Elementary, My Dear

At a towering fountain in a central hub of the city of Inverness, Vela settled herself to one of the far sides to conduct an experiment. She'd planned it at an hour where she would not be overwhelmed by too many passersby. The attention was unwanted. The student had crafted a boat about the size of her paw and settled it upon the surface of the water. Buoyancy...the ability or tendency to float on water. How does it work in comparison to gravity...?

She referenced her notes, noting the way her tiny ship swayed on the rippling surface. The question is...does one's gravity change when going from air to water? Or is another principle at work to cause the illusion of a change in gravity...? The girl had a few other objects to experiment with and as she studied one, she honed in on it. Taking notes of its makeup and properties before moving along to the next.

There was her small boat made of wood and then she had a marble stone, which would sink to the bottom. Stones sink. Yet, ships far larger than mine float. There is more to all of this than meets the eye...and if I can determine that...what's to keep us from learning to fly? That was the goal. Vela smiled to herself, enjoying the challenge of piecing together the puzzle of the world around her.

@Savard

To any wolf in this great wide unknown of a world, Inverness sometimes felt to be the most sane, happy place in all of Rionnach. Even with the days of war not having passed too long ago, there was almost an air of peace about this place. He could get used to the feeling… if he were to believe it. Savard was not one to claim an intimacy with Inverness, after all, he’d only been there four or so times, all of which were brief business ventures years ago. Still, he found it oddly charming, a place worth lying and boasting about. A place like this always had a dark, rotten underbelly to it, one that those in power surely wished to pretend didn’t exist. And yet… Savard found it funny how nobody extolled or visited Rionna in such a way, No… because the seat of the Imperials was universally seen or what it truly was, a scummy, vile place, where those living in its shadows were no more clean than those living atop the hills looking down at the world. It was almost comical, how a place riddle with such dishonesty was so easily seen for what it was. At least this place maintained its veil of innocence and kindness, and considering what else was out there… it was as good a place as any to be these days. After having spent some time in isolated parts of the Highlands attending to a personal matter, Savard had yearned to see the big city. A good meal, a quiet pub, a decent place to sleep for the night and to think his next steps over hardly sounded objectionable. He just needed to find the right place for his budget… and one that would ensure he drew no attention to himself. Even in a place like this… far from any of the wolves that at this point had interfered in his life or had a reason to come after him, as far as the ones he knew about anyhow, it was wise to watch one’s back. For a moment, it seemed that Inverness was safer than anywhere else in the entire continent, that he had nothing to fear, and no reason to hide. But appearances, of course, were always deceiving, especially for an old, weary wolf like himself. Crossing through the main square of the bustling metropolis, Savard’s eyes caught a rather peculiar sight. A young wolf lay prone at the square’s fountain, occupied with something in the water. It was strange, to say the least. Of course, there were wolves who were odd anywhere in the world, those that were left to die in the dregs of any city’s sewers, if they weren’t lucky enough to have family to take care them. And yet, this wolf seemed far too clean, calculated, and bold to be simply odd. Savard was not one for meddling in the affairs of others… but there was truly something strange about whatever this wolf was doing, and how seemingly nobody was paying her any mind. Was this simply normal for Highlanders? Would being drawn to this spectacle earn him suspicion of being an outsider? And yet… as he had passed by, he noticed that there seemed to be something floating on the surface, like a leaf, but folded purposefully. And the way this wolf was staring at it, studying it… maybe she really was odd, and this was none of her business. Maybe she was one of those academics. After all… the new college wasn’t too far from here, was it? It was funny. Not as funny as him stopping to care about an insignificant wolf doing an insignificant thing such as staring at a floating object in a fountain. Come to think of it… the fountain was probably as good as any place to get something to drink, and Savard was one parched wolf. Deciding to approach the fountain with not so much the intention to eavesdrop so much as to get a sip of water from the least expensive establishment he knew of, the older wolf decided there was no point to remain a silent, awkwardly staring bystander to this wolf. He only hoped she wasn’t odd… as he was incapable of conversing with wolves like that, even if he was sympathetic to them nonetheless. “Excuse me.”

everything he touched fell apart

code // art

Vela hummed, thinking of her experiments with fire before. Perhaps she needed to work with fire and water instead of earth and water. She knew that from books, fire and water created steam. A dispersal of water molecules that causes them to rise... Her lashes fluttered as she blinked, coming to the realization that perhaps steam could be a key component in her goal.

“Excuse me."

She was beginning to jot down the notes when a voice interrupted the action. The student lifted her head from her notes and turned to find an older gentleman. His coat was a medley of earth tones, the sunlight bringing out the rust coloring upon a scarred facade. She shuffled to the side and pawed the boat to the edge of the pool, making room as he pardoned himself. “Certainly." She responded politely with a nod as she permitted him to approach the fountain. If she was lucky, that would be the extent of their interaction and she could return to her studies.

@Savard

It was almost comical how, on that particular day and at that particular time, there was not one wolf using the public fountain correctly. Fountains, as Savard always knew them, were luxuries that rare could afford. An excess of water was all it was, and there was always the expectation that wolves were to look and see, but never to drink from it. Evidently none of them had ever gone long lengths of time without thirst. Water was water, after all. But outside of the occasional curious pup, Savard had never expected to see a wolf using a fountain for the sake of their toys. That’s what it seemed like, at least. He couldn’t help but give a side-eye to the item the other wolf was corralling to her side of the fountain, as he lapped at the cool, albeit sour water. She was at least polite enough to let him in… though perhaps a bit exuberant at the prospect of seeing another wolf. She need not say anything at all, he wouldn’t have. For a long moment, Savard had his fill of the water, silently drinking. Of course, every so often he would glance at the floating object in the fountain, and wondered to himself what she was doing playing in the fountain, and what business of his was it to ask? Perhaps it was a rather circumstantial read on her character, but this stranger had a foreign excitement about her. And that type of naiveté came from only one place. When in doubt, when wolves use complicated words and more so than what they need, stick out in places they don’t belong, and are doing something that makes no sense, they are almost always scholars. Thinkers and positors were abundant these days… and none of them were ever doing anything worthwhile. All of them had lives that were far too decent to live as he had. Maybe he was just envious of all that, is all. Having had his fill, Savard raised his scarred head above the fountain, but found his eyes going back towards the floating object. Funny… the wolf before him seemed to protective of it, but it hardly looked like anything valuable. A wooden object, of some sort. And beside the wolf, too, was something he had never seen before. It looked old, dated, thin… and important. Maybe it was related to whatever the thing in the fountain was. Maybe he should stop asking himself questions before he drew attention to himself. He wasn’t familiar with Highlander customs, for one… thus maybe this was something everyone did. But then again… Highlanders were rational, and there was not one reason for this wooden object to be so important to a wolf that he could think of. Although insanity was not entirely out of the question… he had to wonder what was so precious about a floating piece of wood. He just had to know. “You mind telling me what this is about,” Savard asked, his tone a mixture of annoyance as much as curiosity, “‘cause if you’re here to clean the fountain out… might I suggest a different approach?”

everything he touched fell apart

code // art

Vela's gaze was avoidant, pulling aside her notes to read them and then re-read them as she gave the man who'd interrupted her experiment a sideways glance. He'd be finished any moment then be on his way and it was right back to making whatever progress she could. She was perusing over the contents of her documentation for the seventh time when the same voice pulled her away from the work.

The young woman stared at her elder for a long time before golden sights drifted to the fountain and then back at him before she spoke, “I'm afraid I am not the custodian, sir. You would have to take your grievances up with the town officials." Vela's nose twitched as she redirected the brute to where she thought he would have better luck getting the fountain serviced. It most certainly did not fall under her jurisdiction.

“I personally would prefer to drink from the fresh spring near the West gate as it is less stagnant and not as prone to algae." She gestured towards the area he would be able to find the spring she spoke of as she offered what she considered to be a helpful suggestion. Vela took inventory of her experimentation tools again and lined them up on the edge of the fountain, looking back over at the man curiously. “Are you a professor?" She asked, wondering if he might be from one of the other campuses.

@Savard