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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EARLY EVENING
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Scilla drags herself inside. The weather is clear, yet the small genet seems to have just about drowned in mud, mostly caked and dried on her at this. She wears a scowl that matches her muddy outlook, although there's no energy of actually being all that angry. "Some day." She sighs and orders a bit of food to nibble at, earning a frown from the Barkeep which she, uh, happily returns.
Shirley sits at the counter, her left arm still bound by a cast as it continues to slowly mend. She's been relatively successful at finding a bit of work helping the construction workers with the various house blueprints, reading and guiding as best as she can while letting the actual foremen handle the finer details. She's still living with the family that's been housing her, but she's at least earned enough to treat herself here and there while paying for her lodgings, as much as the family says there's no need. At the moment, she's just nursing a drink, and she looks to the side when Scilla occupies a seat nearby. Seeing the genet's state, she raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Did it rain that hard this evening?"
Scilla blinks and looks up at the bigger bird next to her: "Oh? No, the weather's fine. Why do you ask?"
Shirley shakes her head a bit and gestures at Scilla. "Uh... well, all that mud. It must've been a pretty large puddle."
Scilla tilts her head: "Oh, yeah. Well, you know it goes. You start fixing an overheating component of a generator, and then it won't fit, and then hammering it only makes things worse."
Shirley gets a bit of a confused look on her face. "Um... yeah, I'm... pretty aware of how those sorts of things go. I'm afraid I'm not seeing where the mud comes into play, though, unless you were trying to cool the component with it?"
Scilla shakes her head: "Oh, no, couldn't do that. It would make a mess. Actually the generator was just fine after I gave it a cleanup on the other end." She blinks, pausing: "...the mud, though, I was just sort of frustrated and in my thoughts after it? Wasn't looking where I was going."
Shirley hums and nods. "Mmh... okay, so you did trip into a puddle... What kind of machine were you working on, if you don't mind me asking?"
Scilla hums as she thinks back: "One of those multi-tasker thingies? Can be a heater if need be, generator for simple stuff otherwise. Seemingly powered by cursing at them, you know the ones."
Shirley smiles, laughing a bit at the description. "Oh, you can bet I do, miss. The sort of tech that needs a right proper touch to run well, with none of that magic silliness folks are so invested in nowadays."
Scilla lifts a hammer from her belt with a grin: "I know my way around a proper touch. Nothin' the right hammer can't solve, except perhaps when you need to make the hammer first."
Shirley grins in turn. "I prefer a wrench myself, but a good hammer can definitely do a lot on its own. It's just a shame I don't have my equipment with me, though, or else I'd be out there helping those fine folks build those houses out the west gate."
Scilla shrugs: "Been doin' just about that when it comes to installin' or fixing stuff that runs on more than just muscle." She blinks: "Or I suppose a plain ol' shovel here and there. Dunno what those saurs keep doing with them, but they're always bent to hell and back."
Shirley tilts her head. "Shovels? Maybe they're just doing a lot of labor work? What'd they say about the damage, since that sort of thing isn't exactly easy to repair?"
Scilla shrugs again: "Didn't really wanna ask. Heard a lot stories but no coherent reason, like?"
Shirley hums curiously. "Stories, hm? What kind of stories?"
Scilla giggles: "Well, one of them started a big tale about being in a bit of feud and really tried to not mention how much he used the shovel for not-intended-purpose but I sorta saw through it... they like their big tales, that lot."
Shirley chuckles. "Do they, really? I should go and talk to some of them when I get a chance. Been a bit busy with helping around the blueprint tables and such, though I've seen some of them wandering around town."
Scilla takes a sip of her drink, smiling: "Ah, dunno really. I've been trying to make a home for myself here, gatherin' money with odd jobs, makin' myself known. Gotta have some supplies before I can head out for some diggin'!"
Shirley looks over at her own drink, then asks the bartender for a refill before looking back at Scilla. "Digging? Thinking about going into prospecting or something, then?"
Scilla nodnods: "Yup! Excited to find out what this land offers under all the green I don't get, if you will. There's gotta be something hidden just out of sight that'll make for great tech!"
Shirley takes a few moments to consider that idea, then nods in agreement. "True, I don't remember hearing a lot about this place before I arrived, so it's still pretty well unexplored, right?" She grins a bit, "If you find anything that works nicely for tech, let me know and I can help figure out what to do with it all!"
Scilla smiles: "Will do!" She blinks, waving her hammer: "Wait, so you sound pretty savvy with this stuff too. What's your goal-thing?"
Shirley smiles proudly as she taps her chest with her thumb. "I'm an inventor! I specialize in non-magitech inventions that use steam power to function."
Scilla blinks, then gets a curious glint in her eyes and leans forward: "Ooo. That sounds way right up my alley... do tell more."