RP: I Like Turtles Pt. 2

The shop was actually something in a back alley, and as she nearly pulled him right past it he tugged her in the right direction. The Farstriders obviously hadn't given him prime real estate in the square. He went back into the alley and started to climb a thin set of metal stairs. "There's a loading dock if I need to get something big in, but this is the people entrance!" The staircase was just big enough for a turtle to go up, as Mister Gramms followed.

"Well... no wonder I've never seen it before. It's um," Ysani searched for a polite word, "...secluded?" She followed him up the steps, stuck behind the rather slowly-moving turtle, taking advantage of the wait to eat the last of her food. She wasn't coordinated enough to use the sticks for this last bit and had to tip the box back and scrape the rest of the noodles and the bits of sprouts and nuts that still clung to them into her mouth. When she lowered her head, cheeks stuffed, Firael was looking at her. She turned pink and tried not to laugh and spray food everywhere.

"It's just inside here, but I warned you, it's not much." He stopped, realizing he was staring at a puffy cheeked Ysani. It was kind of cute. He turned on his heel suddenly, his cheeks colored, and swung the door open, hurrying inside. He called back outside. "Watch the first step, it's painted yellow for a reason!" The door wasn't flush with the floor, rather it was a couple of feet above it, and Mister Gramms took the single step carefully.

The inside of the shop was actually quite spacious, and was very much like a loft. All around the shop there were work benches, table saws, scattered with tools, large machines and plenty of spare parts for all sorts of gadget and machine abound. Everything was messy and completely unorganized. Scattered throughout the room, mixed with various wrenches and screwdrivers were noodle boxes. Lots of them. It was clear that a bachelor and his turtle lived here. Strangely the one part of the room that seemed to be well kept was a corner with two beds, one rectangular and one a very large basket with tattered pillows in it, and a couple of bowls, much like very large dog bowls. Beside the bed was a door which led to a very small room with a toilet and a hanging water pipe with a drain on the floor below it. No curtain was present in front of the crude shower.

The damage from the thugs was still evident. Against the wall in another corner, near the loading door, were some broken looking machines. Several of the machines that could be fixed, were, and otherwise had only damaging marks left on them. Several newer machines were present around the shop.

Ysani gawped at the cluttered space. "You eat a LOT of noodl--" A table littered with shiny mithril parts caught her attention and she swooped in on them with a hushed "ooooh", bent over the mess to try and identify all the different pieces.

"That's the super industrial powered toaster, guaranteed to last for years! The one I showed you in the magazine at the Legerdemain. It's using the same power source as my last project."

She put a finger on her chin and sucked in her lower lip, one curious green eye darting over the litter of metal bits, then picked up a small, cylindrical casing that was heavy for its size and had a trio of wires protruding from a small sealed hole in the end. "Is this it? It's kind of odd, for a toaster battery. What sort of project was it?"

"Oh uh, uh. It was some of those massage things, you know, you put it on your back and it massages you. Yeah." Firael's cheeks were only a bit pink. "But I've modified them to generate heat instead of vibration. I'm hoping to nicen the shop up, but for that I have to clean it up first and..." He watched Ysani and she turned the motor over in her hands. His cheeks went from pink to dark in seconds. Ysani didn't notice.

"It's kind of a neat idea, keeping it housed in a water-tight casing like this. Although that's probably going a bit overboard, considering that a toaster isn't likely to come in contact with liquids." She looked up at him and paused a moment, tilting her head at his rather obvious discomfort. "Er... at least, I've never come across a waterproof toaster... are you all right?"

The momentary distraction was enough for him. "W-well, you know how dropping a t-toaster in the bathtub is dangerous right because of the power source and water? This fixes that!" He nodded, very convincingly.

"But... why would you have a toaster in the bathtub?" Her pale face turned up to his, she searched for signs he might be pulling her leg. She detected nothing of the sort. "Um. And you don't even have a tub. But I suppose someone might really want to eat toast while they bathe?"

"Well... toasters just come with that warning not to drop them in the bathtub, they won't have to include that any more I guess?" He gave an awkward smile. She just stared at him for a solid (and uncomfortable) thirty seconds before taking a deep breath and leaning back over the table.