[Watanuki might never have Gawain's muscle mass, but that didn't mean his arms would remain noodly after the exercise he was going to be put through.
By the way, the ladle thing was originally an off-hand comment, so he was surprised Watanuki even considered the practicality of taking it everywhere. Watanuki also ignoring the option of jewelry was of interest: Merlin began to suspect that Watanuki had a strong preference for working with his hands that went beyond cooking.]
A penknife might have more utility.
[A pen, by the way, is actually viable as a weapon, but a knife nut might give better tips for that.
The original purpose of a pen, however, did remind Merlin of something, and he rubbed his chin.]
Unless... [He blinked and abruptly stood.] Follow me.
[Back to the study! And once they were there, he'd grab sheaf of parchment from one of the shelves and a quill and inkpot from another. On it he inscribed one character from each set: fairy runes, the Elder Futhark, an alchemical symbol, Old Hebrew, Fulu, and the I-Ching. Next, he took the loose cloth from his staff, wrapped one end above the hilt of a dagger that served as a glorified all-purpose box cutter, and held out the grip to Watanuki.]
Might as well, if you want a writing implement as an option.
Point the tip to each character and think really hard about wanting the ink to light up. If it doesn't, move on to the next.
[Another affinity test. If none of these worked, that was fine. Either the set Watanuki was most compatible with wasn't amongst the four, or that glyphs weren't the best medium for him.
Of course, Merlin could only really use one of these systems. If Watanuki had an affinity for something that wasn't within Merlin's scope, he already had a lesson workaround in mind.]
no subject
[Watanuki might never have Gawain's muscle mass, but that didn't mean his arms would remain noodly after the exercise he was going to be put through.
By the way, the ladle thing was originally an off-hand comment, so he was surprised Watanuki even considered the practicality of taking it everywhere. Watanuki also ignoring the option of jewelry was of interest: Merlin began to suspect that Watanuki had a strong preference for working with his hands that went beyond cooking.]
A penknife might have more utility.
[A pen, by the way, is actually viable as a weapon, but a knife nut might give better tips for that.
The original purpose of a pen, however, did remind Merlin of something, and he rubbed his chin.]
Unless... [He blinked and abruptly stood.] Follow me.
[Back to the study! And once they were there, he'd grab sheaf of parchment from one of the shelves and a quill and inkpot from another. On it he inscribed one character from each set: fairy runes, the Elder Futhark, an alchemical symbol, Old Hebrew, Fulu, and the I-Ching. Next, he took the loose cloth from his staff, wrapped one end above the hilt of a dagger that served as a glorified all-purpose box cutter, and held out the grip to Watanuki.]
Might as well, if you want a writing implement as an option.
Point the tip to each character and think really hard about wanting the ink to light up. If it doesn't, move on to the next.
[Another affinity test. If none of these worked, that was fine. Either the set Watanuki was most compatible with wasn't amongst the four, or that glyphs weren't the best medium for him.
Of course, Merlin could only really use one of these systems. If Watanuki had an affinity for something that wasn't within Merlin's scope, he already had a lesson workaround in mind.]