Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep

[Brian]

Smith deals Tim a 2 of hexes, and a 7 of hammers.

Nemo nods.  "It'll be another four months before my next assessment," he says, somewhat sadly.  Brightening, he asks, "How did you do on yours?"  He tosses three cards on the table.

"You'll do better next time," Worthington assures him absently, discarding one card.

Smith seems to be happy with his hand, and calls for a reveal.  "And Tim here is getting his recognition tomorrow," he adds.

Final tally puts Tim as the winner of that hand (and dealer for the next).  Smith had third, with a king-of-the-forest, Nemo had nothing (looks like he was trying for a straight), and Worthington has a pair -- looks like he was trying for a flush.

[Halbarad]

Tim proceeds to deal the next hand, shaking his head slightly. "So what ARE you guys planning for the fair tomorrow?"

[Brian]

"Well, no longer being apprentices," Worthington says with a waggle of his eyebrows, "Smith and I were going to go to Sorus's place across the square.  Once we finish watching the speeches, and catch whatever the King says, it's time for a few drinks, eh?"

"You're welcome to join us," Smith adds, frowning at his hand.

Nemo grimaces at his cards, stifling a yawn.  "I'm going to go to the Military Academy.  They have some open doors for the fair.  Now that the Greater Council has decided that Starflare isn't coming back, they've been taking on journeymen to restaff the sky-yards."

"Him, in a military cap?" Smith asks, squinting.

"Machinist!" Nemo protests, almost dropping his cards.  "I wouldn't fight!"

"I could see it," Worthington says calmly.  "But you've got months before recognition, anyway."

"I know," Nemo admits, somewhat sadly.

[Halbarad]

"Mmm, might be worth checking out myself then," Tim replies, looking thoughtful. "Couple of drinks afterwards wouldn't go amiss, either."

[Brian]

"After you see Catherine," Smith adds in a slightly teasing tone.

After that, it's relaxed, casual banter -- Tim finds it simple to fit in, despite the fact that the machinists seem to have a tightly-knit social group.  It's only another five or six hands before Nemo begins to nod off to sleep.  After he actually drops his cards, he excuses himself and says he needs to rest before the fair; Smith and Worthington agree.

Then Tim follows Nemo back to the apprentice's quarters, which are a ruder version of the journeymen quarters.  The window is clean, and the same height, but isn't a bay window.  The couches are replaced with comfortable looking chairs, and a door leads to a bunk room.

The bunk room contains two bunk-beds, for a total of four mattresses.  One of them has someone in it, snoring softly.  Two are neatly made up -- looks like Tim gets a bunk to himself by the placement of the plaque.  Nemo's bunk is above the snorer.  Curtains pull around the beds for a tiny bit of privacy, and light comes from a long florescent-looking tube.

Through the bunk room is another door, leading to (thankfully) a reasonably modern-looking bathroom, with attached shower room.  In addition, there's a locker at the foot of Tim's bunk that also has his name on it -- a pair of lockers by Nemo and (nametags are so handy!) Otto's trunks presumably contain their own clothing.

Nemo quickly changes from his work clothes into a sleeping outfit, which is little more than a robe.  Tim finds a key for his own trunk in one pocket, and while the contents would take some time to look through (and probably deserve the investigation), he finds an identical garment inside.  Also in the room is an unlabeled laundry basket, which Nemo tosses his work clothes into without a backwards glance.

[Halbarad]

The contents of the trunk bear investigation... but so does sleep. Hopefully a clear head after a night of rest will help in sorting out what's in the trunk in the morning.

[Brian]

Morning arrives with a chiming sound, followed by the somewhat less melodious screech of a steam-whistle. Nemo and Otto grumble and fall out of bed, milling around for a moment before it's decided that Otto goes to the washroom first. So Nemo is brushing his teeth while Otto showers.

This gives Tim a few minutes to actually look through the trunk, which helps. Inside are a few changes of clothes -- most outfits like the one worn yesterday. There's a pair of nicer outfits, too, one with a proper suit, a blue vest ... it seems to even be in good condition for being folded in a trunk instead of hanging. The other one is much the same, but has a gold vest, is of much higher quality, and has some emblem on the back and over the breast on the right side -- this one was wrapped in a linen bundle, and inside that is a sheathed dagger with the same emblem on the hilt.

A falcon grasping a wrench in one hand, and a hammer in the other. The scabbard is worked steel, etched with gold tracings and with two rubies set in it. When drawn, the blade has any number of complex gold tracings inlaid within, and seems to be superbly balanced.

Further in the trunk is a man-purse (satchel!) with some basic tools, well worn but still functional -- though not nearly as nice as the ones left hanging in the locker room. Also, a tiny purse with sixteen heavy six-sided copper coins, and four cut sections of the same coins. As though the coins were prepared to be cut, there's a small logo (perhaps the national symbol?) of a wrench near each face, and a section of impressed lines connecting each point to the opposite one. Looks like breaking coins for change may be easier than anticipated....

In the very bottom of the trunk, is a bundle of letters: "From Agatha," and "From Margret," and finally, "From Catherine", all of them to Tim. Beside that is a cloth bag with about fifty smaller gold coins of identical design to the copper ones, and a linen-wrapped ring sized to Tim's finger, bearing a massive ruby with the same falcon-with-hammer cut into the gem, and filled with gold. It looks magnificent, and at a guess is something far nicer than an apprentice should have.

Another glance shows that the same ring -- or an identical one -- sealed each of the letters from the girls. The sound of Nemo and Otto finishing up alerts Tim before either of them spot his possessions.

[Halbarad]

Leaving the rest of the contents of the trunk where they are, Tim extracts the letter from Catherine and takes a look at it - if he's going to wind up meeting this girl today, knowing something about her first would be helpful.

The sound of his bunkmates emerging from the bathroom prompts a hasty closing of the trunk, however - it DOES seem pretty odd for a simple apprentice to have most of that, so keeping it secret seems the best plan.

[Brian]

The handwriting is very feminine, but seems oddly familiar.  Still, the contents of the letter itself portray this Catherine as a painfully vapid woman who loves nothing so much as flowers -- she asks if Tim will bring her blue ones, or yellow, the next time you meet at the fair.

Then she comments about meeting Nemo at the last fair, and asks if Tim is looking after him.  A few questions about the status of Tim's apprenticeship, and if he intends to join the military Academy afterwards.  Presumably, a reply has already been written, but there's no convenient carbon copy to check out....

The final line is a reminder to get the flowers, though she leaves the choice of color to Tim.

[Halbarad]

Tim frowns slightly, folding up the letter and setting it aside as he reviews the papers he received the day before from Master Tavner. Probably relating to the completion of his apprenticeship, but it's as well to be sure.

[Brian]

Tavner's papers are notices about the recognition, where Tim will be recognized as a journeyman, along with some suggestions on speech topics, and proper etiquette.  After that is a contract offering a week of work at the journeyman rate.

Nemo emerges from the shower bleary-eyed, but dressed in a nice suit.  Better than his work clothes, not quite as nice as the less impressive of Tim's own 'nice' clothing.  "What time is your recognition?" he asks, while digging through his trunk for a satchel.

According to the papers, the recognition will be at fourteen bells.

[Halbarad]

"Fourteen bells," Tim replies, folding up the papers and slipping them into his trunk. Taking his cue from Nemo, he pulls out his less-nice suit and heads to the washroom to clean up and get ready.

That done, he emerges. "Now I need to find a florist..." he mutters to himself. "You ready to go?" he asks the other apprentice.

[Brian]

Nemo spends a moment comparing his outfit to Tim's, but then shrugs.  "Sure," he says, turning to his trunk.  "Have you saved anything?"  He pulls a purse with four of those copper coins, and about eight pieces of others.  "I expect a good bouquet to cost at least four bits.  Shouldn't be a full shilling unless you go some place very nice, or you're going to give her Imperial Fire Roses."  He pauses, glancing sidelong at Tim.  "Are you?"

[Halbarad]

Tim extracts his purse from the trunk with a wry grin - his sixteen shillings should probably provide a fair amount of entertainment for the day, unless flowers wind up being far cheaper than their counterpart from home. "I don't think so, but who knows what we'll find? Anyway, let's get going."

[Brian]

"Right," Nemo says.  Otto has already left while Tim was washing up.

The young Millhouse apprentice leads Tim down the hall outside of the apprentice's dorms, though going further away from the locker room.  After a short distance, the pair reaches an elevator.  It's pretty unmistakable in form and function, though it has a collapsing screen instead of a proper solid wall to keep people from walking out while it's in movement.

A glance at the control panel and the floor indicator (a large dial, of course), shows that this floor will be easy to find: it's the top one.

Nemo turns a dial to the right of the entrance until it reads '0', then pulls the lever beside it.  Then, the elevator zooms down swiftly and smoothly, coming to a halt in a crowded area lined with thick stone supports, and unopened crates.  Unconcerned with the boxes, Nemo opens the door and beelines towards what looks like daylight outlining an exit at the top of a half-flight of stairs.