up from Hiro, and it's just...realigning bits of reality. They exist here, and there, so with a little energy manipulation...you can convince them they're concurrent. And step through."

"Is it because of some...remnant energy coming from the interdimentional rift, or is it that there is really some ancient energy, somewhere inside the land of Gearhaven?"

"I wouldn't want to try it for very long distances, that's why I was worried over Athena...Hmm?" She played his question back in her head. "Well, strange things have always happened on this land. Land spikes, strange square angled pits down to bedrock, the seabed occasionally bubbling up when it was never touched. Spears of land through rooms. That sort of thing."

"So...Probably a source of energy that is exploitable, both by magic and technology."

She nodded. "And you may not be wrong--we have a stabilized rift overhead, which is the sole reason Tannhäuser exists, and we have a barely stabilized one in the tower, now. So...things are bound to happen."

He nodded. "I have noticed how my mana crystals regenerate well here with the proper type of energy. There are apparently two ways to regenerate them, and they both require stamina to use."

"But that's good tha they recharge effectively here."

"Indeed," he nodded. He smiled at her again. "You've been working hard today, Lady Emilly, haven't you?"

She smiled. "Well, there's been a lot of running around. People to free from durance vile, ballrooms to dance in, pools to dance in, apparently...clinics to buy."

He smiled back. "Maybe a relaxing massage, or a bath with a Companion, would help you relax a bit?"

She looked slightly regretful. "I would accept, but sadly, I'm due to be elsewhere fairly soon. And I would hate to reach a really good...relaxing...point...and have to leave."

Zack chuckled softly, smiling, and stepped close t oher. He lifted her hand and kissed the back gently.

She beamed up at him. Then looked up, tilting her head, the tiny tick sound of a comm channel opening barely audible. "Tch, and see? There's the call to go."

She squeezed his fingers gently, then stepped back. "All right. I must go, but thank you. For the healing on Justine, for telling me about the building. Knowing us, we'll probably need it..."

He bowed. "It is always a pleasure to help."

Emilly smiled, reaching out to fold a bit of space to transport elsewhere, and disappeared from view. Zack walked back into the clinic, pulling out his own hand unit to take notes on what would be needed for Gearhaven's new clinic.

(Continued in part LXV.)