loch lemach gives zero fucks (cutandthrust) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-04-13 15:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, !plot: founders festival, aisling wilde, loch lemach |
Who: Loch Lemach & Aisling Wilde
What: Poking fun at the new machinists, and icecream.
Where: The tech display tents near the Aerodrome
When: First day of the festival!
Rating: B for Loch being a bitch, really. Language.
Status: Complete!
Rows upon rows of tents lined the entrance to the Aerodrome, all of them populated by the guild’s newest machinists, boys and girls with shining eyes full of enthusiasm and hope that their inventions would garner the interest of a noble patron, propelling them to a life of luxury and riches, which would allow them to spend the rest of their life inventing and doodling blueprints. A preliminary survey of the constructs on display had convinced Loch that, if indeed the city’s nobles ended up placing their trust in such shoddy work, it would constitute a form of karmic justice. “Gotta love Founders’,” Loch said, shooting Ash a grin. Ash licked at her ice cream cone - two scoops of pistachio, as promised - and shook her head. “The fuck are they teaching machinists these days? And what the fuck is that?” She pointed to some contraption held together by what looked like gum and string. It moved, but just barely; she could hear the creaking and clamoring of its joints as what appeared to be arms lifted and lowered. Just what the fuck was it supposed to do? Not bothering to look back at Loch, she walked over to it, eyeing it curiously. It seemed like a stiff wind would take it apart; fuck, maybe Loch didn’t even need to sabotage shit this year. “Seems like they’re taking the fun out of it,” she muttered to her friend. “Taking the constructs apart is only half the fun,” Loch muttered back. “Watch.” The young machinist stood up as the two women approached the tent. It made little difference; he was as tall sitting down as he was standing. “How may I help you?” he asked, in a voice that sounded as though it would break any day. It seemed like the brats got smaller every year. “My friend and I were looking at your invention,” Loch said. “I say invention because I got no fucking idea how else to call it, and I’ve been a Machinist for over a decade. What is it?” The boy gulped. “It’s an automated seal stamper. If you have to seal a lot of papers, you just insert your house seal here,” he pointed to a gap between two sticks that seemed to form the main structure of the thing, “and the weight will make this part swing down and stamp the seal onto the paper for you.” Loch reached out and tapped the contraption where the seal should have gone, to see the mechanic. The thing toppled over, prey to bad design and indignity. “Impressive,” she said. The mime felt a twinge of pity for the kid - probably his first invention, and here was an experience machinist disparaging it. Still, you didn’t learn if you didn’t know, and while Loch was a bitch, Ash still contended that the ninja had the best intentions at heart. Or, at least somewhat good ones. “Better luck next time,” Ash advised. The boy seemed on the verge of tears; his lower lip trembled, and Loch rolled her eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She glanced at Ash, then pulled out her purse and slammed a few coins on the counter. “Go get yourself some icecream and quit bawling. And go fall out of love with wooden structures while you’re at it.” Sniffling, the boy gathered up the coins and stumbled away with a muttered thank you. Loch took once glance at the invention before walking away. “What they’re teaching apprentices these days, I sure as hell don’t know. Anyway, let’s go find Feccini’s brat. He made class this year―after inventing the ultimate unpickable lock, so says Feccini.” She withdrew a set of lockpicks from her pocket and grinned. “I want to know how falsely he’s advertising it.” Ash snorted. “From what I hear, Porter came close. And Porter was a hell of a lot smarter than Feccini’s dumbass apprentice.” She’d heard about Feccini’s kid - dumb as a brick. The only thing that saved him from being worthless was a good head for concept, but Ash couldn’t think of a single thing the kid had done that had worked properly. If he made class, maybe he’d gotten better, but Ash doubted it. “If it’s as bad as I think it is, I think even I could pick it.” “Course Porter was smarter than that. Porter was my apprentice once.” Smirking, she added, “If you can pick it, I’ll get you another scoop of icecream.” With a grin, she looped her free arm through Loch’s. “You’re on, Lemach. I think I’ll take mango sorbet next.” |