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“You sneaky bugger… You’re up early?”

“I’m on guard too. Rachuck ain’t happy with just one guy walking the corridors with everything going on.”

“You mean he now has enough people to have two guys down here? Who’s up in the tower?” Tom sighed in response as he felt his heart slowly calm down again.

“Balethon and his dumb lizard. I’m betting he’s trying to teach it tricks rather than actually watching for anything. Not like that’s much worse than Herron though.”

“Probably not, no,” Tom relented with a sigh.

“But yeah, jewelry is the safe bet, always. Get her something with a bit of green, an emerald would be perfect, then just say it matches her eyes. Guaranteed win.”

“You have done this before, ey? Gotten Sapphire anything?”

“Not yet, I’m but a poor poor guardsman. That, and I’ve been saving up for a proper blade for years.”

“Fair… But still, come on.”

“Hey, you’ve been with Jacky much longer than I have with Saph, and it’s not like traders come by here that often. It’s not even been a month since I got upgraded from sleeping on the floor. But I have considered it.”

Tom had to suppress a chuckle at that, he couldn’t imagine Jacky pulling a stunt like that no matter what he did. And if it ever happened, he might want to steer clear of Shiva for a day or two. Or a month.

“Fair fair… joint order?”

“I mean, normally I would say no cause those two are competitive on everything, so they would take turns declaring their thing the best and shitting on what the other one got. Might work if they got a matching set though.”

“I see your reasoning,” Tom agreed, nodding slowly while stroking his beard despite not having a damn clue and just agreeing with the guy who seemed better at this.

“So then. You know anything Jacky is missing? Earrings, necklace? Actually no, not a necklace. Maybe a ring?”

“I honestly don’t know. Not often she bothers wearing much really… Unlike all the others.”

“Yeah, if there is anyone who really wants it, it’s probably Fengi or Ray, isn’t it?” Maiko chuckled a bit before his expression turned forlorn.

“Hey Maiko, you don’t have any Christmas celebrations here, do you? You know, middle of winter, you have a big party and exchange gifts?”

“No?” the guard asked, seeming a little confused. “There is the coming of spring though. That is always a happy time, and gifts made during the winter are sometimes exchanged. Homemade stuff, you know? Whatever it might be.”

“Sounds kinda nice actually… No, our Christmas is a bit different. Big presents, good food, all nice and cozy inside.”

“Sounds nice… aside from all the work, and I bet you this place isn’t the warmest in winter.”

Tom had a bit of a look around at the walls and window slits. It was thick granite. Very thick, in fact. The floors were wood though, little more than planks resting on support beams. Places that dealt in fire had stone tile coverings to at least reduce the chance of fire. The windows were open, no glass. They had those wooden coverings they put up if there was a siege going on or something. Tom guessed those went on when winter came too. He was fairly sure they were always on in the storage rooms and such.

“No, you are probably right… Central heating would be killer in a place like this.”

“Killer?” Maiko questioned, sounding a touch worried and certainly looking confused.

“Great. It would be great.”

“Ahr… also that Christa- kristia-Chriest.”

“Christmas.”

“Yeah that one. What does that mean?”

“Oh… long story. In my language it is just called Jul. Is that easier?”

“Jul,” Maiko echoed easily enough. “Sure.”

“I guess you can use that one then… But no, it’s complicated and involves religion, let’s not.”

“You got it,” Maiko chuckled, seeming quite happy to stay out of that particular rat’s nest. “So, something about heating?”

“Central heating… Heat is made elsewhere and you pipe it into your home as warm water, then you use that to heat the place up and send the cold water back.”

“I see a flaw in this plan,” Maiko chuckled a bit, leaning on a wall.

“Yeah, yeah. We would need a boiler, probably in the smithy or further down. That makes hot water and you send it around the keep to radiators where they then shed the heat where you want it.”

“Sounds very complicated, why not just use the chimney stacks?”

“Cause they aren’t that efficient?” Tom tried with a shrug. The keep had three chimney stacks, he knew that much. One on the north side which ran from the forge and upwards and two inside the walls that ran from the Kitchens and upwards. All three had fireplaces in the grand hall too.

“Usually works quite well really… as long as you aren’t in the basement. Heat goes up after all.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. Hence why the bedrooms are all up in the top of the keep. Trust me, I thought of that.”

“Bingo,” Maiko chuckled, giving him a wink. “But no seriously, if you could run hot water through say the bed and make it warm, that would be amazing.”

“... That’s not a bad idea actually,” Tom had to concede after thinking on it for a second. “Still gonna need to make a LOT of pipe. It would probably have to be copper. And how to run it?” Tom asked, looking around at the walls of the workshop. Nothing was hollow here, which he guessed was both good and bad for plumbing. It would all be exposed and ugly, but at the same time easy to get to.

“We get Edita on board and you can just have her ask for materials. If anyone asks, it was her idea. And we unloaded a shit ton of metal from those dragons. We might have all you need already,” Maiko replied optimistically.

“Or I could just ask for it myself. I think I can do that,” Tom pondered, stroking his beard a little.

“Or that I guess. Call it an upgrade to the working environment,” Maiko retorted with a shrug.

“I always wanted to make a steam engine… I wonder if I could get away with adding that to the system, even if we don’t really need one.”

“Winter project maybe?”

“Nah. We’ve got too much on our plate as is. But maybe the whole heating thing should at least be considered.”

“Hey man, you do you. I’m just happy you’re on your feet again. Even if miss inquisitor isn’t doing so hot,” the guardsman replied, pushing back off the wall and standing upright again.

“Yeah, yeah, I know… and I think I better get back to bed before I am missed.”

“Good luck, pal,” Maiko snickered, giving Tom a double pat on the shoulder. “Whatever you do, don’t piss that woman off.”

“She is quite something, in more ways than one,” Tom replied with a sigh, shaking his head despite not being able to avoid pulling a slight smile as he walked off.

“Oh, and mister human,” Maiko let out as Tom had made it about halfway down the corridor to the stairs.

“What?” Tom asked indignantly, expecting a bad joke as he turned to look at the guard.

“If you do heating stuff, me and Saph first. I’ll give you fencing lessons if you do.”

“Need a better bribe, bro,” Tom just chuckled, turning back to the stairs. ‘Fencing lessons… dumbass.’

Upon making it back to the bedroom he very gingerly opened the door, peeking inside and being greeted with a loud snore.

‘Brilliant.’

He proceeded to expertly sneak his way back in under the sheets with the stealth of an experienced fox. The expedition was only slightly endangered when Jacky decided to yawn, swinging her head back and nearly poking Tom in the face with the tip of a horn before settling back down, smacking her mouth a bit and licking her chops.

Not even Tom cuddling up behind her and wrapping his arm around her chest woke her up, she was truly out cold. It had gotten rather late last night in the end, so it made sense. Tom had made the grave mistake of whipping out the computer games. They had watched so many movies that he just needed something else. That and Jacky’s taste in movies was quite specific, though Tom could hardly blame her for wanting to watch something where all the talking wasn’t that important, but he could have done with something besides action movies for a whole day.

But with all three expendables getting a go and, of course, a rewatch of Rambo followed by the first two Terminators, Tom had made the decision it was time for Minesweeper. Mainly cause this shit box PC was definitely not gonna run Crysis. They were bought for toughness and battery life, and It wasn’t like he had an internet connection either. He did actually have Age of Empires 2 on here as well, but Minesweeper was a nice easy one to explain.

To say Jacky was a touch skeptical at first would be an understatement, but curiosity had gotten the better of her, along with Tom’s assurances that while it was a puzzle and a thinking game, it wasn’t that bad. It hadn’t taken long before she had also gotten the hang of it as the two of them tapped away, getting blown up again and again.

It had been very good fun, at least Tom thought so, Jacky sure had gotten invested in the couple of rounds they managed to get close to completion, and when they finally managed one she was quite pleased with herself. Of course, the predictable result of the late-night gaming session was that neither of them had any clue what time it was when they finally turned in for the night.

The fact he had still gotten up at the crack of dawn he just took that as an excellent sign that he was in fact improving rapidly. Being up before everyone else was quite common for him before this all kicked off after all. So there he lay, snuggling up with his murder machine, quite content to wait untill she decided it was time to get up.

That turned out to be quite a while. It would seem a certain someone had perhaps grown accustomed to not getting up to do chores or really any kind of work aside from guard dog and movie critic. As such, the serene morning scene came to an end with a knock on at the door, one ear rising and turning to face the new noise as Tom felt her starting to stir.

“Who is it?” Tom tried in his practiced greeting, even though he could still hear his own accent loud and clear straight through it. ‘One day maybe, one day.’

“Are you in the mood for conversation today?” came the reply of one Investigator Paulin, Tom letting out a loud sigh. Perhaps he hadn’t in fact quite gotten away with his morning walkabout.

“Depends. Not much for interrogation, I believe,” Tom replied as Jacky came to proper as well, slowly forcing her way out of his grasp and sitting up in bed, staring at the door. Tom didn’t budge, lying on the bed, arms still where Jacky had been a moment ago and trying to look miserable.

“The Inquisitor wishes to speak with you. If it calms your nerves, I do not believe she is in any condition to wield her magics. Though she does seem to be improving. Marginally,” Paulin responded, sounding rather reluctant. Like a Jockey being forced to admit his prized stallion just didn’t have it in him anymore.

Jacky for her part looked down at Tom without replying, raising an eyeridge and looking a touch confused at him, who was still holding up his arms like he was waiting for her to lay back down. “Oh sit up, damn you,” she whispered, shaking her head, Tom spying a smile creeping onto the side of her face.

“Fine fine,” Tom sighed quietly, sitting back up like he had been told, though he still scootched up against her, leaning his head on her shoulder. “If she’s getting better, then why not just let her?” he then asked, turning his attention back to the door.

“Because she has reached the point of being able to issue coherent orders and she wants to speak with you.”

“I thought it had been agreed I would be left alone here?”

“That was the plan, yes… But I believe the inquisitor needs your help now, just like you needed hers… So please.”

Tom and jacky turned to stare at each other for a second or two. Hearing ‘please’ out of anyone from the inquisition, save Edita, was certainly new. Jacky did still look less than pleased to say the least, and Tom couldn’t blame her. He would perhaps rather have his first day back up and about be in the workshop, or perhaps even in the classroom if it came to that, but it would seem he would be afforded no such luxury. “Let’s get this over with then. I’m sorry.”

“Hmpf” was all the reply he got out of Jacky as he started to get up. She didn’t stop him, but instead threw off the blanket and got started putting on her things as well. Thigh holster and revolver included.

“He will not be talking with her in private. And tell Glazz that Tom too has a bodyguard here. I’m sure she can understand what that means.”

“Trust me, I know. Dakota made that abundantly clear to me yesterday,” Paulin sighed, sounding for all the world like she knew just where that might be heading.

“I will be there too. As will Linkosta, not to worry,” Dakota added in also from outside the closed door.

Jacky did actually seem pleasantly surprised at that, letting out a little huff as Tom tied up his boots. ‘I guess there really was no saying no then. How the hell did Paulin convince Dakota though?’

“Well then. Off to talk with the important person then,” Jacky jested half-sarcastically trying her best to sound snarky. She got up from the bedside and grabbed the halberd which had been leaning against the far wall ever since the last invasion of her bedroom.

“Are you sure you’ll need that?” Tom tried, knowing quite well his position was untenable.

“Yup,” was all he got in response as Jacky walked to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open while he was still doing up his boots.

Outside the door had been just Dakota and Paulin, much as Tom expected. Paulin glanced up at the halberd, eyeing it suspiciously while Dakota looked down at Jacky’s thigh with a more pleading look, shoulders sagging a little.

The three of them stood there having a little staring contest until Tom got up from the bed and walked over to join them. “Shall we?”

“I believe so. And Miss Furlong. I can assure you the threat to Glazz is reciprocated. She takes her duty quite seriously.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Jacky replied indignantly, Tom swearing she was making herself just a touch taller right now while pointedly ignoring the investigator.

“Jacky, please don’t try to kill anyone,” Dakota had to plead as Paulin turned to start leading them down the hall.

“That’s why I brought the halberd. It’s perfect for keeping someone away,” Jacky replied with a hint of a sneer, throwing a hateful glance at Paulin.

‘Oh this is going to be fun,’ Tom sighed, wishing back to when Edita’s clinginess was his main concern in regards to Jacky not committing manslaughter in his name.

Dakota had gone to follow Paulin, who was just walking like she wasn’t hearing a word being said, Tom following with Jacky taking up the rear.

They came across a few other people in the hallways. Notably Essy, who greeted them with a kind smile like always, looking like she had to restrain herself from stopping and asking questions. Most likely about how Tom and Jacky were feeling.

Tom had been expecting to be led to the bedroom the inquisitor was staying in, but instead Paulin was heading for the library. As if on cue, Paulin piped up. “The bedroom would have been a touch cramped. Especially considering tensions at the moment. Wouldn’t you agree?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.

“I don’t mind a bit of range,” Jacky retorted, Dakota sighing from in front of Tom.

“Yes, there is no need to stand shoulder to shoulder more than necessary,” the gilded huntress added with a slight shake of her head.

They made it to said library where there were once more a pair of guards posted outside the doors from Baron’s crew. ‘Deja vu,’ Tom sighed to himself, giving them a nod, which they returned before going back to eyeing Jacky.

“Yes, she is coming too. Show of good faith and all,” Paulin informed the guards before either of them could move to block Jacky from entering. Tom had looked down at Dakota’s hips while they were walking, spying her mothers blade hanging from her belt.

‘They are not fucking around today, are they?’ he thought to himself, trying to work out the rather sudden change in attitude. Dakota had been acting less and less friendly towards the inquisitor and Paulina as of late. At least when they weren’t present. But he didn’t think she had actually threatened them. Bringing a magic sword to a chit chat did rather strike him as such though.

Paulin had swung open the doors in her usual style, that is to say like she owned the place, before stepping inside. The three of them followed close behind, the two guards stepping well aside.

Inside Tom was greeted by the inquisitor sitting at the far wall next to the blackboard with Glazz at her side. Once he stepped into the room he noticed Nunuk sitting in her husband’s chair, Linkosta and Rachuck at her sides.

“Glad you could make it,” the old Lady greeted them, a hint of the pain she was likely still in slipping through into her words as she spoke.

“Mother?” Dakota broke out, seeming a touch surprised. “Would you not rather stay in bed for the moment?”

“No, I would not. Lin told me what you were up to this morning. Grab some chairs and let’s get on with it.”

Paulin kept walking towards the inquisitor as the rest of them found chairs and made themselves comfortable. Jacky stood next to Tom and glared at Glazz, who was returning the gesture in kind.

“I take it the privacy of what you wished to discuss was of lesser concern then?” Paulin asked Joelina as the investigator took her seat next to the inquisitor.

“It is not to protect my privacy,” Joelina retorted, her stare resting solidly on Tom.

‘Uh oh.’

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‘Well then, Tom’s up and running about again and he’s gone straight to the library with Joelina… Gods give him strength… and me too, just a little bit,’ Saph sighed as she stopped before the old metal braced door leading to the workshop. ‘Gonna be a long day. Might as well start off on the right foot.’

“Morning girls, sleep well?” she chirped slightly mischievously as she opened the door, stretching as she yawned just a little bit. “Or have you been up all night?”

“Hey, I take offense to that,” Tink responded with mock seriousness before going right back to fiddling with some fancy-looking clockwork screwdriver.

Edita didn’t even look up from the various drawings where she was clearly pondering something she didn’t understand until Junior gave her a slight poke to the side, causing her to look up, confused till she noticed Sapphire.

“Oh good morning, Saph. Sleep well?”

“Yes, yes I did,” Saph just smiled in return. She was lying, but she had at least slept.

“Oh perfect. Could you tell me Saph, you didn’t do this, right?” Edita then questioned, pointing back at the sheets of paper. “Because it wasn’t me.”

“No?... What’s wrong?” Saph questioned, giving a silent prayer it wasn’t the kids that had gotten into the technical documents again. They still had dumb-looking eyes and a crooked mouth on the shotgun receiver drawing and no culprit.

Edita turned the drawing around to show nothing much, at least to Sapphire’s eye. She did try rather hard to work out what was different, but she only succeeded in straining her eyes. “Uhm… is that new?” she eventually tried, pointing at a small doohikey where she was quite sure the water was supposed to be filled in for the water-cooling jacket.

“No, that’s the drain cock. Look at all that there. It’s a whole different mount, and it now has an inner lining.”

“Oh, I guess Tom’s been down here then,” Saph concluded. Not like there was anyone else at the keep, not in this room, who could have done it.

“Tom came and changed my design in the night?” Edita asked, looking up at Saph and seeming rather sceptical, like a kid being told stories of what happened if you didn’t eat your veggies.

‘Right, good or bad? Think Saph, think, would she think that’s good or bad?’

It would seem Saph’s thinking wasn’t quite fast enough as Edita looked back down at the drawing, running her fingers along the newly redrawn lines. “Oh, what a blessed day!”

“No, hang on a moment,” Saph tried in vain as Edita set aside the drawing like the royal crown rested upon it before going back to looking through her stack of papers.

“Another one, another edit. Saph, this must mean he now agrees the designs are worthy, right? They are good!”

“I mean maybe? You should probably ask him first. I know he’s up today. I’ll ask him later how about that.”

“Of course, whenever you think it would not disturb him. I cannot have him find me annoying already. Oh this is spectacular!” Edita carried on giddily before just stopping in her tracks and leaning back, closing her eyes, holding her arms at her sides, and taking a deep breath. “Now, now. Calm… Shaky hands cannot be allowed to risk the holy scriptures.”

“He just put down a scribble, hardly rare around here,” Tink interjected, clearly feeling a little left out. Something dropped out of the fancy screwdriver, sending Junior diving to the floor as Tink looked at the two women, oblivious to his blunder.

“No no, This is no mere scribble, this took time. Remember yesterday we didn’t know which idea he liked. I believed the answer would be none. But it was this one. He liked this one!” Edita replied, holding up the first drawing triumphantly. “Saph, are you sure we cannot begin at once?”

“Quite sure. Not to burst your bubble or anything, but Tom edits a lot of things. Including things we never end up making. But hey, he certainly likes it more now. And I promise I’ll ask if we can start later, okay?”

“Okay,” Edita replied reluctantly, ears droopping a little as she looked down at her drawing. “I guess I’ll just put this one over here for now.”

‘Oh, dammit,’ Saph cursed to herself at the rather sad sight, but come on it’s just a damn drawing.

“But hey, remember this too. If there is something Tom really likes, it’s overthinking stuff. Get him a bunch of different options and I guarantee he’ll find something he likes in all of them then make some…. super design in the end,” Saph tried, a big smile on her face and wide arm movements as she spun her yarn.

“What is a super design?” Edita asked, looking up at Sapphire like some doe-eyed kid.

‘Dammit Saph, you fucking phesant,’ Saph cursed as she kept up her smiling facade.

“It’s a… Aaaa”

“A combination of all the best ideas into one functional whole which may prove applicable in any conceivable situation. I have made a lot of those,” Tink added, seeming quite proud of himself. “Glira’s arm blades, for example. Excellent for sharpening palisade logs too.”

“Or chopping wood if you have like… a really big log or something,” Junior added a little shakily.

“A general purpose design… Like the little knife with all the tools built into it?”

“The what now?” Saph questioned, tilting her head and looking at Edita, who in turn snapped to look at Saph, swallowing once like she knew she should not have said that.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I don’t even know what it is,” Edita said, still looking guilty eyes darting around for a second. “I’m sorry, I looked in Tom’s toolbox. I know I’m not supposed to do that when the owner isn’t here.”

“I mean, you were going through his laptop. Pretty sure there is some much more private stuff hidden in that one than the toolbox.” Saph replied not really sure why that was such a big deal, she’d gone through those boxes many times before looking for whatever strange thing she needed.

“There is?” Edita questioned, turning to glance at where one of the magic plastic boxes lay on the table. “Oh dear… I thought of it more as a library.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there, just a private library. Like the one you might find in someone’s house, I guess,” Saph tried with a shrug. She was quite sure Tom wouldn’t mind in the slightest as long as they didn’t break anything. Hell, he knew they were using it and he hadn’t protested yet.

“Oh no… no no, I’m not allowed to look in private places. You never know if you’re allowed to see what you find.”

“You mean as in a drawing of his old sweetheart or something heretical?” Tink questioned plainly, tilting his head.

“I… I don’t quite understand the first one? Is sweetheart someone you love?” Edita replied, turning to Saph, her expression one of cautious curiosity.

“Yeah, something like that… I’m guessing you mean the other one though, right?” Saph tried, spying Tink looking a little crestfallen.

“You should mind your own work, yes. You might not understand what someone else is making. I always keep my orders in my tool box.”

“So I wasn’t allowed to look in there?” Tink questioned, receiving a slap to the back from Junior as Edita turned to look at the two of them. “No, of course not, I would never do that,” the old inventor chuckled falsely, rubbing the back of his head. “Aow,”

Edita just looked at him for a second or two then turned back to Saph, her expression unchanged. “Should I put them somewhere else?”

“Maybe in your room… You have gotten a room, right?”

“Oh yes, I found a nice place to sleep on top of one of the big crates in there. It is quite cozy.”

“No no, that’s a storage room. We didn’t clear a room for you?”

“Oh no, it is my room… I just brought a lot of things.”

“You mean more than ended up down here and in the smithy?” Sapphire questioned, looking around at the workshop where strange equipment and tools could now be found nearly wherever you looked.

“I mean… This isn’t a very big workshop”

“It’s even smaller than my old one,” Tink added with a chuckle. “And that one was a rental.”

‘Oh Tom, I need you please.’

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