The Chained Watcher

Transactions Between Friends

Happy New Year!

~~~

Glancing at the session time, Grian sends out a message in chat, announcing the mid-session break. One command to the server marks everyone's current positions. A second pauses the timers marking their remaining life, protecting them from any unfortunate time loss from idling during the break or encountering a rogue creeper while responding to messages received mid-session. A third command sets a half hour timer counting down, marking the length of the break they'll be taking before resuming.

He stretches his wings with a pleased grunt, paying no attention to how the action makes Jimmy duck to not get hit. "Man, keeping my wings furled enough to not mess with my trajectory sucks!"

"Oh for goodness- Grian! Watch where you wave those things!"

Grian smirks, teasing, "Aww, what's wrong? I'm just stretching." He knows exactly why Jimmy's complaining though. Old habits are hard to break, and touching a Watcher's wings is something all Listeners are taught to avoid in all but the most desperate of situations.

Joel casts a slightly confused glance over at the two of them, but just shakes his head, opting to ignore his two idiot friends. The subtext of this interaction that would lend sense to this seemingly random teasing is missing, making the two of them come across as just joking or messing around to Joel.

Which he is doing. Joking around. Not his fault Jimmy's so wound up over something as silly as his species.

Still, as the admin here, no matter how reluctant, he needs to check up on his players and make sure nothing's happened that needs immediate addressing. A boogie kill that hasn't given the boogie their time, a mob that broke its AI, a mechanic someone has questions about... Chores, basically.

And so, making sure to flare his wings to bop Jimmy as he walks past, Grian sets out to complete these chores, ignoring the dour look the Listener sends his way.

Things are mostly normal, giving him hope that he'll have time to engage in his own goofing off as well, but when he drops by Scott's base, an unusual topic is broached.

"...The bracelets?"

Scott nods. "Yeah. I went shopping with Xisuma and Scar last portal, and Scar showed me how his bracelets stop things from hitting him. I understand if you say no, but I wanted to ask if it'd be possible to buy some for me and some of my friends."

For the briefest of moments, Grian slips back into an old habit, and he analyzes the potential profits he can get from this transaction. The conclusion is not favorable. With less strength than even a Tier 1, the value and quantity of the materials his would-be client can offer wouldn't even come close to being worth the time of day from him, let alone a personal commission.

...But he shouldn't think about his friends like that. Not in terms of profits and clinically detached transactions. He may be talking business, but there's no need to be predatory about getting his cut.

"Now I'm not averse to the idea, but you have to understand my position here. If I want to make something you can use outside of Minecraft, the materials I use can't be sourced from Minecraft, or they'll disappear the moment you take them through the portal. That means I'll be dipping into my own material stash to make them."

Scott winces. "I gathered as much. I probably don't have the materials you'd need to make any, but I can try to find some next portal, so I figured now would be a good time to ask what you'd want in return."

"Well normally I'd charge a fairly hefty price for my time. You don't become an enchanter of my level without earning the right to a heavy commission." He grins. "However, just this once, I'm willing to waive everything but the material cost. We are friends, after all."