Going to be overtime

Writers: Chelle, Paula
Date Posted: 23rd August 2013

Characters: Asley, Dawul
Description: Just another day in a printer's life.
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 2, day 13 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Meledei

"Asley!" Journeyman Dawul called, peering out behind the printing machine.
He had ink in his face and even in his hair. "We are out of ink!"

The senior apprentice came around, clad in her heavy apron and goggles. She
had a few blots here and there, but nothing awful. Her gloves took the
brunt of the smatters. In her hands was a pot full of black ink. It was
shiney and thick. Asley had mixed it herself. "Here sir!" she shouted over
the whir of the machine. She pulled open the slot and began to pour,
letting the ink go down the tube where it would prime the stamps in the
press and produce the letters they wanted.

"Oh, good," Dawul grinned. "We need to get these pages printed," he said
and checked the type sets.

"You done much binding yet?" he asked. The journeyman often had trouble
remembering which apprentices was able to do what.

"I have," she said proudly, remembering binding for Meledei before she'd
left the Weyr. The goldrider had been nice to her and hadn't been bad
looking either. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she focused once more
on the job at hand. "Leather?"

"Aye, the cheaper kind. This is one of those harper novels...mass
production. I need all the able hands to bind them," Dawul said. The ink
in, he pushed the machinery on and watched it start to churn out pages.
Dawul's official specialty was binding, although he also did everything
else except illustrations. He was one of those who liked having a wide
range of skills. It also kept him from gaining his master's knots, since he
couldn't settle for one specialty long enough to turn out a mastery
project. "You wanna help?"

"Sure. How many are we going to have total then?" Her question came out as
the noise level went up. Asley loved the noise of the machine. It was
soothing to her and reinforced her choice to be a crafter.

"Hundred and twenty!" Dawul replied, yelling over the noise.

That was going to take awhile. Asley sighed. No matter, she'd just have to
stay a little later. She would have it done by dinner, though probably.

Dawul noticed the sigh and nodded. "Yep, it's task." The machine churned
out paper and he searched something to talk about to pass the time. "So,
how are you settled in to the new Hall?"

"Here? Well the Hall is okay I guess, but I don't go to the Hold much." She
fiddled with some of the typesets, wiping the ink off the plates.

"Can't blame you. My daughter complains the same, since she has apprentice
knots, she doesn't feel safe outside the Hall," Dawul replied.

"Well umm...when I got here one of the guards sent me the wrong way on
purpose. So if I do go out, I don't go out alone. Still, though, it seems
to be just easier to stay inside here." Indeed, as soon as she got her
knots, she would be gone from here.
"I just want to walk the tables so I can leave."

"You know, I think someone tried that with Lineda too, but her brother was
there to meet her," Dawul said with frown. "Wonder if it was same guy.
Sounds like deliberate malice to me."

"The look on his face wasn't very nice. Anyway, I'm just an apprentice so
it's not like I can demand respect like a journeyman can. Not yet, anyway."
Asley sincerely hoped all this time that she had been working so hard was
getting her somewhere.

Dawul was about to say something when there was loud crunching-sound
followed by a clang from the machine and it started to spit pages over the
receiving tray. His words turned to a curse and he rushed to switch it off.
"Shardit and shells," he peered
inside the machine. "Something's jammed. Looks like I'll be here doing over
time. My wife is going to be sooo happy. Fetch Niils, could you, please?"

"Yes sir," she said before heading out, glad that she didn't have to deal
with it herself.

Last updated on the September 7th 2013

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Going to be overtime