Downtime and a Chance to Relax [Demi, Nana, Invite][NR]

Well... now that he knew everyone was safe; he could calm down. Demi was safe, Nana was enjoying the change of scenery; and she was excited again over his offer to carve her a new slingshot. He had the scraps to do it; they had brought everything from the beach with them, and he'd had his little knife and the materials there. Said materials where spread out on a small flat table; his large form almost folded to sit cross legged in front of it on the floor. He had the small knife in his hand; running the blade alternatively across a finger pad and a small honing strip; conditioned and hardened leather that showed the tells of ages of use; almost white-blonde in color after thousands of uses. The bits of rawhide string where soaking in clean water while he worked out the final sizing and shape in his mind; occasionally glancing to his daughter to make sure his mental images of her hands where absolutely correct. It was easy enough; she was sitting in her mother's lap fiddling with her old sling; the one that was too small for her now; it made it easy to place the center of gravity, and to start to customize the grip for her hands. She wouldn't have to worry about blisters this time; he could make it special for her; even add some leather for protection now that she was older and bigger.

"Nana, love. Did you ever decide if you wanted special symbols or decorations on your new sling?"

Demi hands were busy, moving through Nanalie's hair, and braiding it just like she had recently done her own. Nanalie had mentioned that morning that she wanted feathers and beads in her own hair, and Demi was more than happy to oblige. Nimble fingers worked through her daughter's hair quickly, sliding feathers and beads into place, weaving them in so that there would be no worry of them coming loose later: an entire small container bursting with beads of all shapes, sizes, materials, and feathers of much the same.

Her tongue stuck out between her lips as she concentrated, but after a moment she chuckled, an old memory rising to the surface of her mind. "You know Destiny used to have a slingshot when she was a little girl... anything she hit, exploded. She was always blowing things up... almost blew me up one day, but that was an accident... I think." Her tongue slipped between her lips again as she went back to concentrating, currently working a ice blue colored feather through Nanalie's long hair.

Nanalie was concentrating on keeping as still as well... as she possibly could as her mother worked on her hair. She looked from her old sling to her father before listening to her mother then speak. Her eyes lit up with excitement at the idea of such a thing. "Can my slingshot make stuff explode?!" Because... it was completely normal for a little girl to want to go blow stuff up compared to playing with yucky dolls: or that was Nanalie's way of thinking. Dolls taught her nothing, weapons taught her a lot. Weapons for the win!

She reached sideways, picking through the beads for the next one that was going into her hair: she hadn't chosen any of the plastic ones, and instead was only picking through the wooden ones. She picked out a blue one that would match the feather and held it up, so that it was ready for when her mother needed it.

"I think you need a tad more training before I give you access to that rune; love. I'd rather you learn the basics first." The different sized scraps; none where the perfect size, but that wasn't an issue. He just had to make sure he had enough to work with to start, and he could fuse the pieces when he got that far. Each piece was layed out in a certain order; he'd need warp and bend certain parts to get the right angles and maximize the range of the shots.

"How about this... for now, a basic fire enhancement? It'll heat up anything you use as shot; if you hold it long enough to charge fully, you might even be able to fire flaming projectiles. It's not the same as making targets explode; but it will teach you control."

And the smallest scrap; an idea that popped into his mind at random; picked up and worked over quickly. Rounded, a hole pierced through it, sanded with nothing more then the rough pads of his palm; smoother then perfectly formed ice. Nothing special; but it would fit with the theme. A soft whistle; alert; then gently tossed; underhand and easy, to Demi. An extra bead, one that wouldn't show it's purpose until it was woven into Nanalie's hair.

Tongue still between her lips she looked up when Flynn whistled, eyes moving to the bead he had made. She caught it easily and looked it over for a moment before starting on a new braid. Nimble fingers worked quickly again and within moments it was easily slipped into place, where it wouldn't easily fall out or get lost if Nanalie happened to move a little too much.

Another chuckle escaped Demi as her hands kept moving. "I don't think Mister Kane would appreciate you blowing up anything inside of his building anyway..." She could only guess of course, with the things that she knew Destiny had gotten away with when she was a child though, it wouldn't surprise Demi if Alec was perfectly fine with it after all.

She continued to watch her father work and nodded softly with another giggle. "Okay. I like fire anyway." Another reason to practice, and a goal to work towards, it would motivate her even more than she naturally was. Her smile turned into a grin and another giggle slipped out.

She watched the bead her father had made get woven into her hair as she glanced sideways to the mirror across the room. She giggled again at the face her mother was making with the way she was concentrating. "Don't you ever bite your tongue like that, mommy?" Her amber gaze turned back to watching her father work as she waited for her answer.

A soft smile appeared on his face now; all he needed to do was to focus the energy for a moment before the little bead began to glow the same pure blue as the runes upon his bow did when active. A single rune had been placed on the bead as he formed it; Shield. It was for her protection; a constant barrier that would keep her safe from anything that tried to harm her. He'd tweaked it slightly; added conditions onto it so it would "Smart Activate"; that was to say, activate without input, but only when certain conditions where met. In time, as she learned more of the way the Rune's worked; she'd gain active control of the little barrier; but for now it was a first line of defense for her.

And now back to work he went; scratching at the wood bits with a claw and allowing the sharp fibers to slice his skin lightly; enough for a single drop of blood to fall. It would awaken the wood; alert it that it's master was in need of it's abilities; two bits of wood pressed together with the blood in the center; causing them to fuse into one, long, strip of ironwood. If someone was to inspect the piece now; they would never know that it had been anything other then one bit since it was broken from the mother tree.

A quick dunk in the pure water, another drop of blood; the bits that formed the angles struts; the Y in the slingshot; bent and twisted into shape before fused to the top of the other piece. A basic shape; but at least recognizable now. His knife was put to work again now; refining the curves; adding the notches for the bands, smoothing and adding proper texture to the handle for her grip. All those little things that took so much time and patience and skill; and that he loved to do. A moment was taken before he began to carve in the few Runes that would be inscribed into it; the rawhide retrieved from the water and placed into his mouth to be chewed down; it was a normal thing to do; the enzymes in his saliva would soften the the leather while it was still wet and make it easier for him to stretch and twist and form into the proper lines with all the power she would need.

She now took the blue bead from Nanalie's hand, weaving it into the last braid she had to make for her daughter's hair; her own beads weren't so light and colorful, but other than that they matched easily enough.

At her daughter's question she tilted her head. "Aye, sometimes. But, I heal fast enough... And it doesn't really hurt when I bite my own tongue..." She finished with the final braid and smiled. "There, all finished!"

Nanalie glanced over to the mirror, noticing the way the bead seemed to glow. She giggled after a moment, and then reminded herself that she had to remain very still until her mother was finished. She turned her amber colored gaze back to her father, watching him make her slingshot, her mouth slightly open in awe as he did so.

As she listened to her mother's response her brow furrowed: she couldn't understand how it didn't hurt. She knew her mother had some pretty sharp teeth, teeth sharp enough to pierce flesh. So why didn't it hurt when she bite herself? "Why doesn't it hurt?" She got up after she was told that she was all finished and after a quick glance at her reflection she turned around and hugged her mother happily.

When finished she wandered over to her father and sat down nearby, watching him make her slingshot, while waiting for her mother's answer, and feeling slightly stumped about the reasons why.

A final swipe of the blade and the form of the sling was finished enough to start attaching the lines. He pulled the leather from his mouth; slicing the scrap into thin lines and then braiding them in a way; leaving an opening in the center where he could add the pouch/catch for the shot. Tied to the notches, pulled tight and stretched over all sorts of angles; a way to condition the leather. The last bit of scrap was placed in the open rope area; sitting perfectly to allow for shot to be flung properly; a bit of heat and a sliver of ironwood used like a needle and thread to bind it.

"I don't feel it when I bite my tongue. Although, that is just because I've bitten the same spot so many times that it has scared over."

With Nanalie no longer sitting on her lap she turned herself sideways and layed down on the floor. She stretched herself nice and long, toes and fingertips pointed before allowing her body to relax. Once comfortable she folded her arms beneath her head and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking.

Eyelids fluttered shut as she lost herself for a moment to her own thoughts; like she always did when planning one thing or another. Her dragon-looking tattoo began to move around her form lazily, down one up, back up, and then down the other, as if Demitria was being far too still for it to be content with.

Nanalie titled her head. "Oh...", she said softly, figuring that made sense. She kept her amber colored gaze on what her father was doing up until she noticed her mother stretching. A playful smile spread across her face suddenly.

She shifted, as if she were going to pounce on her mother when the tattoo moving began to catch her eye. Her head tilted in curiosity and she moved closer, just in time to see the dragon looking tattoo move down her mother's arm. She reached her right hand out and very lightly placed the tip of her finger on the tattoo where the dragon's back was.

"It looks bored...is that why it's moving?"