A Visit with a Classmate

[Armel]

35th of Ymiden 719
Crouched in front of the door to his little room that he calls his own for the moment, Armel sits there briefly for a moment as he unravels a small set of his own personal tools. Many of the tools seem to be of a weirdly abnormal construction than what one would associate with a traditional tool set, some even looking as far as being a modified somewhat amateurishly. Starting to tinker with the lock on his door as he figures that he'd be best to do to fix the problem going on, as it seems to be unable to lock or unlock so something had to have went wrong somewhere along the lines.

Looking both ways down the hallway, starting to be on the lookout for a classmate of his who he sent a message out for to see if they'd be interested in visiting during the past week or so. Considering how many students he's encountered who have a vast schedule of things they're doing, he's not really surprised if someone were to be unable to make it.

That and his mind gravitates toward having to explain to anyone coming by why he's sat in front of a door with a set of tools, recalling the unsavory means some people utilize to steal from others and that, in a sense, is exactly what he's doing to his own door. Luckily, he had a claim to what he was doing, but his mind figures that he'd best avoid the confrontation if he can help it.

[Sybil Malach]

35th of Ymiden 719

Armel had sent a message. Something that Sybil didn't fully expect. The man was someone that they only knew in passing, which led to quite the confusion when they were called on to come around where he lived. It was a bitter chill, down the corridors of the Carnelian Prism. Something that was, in the end, to be expected from Viden, but just hit the right way to force Sybil into pulling their cloak close, moving forward, trying to make their way through it all.

Strangely, however, it seemed that there were very few people on the streets. Perhaps today was the center of some sort of mass exam that they didn't know about, but honestly, it was starting to unnerve Sybil. Slowly walking down the street, they felt the strange, tingling sensation of that flavor of paranoia that teeters on the edge of healthy caution, and something a bit less understandable. Their eyes slowly glance towards each side of the halls, only pausing when a person could be seen.

It didn't take long at all to see Armel working at the front of his door. The man was unmistakable. Though the likes of an Eidisi wasn't exactly uncommon in the slightest, he most certainly wasn't human, even from the exposed skin that they could see. Eyes slowly blinking, they make their approach. He was crouched in front of his door, messing with the lock. Or at least... It looked like it? To Sybil, it just seemed like he was doing something strange, rather than illicit. Though, it was hard to get a read on Armel.

"... What are you doing?" Sybil simply asked, as they came into hearing distance. Their eyes glancing side to side, as though to check if anyone was watching, before closing the gap, "... Is that your room, or...?"

[Armel]

35th of Ymiden 719

Not turning his attention away from the door as the familiar voice is heard, figuring that with at least two people he could maybe pass off what he's doing as somewhat legal to the uninformed. "Yes, actually. My door lock was a bit... well... broken to say the least. Not really sure how it happened, as I don't really like the idea of tinkering with locks that aren't mine." Armel says as he starts tinkering with the outsides of the lock itself, unscrewing one part as he nods over towards the knob, "Actually... can you hold that? The entire thing is gonna come out when I undo these parts." Saying as he continues to unscrew a bit more, seemingly having a bit of a difficult time turning the screws.

Continuing the conversation a bit, "Honestly, if it wasn't you coming by, I'd probably have to explain what I'm doing isn't exactly illegal, so much as it is apparently unsavory of a means to fix a problem. I've had to do that once or twice and it very rarely seems to go flawlessly, especially if it's some of the more uptight of the security that this place seems to have. I've complained about some problems that I've noticed and just decided to fix them myself, which has for the most part worked out, but I'm sure they're not thrilled about that," Rambling off the words as they appear in his mind as he remains focused on his work at hand, almost somehow more direct with his speech when actually putting his knowledge to use, as opposed to having his mind drift wildly as from previous encounters.

[Sybil Malach]

35th of Ymiden 719

Sybil could only stare blankly as Armel began to describe his situation. While the student wasn't exactly someone that was the most trusting of people, the man in front of them, well, kneeling in front of them, didn't exactly seem to be lying. Their eyes simply glance from side to side, as they let out a breath, standing next to the door. Eyes slowly shifting towards the situation once more. Sybil didn't know anything about locks, and honestly, while Armel seemed to be in the know when it came to these sorts of things, they weren't about to start asking questions that they wouldn't understand the answer to.

But then the request to hold the doorknob came. Their eyebrows raised as high as they could. Was Armel about to completely dislodge the knob from the door itself. Letting out a light breath, they simply offer a nod. Reaching out, they touch the cold metal of the knob itself, as Armel continues to work on the mechanism itself. They didn't know how hard it'd drop, or if it'd even be heavy in the first place, but Armel seemed confident in his assessment. And so, they let their left hand rest on the knob, gripping it by the bottom of the mechanism, at least getting a sturdy grasp on the thing. Not the worst job.

"... I can understand that, yeah." They admit. Their eyes glancing down the halls, towards the distant scattering of students and interns. "They tend to ignore things like that. Crime's not too big of an issue here in Viden. At least, from what I've heard of other places. ... The Academy especially, unless you're closer to the Tsavorite Prism than the floors above... Then, things start to... Well. I imagine you know full well." They say, easily enough. Crime was indeed a rarity in Viden, but it wasn't nonexistent.

[Armel]

35th of Ymiden 719
Armel finishes unscrewing a few parts, having put his hand on the other side of the doorknob on the inside to keep it up as the mechanism and doorknob all start to become free from the door. As it's held up, he starts to pull through to the other side and pulls the doorknob and mechanism free from his fellow students hands. "Well, that's for the most part all there is to a door lock, I'd figure it's built similarly to those I've found at home, but truth to be honest.... these are probably somehow better. Viden's surprised me on at least the mechanical aspects of things, not so much on other aspects." He says as he rolls up his tools, only putting away those which he's taken out to bring inside. Holding the door as he stands himself up, he proceeds to wave inside, "Feel free to come in." He says, waving to the oddly neat dorm room with the exception of a desk covered in metal scraps and various books or pages that seem to all be various forms of scribbles that possibly are some of his studies.

Armel wanders on inside, setting the lock and tools onto the table as he begins to tinker with them to figure out what's causing the problem, "Something I'm entirely sure of is that this should be an easy fix with enough time and effort. Luckily I can probably work as I talk, so feel free to take a seat." Saying as he takes a seat himself, getting his tools ready to begin dismantling the lock itself.

[Sybil Malach]

35th of Ymiden 719

"Plenty of things to learn from, not really much to see or do. Sadly, that's the coat of arms of our nation. Boring to the extreme, unless it's something preparing to shake things down to its academic core." A light laugh escapes Sybil's lips as they enter the room. It was a partial lie, in all honesty. Even the discoveries that were found here were boring. Their creativity was stifled to the point in which they're just entirely unable to think of anything to revolutionize. Stagnation, to its very core.

Glancing around, they didn't really expect anything less than an orderly approach to things. Armel simply struct them as the type to organize his room in such a way. Though perhaps, he simply hadn't fully moved in? Their eyes slowly shifted over to him, placing the mechanism to the lock at the table of his workspace. The only part of the place that seemed to be out of order. But even as Sybil's eyes glanced upon it, it wasn't something entirely without rhyme or reason. There was a method to the madness that was sprawled out across the table.

As it's offered, they simply take a seat near the door. Nothing too harmful, considering the fact that this door was now without a means of locking itself, or reliably opening and shutting. Having someone there to keep it closed might just make it to where there's something at least trying to keep the warmth inside of the room. Letting out a light breath, their eyes return to Armel, as he begins to work on the lock. Canting their head to the side, a confused, yet curious looks crossed their face. It wasn't something abnormal, what Armel was doing, but Sybil had never seen someone work on a lock before.

A thought crosses their mind... Lips knitting to the side, they simply ask the man something strange, "... What do you know about purified salts?" Was the question they offered, eyes training over across the room, and towards Armel.

[Armel]

35th of Ymiden 719

Armel stares at the tools for a few seconds before taking one of the few makeshift tools and begins to tinker with the contraption. He thinks for a moment, whether about the topic asked or the project of his he's currently working on isn't clearly obvious, "That's not something I'm too familiar with, though it's something that I recall falls into place with alchemy, does it not? Seems like something that'd be of use as purifying and rendering is all a commonality of alchemy..." He says as he drifts off and a bulk of the components on the doorknob mechanism fall to the table, "I suppose chemistry through similar applications."

Continuing to fiddle with the parts, he turns his attention back towards Nadia, "Why? Is there a project that requires this or is this more of a personal study into what that is? Not a problem either way..." He says as he swaps out a tool for another, seemingly using the old tool as a way to prop up the entire mechanism so he can dismantle it further. The pieces that start to fall away and separate are started to be lined up, almost as if they're in some sort of order of how they come off. Screws and metal parts are kept in association so they aren't lost among the clutter that slowly is starting to form.