"Come in. I'm already wearing my suit."
Garvan paused with surprise, her hand still inches away from the door as she prepared to knock on the thick, insulated doors. They easily swung open to permit her, the room within uncharacteristically hot and bright as the sound of metal on metal echoed through the room, the completely-obscured form of Macka serv Alexandria busy pounding away on a piece of hot metal, slowly bending it around a strip of a different metal with a blowtorch sitting nearby, idling its fuel away in case it was needed. The taller of the Library's golems hunched over to enter, folding in her wings before she could accidentally knock over a rack of wigs.
"Good morning, Macka," Garvan said, crouching a respectful distance from where her sister was working, more out of not wanting to get in the way than safety concerns.
"Good morning? Hmm. I lost track of time," Macka replied, pounding away at her work for another minute before deciding she could stop for a moment, dipping the golden band in water. "Good morning, my large sister. I can see you've been hard at work."
"Of course. The Kobbers left, not the magical academy students," the Furnace Girl said. "And they do bring their fair share of debris with them."
"Of course." Macka nodded, turning up the heat on her workstation again and setting a bowl on its slightly-glowing surface. She dropped several shiny silver nuggets in the bowl and stepped aside to let the metal boil and melt.
"What are you working on?" Garvan asked, leaning over cautiously. "Silver and gold?"
"Gifts for Queen Violence. I know and you know that she prefers not to be addressed by title and Lady Delilah knows that as well, but she does insist on protocol you know," Macka spoke, pulling up a chair for herself before sitting down to get a small box.
"A gift? How thoughtful."
Macka nodded and carefully laid out a set of engraving tools, plucking the golden band from its watery resting place. With vision every bit as microscopic as Garvan's own, the smaller golem began to make an intricate pattern in the golden ring, swirls like the rolling of the waves and whimsical webs in the gleaming surface.
"Yes. Tokens of respect for the new Queen of the Hags. Yes, we still keep her room tidy and just the way she prefers it, but Lady Delilah is still quite taken with that book of hag history. A first-hand source of an obscure topic? Were she organic, I have no doubt our mistress would have fainted upon reading it."
Garvan watched carefully as the shapes and patterns took on more cohesive forms. Nearby, the silver began to sputter. Macka seemed not to notice her boiling metal and continued engraving.
"So she tasked me with making something nice for Violence in return. Certainly I could have made her a crown, put some pretty jewels in it, and called it a day, but that's merely art." Macka chuckled gently. "So knowing how spontaneous danger could be in this city last year, I thought I'd forge for her a pair of matching bands: one conjuring a shield of solid magic and the other creating a blade of pure force."
"You've been watching those science fiction films again, haven't you?"
Macka smiled. "Guilty. If the jester is going to gift us with gold from outer space, I can't just make a mundane piece of jewelry, can I?"
"I suppose not," Garvan answered, a momentary nervous twinge popping into her voice.
Not a long twinge, but enough to get her sister's notice. Macka finally looked up from her goldsmithing project and looked up at Garvan, who towered above even while seated on the floor. Were she not wearing a mask, Garvan was certain she would see a knowing smile on the smaller golem's face.
"Well, I've talked plenty since you arrived, so I feel it's been a respectful amount of small talk. How can Macka the Handy be of service, my dear Furnace Girl?" Macka asked, leaning forward, leaning on her elbows.
"Well...I was wondering..." Garvan gulped. "If you could make me something."
"I probably can," Macka answered with a nod. "You would need to tell me what you want made though."
"A piano."
Macka paused, leaning just a bit further forward. "A piano?"
"A piano."
"Why, Garvan, do you want a piano?"
Garvan fidgeted. "I have been reading more about musicians and idols in order to figure out how to...how did Miss Iliesh put it...grow my brand. I have learned that many singers also play instruments, so...I would like to learn to play an instrument."
"Ah." Macka nodded, tilting her head back and forth. "I begin to see the issue."
"Yes," Garvan agreed. "And we tried using magic to make an existing piano big enough for me. Miss Torn was...not impressed."
Macka looked up at her sister for a long moment, considering the request for a bit before going back to her goldsmithing, gently pouring silver into the marks on the gold band, letting the hot metal slowly flow. Garvan watched, trying not to look anxious and failing rather miserably. Macka turned her head back up for a moment.
"Oh, sorry, mind slipped for a second," she apologized to her big sister. "I've never made a piano before, but I'll see what I can do. The Fallen Angel's devices have exposed me to this 'YouTube' marvel and I believe I can find a tutorial there."
Restraining herself just enough to not appear overly excited, Garvan reached over and carefully wrapped her arms around her little sister and gently squeezed.
"Thank you, Macka. I shall find a way to repay you, I promise," the towering maid gushed as carefully as she could, the craftman patting her on the back.
"Take me to your bar again," Macka replied. "I had leftover gold to make a protection ring and I want to see if I can make the whale hostess blush with it."
Garvan made an undoubtedly-dignified noise of amusement before rising to her full...full-ish height to depart the chamber, leaving her sister alone as the doors gently rattled shut. Macka looked at the doors for a moment before sighing and shaking her head, getting back to work on the gift for Violence. A piano...she'd never made an instrument like that before. It sounded time-consuming, difficult, and irritating.
It would be an exciting challenge indeed.
