Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Mm! Indeed it does! Marvelous, isn't it?" Tensa said enthusiastically, replacing the key into his sleeve. He watched the machine in motion, like a great clockwork heart, whirring and pulsing with the rythem of the absent metrenome. Knowing full well the clock would run for weeks on a single winding, he slipped a small cog between two gears to halt the movement of the mechanism.
"I must warn you that on the hour, the shop tends to get a little bit noisy, if you have a problem, I reccomend you voice your concerns now." He said as he stood, hefting the block of mechanics up again.

Tensa stepped back into the body of the clock, lifting the mechanism back into place, the smooth circular face fitting back into the frame as easily as it had come free. He settled it before returning to grasp his tools again, screwing the final plates back in, and securing the clock into its final resting place. He replaced the Metrenome and removed the cog, letting the clock work at last as it was meant to. Tensa quickly set the proper time and stepped back to admire it.

"Two left, ey? Let's get to it!" He tossed the tools to Amikai. "Pull the clock parts from the one on the left, and be careful when you unscrew the last plate-- don't let it fall on your head. I'm going to get the parts."

Tensa turned and retreated into his workspace, returning with the necessary parts for the last two clocks.

Tensa smiled at the questions, pleased with the sudden enthusiasm for understanding on the part of the Gehaka. He doubted Amikai would steal his secrets and run off to sell it to the world-- it wasn't like clocks and other mechanical doodads were a particularly hot business. Glassy mirror like silver eyes regarded the Gehaka as he considered his answer, becoming as still as the motionless piece of machinery in the gehaka's hands.

"Hanze from all around the world have been moving in this direction. While it's not a large business, those of us who have found ourselves so inclined have been coressponding long range. I must say some of them are very clever individuals. Like I mentioned before, the clock you hold in your hand was of foreign design. It being so tall and much more heavy, the pieces are more sturdy and holding a different shape-- to take in account the metronome. But yes, I put it together. I could show you the design prints, but I doubt it would make much sense.

All of these use the combined kinetic forces held in the springs and gears to remain in motion long after the initial winding. Sort of like..." He stopped, thinking, "Much like how our bodies move long after the last time we have eaten something, or flowers bloom after the sun has set. The clocks can store energy and release it slowly over a long period of time."

"It's all matters of efficiency." He muttered the last bit to himself, turning the smooth gaze down to the clock pieces, noting pieces, locations, notches, connections, everything that made the non living object move.

Tensa's eyes snapped up as he began regarding another complex machine, organic this time, which spent centuries, rather than few decades to evolve. That mirror like gaze was focused on Amikai, his wings, large appendages functional as well as fashionable, though they hindered dressing.

"You have strong wings-- have you ever tested your flight parameters?" Tensa asked suddenly, his attention flown from the clock to Amikai's abilities. "Weight lifting--height--distance--maximum time airborne?"

Tensa had traveled much in his youth, with the aid of beasts of burden-- and not Gehaka. He had always envied the gehaka's ability to take to air when they pleased, but all attempts to replicate it artificially so far had failed. Perhaps if he had someone close enough to accurately study--

Tensa's expression made it appear as though he wished to devour the gehaka before him. Intently focused, ears cocked forward, leaning inward, he almost looked like he was about to pounce. Sense kept his hands from fondling the large wings on impulse, feeling for density, stregnth, muscle mass and tautness for example, but that would be highly innappropriate. He'd ask sometime later if it would be alright.

Most of the corressponding was through letters carried by Gehaka overseas and cross country. A stouthearted bunch they were.

He almost gasped as the wings unfurled further, revealing sinuous skin between strong bones, darker colored than the majority of his skin. Tensa also wondered briefly at the pink ears, wondering who he got it from, as the color was not mirrored elsewhere-- at least, no where that he could see.

Some of the springs had notably less give than others. Tensa's attention returned reluctantly to his newly completed taskwork, the pleased expression never leaving his face. Amikai learned quickly, didn't he? He needed to, if he wanted to survive in a living that demanded he learn a new skill every day, or every week or so. To be slow witted was death to the unmarried.

"Just a moment." Tensa said, taking the piece from Amikai and flipping it face up to set the proper time, which was easier to change with the motionless clock than an active one. He'd ajust it as need be when it was on time with the others. Turning it back over, he let the key slip free and handed it to Amikai, holding the machinery to the proper angle so his employee could wind the clock and give it life.

"Just one more and we're done with clocks for today. You're doing a splendid job." Tensa remarked, noting Amikai was tiring somewhat, or aching from the time spent in a slightly awkward crouch on the floor. He admired the fact the Gehaka had not complained about the work thus far. Tensa really was impressed.

"Do let me know if you need a break, I can see how hard a time the springs are giving you." He mentioned, remembering almost offhand that not everyone wanted to work all day without eating like he tended to do. Not everyone was a closeted workaholic with an insatiable desire to learn everything about everything. Tensa rubbed the mark on his hand absently as he watched Amikai continue. How odd he must seem to this gehaka, being so interested and intent on watching his employee, offering compliments and freely extending breaks, and not once had he been impatient, sharp, curt, or raised his voice.

Though...From the way that he could become so intense, it was likely that Tensa could become highly dangerous when upset.

Tensa remained silent as well as Amikai finished the last clock, going more swiftly than with the previous two. He stood and began setting the second clock to the second of the others in his shop. Pleased, he closed the glass case that held the metronome and watched it for a moment, before departing to obtain the parts for his next task for the Gehaka.

Stepping into his worplace, he decided immediately against it. He couldn't have his employee always fixing parts in the middle of the shop-- so either he had to clear away his workspace, or commission another workroom built-- and it was obvious which option came first.

First, from the center of his desk, he withdrew a metallic spider like object, vaguely circular in shape, with prongs that matched precisely the compass rose present on his right hand. He slipped the odd prosthetic into his pocket before setting on the task of clearing out the room.

Tools of all shapes and sizes were first, some more automated than others, into various boxes-- the larger ones being slung into the box at Amikai's feet.
Tensa worked swiftly, nimble fingers picking up tiny gears and other small parts and depositing them into their proper places in a custom made partitioned tray. Half finished pieces of machiery were dropped into drawers, design papers filed, adhesives sealed and set aside, and all in all, by the time he was nearing completion, it was a wonder how all that stuff had accumulated-- tucked out of immediate sight, it seemed little had been in that room before.
Tensa peeked his head out of his workroom and smiled at Amikai,
"How's it coming?" He chirped, long blonde hair tumbling over his shoulders.
"Finished..?" He looked at the clocks briefly, "Take fifteen minutes to get out and breathe, stretch, whatever. Be back here when the clocks chime."

Tensa vanished back into his workroom.

Now, Tensa couldn't let him take a break for enough hours that would allow him to note the change of the sun in the sky. In truth, that was how they measured hours in the first place, with a sundial, in which the sun did indeed prove invaluable.

While Amikai took his break, Tensa set the last clock to the others, happy to have that major hurdle completed at last. He chuckled to himself lightly, remembering the expression on the gehaka's face when he told him to take a fifteen minute break. In a fell swoop, Tensa neatly unbalanced the way Amikai was used to working-- simple manual labor, unsupervised and measured by hours.

He also set out the materials for his next task-- fitting the pins in the thin metal sheet for a music box.

Soon enough, a well timed cascade of chimes emerged from within the shop-- marking the hour and the end of his break. They all went off within a second of each other, and ended just as quickly-- the musical cacophany leaving the air empty once again.
Tensa was standing before one of the clocks, waiting for his employee to step back inside.
"It occured to me, that you do not know how to read this device." he said with a smile.