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The large garage has a small corner desk, with pieces of paper and catalogues of machine pieces on shelves against the wall. Along three of the walls, huge metal shelving units hold a variety of brown boxes, each marked with some arcane mechanics scrawl that indicates the contents. The other has two separate workstations against it, and a series of hooks and shelves, upon which tools sit, in apparently random order, behind one. The other has a large cupboard designed for paper, drawing implements and a line of tools. The workstation is designed for the drawing of schematics, and the other workstation bears the weight of half a dozen dismantled machines of varying sizes. The floor is concrete, stained with oil, with patches of sand here and there. A large tub containing sand squats beside the garage doors, a shovel sticking out of the top as if someone shoved it there after use.
A row of pegs against the wall by the workstation has various coveralls, coats and other things hanging on it and a large noticeboard has a range of oil stained pieces of papers stuck to it with pins. Along the beam that runs the length of the garage, several jars have been attached with a nail through their lid. They seem to be storing small components of different sizes.

A door exits the garage, apparently allowing entrance to the upper floor by the use of a key pad.

It's a chilly morning, enough that even Alistair is happy to be inside - here waiting for Cali, sitting at the bench and going over records since he has some time for it, writing things down in a spreadsheet so they can be more easily dealt with later. His demeanor is the usual one, the burden of accounting apparently not capable of spoiling his mood.

Caliopa arrives quietly, her face thoughtful, her manner distracted. Even though she goes through the motions, removing her boots, offering him a kiss and a smile, it is apparent she is thinking too hard about something. "We got much to do, Ali?" The question is given as she settles beside him, offering him a mug of coffee, her own hugged to her.

Alistair leans back a little when he hears her come in - he watches her and smiles, accepting the kiss easily. "Thank you" he replies, taking the mug, and looking her over for a moment. "There's work, yes - I think it isn't a huge load at the moment though ... is something wrong?" he asks, tilting his head a little.

"Nothin' wrong, jus'..." She frowns at him, the smile gone as she considers her choice of words thoughtfully before continuing. "See, you know the KDPD thin', 'n' me bein' released so suddenly. Seems that the owner of that Monkey Business spoke up for me." She takes a tiny sip of the coffee, inhaling the wonderful fumes. "Reckoned I owed him and I wanted it paid, 'n' he gave me the price of it."

"Oh ... a lot of people ... hm" Alistair blinks his eyes and bites his lower lip. "So what was the price?" he asks, leaning over a little and reaching to touch her with a hand - on a leg perhaps, since her hands are full. His expression is curious, maybe a little concerned especially since her smile is gone.

Caliopa offers him a flicker of her smile, offering reassurance despite the worried expression on her face as she speaks slowly. "Seems there is a machine he wants fixin' up. I reckoned that ain't gonna be too hard, not given all I do 'n' all. Seems it is over in Madhaven, 'n' he has sent some folks already." She lowers her gaze to the mug in her hands, hesitating before she speaks again. "Reckon I had to take it, 'n' go."

Alistair smiles back at her and nods his head a little, "It doesn't sound like difficult favor, but I don't know that much about ... " he blushes faintly, "Madhaven? Oh ... I am a little slow, take it and go? Did you take it?" he asks. "If not I can go get it."

"Take the job. He reckoned he'd sent folks after it before, 'n' they'd not come back, made a piece mad from the spooks there." Caaliopa's face is a little pale, set in serious lines. "Don't seem likely I have much of a choice, not honourably. Seems he will get transport for the thing if we ...I get there 'n' either dig it out, or fix it. Reckon it is best if I bring it home 'n' fix it up here."

"Oh." Alistair blinks, as if something dawns on him. "So, is it in a scary place?" he asks, perhaps not knowing what Madhaven is. He smiles at her, "Of course I'll go pick it up, be it alone or with you. I'm ready to go any time" he leans in a touch more, "You shouldn't hesitate to ask me" he says softly, looking her in the eyes.

"I ain't sure. Sounds like a world of ghosts and thin's, that oughtn't be able to hurt you but seems they cana." Caliopa's face relaxes and she leans into him. "I got to go, that is part of the deal. If I don't go, I still owe him I reckon 'n' that don't sit comfortable." She hesitates a moment before speaking. "Seems to me we ought to find out more about this place, 'n' take them that are trained in fightin' things like he spoke about." The accounts forgotten.

Alistair wraps an arm about her shoulders, "Sometimes ghosts and things can affect us, yeah ... " he agrees, keeping her close now, feeling her warmth when she leans into him. "Okay. I will looks around for people who can deal with such creatures. I can deal with some myself, but not all of them I think, so better be safe. I'll ask around about Madhaven also."

"Reckon Sebastien might be someone, 'n' Desmond. There are others though." She chews on her lower lip, an expression of her worrisome thoughts, and hugs him with one arm, the other holding her coffee mug. "Seems we might as well get on with them accounts, bein' as we can't fix the other yet." She glances up at him, the expression in her face showing clearly the junkyard in her thoughts.

"Mm, there is also Miss Vadania, I think she does things with spirits and things, from what I gather" says Alistair, and leans in to kiss her lips softly after she looks up at him. "Love you" perhaps picking up on that expression, the look he gives her a bit sheepish, as if he doesn't know what to say. "Let me show you some stuff I did, you can increase profits a bit with this. But since it's a change, it might be a bit rough to get it right at first" there's a pause, then, "Are you still worried? About me, I mean?"

Caliopa nods slowly, returning the kiss with the caution that entered their relationship since the junkyard. "Let's take a look." She speaks slowly, turning towards the accounts but his final comment stills her and she bites her lower lip. "No. I ain't. Ain't no entity in the world that might enjoy accounts the way you do." The wry humour in her words is a little undermined by the odd shyness in her manner with him but she is trying.

"I can take a test or something if you want ... I'm sure there's psychics who can verify I am who I am" Alistair replies, "I don't mind ... I don't want you to worry" he explains, biting his lower lip, "But for now, I'll show you these things" there's a pause as he looks back at her, blinking, "You might be right" as he looks back at the account, and then at Cali. "Does that make me weird?" the question is asked with an attempt to feign innocense this time, his eyes betraying some amusement.

A softening comes along with a giggle and Caliopa ducks her head, blushing. "Yeah, it does but I ain't got room to throw stones. Only weird men want to date a woman that talks to machines 'n' they talk back." She peeks at him through her lashes, the movement natural and unconsidered, "Reckon best get to work."

Alistair smiles widely at her, "I can live with being weird if it means I can be with you" he murmurs, and nods, leaning to sneak a quick kiss in before turning to the documents and he starts to explain, "So I used a branch of math that we call Operations Research, and the method is linear programming - all that fun stuff, to make some equations and then you put them in a matrix like this ... " though the start might be a bit abrupt, Alistair seems to have a good handle on teaching what he knows - perhaps one reason why he finds it fun to teach kids at the Knight.


[[Category:Caliopa]]
[[Category:Alistair]]
[[Category:TP Madhaven]]
[[Category:Logs 106]]
[[Category:TP]]