What an Alchemist Does

Ekliptik politely knocked on the workshop door. The Alchemist was apparently the man who almost defeated Nita, so they didn't really want to get on his bad side. He was probably stronger than them. They needed to be polite, and they also needed to be sneaky so that Rosamund doesn't learn what they did. They were going to get a reward for good work tomorrow, they didn't want to make him angry before that.

The man opened the door and looked down at them. "What are you doing here?"
"I got you tea. Bluebell told me to," they said, showing him the platter.
"Rose said you've got your day off today, so that is a lie. No way Bluebell would tell you something like that. What do you want?"
Fine. "I got you tea."
"Why?"

What would Rosamund say here? "I- I wanna see your workshop again. I wanna see what you're doing."
The Alchemist leaned on the door frame and crossed his arms, not letting them in. "My new lock's too tough for you?"
As if! "I can't break in if you're inside," they replied.
He let out a laugh.

"I won't show you what I'm up to, but you may come in. I could cook up something flashy for you, I suppose... Put that thing far away from my experiments, I don't want to get poisoned."
"Aight."

The man moved away, letting them inside. The strange room was as overwhelming as the first time they sneaked in, full of apparatuses, tools, and ingredients they've never seen nor knew their purpose. They set the platter on a chair in the corner, away from the tables and shelves full of magic.

"Here, hold this," the Alchemist said, handing them what looked like a fluffy white cotton ball. He wouldn't give them something that would harm them, right? He was certainly dangerous and powerful, but if Rosamund was his brother... they decided to trust him and accepted the light substance.

The man snapped his fingers, and it erupted in a bright yellow flame in their hands. They let out a gasp, dropping it, but it burned out before it even reached the floor, completely vanishing in the flame. They realized that the fire was cold anyway. Their hands were unharmed.

"Would you like to try it again?"

They nodded, holding their hand out for another piece of the substance. The Alchemist burned a few more fireballs, both in his hands and in theirs, putting up a real light show. He always looked angry and unfriendly, but his face brightened up with every flash of fire. It didn't last long. He got bored quite quickly and moved on to something else.

He started a small fire in a cauldron next. Ekliptik watched in amazement as he started throwing crystals into the fire, coloring it in various bright colors. Green, pink, purple, gold and full of sparks flying out of the cauldron. He could even make it the color of Nita's hair. It was obvious to them that the Alchemist was just showing off. None of this was important to his work, but they appreciated it nonetheless. The more he dug around the lab for ingredients, the better. When he stops paying full attention to them, they'll have a chance.

"Would you like to see crystals grow like plants?" he offered.

They nodded again.

"Let me see... where did I put it..."

He turned around and started digging through a cabinet full of strange bottles. This was it! An opportunity!

They carefully sneaked away from him, soundlessly walking backwards towards a table, like any other. They took the 'Truth serum, EXPERIMENTAL' out of their inner pocket and turned their back to the Alchemist to put it back where they found it.

"A-HA!"

They let out a yelp as the man grabbed their wrist. He wasn't gripping them too tightly, but he wasn't letting them go either. He was far stronger than he looked. They tried to get away, but they couldn't shake him off. They reached for a dagger, but the man stopped them before they managed to strike, grabbing their other wrist and disarming them. He kicked the dagger out of their reach, still keeping them in place.

"I was wondering where that went," the Alchemist said. "So it was you, then, little rat?"
"Let me go!"
"Did you drink it?" he asked.
"No!"
"Did you give it to anyone else?"
"NO!" they shouted and tried to kick him. He released them and stepped out of their reach before they managed to. They backed off even farther out of his reach, taking out two more daggers. They were ready for melee again, but the Alchemist moved away too. He stood between them and the door, and the windows were barricaded off.

They were trapped.

But he was unarmed. They perhaps had a chance- no. The Alchemist stared them down fearlessly, leaning back on the door with his arms crossed. His confidence was terrifying. If they approached recklessly, they would die. But they couldn't just drop their daggers, either. He was so strong! They couldn't even fight back! It wasn't fair! This man was on a whole new level compared to Rosamund. Rosamund threw away his weapons, but this man didn't even need any. They tightly gripped the daggers, shivering. If he attacks, perhaps they can dodge and get to the door before he catches them.

The man let out a sigh, running his fingers through his short hair.

"I guess I should count my blessings, you have at least half a brain instead of being completely witless. Did you take anything else?"
"No."
"I will tell Rose if you did, you know?"
"I didn't! I only took this."
"And you came here to return it?"
"...aye."
"Why did you steal it?"
"I thought that it could be useful. But I didn't need it. I wanted to put it back before you found out."
"Right... alright, then. Do not take anything else from my workshop ever again. Everything I make is dangerous to play with, especially if it's unfinished. You could have killed someone if you took a wrong thing. You could have killed yourself!"

They didn't really know what to say to that. The man was always angry with everyone, that much they could tell, but that anger just wasn't there while he was speaking to them now. Was he somehow hiding it? Was this a trap to get them by surprise? He didn't look like he would turn violent against them for the second time...

"You can calm down now, kid," he said. "And put those knives away. I'll make you a garden of crystals if you still want to see it. Or you can leave, if you want to. Just pick up your weapons before you go."
"Are you going to tell Rosamund about this?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Not if you don't."
They were still suspicious. Rosamund was a nice man and could be trusted. The Alchemist was, apparently, terrifying. They didn't buy that he was already so calm. They needed to do something to ensure they were going to be safe. Stabbing the man would be bad, considering who his brother was.

"I'm sorry I stole from you," they said.
"Apology accepted." He sounded sincere.
"Would it... work as intended, if I had used it?"
"I didn't yet test it on humans. Probably not."
"Do you have something else I could use?"
"A better hair dye," he replied sarcastically. "After that balm I made for your skin, I'd really appreciate if you stopped ruining it with your homemade mixtures."
"Why will you not tell Rosamund?"
"Why should I? You returned the bottle on your own, without using it."

That... that almost made sense.

"I'm sorry," they awkwardly repeated again, this time saying it honestly.
"I also apologize for being so rough with you. You could have gotten injured if you touched something wrong. Most things I have here are deadly. I needed to react."
They nodded. It sounded genuine, too. To a degree.

They put their daggers away again, and the Alchemist's shoulders relaxed.

"I'd like... to see the crystals grow now."
"Really? After this display?" he asked mockingly. "I didn't think you'd take me up on it. Alright then." He was still on guard when passing them by, but they didn't try to stab him so he calmed down even more. He went and got a large dark bottle and poured something that looked like water into a clear glass.

"You are quite a menace, you know?" he said. "First you steal from me, then you try to stab me, and now you're distracting me from work."
"I can leave," they replied, annoyed with his antics. His magic was more colorful than Teo's, was it so strange they wanted to see more? They didn't think he'd hurt them. Right? He wouldn't, he was Rosamund's brother. Now that he got his potion back, he was keeping distance from them again. They went to pick up their dagger while he was taking out more containers filled with colorful salts.
"Quite a shame if you do. You'll miss the crystals growing. Here, take a look."

The man had a bit of a flair for showmanship, it seemed. Or he just liked to show off. Probably the latter, looking at his smug overconfident face. They decided to tolerate it, for as long as he showed them more magic. They approached him carefully, still wary of him, but he barely paid them any mind now that he knew the real purpose of their visit. All he was now focused on was showing what he could do, and after a few minutes, they relaxed again, too.

They watched the crystals grow like plants in the liquid he put them in, after which he started setting tables on fire that didn't burn the wood. The final piece of magic he showed them was a strange black substance that exploded when he threw it on the floor and stepped on it, and released a purple cloud. When they got interested in the explosive, he threw them out and locked the workshop door behind them.

Well. It went well.