As soon as Yukari reached the appropriate door, she was quick to set her things down, if only to give her arms a break from the trip. Oh, jeez, she was never going to pull something like that off on her own again.
After a breath, she lifted a hand to knock on the door of M22. "Adelheid-san? I'm here!"
"Come in," Adelheid called out, though he was careful to turn his back to the door in question. He could, mm... ah hah! He pretended to be searching for something in his closet, so that his face couldn't be seen by the girl.
"...and you can just lay your things inside if you wish."
Yukari opened the door, propping the door open with an arm while she hovered by the doorway. She intended to greet him first before dragging everything back inside, but it looked as though she had caught him in the middle of something.
"Oh, sorry to disturb you," she apologized, first grabbing the two brooms and setting them against the wall by the door. Quickly, she gathered the table legs in her arms again, glancing around to pick the best spot for them before setting them somewhere on the floor by Adelheid's bed.
She then paused, curiously glancing over in his direction. "Is that all you need from me?"
"Oh no, I'm the one who should apologize." The last thing he wanted was to potentially offend someone like Yukari. Granted, no one was quite like his own sister, but Adelheid was still willing to be cautious.
He half-turned, his left eye focused on Yukari- his right with its intricate tattoo turned away from her, hopefully- and offered a slight smile as he glanced at what she'd brought. "I just need your preferences. Height, general shape, things of that nature. There's a good difference between a long bow, a recurved bow, and a Japanese bow, after all." At least, he sure hoped that was what she was asking about. The events of the previous two nights had left Adelheid just a bit... disoriented.
This was the second time he apologized to her, and Yukari couldn't quite figure out why. Inquiring over the bulletin didn't get her anywhere, so she wasn't sure if she should ask again; well, whatever he was sorry about, at least she could say there wasn't any hard feelings over it.
Fortunately for him, Yukari didn't catch what he was trying to hide-- he seemed distracted enough by what he was rummaging through in his closet, and by the time he responded she was mulling over his questions enough to not notice anything strange about him. "Typically we use longbows during practice," Yukari began to explain. "I'd say make the length of it somewhere around eighty-five centimeters, since that more or less fits my height."
"I understand," he said after a moment, pretty sure he could get what she wanted. A longbow wasn't too bad, it was all one piece of wood, and with alchemy he could make it flexible enough to be usable. At least, he was pretty sure he could, in theory. Putting it into practice would be something else entirely, he was certain of it.
Still, after a moment, he glanced around and asked, "Did you bring anything for the string?" If push came to shove there were the sheets he could use, but somehow he doubted that would be quite as good as she would like.
Yukari blinked, staring at him expressionlessly until she brought the palm of her hand to her forehead, nearly looking like she was pained; string, of course. How could she forget that?! Obviously she wasn't as prepared for this as she thought, letting all her anticipation getting the better of her...
"I... didn't," she answered sheepishly. "I guess I could go find something for it."
Ah, he had been afraid of such. That was the problem of having a weapon as complex as a bow; there were far more things to keep track of than just the amount of metal that was needed. But that face-palming and sheepishness only made the boy smile a little, an oddly fond sort of expression. His own sister had a head for business, but every now and again she forgot some important detail and expected him to catch it for her.
It was far, far too easy to slide into that role now. Almost comforting, in a way; far moreso than that guilt and pain that had seemed to latch on to him ever since last night. "Don't worry about it. I was planning on heading out anyway, I'm sure I can find something that will work."
"Are you sure?" Yukari interjected quickly, sounding as though she were reluctant to take him up on his offer so easily. "I don't want to make you go out of your way because I forgot something."
"It won't be out of my way. Like I said, I was going to be heading out anyway." Adelheid offered a small smile to her again, wanting Yukari to know that it honestly wasn't that big of a deal. Sure, there was a bit of fear in there, but at the same time... there was chivalry as well. And what was the point in punishing Yukari for a mistake anyone could make?
"Well..." She had to admit, it would be very helpful, even if she didn't like the idea of burdening Adelheid with that task. He knew the ropes better than she did, so perhaps he could locate what they needed quicker than she could. With a light sigh, she gave into his request. "All right, no reason to say no."
The irony of him having to convince Yukari to go along with his plan was not lost on Adelheid, but it wasn't like the boy held it against her. He was certain he could find something on the way that would fit what she needed; there wouldn't be any worries there. Besides, the more pragmatic part of him wanted to say, people remembered good service, in the arms business like all others. If he went the extra mile for her, perhaps she would be willing to do something extra for him later. It was a hope.
"Very well. Would you like me to deliver this to you tomorrow, or would it be better to leave it here for you?"
"I'll come by to grab it," Yukari answered, now displaying a much brighter expression. Chances were she'd be out and about anyway, so no use waiting around, right? "That way you don't have to waste time walking all the way to my room."
"I understand. I'll leave it on the bed for you, along with any arrows I might be able to make." He doubted he'd be able to make tremendously many of them, but he'd do his best anyway. What else could he do, considering?
He was glad that she was smiling and looking brighter now, though. In away, it helped to assuage his own guilt, and so long as nothing too tremendously bad happened, then he should be fine. He hoped so, anyway; he didn't want to fail on something as simple as this.
Adelheid nodded, then stepped back into the closet and pretended to get back to work. That didn't take too long, and he was glad that that was the case. Now he could hopefully get done with Miku, and then he'd be good to go with Edward and get some more work done. Such a busy night, but... better than doing nothing at all. That was the hope, anyway.
Finally.
As soon as Yukari reached the appropriate door, she was quick to set her things down, if only to give her arms a break from the trip. Oh, jeez, she was never going to pull something like that off on her own again.
After a breath, she lifted a hand to knock on the door of M22. "Adelheid-san? I'm here!"
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"...and you can just lay your things inside if you wish."
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"Oh, sorry to disturb you," she apologized, first grabbing the two brooms and setting them against the wall by the door. Quickly, she gathered the table legs in her arms again, glancing around to pick the best spot for them before setting them somewhere on the floor by Adelheid's bed.
She then paused, curiously glancing over in his direction. "Is that all you need from me?"
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He half-turned, his left eye focused on Yukari- his right with its intricate tattoo turned away from her, hopefully- and offered a slight smile as he glanced at what she'd brought. "I just need your preferences. Height, general shape, things of that nature. There's a good difference between a long bow, a recurved bow, and a Japanese bow, after all." At least, he sure hoped that was what she was asking about. The events of the previous two nights had left Adelheid just a bit... disoriented.
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Fortunately for him, Yukari didn't catch what he was trying to hide-- he seemed distracted enough by what he was rummaging through in his closet, and by the time he responded she was mulling over his questions enough to not notice anything strange about him. "Typically we use longbows during practice," Yukari began to explain. "I'd say make the length of it somewhere around eighty-five centimeters, since that more or less fits my height."
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Still, after a moment, he glanced around and asked, "Did you bring anything for the string?" If push came to shove there were the sheets he could use, but somehow he doubted that would be quite as good as she would like.
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"I... didn't," she answered sheepishly. "I guess I could go find something for it."
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It was far, far too easy to slide into that role now. Almost comforting, in a way; far moreso than that guilt and pain that had seemed to latch on to him ever since last night. "Don't worry about it. I was planning on heading out anyway, I'm sure I can find something that will work."
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"Very well. Would you like me to deliver this to you tomorrow, or would it be better to leave it here for you?"
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He was glad that she was smiling and looking brighter now, though. In away, it helped to assuage his own guilt, and so long as nothing too tremendously bad happened, then he should be fine. He hoped so, anyway; he didn't want to fail on something as simple as this.
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