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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - AFTERNOON
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Pinna is set up in the corner of the bar, seemingly tinkering with the components of her mechanical exoskeleton. The blinking lights scattered around her at least provide a little festive atmosphere.
Brunilda wanders into the bar after what feels like forever. The elephant has been quite busy elsewhere lately, but eventually even studious types have to take a break from learning magitech. She's in her usual light shirt and shorts, not ever having felt like needing more. She's also grown her bright red hair down to her shoulders, not really needing to keep an army cut anymore since she's only doing paperwork at the barracks.
Pinna waves at the elephant as she walks in. "Heya!"
Brunilda gets her pachyderm-proportioned-pint, then turns to Pinna with a smile: "Hey there." She considers the pile of components: "Crafting something?"
Pinna taps a capacitor with a wrench,, then squeaks as it sparks in protest. "Er, trying to. Need to put this thing in winter mode, cuz the seat's been freezin my ass this week."
Brunilda tilts her head, curiosity piqued. She steps closer: "I suppose the relative night colds can be a problem..."
Pinna nods. "Finally got a break from work for the holiday, but no time to book a mechanic." She eyes the elephant again. "Wait a sec..."
Brunilda smiles: "Mind if I join you? I might be able to offer insight, I sort of dabble into this stuff."
Pinna scoots over a bit to make some space. "Oh! Of course! I'm Pinna, by the way. I work construction here with this thingy."
Brunilda nods, reaching over to get a much bigger chair from a nearby table: "Brunilda. Officially I work with the Guard, but been interested in tech all my life." She sets her pint down and admires the assortment of tech: "And I suppose I can see that... needing a bit of help for someone, er, your size?"
Pinna smirks. "Kinda. I do happen to be the most talented constructor operator in the region, so I get to field test this state-of-the-art custom exoskeleton!"
Brunilda looks over the assorted tech: "State-of-the-art, minus the parts that aren't, I guess. Sounds about right."
Pinna blushes, "Yeah, there's still some issues to work out." She picks up a miscellaneous part. "For example, I'm finding it real hard to turn off the dang summer fans."
Brunilda smiles, then starts looking over the bits on the table: "Hmm. They just don't turn off, or don't stay turned off?"
Pinna shivers a bit. "I wanna make em blow warm air instead. "
Brunilda nods, wheels turning in her head. "Mind if I have a look?"
Pinna nods and briefly begins to explain the components. "Sure. Let's see, we have...the air units themselves, the cooling coils, some airflow pipes...there's the power source over there, gotta take that out before tinkering..."
Brunilda hums at the explanation, then lifts the headpiece with her trunk, looking it over: "There has to be some kind of switch we can either work... or create." She looks over the various parts for a moment or three in quiet, only humming occasionally.
Pinna looks on curiously.
Brunilda puts the headpiece back on the table, then turns her attention to the air units. She carefully separates the power source, then switches couple of pieces' locations, first in the air units, then inside the head itself. "...that should work. Change how the whole thing gets power and it should be more acceptable to creating a switch here-" she points to a particular spot: "-that then allows to change from cool to warm."
Pinna blinks, then tries out the switch. "Whoaaa..." She looks at Brunilda. "How much do I owe ya?"
Brunilda shrugs, letting go of the tech and leans back: "Eh, nothing. Your... tech, it's interesting, to poke at. Payment enough."
Pinna hugs Brun's arm. "Thanks a lot! Let me know if you need a little heavy lifting done or anything..."
Brunilda blinks at the hug, laughing: "Heh. No worries, probably. Though I would like to see your... err, whatever that exactly is, in action. When it's back together, obviously."
Pinna basks in the warm air from the improved fans. "Mmm...just gotta put everything back in in reverse order..."
Brunilda takes a sip of her beer: "Sounds relatively simple enough, if you have the time. I guess you're not in a hurry since you're here poking at this?"
Pinna sits back and sips her beer. A curious sight, since she's small enough to look like a child handling the large pint glass. "Yep, I've got the week off! The job was supposed to end before autumn, but shipment delays and all that."
Brunilda chuckles: "Fair enough. I'm just taking a break from studying..." She shrugs, then points at the assorted tech: "Well, more or less this."
Pinna: Hehe...I only know the basics, myself. Enough to do a little field maintenance and not blow myself up."
Brunilda: It's a fascinating topic, but I suppose not for everyone. My girlfriend says it's all incomprehensible to her.
Pinna waves a hand. "Eh, I just do it for work. I am gettin pretty attached to the big guy, though. Maybe this'll be my gift for him, yeah?"
Brunilda shrugs: "Fair enough. I hope one day my work... kind of IS this, you know?"
Pinna: Oh, you're a natural. Maybe I can put in a good word for you with my company~
Brunilda smiles: "I certainly won't mind that."
Pinna grins. "I still gotta thank you properly. How about I buy you a drink?"
Brunilda lifts her half-drunk pint: "If you insist, though you don't need to. Just another of the same."
Pinna nods. "Of course, of course. I can really only handle one, heh."
Brunilda chuckles: "Fair enough. I might have a bit of an advantage there."
Narrator: The mouse and elephant continue to chat over a few drinks as the afternoon goes on.