Gears and Steam

Closer

Jules

The rest of the day went pretty much the same as the start. I barely got to do anything, and Edmund kept yelling at me. He definitely lived up to the descriptions that his teammates had given me: temperamental, cold, standoffish. It was not enjoyable to be around him. Still, I was determined to get on his good side.

By the end of the day, Edmund looked ready to drop. He had dark circles under his eyes that shone vividly against his pale skin. I should have let him sleep; he obviously hadn't gotten enough rest last night. Even with his fatigue, his work did not falter. He didn't stop working on his various contraptions and projects, not even when the sun sunk low enough that we had to turn on the lamps.

"Er, Edmund," I said slowly, not wanting to upset him after he had thrown a wrench at me. "Shouldn't we go to sleep soon?"

"You can," Edmund grumbled. "I'm not going to."

"With all due respect, you look about ready to drop." I was trying to be as polite as possible but it was rather hard when he was downright nasty to me.

"You-" he pointed his screwdriver threateningly at me. "-don't get to tell me what to do."

I put my hands up in surrender. "I know, I know, you just look tired."

"I'm fine," he snapped. "I didn't get much sleep last night, no thanks to you!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think you would want me to do anything without your permission, and it didn't look like that desk would be very comfortable..."

Edmund looked up from the wind-up toy he was working on to glare at me. I couldn't see his blue eyes very well behind his green tinted tinker's goggles, but I could tell that he was studying me carefully. Edmund looked at me like I confused him a bit sometimes, like he didn't quite know what to make of me. I was different, I supposed, from the others he had to deal with.

"You were worried about me being comfortable?" Edmund questioned after a few seconds.

I shrugged. "I mean, well, I wouldn't want to be left sleeping on a wooden desk with my face pressed against a screwdriver!"

"Thanks...I guess." Edmund shook his head and returned to working on his toy.

That had been the first time he thanked me all day. He liked ordering me around or telling me not to touch anything, but he never thanked me for what I did. To be fair, he probably wasn't very used to having people help him. He didn't like people at all, and he especially didn't like me.

Seeing that Edmund was in a better mood than he had been in all day, I took this as my chance to ask a few questions. "You designed the car right?"

Edmund looked up from his project again, his face twisting into a slightly smaller scowl than it had been before. "Yes, it's not my best design, but, to be fair, I was sixteen when I built it. We didn't have enough money to buy one to modify so..."

"I think the design is genius!" I exclaimed, leaning against his workbench. "The hidden tarp, the way the wheels extend to fit on the trolley tracks, all of it is just amazing." I flung my arms around to emphasize my point.

A look of shock crossed Edmund's face. "Really? You're the first one to say something like that."

"I don't believe that because your designs are amazing!" I laughed. "Everything you do here is pure genius!"

The look of shock on Edmund's face remained for a few more seconds before his mouth stretched into something that resembled a smile. "...Really? Most people count me out pretty fast because I'm at least two years younger than everyone else."