hadriel | [video] this may come as a surprise but I am not a mechanical engineer

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[video] this may come as a surprise but I am not a mechanical engineer

[There's a lot of crap going on right now, sure, and whatever the more overtly-powered people have done to subdue the recent catastrophe has helped, but that doesn't mean he can continue to put certain things on his to-do list on the perpetual backburner.

Continuing his mapping and documentation process, for one. Reach out to the populace with a completely innocent, well-meaning inquiry, for another.

Also avoid dying, but that's just a general to-do these days.]

This might be a weird question, but does anyone here know how to craft...small items? Like a smith, or a carpenter, or some combination thereof?

Asking for a- [There is an awkward beat as he tries to determine whether the statement is accurate.] -friend.

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Yeah, I could have phrased that better.

[He can tell by the wry smile on her face, however, that it's only the lightest of ribbing. Elena knows that if he was going to surprise her with a bespoke sex toy, he wouldn't plaster his questions across the airway like some kind of rube.]

I am - legitimately - asking for someone else, though. Have you met Ivar Ragnarsson?

I figured you were. But no, I haven't.

[They're a happy couple with a reasonably healthy relationship and can have social lives that don't 100% intersect. That said, she absolutely wants to meet a Viking.]

What's the small item you want to make for him?

[Nate will just as happily introduce her as soon as he softens the guy up with a well-meant, helpful gift. Ivar threatened to stab him when they first met, so Nate is cautiously optimistic.]

A wheelchair, actually.

[So...craft-related, or adjacent. He didn't know how to word what he wanted.]

He was born with some kind of bone or connective tissue deficiency and left crippled, so...kinda wanted to make it a little easier on him, to get around. Right now he's got all these straps that I think are period-made, to stabilize him.

[She's not sure what she was expecting. Not that, apparently, and she raises an eyebrow, surprised and kind of impressed.]

I guess you wouldn't be you if you started out with something simple.

[That's too many 'you's for one sentence.]

Considering what can pop up around here, I'd want to be as mobile as possible, too. What period are these straps from?

[Not for nothing, but Hadriel only occupies its residents for so long and Nate needs multiple activities to keep him in a moderate state of functionality. If he doesn't have at least three ongoing projects his wheels might start spinning.

He quirks a knowing smile at her observation.]

Early to mid-9th century? Pre-Columbian old. They might attach to some kind of metal rod, but I wasn't looking really hard.

[He's pretty sure if he'd tried to examine anything in more in-depth interest, Ivar might have made good on his threat of gutting him.]

[Her eyebrows shoot up, and he doesn't have to know her as well as he does to see that she's intrigued.]

Wow. So, really really old...although I won't say that to his face if I meet him. How's he adapting to the technology here?

[Not that they have access to the cutting-edge stuff here, but for someone from that far back, what they do have must be super sharp. How he's dealing already will probably say something about what he needs now.]

Probably best not to. He keeps a lot of knives on him.

[The only thing Ivar had really liked about the immense distance in time between them was the fact that his legacy had apparently carried him that far, albeit with very little detail. Nate had done his best to communicate what he knew without sacrificing the important parts.]

And he's...doing better than I would, which I realize isn't saying much.

[Knives, got it. She'll keep an eye out for Mr. Pointy and be very, very polite if they cross paths.]

Hey, give yourself some credit. You'd cope. But it is impressive if he's handling it well.

[If by "cope" she means "avoid the problem entirely," then yes, Nate would do a respectable job of coping. He's already not all that adept using his own era's technology, let alone learning the technology of the distant future.]

He managed to contact me to ask what the Hell I was doing, so I think he's good.

[She has faith! He doesn't break phones nearly as often as some people they know.]

Oh, that's like half of what smartphones should be used for. He'll be fine.

[Nate is fairly certain his Hadriel phone is built of reinforced steel, or something equally impervious to frequent encounters with blunt force.]

Cute.

[He can't refute it. People here almost exclusively contact him to ask him what the Hell he's doing.]

I need to figure out how to lock people from conversations on this, though. Have you done that yet?

[He set himself up for that one and surely he would be disappointed in her if she didn't seize the opportunity.]

Oh, yeah, ages ago. I lock things from you two, maybe three times of the week. For girl talk, sharing stories that'd embarrass you, all kinds of things.

[Is she the best wife ever or what.]

What?

[Panic slants his tone up at the end of the word - Nate has moments of frightening gullibility and now is one of those times, blinking at her in abject betrayal. Why this. Why now.]

Seriously? With who? What about?

[Oh, no. This is terrible. This is not what she expected. Instead of rolling his eyes and grinning with her, he believes her. Elena would feel awful if it weren't hilarious.]

With lots of people! Lup, Laura, Ellie...

[Okay, no. She can't keep a straight face.]

Nate, I'm kidding.

[At least one of those names he doesn't know, and the others he doesn't think are really fit for sharing. It takes a painfully long second - up until her tone shifts - that he thinks she's entirely serious.]

Oh, you're funny. I married a comedian.

[Elena manages to avoid laughing at him to his face, but only through beaming at him.]

Gotta keep a sense of humor in these trying times, right?

I'll get you back.

[He assures her, feigning seriousness and raising his eyebrows. When she least expects it she's getting tackled to the bed and tickled within an inch of her life.]

Just you wait.

Oh, I'm counting on it.

[He might be serious, but she's giving him a wicked grin. There's at leastt a fifty-fifty

chance that she'll enjoy whatever he has in mind.]

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[video] this may come as a surprise but I am not a mechanical engineer

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