The Limestone City Bat

by Seeking Dusk

Snapshots 4: Home Improvement

Penmanship lessons. Robin had managed to find some of beginner level work books in a nearby school and got a couple of them for both himself and Jade. The worksheets themselves had been copied on one of the office printers he had stashed in a garage two houses up. At the moment, he was labouring through the alphabet again, something that was even more tedious than he could faintly remember from his childhood.

It didn’t help that he assigned himself three sheets to complete, one each for mouth, wings and hoof, in order of decreasing dexterity. It showed too, the mouthwriting sheets were scrawled noticeably better than the hoofwritten ones. Since it wasn’t exactly a proper school, a few bowls of snacks were also on the table, sliced fruit mostly, but a few cheese cubes as well as a large bowl of trail mix. What was missing was his fellow classmate, her chair sitting empty and crocked from where she pushed it back when she left some thirty minutes before.

When she finally did return, she was stalking irritably, her tail hanging heavy. It was with a scowl that she climbed back into her chair and awkwardly jerked it back to the table, ignoring Robin’s raised eyebrow and snatching up her pencil to continue work on her mouthwriting as if nothing happened.

“You sure took your time,” Robin commented, moving to his wingwork. He had an advantage when it came to wingwork over Jade. For one; hers were a bit too small to actually be of much use, so he didn’t make her do it as he did the mouth and hoofwriting. The other advantage was the actual finger his had that made holding pens and pencils far easier. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back.”

Jade only grunted.

“I know this isn’t the most fun thing to do, but being able to write properly is important,” Robin admitted.

“It’s not the stupid penmanship,” Jade grumbled around her pencil. She muttered the next part, but Robin picked it up easily enough. “Stupid bathrooms…”

“What? Did you fall in or something?” Robin said, trying to joke. His weak laughter dropped when Jade’s face reddened. “Wait… you actually did?” Jade’s embarrassed look deepened. “Again? Isn’t this like fo- ah… are you okay?” Robin shifted his line of questioning as Jade started to look as if she were ready to hit someone, namely him.

“The seat is too high! And it’s hard to use with four legs!” She complained, spitting out the pencil. “They aren’t pony friendly! I gotta balance just to tinkle!”

“Neptin.”

“Ah,what?” Robin’s response throw Jade off guard slightly.

“They aren’t neptin friendly,” Robin explained. He set his own pencil down. “You said pony. I keep saying it’s neptin.”

“What. Ever! Pony!” Jade grumped, crossing her arms. “And I’m smaller than you too! I’m tired of my tail getting wet!”

“Not gonna lie, it has been kinda hard to use them,” Robin said, looking at the wall contemplatively.

“Squat toilets would be a lot easier,” Jade continued to grumble. Robin looked at her before starting to grin. Jade glared at him. “What?”

“Up for another resource run?”

----------

Contrary to Robin’s expectations, none of the hardware stores that they visited had squatting toilets in on display or in their inventory. Robin didn’t let that dissuade him too much though.

“I could’a told you we weren’t going to find any,” Jade grumbled, a bit wide eyed as Robin peeled through the city streets well above the posted speed limit.

“You did, but I was hopeful,” Robin shrugged. “We have a lot of gas around and just us to use it on before it all goes bad. Should find more all electric cars…”

“In Kingston?” Jade spared a moment of worry to give him a skeptical look.

“Fine, we might have to go to Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto for that. Among other things…” Robin’s tone took a shift that Jade wasn’t quite sure what to make of, so she tried to put the conversation back on track even as Robin blew through a red light going around one hundred kilometers per hour.

“So what are we gonna do for the toilets?” she asked, hooking a hoof around the strap and bracing another against the dash again, ears flat in tension.

“Oh, that?” Robin cheered up. “We just need some power tools, maybe a table saw, some measuring stuff and wood. We’re gonna make a framework to put around the toilets. Like a stand.”

“You can do that?”

“It’s not that hard. Basic woodwork. Simple really. Aside from the cutting it to fit the bowl part. And making sure it’s one hundred percent stable.” Robin thoughtfully rapped a hoof on the wheel. “And I suppose sanding down the edges so we don’t get splinters…”

That mental image briefly overrode Jade’s lack of ease in Robin’s driving and she gave him a look of pure horror.

“So… should bump that one up the list, I guess?” Robin offered. Jade nodded.

----------

The duo took to the aisles of the hardware store, the harness Robin had made hooked up to a cart that was quickly filled with a bit more than Robin originally planned as they found other things to take with them.

“Hey! I could use those blinds instead of the stupid blanket!” Robin chattered happily. With a motion he was quickly gaining proficiency in he slipped out of the harness and started checking the tags, looking for one large enough to cover his window.

“You’re gonna make the room even darker than it is? I can hardly see anything in there the way it is now!” Jade complained. Ever since her episode with the nightmare, she had been spending more nights in Robin’s room. “Can’t you get a sleep mask or something?”

“Blinds are better,” Robin said firmly, finding one the right size. They were on their second cart, the first loaded with wood and tools waiting to be transferred to the trailer. As it stood, the second cart already had its fair share of supplies, from lever style handles to replace the existing knobs, to the step ladders Robin has talked about days before. The blinds were added to the pile.

“You know, Nightwing,” Jade commented, eyeing her surrogate brother with a bit of disdain as he reharnessed himself, “with all the stuff you plan to do in the house, it’s gonna take you forever to get through it all.”

“Hmm,” Robin said without much concerned, trotting off again, cart in tow.

“And with all the other stuff you pinned on the wall,” Jade continued as she matched his pace, adjusting the blinds as they sought to slide off. “It’s gonna take you even longer…”

“You don’t say?” Robin replied, rolling his eyes.

“And there’s the garden you’re still working on,” Jade pressed.

“Grab some of those screws please,” Robin instructed, pointing at the packs hanging from the lower shelf. “And what are you getting at?”

Jade pulled two packs and threw them unto the cart with a surprisingly accurate toss of her head before responding. “Can I get my own ATV?”

Robin stumbled, looking back at her in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Nothing, just seemed like a good time to ask.”

“I…” Robin groaned and took a turn for the plumbing section. “Maybe. Remind me after we finish this project.”

“Sure,” Jade said cheerfully, following after. “Wait, we?”

“What? You’re the one who said it’s a lot of work,” Robin grinned teasingly, his tail doing a little flick. “You didn’t think I’d be going all this by myself, did you?”

Comments

[Celefin]

You know, it's the attention to the small details that makes this story so endearing. Relearning how to write. How to make a toilet pony-friendly. It's storytelling opportunities like these, among others, why I love this setting so much. Thanks for utilizing them!
'Splinters' Argh.

And don't I know the hardware store effect... an international and probably universal rule for every male person/pony/eight-armed eldritch being. Ohhh... shiny! Projects! DIY godhood!
People like Jade are to be ignored with extreme prejudice in this case. You go Robin.

Next up: driving lessons.

[Twilight_the_spy]

6884625
Yeah. Imagine getting a splinter... there... as a pony, with hooves that won't be able to reach there to get it out.

The only way to get it out would be to ask for help... but... well, let's just say that would be VERY freaking awkward.

So either have pain, or have awkwardness. Your choice.

[Seeking Dusk]

6884625 It's one of the benefits of the snapshot series. It gives me a better chance to point out and frame those little setting building moments that often get overlooked in chapters keyed more to the overarching plotlines of the story's goal on a whole. And the awkward ones are always more fun to realize when the pop up. And yes... splinters... *shudders* Nightwi- I mean Robin needs to make sure he finishes those properly... Everything is free now, so he doesn't have to be cheap.

Hardware stores give us the opportunity to be Great. To have a sense of true, tangible achievement. To smugly say; 'You see that? Yeah, I made it myself. Nice, huh?'

6886770 You know, between 'occasionally falling in' and 'a chance of splinters'... I'm not sure which one to recommend

If they thought treating his tree-crash injuries was awkward, bathroom splinters is a whole 'nother level.

[Celefin]

6886770 My thoughts exactly

6887794 The snapshots do indeed work really well; no need to force the plot to advance when there are so many nice details to write about. Details that are just as entertaining. And Neptin! Never forget Neptin.

'You see that? Yeah, I made it myself. Nice, huh?'

And another all-time favourite in the same situation: "Who? Me? Nono, that was the previous owner! Honestly."

[Greatazuredragon]

“They aren’t neptin friendly,” Robin explained. He set his own pencil down. “You said pony. I keep saying it’s neptin.”

He's a stubborn one isn't he?
Nice work, keep it up.

[Flash_Magnus]

“It’s not that hard. Basic woodwork. Simple really. Aside from the cutting it to fit the bowl part. And making sure it’s one hundred percent stable.” Robin thoughtfully rapped a hoof on the wheel. “And I suppose sanding down the edges so we don’t get splinters…”

Not the "evil painful" splinters!! Oh no!! XD

[Lauralite]

Why did it take me so long to get to actually get to reading this. I like it a lot, so I'll ve keeping track every time I see an update from now on.