"So you thought you'd simply pop in and ask for this very complex spellwork to be done," the Cynn said. He sat with his elbows on the desk, the ring held between thumb and forefinger, looking impassively at Liya, who sat across the desk from him now.

"Wull...yeah," she said. "I din't know who else to ask, an' people say you're good at this stuff."

A short silence stretched between them. The Cynn rolled the ring between his fingers, looking at it expressionlessly, while Liya kept a stubborn frown on her face.

"And Yoshi is using 'she' and 'her' now," the Cynn said finally, turning his gaze back to Liya.

"Yes," she said firmly.

"I see." He got up from his seat quite suddenly. "...All right, then. Don't make a habit of requests like this, though, please."

Liya started. "Y-you'll do it? Now? I din't--"

"I could use a short break." Liya got up from her seat and followed the Cynn as he opened the door to the next room over. "Luckily, I've got this exact spell written down somewhere already. I wrote it for myself, but I find shapeshifting rather nauseating, as it turns out. You may come in, if you like," he added, though Liya was already poking her head in through the door behind him, "this should not take long."

The room was even more dimly lit than the office, and large, and very tidy, and sparse. The source of the only light was a lamp in the one corner that seemed used--there sat a worktable, a cabinet, a set of drawers, all stuffed full of books and little bottles and other things. This corner of the room was also painted with a mural of stars and clouds and some kind of landscape, which stretched up into the ceiling beams. The Cynn headed for the worktable, and Liya came in behind him, looking around curiously.