sinclxr

[sinclxr]

✗ prxncess-powerful

Sinclar walked into the small flower shop, intent on finding a nice bouquet of flowers for his apartment. He had honestly had enough of the place looking like a small wreck. He wandered around, frowning to himself, until he gave up and approached the florist. Sin smiled and said, "Hello! I'm looking for a small bouquet, just something to brighten up my apartment. Have you got any recommendations?"

[sinclxr]

Sin breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes. Harmony willing, I can grab it and disable it before it does any damage. Um..." He looked embarrassed. "Would you be willing to help me? It keeps managing to evade me somehow. Perhaps if you tried, it would be confused? It's perfectly fine if you don't wish to," Sinclar ended up saying lamely.

     "An…an angry… robot?" It took a moment to process what the man had said.

                     "Is that what that noise is?"

[sinclxr]

The return of Mother Kalrihen was much too much for the inventor to take in at once. Sinclar was frozen where he stood for a moment. After that brief pause, he nodded. "Sure, Kalrien." He gave her a warm smile and then hesitated before saying, "Thank you." The inventor put his coat and scarf on and made his way out of the precinct, thinking that if he had any right to, he would have walked her home and made sure she slept. But he really didn't have any right to fuss over her in any way--he was overstepping as it was--so he just left.

     ”I'm sure I'll let you know if I think of anything. For now, perhaps I simply need to focus on getting some rest. You should, too, you know.”

     That sounded stupid. She backpedaled. “What I mean by that is that you need to start getting more rest, too, Sinclar. Using that couch of yours as a bed can’t be helping.” And now she just sounded human. That wasn’t good. Was it? No. She needed sleep. And probably to stop talking altogether.

[sinclxr]

Sin was slightly surprised as Thalia took his hands in her own smaller ones. He couldn't help but look away briefly at seeing her smile, abashed for a reason he could not comprehend. But her support meant so much to him that he looked back at her and said, quietly, "Thank you for asking. I'm managing." He pressed his lips together, brow furrowed. Then Sin took a deep breath and managed a quick smile.

"You know, it's almost a relief, not having had to confront her. I'm... I'm alright with the way things turned out." This time, there was a true smile on his face. "So," Sinclar said, looking into Thalia's eyes with that smile still playing on his lips and the tiniest of twinkles in his eyes. "Do you think someone's going to interrupt our heart-to-heart by stomping in and making a mess of things anytime soon?"

 Thalia hadn’t forgotten about the schematics she had shown the inventor all those weeks ago, and she hadn’t assumed he had forgotten about them either. She just figured he was busy with his own work and would get around to her little passion project when he had time. But all that logic didn’t stop Thalia from feeling pleasantly surprised when Sin brought it up. And not only had he remembered, he had obviously put time and thought into it. If there was anyone who could bend physics, she decided with a small smile, it was Sinclar Rofton. Allomancers be damned!

As Sin moved on to his second point, Thalia mirrored him by taking a sip of her own coffee. What he said next brought about a whole other kind of surprise: she wasn’t used to friends being so candid with her. But she felt almost honored that Sin was comfortable enough in their friendship to share something so personal with her. 

Thalia listened intently, relating closely to some things, like what it was like to leave home and not look back or how easy it was to get caught up in the enigma that was Emalyn. But the news of his mother’s death was something she couldn’t comprehend. What could she say that would be anywhere close to appropriate?

In a split second decision, Thalia opted against words and reached out to take Sin’s hands in her own. She wasn’t thinking about how forward it was of her, only of how it was the best way she could let him know that she was there for him. 

"Thanks, Sin." She said, ignoring his questions but meeting his gaze with a supportive smile. "For sharing that with me. It couldn’t have been easy for you, so I’m glad Ema was there for you." Even if Ema had missed a few too many classes already, this was something Thalia could overlook.

"Are you…?" She was going to ask if he was okay, but that seemed a little lame. It would probably take him more than a week to be okay. "How are you?"

[sinclxr]

✗ imtristinanditscomplicated

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but have you seen a small disk-shaped floor vacuum robot zoom by? It may be angry. Or intent on sucking up the entirety of Elendel, one of those two things."

[sinclxr]

“You meet people who are interested in humanity. And the really good ones—the really good actors, the really good directors and writers—it’s beyond the plays and beyond the movie. It’s more about life and the way people think, the way people fall in love, the way they cope with the tragedy of death and knowing that they’re going to die.”

– Lee Pace photographed by Van Sarki for Interview Magazine (2014)

[sinclxr]

[ ooc: hey guys i was on hiatus because school is hard and finals exist BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM BACK NOW. there is to be all the trash loser inventor puppy u can handle

that being said, if i haven't responded to a thread just lemme know! i shall rectify this error ASAP. ]

[sinclxr]

Sin ducked his head, smiling. "Alright, Etta. I trust you." In a moment of levity, he added, "But if you put Silver Shade on that playlist, I'm revoking your playlist privileges, goddess of mechanics." The mention of playlist making brought back memories of how everyone in college was obsessed with Silver Shade.

"Ah, my friend. You assume I have a life outside of work. I am always free." Sinclar slipped his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Which, coincidentally, includes on Saturday night."

As her old friend described the instrument he needed, Etta’s fingers itched for a pen and piece of paper. It wasn’t the heat that was a problem so much as the pressure the whole thing would be under - and the power supply needed - and the containment - and…. 

So busy was she planning how to arrange the room she needed  to fit this all in that she almost missed his (oh so typical) attempt to be a selfless idiot and deny himself something he needed to prevent her from being slightly inconvenienced. 

"Sinclar," she said in a tone somewhere between exasperation and pride. For a moment, she heard her mother’s voice and had to fight back a small shiver. "There is no way I will get in trouble for doing my job and taking advantage of my non-salary perks. I decide who gets machine access, so as long as I schedule us outside of current experiments we’ll be fine. I am the goddess of my mechanical domain." She almost finished the sentence before giggling. That sentence would never be repeated. Ever.

"Trust me, old friend. The only trouble will be finding the perfect songs for a playlist. We’re doing this. You free on Saturday night by any chance?"

[sinclxr]

Sin breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't like he could have done much had she refused. He was about to say some word of farewell, but then Kalrien spoke and his eyes widened. His hand inadvertently went right to his beard and then quickly cupped the back of his neck, elbow down, while the other hand went to his hip. Both hands dropped in the next moment, and then Sin finally found his voice, which had become shocked in its absence.

"Really? Um. Er, thank you." He blinked a few times and then muttered, "I must be more sleep deprived than I thought." In a more normal tone, he said, "If you have no further need of me, I'll just... be going." Sinclar motioned to the door and then stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

     The reminder that Basil and Emalyn could quite conceivably blow up three quarters of      Elendel was an unwelcome one. His logic—2(sleep deprivation) + (Ema + Basil) = oh,      rust it—

     She examined him momentarily. He did have a point. Heaving a sigh, Kalrien began to      pack up her files. She wasn’t any use to the team in her current state, and Holt would      undoubtedly understand. Chances were he was tired and focused, too, and she’d merely      been forgotten in the chaos. It happened, but officers needed their sleep in order to do      their jobs, especially in a unit like Major Crimes. 

     As she organized her desk, she glanced up at Sinclar again. “The beard looks good, by      the way. I like it.” And there you have it, folks, Kalrien “Ice Queen” Venture just expressed      appreciation for something, and hell has just frozen over.

[sinclxr]

Sin cupped his hands around the paper cup of black coffee and then looked up at the professor's face. Where to begin? "First of all," he said hesitantly, "I didn't forget about the perpetual motion machine, but I might not have an answer for you for a while. But, um..." Sin unlatched his briefcase and took out the diagram, placing it on the table.

"I made a copy of it so I could keep working--this is more of a logic and physics problem, you see. Perpetual motion, technically, cannot exist. It's rather impossible in a literal sense--the notion of perpetuity in machinery assumes that there is no beginning to the force in question. But I could probably find a way around it--ah, if you've ever heard of something called a half-life? Or! Or, er..." He colored and decided against mentioning spermatogenesis. "Never mind. The point is, with a bit of time and some bending of physics, I could probably do it."

Sinclar looked down from Thalia's face into the coffee cup. Hesitantly, he said, "I was told she had died. Four years ago, in fact. No one thought to tell me, but the town helped pay for her burial. I can't assign any blame to them for my negligence." He thumbed the edge of the coffee cup's lid, staring at the whorls on the wooden table. "I needed some time to sort some things out, but in the process, I had forgotten that Emalyn was supposed to be back and in school. So it's my fault, you see." He looked back up at Thalia.

"I suppose I fell out of the habit of shaving in the meantime," Sin said, and then grinned. "So how have you been lately? Anything new?"

"Ah, not to worry, I’ve actually been wondering where you and Emalyn disappeared to!" It was pretty normal to have Ema skipping at least one out of the tree lecture classes they had each week, but all three? Not so much. But there had to be a legitimate reason if Sinclar was standing there vouching for her. Thalia trusted Sin and was glad he had asked her to catch up as well, rather than just talk about Ema. "And it would be lovely to have a chance to talk." 

She then asked Sin if he would be willing to wait for a moment as she gathered a few of her things. The junk that she had just cleared off the chair went back on it, and Thalia then moved around the office quickly and efficiently, grabbing all the things she would need to work on at home that night.

Once she was ready, she faced the inventor with a smile and exited the office with him. 

                                         [*~*~Sometime in the near future~*~*]

Thalia sat down at the table Sin had picked out for them and then gently blew on her coffee, willing it to cool down faster. The shop was pretty empty considering the time, which was nice because they had a bit of privacy. 

"So…where do we begin?" She asked. It felt right to let him have control of this conversation for some reason.

[sinclxr]

"It's quite alright, Kalrien." Sinclar didn't take her placating tone personally. He closed the notebook he usually kept with him and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

"But," he said sternly, "if you're sleep deprived and I'm sleep deprived, then no one will be able to stop Emalyn and Basil from throwing three quarters of Elendel City into chaos, and no one wants that, I'm sure. So, er, if you don't go tell Holt you're done for the day, I'll..."

Sin's mouth twisted to one side. "Hrm. I guess I'll just be rather upset, which is probably not the best motivation." It was worth a shot, and the worst that could happen would be Kalrien becoming very cross with him.

     A commotion from just outside the office area catches Kalrien’s attention, and she

     gives an automatic answer, something to the effect of trusting his judgment. It sounds      exactly like the placating sort of reply she gives whenever she’s too tired to deal with      some unpleasant person who had come to give her information.

     Kalrien focuses back on him. Her eyes feel swollen and heavy, and she wouldn’t be      surprised if she’d smeared her eyeliner halfway down her cheek and everyone else      was just too intimidated to mention it. 

     ”Sorry, Rofton. I hate to admit it, but perhaps I’m a little too exhausted to have this       conversation right now. I’ll give you something more concrete when I’ve had some      sleep, I think.”

[sinclxr]

[ ooc: can i just say how fucking incredible it is that i have the following gif and i will never get to use it because sinclar

back to your regularly scheduled programming]

[sinclxr]

Sinclar shook his hand firmly with a smile. "Not at all, Vic." He laughed. "If I couldn't make things like these for my friends, I would be a rather useless friend indeed. I hope you don't mind if I had someone test it--just to make sure it won't, er."

He bit his lip and gestured vaguely. "Yes. It's safe. As safe as a weapon can be, anyway." Sin was painfully aware that he'd begun to babble. He'd never really done anything on this level that he hadn't been commissioned for. Of course it was pretty. The inventor was just concerned that Vic wouldn't like how it worked.

It was a rather sturdy weapon, mainly because there were several functions and special bullets engineered for the gun, which were enclosed with the weapon. Sin had cut back reload time with the auto-reloader that he had improved upon and minimized, had engineered a deployment mechanism that made bullets fly out at a terrifying amount of g's, and lastly, had taken care to adjust the trigger to the length of Vic's fingertip (which he had measured by sight, something that he felt slightly embarrassed about), which would allow the officer to have a more comfortable resting point.

Sin just hoped it wasn't too much.

     “ I…” he started, at a complete loss for words. Had      they not been out in public, Vic would have taken the      gun out right then and there to give it a closer look.

                                                          Like it?

     Vic was speechless. He could remember, very vaguely,      him and Sinclar having a conversation about the sort of      gun Vic would have liked — had that been on his first day      back from leave? Scars, that seemed like forever ago.

     “ Thank you, Sinclar. I… don’t know what else to say. I’m      not entirely sure that I even deserve a gift like this. Much      less a friend like you. ” He held out his hand to shake.

[sinclxr]

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Sin exclaimed to the news of Leiven's good grades. He wasn't surprised, because the boy was Tessa's and because he had such a proclivity for complex physics in the shape of invention.

He couldn't quite say anything about it being nice to get away from the city--Elendel was Sin's place of refuge, not someplace to escape. Despite the higher crime rates and various kinds of pollution, at least the place didn't host any ghosts to keep him awake at night.

Sinclar smiled at the news of Brego's growth. "Those are all exciting events in their own way, Tess. I'm glad good things have been happening." He hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans, shifting his weight onto his heels a little.

"So," he began, "if I had to fiddle with electromagnetics and accidentally electrocuted myself, how long do you think it would take the paramedics to get to my place?"

    “ You couldn’t even finish that sentence with a straight face, Sin, further proof that     I am truly the dancing queen! To be fair, though, you did make a very good effort.     That’s all the matters in the end. ” Her grin faded, thereafter, and she rolled her eyes     at the comment about Northern Park. They were all far too reliant on that coffee shop,     it was almost pitiful… though, Tessa was in no place to talk on the matter. She outright     refused to have hot chocolate from anywhere else in the city.

    “ Well, it’s good that you’re glad to be back. In any case, it must have been nice to get     away from the city, if only for awhile. ” She sighed, shrugging lightly. “ Honestly, we     haven’t been up to that much. He did really well — about two weeks ago — on a test     for school and we saw a movie in celebration? That’s… that’s really the most exciting     thing that’s happened. Brego’s grown a bit, too, but that’s life for you.”

[sinclxr]

Sinclar beamed at her, thanking the professor profusely. The office was cozy--it reminded him a little of his own workshop, and this was naturally the mark of a busy person. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Thalia--I'm actually here on behalf of Emalyn, though I also did want to see you to catch up. Ema, um..."

Sin rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, and then crossed his arms over his chest. "She wasn't in class for the last week, and it was my fault. It's something of a long story. Do you have time for a cup of something and a chat?"

The words of the book on Thalia’s desk only entered her consciousness for a brief second before they were immediately placed into her coppermind. Thalia had long ago gotten into the habit of adding new books to her stores whenever she had a spare moment and needed a break. For her, it was relaxing and enjoyable to learn. For her students…not so much.

A sudden knock on the door startled her out of her work flow. Even though it sounded soft and polite, the noise seemed loud in her quiet office. I wonder who that could be…? Thalia thought as she stood up and made her way to open her office door.

"Sinclar!" She exclaimed, surprised but excited to see one of the last people she expected standing before her. It certainly was good to see his face again after what felt like a long while. Normally, she’d see him around Northern Park, either with Ema or by himself, but both of them had been oddly absent the last couple of days. Thalia was curious about it, but didn’t want to seem like she was prying into his business by bugging him about it right then and there.

"It’s so good to see you! Please, come in." She said, moving aside so he could enter her office. It was somewhat cleaner than usual since she didn’t have any papers to grade, but it was still cluttered with books and a variety of her own papers and nicknacks. Thalia quickly scurried past Sinclar to clear a chair of it’s debris so that he could have a place to sit. "To what do I own the pleasure?" 

[sinclxr]

Sinclar cocked his head to the side, eyes shifting up to look at the ceiling as he thought. Magnetizing the prongs on a taser? "Yes, that's possible. Although," he noted, "regarding Lurchers, we're already halfway there--the prongs are aluminum, and only the tips are steel.

"Would you like two separate devices or something all-inclusive?" Sin asked gently, remembering that Kalrien was tired and likely not in the mood to hear him babble about electromagnetism and electrodes.

     ”Here’s what I was thinking.” A recent encounter with a certain extremely annoying      Coinshot had led to some thought on her part. “Would it be possible to magnetise      the prongs on a taser? It would be a useful tool to use against Coinshots, since they      are bound to have bits of loose metal on them at virtually all times.” She frowned      slightly, blinking heavily as she attempted to ward off some of the exhaustion. “I’ve      been trying to think of a similar tactic for Lurchers since a lot of them are using that      whole bulletproof vest tactic recently, but I haven’t had much time to consider it.”

[sinclxr]

⊱ that-thalia

Being back in the skyscraping campus of Elendel University was jarring. It seemed like it had been so long since he was in college. He truly couldn't believe it had only been six years. But he wasn't here for reminiscing--Sinclar Rofton was on a mission.

He had told Emalyn almost jokingly that he was going to write excuse notes for her missing class, but he was not going to stop at that. She had helped him through a rather difficult period, and that was invaluable. The only thing he could really do at this point was his best.

So here he was, after having fought for her with almost all of her professors. They had not been hard battles. He had merely explained that he needed her on this trip for her apprenticeship. And now he was down to the last professor: Thalia Hordreu.

He couldn't help a small smile; he was just very excited to be seeing his friend again. It seemed like it had been ages since he had spoken to her. He stopped in front of her office, took a deep breath, and knocked softly on the door. All that was left was the waiting.