Alvin was starting to move beyond just floundering in this conversation; he was drowning. He blew out a steady breath and took a sip of his almost too-hot tea. "Right," the following nod was noncommittal and he scratched at the back of his head with his band hand. He wished he could do test runs and he had no interest in society events these days so he was clawing at any common ground for a conversation. Maybe she was just over him today.

"Do you want to call it a day? I'll do some more research and see what I can adjust on the sketch." He could take another look through his notes, pick his way through some of the books he hadn't yet. There had to be a charm or something they were missing. Maybe it really was the wood. Grafting two together was still an option, but he couldn't tell how viable; he'd have to do more homework on it.