Vacationing

[sentryslinger]

[Continuing this thread, in which Spy has convinced Engineer to spend a vacation with him. Fishing, fine dining, and some enemy bonding ensue.


Engineer steps into the elevator, hitting the button for their floor, pulling at his collar to loosen that next button.]

Hey, thanks again for the dinner and the suit. I'll have to put it to use some other time to justify your spendin' money on all this.

Comments

[sentryslinger]

[Engineer slides out from under the machine, somehow already dirty even though he's only been under there for about twenty seconds.]

You okay, partner?

[not_onyourside]

Fine. Just fine.

[He retrieves the flashlight, shining it on his bruised knuckles. Of course the one time in decades he isn't wearing gloves.]

I zhink zhe machines do not like me.

[sentryslinger]

[He smiles, sliding all the way out and closing up the panel, heading over to the side to check something else- who knows what by now, since his mind is going a mile a minute.]

Maybe you just oughtta get to know 'em a little better.

[not_onyourside]

Am I making a poor first impression on zhem?

[He rubs his fingers again, grabbing the wrench and twisting the bolt all the way off.]

[sentryslinger]

With delicate hands like you've got, I don't expect you're making much of an impression at all.

[Yes, that'd be him chuckling at his own joke.]

[not_onyourside]

Hmf.

[He and his delicate hands are not amused, but at least he's gotten one of the bolts off. He diligently starts on the next one, if only to prove Engineer wrong.]

[sentryslinger]

[Meanwhile, he's gone through about five different panels and switches, tweaking and fixing things the maintenance people probably weren't even aware needed fixing.

It's several minutes later when he finally makes it back to where Spy is, wiping some of the dust off his hands onto his shirt.]

You finished there, partner?

[not_onyourside]

Not quite.

[He's gotten three of them off though, which is pretty good considering he's used a wrench possibly five times in his entire life. And four of those times involved him using it to break windows.]

I am not as accustomed to zhis as you are.

[sentryslinger]

Well, for one, you oughtta hold it higher up.

[He takes his Gunslinger and gets the last bolt between his fingers- the robotic appendage spins, loosening it with no problem at all. He pries off the front, exposing a mess of wires.]

Hm... nothin' too out of place in here.

[not_onyourside]

How can you even tell?

[All he sees are about 800 different coloured wires.]

Does zhat mean zhe lights are broken?

[sentryslinger]

[He moves a few wires around, looking carefully at them before closing the panel and putting the bolts back in place with the same ease he had removing that last one. It gives him another couple of minutes to think of the easy solution.]

Go around the side of it on the far wall and see if the transfer plugs are plugged in.

[not_onyourside]

[Well that sounds easy enough. He gets behind the machine, but there's nothing so easy as a cord that just fell out of the wall. At least he's skinny so he fits between it and the wall.]

What do zhey look like?

[sentryslinger]

It'll be a box with a plug that's attached to the wall. Is the cord from the generator plugged into it? Like you'd plug in a lamp?

[not_onyourside]

Box wez a cord...

[He maneuvers the flashlight around for a better look. Everything is strange and foreign and he has no idea what any of these machines do. There is a box on the wall with some cords coming out of it. He wiggles them around but they all seem to be plugged in firmly.]

I do not see any ozzer cords.

[sentryslinger]

Let me see what's on this side...

[He wriggles around the other side of the machine, checking the wires over there— and there's the problem. He gets on his knee, using his Gunslinger to strip a wire- one that has some signs of being chewed- so he can reconnect it. A little bit of tape, and he's back on his feet to start the generator.

And it does. And the lights come on.]

Woowee! Told you that wouldn't take too long for us to fix!

[He claps Spy on the back proudly.]

[not_onyourside]

[Spy winces in the sudden light, then staggers from the clap on the back.]

You are a hero.

Can we go back to bed now?

[Before someone sees him holding a wrench.]

[sentryslinger]

Sure can, partner.

[He takes that wrench from Spy, tucking it into his toolbelt and heading back upstairs. The clerk is happy to see him and happier to see that the generator is working, and thanks them profusely. He asks if there's anything they can do to better accommodate them.

Engie looks over his shoulder to Spy.]

What do you think? Seein' how you're the one whose sleep got interrupted by all this.

[not_onyourside]

[Spy perks up. He wants to get back into bed, hopefully with Engineer pressed against him, but he also spends most of his time thinking with his stomach.]

Ees zhere desert een zhe kitchen?

[sentryslinger]

[The clerk nods, and after Engineer sends in his own request for a hot breakfast in the morning, he sends someone to the kitchen to fetch their order. Engie gives his companion an approving nod and leads him toward the elevators.]

That wasn't so bad, was it?

[not_onyourside]

I suppose. But zhere are zhings better zhan zhis.

Like sleeping.

[Next to someone soft and squishy. He reaches out and rubs his thumb against Engineer's cheek.]

How did you get so dirty? We were een zhat room for maybe five minutes.

[sentryslinger]

[He runs his hand across his own face, finding it covered in dust and dirt and who knows what else.]

Guess I'll be needin' another shower. That'll give those boys time to bring our dessert up.

[not_onyourside]

Eets like grease ees attracted to you.

[Back in their room Spy practically dives into his pajamas.]

You must be a mess after a day of battle.

[sentryslinger]

It's worse in places like the Badlands. You get covered in sweat, dirt, grease, blood, and whatever else is blowin' around out there.

[He drops off his toolbelt and starts stripping off that shirt again, heading for the shower.]

[not_onyourside]

[Spy will just appreciate the view, dirty as it may be.]

Badwater was like zhat. I could never get my shoes to stay polished.

[sentryslinger]

Not that the cold places are much better. I'll take that over the rain, though.

[He steps into the bathroom and closes the door, turning on the shower. Time to get clean again.]