Clockwork Conversations (Fyr)

 Prompt: Clockwork conversations

Sometimes I get tired of answering Naomi’s questions, however valid and necessary they may be, there are sometimes so many of them that they get tiring. They do, at times, however lead to interesting conversations and exchange of ideas. Her background in alchemy has helped with more than a few of my experiments as of late. If only her knowledge could help with creating a cure to Corprus, that would be a true breakthrough. Many of her questions as of late have revolved around the clockwork city, Sotha Sil, his various contraptions, and typical social customs she still has yet to get the hang of. These clockwork conversations as I’ve taken to calling them can be entertaining yet also predictable, they tend to occur like clockwork, always at a particular time or after something specific occurs. As we wander around Mournhold the requirements for another are met as we encounter a shrine with offerings. Naomi still hasn’t quite gotten down how ancestral shrines work, she is used to visiting the graves of the dead and leaving rocks rather than other offerings at a family shrine to cremated relatives. An understandable confusion, yet still one that needs clarifying.

I try my best to explain, though explaining these kinds of things was never a great skill of mine. I can explain how the body reacts to bacteria or why we develop cancers or how to get to the planes of oblivion just fine, but cultural phenomena is something that even with all my years of living I have never quite understood well enough to explain. I have seen empires rise and fall and societies completely change and yet I don’t think I could explain them to a person one on one nevermind a crowd or write about it in a book. Thankfully my vague explanation is enough to sate her at least until she has time to write to Lukas and ask him for a better explanation. The man may have never set foot further east than Solitude but he has a library at his disposal and knows how to use it. At this point I think he may have the layout of the entire layout memorized and be able to recall the place of specific books on the shelves upon request. Lukas is a strange person, not in a bad way, in fact I quite like him even though he refuses to believe me, he is just a bit odd.

The topic of conversation then switches to something much more easy to answer “where are we getting dinner?” Naomi asks, looking at a map which she cannot entirely read due to a language barrier. Taking the map I look at it quickly, make a mental note I should really consider getting reading glasses, point to a spot I know of and start walking. Naomi eventually catches up and scolds me for not waiting for her. I look over at her and give her an indifferent shrug before continuing to walk. Night is falling and the lanterns on the streets have begun to light up in the same way they do every evening, like clockwork. The restaurant I had seen on the map thankfully is unchanged from the last time I was here perhaps fifty years ago. A little hole in the wall barely large enough to fit ten people, but with excellent saltrice noodles. Naomi gives me a look that says “really?” as we stand by the entrance before going in “It’s good I promise I’ve been coming here for the past century.” I tell her as we walk in and I greet the owner. He seems to remember me, though not necessarily my status or achievements, which is in all honesty a nice change. Naomi feels confident enough in her speaking skills to order for the both of us and it only requires one or two minor fixes before making sense. She is improving quickly on the speaking front, if only the same could be said for reading and writing.

Shortly after, two bowls of thin noodles in a chicken based broth mixed with local vegetables and an egg come out. It’s a welcome sight after a busy day of conversations and too much time spent in the basement of a library trying to figure out what in the world could be going on with Sotha Sil and his clockwork city. The two of us sit quietly and eat, with a brief lesson on proper etiquette, with no more ridiculous conversations. Only two hungry people, tired after a long day and more curious about the workings of time and man made machines than the average person, but that will be a conversation for another time.