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 Posted: Fri May 22, 2020 6:54 pm
[8/10]
Maritza dropped on the lower level with a loud 'thud'. Even surrounded as they were by activity there was still a certain ring to heels on sheet metal that made her feel at home. "If they have that much time to notice then they aren't working hard enough!" She hollered back. It wasn't as if he was the only 'novice' stuck down here, anyway. Granted, most were apprentices in training, slogging through coal while their 'betters' barked orders, but Maritza wasn't about to put him through that kind of hazing.
"You're new, but you aren't stupid. Besides, it's only for a few hours, so you'll be fine."
"Ritz! Move!"
Maritza side stepped as four burly Lightning workers slogged past with a large, metal pipe balanced across their shoulders. The first had been the one to accost her and was the first to toss her the stink eye, same as the second, but the last was the only one to look up at Uquin, then toss a knowing smirk her way before disappearing around a boiler.
What was that all about? She wrinkled her nose and once she was sure Uquin was on her level she started walking. It was much harder to navigate down here than it was up above; the plethora of bodies, tools, coal, and just the general tightness made it hard to maneuver, but she seemed to make it work. And hopefully he would too, given how skinny he was! More than once a great plume of steam would puff up in-front of her, causing Maritza to pull up short, but once it dissipated she started walking again.
And eventually, she made it to a little hole in the wall lined with various pressure gauges. "This is it!"
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2020 4:17 pm
Well, Uquin dryly realized he was pleased that she at least had faith in his intelligence. It was strangely vulnerable, to have put himself so completely out of his element, but that was what this entire trip to Belrea was meant to do, wasn't it? It only seemed right that he start here, learning what he could about these machines. Still, following her now in the belly of the beast as it were, he could only feel a bit overwhelmed by the organized chaos of it all. Everyone had a job that they knew how to do, a function, and he could only look to Maritza and trust that she would instruct him and not help him make a fool of himself.
He was far too distracted to notice that somewhat knowing smirk the final worker shared with Maritza, and instead once he was settled he hastened to follow her, once again glad he had opted for boots instead of sandals. Any hopes of staying 'clean' were dashed as soon as they merged with the throng of workers - coal and sweat immediately soaked into his clothes and skin; the hissing steam reminded him of her warning from before, and he half raised his hand again, prepared to cover his remaining eye from jets of it.
Finally though, they made it to what must have been her corner of the world - a wall of devices he had no hope of deciphering. He gave it an almost reproachful work, then glanced at her again, a hand propped on his hip. "And these... measure the ship in some way?" He asked, doubtfully, taking in the gauges and switches and dials.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2020 6:44 pm
"Yes," She answered curtly, turning her attention away from him to check over the gauges. Maritza nabbed a log book she'd left behind and compared the readings to previous numbers, then wrote it all down for future information. "As coal is fed to the firebox the water surrounding it heats up and creates steam. If there's too little the ship won't have enough energy to stay in the sky, but too much and pipes will burst." She didn't think she needed to state what that much boiling water and steam, in such large volumes, could do to a crew. "That's what these dials monitor. I don't watch over them every trip, but it's been my job for the past few nights. I do routine maintenance as well, but these take priority."
Her paperwork was meticulous and organized, which is why she had no problem handing him the logbook once she'd finished. "It's important to keep records of each flight so that we can maintain proper pressures. Each airship is different, and every component can change, but this book stays in this ship."
Maritza had started to point out something else when a faint whistling caught her attention. All at once she grabbed Uquin by the back of the head and pushed him down, doing her best to crouch over him as a spray of steam went off where their heads had once been. "Close call!"
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2020 6:58 pm
Fascinating. If Uquin was more the engineering type himself, he would have been much more intent, but even he couldn't help but wonder how such technology could be used back home. Then again - he wondered if such machinery would survive in the constant rains of Jauhar, or the flood seasons in Tale. At first, he wondered what the point was of not having the same person manning the station all the time - why was it Maritza only handled these very important dials some nights? Perhaps it was in an effort to avoid specialization, so that if she was... well, out of commission the crew wasn't suddenly caught, unable to handle her loss?
Having answered his own query, Uquin nodded in vague, but definitely impressed understanding, looking at her with renewed respect. Above the ship, the concept of her ensuring the ship ran seemed simple... no more difficult than someone handling mammu as they pulled a caravan, or the traditional sea ships that left the Matori ports for Yael. But this... this was much more than he had dreamed, and having seen it all for himself he was even more surprised that she'd invited him here in the first place.
He reverently accepted her logs, peeking down at them with wide eyes, and was thoroughly distracted in tracing the numbers over that he didn't notice the faint whistling - even when Maritza's head snapped up. To him, it was horribly sudden that she lunged at him, gripping his head and shoving him down - her warm, solid frame hunched over his own as a sudden blast of air and heat shot overhead, radiating enough into his clothes that he realized just how terrible it would have been if she hadn't noticed.
Close call seemed like a horrible understatement - and when he was allowed to lift his head again, he stared at the pipes the spray had just come from, then turned to her, setting down her log book carefully while his other hand reached to grip her arm, firmly, almost as if to steady the both of them. "You're..." Amazing, was on the tip of his tongue, but his face colored and he instead swallowed thickly, pressing the log book back into her hands. "... Be careful, if you keep saving me this way I'll be loathe to leave your side while we're down here." He warned, with the ghost of a smirk that only barely pushed back his true, somewhat shaky reaction to what they'd both just narrowly missed.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 2:54 pm
"Impressive? Yeah, I know." Her voice was unsteady with the rush of adrenaline in her veins. No matter how many times she heard those whistles Maritza could never get used to 'calmly' ducking out of the way. Every time was such a rush! Her heart felt as if it may have well burst out of her chest, and it didn't look like she was alone in feeling that way. Uquin looked positively flushed, but maybe that was the lighting?
Either way, it was a good look for him.
She took the logbook back with an absolutely wild grin that didn't go away even as he tried to admonish her. He was old enough to be someone's father and while she certainly should have taken it that way she didn't. All she saw was someone who had held himself back for far too long and was finally out of his element. If anything it should have made him a grouch, but Maritza was having a ball.
And then there it was, a smirk of his own.
"Careful Uquin; don't tempt me." She patted his hand and moved it, but not before shaking her head with a silent laugh. "Come on, we've got work to do."
[FIN]
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