[Wright Memorial Library]The Con & The Gadgeteer(Minerva)

[Matthaus]

Why did people make everything difficult? Couldn’t they just accept things? Like his cons for instance. Trying to catch her gaze he spoke carefully, like one would speak to a toddler, not so much because he thought she needed to be spoken to that way but so he could make sure he wasn’t being offensive. “Not just for signing up for classes…it’s for…” For what exactly? He lowered his voice, “Not turning me to that place. And because I want to learn.” he added hastily, scurrying after her. It could actually come in handy. He could try a builders scam. He’d never tried one of those before. The boy wondered how it would work and trotted after Tock, purposefully ignoring the fact that he was attaching himself. It was just business. She just didn’t realize that. Yet. She would see. Nodding to Tock he stopped at the stairs and stared at them in surprise. It seemed everywhere was a little out of shape in this facility. And it was supposed to cure people? He eyed the broken stair, more like injure them. Listening carefully to what she was saying he took the hammer, taking care not to actually have skin to skin contact. “Here?” but he wasn’t really questioning, he just kind thumped the hammer into the board tugging to make sure it was in and then realized it was in a little too well. Leaning back on his heels he took a breath and gave a harsh yank to the hammer. Bit too hard because he landed on his rear with a grumble, his hair poking him in the eye. Now he knew why he didn’t like hard labor. It was at that moment his stomach made itself known. He spoke quickly over it, covering it with a cough that actually hurt his throat a little, “I can be an intern! I can do grunt work," mentally he cringed, “until I learn better. Doing stuff like this…with you.” Matthaus looked at his feet. What exactly was he still doing here? He had clothes and learnt what he needed. “I think I should go sign up for those classes now.” he said after a moment.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock smirked and looked the kid over. "Ain't done gonna blackmail ya over the orphanage," she said. "Jus' 'ad ta git ya down 'ere, 'at's all. So now 'at 'at's done wit', ain't no need fer more threats, aye? Were a one time thing..." Her initial feelings of guilt had passed her by. The more she got to know the boy, the less 'in need' he seemed, and the less her protective instincts were coming out. She wouldn't see any further need to fiddle him, nor to threaten him. She didn't need to worry about taking care of him. Even when he fell down. Even when he started coughing again. She took the hammer from him, and stepped down the hall for a moment to one of the storage rooms. The infirmary kept everything on site from bandages to medical supplies to spare sheets and toys for the sick children. There was also a limited supply on hand for repairs, parts and materials purchased but not yet used since the infirmary couldn't afford to pay a worker. After the excessive number of patients over the last two seasons, with the building being overcrowded, the halls and stairs seeing far more traffic then they were built for, and typical wear and tear on top of that, the total list of what needed to be done here was quite long. Most of it was minor, but the little tasks build up over time. She pulled out some replacement boards, and worked to cut them with a hand saw until they fit the damaged step. "Ya can does all the grunt work ya want," she told the boy as she secures the new step into place. "I's teach ya whatever ya wanna know, 'long as yer makin' yerself useful while we's at it." It seemed fair to her. Help in exchange for education. But before they could leave the infirmary, she said, "Soon as yer own clothes is dry, ya can change back, an' I's show ya the sign up guy. 'Ese is fer other kids ta come 'ere," she tugged on the dry clothes he'd been given. "So's as 'ey's jus' fer loan fer yers ta dry." She didn't want the boy thinking he could take advantage of the infirmary folk. They were good people, and they helped a lot of folks out. People like that deserved giving, not taking.

[Matthaus]

He moved away subtly as she tugged his clothes. He’d had enough touching for one day, next thing you’d know he be hugging her and calling her ‘big sister’. But he nodded slowly, accepting her help and that he could pay he back. Really he should just take the clothes but he didn’t like stealing, it was beneath him. Why steal when he could talk the infirmary into letting him keep the clothes. A wicked glint lit his eye as he contemplated what he could say to make that go over well, keeping only half an eye on Tock until it actually sunk in what she had said. “I have to stay? Till they dry?” he looked mildly shocked but otherwise said nothing. He didn’t want to stay here that long. Pursing his lips he continued to watch what she did. Mulling over the events of the day. Things had gone from ridiculous to okay. But maybe he shouldn’t stay. He had most of his information, this wouldn’t said she wouldn’t take him to the orphanage. What the boy should do is say he had forgotten his sandwich and flee before he actually kept his word. Instead he nodded, “The kids that come here…they are without parents? And where do we live here if we go to school?” He hoped throwing it in there would distract her from thinking on it too deeply, she had already forgotten that he didn’t need to be coddled and he preferred her blunt nature to her mother-hen-crazy one. This one was normal…sort of. Giving the hammer in his hand a once over he noted a small white patch forming on his hands. A blister. Those were never fun. Squatting down by the stair he raised the hammer, “Would you like me to hammer the nails in?”

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Well, I ain't lettin' ya out in the chilly Autumn weather what wit'out dry clothes," she told him. "But maybe we can what come back fer yer own clothes once 'ey's dry?" It might take a few hours for the clothes to dry. She certainly didn't want to be responsible for the boy for that much time. She handed him the hammer again once she had set the nails in place on the step, half a dozen of them sticking up from the board waiting to be hammered down. "Some o' 'em ain't got parents," she told him. "Some do, but 'ey's sick 'nough what 'ey needs ta stay 'ere til 'ey done been better. Parents usually come down after 'ey what finish work, o' whatever..." Of course, there were a few that she knew didn't get visitors. She had half a mind to go track down their parents and drag them down here to spend time with their sick children. Though most of the kids should be going home soon, unless there was another outbreak, or another catastrophe like the storm that left so many injured. "Where ya live now?" she asked him. "'Ey what gots dorms fer students. Ain't know if'n kids can live in 'em, though. But yer money fer classes done covers the dorm room, too." Once the repairs on the steps were finished, she packed her tools away and said, "Couple minutes, what ta make sure 'em tykes is cleaned up'n'stuff, an' I's take ya down ta the man fer payin' fer class. We come back fer yer dry stuff after, aye?" That would save time, she figured. Once Evan was ready, she led him back down to where the kids were finished with lunch. The one lone nurse was too busy checking on one kid that was having a coughing fit, so Tock took charge of the rest of the kids in the meantime. They all needed their hands and faces cleaned, and a couple of the more ill ones were tired out and needed to be carried back to their rooms for a nap. Then there was cleaning up all the plates and cups from lunch, and since there was no one else on hand to do it, Tock went ahead and washed the dishes too. She hated doing dishes, but if the infirmary was short-handed, then someone had to do it. Only after all that was done and she was sure the nurse could handle things herself was Tock ready to take the boy where he wanted to go. She silently grumbled that she still had a damn essay to write, but she'd continue to put it off for now.

[Matthaus]

“In a house.” he said vaguely with a wave of his hand, well behind a house most of the time but that was neither here nor there. And no one asked questions if you gave them a coin or two and a fake name. But he wasn’t honestly surprised by her answer, parents didn’t want kids they just had them. And yet he couldn’t find it in him to pity them. They would grow or not, the choice was there’s. “If they do not allow me in the dorms I’m sure I can manage.” There was firm note in his voice, this was nothing he wasn’t used to but for some reason a small smidgen of hope was blooming. The city was the same as Ravok yet entirely different. People were people everywhere you went but Zeltiva seemed a bit safer than his previous home. Perhaps it would be easier to make his living here and people would ignore him easier when necessary. Matthaus nodded in ascent to the woman’s words and padded after her. Wondering what exactly her motives were. For herself but he didn’t understand why. But he liked her. To a degree, she had threatened him after all. And though he didn’t care for the labor he helped her clean, mostly helping the other children make their beds and trying to stop the younger ones from jumping on the freshly made sheets. The ill ones e helped tuck in while the more lively ones insisted he play with them, leaving him standing there awkwardly and not understanding any of their games. Tag? There was not point to it. Hide and seek? He’d played it under more difficult stakes and it didn’t seem fun to him. Wrestling? They were sick and he wasn’t exactly the toughest kid around. Instead he only gave a tight lipped smile and bowed out stiffly, hurrying over to Tock to escape the children’s wishes to play. “We can likely go sign up now.” He took the lead this time, eager to be away from the children he didn’t understand and towards his original goal. Hopefully his clothes would be dry when they returned. He stayed mostly silent as they walked, trying to take a mental map of the pathways but the University seemed large and Rikki always had maps. Swallowing he looked at Tock and voiced his next question as they reached the registration center. “Do I need parents for this?”

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Dunno if'n 'ey ask 'bout parents," she told him. She hasn't known any students as young as he was, so she wasn't sure what restrictions there were, if any. "But if'n 'ey does, er can says I's yer..." she paused and looked him over, realizing to be his mother she'd have had to have birthed him when she was about eight, "aunt. Ain't like 'ey what can check if'n s'true o' not..." She led him through the University halls, pointing out a few things like where the professor's offices were, the location of the cafeteria, and the courtyard that held the toadstool cluster. "Dun try an' go down 'ere," she told him. "'Less yer sneaky 'bout it, aye? Git in trouble, if'n yer caught down 'ere..." The courtyard held a series of metal vents in the shape of toadstools, which let out the magical exhaust from the Magecrafting labs down underground. There was no apparent entrance into the area other than climbing down the wall, though when she had been enrolled in magical studies, Tock had learned where the concealed entrances were. They soon came to the registrar's office, and she got him signed up with relative ease. Once his tuition was paid and his papers were all signed, she told him, "Awright, twerp. I what gots 'is 'orse shyke essay ta write, my kids is waitin' fer me at 'ome, an' I what gots a magic door fer ta start designin'. Can't been 'angin' 'round 'ere no more..." She liked the kid well enough, but she had work to do. She needed to get on it.

[Matthaus]

He felt a twinge of disappointment that the day was done, mixed with searing relief. He hadn’t even realized how tense he had been, how nervous the woman really made him. He felt as if this last bell or so he had been dancing to her beat and only now had the music stopped. Still he had managed to get signed up for school and if nothing else he felt he could at the very rest assured that the woman would not look for him. Not to mention she had given him directions, even if he did not know Zeltiva he knew the University and he could find out what the other halls and doors held on his own time. “I’m sure you have a lot of things to do.” the smile on his face was not sarcastic or smirk-like, though a bit tight around the edges, “As do I. It has been an…interesting meet and I thank you for your help.” To be honest, Matthaus felt awkward, as if he should say something else. But he couldn’t--didn’t. Instead he clutch at his papers and his dorm number, shifting from one foot to the other and gesturing towards the infirmary. “I’ll be going to get my clothes,” a smirk, “ma’am. If you need help at anytime I’ll be glad to return the favor.” It was dramatic and overly false but he did not wait for her response. His little bout of childish teasing had given him the kick he needed to get on with things. It had been nice but she was not Rikki and he had things to do and much to learn about this city. He just hoped not everyone was a nosey as she was. And perhaps a little farther down he sincerely hoped he would get to repay her.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"See ya 'round, kid," she told him, reaching out to tousle his hair. Despite everything, he was a cute kid, and helping him gave her a little twinge in her heart. She really hated kids but... maybe this one wasn't so bad. He was bold and independent, and he'd proved willing to help out instead of just expecting grown-ups to do everything for him. Why couldn't they ALL be like that? She turned and walked away, deciding she'd skip the library and make her essay up as she went along. As she headed off, without looking back at the kid she said, "Keep outta trouble!" Not that she expected he wouldn't have any trouble; she really meant it as 'don't get caught.' Once she got home, before continuing work on her workshop and the telescope she had to build, she sat down to fake her way through her stupid essay. Since her long morning had kept her too busy to actually read up on nouns and verbs and adjec-... adjecters... adjivers... whatever they were, she just wrote from her gut: Words is bout like, how for to express yousself. So you put them on in front a another and then people know what you mean. So it doesn't matter what order you puts them in as long as people know what you meant. And some words is hard which I think is dumb because you don't need a big stupid word to say something when you can use just a normal word to say it. Big words is just for how smart people try to make normal people look dumb. (She wound up failing the essay and having to re-write it... twice...)

[Cascade]

Adventurer's Loot Matthaus's Loot : Skill XP Reward Interrogation +2 Carpentry +3 Observation +1 Rhetoric +2 Lore: The Strange Redheaded Woman Zeltiva: The Infirmary The Plague In Zeltiva Hammering A Nail Helping At The Infirmary Items or Consequences: +5 Status Points Five status points for the work that he did! Good thread, the social interactions between Matt and Tock was quite fun to read. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!