maskormenacelogs | handiwork

Entry tags:

handiwork

WHO: Tadashi, Marty
WHERE: Endeavor Center
WHEN: Feb
WHAT: A new trade
WARNINGS: no warn, only soft

School is still in session, which makes it all the more surprising to discover anyone besides volunteer staff in the craft room. Martin hesitates at the door, at first worried he's trespassing on something, and then just as quickly wondering if maybe he just mistook the man for one of the regulars?

...No. He's not familiar.

A new regular? Volunteers come and go a lot.

"Um. Sorry?"

Rather than excuse me or hello, sorry works best for Martin. Still in his winter coat and hugging his bag, he gawks at the man and the appearance of...little doodads? He has no idea. It must be preparation for an after-school class of some sort.

"Is...am I not allowed in here today?"

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Tadashi thought he'd see one of the other centers in other cities. He hadn't been to the Endeavor Center and crafts seems like it could be a useful tool in his arsenal. He's use to words and some tech, but not much else; not everyone he gives counsel to will be into that.

So when he hears an apology and a question, Tadashi looks up quick. He'd been in his own head and--

"No, yeah you are! Sorry, I'm just. visiting and checking some things out. Hi," he smiles. Tries to be welcoming.

"H-hi," he echoes, still looking uncertain. His mouth opens and closes without a follow-up, because he instead has the thought to check the door for some kind of signage, some notice of whatever activity was meant to be had here.

He squints.

"En...engle? No, en-gin..." Engineering and robotics -- that's a bit of a mouthful for his reading level, and it shows.

Oh. He wants to give the kid the benefit and guess maybe the language isn't native to him. He smiles, completely nonjudgmental.

"Engineering. Building things! Sometimes things that move, depending."

Martin looked like he was coming in here for a class he usually takes here; he hopes he hasn't messed it up too badly.

"I'm Tadashi. I stopped by to run this workshop today."

Martin stares as a couple gears slowly click and turn in his head, with realization hitting and raising his eyebrows.

"Factories, you mean?" He heard about engineers all the time on his boring, late-night public access factory shows he loves so much. "Where the engineers work?" The men in thick glasses and hats and gloves who push buttons and pull levers and put things together...so hypnotic, so relaxing...~~so OSHA compliant~~

"You're from a factory?" He might actually need to discover what it's like to be star-struck.

"Factory?" he echoes back. Oh jeez, that's how it is then.

"No, uh. I work in a lab." Which is like a condensed, high end factory. "I brought some of the things I use here in case anyone wanted to practice and see what they could do with it."

The things he brought are spread out on the tables in neat little piles - basically a beginners K'nex set.

"Oh."

Well, so much for that. He was almost excited!

But he supposes this is fine. It's still...different. Maybe good-different? Carefully, Martin approaches one of the tables closest to him to peer at the stuff laid out.

"Practice what?"

Tadashi lets him go look; he doesn't want to crowd Martin or make him uncomfortable. But if he's asking questions, that means he's interested! Tadashi smiles.

"Building different things. Tinkering, being creative in a tangible way."

Hey, Martin, those K'nex are looking pretty inviting... colorful and welcoming.

They are inviting -- some of said connectors remind him of factory gears. He likes those. It's very hard to resist the pull of curiosity, and so, distracted as he is trying to parse what more Tadashi could mean by different things, he's already drawn up to one of the setups, leaning forward a little to peer at it.

He dares not touch it, though -- he has no idea what the rules are here, and he's not bold enough to risk breaking something.

"What things?" he wonders aloud. "Machine things? It looks like...small machine things."

"Yeah, like machine things! You can make a lot of different things out of those parts."

Tadashi doesn't want Martin to feel like he has to make whatever he names. You gotta check it out yourself, buddy! Instead, he'll move to sit across from Martin.

As far as things go, the making of many things is what fascinates Martin the most. Well...hypnotizes might be a better word for it for the most part, but fascination is part of it!

"Things like the factories do?" he wonders, his eyes still fixed downward, his hands opening and unclosing in small fists as they fight a newfound want to touch.

This kid is... really hung up on 'the factories'. He doesn't want to make any assumptions, but whatever they are it seems positive for him? He won't push it.

Instead, Tadashi reaches to take a couple pieces and start fitting them together while he talks.

"I think so. I'm not sure what the factories do where you're from, but there's any number of things you can build with these. You can try it, I don't mind."

The suggestion to try himself seems to be what can break the spell of fascination, as Martin hesitates before withdrawing his hands, bringing them to himself to pick at his jacket. He shakes his head.

"No, I...I wouldn't know what to do," he utters, his face reddening. "I'd rather watch. If that's...okay?"

Rarely does he try anything without first seeing someone smarter do it.

Hm. SO he's like that... That's all right. Tadashi smiles and keeps building a little something. Nothing complicated or anything, just a little mechanical pulley system. A little gear, a turn rod, and a little string along the main support rod. All about 7 inches big.

"I don't mind at all. Sometimes watching is a good way to learn too."

And for Martin, one of the only ways to learn.

With permission granted, Martin slumps into a seat, slouched to keep the contraption and Tadashi's hands at near eye-level, following the clicking and snapping of pieces into place. Following the next move after the next without really sitting back to view the whole piece, he echoes the way he often does work on his own -- eyes locked on the tree, missing the forest around it. Thinking in broader strokes isn't his strong suit...unless that particular brush happens to be the sort to hold himself to blame for anything and everything.

What this means is that Martin hasn't a clue what he's meaning to make -- only that it's being made at all. So when Tadashi's hands delay too long in connecting pieces, Martin assumes it's a sign of being done and sits up to stare at the whole of it.

"...What is it going to be for?" It's still small. What small things is it suppose to do?

"Well..."

Once he has the main bit finished, Tadashi takes the open end of the string and ties on a small magnet.

"I can use it here on the table to pick things up."

Like this little screw! He wheels it down, lets the magnet attach, and carefully reels it back up.

"It's not really for anything big or specific, but for the sake of making it. Exercising my brain."

"Training, then?"

That makes sense to Martin -- so much of his day-to-day (well, night-to-night) back in Olvoski had been training, exercising some skill or another. Why not something with matters of the brain? The same way he'd occasionally try to get better at reading...

...Except this is more interesting than reading, if he's honest.

That's exactly what it is, Martin! Exercising for your brain. When he gets the screw picked up, Tadashi slides the little pulley over to Martin and picks up some other tools to work with.

"That's a good way to look at it! You use your brain like this for a while and you get used to using it more."

With that confirmation, Martin is finally convinced enough to actually touch the thing, albeit gingerly, without real mind for making any additions or modifications. Rather, he's got interest in the connector joints and the little loops where the pulley string is laced through, more understanding of the setup with it in-hand and close up.

Hell, he even dares entertain the thought that it seems simple enough -- as if the whole point of the exercise was to show exactly that!

That said, there's little Martin says to that while considering the contraption, and the conversation is liable to die right there on the spot. However, eventually Martin does nod, looking up.

"I think that's good," he confirms.

Tadashi isn't that worried about the conversation dying. He's patient and used to going between animated back and forth conversation to quiet contemplation while he and a partner work.

He's flipping a couple other new pieces between his fingers when Martin speaks.

"Yeah? Glad you've given the approval then. Maybe if we work together we can get a whole crew built."

A crew for what? Who knows.

"Oh, ah..."

There he goes, starting to retreat into doubt the moment he's considered an element in this. As his face reddens, he pushes the piece back Tadashi's way.

"I...wouldn't know how. How to do it, I mean. Just...looking at something it'd...take a long time. Without, um." For a second the word escapes him. "Ins-structions. Like a book? With the pictures, I mean, not--" He exhales with a huff, feeling his ears burning.

Ooooh, he's like that. That isn't to say it's a problem. Tadashi smiles and leans his chair back a little, reaching for the desk behind him. When he comes back, he has a small, brightly colored pamphlet with larger print text scattered throughout.

"You're in luck!Because I happen to have just the thing here."

You think he'd bring all these without instructions? Psh.

Well, now. No more excuses or reasons to cower away here. Martin's mouth opens and closes without a word -- a habit picked up from Rex -- as he carefully takes the pamphlet and gives it a glance-over. Without making the effort to actually read the words, his attention goes instead to the pictures: They seem clear and concise enough upon first impression...

"...This will work," he admits meekly, peeking back up at Tadashi, still pink in the face. "Tha-thank you."

Tadashi only smiles, keeping his fingers busy so he doesn't spook this kid.

"You're welcome. Any time, all right?"

He looks down at what he's doing - a small wheeled bucket -- before looking over at instructions.

"You don't have to rush either. You can take your time."

That's a dangerous invitation: If given the liberty, Martin can get lost in a little project for hours; he has such a poor relationship with time management as it is! Thankfully, Tadashi's presence adds a layer of awareness Martin often lacks when wandering off into hours-long fiddling, so a click or scrape that doesn't sync up with what he himself is doing reminds him of where he is and what he's up to...and gives him a chance to ruminate on it.

This is the sort of thing people his age do, right? Tinker? Is this what they do in schools?

Speaking of schools: the time for the after-school kids to start stampeding into the center is upon them, and Martin startles a bit when he hears the squeal of rowdy kids far down the hall. He blinks owlishly, looking around and over his shoulder to the door, taking a moment to realize what's up...

"Oh." Right. The little kids are loose. Which means...

"Oh, I guess...I--" He looks back at Tadashi. "Sorry. I...have to go. Back home. Sorry."

"Hm?"

Tadashi hears the stampeding of other children coming toward them, then smiles at Martin. He must not like crowds either. That's fine.

"There's nothing to apologize for, you haven't done anything wrong. But you can come by any time, all right?"

And with that, he'll actually put a small kit of pieces and instructions in a box for him.

"You can work on these at home and show me next time you come."

Will he ever be used to his apologies being dismissed with kindness? Maybe, but not today. His ears burn a little with some embarrassment, but it's negligible.

The offering halts him mid-turn as he gawks at it, and then back up at Tadashi.

After a blink, he seems to reanimate.

"Oh, I...tha-thank you. Thank you! Very much, I...yes. I'll try. I, I come back a lot so--"

Oh no they're here. Martin flinches a little, hastily scooping up the goods and, with a small, encumbered wave, mutters a goodbye and weaves past some of the kiddies and out the door.

That man was nice...

And knows about factories, maybe? A little. The machines, maybe.

So that's extra nice.

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