(Untitled)

[ready_aim_toss]

Name(s): Winry, Godot
Location: Ravenclaw Tower
Week: 30
Time: Uh. I truly have no idea what day this is. Let's say Monday, to be simple. In the evening some time.
Rating: PG

Comments

[bitter_inferno]

"You might be able to let me see red again." Walking back from his beloved coffee machine, he absently pushed a hand through his shock of white hair as he considered the possibility. It was odd that the way his eyes interpreted light's reflection should mean so much... and yet. "It is my favourite colour," he added. "And being able to bring down Hellfire on the Gryffindors would be so much more enjoyable." As it was, looking at Gryffindors red items and even Shalice's hair induced something of a headache.

Taking another mouthful of coffee and plenty of time to think over her words, it occurred to Diego that this was an area he knew very little about. As a Ravenclaw and even moreso as a former lawyer, an unexplored area of knowledge was both a delight and an aggravation. "That sounds promising. I take it you do a lot with automail, then?" He'd been duely lectured on his good fortune that he had not lost any limbs to the effects of the poison. If he had, no doubt Winry would have more than a mask to improve upon.

"Is it?" He grinned at the last comment, teasing her. "I hadn't noticed. It comes in very useful at breakfast," Diego added dryly.

[ready_aim_toss]

"Maybe," Winry said cautiously. "I can't really know for sure. I'd have to get a proper look at the design papers, and some of my old master's work as well. But I think it's doable. There have been a few breakthroughs in this area recently, but no one's really gotten around to working with them properly." She grinned. "I could be the first."

Winry blinked over at him at the question. "A lot...?" She laughed. "I've been surrounded with it my entire life. There's never been anything else I've wanted to do." Well. That wasn't entirely true. There had been a brief period in her life when she'd wanted to become an Auror to find the person who'd killed her parents, but she'd soon realised that she'd have no idea what to do with that sort of information, and promptly set the idea aside. She would have been miserable as an Auror, anyway.

She huffed, mildly outraged. "It's horrible! What, did they think the size made it look cooler or something? It looks like a toaster!"

Tact; Winry lacked it. At least when it came to metal working.

[bitter_inferno]

Even if it was just a possibility, that was enough to make things look up a little. "That path is easier to find once you have a map. If you need access to papers, I am sure something could be arranged."

That made Diego grin. "Surrounded your entire life? That must have been interesting." He swirled the coffee in his cup, enjoying the aroma as he spoke. "Most people I know aren't surrounded by metalworks in their cradle." Another sip of coffee, and he considered the girl before him. She sounded interesting and not being able to observe her motions for clues as to her behaviour and personality was a pain. He could still hear her though, and sometimes for a lawyer that was more than enough. He had another comment on the tip of his tongue when she mentioned the masks aesthetics.

"Judgment cannot be passed if the mirror is clouded. If it didn't work, then they wouldn't have a care in the world." Toaster, huh? That wasn't the first time that term had been thrown around, and Diego found himself trying to remember exactly what it was a toaster looked like. "I did say it comes in useful at breakfast," he joked casually over his coffee.

[OOC: Sorry for the slow orz]

[ready_aim_toss]

"That would be great!" Winry said happily, tinkering with the mask a little. "It'd probably be easier if you were to get them. There tends to be a little...healthy competition in the automail field. This mask isn't exactly automail, but it's the same sort of principle." Working quickly with practiced ease, she switched over a couple of generic parts that weren't anchored to spells with her own (better) versions. "There! That should make it a tiny bit lighter, for the time being. I don't know if it'll make too much of a difference, but it can't hurt. You can't use magic on it, by the looks of things. It interferes with the sight spells. Looks like I'll have to build a new one from the ground up." She didn't look too disappointed at that prospect.

"Oh!" She handed the mask over. "You can have it back now, I'm done with it." She smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much for letting me take a look."

Winry looked down at her hands, criss-crossed with old burn marks from when she was just starting out. She'd never been the most coordinated of children. "Well, metalwork, and disinfectant. But interesting only begins to describe it," she said dreamily. "Most people you know have been missing out, then. My grandmother's a genius mechanic. I've lived with her since I was about four or five years old. You pick things up, you know?" she joked.

She blinked at the thing about the mirror. "I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that," she announced, and then laughed at the toaster comment.

[bitter_inferno]

Diego nodded his understanding. He knew all about competition, healthy and otherwise. "I have friends in legal circles," the former lawyer noted. "Getting the golden egg is far easier when the dragon is tamed." And far less likely to end with anyone getting burned, he added to himself. Automail wasn't his field, but every specialty had its rivalries and potential messes. "I'm sure we can arrange something," Diego replied with a smile. "Perhaps Madame Dalmasca will grant you extra credit for the effort." Diego didn't call Ashelia "Cobarde" -- at least not in front of a student. That was the realm of Godot.

Reaching out to take the mask, Diego opened his mouth to counter. The effort was cut off by a shuddering, rasping cough that had him leaning against the desk and almost doubled over it almost instantly, his weakened body wracked by the painful breaths. The white mug hit the ground with a clatter and his finger scratched painfully over the wood. It lasted a long minute, a feeling like his lungs were on fire and the flames were racing over his skin. It took him a second, two and three more of just breathing after the coughing had stopped before he could very calmly pull on his mask again. The familiar weight on his face and the cool metal was a relief as the world came back into view, and he ran a hand through his hair as if nothing had happened, and Winry certainly had not seen another side of his illness. The mask was back on. The shields were up.

Leaning over, he picked up the broken mug. "Do genius mechanics know much about fixing favourite coffee cups?" The question was casual, ridiculously so, and Godot made it even worse by just looking back at her with a smile.

[ready_aim_toss]

Winry stared at the teacher. "...I'm very glad I don't take your class," she told him. "I don't think I'd understand half of what you're teaching. But you can contact me through journal when you get the plans! Or, you know. Just pull me out of Potions or something." She cocked her head to the side. "I'm not sure if Professor Ashelia gives extra credit. I don't need it, anyway. I'm already ace-ing the course. We had a really good conversation about automail though, when we were stuck together." Any conversation about automail was a good conversation to Winry; a really good conversation was high praise. "I enjoy her class. She's a smart lady."

She flashed him a smile as he went to take the mask, an expression that quickly turned to concern and then outright horror as the professor attempted to cough up his internal organs. "P-professor? Can I - is there anything I can do?" she asked urgently as the mug broke. Is everyone in this school subject to random fits? She stood, and was about to go over to him when he stopped, drawing in a few deep breaths.

Winry stared at him. "...Reparo," she said faintly, waving her wand. The cup reassembled.

[bitter_inferno]

"Good. Don't know what I'd do without her," he commented calmly, taking back the cup and inspecting it a moment. He mulled over her words. "'Smart lady'?" Propping up his chin on his hand, he looked at Winry intently. Smart kid. Obviously. What gears run her logic? He wanted to know what made her tick and the hands swing around to point at Ashelia Dalmaca with respect. "Interesting. That's a kinder word than some would use."

His breaths had returned to normal and he looked fine as he ever could, but his lungs throbbed with a dull ache. He'd have to see to that. Pushing himself up out of the chair, he grinned at Winry. "I think I'd best find a drop of my finest soothing brew," Godot commented as he took a few steps towards the coffee machine. It was the closest to an explanation of the coughing fit as he'd allow himself to go, if only to put the girl's mind a little at ease. "Something must've gone down the wrong way." Like a compliment to Cobarde.

Turning back, he trained his gaze on her. "I'll get onto those papers in the moring. Is there anything else I can help you with in the meantime?"

[ready_aim_toss]

Winry stared at the Professor some more before coming to the conclusion that he wasn't about to explain what had just happened properly, and it was really none of her business anyway.

She shrugged, not realising that 'some' referred to him. "I'd trust my own judgement over anyone else," she said simply. "Professor Ashe is a really good teacher. And she's the sort of professor who actually cares about the success of her individual students. At least, I get that impression from her. I don't know her very well," she admitted with a laugh. "But yeah. As professors go, she's very good."

Winry looked down at the notes she'd taken again. "...What on earth is that?" she muttered, peering closer, before rolling her eyes. You knew you needed help when you couldn't read your own hand writing. "Nope, I'm good!" she said in answer to his question. "Just let me know when you've got the design papers, and I'll get to work right away!" With the prospect of a new, challenging project, Winry had perked up noticeably from when she had entered the room. "I have to go an decipher these notes." She waved them a little, before frowning down at them again. "...Is that an 'e'?"

[bitter_inferno]

For some strange reason, a mild pang of guilt struck at Godot's gut, but only long enough for him to sweep it away. Winry was a nice child, but she already knew more about him than most people at the school, and he was a man who preferred to keep the details of his life wrapped around in mystery. He might act out not caring if a student found out - with Sasuke, for example - but that was not reality. Apparently Sasuke had not told her, either, and he smiled at the thought. If he hadn't told her, then odds were he had not told anyone else. Gracias, hermano.

"Judgement's scales are hard to balance," Godot said neutrally, giving away nothing. "Even the sharpest sight can be blind and need the guidance of others, and even the most trusted tongues can be tied misconception." He paused. Kitten and Sparky had both laid mention of Dalmasca's ability, and now another respectable woman. Godot chuckled to himself and shook his head. Dynamic women do seem to take a shine to you, Cobarde. Are you foil to the crow or the jewel in the crown?
"Thank you, amiga. I'll remember that." Raising a single digit, he tapped the side of his head. "The library always benefits from fresh stock. You can never tell what discrepancies lie in dusty tomes."

Her efforts called forth a grin. "Those papers and a spell for deciphering code. You can't rush a good brew, but I'll get it to you while it's still hot," Godot assured, strolling over to the doorway. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Winry."