Howard Bassem (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iselldrugstothecommunity) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trans_92011-08-05 07:01 am
iselldrugstothecommunity) wrote in trans_92011-08-05 07:01 am
What Some Take For Magic At First Glance [Opentastic]
Howard has avoided The Warehouse entirely for the last few days. Something about wandering around in it alone seems like a profoundly unsettling prospect. Even when he returns to it, he decides it's a better idea to work out in the front yard than actually lounge around the living room.
Today's project is a roller fridge. Having found three sets of identical rollerblades (for someone with six legs? Or just three right feet?), Howard's set to dismantling them and fixing them to a mini-refrigerator he found in an unclaimed house down the tracks. He eventually plans on recalibrating the fridge into a freezer and attaching a handle to drag it to and from Hydroponics, but actually putting wheels on it seems to be the most difficult task so far.
After several failed attempts to use a candle-lighter to weld some sort of axle on, Howard gets a drill and an extension cord out. The sound of the drill upsets the cat, whom he's zipped into an old backpack, bar her head. He doesn't want her to run off onto the tracks, after all, or leave her alone in the house, and despite all the random junk he's accumulated, he hasn't yet found a small leash or collar.
She growls at him and struggles to free herself, but he routinely calms her down with cat treats and a sock full of catnip when the noise scares her too much. To keep her attention, he slips one of the cat treats up his sleeve and out of sight. That's just sleight of hand.
The fridge, on the other hand, may require more creativity. He sits with the backpack full of cat on his lap, chewing on a hangnail, trying to figure out how exactly he's going to give it wheels that can swivel.
Today's project is a roller fridge. Having found three sets of identical rollerblades (for someone with six legs? Or just three right feet?), Howard's set to dismantling them and fixing them to a mini-refrigerator he found in an unclaimed house down the tracks. He eventually plans on recalibrating the fridge into a freezer and attaching a handle to drag it to and from Hydroponics, but actually putting wheels on it seems to be the most difficult task so far.
After several failed attempts to use a candle-lighter to weld some sort of axle on, Howard gets a drill and an extension cord out. The sound of the drill upsets the cat, whom he's zipped into an old backpack, bar her head. He doesn't want her to run off onto the tracks, after all, or leave her alone in the house, and despite all the random junk he's accumulated, he hasn't yet found a small leash or collar.
She growls at him and struggles to free herself, but he routinely calms her down with cat treats and a sock full of catnip when the noise scares her too much. To keep her attention, he slips one of the cat treats up his sleeve and out of sight. That's just sleight of hand.
The fridge, on the other hand, may require more creativity. He sits with the backpack full of cat on his lap, chewing on a hangnail, trying to figure out how exactly he's going to give it wheels that can swivel.
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For Karis, he'll even let her have stuff for free! Only payment required is a set of implied 'you'll owe me later's.
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"You'd do that for me, Howie? That'd be great."
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She trailed after him, shoulders in her customary slump. "Lemme see whatcha got... and what's with the cat?"
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He gives her a Look. "What do you mean what's with the cat? Maybe I just like to carry my lunch to work."
Joking. Kind of.
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She rattled her fingerbones together absentmindedly, "Never actually worked on a car, but if it's anything like a steam-tank or a tonk, I can probably figure it out."
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The car's a wrecked junker that Chase brought in. It looks like a bomb went off under it, after it was stampeded by elephants and wrapped around a tree. However, Howard assures her that the battery works. "What's a tonk, by the way?"
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Karis eyed the wreck dubiously. Getting anything usable out of that would be a chore.
"Steam-powered, remote-control tank. It's a toy."
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He tilts his head over to a crate by the fence. "PVC tubes are in there. If you need other kinds I can look downstairs."
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Her breastplate and pauldrons ended up piled next to the car. Stripped down to her gambeson, she rolled up her sleeves and pulled a complicated-looking multi-tool off of her belt.
"Anyway. Let's get to it."
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He puts the bag with the cat near Karis' armor and hands Karis a wrench. "Try not to damage anything we might want." He rams the jack into the crack of the front door (wedged shut by twisted metal) and starts levering it out.
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"Relax. I've been working on stuff like this for years. Only with more explosions..."
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The door comes loose...and falls off the car entirely. Howard shrugs and drags it off to the side. "I'd rather you not blow up my backyard. Anything look keepable in the front seat?"