Cog heard her alarm go off right on schedule.
Following four other failed attempts, she finally figured out the right volume. She leaped out of bed to turn off the alarm, trying to be quick enough to keep Sail asleep. Her friend tossed in bed a little, but didn't seem to actually wake up. So far, so good.
She noiselessly made her way to the bathroom, brushing her hand on the wall along the way. It wouldn't take her long to get ready, but she wanted to get everything done prior to Sail waking up. When she finally did, Cog pulled out a pencil and paper and began drawing.
Other than the rough sketch she'd made while thinking about the Bahamas and the heart drawing a day or two ago, Cog hadn't drawn in a long while. It was one of her favorite hobbies, and yet she never gave herself time to do it. Spending time with Gogs and Sprocket had always taken precedence, even if it meant going nearly a year without it. Still, she remembered most of the concepts.
Her drawing started with two pretty-realistic hands holding each other, but she realized it was missing too much. Just drawing hands wasn't going to cut it. She continued by adding the arms attached to the hands, but ran out of space on the paper.
It wasn't enough. She took two other papers from her stack and continued her drawing, finishing the arms. Then, adding more papers, she filled in their bodies and branched out further. Another ten minutes later, and the papers—stitched together by tape—took the shape of two people with very basic faces holding hands.
Sail walked out of the bathroom as she was trying to size one of the eyes correctly, erratically erasing and redrawing the same shape over and over, becoming increasingly frustrated.
"Who are those two you're drawing?" she asked.
"Nobody in particular," Cog answered. "They're just two people holding hands. I used to draw all the time, but I got really bad at it."
"Liar!" Sail exclaimed. "It looks great! So much better than I could have done!"
"Thanks!"
She peered up at her clock, which showed that they were already ten minutes behind schedule. Even after finally fixing the alarm clock, they were going to be late. The boys weren't going to be happy.
"Well, I suppose we better get going," Sail said, grabbing both pairs of goggles and handing Cog hers.
"Where'd you get that badge?" Cog asked, staring at the German MKII badge Sail had claimed as a trophy. "I don't even recognize it."
"In socials class yesterday, I beat Lukas at pronouncing his own language," Sail answered, beaming. "He let me win, so I don't think it really counts, but I'm gonna claim my victories where I can."
"Nice," Cog simply replied. "I don't really understand why Sprocket has a problem with Lukas. He hasn't really done anything."
"Personally, I think he's a creep," Sail admitted. "It's like he's always hovering somewhere nearby."
"Well, to be fair, there aren't a lot of places to be at on board, even though it's a pretty big airship."
"I guess..." The conversation ended as they both peered out one of the small circular windows that lined the outside of the ship. Snowflakes were speeding by, creating a white fog that hovered over the ocean below them. Cog guessed they were no longer very close to the Bahamas.
"Oh! That gives me an idea!" Sail turned and ran back to their room, returning a minute later with a red and white bow wrapped just above the rim of her hat. "Just because we don't really see the seasons on board an airship doesn't mean we shouldn't dress for the occasion."
YOU ARE READING
The Steam War (The Steam War #1)
Ciencia Ficción"Secrets don't keep once they're airborne." On board the Globetrotter, a steampunk flight school for aspiring airship crews, Cog and her closest friends gear up for their third year of classes. But when a mysterious transfer student threatens to roc...
