"I know someone who does."

"—really?"

"Yeah, but it was stupid, it's not like he had a good idea about how to get it." Because, somehow, the Churches of Odin and Freyja have access to an incredibly efficient and effective Heal spell that they manage to teach to all of their acolytes but which the acolytes themselves can't explain how to get and don't remember the specifics of getting. It's maddening. "He just fished for a Heal when he was young and happened to land on the good one, by accident." Which people do in fact occasionally try to do, but the probability of succeeding is so low that most people don't want to waste a whole Skill slot on trying it. But, well, Magenta is not the most thoughtful of people, is he?

"Ah huh. Well, I think my point stands, so if your potion delivery mechanism is effective you can become a healer and support that is entirely separate from any Churches and which, most importantly, might be shareable. If you're willing to share."

"I'm totally going to share, are you kidding me? Technology is meant to be used, not hoarded. But this is kind of a prototype and I have a bunch of ideas for upgrades—I'm actually planning on a full suit, with better defensive capabilities and with the projective tools being built directly into the gloves so you don't need to carry a bulky gun," which she reholsters, "and so you can get better control of what you're doing—I'm also wondering if I can get actual flight rather than just hovering but that turns out to be a lot harder than you'd expect, I think I'd want to look at the specs for an airship but those are pretty hard to come by—I'm sure I could crack it with enough time but still—that's not a bad idea," she finishes. "Support. But I'd need a party."

"Party with me," he suggests. "Let's do that bounty you've been eyeing together, see if we can work well with each other. No commitments, just trying it out. I have a monk friend who could tank for us, too."

...well, why not? She had been going to look for a party—

—paranoia. She needs a dash of paranoia. "Why?"

"...why what?"

"Why do you want to party with me? We've just met."

"Well, every party starts with just meeting, doesn't it? But if you want to know what exactly I'd been thinking, I saw you here and thought your gear looked really impressive, and the way you'd been holding yourself made me think you didn't have a party—"

"The way I'd been holding myself?" Had she been holding herself some specific way?

"...it's hard to explain. This is a party bounty, you looked thoughtful and a bit nervous, you're here alone, I made a guess. I wasn't completely sure of my guess but it was likely enough that I wanted to talk to you. And I am looking for a healer to round out my party, so, well, you could say my suggestion earlier was partly motivated, too. I do think I'm right on the merits, though, if I didn't I wouldn't have tried to convince you to heal for us."

"Hmm." That all makes sense. "...I want to work on the delivery of potions a bit more, then, but... sure. Let's try it."

"Excellent! How do I get in touch with you?"

"...I'd rather be the one to get in touch with you." That's normal, right? She's pretty sure it's normal.

"Well, that presents a small conundrum, I'm not allowed to tell you where the Rogues' Guild is. How long do you expect you'll take to do what you want to do with your gear?"

"About three days?" she guesses. She actually think it'll only take her one or two but better to be safe.

He will not express his surprise again but: damn. "Alright, we meet up here in three days, same time? And if you're not done you can leave a message with Eden for me."

"Yeah, okay, that works."

She is in fact done in about a day and a half, so three days from then she's in Eden again.

So is he!

And he has company!

"Lucky, this is Annika. Annika, this is Lucky," Taharqi introduces them when Lucky's floated up to them.

"Nice to meet you!"

"Mm."