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."

smile as I watch the Grand Sage and Elverly bicker. Their dynamic reminds me of an old 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, Lisa," the Grand Sage says, turning to me with

place for me while Ava

twinkle with understanding. "Ah, yes. It's always important to step away from new mates. Wolves don't have the same deep-seated urges for

at the implication. Desperate to change the subject, I

you working on? Looks like some

is. I'm developing a communication device. Something smaller and more portable than

lean in, genuinely curious. "Like

right now, and I'm trying to address that. But I'm working with limited options due to our lack of supplies." We're refugees, after all. It's not like we have access to the latest tech or endless resources. "Plus,"

11:34

<

Would a

do you

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

what that means. "Right. Gnomes can't

have always been

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

to manipulate other forms of magic. It's a bit like how some humans might have extraordinary physical abilities but no talent for, say, mathematics.

to look at his sketches. They're intricate, full of symbols I don't understand and diagrams that

a network of energy that can carry messages across distances. Think of it like your human radio waves, but powered by

in the way you might think. The device itself would be charged with magical energy, but using it wouldn't require any magical ability from the user. It would

on."

our human world and its inventions, but I suppose that's why he works on magical technology, trying to blend the

our current situation.