After having been kidnapped (however briefly) by Veliky and brought to her new home, Astrid went on several solo adventures without her trusty partner, the noble ooze knight Blue Raspberry. Of course, she wondered when the two of them would meet back up again, and just by absolute happenstance, they ran into each other in Frost Gale of all places. Frost Gale does not suit Blue Raspberry as the ooze is apparently very sensitive to temperature changes. If anything, the experience on the volcano told Astrid that. Before they left, Astrid suggested they go visit their mutual friend, the dwarf Jonesy, in Bleakfort, who has since reopened his smithy and is doing much better for himself. It was a nice stop, reminiscing on one of their first adventures together. 

In all of this, Astrid suggested Blue Raspberry join her on her trip back to Dragon's Cradle. She seemed really excited to show them something special, but she did a good job keeping the secret. So after a long journey, they finally made their way to Sky Peak Village, and Astrid kind of explained a little bit of her history there. This isn't a place she planned to return to, but well, she was given an offer she couldn't refuse.

Making her way across town, Astrid leads the ooze knight to a very large mountain house. Well, mountain mansion is a better descriptor. The building is clearly newer than most other structures in the area. A set of stairs leads up to the front door. Windows decorate the facade, and there are several tall metal structures around the sides and back throughout the yard. These metal structures are similar to ones in the base camp at the bottom of the mountain along the road that lead to Sky Peak - lightning rods to protect buildings from lightning strikes. Metal cables run from these to the house. 

Presenting the house, Astrid turns and looks at Blue Raspberry with a grin. "Welcome ta me house!"

Blue Raspberry hadn't been thrilled to be in Frostgale, as a being of semiliquid goo they were very vulnerable to the cold, but they had ended up there once again thanks to a mission they had received. At least this time they were better prepared for it, wearing thick clothing instead of the heat-sapping metal armor and having a warm, lit lantern stuck inside them to keep them from freezing. And, they ran into Astrid! They hadn't expected it, but they were always happy to see their best friend. Blue Raspberry was also very happy to see the walking space heater that was Spicy Pawsage in this freezing place. At Astrid's suggestion, they went to go see their old friend Jonesy. Of course, the Dwarf had no idea who Blue Raspberry was when they first showed up at his door, but they were welcoming to Astrid and listened to the pair's explanation. He promised to keep Blue Raspberry's identity a secret. Once Jonesy had bid them farewell, Blue Raspberry was more than happy to leave Frostgale and head to Dragon's Cradle for something that Astrid seemed really excited about, but wouldn't say.

Blue Raspberry looked around in awe as they walked up to the gigantic building behind Astrid. This was her house? That's amazing! What's a house? Well, whatever it was, this was what Astrid had been super excited about! It was gigantic and amazing, and Blue Raspberry couldn't help but be excited too after looking at Astrid's face.

"Woooooah. It's huge!" Blue Raspberry shouted and then pointed to one of the lightning rods towering above while looking at Astrid with an excited smile. "What are those?"

"Aye, it's enormous!" she agrees, looking back at the place with a certain sense of pride. "'Course, it was a surprise gift, though it's much too big fer me an' Cantio." And that's why she's brought Blue Raspberry along, but with their question asked, she can get to that part later. 

Following Blue's line of sight and pointing finger, Astrid looks up. "Those big metal rods? They're lightnin' rods!" Another grin spreads across her face. "I saw 'em down at the base camp. They use 'em ta keep houses from gettin' set on fire by lightnin' strikes by tryna redirect the bolts. We got a few set up fer that, but also ta-" She stops mid-sentence and turns back to the ooze knight. "Well, lemme just show ya!"

Astrid turns and rushes inside. Well, she tries to. The door is locked, so she just runs into the door on accident when it doesn't open like she expects. A heavy thud reverberates throughout the house. "Ouch," she mutters, rummaging around through her pockets for the key. She has too many pouches and pockets. Unable to find her key and impatient from her excitement, she peers into the house to see if Cantio is home. There's no sign of the tiefling, but looking through the window, she can see the warm glow of a fire in the hearth. 

"Actually, let's go the back way!" Then she jumps off the porch and heads along the side of the house down a slope towards the back. The lower floor is made distinctly out of stonework, and there's an odd round shape poking its way out of the back of the house. It seems like most of the metal cables lead into this oddly-shaped stone half-sphere at the back of the house. There's also a small covered shed with chopped firewood and a door with a window leading into this basement space. Above the door, there's a crudely carved sign that says "Astrid's Workshop."

Astrid jiggles the doorknob, but it doesn't open, so she turns to Blue Raspberry. "There's a trick ta this one, and I'm showin' ya cause I trust ya, but don't tell no one," she says. Bits of electricity spark between her fingers, and she places them on the stone wall at the same level as the doorknob. There's a click. The door opens. Astrid enters and presents. "Ta daaaa!"

Inside the basement, there's a roomy workshop that looks very similar to other smithies. There are tools neatly hanging on the walls, two forges (though the difference between them is hard to see right now), a sizeable anvil, and a few misshapen pieces of metal on dummies throughout the space. It might be her workshop, but she's not been home much to use it yet it seems. 

The faint sound of a violin can be heard from the stairwell.

---

(Somewhat subject to change once Veliky gives us the tour in A New Life.)

Blue Raspberry covered their mouth to stop themself from laughing as Astrid thudded into the locked door. They stood patiently, watching Astrid fumble around trying to find the key to the door, but giving up and deciding to just go around to the back entrance. They followed along cheerfully. It was a huge house, so going around took a little time, but when they finally reached it, it was really interesting.

The knight just looked around, taking in the sight. What was that big round part sticking out of the house for? Why did the lightning rods have wires connecting to it? They'd never seen a place like this before. They watched as Astrid activated a secret way to open the door with lightning magic, nodding in agreement that they wouldn't tell anyone about it. They wouldn't even tell their friends. Heck, they probably wouldn't even remember it was there.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise!" Blue Raspberry stated confidently, giving a salute, one gauntlet on their hip, and walked inside behind her.

Blue Raspberry looked around at the workshop, oohing and awing at everything. They were reminded of Jonesy's smithy that they'd visited before coming here. But, this workshop was definitely bigger than Jonesy's and had more stuff in it, including furnaces. But why were there two furnaces? Blue Raspberry was about to ask about the second furnace when they heard some sound coming from a staircase leading up into the rest of the house.

"What's that sound?"

At that point, the sound of the violin registers in Astrid's mind, and she looks towards the stairs. "Oh, sounds like Cantio's practicin' violin," she says, looking back at Blue Raspberry. "I think he plays his best when he's by himself not tryna impress no one. He's impressive though! He tried ta show me how ta play, and I broke the bow string cause I was holdin' it too hard. Takes a lotta finesse ta play a stringy instrument." 

Astrid goes over and slaps her hands on the table in the middle of the shop. "Anyway! This is me workshop! Got some materials over there, tools hangin' there, polish, firewood, a bucket o' coal over there, and..." Walking over to the two stone structures which are built differently, resting her hands on both of them. They both have wide openings at waist height, though one forge mouth has metal rods similar to the lightning rods outside between a metal flume and the base. There's a metal door at chest height. The other has a metal door near the bottom and bits of ash gathered near the bottom.

"These are the forges!" 

There's a huge grin on Astrid's face as she stands between the two stone structures. So she explains. "This one is like a regular forge - get it hot and bend the metal! And this one, oh Avasha, it's an incredible thing, it is." The half-dwarf pats the stonework affectionately. "This one can be powered by lightnin'! Ya just pull this lever and give it a bit of a spark an'..." As she says this, she pulls the lever, opens the top door, reaches in, and casts a bit of lightning magic in between the two metal rods at the top and bottom. There's a buzzing throughout the house, and the forge sparks to life - literally. Arcs of lightning stay caught between the rods and energy travels down into the mouth of the forge. The room takes on a blue glow, and the mouth of the forge starts to superheat. 

"The rods outside capture lightnin'!" she explains. "Ever heard of bottled lightnin'? Some magical phenomenon, and apparently this thin' works on that concept. I haven't been able ta take it apart and figure it out how it works cause that'd mean I gotta undo all the stonework, and I'm not 'bout ta do that." The girl looks at the buzzing stonework affectionately. "I'm gonna make all kindsa cool stuff here!"

"Oh, your new da!" Blue Raspberry said, looking up the stairs for a moment before going back to receiving the tour of the workshop from Astrid. They'd been told about him before by Astrid, but they'd never actually met their friend's new da before. Whatever a da was, Astrid was really excited to have one. But, Astrid was really excited about the workshop right now, so meeting him could wait.

They watched in amazement as the lightning forge sparked up and grew super hot. They'd never seen such incredible lightning energy in one place, even as an electric ooze. They'd even fought a huge bird with the power to shoot lightning bolts, and those seemed like little sparks in comparison to what was being contained in this furnace now. How Astrid planned on making use of such a thing, they had no idea, but from the sounds of it she could accomplish incredible things with its help.

"Woooh! It's hot! I might melt again." the ooze said jokingly, but still backed a bit away from the incredibly hot lightning forge just to be safe. "What are you going to make in it first? Want to start making something in it right now? I'll help!"

Astrid laughs. "Aye, it gets hot! That's how ya get the metal easier ta work fer smithin'." With that, she pulls the lever beside the forge, and the electricity surging between the rods slows to nothingness. The room goes darker, with the only light coming from the windows. "We can make somethin' later! It takes a long time, I just wanted ta show ya this awesome special furnace!" 

Stepping back, she puts her hands on her hips and looks around the workshop with a huge sense of satisfaction. This place is hers. While technically the whole house was a gift to her from Veliky, the workshop is her space, her place to create and craft and forge. It feels good to have her own space instead of having to borrow someone else's. This is a place she will protect fiercely. 

She looks to Blue Raspberry again. "Let's do a project together sometime," she says. "Not today, but sometime. We'll make somethin' special!" Turning her gaze towards the stairs, she motions for the ooze knight to follow her. "I'll show ya around upstairs! Come on!" With an extra pep in her step, Astrid ascends the stairs up into the main floor of the home. It's quite spacious, though isn't exactly fully moved in yet. A couple pieces of furniture are set up in haphazard ways in the living room space. It seems there haven't been many opportunities for Astrid and Cantio to really get their home set up together yet. Having a home to return to is an odd thing for both of them. Upstairs, the sound of the violin is much clearer. 

Astrid places one finger against her lips in a shushing motion, not wanting to interrupt Cantio. She heads down the hall quietly and shows Blue Raspberry the room at the end. It's a large room, the master bedroom, but it's quite empty and feels larger than it really is. All it really has is a bed and a dresser along with a dress form in the corner for her armor. It's cleaner than she left it probably. "This is my room," she says in a hushed tone. "Kinda plain, but that's all it needs ta be. All I gotta do is sleep here! And that on its own is really nice."

After a moment, she goes out and stays especially quiet when walking past the next door closest to hers, where the violin is loudest. She's really trying not to disturb Cantio while he plays. He'll be done soon enough.

The next door down, Astrid opens the door to the empty room and steps inside, looking at Blue Raspberry. She seems a bit fidgety. "And I was thinkin'... this could be yer room... if ya want it? Ya don't hafta take it, I was just thinkin' it's such a big place -way too big fer just me an' Cantio- so I dunno, it's a home. Yer s'posed ta fill those with people ya care about, right?"

---

In all of this, Astrid totally forgot to let in Charles and Spicy Pawsage where she left them waiting at the front door. 

Blue Raspberry followed behind Astrid, trying to stay as quiet as they could in their clunky armor to not disturb Cantio's violin playing. They slowly crept past the door, their stance wide as they stepped sideways with their arms out to stop them from clanking against their torso. Even with their best efforts, they couldn't be totally silent. Their footsteps clunked with a long pause between each one. After what felt like an entirely too long time to be walking past a single door, they started walking normally again up to Astrid who was waiting for them at a third door.

They smiled, curious what this room could be. She'd already shown them her workshop, her bedroom, and they knew where Cantio's room was. What other rooms could there be? The ooze didn't know much about houses. Their wondering was suddenly interrupted as Astrid told them this could be their room. They looked down at her in surprise.

"Wha? My room?" Blue Raspberry replied, sounding confused. They'd never had a home before. It meant a lot that Astrid wanted them to be part of theirs. They didn't know what this weird feeling was. How does one describe the feeling of crying to a creature that has no eyes, no tear ducts, and no concept of crying at all? They had no idea they could even feel this way. They felt the burning feeling behind their eyes that one feels before crying, but across their entire outer membrane. Their voice caught in their nonexistent throat. The color of their face faded from their mimicry of skin and eyes back to a featureless blue ooze, their hair flattening back into their scalp and ears back into the sides of their head. They couldn't maintain their disguise while they were feeling this emotional.

They put their hands over their face and barely squeaked out a response while nodding slowly. "I'll take it."

Astrid's stomach feels somewhat in knots while she waits for Blue's response. It's odd to watch them lose their shape, and she feels really concerned about it when they place their hands over their face. The worst they can do is say no, right? She wouldn't have a dad without just... asking. So when Blue says yes, relief washes over the girl, and the tension leaves her shoulders. A grin spreads across her face.

"Really? Y-Ya really wanna live here with us?" she asks, somewhat in disbelief. "I know ya haven't had a chance ta meet Cantio yet, but we'll solve that soon! I'm sure he'll love ya! I told him a bit about ya, about all the adventures we've gone on together. He's really lookin' forward ta gettin' ta meet ya... though I don't think he's expectin' to today... That's alright though. It'll be fine."

Astrid looks the ooze knight up and down, and the urge to hug them overcomes her. She steps forward and throws her arms around Blue Raspberry, her very best friend. "We've both got a home now," she says, a bit of emotion trickling through her words. This house will be her home, and she will fill it with people she loves. 

Blue Raspberry nodded along while Astrid spoke, still a bit too emotional to speak. They felt weird, but they knew it was a good feeling. They were really happy. They had a home now and it was the same home as Astrid, their best friend. The first person they'd ever told about themself. About being an ooze. Not the first person they'd ever met or gone on an adventure with, and not the first person to say they were friends. But, she felt like their first real friend. The first person to be their friend despite knowing what they were.

They looked down as Astrid suddenly wrapped her arms around them. They were a bit confused. They'd never been hugged before, they didn't know what a hug was, but it felt right. They put their arms on Astrid's back, hugging her in return. It was a little awkward because of their difference  in heights, but it was still a very happy moment.

"Yeah, I want to meet him. Just give me a second. I should probably look more human when we meet, huh?" they responded, a bit choked up still. 

"Yeah, probably," Astrid laughs softly. A few tears manage to well up in her eyes, and she steps back to wipe them. They're happy tears, and those are the best kind. She's gotten a lot better about these kinds of emotions, especially with the mine cart ride that was her first interactions with Cantio as her new dad.

"If yer gonna live here, we should probably tell him yer an ooze," she continues. "And that it's a secret. We don't hafta tell him everythin' immediately, just focus on meetin' him first then easin' him into all the weirdness. Cause... Let's face it: we're kinda a weird pair. Yer goin' around lookin' like a grown man, and I'm just a kid. But I like that about us! Feels like we have a place ta belong."

Her hands on her hips, she gives a satisfied nod and looks around the empty room. "Ya can fill yer room with whatever ya want. Within reason. We'll get ya a proper bed and some storage. And after we introduce ya ta Cantio, we'll work on some house rules. Sound good?" 

"Ha, yeah probably. I'm fine with telling him if you trust him. He is your da." Blue Raspberry agreed. They should definitely just tell Cantio that they're an ooze. Living in the same house as him while trying to keep it a secret would be exhausting, and it would feel wrong.

"Hm? Is it weird for a grown man and a kid to adventure together? _{I didn't realize...}" they muttered, growing a little self conscious. The ooze had no understanding of such social conventions and hadn't realized what a strange pair they were at all. Maybe they should have been in the form of a wolf more often. Astrid had a pet hellhound, that was similar to a wolf and not weird, right? They also could have tried looking like a kid too. Would it have been less strange for two kids to be adventuring together? "_{I guess I could try looking like a kid, but then I wouldn't fit in my armor... and it'd be harder to replicate than this body. This one I had a reference for...}" they continued their muttering, but looked to Astrid when she spoke and decided to just forget about all that for now. They'd already travelled together as an adult knight and a kid, so there was no reason to worry about it.

"Sounds good!"

They gave a thumbs up and then focused for a moment, their body returning to their humanoid form. Their outer membrane changed color to a pale skin tone. Their face morphed into the familiar blue-bearded man with pointy teeth and pointy ears. Once their shapeshifting was complete and they looked like a kind of human again, they gave a big smile and followed Astrid to go meet Cantio in the next room over.

Astrid shrugs a little. "It's not that big of a deal," she says confidently. "We're used ta bein' a coupla weirdos! Now!" Her hands settle on her hips then she points towards the hall. "Let's go introduce ya ta me da!" With that, she marches into the hall and down to Cantio's door where she comes a rapping against the solid wood. 

"Da! I'm home!" she calls through the door. "Brought someone fer ya ta meet!" With that, she takes a step back from the door and stands with an aura of excitement. Any other time, she'd probably just bust in without knocking, but he's playing, and is known to be a bit skittish, so she's making an effort not to startle him completely. 

Cantio has his eyes closed.

He listens to the rise and fall of the notes on his strings, the pull and the scratch of the horsehair against wire, the way that each note flows into the next. The sound echoes and carries down the staircase for a time, through a house which is lonely and large without the other half of its occupants.

As he’s transitioning into a crescendo of rapidly increasing notes, a sudden call startles him.

SCRCHKRRRK!

Cantio jumps and bristles, scraping his bow across the strings when he hears a knock— and then, Astrid calls through the door. “Oh! Goodness gracious, Astrid!” He lowers his violin, clapping a hand over his chest as he rushes to set his violin and bow on the nearby bed stand. His heart thrums in his chest, but that’s fine. “Welcome home! I didn’t even hear you come in downstairs!”

He’s not mad— no, he’s pretty easy to spook— and Astrid’s return is always a happy one for him. “You brought over a friend?” He pulls open his door, golden eyes brightening when he sees Astrid standing there. He steps forwards, pulling the girl into a big hug. “How was your trip? I’d love to hear all about it wh—” He releases her after a moment, which is when he finally actually notices the massive knight standing behind her.

Cantio startles, pulling Astrid closer to him again by the shoulders.

“Uh— Astrid, who’s… this is your friend???”

Blue Raspberry followed behind Astrid, walking over to Cantio's door. They were a little nervous to be meeting him, especially knowing they were going to be revealing that they were an ooze to him soon. They wanted to make a good impression on their friend's da, even though they still didn't really know what a da was. It seemed important to Astrid, so it was important to them too. They stood in their best, most knightly pose. They had both hands behind their back and stood very straight, but their face had a friendly smile.

They didn't speak as Cantio and Astrid hugged, not wanting to interrupt. They knew a hug was a good thing since they'd just experienced their first one when Astrid showed them their room. They didn't want to mess up this one between Astrid and her da. They stood and waited until Cantio suddenly hugged Astrid even tighter while looking up at them.

"Hi! I'm Astrid's best friend, Blue Raspberry! Nice to meet you!" they said excitedly, raising one hand in a little wave.