The resonating chime of a hammer striking metal had been consistent throughout the night, though in the past hour it had quieted down, the flare of the forge turning to soft embers as Brigitte has swapped the warm light of the fire for the cooler light provided by the iridescent light bulbs that hung over the workbench. She had swapped the hard shaping of the metal to the much more minute, sitting with the mechanical components of her armor opened and revealed on the desk, soldering iron in hand.
Amber eyes focused through the magnifying glass that hung off of her headband, letting her look closely at the area lit up by the headlamp the band held firmly against her forehead. Her field of view was narrowed by concentration, so she didn’t notice the black tabby prowl it’s way in from the large open shutter door, left slightly off the ground in order to encourage a draft and cool off the room.
So focused was she that it wasn’t until the cat jumped right onto the workbench that she noticed it, jumping with a start. “Skit!” she cursed, exhaling softly as she realized what it was that frightened her. The soldering iron was laid down and the magnifying glass moved away from her eyes. She reached out and scratched the tabby behind the ears.
“Hey there,” she purred quietly, realizing just how loud her own voice sounded in the stark silence that had settled over the forge. With a wide mouth she yawned into her forearm, blinked a few times and look at the clock on the wall.
And then through the window next to it at the sky, illuminating with the light of the rising sun. She’d been up all night! She cursed a few more times under her breath as she jumped up from the workbench, regrettably frightening off the tabby with the sudden motion.
“Reinhardt is going to kill me if he finds out I was up all night again!” she murmured under her breath, quickly swapping the dirty forge clothes she was wearing with something a bit cleaner, making her way to the slightly opened shutter and tossing it open. She was greeted with the cool morning air, helping keep the edge of fatigue away. More importantly, she was greeted with the scooter parked just outside.
Pausing only to smell herself and judge that she didn’t smell too bad, given her work all night, she quietly coasted the scooter down the hill and toward the town. Once she was well away from the building they’d been using as their base of operations for the past few weeks, she kicked the ignition and let the engine take over. If she went to get coffee now, she’d have a chance to get an entire cup into her on the way back. Then she could drink another with the rest and no one would be the wiser!
Reinhardt wasn’t used to watching the sun rise. Not because of any particular avoidance of the moments, just because it seemed to happen either right before he woke or passed while he was busy in the morning. Maybe he should watch it more in the future days, but today- today he rather wished he had missed this one as well. He sat with a groan, carefully massaging away the ache that had sunk into a shoulder. His eyes caught the passing sunrise because he was looking for clouds, for rain. What was the point of creaky joints if they didn’t tell you the weather?
“Bah!” He pushed himself up and away from his own thoughts. This warrior has a good amount of time left in him before he really starts to fret over something like old joints, the occasional odd ache wouldn’t get the better of him! And movement helped, he swung his arms across his broad chest as he walked out to the common area, stretching his shoulders and back. “Much better.”
Soon, everyone else in the base was shaking awake, searching for breakfast and coffee. The last time he’d tried to start the bacon, he had apparently burned it, “Tasted fine to me,” Reinhardt muttered as he glanced around the kitchen. He could, however, run the coffee maker without upsetting anyone too badly, so he set about cleaning yesterday’s grounds and refilling the percolator. A soft pressure on his leg drew his attention downwards as the drip started. “Good morning, kitty! Would you like a drink?”
It took a moment with his half-hazy morning brain to find a little dish and splash some milk onto it. “Tell no one where you got it, understand?” There wasn’t even a mrrp in agreement before the cat started lapping at the milk, but the warrior simply nodded seriously and finished his wandering, heading outside to breathe in the fresh morning air, which was far more welcome than the sunrise with the aches in his shoulder now gone. It was just luck he decided to look towards the workshop, and see a missing scooter. It was stubborn worry that made him stand there and wait for his squire to ride back up.
“Brigitte! Why are you about so early?”
