"Mornin' Shy," booms Anon as places one plate down of toast with a corner cut off for himself and a much smaller one for you with the corner.
"Thank you very much, Anon. How did you sleep?"
"Eh," he shrugs his giant shoulders or rather giant to you, "It was too cold. I'll definitely need to fix that heater on the weekend or something."
Glancing at the calendar you see it's still Wednesday.
"Yeah, I know. I've got lots of overtime to do this week. I don't think I'll have time until then."
"Oh," you reply a little dejectedly but Anon doesn't seem to notice.
Soon after Anon has to leave for his job, leaving you alone in the seemingly endless space that is his house. Without further ado, you set to work fluttering over the drawer that Anon keeps all the old manuals and booklets for things. The heaving it takes just to get the drawer open takes a lot out of you but you persevere. Little books litter it to the point where you're not sure how exactly Anon got the drawer closed in the first place. Trying to move one book spills over three onto the floor.
"Oh, um, I should--" you nervously stammer as you try to work out how exactly you're going to wade through all these without making a mess.
But then the image of Anon appears in your head. Sure, he shrugged it off as if it was just a minor concern but those rings under his eyes show he didn't get a good night's rest which is import. No, today, mess does not matter! You have to do this, for Anon!
"I will clean all this as soon as I'm done," you pump yourself up in what is a yell to you but more of a slightly higher version of your usual soft speak to everyone else.
Burrowing deep into the drawer kicks up more booklets that spill onto the floor but you ignore it all and continue to dig deeper. You head further down and the air is now getting scarce and the weight above you is constricting. It takes more and more effort to push on but push on you do. In your head you cheer yourself on, for Anon! And then you find one that has a picture of the heater on it. Latching onto it with your teeth, you head up as fast and you possibly can.
As soon as you break the surface, you fill your lungs with air and the booklet you fought so tirelessly for hits the ground. Mentally, you give yourself a little pat on the back even if your work is far from over.
With the booklet open on the floor to the circuit diagram page and a bunch of Anon's tools spread out on the floor, you set to work on the heater. Or at least, you would. Ignoring the tired you're feeling all over from the flying and lifting, you don't understand a single thing. There's a squiggly little zigzag line here and that leads to a symbol that looks like the skip button on the TV remote. Flicking through the other pages doesn't seem to bring up anything to help. In a state of pure bewilderment about this leaves you with only one resort.
You unfurl your wings and begin the ascent to Anon's computer. After waiting for it to boot up, you drag the mouse about and jump onto the clicker twice. From there you hover over the keyboard.
"Oh, my. Was it always this large?"
And then you pause.
"What would I even search?"
You ponder over the predicament for a time before coming to a conclusion. As you float above the keyboard, you notice the first letter and press it. The little key makes a loud mechanical click and you begin the search for the second letter. It too goes click and you begin to feel an ache in your wings as you try to find the other letters.
"Why isn't it alphabetical?" You sigh tiredly as you press down the final letter.
what do the heater symbols mean
And then you leap onto the enter key only for the computer to pull up pages explaining how various heater remotes work.
"Let's try..."
what does the zigzag before the skip button mean
That brings up sewing techniques and something about the periodic table.
"Oh, I'm sorry," you exclaim before type in a few extra letters
what does the zigzag before the skip button mean heater
Which does little to improve the results. So you dart back to the booklet to consult the pages once more and that's when you notice in the first few pages the contents list.
"Circuit diagram," you read aloud.
Asking the computer what they are seems to get the results you needed. The screen is loaded with symbols and explanations of what everything is to the point of being an overload. You press your little hooves into your cheeks firmly in an attempt to steel your resolve.
"You have got this!"
Anon returns home late at night, flicking off little bits of snow and shuddering from the cold. After he takes off his coat, he wanders through the house to notice the kitchen drawer with all the booklets sprawled and fallen on the floor.
"Shy?" He calls.
"In here," you sing back.
There's a little moment of time before he appears in the room as he picks up all the booklets and shoves them in.
"Everything alright--Ah."
He notices the heater has been pulled apart so that beside the tools are the screws, cover pieces, and various components are splayed everywhere. Meanwhile you're still sitting on the desk and staring at the screen.
"I was hoping to be done by the time you got home. I'm pretty sure it's that resistor cause it looks all burnt but I got a little stuck on what a thermistor is," you hastily try to explain, unable to keep the nervousness out of your voice.
Anon chuckles softly and warmly. There's no hint of irritation in his voice, just happy which goes a way to setting your nerves at ease. Somewhat.
"Well, I guess you've done pretty much all the work for me then. Which is a bit of a life saver, it's going to be freezing tonight. One sec."
And then he disappears into the kitchen for a while. When he returns he has two cups, one large and the other small, with hot tea inside.
"I've also ordered a pizza which should be here by the time I finish."
"C-Can I help?"
"Of course," Anon smiles, "Let me get the soldering iron while you make a pile of all the screws so we don't lose any. And while I work, you can hand me tools as my assistant. Sound good?"
You nod happily and the two of you begin working together. You were right about the problem but Anon still checks over everything to be sure. And as you were the one to pull it apart you have to guide him in how to put it back together. Naturally being much harder to do than dismantling it.
Once the pizza is here and you completely stuff your face on an entire slice. Which was wonderful considering how you got so focused in your work that you didn't eat all day. With the heater working, the room warm, and bellies full it doesn't take long before Anon drifts off to sleep on the couch.
While you feel like you should wake him and try to convince him to get into his bed you are very tired yourself. Plus it is very warm and your belly is full. So in just a few blinks, your eyes stay shut and you drift to sleep on Anon's chest. The rise and fall in time with his breathing along with the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat is like being rocked and lulled at the same time. There was never any hope of you doing anything more than falling asleep right there, at peace.