Lyra Karant
Floofy Plushie Tester!
Truth told, this was one of the oddest situations Lyra had ever found herself in. It wasn't every day that a soft toy manufacturer had its entire staff off; weirder still that they had quality control work contracted out to the public. Or, at least, ranked and guilded mages that were willing to take the time and do some work at a plushie making factory. If that was the case, then consider Lyra in; a simple, easy, non-threatening job that would take her time and concentration and be extra super fun along the way? Count her in for sure! It was the perfect way to spend a day and have a great time doing it.
I think this is dumb. Rhett's voice was loud and clear with his disdain for this kind of weird task.
"I think you're dumb. This will be fun, come on! Let me have this!"
You should absolutely be training. We don't know when we'll get into more fights with crazy flower mages again, and I want you to be prepared this time! You ran in headfirst without even thinking and look where that got you!
The answer to that question: beaten, bloodied and bruised, sliced open by the death by a thousand cuts. It was not pretty and took a while to heal off, even for her strong healing capabilities. It wasn't great. And, no, as a non-native fighter, she had to learn this the hard way. Rhett was right - she should absolutely have been training. Those kinds of brute-force mistakes could not happen again. If she was a more combative slayer, sure, she could have done that with no problem.
"But cute plushies. And they need help. Besides, it's my body so you can't really stop me, and I promise I'll take the next three days to do an extra hour of training each, okay?"
...Fine. But no complaining.
Argument won, Lyra Karant took her first step into the plushie shop, and she was already in heaven. There were so many cute toys for her to look at! The shelves were lined with dozens of different cute animals; teddy bears, horses, elephants, monkeys, birds, you name it. Animals galore. There were boy and girl plushies, too, and more than enough for something for everyone. There were even little plushies of famous mages - the leader of the Rune Knights had her own plushie. Who didn't know that face? Serilda was certainly well-known enough to have her own fanbase. There were others like her too, but that was the only one that Lyra really knew of at all.
Lyra's eyes settled on a big pink cat, and she grinned before she gave the giant kitty a huge hug. Oh by the gods was it soft. The fur was perfectly sized and didn't shed, its beady little eyes shone brightly like a gem as they reflected and glinted in the light, and its stitching was perfect without a single seam showing anything it shouldn't. This plush was so well made that it was incredible. The owner, who hand-crafted every single one of these himself, had done a wonderful job. She was almost envious of his skills.
Then, a giant rainbow parrot caught her eye - it was easily a metre tall and was begging for a hug. Picking it up in two hands, she gave it a squish, and it was a little less soft - probably because of its wing bulk - but still certainly worth a big hug. Its beak was huge, easily the size of her own head. That alone was impressive, and Lyra knew she had picked a great day.
Giggles rang around the building as she went through the shelves, one by one, pulling down the stuffed toys and hugging them all. Gods, they were just so soft and lovely and amazing and she could do this all day-
Oh wait. She would be doing this all day. The rigours of quality control demanded that she hug every single toy. So she did. Happily. Blissfully. Every animal received its due hug, and a small pat on its head - her particular favourite was this cute little purple hippo that she decided to name George, because why not; it was maybe a foot long and definitely very rotund with cute little feet and a big happy smile in that gaping maw that every hippo seemed to have. George was Lyra's new best friend, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Oh. Replaced. I get it. Rhett's sarcasm could be audibly felt.
"Shhh. I can't replace you. Literally, you're stuck with me."
True. But he's cute and you should buy him.
"I think I might just do that."
Eventually, it came time for Lyra to hug the smaller plushies - including the weird range of people plushies. Lyra stopped as she looked at the Serilda plushie, picking it up in both hands and looking at it. Well, it was well made. White hair, brilliant blue eyes, the raiments of the Rune Knights - it was just about as good a reflection with its stern expression, too. Hesitating for just a moment, Lyra hugged it. It was weird to hug that. Very weird. She put it down, looked at it again, and moved on. It was probably the only real way one would hug the ice queen.
At this point, Lyra had hugged every single plushie in the building. They were all cute. Very cute. And very soft. In fact, she had a new best friend-- George was absolutely coming home with her and she would buy him and they would have a wonderful time-- and was so sorely tempted to go around and hug every single plushie one more time just to be really sure that they all had been hugged. Alas, the sun was beginning to set and the owner would probably be along to lock up shortly.
Such being the case, Lyra checked George’s price tag and left an appropriate amount of jewels for the stuffed toy on the counter in a sealed envelope and left a note. It would have to do for now, but it was a wonderful thing that she had bought. One of her favourite new purchases for sure.
Maybe tomorrow she could go back and hug them all again.
Oh hell no, girl. You owe me training. You will not be skipping out on me. I will scream into your brain if you do.
"Damnit."
MEL @ WW
