Xaviers!

It had been a day and a half since Katarina was melted, and Jacques had not yet left the art room, so engrossed in his work.

The first step had been to clean up as much of the room as possible from the fight, including scraping up as much melted gold as he could to set aside -- it was probably treason to leave that lying about, after all. Plus, the furnace, the table, and half the room had been smashed up by the imposter sculptor and the ensuing battle. That had to get straightened up if he was going to Work properly.

He had left the princess herself alone, despite her being still covered in soot and the like; a task he was putting off as long as possible. Instead, he was carefully working on the finishing touches of a clay sculpture of Katarina, shoulders-up. He paused as he flipped through his folders; photographs of Katarina from all angles for reference, as he continued to make slight adjustments here and there. This one had to be perfect; there wasn't any room for even the tiniest error.

As for Katarina herself, she remained in slumber, adrift from the world.

((open))

Leo had of course heard about the attack, and so abandoned his plans for the room in favor of coming to check on the princess.

With a soft knock, he poked his big head in. "How is she doing?" he asked, restraining a 'holy shit' at the damage. His expression, as usual, gave everything away.

"The Princess, as she ever does, is enduring," Jacques said, continuing to focus on the bust.

One hand reached below the table, subtly.

Leo was oblivious to the reaching as he quietly let himself in. He kept a respectful distance as he asked, "I hope you don't mind. I was worried about her so I thought I'd drop by. "

"You may view the princess from a safe distance. I did not think to set up the velvet ropes beforehand," Jacques said, with a faint air of sarcasm.

"No, no, I'm not here to gawk. Just wanted to see that she's okay, honest. Obviously, the answer is, 'Not really.'."

He wasn't gawking as much as averting his eyes.

"And, truth be told, I was a bit curious to see a master sculptor at work."

"The princess is fine. She is strong, brave, and will be back in full form in no time at all. Much like our fine Symkarian soil, she can withstand the futile attempts from the outside to crush our spirits," Jacques said, spouting the propaganda. "There is nothing on Heaven or Earth that can defeat us in our glorious purpose."

Leo's comments did stroke Jacques' ego some, however, and no artist can resist that for too long.

"I have almost finished the clay bust, the first step to restoration," he nodded. "Every detail must be carefully put into place."

"I would think so, yes," he agreed with a nod.

"Using art to literally heal someone is quite the task. I don't think I could ever trust my hands enough to attempt such a thing."

"This is not, precisely, normal. I was called in to fix some facial damage; not to reconstruct an entire bust. But with Her Grace to guide my hands, I shall be successful."

"I won't presume to be of any help with that. But if you need any muscle, I'm your man."

Jacques is about to dismiss him, when he stops and thinks.

"How are you with heat?"

"Surprisingly good considerin' all the fur. Whaddya need me to do?"

"Nothing, as of yet. But restoring the Princes will require a much larger amount of molten gold than originally anticipated. It is important for it to be as pure as possible, to match the Princesses' spirit."

"A really good thing I have custom welding gear then. Wouldn't want to burn myself or pollute the gold with cat hair."

"I will not be welding," Jacques said. "The damage is too great for that. We will be casting."

"Yeah, I got that. Just seems like I should use some protection so it doesn't smell like burnt hair in here."

"No, that would not do at all," Jacques nodded. "Not remotely appropriate."

"You'll have to tell me what to do. My art education isn't that far yet," he said as he went to a small storage locker he was allowed to use, mercifully located in the undamaged half of the room. Inside was some jumbo welding gear and a couple of unfinished metal sculptures. While the pieces showed promise, they were definitely the work of a first-year art student. He took out an apron, some gloves, and some foot coverings, and started to put them on.

"Well, at the moment, we must wait. This is a process that would normally take weeks, and I am doing everything in my utmost to hurry it along; Symkaria can ill-afford to be without symbols right now. There is the rubber mold to make, and the molten wax pattern to create and perfect, and then shell casting -- that would normally take weeks, but I am hoping some of your science and technology can speed that process up," Jacques said, trying (and almost succeeding) to suppress a yawn. "And then we must melt the gold, and carefully fill the ceramic shell, but not until after we have figured out a way to attach it to the Princess without damaging her further; and then there's the glass bead blasting and the acid wash..." Jacques said, getting notably more frazzled the further he went on with describing the process.

He stopped putting gear on and put it back, a little embarrassed for getting ahead of himself.

"I'm no science whiz, but I have an idea. Do you know about the Danger Room simulator thing? If she's ever used it, it might have her face on file. Perfect way to make a casting and skip a few steps."

Jacques tilted his head. "Moving the Princess to the Danger Room sounds...well, dangerous. It is in the name, after all."

"It's only as dangerous as you tell it to be. But we wouldn't necessarily have to move her. If it has a scan of her then you could use the hard-light projection as a mold for a cast. It's incredibly lifelike so accuracy won't be a problem, and you could always make corrections if you feel it's missin' a certain spark of life."

"Do you believe it would have a scan of her?"

"There's a chance, at least. I can go check for you."

"I shall not leave the princess' side, so that may be for the best."

Leo finished putting his stuff away and headed for the door. "I'll be back when I know something."