12th Day of Summer, 512 AV Late Afternoon Tock had been up bright and early for work today, just as she always was. It had been a long but productive day. She was getting along well with the new girl, Ira. She was doing good about not losing her temper, despite Eavin's recently renewed determination to make her life a living hell. She was even almost starting to get used to the fact that James barely spoke to her anymore. That was his problem, after all. She had a better friend in Monty, anyway. Someone who appreciated her. Someone she was quite glad to lend a hand to, when he needed it. He'd helped give her baby eyes, after all. Repairing his Da's house was the very least she could do in exchange. She had spent the day thinking about designs. Normally she wasn't focused on the artistic side. She would add a touch here and there after a project was complete, but she rarely started out thinking about one. But Monty was an artist; he'd appreciate an artistic touch. She had one in mind that seemed perfect. She stopped on the way home at the general store and bought a kit with some art supplies. She had plenty of tools, but she was lacking in a proper set of her own brushes and other painting supplies. Proper ones. New brushes stowed in her pack, she headed for Tiffan's house. She had the needed wood at home from the tree she'd cut down, but she would also need some help hauling the wood down to Monty's Da's place (she really needed to get around to Animating herself a nice wagon). So when she got there, she let herself in without knocking (she was family, after all), and said, "Oy, okay boys, chop chop." She clapped her hands together to prompt the men into movement. "I done needs 'elp gettin' the stuff down 'ere. Ya done looks like a big strong chap, aye?" she said to Tiffan, looking him over. He was built like a horse, so he was probably used to manual labor. "Let's go, make 'er quick, aye? Done wit' all three o' us, shouldn't take no more'n one trip." She led the father and son to her home and gathered up all the needed material, as well as all of her babies. She would need their help, and despite Cutty's malfunction she was confident she could let him do some work. He'd feel better that way. She was worried he was going to get depressed if she didn't let him do what he had been made for. Hauling the wood was tiring work, especially after a hard day's work. She carried as many pieces as she could, propped on her shoulder, ignoring the aching of her muscles from the weight of it. Once everything was back at Tiffan's house, she set the heavy load down with a groan of relief, and let her babies wander the yard a bit while she set to making her measurements. She'd decided (without consulting the house's owner) that both the front door and the inside door needed replacing. She measured every side of the door jambs, which would be the first part that needed replacing, and then sketched up a quick, precise diagram of the needed design. Once she had the dimensions of all the wood worked out, she set Cutty up to do his job. With the wood clamped in place, set carefully across a couple of old stumps in the backyard, she lifted Cutty into position and knelt down next to him. Gently stroking the flat side of his blade, she whispered to him, "Now Mommy knows yer not feelin' good, sweetie, but I knows ya can do 'is, aye? Be a good boy fer Mommy. I believe in ya." She kissed his blade and then stood and stepped back, giving him his command, "Cut!" She heaved a sigh of relief when he started cutting, and then sat down nearby to continue her sketches. One of the great things about Animated tools, in addition to the love, affection, and companionship, was how much they increased her productivity. She kept a close eye on Cutty so she'd know when she needed to command him to stop, and started drawing, leaning on a wooden board she'd modified with a little holder for the ink vial. If Monty were to glance at her drawing, he'd see she was sketching a running horse. Shopping Note-25 GM marked off for an Artist's Toolkit. OOCLet me know if you want a new lock on the door, which will cost Monty some $, or if you just want Tock to strip the old lock from the other door and install it on the new one. Either way she's got a little locksmithing experience already, and can install a very basic lock with some effort, cursing, pinching her skin in the metal, insulting the lock's mother, and so forth. |