Tangled

Unshift 311

Unshift 311

311 Lisa: Would a Watch Work?

LISA

"You've gotten fat. Elverly greets me, in that traditionally hateful way of hers.

Does the fact that I missed her toxic tongue mark me as abnormal? Probably. But I hug her anyway, smiling when her body doesn't tense, even as she grumbles at me for touching her without permission.

The rest of the night with Kellan was nothing but awkward silence. Being away from him is a blessing right now. I just keep thinking about how he smelled-yeah. No. Not thinking about that. "I'll ask next time. How have you been?"

Elverly's snort could mean anything really, but I choose to interpret it as I've missed you too.

Maybe I'm psychotic. Or delusional. But I'm pretty sure that's what she means.

"Their food is terrible," she mutters. "Not a cook among them."

"They are refugees from war," says the Grand Sage, sounding rather resigned. "It isn't as though they would gather the kitchen before escaping."

"Food is important, the old gnome woman snaps. "Eating well is an important part of recovery."

""Yes, yes."

married couple, though I'd never dare say that out loud. Elverly might actually bite my head off if I did. "It's good to see you,

place for me while Ava

away from new mates. Wolves don't have

I nod towards the papers scattered on the table

are you working on? Looks like some

developing a communication device. Something smaller and more portable than

genuinely curious.

right now, and I'm trying to address that. But I'm working with limited options due to our lack of supplies."

11:34

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Lisa: Would

you

turns to face me fully. "Not everyone in our camp can utilize or sense magic. We

Yes. Obviously that's what that means. "Right. Gnomes can't use magic. Or wolf

smiles. "We gnomes have always been deaf to

"So, how does that work with werewolves? I mean, their whole shifting

his eyes lighting up. "Werewolves do indeed have a form of innate magic that allows them to shift. But that doesn't necessarily translate to an ability to manipulate other forms of magic. It's a bit like how some humans might have extraordinary physical

nod, leaning in to look at his sketches. They're intricate, full of symbols I don't understand and diagrams that make my head spin. "So, how exactly

Grand Sage picks up his pencil again, tapping it against the paper. "The basic principle is to create a network of energy that can carry messages

using it wouldn't require any magical ability from the user. It would be like using a flashlight. The electricity makes it work, but you don't need to

on."

he works on magical technology,

sighs, running a hand through his beard. "Resources, mainly. We need certain materials to construct the devices, and they're not easy to come by in our current situation. And then there's the matter of testing and refining the design. It's a