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BAIRNELL WAREHOUSES - AFTERNOON
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Robin leads the way, only just by a little bit, as a cool wind drifts in off Bairnell's bay. The dockyard and warehouses aren't much quieter than the marketplace was, though the general chatter noise has been replaced by hammering, ships creaking, and the conversation of seabirds. "The guy said there were some defunct hulls or whatever down here, yeah. I mean, it's creepy as hell this way... And still reeks of fish, but maybe I was a bit dumb for thinking we'd find half a ship in the market."
Shirley browses with interest as she walks with Robin through the drydocks, her eyes roving over the various hulks of ships either unfinished or abandoned. "At the very least, we get something for a good price, and we have the space to work already. It'll really just be like the same as we did last time, I think. We've all the materials, know how to rig the ship up and similar. It'll just be a matter of ensuring no freak weather accidents."
Robin chuckles, looking up at Shirley. "I know, hopefully there aren't many blizzards out this way. That half a hull that old man gave up is a bit rotted, but at least we don't need to buy a whole ship." He looks about, humming and hawing. "And one more sail, you say?"
Shirley nods as she smiles at Robin, then continues her visual exploration of the ships around them. "Half a hull, but it's a start, and that saves us a lot of time going forward, since the propulsion system is the part that needs the most customization from a normal ship." She hums quietly, "And yeah, one more sail would do, I think."
Robin sighs. "Sorry it's takin' us so long to get this done. I shoulda brought some of the bigger tools across somehow..."
Shirley shakes her head. "You already did more than I could have expected of you with what you did bring along. I was honestly thinking I would have had to start from the beginning back in Vamas after you sent fare for the trip back home. Of course, if we didn't stay here, we wouldn't have known about that other airship at all, so we might have lost out on that without even knowing about it."
Robin scoffs, shaking his head. "Like I'd just send coins across the ocean without an escort. They'd never make it here!" He side-eyes her. "'Course you putting holes in our rented spaces doesn't help the coffer."
Shirley sighs. "I already told you that wasn't my fault. It was this blasted camel lady doing construction work for the person we'd rented the barn from. She tripped on a root and shoved a giant beam right through the wall while falling over."
Robin nods, pursing his lips. "Uhhuh, I know. The big camel lady. Back in Vamas it was a drunk bull what knocked over the painted rudders, too, right?" He giggles, shaking his head and gesturing toward an open warehouse with a partially tarped over hull, though he reels the gesture back on seeing how grumpy the apparent owner looks.
Shirley gives Robin a look. "Yes, yes, I know what you're getting at, Robin. This time I'm being serious. The barn's owner still decided to keep the deposit anyway to cover costs."
Robin sighs. "That's because you didn't give me a chance to deal with him. I'd-a laid into that schmuck so good he'd be paying us for the insult!" Robin shivers a bit at the grumpy goat's look shifting slightly as they pass, shifting his pace to put Shirley between him and the creepy gaze.
Shirley hums as she glances over at the goat, then steps a bit more firmly between the goat and Robin. "That would be wonderful, huh? Our last impression of the town being the beating of a barn owner over a rental deposit."
Robin nods at Shirley in thanks, looking ahead. "Well no. Maybe. I dunno, probably not but a possibility. I should at least argue at him til he's annoyed enough to give half the deposit back."
Shirley lightly prods at Robin's head a bit with a talon. "If you want to head back to Respite to argue, you're welcome to, you know. But then, who would get on my case if I do something stupid, hm?" She smirks, "I know as well as you which you'd prefer."
Robin harumphs, crossing his arms. "We can go back when the wind blows us back that way. We can crash on his stupid barn, then." He perks up immediately, looking between two warehouses. "Twenty feet! It'd nest the other one, I bet!"
Shirley laughs a bit. "Maybe less crashing and more carefully setting down on his field." She pauses when she sees Robin perking up, then moves to check what he sees, "Twenty feet?"
Robin jogs past her, putting his hand on the rib of the tilted, unfinished hull, it being set aside in an otherwise fairly used warehouse. The chipmunk draws more looks, though the younger and busier folks in this building only give him and Shirley a short amount of time before returning to what they were doing. Robin meanwhile quickly glances over the hull, noting a bit of damage where it had hit the stone floor during construction. "Looks like the supports collapsed while they were buildin' it." He reaches the edge, glancing at the corner before quickly taking twenty quick, even steps to the other side. "Just over, twenty-one feet wide. Bad guess. Will it work?"
Shirley joins up with Robin in the warehouse to look at the vessel, though she spends more time examining the exterior hull as she traces a hand along the weathered wood. "A little bit of damage that we can repair, really. That isn't too big an issue. Still, under construction and stopped is still easier to work with than finished and needing fixing or redoing. I could work with this, yes. How well do you think it'll do for our purposes, Robin?"
Robin hums, walking back to Shirley and hopping up inside the somewhat unstable setup, taking careful steps inside the hull. "I... Think the turbine'll fit over here just fine, but we'll have to take this support and do that Y thing like the first prototype. Unless you think you got that two prop gearing worked out? And like..." He looks at her. "Buildable out here."
Shirley paces around the entirety of the ship, then looks at Robin as she rounds the other side of the unfinished portion of the ship. "The two-prop system still needs a bit of refinement, I think. I'm almost there, but until I can figure out where we left off on that, I'd rather stick to what I know works, first. We can always tear down and rebuild later once we've a better grasp on it."
Robin nods, hopping out the the partial ship and turning to look up at it. "When you're right, you're right. I wonder how much they want for it? The inside looks good, except a rib is split where it fell. I mean, we don't need it to to be watertight... But it's a nice bonus."
Shirley shrugs a little at Robin's assessment. "We could probably argue the cost down a fair bit since it's only partially complete, damaged from a fall, and in slightly bad shape." She lightly nudges Robin with a grin, "If you want to handle the haggling, I could let you do that if you think you can get us a good price."
Robin chuckles, glancing around the warehouse. "If the owner's even here, sure. Not like we have a lot of other choices though, considerin' you wanna beat those other guys. Just don't let the guy know that."
Shirley hums. "Mmh, merchants are always willing to kick prices up a bit when there's a demand. The less we sound like we need it, the more likely we can get a better deal. Besides, we won't have to pay for labor, since we'll be doing all the work ourselves."
Robin nods, gesturing for Shirley to follow him back outside for a minute. "Take half your coins out of the pouch and put 'em in your pockets, but like spread 'em out in all your pockets so they don't jingle. Worst comes to worst, we offer 'all we have' in the pouch."
Shirley grins and nods as she follows Robin and starts to do as suggested. "Ah, I see. Play up a little drama and such, right?"
Robin winks at her. "Just a bit. Don't let them see, yeah. I'll go find out who owns that sloppy sloop while ya do that, meet me back at the boat when you're ready."
Shirley chuckles and goes about sneakily stashing some of her money outside of her coin pouch. "Will do, Robin. I'll be there shortly."
Robin heads inside, managing to track down the boat's owner after a few minutes. It takes a bit to even convince her to come listen to their pitch, but once they finally convinced her that her old rig would fly and she'd get to see it, the two manage the purchase... For the entire modified pouch of coins, of course.