A.N. So here's the deal. I absolutly adore that dork Shad 3 decided to make a fic about him. Love the name Ember, sticking with it, keep in mind she is not the same Ember from other fics. As a general warning, this is a very technology oriented fic and i appologize in advancement if it gets a little boring around some parts, but i feel explination gives the story a little more character. That being said, please enjoy this story of romance and invention.
In the back of a certain bar in castle town, two figures stowed away from the rest of the customers. One be-speckled, oddly dressed scholar, a book in his hand and argyle sock going up to his knees, and the other a flamed, short-haired female with a set of goggles around her neck and a white button up shirt and grey vest under her black sleeveless duster. They were discussing about the theories of if it were possible to make a machine that would allow one to fly on their own will.
"All you would need is enough lift to get you off the ground and the difference between the pressure in the air above and below the wings will do the rest. The only thing you would need to worry about is our bone density is in larger proportions than that of the avian species. You would need an extra push, yes, but I'm sure it can be done." The girl, Ember made her point to the young man.
"Ember! Quit flirting with Shad and get back to work!" Ember flushed. A look of embarrassed discomfort showed on Shad's face as well.
"But I wasn't-" she paused after turning her head only to see Telma, the bar owner, wasn't listening. Ember sighed and turned back to Shad, standing up. "Sorry, We'll have to talk later."
"Y-yeah." He avoided looking her in the eye for fear of his face penciling pink more than it already was. "I'll be here."
"You know-" Telma began when Ember arrived behind the bar. Ember tensed and started to clean out some of the dirty glasses that had been piling up. She knew what was coming. "It wouldn't hurt to ask the poor guy out to dinner sometime."
"Our relationship is more on professional level. We discuss certain theories and build on each other's feedback." Ember turned to put the now clean glasses on the shelves behind her. "Besides," she took a quick glance Shad's way, he was back to studying the book he acquired from his father long ago. A slight disappointment settled over her seeing his gaze didn't wander her way."I don't think he looks to me in that way. He's too . . . collected, for such things." Her voice was a little solemn. She jumped when she heard Telma's loud laughing behind her.
"Oh honey, If I didn't know any better I'd swear your eyes didn't work."
Ember rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time she had been teased about her attraction towards the young man, and she knew it wouldn't be her last.
Ember started cleaning off the tables once the nightly crowd died down to only a few people. Grateful at the amount of tips she received from a busy night, she pondered on whether she should treat herself tomorrow, or save it for new parts for her current clockwork she was working on. While it was important to get her timepiece done, it had also been long time since she did anything special for herself.
"Ember, dear." Telma called to her, breaking Ember's thoughts. "Why don't you head on out, I can finish closing down for the night."
It took Ember moment to process what had been said to her as she was still halfway in her own head.
"Ah. Okay . . . are you sure? I can sweep before I go if you need me to, or put up chairs and-"
"You've done quite enough, Honey. Go home and relax for the rest of the night. Work on that, machine thing, you're always going on about."
Ember grinned widely. It wasn't often Telma let her off early.
"Thank you, it's really appreciated." Ember went to the bar to claim her tips from a jar she kept behind the counter.
"Speaking of which, what exactly are you making? This one isn't going to do damage is it?" Ember narrowed her eyes at her
"That was only one time. And only because I had a slight miscalculation in the chemical balance. Ah, no, actually it's just simple timepiece . . . aaaand a few modifications, here and there. Nothing big." She shrugged her shoulders and looked of to the side.
"Ember." Telma's voice had warning in it. Ember blew sharply out her nose.
"Okay, I'm working on creating perpetual motion that is strong, yet small enough to fit in a pocket watch so it never has to be wound."
A new voice joined the conversation.
"An everlasting watch, now that would be impressive to see if you were to get it working." Ember jumped ever so slightly. She could feel her face on the verge of a blush. She hadn't notice Shad had made his way over to listen to her and Telma's conversation. Ember wondered if he had stayed her whole shift.
"Shad, sweety," Telma started, as the young girl had yet to respond to him. Still abashed by his sudden appearance "It's kinda rude to barge in on someones conversation."
His brow raised.
"Oh, I apologize, I didn't mean any harm. I just . . . I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just overheard you talking and I admit my curiosity got the best of me. I mean while I'm more of a historian, I don't brush off new technologies . . ."
Ember smiled admirably at Shad. She enjoyed when he started to bluster. She found it was one of the things that attracted her to him. There was so many words she could use in describing the character that she saw as Shad. At this time, though, the only word that came to mind was 'adorable'.
"So in a way, the advancement in our scientific know-how, becomes part of history. It just simply can not be ignored."
"Are you done talking our ears off?" Telma asked when he took a pause.
"Sorry, I got carried away again didn't I?" He looked to Ember sheepishly who smirked and nodded, confirming he did, in fact, 'get carried away'. He glanced quickly away from her, clearing his throat to mask his embarrassment. "So, um . . . Ember." He leaned on the counter, getting closer to her, the look of innocent wonder saved only for when he was his most curious. "I would love to hear how you think to achieve such a thing as perpetual motion. It can't be as easy as you make it sound."
"Well actually it's more-"
"Oh no, I know how you two talk. You'll be chatting away into the wee hours of the morning. If you want to talk about your, histories and clocks and things of the sort, take it elsewhere."
"Right, yes, I should be going anyway." Ember made her way back around the front of the counter. She turned back to Shad, who was still leaning on his arms. "We can pick this up again later. I'll tell you all about what I've been working on."
"Y-yes, I'd sure love to hear it." He stammered, and watched Ember head for the door. Telma elbowed him painfully, causing him to straighten up.
"What do you think your doing?" She whispered
"I'm sorry?"
"Go! Walk her home."
"But-"
"I shouldn't have to explain it to you." She winked at him. "You're smarter than that."
Shad's face flushed with realization.
"R-right. I um ahem I should go-" He nearly tripped over his own feet, but composed right after, fixing his glasses and quickly started for the exit, halfway turned around, still talking to Telma. "go accompany- heh . . .um . . . I-I'll see you later." and made his own way out the door.
Telma laughed to herself.
"For as smart as those two are, they're still idiots."
"Ember, please wait a moment."
Ember stopped and turned at the sound of Shad's voice. She had just made it up the stairs that led to the main street when he called out. He hurried up, so as not to keep her waiting long.
"I uh- thought, maybe we can still continue our previous discussing while walking? Maybe? I mean, only if you would like to." He ran his fingers through the back of his hair, fussing it up a little.
Ember was taken by surprise at his offer.
"Sure." She said slowly. " Um, I don't really live far though, it may be a short walk. Though we can always just wonder around a bit with no destination in mind."
"Yes. That sounds pleasant." They started walking up the street to the main square. There was a few moments of peaceful silence, before Shad had spoken up again "So, about this watch . . " He put his hand in the pockets of his jacket, not knowing what else to do with them.
"Yes, right. Where to begin." She paused, "Well, I can't really tell you much as I'm not even sure I can get it to work." She shrugged and waved a hand up a little.
"Are you having troubles with the perpetual aspects?"
Ember shook her head.
"Well yes and no, I'm more than confidant I can find a way for that. Even though I still haven't . . yet" Ember then started to talk with her hands as well, raising and lowering them, hands motioning on certain words. She was certainly a restless speaker, but Shad found it gave her character. "The problem is, I wouldn't know how to fit it all in a standard size pocket watch. While I would have the space from removing the winding mechanism, the space I would need for its replacement would still be too big. To fit it in, the gears inside would have to be near microscopic for it to function properly. At that point they would be extremely fragile and might not hold up to the constant work they'll have to do. I would have to get them specially made out of stronger metals. Not to mention the hours I'll have to spend over a magnifier, meticulously placing them just so. "
Shad found himself focused at Ember as she spoke so openly about her project. He quickly looked ahead, knowing it was rude to stare, no matter how captivating to him her words were. Ember had said she couldn't tell him much, but yet here she was, with everything in the world to say.
"See, with clockwork, you can't exactly just give it a lick and promise. Every gear, cog, and spring has to be exactly lined up where it's supposed to be, or the whole inter-wound system would fall apart." She huffed and settled her speaking hands down into her duster's pockets. "Truthfully though, it's starting to lean more towards the side of failure. If I can't get golden medium between the efficiency of it all, it's a scrapped innovation."
Shad stopped walking, as cue for Ember to do the same.
"Ember Wolf, I'm shocked you would say such a thing." his stern voice and use of her full name made her look away from him. "You would throw away countless hours of work you put into this because of few difficulties?"
"It was supposed to be just a side project, not take up all my resources."
"Side project or not, Ember your idea is brilliant." Her heart fluttered a bit. "It's little overly ambitious, sure, perpetual motion is near impossible to create, but ultimately if you succeed, it would be worth every bit of effort. You would make something completely new to this world and I think that in its self is simply amazing. I would hope I get to see the day you succeed in your endeavors."
Arms suddenly went around his neck and he had to take a step back to keep from falling. A small sound of surprise escaped from his lips. Her head rested on the side of his causing his ears to go red.
"Thank you." She mumbled from her arms.
He wasn't sure how to respond to her sudden close proximity. Instead of hugging her back, he settled for stammering a simple "Y-your welcome?"
Ember let go of him and stepped back a few steps. Shad found himself being a little disappointed she let go of him so soon, and he wondered why he didn't just return the embrace. After all it was just a friendly gesture . . . right?
"Sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space."
He shook his head.
"It's alright, but, why are you thanking me?"
"You're right. Throwing away all that work would be counter productive. I didn't really think it mattered as it's just a pocket watch in the end, but you praise it to be something a lot more than I originally thought. It makes me feel like what I do with my work is important. So thank you."
"Well of course it's important, why would it not be?"
Ember smiled, then paused.
"Um, I don't mean to sound rude, but would you mind if we cut our walk short? I'm more than little excited to continue figuring this watch out now."
"Oh no, not at all. I understand." He removed a hand from his pocket and gestured in front of him. "Lead the way Miss Ember."
She chuckled a little this title. She had told him several times not to call her that, but his chivalry sometimes got the better of him. Of course she never minded this. It was refreshing every once in a while.
She began to walk the way to the living section of Castle town, Shad in tow right next to her. Silence once again settled over them. Ember took no notice of this as she had her head tilted up in thought on where she would find a stronger metal and who would be willing to take her commission for such ridiculously small gears. The Gorons were good with metalwork but they lacked the refined delicacy it took to construct them. Would it even work with smaller gears in the first place? If she ended up spending all that money for it to not work, then she was out a good sum of rupees. She'd have to take on more hours at Telma's provided she would let her.
She neared her door and took out her key from her pocket.
"Well, this is my stop. It was a pleasure talking with you."
"Ah yes, of course. Thank you for letting me walk with you and telling me about your timeless timepiece."
"Timeless timepiece . . . It's got a bit of a ring to it. I may just have to call it that when it's finished."
Shad chuckled, and gazed at her with admiration. For her dedication to her work, of course. That's all.
"H-hey, um. I don't have to work tomorrow. If you want, you can stop by and I'll show it to you, or at least what I have done of it."
"I'll take you up on that offer, I wouldn't miss an opportunity to finally see your workshop."
"I know you've been wanting to. Tomorrow then." Ember unlocked her door and stepped inside. She turned around and smiled at the young scholar. "Have goodnight Shad, be safe walking home."
He smiled back.
"I will. Goodnight, miss Ember, peaceful dreams."
Ember shut the door, leaned against it and smiled widely. It had been a wonderful night indeed.
Closing A.N.
i wouls love for reviews, not only positive, but anything you think i would be able to add or subtract from the story. I learn from critism, but if you're just here to tell me you don't like it i suck, i will kindly ask you to leave my writing space. It's fanfiction, it's not supposed to be perfect.
