Replacing What Was Lost

So the whole thing would be an experiment of sorts. From what Jude was saying it didn't seem he had experience doing this procedure but he did genuinely seem to think there should be no harm from it. Erione was satisfied that it should be about as safe as anything else could be when strange gods and magics were used together.

"Figuring it out as we go should work ok I think. It's not like I can't just stop and continue again if we need to refresh the image or take a break or something." Erione's foot finally stopped tapping as he stopped being quite so nervous about their plan. It even sounded kind of fun. He'd never made something using someone else's memory before.

At that point the waitress came over with their food and put it on the table. Erione waited until she had left the table before he continued the conversation. It wasn't something secret but it was more polite than acting like they didn't even notice the waitress come up. He poured syrup all over the pancakes and began cutting off sections of the stack to hungrily devour.

"So I understand that you want a bust of your father and probably can give me an image to work with. How large of a sculpture are we talking? Do you know what color you would like?" He paused for a bit to stuff his face, chewing the pancakes happily. As much as he acted like an adult in some ways, apparently enjoying the syrupy goodness of the pancakes brought out his inner child.

Erione should have known that Jude wasn't super prepared to discus the more artistic choices of color or style. It was something Erione thought about almost without realizing it sometimes but he was sort of a born artist in many ways.

It was clear that Jude wasn't exactly used to commissioning art. Then again if he was really only concerned with getting the likeness right why should he have been overly concerned with the color of the glass or anything like that? "That's ok," he said with a reassuring smile, "I can figure out the more artistic details as I work. I was just trying to get an idea of how much glass I was going to need to produce." Honestly the amount of glass didn't sound like it was going to be an issue. Plus he was going to go slow on the shaping of it anyway to make sure he got the statues as realistic as possible.

Erione took a few more bites as he watched Jude become more and more embarrassed, even turning a little pink. "Jude, you can calm down. I enjoy making these types of things. If it wasn't these sculptures for you I'd probably be making random other things. At least these are going to be really appreciated. After we finish the one of your father I would be glad to help make others. Just as long as you don't start trying to sell them or anything."

Even while Erione was eating his itch to fidget and create things made him think of something. He shaped the ball of green glass he had left on the table into a fork and produced some blue glass to make a butter knife. Predictably Eri then switched to using them instead of the metal utensils to continue eating his pancakes.

Erione had mentioned the part about selling the sculptures as a sort of test to see how Jude would react. In the end him selling them wouldn't have been a huge deal anyway but the way he reacted showed that he was genuinely doing this for himself and, perhaps more importantly, for his friends.

"I think it's a great thing you are trying to do for your friends. As much as i'm sure they'll appreciate the sculptures we make, I think they will be even more appreciative towards you for providing the reference memories." Erione had said 'we' for a very specific reason. He wanted Jude to know that whatever came out of their working together it would be both of their creations. It felt like that was something important to highlight. Sometimes Erione just had feelings like that. Maybe in the back of his mind that little nugget of experience left from his parents was leaking a little wisdom.

Eri had stopped using his hands to eat the pancakes and had switched to controlling the glass knife and fork with his mind as he used his hands to make notes in his phone. It probably looked a little weird but in some ways it was more comfortable for him to use his mind to control things rather than his hands. Whether that was healthy or not, he wasn't sure.

At the topic of payment, because it was pretty clear that's what Jude was trying to figure out how to ask about, Erione smiled at him. "Tell you what. The first one, the one of your dad, we'll consider something like an experiment or training exercise. That one will be free." He waited for a moment to let that sink in as he tried to figure out what price he would ask for the others. Free would have been a very possible choice for the others as well, since they would very likely bring a lot of appreciation when they were given out, but Erione did have his own minor expenses to consider. Plus he had the feeling Jude wouldn't accept everything for free.

Erione settled on a small but significant enough fee for each additional sculpture. "We'll say maybe $10 for each of the other sculptures you want. Does that seem fair to you?"

With the prices for the other sculptures accepted Eri had very little else to take notes on so he clicked off the screen on his phone and put it back in his pocket. Most of his pancakes were gone and he continued using the floating glass knife and fork to shove the remaining bits into his mouth while he wasn't actively talking.

"I'd say you don't owe me but that's not for me to say is it? Won't change how you feel. Really i'm happy to help you with this. It'll be really fun I think." Erione was genuinely very happy about their plans. Not to mention he was going to be getting plenty out of their arrangement, just most of it was less tangible than money. The sculptures would bring more appreciation for glass, he would continue to make a name and reputation for himself, and just as importantly as all the rest he was gaining a friend in Jude. Just because Erione was a god didn't mean friendships weren't important to him.

Erione looked embarrassed when Jude brought up where they should go. Eri had been too focused on how the image transfer would work and what kind of sculptures he was going to make to consider where they were going to actually do the work. He wasn't established enough on the island to be able to afford a dedicated workspace and normally he worked in his dorm room, one of the art classrooms or just out wherever he was. It made him seem a lot less professional but it hadn't been a concern until now.

"My place is really just my dorm room. I don't uh... have anywhere more professional or anything like that. We could go there but... it's kind of small and there's not much room to work." He was trying to avoid having to admit that his room was cluttered with all kinds of random glass items. There had been zero guests to his room so it hadn't been something to worry about. "Actually if you don't mind it might be easier to just go back to your house. At least then the sculptures don't need to be moved that far after being made."

Erione definitely didn't feel like Jude owed him anything but if he did find something that Jude could help him with then he wouldn't hesitate to ask for help. Being a god didn't mean he was supposed to be able to do or know everything. There was a reason they had angels and advisors and even why they each focused on a different domain. trying to do everything yourself just didn't work, regardless of how powerful or advanced you were.

He was relieved that Jude didn't seem to mind them going back to his house for the work on the glass. "The living room sounds perfect. I don't know exactly how much room we'll need but that should be plenty. More importantly it should be nice and comfy," he added with a big smile. If it was one thing besides glass that Erione appreciated it was a nice comfortable place to sit or lie down. A couch would be really great.

Erione had finished his food and wiped his glass utensils off with a napkin as they spoke about going to Jude's home. Figuring he would find a use for the glass later Erione started to turn the knife and fork into bracelets but stopped when Jude mentioned heading to his home right then. "Um, sure we can go there now but..."

Then Erione had to explain how walking far, or really any significant physical activity, tended to tire him out very quickly and that was why he generally relied on his glass abilities to get around. Ultimately the two of them decided that Erione would make a destination marker of glass for Jude to bring home and set up like he had done for Shiro and the fireworks show. Erione used the glass from the utensils and more that he produced to form a triangular prism. Large enough for him to come out of once it was in place but not so large that it would be difficult to carry. The faces of it ended up being about 4" wide and 6" tall. Basically all Jude needed to do was put it in an area with enough room for Erione to materialize out of it and then text him to let him know it was ready.

Secretly as soon as Jude left the cafe Erione used his glass transport to pop over to one of his favorite bakeries to pick up something to bring to Jude's house.

---

The surface on one side of the prism that Jude had set up rippled and a stream of randomly shaped and brightly colored shards of glass poured out to take the form of Erione carrying a small box. It took longer than his usual entrances into the community center but only enough to be noticeable, not enough to make it drag out.

Erione floated the prism into the air and immediately started pulling it apart into separate sections of glass. "I figured you didn't want to leave an open door here. I wouldn't intrude like that but it's still polite for me to do this." As far as he knew only he could use the makeshift destination points but people could get weird about knowing someone could just pop into their home. It was less of an issue if it was someplace he visited enough to become familiar with their windows or other glass objects.

"Oh," he added, having almost forgotten his box from the bakery, "this is a box of really delicious cookies from my favorite bakery here. They're for you... and everyone else who lives here I guess."

With that Erione smiled broadly and held out the box- he couldn't float it since it was not glass.