Work was always the least fun part of jobs like these, now was it? But then again, that was why it was work. And it just served to motivate her and Lucario to go to town on those veiny walls, intent on finishing as quickly as possible. Fortunately, their quite literal bucket list was not too long. A bit of one ore here, a bit of the other there. She eventually sauntered over to Johanna, checking out what she had gathered so far.
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They were only supposed to extract a certain amount, after all. Take only as much as was needed from the mountain, no more and no less. That was what the client had said, at least. Though they were taking just a bit more than he needed for his order, but that was part of the deal to begin with. “Looking good so far. I think we already got what we need by now. Told you it would not take all that long. But the real fun is starting soon when we bring that back. Well, it involves more waiting, but trust me, it’ll all be worth it, Jo.”

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+ Johanna Joy

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She shrugged in response. “Not like they needed much to begin with. Just a bit of very specific stuff that even a novice could get. It’s all about not overusing the resources, I guess.” Megan did not completely understand. But this was a means to an end. To earn a little something and to get what she ordered on top of it all. Plus, it was a decent excuse to meet again that did not feel weird in any way, at least to her. That, too, was a good thing.
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It was a bit awkward to have a declaration of trust like this, but she did get where the other was coming from. It was fine, really, so she did accept it unconditionally anyway. Trust was hard to come by for some people. Jo seemed like that kind of person. Not something to discard or downplay, really. “Rightfully so! I am not exactly one for deception, so you can always count on me just being plain old Megan,” she started, laughing. Then, she motioned for the others to follow. They could talk while walking, after all.
“Just to be real for a moment, though, I don’t like letting people down. So, just so you know, I don’t make many promises since I don’t like making idle ones. Some people take that as me being hesitant but, well, I just don’t want rousing expectations only to not meet them, you know?”

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+ Johanna Joy

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“That’s just because I tend to only talk about stuff I have at least some confidence in,” she replied with a laugh, while leading the other outside again. That, too, was something she had confidence enough in. Mostly because she had scouted all of this out ahead of time. Could probably have done the job herself, if she was being honest. But it was more fun this way. Plus, she had something planned either way.
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And everything was working out according to plan indeed. Though she had completely missed the effect her words had had on the other, mostly because her mind and eyes had already been glued ahead, in a way. “I spent most of my life being hesitant, walking the path of least resistance. Ended up stuck in retail hell, actually. That’s why I sometimes become a bit of a mess inside a Pokemart. But I dodge those, so you would not see me inside one and so, think I am not a mess. That’s just how those sorts of things work, sadly. Or funnily.” She shrugged, with a smile as they worked they way up the path – towards the smithy.
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It was quite the oldschool kind of building, all brick, wood and mortar. There was one furnace on the outside, where a Turtonator and a Machoke were working something. It was impossible to tell what it was, but it caused a lot of smoke. As they arrived, the were greeted by a surprisingly slender man with tussled grey hair, a youthful face and wearing mostly a long apron. Though he clearly was quite muscular at the same time. “That’s Tim. He tells everyone to call him Tim,” Megan introduced, while handing over her bucket to a floating Geodude. A shiny, incidentally. In return, Tim mostly just grunted and handed her a paper, then headed back inside while Geodude picked up Jo’s bucket, too.
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In the meantime, Megan un-rolled the paper and showed it to Jo. “His old man and my old man go way back, so he asked me to help with something and in exchange, he said if we bring him some extra ore, he’ll make us something. Well, he didn’t really say it, rather text it, but same thing. Anyway, I asked for something practical, so he’ll make us survival knives like this.” She held up the design. “Looks pretty decent to me. And really like, old-school. Probably lasts longer than the mass produced stuff.”

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+ Johanna Joy

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That response saw her head tilt in light confusion. “Why wouldn’t it be alright?” Really, she did not have much of a filter to begin with. Hence, she did not start with one now, either. “This isn’t a weapon, Jo. Well, it is. But think about all the harm any one Pokemon in your possession could do to another. You carry something with you that could lift up a human and throw them straight up in the air without any recurse. A knife is nothing, compared to that.” Hands on her hips, she was making her point rather brazenly. But to her, that just made more sense. Pokemon were something that even small children had access to. And most of them could waste a human in seconds, if they were made to. Most of them would not have any problems obeying such orders, either.
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Just because most people failed to see that did not mean it wasn’t so. Hence, she always had to get argumentative when others made a fuss about a sharp piece of metal. Not that she was blowing up in the other’s face, no, but she did her best to make that point swiftly and strongly regardless. “A knife really is a tool, for the most part. If you travel, you can easily find yourself in a situation where you have to cut something even while you do not have access to your Pokemon. One of these is invaluable in those kinds of situations. And hey, now you will have a reason to carry one because I gifted it to you. It would be rude not to.” Megan ended that little speech with a somewhat grinning nod, once more relying on her confidence entirely.

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+ ooc notes

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Megan reached out and just put her hand on Jo’s shoulder, who currently was looking away. “Also, um, sorry, I probably came across a bit grand-standy there. I should have put that a bit nicer. Not used to actually having discussions with people who don’t want to sell me their world-view, so I kind of get carried away in bad old mannerisms,” she spoke straight from the heart. Really, there were still so many things that she would have to get better with, it was not even funny.
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Poor Jo just had the worst of it because, well, she was the person Meg just kind of found herself going back to often, instead of just kind of forgetting them, like with most people. Odd.
“Besides, it is probably normal for most people to not think about that much. Why would one? I just had so many discussions with backwards people on the job that I had to come up with stuff over time, you know?”

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+ ooc notes

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