(Winter Formal) Mhairi, Evelynn, et al

[Mhairi Ankaa]

OOC: I did read the whole 'We Need Pie' scene, and I was so bummed when you had to write me/Mhairi out, but I'm just going to say that Mhairi was to stunned to grab the numbers.

'Oh did Coco mean what we did for a living? Er...oops.' Mhairi thinks as she listens to Evelynn's answer. Mhairi remembered the ogress, and her muscle-y muscles, and smiled at Evelynn's bright recommendation for her too get into contact with her. "You might have to give me her number, I'm not sure if I saved it to my contacts list." Mhairi finishes with a sheepish grin.

Mhairi swallowed, 'Best swordsmen in the Freehold?' suddenly the wasp looked a might bit more intimidating. "Uh. Keeping my skill sharp would be good. Normaly my fan dance," the elemenatl gives a silly smile as she uses Coco's description of her skills, "is more of a...last resort thing...I thought swearing on my blade skill would make me want to improve it...or something...sorry if that sounds...silly." she looks down once more, unsure and awkward. "But that's a good idea. About Ramona I mean."

She falls silent as Coco asks Hank and Evelynn about the possibility of a disguised mailbox.

[Evelynn East]

A mailbox? What an interesting idea! It sounded so neat!

"Oh! Wow! That's such a cool idea!" she gushed, grinning. Only, then it occurred to her that she wasn't sure she was quite capable of what Coco was asking. At least, not yet. A pale hand came up to scratch the back of her neck and she blushed. "Er. I don't know if it's what you meant, but I can't make like... tokens or anything. I'd like to learn, someday, but for now, my inventions are mostly mundane. I mean, I could surely make a mailbox out of something that doesn't look like a mailbox. Maybe give it a keyhole that doesn't look like it should fit a key. Hide it like that. If that's what you mean? But I don't think I could do any kind of magical, contract-y sorts of hiding." Her tone got less embarrassed and more thoughtful, like she was thinking out loud, the more the spoke. She was staring off into space, biting her lip as she obviously tried to work out some of the details in her head... "Actually!" Her voice got abruptly louder again, and her gaze snapped to Coco with a smile. "Do you know any Tokencrafters in the Hold? Maybe they could teach me!"

[Coco]

"Well, speak with someone from Autumn about it," the Wasp replied nochalantly. "I'm sure they'll be able to point you in the right direction, but as far as I'm concerned, tokens are quite irrelevant for what I want. You see, I want to establish a way for the Freehold to share information with each other without having to worry about it being compromised. I think if we had a secure drop box at every Court property, we could make that happen. That way anyone could leave a missive sharing what they've learned, or what they're doing, and we could compile it all into a newsletter to be shared at Court events.

"The trouble is," Coco elaborated, "we have to be circumspect when we have people deposit such missives. That's why we need the boxes to be disguised and why we need them to be secure in case they are discovered. Surely an inventor and a mechanic could figure out something to that effect."

Unless, of course, inventing wasn't Evelynn's strong suite. But, if that was the case, why she would even mention it was beyond Coco. And, speaking of which, that inspired another question for the timid Elemental beside her.

"Oh, and before I forget, Mhairi, just what, exactly, is your foremost talent?"

[Mhairi Ankaa]

The elemental stays silent as the others discuss the drop-box, Mhairi could easily see the benefit of a changeling only drop-box. Back home, The Family had something similar.

'Somehow I doubt Coco is asking about my aptitude for ill-luck spewing, sparkly starness...Well I've never been ashamed of my skills why start now?' Mhairi thinks after the wasp asks after her primary skill set.

"I'm a thief." Mhairi says, a hint of challenge in her fell-flame gaze.

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn was listening carefully to each of Coco's suggestions, nodding here and there, obviously distracted by the thought of working on such an object. She could do that, sure. Especially now that it was clear she meant only a mundane disguise for the box. Ideas, ideas, ideas....

It was probably rude, but she'd stopped listening to the rest of the conversation while her mind went wild with possibilities for the invention in question. It wasn't until Mhairi responded by saying she was a thief that Evelynn came back out of her day-dream and blinked at the Elemental in shock. "A thief? Really? Like... the kind where you break into safes?" Maybe she could get Mhairi to test the security of the dropbox once she came up with a good design.

[Coco]

Coco looked back to the trio after a very lengthy sip from her flask.

"A thief? Oh, wonderful. Quite dashing," Coco chatted. "Certainly an eclectic group we make, don't we? An inventor, a mechanic, a thief, and a blade. Quite the Freehold we make."

[Mhairi Ankaa]

"Ah...more like the kind that lifts wallets." Mhairi told the inventor with a smirk, "Buut, I always wanted to learn how to crack a safe. You never know when a skill like that would come in handy, especially in the wacky hedge places we get to see."

"Interesting is one word for it." Mhairi turns towards Hank after he speaks, "Sometimes its the only way me and my people-family, survive."

The elemental laughs lightly after Coco finishes, "Yeah, we're like a real motley crew." she smiles, but it takes her a heartbeat, then another to realize just what she said. "Shit! Sorry! I didn't mean motley like Motley. I meant - Oh gods..." she trails off, her moonlit skin flushing from her embarrassment as she placed her face into her hands, groaning. The elemental knew how testy other changelings could get if even the barest hint of a Motley was mentioned, and here she is blurting it out!

'First I need more words...then I use to many. My brain to mouth filter needs fine tuning. Maybe Evelynn could invent me a better one.'

[Evelynn East]

Evelynn shrugged at Mhairi's answer. Oh well. Didn't seem like she'd be the type to help her thief-safe the message boxes. Though now she had to wonder if she could use her knowledge to help Mhairi learn how to crack safes...

She was only half-listening to the groups little cracks about the strangeness of their little group, and it drew her attention only when Mhairi's voice got faintly louder when she cursed. She didn't mean motley like Motley? Oh, right. Now she could see why she might have misspoke. Still. Was even using the word that offensive? Evelynn found herself wanting to reassure the pretty elemental that it was okay, but what did Evelynn actually know? Maybe it wasn't. She wasn't offended, but that didn't mean she knew Coco and Hank wouldn't be.