uncalendula | {rping} open post

Can't hurt to give it a once over, and I'll be able to tell you from there.

[ Retracting himself from the generator, he moves slowly — there's too many jagged edges ready to snag and tear him up. Too dangerous for all involved and besides, there's no way to find bleach in a desert much less spray it in delicate equipment without someone wanting an explanation. No, much better to be safe than sorrier than he already is.

He flips open the tool box, he paws through with one hand while the other finds his glasses. Needlenose pliers to strip the wires, spare copper to bridge any gaps, and a soldering iron to put it all back together. ]

I'd say hot but I think that's a given, ma'am.

Oh? I hadn't noticed,

[she replies wryly, only slightly irked by the ma'am and not for the first time in her life (it certainly wouldn't be the last time, either). Mr. Decker's toolkit suggests that he does this on the regular - unusual work for a day labourer who seems to be spending more time inside than out - with a practised familiarity. Spectacles on and implement in hand, all deft precision.

This isn't exactly practical knowledge.

Evelyn drags another clipboard toward herself in an attempt to look like she's occupied, which means that her interest is thinly-veiled and she's doing a piss-poor job of covering it up.]

...I know it isn't a part of your duties, but...if you do have time, I'd very much like to learn about this sort of thing. [She flashes an apologetic smile that is largely sincere.] For the times when we've misplaced those with engineering experience and I'm forced to fumble through it.

I'm sure I'll have time, but will you? I mean, you've got to be swamped. [ It's almost too knowing, and Bruce catches a smile as he remembers the research teams he'd led back in the day. There was always something going off that needed a look in, and then everything else could use a check to make sure it wasn't off-kilter, never mind managing a dozen grad students and a half dozen more doctoral ones along with maneuvering around the egos of actual peers. He'd had the best help in the world with that in Betty but it was still an obstacle course every day. One that he still loved even as he'd fallen into bed complaining about a sincere lack of common sense in the next generation of scientists. (...It's more funny now than ironic. Or at least he tries to tell himself so.) But that was nothing compared to the magnitude of what he's seen on the dig so far, and certainly nowhere as dependent on independent conditions. A lab was always a lab but between weather, various poisonous things slithering around, and logistics to provide for a whole camp? ] It's no small production out here.

[ There's zero doubt that she can, just an understanding of what that can entails.

Once he can see what he's doing, he finds the last piece — a small flashlight — and holds it between his teeth as he gets back inside the generator. ]

Edited 2016-03-29 03:57 (UTC)

[Evelyn grimaces with an eloquence that communicates the fullest extent of her displeasure at the thought of her innumerable responsibilities, including (but not limited to) her interns and the handful of graduate students wandering the dig site. Most of them are reasonable, thank God, but there's always one that has to butt into everyone else's business and show off as if their life depended upon it.

(She would know, because she was that doctorate candidate several years ago.)]

Don't remind me.

[Jonathan helps to maintain some semblance of order - as best he can, at any rate - but a good deal of the work falls to Evelyn, who is already stretched thin and determined not to let it show. That Mr. Decker has noticed and made a point of bringing it up in idle conversation must say something about the way things are run. It might behoove her to delegate better instead of putting out fires when and if they happen.]

I'll...find the time, [she says, as if convincing herself of the fact.] I try to treat most things around here as learning experiences.

[ Oh, no. No, he knows that tone like an old friend and the last thing he wanted to do was cast shade on a colleague. It makes for a comical sight as Bruce once again pops his head out of the generator — a flashlight between his teeth as he frowns, worry lines etched deeper than usual on his forehead.

He starts to speak but of course the flashlight's in the way and he just mumbles, nearly drops the damn thing before he catches himself. There's a swallow after he picks the light up because there's nothing that gets a ton of spit going than trying to hold something in your mouth. ]

Dr. Carnahan... You're doing good work out here. That's what I meant. It takes a lot to keep that up, which is. That's all I was getting at. I'm sorry.

[He hastens to correct himself and it's rather charming, flashlight sticking out of his mouth with a look of mild concern - he'd probably swallow the thing if startled and she can't quite help the crooked slant of her smile as he tries to reassure. It's fine, it's fine, it's always fine, she frequently suffers from 'bouts of self doubt and knows it. He didn't mean anything by it.

The compliments certainly help.]

Apology not necessary, there's...a lot. Going on. Sometimes it feels a little overwhelming- not...that you. Want or need to know that, I'm sorry, erm-

[It might be best to let him get to work now that he's given her a means of backing out with an excuse. Work is work is work. She flusters for another moment before nodding and clutching for the clipboard.]

The radio is on my table, just there. I should check on Trench D. I take it you'll be all right unsupervised for the next thirty minutes.

[A joke, if anything is meant by her lofted eyebrow.]

[ He ignores the deflection, the easy out that Evelyn offers through propriety and embarrassment. Likewise the apology goes unacknowledged — Bruce has enough of his own. ]

Of course there's a lot. Always is with projects this size.

[ But then he sees the out is for her instead and he smiles sheepishly before nodding. ]

Yes, ma'am. If not, I'm sure you'll hear the explosion from Trench D.

[ A joke in kind. ~~Mostly.~~ ]

[While prying tends to be her express speciality it appears as though this is as much as she'll get out of Lyle Decker for the time being, and takes this as the greatest hint that she should probably a.) tend to some other responsibilities and b.) let him do his job, whatever his job happens to be. At least he acknowledges the difficulties.

Evelyn meanders over to the tent flap with a nod, clipboard under one arm, and pauses just before leaving with a funny look.]

...don't...call me "ma'am," please.

[ He's halfway to popping the flashlight back in his mouth when Evelyn catches him again. It's clear he expects something graver, and he waits for anything else to be tacked on afterward until the silence stretches half a moment too long into awkward.

A chuckle surprises its way out of him and he ducks his head into a nod. ]

My apologies, m- [ he catches himself. ] Dr. Carnahan. I'll try and remember that.

[Evelyn is braced to protest when he corrects himself, and Dr. Carnahan is considerably better than ma'am. It's good to know that he's attempting to do his best even if his best seems to be bending amenably to duties.

(This is not to say that most people on-site do not follow procedure, but he's so unabashedly nice about it that it feels...off.)]

Thank you, [comes the sigh of relief, and she looks considerably lighter than before.] Cheers.

[ Bruce flashes a smile in response before diving back inside the generator. The repairs take another hour or so, but it's fixed by the time Evelyn returns to her tented headquarters.

The radio is in the exact spot Evelyn left it, but the next she tries to turn it on she'll find the innards fine-tuned and repaired to off-the-production-belt standards. Perhaps even a little bit better, with some tweaks to improve reception and sound quality. Nothing to it, really, and Lyle will stick to that statement no matter how thankful Evelyn may end up being. ]

{rping} open post

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject