House Repairs [Minerva]

[Nira'lia]

58th Spring 512 AV The sound of heavy hammering resounded throughout the house. Tools hitting wood and metal alike did not emit pleasant sounds, and in the confines of such a small house, these sounds echoed through the walls in a menacing manner. Nira’lia couldn’t complain though – the noise disturbed her, but the repairs were necessary, and she was thankful that there was someone willing to do it. Nira'lia did her best to ignore it as she proceeded to fix her belongings. She was leaving Zeltiva in two days for a journey that would take weeks, and yet she was only starting her preparations today. The konti looked at the mess before her. Scattered in front of her were clothes, books, food that she could bring, medical supplies, and much more. "Nira'lia! Just take what you need!" said her mother's voice. "I'm going out to get some things, so keep an eye on the workers." "Okay," replied Nira'lia simply and absently. ’What’s she even talking about? It’s not as if they’d take anything, and I think some of them are volunteers... also, there’s nothing to take from this poor house.’ She heard the door close as her mother left. Looking at the objects before her once more, Nira'lia suddenly felt a pang of loneliness inside her. She was leaving Zeltiva.... the city she had been in for the past fifteen years or so. It would also be the first time she would be away from her family. Nira'lia had always wanted to leave and see more places, but as she thought about it now, it seemed difficult. Sighing, she pushed the task of packing aside. Turning around, she made for the door and stepped out on the street. Several construction workers were repairing the houses, including theirs, on the street. The storm had brought much mayhem. Roofs had been torn off, windows fell from their places, and much more. Her mother had asked her to keep an eye on the workers, but that wasn’t her purpose for going out. She trusted these people and appreciated their work. Nira’lia just needed some fresh air, and she thought it might be interesting to watch how their house was being fixed. "Ow!" said Nira'lia suddenly as a hard object hit the top of her head. Wincing, she rubbed the sore spot and looked up to see what had happened. She glanced at whoever was up there and said, "Be careful please, you might hit someone else."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Minerva was a new hire on Jacques' construction crew. She had just started, and it wasn't working out to be the most glorious of days for her. She had, so far, spent most of it hauling rubble. The house across the street from Nira'lia's had been almost completely destroyed, and needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. Comparatively, Nira'lia's house seemed to have been rather lucky. It was still standing upright, after all. The rest of the crew were talking about going out for drinks soon, but not all of the teams had finished at the same time. Tock's crew had been stuck on down and dirty rubble hauling, but some of the more experienced people were already working on actual repairs. That was the kind of work she wanted to be doing. Since there was still plenty of daylight out, she decided that since the hauling was finished for the day, she'd go lend a hand to one of the other teams until it was time to head down to the tavern. She asked one of the carpenters what else needed to be done, hoping she could actually use her tools today, instead of just moving bricks around. He directed her to a simple bit of patching that was being done atop one of the houses. She grabbed a ladder and leaned it against the building, then carefully balanced a few wooden boards on her shoulder. Using one arm to hold the boards in place, she slowly and carefully climbed up the ladder, wishing it wasn't quite so high. She wasn't used to working at a height. Up at the top of the ladder (and trying hard not to look down!), she placed the boards carefully on the roof. There were a few busted boards that needed to be pried off the wall, then replaced. She used her crowbar to yank out the broken pieces, dropping nails and bits of wood down below. Then she heard someone yell at her. She looked down to see a blonde woman staring up at her. "Oy, whatcha doin' in the work zone?" she asked, shaking her crowbar at the woman. "Yer jus' askin' ta get 'urt, ya are! Watch yerself!" She shook her head at the woman and turned back to her work. It was nothing too hard, just setting the boards in place one at a time and nailing them down. She hummed as she worked, making sure the boards had a tight fit and carefully hammering. Working atop a rickety ladder wasn't such an easy task though. She slipped a bit on the recoil of her swing, and ended up almost falling. She desperately grabbed for the ladder with both hands, clinging to it so she wouldn't fall. The hammer fell down below. "LOOK OUT!" she shouted, hoping the woman had had the sense to move out of the way after the first time something fell on her head. If she hadn't moved... well, then it was her own damn fault.

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia found herself looking at a young woman with short red hair. The woman spoke with an accent that was different from most people in Zeltiva. Up on the ladder, the red-haired woman seemed to be fixing something. The konti couldn’t really see what she was doing. "Oh, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Nira'lia quickly. Indeed, it was her fault, for she was the one who was trespassing on their workplace. She didn't know that there would be someone there, but she should at least have been more careful. Suddenly, and to Nira'lia's panic, the girl almost fell. But that wasn't all -- the girl had regained her balance, however, the hammer she was holding was coming right at Nira'lia. The konti shrieked and ducked for cover. Out of instinct, she covered her head with her frail arms and moved out of the way, moving towards the wall of her house for shelter. She felt her body hit the pavement painfully, but at least the hammer had not fallen on her. That would have been more painful. The hammer fell with a heavy thud and some clanking noises. When Nira'lia deemed it safe, she put her hands down and peered at the tool that was now flat on the ground. A concerned look was on her face as she deemed this a very dangerous location to be in. Aside from that, the woman had almost fallen off her ladder because of its instability. That was just not something that Nira'lia was comfortable with. She couldn't let anyone be in such an unsafe position. "Perhaps you should go look for a better ladder? Please!" exclaimed Nira'lia as she peered up at the woman. The worry and concern were evident in her eyes. "I live in this house. My name's Nira'lia, and I'm not comfortable that someone right outside my home is being so unsafe!"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Unsafe? Unsafe!? Tock grumbled under her breath as she climbed down the ladder. "Oy, Sook," she said. "Ain't nothin' doin'. By the time I got 'is 'ere ladder fixed up right, the job'll be done anywho, so ain't no point, aye? Aye." She climbed down and bent to retrieve her hammer. She really needed to design and animate a hammer on legs, so it could climb back up to her when she dropped it. Then it was back up the ladder to carefully hammer the last board in place. With that, the damaged section of the wall was patched up nicely. There was still some repair work to be done on the roof, but that would wait for tomorrow. After checking the fit on the boards one last time, to make sure they were good and tight, she climbed back down (only slipping and nearly killing herself once), and started retrieving the old boards and nails scattered across the ground. She looked at the girl, who definitely had the look of someone who did not belong at a construction site. "Ya should watch yerself, aye?" she said. "Lots o' loose nails an' stuff lyin' 'round. Might step on one, 'urt ya pretty little foot. Ain't wantin' 'at ta 'appen now, aye? Aye." The last thing she needed was to be involved in getting someone injured. Especially someone who might decide to blame Jacques, and get the law involved. She needed this job, and certainly couldn't pay for her schooling if Jacques got shut down because the government thought his workers were unsafe. Though with the desperate need for repairs in the city, she doubted anyone would shut down the crew. She tucked all the bent, old nails into her pocket (Minerva never threw ANYTHING out), and gathered up the broken boards. The jagged end pieces could be trimmed, and the rest of the wood would still be usable. There was always something that could be done with scrap, even if a piece was no bigger than your finger. It was just a matter of what you needed built.

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia's face became a sheet of white when Minerva responded to her request as if she had been offended. The konti stared with her mouth agape. She felt uneasy at the whole situation, but she said nothing. She decided to stand there and wait for Minerva to finish her task. The girl seemed to be engrossed in her work, and the passion that emitted from her was something Nira'lia admired. She didn't believe it was safe... in any way. Since she was a medic, she decided it was her duty to oversee such a dangerous environment and wait around because of the chance that her skills might be needed. "Yes, I'm watching myself," said Nira'lia in response to the girl's statement. 'I'm watching you as well.' Nira'lia observed her as she climbed down from the ladder. The moment she almost seemed to lose her balance, the konti went pale much more and mentally reminded herself not to panic in fear of offending this person. Once she was on the ground, the girl seemed to be collecting things in her pocket, and this piqued Nira'lia's curiosity. Puzzled, the konti tilted her head and attempted to get a better look at what Minerva was doing. Was she putting bent, old nails aside? Perhaps she didn't want to litter? It made sense to Nira'lia that she was putting it aside in order to discard it later. She had said it herself -- these nails could injure someone's foot. The konti found herself smiling. She came to the conclusion that this girl had a good heart and minded the small details to keep others away from harm. Nira'lia didn't even have any idea about her misconception, that Minerva simply liked collected scrap. Nira'lia leaned down to gather a broken board in her hand. She was careful not to get her hand cut by splinters. It was the only board she had been able to collect, seeing as Minerva had already taken pretty much everything else. "Thank you for cleaning up! Here, let me help you. The garbage bin is over here," said Nira'lia cheerfully as she walked over to a metal can by the side of the road. Without second thought, she discarded the board in it. "Feel free to put your trash here as well!"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Garbage!?" Minerva cried out, deeply shocked and offended. "Oy, whatcha doin! 'At's MINE!" She stalked over to the garbage bin and fished out the board, adding it to the pile in her arms. "Whazza big idea, eh? Goin' 'round throwin' out a girl's stuff! Oy, some people..." She looked through the bin for a moment, pulling out a few more random scraps of metal and wood to add to her collection. Perfectly good building materials, tossed aside like yesterday's lunch! She found yesterday's lunch in there too, and fished out a few bones. They made good needles, once they'd been smoothed out and filed down. She tucked as much as she could into her pack, and then piled the big pieces on one of the crew's wagons. She was starting a scrap bin back at Jacques' warehouse. Her boss had said it was fine to take whatever she wanted, as long as it was too small for the crew to use. Building houses and such, they only had need for full sized planks, boards, and lumber. End pieces that had been cut off, and broken, splintered wood was useless to them. Those pieces were gold to a woodcarver, though. She could trim them down, and carve out small parts. Joints, pistons, dowels, connectors... there were plenty of things that could be made from small pieces of wood. "'At's the last o' it, mate!" she told the wagon driver. "Remember, 'is stuff goes in my bin!" The driver gave his assent, and drove off. Minerva turned back to the girl and said, "Careful next time, aye, Sook?" She crossed her arms with a slight frown.

[Nira'lia]

"I... well..." the konti managed to squeak out in a startled manner. She had angered this person! Nira'lia was not comfortable with getting on the bad side of people, and now she regretted misunderstanding the actions of Minerva. "What are you...?" Nira'lia stood straight and stared, not daring to move. She watched as Minerva rummaged through their bin. A look of slight disbelief appeared on the konti's face as she saw that Minerva even managed to take some bones from leftover food. 'What's happening!?' "Yes, I'm sorry," said Nira'lia weakly. She felt the energy being drained from her body. Evidently, she was having a difficult time relating with this person. Minerva had a strong personality that seemed to intimidate the konti. In the end, though... Nira'lia forced these negative thoughts away. She had to know why this girl had just taken the bones of yesterday's lunch. "What do you do with those scraps?" she asked with interest. It wasn't an act -- she very much wanted to know the reason. Then it dawned to her that this person fixed things for a living. Most people who fixed objects also knew how to assemble them. "Wait... do you make fancy stuff out of them?" Nira'lia's eyes brightened as her lips spread to a wide smile. "That's amazing! Wow! What kind of stuff do you make?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Fancy stuff?" Minerva asked, shaking her head. "Nah, not outta 'ese. Ya need better parts what fer ta make fancy stuff. But 'ese is useful parts fer some stuff. 'Ere," she pulled one of the bones out to demonstrate. The bone was from a pork chop, about four inches long. It was filthy and still covered in bits of meat. Minerva stepped over to where the crew had a bucket of water and started scrubbing off the nasty bits with a rag. Then she sanded it a bit to make sure there was no unneeded material left clinging to it. Walking over to her workbench, she gently clamped the bone down. "Bigger ones are good fer 'andles an' stuff," she explained. Her brief anger earlier was now completely forgotten, once she had a project in mind. "Or 'ey make buttons o' sewin' needles outta real little ones. 'Is one, 'ere," she used a saw to cut off the thick end chunk, leaving only the straight part of the bone, "will make a good gorge 'ook." She saved the end piece she had cut off, and set to work on the bone before her. She started by etching the design on the hook with a gouge. It was a simple enough design that she didn't bother with measuring, since she could just eyeball it. Whatever asymmetries might result didn't matter on such a simple tool. The gorge hook wasn't like a regular fish hook. Instead of a curve, it was a straight piece that tapered off to a sharp tip at each end. The very center curved inwards into a slight notch, where the fishing line would be tied. When used, the hook would be swallowed by the fish long-ways, then the tugging on the line would pull it horizontal, wedging it in the fish's throat and cutting the tips into both sides to secure it. "See? Ya jus' carve off 'ese extra bits 'ere," she explained, taking out her chisels to cut out the section she had marked. On something so small, and lacking any fine artistic details, it didn't take long at all. "'En ya jus' sharpen 'er up," she unclamped the piece and took out a more precisely edged tool and started running it across the tips to bring them to a sharp tip. She used the same tool to carve out the notch in the center. "'En we jus' smooth 'er up, an' she's done!" She sanded the edges down until she had a nice, smooth, sharp tip on each end. Once the short job was complete, she wagged the hook in the girl's face and said, "See? An' ya was gonna throw 'is out! Now someone can catch tomorrow's lunch wit' 'er!" She lifted the girl's hand and pressed the hook into it, hoping she would put it to good use. There was no point in building something that wasn't going to see use.

[Nira'lia]

The konti watched with much interest as Minerva went about her task. She was not too comfortable with the fact that she was working with food fished out of the trash, but she kept her expression in check. In the end, she was amazed by how Minerva was able to come up with simple uses from what otherwise would be interpreted as junk. Minerva seemed to enjoy teaching Nira'lia the basics, although Nira'lia didn't think she'd be able to replicate anything that the red-haired girl had done. In the end though, the konti was happy that she could brag that she now knew how to come up with a hook from a pork chope bone -- or, at least, she could say that she had seen it been done. Nira'lia didn't expect it, but Minerva suddenly took hold of her hand in order to give her the hook. The konti was always wary of being touched and avoided it at all costs, as her konti gift gave her visions of a person's happiest memory. It was something deemed personal by most, and Nira'lia was not fond of letting it happen when unnecessary. Out of instinct, Nira'lia pulled her hand away in a quick motion. It could be interpreted as an offensive action, as if she detested being touched by others, but it was not something she did on purpose. However, it was too late. Visions flashed before her eyes. OOCSorry, short post! Since you said you'd describe the memory, go ahead.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Minerva didn't think twice about the way the woman snatched her hand back. People were always reacting like that to her... no one ever seemed comfortable with her upfront and direct nature. And she never noticed, or cared. Unknown to her, however, some kind of magic had occurred in that moment. As she was sticking her chisels and files back in her tool belt, her memories were being transmitted. If someone had asked Minerva, she probably wouldn't have been able to tell them what her happiest memory was. She didn't tend to dwell on the past. She might not even have picked the memory that got displayed, since it was rare that a person knew themselves so well to know what was truly their happiest moment in life. Yet in her heart, there was no question. "Grandpa, Grandpa, look what I made!" Minerva squealed, rushing over to her Grandad and jumping up into his arms. He scooped her up and nestled her against his hip, grinning wide. Her chest swelled with pride as she held up her creation... her first ever. It was a wooden horse, and she had made it with her own two little hands. "Why, 'at's just beautiful, Minerva," he told her. Of course, the horse was quite crudely carved, with no artistic details. It was a child's work. But to a proud Grandfather, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "You're quite the little crafter, aye?" He held up the horse to examine it, his expert's eyes running along the crude, yet smooth lines of the horse's body. "Aye, 'at's a real beaut, my girl!" Minerva grinned and hugged her Granddad. For this moment, he was the only person in the world. Her father, upstairs and likely passed out drunk, was forgotten as if he didn't exist. The fresh bruises covered by her shirt were forgotten. It was just her, and her Granddad, and his proud smile. Tock held up her file and blew off some sawdust from it. She rubbed it on her sleeve to clean it, then tucked it away. "Oy, ya awright?" she asked the girl, pondering the strange look on her face.