#boilmaster

“Blast it Azarro, where’re ya when I need ya?” Cain returned his attention to the Boilmaster. He pushed a few buttons, twisted a few nobs, spoke a few choice words, and soon enough the infernal machine began to whistle as the water boiled. Nodding curtly in satisfaction at the machine, he proceeded to rub his beard as he went to the cabinet with the tea.

Rustle. A sound wafted into the kitchen.

Cain closed the cabinet with teabag in hand and looked back out the window. “Wind’s picking up…?”

Crunch.

Cain walked over to the window and looked out towards the front lawn. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Achoo!

Cain finally looked directly down from the window sill. A medium sized cat with fluffy laid in the leaves, it’s tail frozen as it returned Cain’s gaze. The staring contest was afoot; green eyes met green eyes. The cat tilted its head. Cain tilted back. The cat’s tail twitched. Cain’s mouth twitched. The two locked in a battle of wills, man versus beast, with the victor’s pride on the line. Truly, this small creature was a most worthy adversary.

The forgotten Boilmaster took issue with its sudden lack of an audience and decided that a victor must be declared. It emitted a sharp whistle, at which Cain blinked as he glanced back towards the contraption. The cat let out an exaggerated yawn and looked away, content in its victory. Cain frowned.

“Go home cat,” he said as he made a general sweeping gesture towards the other houses and then towards the sky. “Else you’re gonna regret it.”

The Boilmaster emitted the whistle again with a sense of purpose. Cain made his way over and began to push buttons and switches at random while narrowly avoided scalding his arm as a puff of steam issued forth. 

“I can end you…” he began and dropped his voice to a whisper. “And I’ll be sure Azarro never finds your body.”

The machine emitted another steam puff in defiance aimed squarely at the man’s chest. The Roe jumped back and bumped into the broken stove, dropping the teabag. This stove being the same stove that had been broken two days prior when he landed on it in a similar course of events, denting the switches above the oven door.

“GODSDAMNIT! I JUST WANT TEA, IS THAT SO DAMN HARD?!” His hand reached for the axe near the doorframe and brought it forward as he prepared to strike down his old foe. “YOUR TIME IN THIS WORLD ENDS!”

“Mroww!,” a loud sound came in from outside the window in response to the sudden outburst. Cain paused his movements but continued to roar. “THIS ISN’T YOUR FIGHT ANIMAL!”

Axe still in hand, he took a deep breath and approached the now downright maniacal steam machine as it happily puffed steam out of valves at random. “There’s pattern to your madness, bastard,” he whispered darkly. 

Turning the axe blade sideways as a makeshift shield, he approached the machine as steam bounced off the blade. He flicked the very last switch and the machine immediately stopped producing steam and issued a happy ping. Cain returned the axe back by the doorframe, his brow furrowed. 

“One day I will no longer need you, and on that day I will crush you with my bare hands.”