Atelier Overhaul

Summary: It's a simple procedure - at least she thinks it is. So how does he manage to make it that much more complicated?

As part of the New Years Resolutions 2016 collection.

For VampirePaladin (AO3) It may not be the most romantic scenario, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. :)

Upon hearing a knock on the door Escha gave a quick, "Come in!" With Logix out for the time being and her hands currently full she couldn't go to the door herself to see who it was.

The sound of the door opening filled the atelier as her hands moved quickly above a nearly overflowing cauldron, along with a voice. "Hey, Escha. You sure are busy."

"Ah!" She almost lost grip on the glass tube that contained a neutralizer when she heard him speak. "Awin." Escha quickly regained her composure, looking up over the actually completely stable concoction in her cauldron at her brother - cousin. "Perfect timing. You are here about the-"

"Your shelf?" Awin finished for her as he closed the door to the atelier behind him. "Yeah, Heizman told me to take care of it." She could hear him walking over as she returned her gaze to the cauldron, letting the synthesizer drip in one drop at a time so the mixture would begin to settle. "So, it just need to be replaced because it's old and can't handle the load anymore?"

"Yeah. The entire shelf is going sideways. There might have been some structural damage to that shelf. I already cleared everything off in advance so you could get straight to it."

"Thanks."

"Oh, it's no problem." Escha said as she stepped away from the cauldron, satisfied that the contents wouldn't be going over the lip. She stepped around to the right side as Awin moved along the left, heading straight to the problem shelf.

She picked up an empty report from a stack of papers on the work table, sitting down a moment later as she began to fill it in. Escha went through everything she had done today mentally, ticking off what items had been used and what would need to be restocked. She checked the numbers needed for the budget three times before finally writing it on the sheet; remembering what Solle had told her the last time she had gotten it wrong. Even if he didn't mean to sound so harsh, it still came off like that.

"Escha?"

"Hmm?" Her mind was still focused on the report in front of her when Awin called her name.

"The space for your shelf is rather large. What sort of items do you usually put here? If they're smaller I could put two shelves in instead of one."

"Huh?" Escha dropped her writing utensil as both Awin's words and tone of voice filtered through her mind. "W-what do you mean?' she asked, hoping she was wrong, but getting the distinct feeling that she wasn't as she glanced over at Awin.

"Well, I was thinking," Awin began, making her wonder why she thought fixing a shelf would be simple. "If I put in two new shelves it'll make the storage look out of place. But then I had an idea. I could tear out the old shelves completely and redesign a completely new set. It would be more convenient and-"

"I don't want it remodeled," Escha interrupted him, beginning to see where his usual customers where coming from when they complained to Heizman about him. "I like the way those shelves look. I just want the one replaced so when I put something on it it doesn't go sliding off and crash on the floor."

"I'm sure I could create some shelves that are just as cute as the current ones, but more practical-"

"Brother!" Escha abandoned her report, jumping up from her chair to walk over towards him. "This is why you keep getting into trouble with Heizman. If I wanted the shelves remodeled I would have asked for it in my request."

Awin laughed as he got to his feet, turning to face her. "That is true."

Escha puffed out her cheeks, trying to look intimidating, but it obviously failed when Awin just smiled back at her.

"Sorry," he said, reaching out with one hand to ruffle the hair above her forehead. "I'll do just as requested. Don't worry about your shelves, there'll be a new one in that looks exactly the rest soon."

Escha just gave a small nod of her head as she could feel her cheeks begin to grow warm as his fingers continued to run through her hair.