The Troll 'skin' is laid out on the worktable, waiting for whatever alterations Zahnrad may wish for it - which will probably include cleaning up the pie stains and other spots that have appeared on it due to the activities of the previous night. It likely needs patching in places, given the age of the materials.
"Lovely. People are soooo messy," Zahnrad mock-complains as he wanders over to his 'work towel' barrel. After a minute of curious digging in said barrel he actually finds a rag that isn't speared with grease. "Victory is mine, a clean towel!" the kadie declares ... and immediately goes back to the troll costume to work on cleaning off the pie spots!
The cleaning is interrupted by someone banging on the main gear-door. "Oi!" barks a familiar ottery voice. "Open up Zahn, in the name of the law!" Emmett yells.
"Since when are you the law? You folks keep stealing my stuff," Zahnrad shouts back mid-cleaning. He makes no move to open the door.
"Well, the Mayor sent me!" Emmett claims. "On account of the Thing. Did you launch something at the town?"
"No? I was with Amelia, Olivia, and Parsley for the entire time I was away from my workshop and I got back about ten minutes ago," Zahn says. He sighs and tosses the towel over the costume, then heads to the door and opens it.
Emmett is wearing an 'official hat', in that it's a hat that has 'Ofishul Hat' drawn on the brim in chalk. "Well, you must have something to do with it," the otter claims. "It's got yer name on it!"
"Or someone is trying to get me in trouble. How exactly does it have my name on it?" Zahnrad asks as he walks out the door, then closes it behind himself and locks it. "Also, you misspelled 'official' on your hat."
"So you admit I'm here on official business then, good!" Emmett says with a whiskery grin. "And you'll come along with me to town?"
"I admit nothing," Zahnrad remarks rather dryly. "But I will come along to town because I don't like people trying to get me in trouble. I have witnesses that can prove it wasn't me, so now I'm left with figuring out just what this is."
Emmett doesn't do much about explaining things along the way, besides commenting on how cool it was. "It whistled! And then it went 'SPANG!' and sort of farted.."
"It farted? Sounds like something the otters would build," Zahnrad points out helpfully. "Did it hit anything?
"
"It hit the ground, right in front of the Frog & Peach," Emmett notes, making a fist-slamming-down-into-a-palm motion. "SMACKO! Caused Appela's quiche to collapse, and gave her a right start!"
"That really sounds like somehting thw otters would build," Zahn claims again. "Are you sure it wasn't one of your cousins? Or that visiting otter ... Jack washisname?"
"It was all shiny and tooooobie," Emmett says, trying to be descriptive. "Like if leeches were attached to yer.. eh, maybe not. And it was metal!"
"Do I look like I have lots of metal? I mainly work in ceramics," Zahnrad points out. Still, his interest is perked a bit more now. "Now what's this about my name being on it?"
"Well, it was more a picture-like, but it was certainly you," the otter claims. "You'll see!"
Zahn gives Emmet the look, The kind that screams 'You're a Looney'. At least he doesn't say it. Instead he says, "We'll see."
By the time they get to the edge of town, there's a sizeable crowd surrounding whatever-it-is. The point of a witch's hat floats above their heads, closer to the center.
"Make way, make way!" Emmett yells, but still manages to brush up against all the girls even if they do step aside. "Official business! Respect the hat!"
"I see the town is still practicing lynch mobs," Zahnrad mutters as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I'm telling you I have nothing to do with this."
At the center of the crowd is a small crater, with a long brass tube sticking up out of it. It's got a bell nozzle at the end, and lots of pipes and valves crowding the rear end of the things, along with feathers, bones and an odd number of articulating wing structures. The head of the thing looks like that of a bird of prey, with the big buried in the ground. Lines trailing behind indicate a parachute as well, but that has 'mysteriously vanished' already. On the side of the casing a figure is engraved: a stick-figure Kadie with a gear for a body, a wrench in one hand and a measuring compass in the other. It looks like it might actually be a hatch or panel that it's on.
Next to the device, which is still giving off a bit of steam and the occasional hiss of cooling metal, is Isolde Nightshade. She's got her broom, and is waving it around the missile. "Okay, it's safe," she declares. "No gremlins," she adds, looking right at Zahnrad.
"'The heck is this?" Zahnrad asks as he marches right up to it. "Someone's idea of a bad joke? The pictogram is surely trying to implicate my family, but we had nothing to do with it." He sighs and runs his hands though his unruly head-hair and pulls off the 'bandana' that was keeping his hair in check for the most part. The bandana gets wrapped around his right hand so he can try to open what might be a hatch without getting burned.
The metal doesn't seem to be hot where the panel is. There's a wingnut - appropriately - holding it closed. "What is it, Zany?" someone from the crowed calls. "Did you offend a god?" another suggests.
"We don't mess with gods," Zahnrad remarks as he undoes the wingnut holding the hatch closed, then tries to open it. For some reason he actually expects to find a corpse inside.
The lid pops open on a spring, and scissor-arm extends out, holding a scroll case at the end. A little bell chimes as well.
"Not what I expected to happen," Zahnrad admits. He taps the case to test if it's hot and if it isn't ... well, he'll grab it and open it!
The case is cool, and the cap screws right off. The crowd.. crowds in closer when the scroll case turns out to hold.. a scroll!
"Please tell me this isn't ... I think I might know where this is from now. Great," Zahnrad complains as he pulls out the scroll. "I think someone is trying to send my family mail. Specifically, I think it was a Titanian."
"Dear Zahnrad," the message reads. "I hope you are doing well. Have things been going well for you? We are hopeful that you have made good use of the information we loaned to you. If you would like to visit us, we are told that Rephidim will be over Sylvania within a ten-day. If you did not get this message, send up a flare and we will try to adjust our targeting. Your friend, Orfull Wrot."
"Is it a declaration of war?" Mayor Streusel asks, quieter than usual for the Skeek.
Zahnrad rubs his forehead. "It's from the Wrot Brothers," Zahnrad tells the crowd. "The ones that were here demonstrating their farming thing? It's their idea of sending mail." He rolls up the scroll and sticks it in a pocket. "Rephidim will be overhead in ten days and I'm invited to visit them. We had a partnership on some design work and I should either send them, or visit them, to fulfill my end."
"So.. you'll haul this thing off and fill in the hole?" the Mayor asks, a bit more leadingly.
"You don't want it for new statuary?" Zahnrad asks with a straight face.
This causes some discussion among the crowd. Emmett breaks it off by noting, "It's got no curves. Statues need curves, like Yewberry!" There's a muttered consensus about this, although some of the women suggest that if the thing turned the other way around it might be very masculine.
"Take it away," Isolde tells Zahnrad. "Before it attracts more of its kind."
"I'll just go get a wheelbarrow and move it, then fill in the hole," Zahnrad declares after his joke seemed to actually get actual discussion. "It's just a thing, it doesn't attract ... " he starts to explain to Isolde, then gives up and just nods.
"I'll help!" Emmett volunteers with a grin. "Can you make that bell go off again? Girls like bells, you know!"
"Eeeeh, maybe later," Zahnrad claims as he goes in search of a wheelbarrow and shovel!
Once the notion of 'work' and 'volunteer' are out there, the crowd quickly disperses as people remember they have things to do.
"So, did it get dropped by an airship, you think?" Emmett asks, as he tries pulling on the butt-end of the missile to see if it'll pop out of the ground.
"Probably did," Zahnrad agrees once he returns with a wheelbarrow from one of the nearby shops, complete with shovel. "Or a catapult from a sky island," he adds as he grabs the shovel and tries to use it to lever out the 'mail bomb' while Emmett pulls.
The otter grabs a valve, and a burp of steam erupts from the bell nozzle. "That wasn't me!" Emmett claims. With the digging, the 'beak' of the device pops free and seven-foot long tube falls on the otter. "It's not.. heavy.. no.." he grunts.
"You should be used to handelling large tubes, what with everything you claim about yourself to the ladies," Zahnrad quips and grins. He has mercy on the otter and helps lift it off so they can balance it in the wheelbarrow to wheel it off.
"I don't jump offa roofs and try to land on it though," Emmett notes with a laugh, and helps get the barrow rolling. "Taking it back to the dam, yeah? What're you gonna do with it?"
"Dismantle it for spare parts of course," Zahnrad notes. "This much metal will be useful!"
"So, you can't like.. refuel it and start a mail business?" the otter asks. "Or rig a saddle to it! A saddle.. yeah.." he mutters, looking dreamy-eyed.
Even if he could ... and might just try that, Zahn tells Emmett, "No. It's probably too damaged. And I'll put it someplace safe too. So don't get any ideas!"
"You used to be more fun," the otter complains. "Amelia has gotten to you, I bet! You're all dumbestificated now," he teases.
"Yes, but it has its benefits," Zahnrad claims, but doesn't elaborate on what those might be. "Plus I probably should wait to see if the Wrots want this back before I really do much to it."
"They should have tied a long rope to it then," the otter claims. "Does this mean you're going to the sky island?"
"If I can manage it, sure. It'll give me a chance to discuss stuff with educated people," Zahnrad claims. "Maybe I could move there..."
"I hear it's a nasty place, where you can't trust nobody and they'll steal your tail if you don't keep your hands on your butt all the time," Emmett claims, trying to sound worldly. "Besides, you'd have to go to Just-in-time-opal, the capitol, to get a balloon-taxi I reckon. That's what Her Weirdness in the castle says you gotta do.."
"I'm sure that's all just silly rumors," Zahnrad says and waves his hands, "They couldn't possibly steal tails without the patented Kettenrad tail-stealer." It's a good thing pushing a heavy wheelbarrow is work, it helps keep a straight face.
"You've got one?" Emmett asks, surprised. He also gets an evil grin. "Can I borry it? Just for a day! If that Jack ain't a proper Akwavi anyways, he don't need a tail."
"No, you can't. And you really ought to be nicer to your relative," Zahnrad points out and waggles a finger.
"Oi, by Kadie standards I am a saint regarding that cad," Emmett claims, then notes, "But he macked on my sister, he did, and now he's sniffing after Midge! We gotta protect our town treasures, you know."
"I heard he did more than ... "Zahnrad starts to say, then just goes quiet. "Maybe he'll bring in some new blood. You never know! Come on, lets get this back. I still have that hole to fill and I have work to do today."
Emmett still seems grumbly, especially when he suggests Jack will try to lure the women away to go see Rephidim or something. But they do get the mail-rocket back to the dam.
"And just think if the girls all come back with new dresses and jewelry and stuff," Zahnrad points out and he enters the lock combination to his workshop without letting Emmett see.
"They'll get all.. all... spoilt!" the otter laments. "What if they have interesting fish up there? You go up, you gotta kill all the fish, okay?"
"Why don't you just come with us and have fun with some new girls?" Zahnrad asks as he rolls the huge gear-door out of the way. In goes the mail-bomb!
"But then I'd be leaving them undefended here, if Jack don't go," Emmett notes. "It's territory!"
"And you suspect Jack will run away with them?" Zahn asks as he wheels the large tube into the corner of his workshop. He'll hide it later, when spying otters aren't around.
"He's an Akwavi," Emmett says waving his hands in the air. "Of course he'll try to steal all the women when he's not being watched!"
"So ... he already has them now, then? You're not watching him," Zahnrad points out logically.
"There's watching and watching," Emmett notes, wiping his nose. "See, he has to be able to get away with it too, so I'd have to not be watching for a long time. I mean, if you go to Rephidim, ain't you worried about me swooping in grabbing up Amy?"
Zahnrad laughs. Oh boy does he laugh. It's a good minute or two before he collects himself enough to say, "Not in the slightest. I have something you don't."
"Is it something I can ste-- borrow?" the otter asks slyly.
"Not a chance. Amelia is mine. You jut have to get used to it," Zahnrad quips, grinning.
"It's not fair though, I was chasing her for years," the otter pouts. "And now you gots my bunnies too!"
"Actually, they have me. They wouldn't take no for an answer," Zahnrad points out. "And when they're together they're scary. Very scary."
"Well, it's a fun sort of scary though, eh?" Emmett says, and nudges Zahn with his elbow. "If I didn't have five other girls, I'd be tempted to consider being miffed by it all, you know. But I'm on your side, right? You an me, tearing up the sky and making girls' clothes explode! Err, or was that your brother?"
"Those two have taught me more about lapi anatomy than I thought there was to know. Plus the things they like, egad," Zahnrad says, nearly aghast, "And yes, that was my brother." He shakes his head. "And he's obsessed with those twin otters."
"They'll make a man of him!" Emmett claims, throwing a fishy arm around Zahn's shoulders. "Or kill him. Possibly both at once. Akwavi women can go a bit crazy the first few dozen times. But I've seen Gunther bounce, so he should be okay..."
"They're going to drag him into a bed?" Zahn asks, wide-eyed. "I should sit him down and have a talk."
"Bed?" Emmett asks, then shakes his head and laughs. "Nah, nothing that planned out! They just sort of 'pop' like and get an idea of what they want.. right then!"
"Maybe I should lock Gunther up for a few years to protect him. He's not ready!" Zahn claims.
"Were you ready?" Emmett asks, whiskers twitching.
"No! Parsley sort of ... forced me," Zahn admits.
"Amy too? Cuz I'm really curious about what she did?" Emmett asks, waggling his brows. "I hear you Kadies have some pretty energetic courtship rituals between yourselves."
"Ah, well that is private. Sorry, I'm not going to talk about it," Zahnrad says and waves his hands. "Sorry!"
"What about using hand puppets?" the otter prods.
Zahnrad shakes his head. "No, sorry. Now I have some work to do. Just try not to think about it," Zahnrad says, "Because whatever you think of won't even come close to what happened."
"Oi, would Parsley know, then?" Emmett asks, sounding hopeful.
"Nope! She wouldn't," Zahnrad claims.
"Well.. everything comes out eventually," Emmett claims, and then lets go of Zahn and slinks towards the door. "I promise not to send any otter girls after you though. So if any do come after you.. it's not my fault!" he claims before dashing out the door.
"That sounds ominous ... and like one will be coming after me soon," Zahnrad mutters as he follows and closes the door behind Emmett. "Right, I was about to mend the suit. Where did I put that bottle of latex we got from the tree. Maybe over here," he continues to mutter to himself as he heads to one of the overly packed shelves.
There's a tingle in Zahnrad's tail as he works, and sure enough Parsley shows up soon after (although this time he can tell the sensation has begun to fade a bit). "There you are, Zahnrad," the Lapi says, smiling as usual and carrying a covered basket. "I'd heard about the package you received in town. It's always big news when mail is delivered, after all. Are you alright?"
"Hello Parsley!" Zahnrad says, not at all mad he forgot to lock the door and that meant Parsley could get in. "Oh, the mail, yeah, that," he says and points to the odd bomb-thing. "It's from two Titanians in Rephidim. It'll be overhead soon and they invited me to come up and discuss the inventing trade," he explains. "In ten days or so. I'll probably go."
"Oh my, the Big City," Parsley says, clutching a hand to her chest. "Will you be taking Amelia along for protection?"
"Uh, probably? I haven't made all the plans quite yet," Zahnrad admits, "I only got the invite. Not sure I really need protection but it would be rude if I didn't invite her."
"And thank you for giving enough warning so that we can make up shopping lists," the doe says, still smiling.
"Wait, what? I have to shop for you? Er, you and Clover?" Zahnrad asks and scratches his head. "Why don't you just come?"
"Oh, I don't think the clan would give us permission for something like that," Parsley says. "Who will cover our duties? Plus.. well, it would be scary!"
Zahnrad actually looks a little disappointed. "Oh, well, okay I guess. I've sort of gotten used to having at least one of you around most of the time," he admits. "But I'm sure it'll be so crazy it won't bother me!"
"Well, besides.. it'll be like your honeymoon with Amelia," Parsley notes, leaning in to whisper it right into Zahn's ear. "I'll still be here when you return."
"Won't be leaving for a few days and I'm sure I'll see you and Clover before then anyway," Zahnrad blurts before he can stop himself and cover his mouth. "Right. Well, it's only a honeymoon if we're married, isn't it?" he asks. "I never paid much attention to those traditions before."
"I'm sure that's just a formality," Parsley notes, waving a hand and setting her basket down next to the Troll costume. "Do you need any help?" she asks. "With.. anything?" she then adds, a bit suggestively.
"Well, I was going to work a bit on repairing that costume. Some latex from the trees should mend the tears and look like scars that the creatures have," Zahnrad admits as he gestures towards the table. "But having you around right now is a little, ah, distracting?" He tries to smile at that.
"Because of my muffins?" the doe asks, lifting the towel over the basket to reveal fresh-baked honey muffins.
"Because of well, you," Zahnrad admits. "Everytime I look at you all I can think of is the time you were naked, except for an apron, and helping me." Still he does sniff towards those muffins too.
"Do you want me to put the apron back on?" Parsley asks. "I keep it handy, in case I need to work with chalk. Or flour - sometimes I wear it while baking too."
"Well, ah," Zahnrad waffles and shuffles his feat. "Sure! I can put on the costume and you can help fix it while it's on me. That way the seams hang right. Hard to do that when it's just laying there," he suggests. Nothing says kadie romance like ... repairing a troll costume?
"Oh, I'm a pretty handy seamstress," the doe notes. "I'll go get my sewing kit and apron and be right back," she promises, and leaves a muffin on the table before heading for the door again.
And Zahnrad makes a beeline for the muffin and, well, eats it! "Hey, this will keep me out of trouble. We'll be too busy fixing stuff," the kadie declares. He goes and closes the door, but leaves it unlocked so Parsley can get back in. Then it's time to , well, don the costume!
By the time he's got it on, Parsley returns. She's wearing her leather heavy apron, the pockets packed with the different kinds of thread and bone needles. She's not wearing anything else, of course. "Did you really frighten Gunther with that?" she asks, coming over and tugging at the loose areas. Or rather, the loosest areas, since Trolls always seem to have skin that's a size too big for their bodies anyway.
"Not yet! I need to finish fixing it up first. Then I will," Zahnrad claims as he shifts about. The outfit makes him feel like he's gained considerable eight with how it hangs and moves. But, at least it's somewhat of a distraction from the nearly-nude doe in the shop. He then actually pulls on the hood mask to complete it and turns around. "See any serious flaws?" he asks.
"Well, your posture isn't right," the doe claims, and moves around to adjust the 'hump' made by Zahn's tail. "Hunch over more, like you'll drag your talons on the ground if you aren't careful. Trolls do that, don't they?"
Zahnrad squats a bit to make it easier, then hunches forward so the arms almost drag along the floor. "Like this?" he asks. The hardest part right now is keeping his tail still.
Parsley stands up, and then turns around. "I think so.. your nose is about the height of my tail," she notes, wiggling it in front of the Kadie - a little inverted heart atop a larger heart-shaped area.
Zahnrad goes light-headed at the sight of that. "Nice ... tail," he burbles within the mask. The poor kadie almost falls over and ends up taking one step forward to balance.
"Eeep!" the doe chirps as the nose of the costume impacts her. "Are you getting enough air in there?" she asks with concern. "Do you need to bind your tail, maybe?"
"Yes, I think I need some sort of tail-corset to keep it against my back and immobile," Zahnrad agrees as he collects himself, the suggestion a good distraction for the allure of lapi-butt. He steps away and tries to lumber around a bit to see if his gait looks reasonable.
"I have a corset!" Parsley claims. "And Amy has one that I know she'll never use. Oh, try.. shuffling? Do Trolls shuffle, or hop or anything? You've seen them, haven't you?"
Zahnrad tries shuffling next. "I'm not sure a girl's corset would fit me. Maybe you could modify one?" he asks.
"Maybe just a collar that your tail can be strapped to," Parsley suggests, then asks, "Try wiggling your tail around so I can see how it looks?"
Zahnrad does wiggle his tail around under the suit to see what happens. "Ah, a collar. Yes, could work. And I can make that," he agrees.
"That looks weird," the doe laughs. "What if you have to pee? I'm not sure if Trolls do that. I can see that the shoulders and arms need to be changed though. This costume was made for someone with narrower shoulders I think."
"It needs to be widened?" Zahnrad asks. "As for peeing, not sure what to do about that yet. I'm sure I can come up with some sort of strappable container, or a way to pee through the suit," he declares as he shuffles about a bit more. "And yes, definitely need something holding my tail. Will have to work on that next. Not sure how to broaden the shoulders, though..."
"You let out the back a little," Parsley suggests. "Or push your tail down further to free up more play." She taps her finger against the top of the worktable as she thinks. "I could take your measurements to be sure."
"Okay, lets do that. I guess I need to take this off now," Zahnrad says and goes about, well, trying to take the suit off. Hopefully it does come off!
The doe is there in case Zahn needs any help. "Is it hot in the suit? Do you think you could run in it if you had to? Will you make the eyes glow?" she asks as she hops from spot to spot around the Kadie.
"It's a bit warm, yes. That's why I only wear shorts in it," Zahnrad explains as he slips out of the suit after a bit of struggle. Sure enough, he's just in undershorts! "As for glow, I need to. I'm sure I can come up with some way to make the eyes glow red. Or Doctor Pike can, she has weird stuff," he adds. "And yes, I can probably run."
Without warning, Parsley yanks down Zahn's shorts and feels around to make sure he's not overly sweaty there. "Overheating is bad - I should know," she notes.
Zahnrad goes up on his toes! "What are you doing down there?" he squeaks, the poor kadie's body is completely rigid. Now completely naked, to boot!
"Oh, you don't want to get a heat rash down there," the Lapi points out, then lets Zahn go.. and takes off her apron. "There, now you won't feel so naked!" she says, and removes the measuring line from one of the apron's pockets.
"No, now I want enjoy you in ... "Zahnrad starts to say, but this time manages to clamp his hand over his mouth to stop it. He takes a deep breath then tries to relax so she can take measurements.
The doe pauses, line held out towards Zahn's shoulders. "Oh.. well, that would probably help you relax a bit," she notes, and leans in to kiss.. the back of the squirrel's hand that's covering his mouth.
And that hand is immediately pulled away and Zahnrad kisses Parsley back in an unusually aggressive way for him! It takes a good minute before he stops, too. At least when he does he looks at the ceiling and says, "Sorry. I uhm. Well, you. Sorry."
"Ooo," Parsley says. "You're bold today," she notes, and dangles the measuring cord up. "Clover would never allow this, but.." She glances at all of the posts and crossbeams and work surfaces surrounding them.
"What do you mean Clover would never allow ... allow what?" Zahnrad asks as he keeps looking at the ceiling to keep himself under control. He doesn't quite see what she's doing with that cord yet.
"Well, you could tie me up.. or down.. or sideways.." Parsley suggests, directly into Zahn's ear. "I know Amy wouldn't.. well, maybe she wouldn't.."
Zahnrad finally looks down at Parsley. His brow dances as it becomes apparent the kadie is thinking. This is dangerous! Especially when he blurts, "U have just the thing. There's a set of straps used to hoist stuff. Strapped on right I could suspend you from the ceiling and in such interesting ways." It's no more said than the kadie darts off to get them! zip!
"They.. uh, aren't connected to any machines, right?" the doe asks as the Kadie goes into a frenzy of activity.
"They're only be attached to you," Zahnrad claims as he returns with a handful of straps with buckles. "Will Clover be mad? Should we include her somehow?" he asks as he dumps his armload of straps on the table. The same table he has to hop up on and hook the first set to up on the upper beam so that Parsley will be supported.
"Clover still likes to be in control," Parsley says, smiling. "Don't make them too tight though.."
"Oh, then I'll let Clover tie me up sometime," Zahnrad chirps all too cheerfully. He hops down off the table and rubs his hands together. "You'll like this. I promise! I've lifted lots of stuff this way so nothing can go wrong!" he insists. Of course while he's gently fitting Parsley into a harness, he doesn't mention the few, ah, accidents that happened in the past. It took half a day to get Gunther out of that one barrel ... but surely nothing like that would happen again, right?