Act 2: Upheaval VI - Celebration and Departure

"Yeah, good work."

"Very good work, Doodad! Every contest in the arena will have a bolder flavor to it now. A necessary improvement! And you can tell Walter and Lucy that their admiration is most welcome," Konrad replies, teasing the little entrepreneur. "I appreciate all my fans and fanfare."

Doodad smiles at the compliments. "Thank you for your kind words. I'll make sure to relay them to the others. In fact..." He leans forward and speaks in a lower tone. "I'm planning to offer them dinner sometimes next week to celebrate the occasion; a small office party of sorts. I don't know if you'll be in town by then, but you're welcome to join us."

Mihai sombers a little - "We'd love to, but... we're heading off. Got some business to take care of over in Emerald."

"Sad to miss it though. Would you like some tea? I just made some. It's still warm."

"I see. If you think we can help, don't hesitate to ask for it."

In response to the tea offer, Fluffle says, "You can use one of our fairy cups instead of a straw if you prefer."

"Oh, thank you but I wouldn't want to delay your departure. Your business sounds really important." He then stops himself and turns to look at Steve. "Unless... you'd rather we speak about what I came here for in private?"

"Yes, I would. It's of a personal nature."

"Of course."

He follows Steve, and possibly the others, to the galley.

Curious, Konrad will follow them to the galley.

Mihai follows.

Once everyone is situated in the galley and Steve has a refill of tea, he says, "Oh, before I forget. Doodad, this is Fluffle. He's the chief of the fairy village in Zest's Gate and Breeze's boyfriend. Fluffle, this is Doodad. He manages our company Blue Sound for us. Not sure if you guys were properly introduced yet."

"We weren't, no," the CEO confirms. "It's good to meet you Fluffle."

"Uh, likewise," Fluffle answers. "Welcome to the Vulcan."

Steve smiles and sips his tea. "Well I have some good news and a favor to ask. Before we left on our job for the Coins, I got engaged to Zelk."

Doodad blinks at this news. "You have? Congratulations Mr. Oldturn. This is... very surprising. I don't mean to sound impolite, but you didn't strike me as one who'd make such a commitment at your age."

"I think he'd been in love with Ms. Zelk for years," Fluffle says. "That's just what Breeze told me."

Steve laughs. "Why does everyone keep saying that? But yes, I've loved her a long time and I'm very happy it's a thing now. But that's what I need the favor for. You are going straight home after this, right?"

"Yes, we are. We have one last inspection today, and we'll leave sometime tomorrow if I can find us a ship headed for the Free Feathers."

"Excellent! I was hoping that when you got home-" He pulls the letter out of his pocket and places it on the table in front of Doodad. "-that you'd deliver this letter to Zelk personally."

"Oh, I can certainly do that," Doodad answers. "It'll be the first thing I'll do once I've arrived."

He then nods at the black mage, his resolve visible on his face.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it."

Konrad rubs his closely-shaved chin. "I have a question for you about weaving, Doodad: what would be required to enchant a pair of items to serve as long-distance two-way communicators with a range spanning the oceans? Let's say, at least twice a day for up to 5 minutes at a time?"

"I, uh, don't know," he answers. "It'd probably be a challenging feat to accomplish, but you'd have to ask the weavers to find how hard it would be."

"I will. Was there anything else I could assist with?"

Then right at this moment, Segel enters the galley.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," he says, "but there's a certain Brutus Sharp on the dock who says he's arranged passage to Luxus."

Mihai's eyes widen sharply for a twitch, then grow cold.