[@Zarkun]

Akagalcia watched the demonstration with an expression that became more and more carefully blank. She had a great deal of patience for teachers, and it was good to roll all of these new words around in her head, plucking meaningful ones from cumbersome syntax and letting them shape her. This place, these people... she had to communicate more detail while she was here. They thought less, letting sounds do thinking for them.  Of course sunfire could melt steel. But steel could refuse! She had seen it, could feel the field containing the plasma obstructed by the kukri's matter! But... golems can't. She had to remember.

When Dashernines disappeared behind the doors to the backroom, Akagalcia turned to smile at Rave, eyes glinting with mischief... but then caught his stare.

[color=SteelBlue]"A warning for future interactions with psionics; guard your thoughts and guard them WELL. Unguarded thoughts can betray more than you want."[/color] Delight and confusion, at once. Certainly he [i]was[/i] awake. But... not? She frowned, cocking her head to one side. Whoever heard of guarding thought? [color=SteelBlue]"And what did you mean when you wondered how awake I was?"[/color]

[color=orange]"How... I mean how truly you want to know the world!"[/color] Akagalcia couldn't contain her excitement, spreading her arms as if to gesture to the ends of the stars and not the walls of this little weapons shop. [color=orange]"Do you want to taste iron from tin, copper from falwaur? Do you want to see the ways to stitch a flower from soot? To feel steel deny sunfire?"[/color] She spun on a heel, snatching the power-handle she'd set back on the display and activating the plasma field again as she brought both of her hands together and held the blade parallel with herself, her brown eyes staring past either side of the blade's neon green glow at Rave. [color=orange]"Do you feel the color of spirits?"[/color] She brought the blade closer to her face. [color=orange]"Do y--"[/color]

The double doors to the backroom hissed open again, Dashernines floating through. Akagalcia fell silent, letting the blade in her hands retract. She set the power-handle back on its display again, looking a bit sad. She traced her finger along the lip of the handle's field casing and pulled her hand away calmly and sucking away the pain in her fingertip. [color=orange][i]No... it is definitely not defective. The steel simply refused.[/i][/color] But I don't know why.

She looked up at Rave, still smiling, but much cooler now that Dashernines was in the room again. [color=orange][i]Golems taste like sorrow.[/i] "Akagalcia. You?"[/color]