003 - Tinkering - Action at 729 Anderson Lane

[worstvikingever]

[It's a nice day, and Hiccup's in the garage with the door open. He's working on a pretty strange looking device, which turns out to be the tail replacement harness for Toothless. It's got two fins instead of just the one he had to make back home, so it's turning out to be a mite trickier than he's used to.

But he's doing pretty well. He might actually be finished with the thing soon. Or, you know. Finished enough for preliminary testing.

Any and all walk-ups are welcome. Hiccup will be so excited to tell everyone what he's doing.]

Comments

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[Hiccup's trying to make something. That gets Theta's attention nice and easily, and she wanders on in to make a pest of herself see if she can offer any advice or help.]]

Another inventor..?

[worstvikingever]

[He looks up in surprise because he was very intently working on his stuff. He shrugs with a bit of a smile.]

Sort of, I guess. Well, okay, yeah.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

What are you making?

[[Hmm...to try and convince him he fails at it forever or to offer help and make him indebted to her... (The idea that he doesn't need her help and won't crumble if she tries to screw with him doesn't occur to her.)]]

[worstvikingever]

[He's still getting used to the idea that people are actually interested in what he can do instead of what he fails at miserably. So he brightens even more as he starts to explain with excitement.]

Well Toothless--my dragon--he's missing a tail fin, normally, but here he's missing both. I'm uh. Not really sure why. But anyway he's missing both which means he can't fly at all. So this is a replacement harness.

[He shows off everything as he describes it.]

These prosthesis fins attach to his tail, and they're controlled by foot pedals that'll be operated by me. It means he can't fly alone, but you know. Flying with a rider is better than no flying at all, right? So anyway it's a little bit trickier than what I had to make at home since obviously he was only missing one there. But I think I'm almost done. Might even be able to test it soon.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[Aaaaand her plans at trolling him completely crumble. See that cane she's leaning on? Mechanical prosthesis are a...special spot in her heart, and her expression shows a lot of emotional confusion.]]

... ... ...

I...could make him one that wouldn't need you to work the fins for him if you'd like. Mechanical prosthesis is...my speciality back home, actually.

Or I could look over your design for you...

[worstvikingever]

[...the prospect of something that would enable Toothless to fly on his own completely floors him. On the one hand, it's amazing and is that even possible? But on the other hand Hiccup riding Toothless was... how they really became friends. They needed each other. Taking that away was like... he wasn't sure whether it was good or bad.

So after standing there completely shocked for a minute, he manages to recover himself. Mostly.]

I uh... I... thanks! I mean... I'm almost done with this one, so... if you looked over it that would be pretty much awesome!

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She nods her head awkwardly, still a bit floored by the prospect of being able to help in such a way. Seems like they've both given each other a shock, really. She offers him a weak smile, then takes a breath and considers things. Then, she slowly starts lifting her skirt. Not inappropriately, but just far enough to show off the metal contraption that's strapped around her knee. It's clear that she's...missing a large chunk of her leg, including the joint, but below her knee is flesh and blood again.]]

My father made this for me when I was young, but I've been taking care of its upkeep for years. If...you'd like to see the sort of craftsmanship I'm used to.

[[That and...she kind of wants to show off, actually. It's not something she ever would have done back home, but back home such machines were commonplace.]]

[wolf-faerie.livejournal.com]

[Running by when she notices Hiccup working on something, so she peeks into the garage.]

What's that?

[worstvikingever]

[That hits a little too close to home for Hiccup. He's got both of his legs through the "miracle" of Mayfield, but he knows he should be missing one. Partially in shock and partially in awe, he takes a look at her leg. It's like nothing he's ever seen before, but then everything in Mayfield is like nothing he's ever seen before.]

I... should be missing a leg, too. When I got here it was back, though, like nothing had ever happened.

[worstvikingever]

[He looks up from what he's doing and waves.]

It's a replacement tail for Toothless so he can fly again.

[wolf-faerie.livejournal.com]

Oh.

[Goes up to take a closer look.] But his wings look fine. Why does he need a new tail?

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She nods quietly.]] Avoid the Post Office, then. My knee was back when I first got here, as well.

[[She lets her skirt fall back into place, then moves over to where he's working on the fins, looking it over quickly.]]

And be careful opening boxes from home. Any of them might be empty and instead see your leg removed. This place is hardly fair in its "gifts".

[[Theta's used to working with magical machines; in fact her knee joint shouldn't work according to how the knee joint would bear stress. So his machine is a bit difficult for her to understand simply from looking at.]]

[worstvikingever]

It's uh... kind of complicated. But he uses his tail in flying just as much as he uses his wings. So when he's missing parts of his tail, which he is, he can't fly anymore.

[He points out the replacement tail fins.]

He should have fins like these on the end of his tail. At home he's usually already missing one, but here he's missing both.

[wolf-faerie.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't know that. So that's why I've never seen him fly...

[worstvikingever]

[Post office? Packages? He's heard something about them, but no real details. Something about getting things back from home. But how could he get his lack of a leg back? That doesn't really make sense.

Of course, nothing here really makes sense.]

I'll... remember that. Thanks.

[worstvikingever]

Yeah. [He looks kind of sad for a minute, but he brightens a little.] So that's why I'm building this!

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

You hardly sound convinced.

[[She looks around for a pencil and paper; if she can find those she'll commandeer them to start sketching modifications.]]

[worstvikingever]

Well it's just... [He shakes his head.] Everything here is just so weird. I want to be all "how can a package take my leg away again," but then I remember where I am and how nothing makes sense anyway.

[His sketches and extra paper + pencil are on the workbench over thar.]

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[Yep, she'll be taking those. She looks at his sketches, then sets them aside and starts doing some sketches of her own.]]

Do you want an easy answer or a serious explanation?

[worstvikingever]

[He kind of tries to look over her shoulder at what she's doing without being too rude about it. He probably fails.]

Well... uh... [He sighs.] Easy would be nice, but serious would probably be better.

[bluefrompallet.livejournal.com]

Hm?



What's that~?

[worstvikingever]

[Another interested person? Wow, this is kind of exciting.]

It's something to replace my dragon's tail fins so he can fly again.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

[[She doesn't care, and even shifts so he can get a look at what she's doing. It involves lots of gears, and would need to be wound with a clockwork key. Something a dragon probably couldn't do on its own.]]

My theory is that this place isn't even real. It exists in our minds while our bodies are trapped somewhere, asleep. A forced, shared dream, in essence. Out there in reality, your leg is missing, and your friend has one of his tail fins, but while we're stuck here, the people in control of this dream can make us perceive things as different.

[worstvikingever]

[She gets a :| look for that explanation.]

...okay.

[Wait, no, he should take this seriously.]

Shared dream. That's... well. No more impossible than being here in the first place, I guess.

[ergaleomancer.livejournal.com]

Anything can be achieved with the right technology. Even time travel, inter-dimensional travel... Any impossibility can be overcome by the simple power of the human mind. If it seems impossible at first...just imagine what would happen if someone dedicated their life to finding a way to change it. A hundred years ago, I would never have been able to walk with an injury like mine. I likely wouldn't even have survived.