Gum and Airships
Daryl shaded her eyes with her hand and looked out over the horizon. The sky was the usual clear blue, with only a few clouds dotted here and there. She frowned in thought for a few moments, and then ran off to visit with a close friend of her's.
She found him under the airship, struggling to tighten some bolts with a monkey wrench. She knelt down beside his feet, and asked, "Whatcha doing, Setz?"
"Admiring all the gum you stuck down here, Dar." he replied, and sat upright, hitting his head.
"Where else am I supposed to put it?" she demanded. "And don't call me Dar."
"This might seem a novel idea to you, but there is such a thing as a wastebasket. And if you stop calling me Setz, I'll stop calling you Dar."
"Right, Setz."
He climbed out from under the airship, almost completely drenched in axle grease. "Well, what brought you here? You almost never come here to chat and drive me insane without having a reason."
"That's not a good enough motive?" she asked in mock shock. "Whyever not? Because you're more than insane enough already?"
"That's probably it." He stood up and put the monkey wrench back in its place.
"I came here 'cause I need you to look at the engine."
"For the Falcon?"
"Of course, you nimrod."
"If you call me a nimrod, jerk or ferret one more time, I'm not going to help you anymore. And seeing that I practically built half of your airship already, you'd want to be nice to me."
"I know that, Setz. You're too serious sometimes. How do you do it?"
"I don't know. Let's go look at your engine, 'kay?"
"Yes, let's."
On and off, for the past year and a half or so, Daryl had been working on the airship Falcon. At first, she had had absolutely no clue what to do. And who could possibly provide more help to her than Setzer Gabbiani, the only other person in the world who had built an airship, and one that flew on top of that?
Before she had developed this latest obsession, the two of them had been only the merest of aquaintences. (She had been working in the stage crew at the Opera House in Jidoor, and had run down the stairs with an armload of boxes, knocking him over and giving him a concussion. How's that for starting friendships?) She had managed to track him down four years later so that she could ask him for help, though. ("Hi! Remember me? I'm the girl who accidentally pushed you down 5 flights of stairs at the Opera House...no! Don't slam that door on me!")
"Are you coming or not?" Setzer asked, looking at her in concern.
"Oh! Sorry 'bout that." she replied. "Just got too wrapped up in memories."
"Don't apologize. It happens all the time." They went down to look at the half-done frame of the Falcon.
Daryl shaded her eyes with her hand and looked out over the horizon. The sky was the usual clear blue, with only a few clouds dotted here and there. She frowned in thought for a few moments, and then ran off to visit with a close friend of her's.
She found him under the airship, struggling to tighten some bolts with a monkey wrench. She knelt down beside his feet, and asked, "Whatcha doing, Setz?"
"Admiring all the gum you stuck down here, Dar." he replied, and sat upright, hitting his head.
"Where else am I supposed to put it?" she demanded. "And don't call me Dar."
"This might seem a novel idea to you, but there is such a thing as a wastebasket. And if you stop calling me Setz, I'll stop calling you Dar."
"Right, Setz."
He climbed out from under the airship, almost completely drenched in axle grease. "Well, what brought you here? You almost never come here to chat and drive me insane without having a reason."
"That's not a good enough motive?" she asked in mock shock. "Whyever not? Because you're more than insane enough already?"
"That's probably it." He stood up and put the monkey wrench back in its place.
"I came here 'cause I need you to look at the engine."
"For the Falcon?"
"Of course, you nimrod."
"If you call me a nimrod, jerk or ferret one more time, I'm not going to help you anymore. And seeing that I practically built half of your airship already, you'd want to be nice to me."
"I know that, Setz. You're too serious sometimes. How do you do it?"
"I don't know. Let's go look at your engine, 'kay?"
"Yes, let's."
On and off, for the past year and a half or so, Daryl had been working on the airship Falcon. At first, she had had absolutely no clue what to do. And who could possibly provide more help to her than Setzer Gabbiani, the only other person in the world who had built an airship, and one that flew on top of that?
Before she had developed this latest obsession, the two of them had been only the merest of aquaintences. (She had been working in the stage crew at the Opera House in Jidoor, and had run down the stairs with an armload of boxes, knocking him over and giving him a concussion. How's that for starting friendships?) She had managed to track him down four years later so that she could ask him for help, though. ("Hi! Remember me? I'm the girl who accidentally pushed you down 5 flights of stairs at the Opera House...no! Don't slam that door on me!")
"Are you coming or not?" Setzer asked, looking at her in concern.
"Oh! Sorry 'bout that." she replied. "Just got too wrapped up in memories."
"Don't apologize. It happens all the time." They went down to look at the half-done frame of the Falcon.
