Engineer meet Engineer

JP with Lorem and Lasersexpanther

Takes place before dinner on the ship

Lorem was quite enjoying herself on Maseo’s airship. Though she was quiet as a mouse and had the demeanor of a shy submissive, it was obvious how excited she was in the way her wide eyes were taking in every detail. In fact as she moved about, she would always make her way to the edges so she could tap and touch on things; assessing the material quality and how connecting points like joints were constructed. Sometimes she even lagged behind, standing in silence as she looked up to view a ventilation shaft or a plumbing line; her mind projecting where it might go and what purpose it was serving.

Currently, with all the commotion, no one had paid enough attention to the fact the tiny little petite gnome, easy to lose sight of being only 3’6”, had managed to wander off just a little. She spied a control box in the wall and was tempted to open it up and look inside. Unfortunately it was too high for her to reach when she got there. So her attempt was in vain.

Not one to be discouraged long, Lorem looked around to see what was next to satiate her curiosity.

"Oi, wee Bonnie Lass." A gruff voice was suddenly behind Lorem, nothing had signaled anyone's approach. "Cap, kno ye are mukin about his sip?" He said, his accent making him barely understandable. Gimbal stepped beside the startled gnome and tapped on the bottom of the panel with a large pipe wrench. "foozes fur the lites." He motioned overhead.

Lorem squeaked, “I didn’t break anything!” literally as she jumped and then spun around quickly. Her work dress spun around and danced about the top of her ankle high boots, from the speed. Fortunately it was someone extraordinarily tall, or else having to crane her neck back would have made her lose her balance. It wasn’t often someone got the drop on her.

Lorem blushed something fierce at having been caught red handed snooping about. Her heart rate was elevated and working it’s way back down.

It was difficult to understand the gnome. There was a harshness that masked syllables. Even being German, which wasn’t the most flowing and smooth romance language, didn’t prepare her for piecing his buckshot and gravel sounds together. Fortunately she understood technology pretty well and his gesture, the control box and his words all together made sense.

She nodded, too petrified to speak. But Gimbal could tell she was already mapping out the conduit lines for the lights running from the control panel by the way her eyes darted around with calculated precision.

"Dunt be trussing yer eyes." He said making sweeping gestures at the walls and ceiling "Wires ran hitten an deep." He stopped where she was currently looking. "Ornly the wee volts be on the outers. What the egg brains call step down." He said, "but don't ya go tuggin on em." Gimbal said then made a buzz and puff sound.

Lorem politely listened and had to really strain to figure out how to put together all the dropped letters, syllables and misused digraphs. It was like a puzzle, a challenging puzzle; however, she loved puzzles and had already made it an intellectual game. She remained humbled, despite the fact that Gimbal was explaining things which she already knew. She would never dream of interrupting another man, even if it was patronizing in some instances. The truth was, Lorem had designed and oversaw the manufacturing of the grand airship of Germany that was showcased as cutting edge technology at the Paris World Fare. This airship in comparison, was much smaller and less advanced, though that didn't make it any less impressive or interesting in her opinion. The same value, but still different.

"Yes sir. I wouldn't want that to happen." She nodded in genuine agreement. "Is there anything that I will be allowed to "work on", or am I just to be a passenger?" The gnome inquired.

Gimbal squinted hard at Lorem, he could tell the gears in her head were turning. He could see he had her attention but like a young gnome does, her eyes were still flicking around taking in everything. Gimbal could also see her sizing up the ship. Gimbal forgot that Japanese pronunciation, and he rapped his scarred knuckles on the of the wood panels. "Ship wasn't always named Horizon Call." he said, and he squinted again. "Lassie, cha kno bout ghost ships?" he put up a finger before she could answer, "I ain't meanin' the spooky tales. More the..." he snapped his fat fingers, "Metaphor."

Before she answered he started walking, motioning over his shoulder for her to follow. "Ain't supposta exist." he began, he tapped his knuckles on the wall again. "This ship, she'sah ghost.”

Gimbal proceeded to explain all about the ship, as he showed Lorem the works.