Did Tal yelp when the little zap of electricity hit him as he was turning away? He would deny it until his dying day, blaming the sound on Boreal, who would rumble her amusement and then go back to her mischief. But the foundations were dug and laid solidly by lunch time and the respite was welcome in the Longheat sun.
Boreal had her own meal, which she swallowed quickly and then ambled her way over to Sunjata. The big companion sat down beside him, curling her tail primly around her broad talons and giving him her best sad-hungry-dragon eyes while occasionally darting beseeching glances at her closest ally - Hotaru . Tal might have squirmed a little at the easy affection between Ru and Sunjata, finding reasons to look elsewhere while they ate (the blueprints providing a great excuse), but every once in a while he'd steal a glance at them and the corner of his mouth would quirk up a little at seeing how happy his best friend looked beside her lover.
If he was less demonstrative with his own partner, it was only because things were still new enough that he wasn't entirely certain how far they were both comfortable showing that sort of affection in public. He did inch his hand over to squeeze Alys 's fingers, though, flashing her a warm grin of excitement that their dreams were taking shape in spite of the chaos and new dangers of the world. There was some happiness they would steal in the midst of Starfall's tragedy, and it would help anchor them to face it anew in the days ahead.
With lunch over it was back to work, and for once things went fairly well!
...Mostly.
Hotaru 's measurements were confounded when a blink hare appeared in the middle of the undertaking, little pink nose twitching in curiosity. Boreal promptly ceased her fascinated attempts to investigate Sunjata's pockets for potential treats and leapt to the chase. Their darting, teleporting, and pouncing about didn't make marking out the distances easy on the Valkyrie and the work slowed down a bit, but once the dragon and its prey had been shooed away from the construction site she was able to keep ahead of the others.
Barely.
As it turned out, Tal and Sunjata made a pretty good team. Between the Flood's brawn and the Messenger's notably less brawn, but solid carpentry skills they were able to put up the studs like a well-oiled machine, right on Hotaru's heels and occasionally having to stop and wait for her to work ahead a little ways. The work was neat and the studs formed a strong, precise frame for the eventual walls.
Thanks to that, Alys's job was fairly easy. The lengths of the bracing boards slotted perfectly between the main studs so that she didn't need to waste time re-cutting anything to size it down. Much like with the shelves in Stormbreak, she turned out to have a gift for simple carpentry that was improving with every project she got to practice it on!
Much to Tal's surprise, and at least in part thanks to the long hours of daylight in Longheat, they managed to finish the framing as the sun touched the horizon. Though the house-to-be lacked walls and a roof, its bones and floors were solid in the twilight, standing proud against the sky atop the little hill and ready to be clothed. "Well... huh. We're movin' a lot faster'n I thought," he admitted, exhausted but looking pleased enough to burst as his hand crept towards Alys's again to squeeze it happily. "Guess we all make a pretty good team, huh?" He grinned around at his helpers - and, in Jata's case, grinned up - and scratched Boreal's head with his other hand. "Meet back here same time t'morrow t'get th'walls an' roof up?"
And meet back there the next day they did, with Tal maneuvering a load of pre-cut lumber hanging beneath the Peregrine and setting it down gently beside the house before dropping the little boat's ground-anchor nearby.
"Right, let's all pitch in an' get th'outside walls up t'keep animals out," he said, rubbing his hands together eagerly as he hefted his favorite hammer. He cleared his throat and then added to Alys and Hotaru with an awkward little grin: "There's some ladders for th'rest o'us for th'taller sections," before slanting a cautious glance at Sunjata to see how the Flood took his attempt at a joke.
Let's get some walls up!
No posting order
Boreal had her own meal, which she swallowed quickly and then ambled her way over to Sunjata. The big companion sat down beside him, curling her tail primly around her broad talons and giving him her best sad-hungry-dragon eyes while occasionally darting beseeching glances at her closest ally - Hotaru . Tal might have squirmed a little at the easy affection between Ru and Sunjata, finding reasons to look elsewhere while they ate (the blueprints providing a great excuse), but every once in a while he'd steal a glance at them and the corner of his mouth would quirk up a little at seeing how happy his best friend looked beside her lover.
If he was less demonstrative with his own partner, it was only because things were still new enough that he wasn't entirely certain how far they were both comfortable showing that sort of affection in public. He did inch his hand over to squeeze Alys 's fingers, though, flashing her a warm grin of excitement that their dreams were taking shape in spite of the chaos and new dangers of the world. There was some happiness they would steal in the midst of Starfall's tragedy, and it would help anchor them to face it anew in the days ahead.
With lunch over it was back to work, and for once things went fairly well!
...Mostly.
Hotaru 's measurements were confounded when a blink hare appeared in the middle of the undertaking, little pink nose twitching in curiosity. Boreal promptly ceased her fascinated attempts to investigate Sunjata's pockets for potential treats and leapt to the chase. Their darting, teleporting, and pouncing about didn't make marking out the distances easy on the Valkyrie and the work slowed down a bit, but once the dragon and its prey had been shooed away from the construction site she was able to keep ahead of the others.
Barely.
As it turned out, Tal and Sunjata made a pretty good team. Between the Flood's brawn and the Messenger's notably less brawn, but solid carpentry skills they were able to put up the studs like a well-oiled machine, right on Hotaru's heels and occasionally having to stop and wait for her to work ahead a little ways. The work was neat and the studs formed a strong, precise frame for the eventual walls.
Thanks to that, Alys's job was fairly easy. The lengths of the bracing boards slotted perfectly between the main studs so that she didn't need to waste time re-cutting anything to size it down. Much like with the shelves in Stormbreak, she turned out to have a gift for simple carpentry that was improving with every project she got to practice it on!
Much to Tal's surprise, and at least in part thanks to the long hours of daylight in Longheat, they managed to finish the framing as the sun touched the horizon. Though the house-to-be lacked walls and a roof, its bones and floors were solid in the twilight, standing proud against the sky atop the little hill and ready to be clothed. "Well... huh. We're movin' a lot faster'n I thought," he admitted, exhausted but looking pleased enough to burst as his hand crept towards Alys's again to squeeze it happily. "Guess we all make a pretty good team, huh?" He grinned around at his helpers - and, in Jata's case, grinned up - and scratched Boreal's head with his other hand. "Meet back here same time t'morrow t'get th'walls an' roof up?"
And meet back there the next day they did, with Tal maneuvering a load of pre-cut lumber hanging beneath the Peregrine and setting it down gently beside the house before dropping the little boat's ground-anchor nearby.
"Right, let's all pitch in an' get th'outside walls up t'keep animals out," he said, rubbing his hands together eagerly as he hefted his favorite hammer. He cleared his throat and then added to Alys and Hotaru with an awkward little grin: "There's some ladders for th'rest o'us for th'taller sections," before slanting a cautious glance at Sunjata to see how the Flood took his attempt at a joke.
Let's get some walls up!
No posting order
