"Natalia!" Alfred called from the underbelly of the machine, "we have a problem!"
"There's always a problem," she replied, her monotone intonation a welcome contrast to the hissing and grinding and general chaotic noise in the room.
"No, seriously, there's a fissure here the size of the quarry!" He retreated back under the machine, wiping away his sweat. Natalia silently swung herself down from the operator's platform above all the machinery and wriggled under the machine as well. There really was a large fissure in the metal, and occasionally a spurt of steam would come out, spitting dangerously close to the pair stowed under the hulking tangle of metal pipes and gauges..
"What sort of leak is it?" Natalia asked, her hands reaching up and tracing the line without touching it.
"Standard for a machine of this make," Alfred replied. "If we don't get it fixed right away the whole pipe'll blow."
"Then you'd best get started. I will go back up and receive Arthur's delivery," Natalia said, shuffling back out from under the machine.
"But he's not here yet," Alfred protested, only to hear that familiar, crabby voice call, "Hello?" Natalia gave him something akin to a smug look and clambered back up to the worker's level. The floor was mercifully empty for the time being, all the workers already down in the mines to get more coal.
"Good afternoon, Arthur," Natalia bid, looking at the small boy standing slightly behind him. The boy hid a little more at her inexpressive gaze.
"Good afternoon," Arthur bid back, tipping his cap politely. Ever the gentleman, at the very least. He followed Natalia's line of sight to the boy standing behind him. "This is Peter, my--"
"A master metalworker!" Peter cut in, coming out from behind Arthur and puffing his chest out proudly.
"My apprentice," the older man finished, exasperated. "He is still very new to the business, you'll have to excuse him and his flights of fancy." He sent a quick, sharp glare at the boy, who retreated again. Natalia simply nodded, as unemotional as ever. "At any rate, I have the devices you ordered. Came in by zeppelin first thing this morning."
"That's good," Natalia said. "We now need to order a new pipe for the condensing chamber. Ours has a large fissure."
"Already?" Arthur looked distinctly surprised. "Bloody hell, your machine is falling apart at the seams!" He sighed. "I'll go check it out. Is Alfred already down there?"
"He's patching up the pipe right now," Natalia said. The sound of a frightened yelp cut through the noise. "Trying to stop the bursts of steam for the time being."
"I'll go see it, then. Peter, come with me." The metalworker and his apprentice went down to the mechanic level to see what problems Alfred was facing, and Natalia returned to the operator's platform in time to see a man who looked almost exactly like Alfred but most certainly wasn't wander in.
"Hello, Natalia!" Matthew called pleasantly.
"Hello, Matthew," she droned back. Matthew was pleasant enough, but Natalia had to immediately dislike him for courting her naïve elder sister.
"I brought you guys lunch," he said cheerfully. The young man, unlike his brother, had chosen to become an apprentice to an old family friend, who was a chef. Matthew's increasingly improving practices became lunch for Alfred and Natalia and occasionally Ivan, who owned the mine and liked to visit.
"Lunch?" Alfred called, his head popping out from under the machine.
"Don't get distracted until you've finished!" Arthur shouted back, still under the machine. Alfred reluctantly went under again.
"I'll hold on to it until we can eat together," Natalia promised, taking the bag from Matthew and giving him a once over. "You're seeing my sister tonight, correct?"
"Uh, y-yes?" Matthew said, back going ramrod straight. Natalia smirked inwardly, she had him completely intimidated.
"I will act as an escort for part of the evening, along with my brother." Matthew blanched but nodded.
"I-It'll be fun," he said, as if trying to convince himself. As he retreated Natalia could hear him mutter, "How can Al survive her?" This time she did smirk.
"Y'know, teasing my brother like that isn't nice," Alfred said, wrapping his arms around Natalia's shoulders from behind. He set his head atop hers comfortably. "Your brother and sister didn't give me a bad time at all."
"I can take care of myself," Natalia reasoned. "Katyusha is still too innocent to be courted without chaperones."
"I think you're being an over-protective family," Alfred replied, smiling a little as Natalia stepped back a little to lean on him.
"Ewwww!" Peter shouted, ruining the moment.
"Don't be a child, Peter," Arthur scolded loudly, coming out from under the machine and wiping away a sheen of sweat from his forehead. He turned to Alfred. "It's going to cost you, but I can get the part in by zeppelin in a few days, before the pipe fissure reopens."
"That works for me," Alfred replied, letting go of Natalia. "Ivan said he wanted to do a full replacement of this someday, anyways." She saw the bag on the operator's platform. "Can we have lunch now?" he asked.
"If you'd like," Natalia said in reply. Alfred nodded vigorously and invited Arthur and Peter to try some of Matthew's cooking as well. Both were pleasantly surprised by the results.
"I loathe to admit it, but perhaps it was for the best that Matthew ended his apprenticeship with me," Arthur murmured, trying a chunk of white bread that had been dipped in some unidentifiable soup. "His cooking has improved far more quickly than his metalworking ever did."
"His food is edible now, at least," Alfred said brightly. "When he was your apprentice his cooking sucked almost as bad as yours!" He laughed as Arthur shouted back indignantly. Roderich running into the room cut their laughter short.
"Fire's broken out on the upper levels!" he shouted. "We have to close the fire doors immediately!" Alfred and Arthur were on their feet immediately, and the three men got to the large wooden wheel connected to the doors. They began turning it slowly, trying to force the large doors, wooden and painted over with plenty of fire retardant, closed before the fire could reach the steam engine. Any excessive heat could cause the entire thing to explode. Natalia and Peter got to their feet and joined the men at the wheel. The fire drew nearer.
The doors closed with a low, echoing boom. They drooped and relaxed and watched the large doors for a moment. The room felt warmer already, but the ventilation shafts were doing their job and bringing in cooler air from up top.
The five settled in to wait.
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A/N: Yet another rare pair I've gotten interested in. Also, I've wanted to write steampunk forever. I hope to add on to this little 'verse if possible.
Thank you for reading~