Aerrol's Laboratory, Vol. II (Roughly two months before joining the Order)

As fate would have it, sugar, spice, and everything nice were not at all the ingredients necessary to create females. The recipe was the same for women as for men when it came down to components that made up a human's form; calcium, carbon, chlorine, hydrogen, iron, magnesium, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur and, of course, water. It had taken him nearly a year of extensive trial and error, of hypothesizing and re-drafting his previous theories to fit with the new information he'd learned. A year of frustration and struggle, but with Iaden's help he had finally done it.
A sense of joy he'd never felt before surged through him the moment his experimentation finally payed off. The blond man removed the protective goggles from his eyes, a look of disbelief evident on his face. He turned to his assistant slowly, his shock mirroring hers almost perfectly, then back to the body lying where the mass of chemicals he'd set out had been only moments before.
"Iaden, am I seeing things?" he asked quickly. "Have I finally gone mad?"
The silver-haired woman shook her head. "I do not believe so. If you have, it's a madness shared by the both of us." A pause then, "I think we've finally done it, Lord Queenston."
Aerrol strode forward apprehensively, afraid that the body before him was simply a mirage brought on by the fumes of all the chemicals around them. One hand reached out to touch it, and a gasp fell from his lips. "D-dear Azphel, Iaden! We've truly done it!" The lanky man rose to his feet once more. With the grace of a Silver Granker, Aerrol dashed toward Iaden, his usual stoic veneer missing, replaced with elation the likes of which he never knew himself capable of. He hugged her happily before speaking once more. "I couldn't have done it without your help. Thank you, Iaden," he said gratefully.
Iaden smiled and returned her employer's embrace briefly. "No thanks are necessary; it's what I'm here for." The gesture concluded as quickly as it had begun and both of them took a step apart from one another, returning to the professionalism they were both so used to. "This is only the first step though, Lord Queenston. This experiment was merely the precursor, if you will, to the true nature of our study. A momentous occasion indeed, but we've still much work to do. What good is a body without a soul, after all?"
The young nobleman noddedin agreement. "Indeed. Much remains unfinished, but surely you would not object to spending the rest of the evening in celebration?" A smile, and then, "All work and no play makes Iaden a dull girl."
It was rare for Iaden to see her employer in such high spirits, and even rarer she heard him jest. In fact, she could count all the times he'd teased her in a friendly manner on one finger. She couldn't help but feel that it would be foolish to not take the man up on his offer. "I would hate to bore you then, if that's the case," she said with a smile of her own.
"Dinner in Pandaemonium and drinks at the Apellbine? My treat, of course."
Iaden grinned a bit more. "Lord Queenston, are you asking me on a date?" she joked. She knew well of Aerrol's relationship with Drestiel and his lack of romantic interest in women. It was simply too good a chance for the joke to pass up.
Aerrol laughed and removed his goggles from their resting place atop his head, setting them down instead on the table beside Iaden's research journal. "Very funny, Ellenthos," he replied. He'd never used called her by her surname before; it sounded a bit strange coming from his lips. Grabbing his coat from the rack in the far corner of the room, his dimly red eyes fell onto the form of the artificial body they'd created once more. "I'll have a servant bury this by the time we return," he said. "It wouldn't do to have an inanimate body decomposing in the lab."
Iaden couldn't help but nod her agreement.