The day had been long and, even though he hadn't done much of the actual work, tough. There was a great deal of things that needed constant maintenance on a ship like this it seemed, doubly so when considering how long she'd been flying in the frontlines of the seemingly endless skirmishes that wracked the continent. Archer had spent most of his time doing little more than simply handing tools and parts as Lawrence called for them, taking away what wasn't needed and filing it back away. He felt as though he hadn't really done any work and confessed as much to Lawrence, but his boss had just smiled at him.

"Trust me, it helps. It doesn't seem like much, but across the last six hours how many times have I asked you to grab something, or put something away, or even just hold something in place? A hundred times? A hundred and fifty? That'd probably have meant another hour or so of work for me. You might not have done much mechanical work today, but we all start somewhere. Still, I'd rather you got to know the tools first and pick up a thing or two as you go before starting on anything complex."

That had settled his nerves a little, as had the easy smile that the raven-haired man had flashed him, but he still felt a little overwhelmed by the fact that soon enough it would be him led under engines and replacing rusting sections of walkways and the like.

He forced himself to not get lost in his own head, since that had never worked out well for him before. Besides, he'd only been aboard for what, six, seven hours? He'd learn, just as he always did. Lawrence seemed like he'd be a good teacher, even if the time spent working was mostly silent. He'd found that the man wasn't one to fill the air with endless small talk or verbose statements, just the occasional question about if he knew what some tool was, or how to correctly apply something. Usually the answer was no, but Lawrence didn't seem to mind. The silence seemed to be something Lawrence appreciated, and he had let such feelings be known in no uncertain terms.

"You're pretty quiet on shift."

"I can-"

"Don't worry, that wasn't a complaint. The opposite, actually. I'm not much of a 'people person' whilst I'm on shift so I'm glad you're able to keep yourself busy and not endlessly talk."

Archer didn't feel particularly busy, but he kept that to himself. He waited for Lawrence to continue, sensing that the man wasn't quite finished.

"Nothing like the twins, God rest them both. I couldn't keep them quiet for love nor money."

That was the second time today someone had mentioned these twins he seemed to have replaced, but there was a distance in the engineer's tone that told the young man to let sleeping dogs lie for now. He'd have five years to ask, after all.

"Well, that seems to be all I can do here. I don't want to put you off of this job on your first day, but we'll be completely out of spare parts soon enough. Ach, none of that for now; I promised to show you around the ship, did I not?"

Archer nodded, and Lawrence smiled in return.

"Alright then. I'll show you deckside, since you'll see the rest of the ship in the coming days of work anyway."

"Sounds good, Mr Walker. Lead on."

The man rolled his eyes a little at the formality, but Archer couldn't help it. He'd been raised on an estate his whole life, and now he was expected to ignore formalities all of a sudden? He might be able to avoid using 'Sir' where it wasn't warranted, but at the very least he needed to be able to use some form of honourific to not feel completely disrespectful. Just calling the man by his first name seemed too informal, but he knew eventually he'd get comfortable enough to cross that boundary. Probably.

"Well, it's better than sir I guess. Come on, let's get you up to the decks and show you around, shouldn't take long."

He was right. The whole tour took a little under an hour all told, and most of that was just explanations of what various components on board the ship actually did. Somewhere around twenty minutes alone was spent with Archer being shown the various armaments aboard the ship, with Lawrence taking care to make sure he knew the correct resting positions of each of the twelve 32-pounder carronades aboard the vessel as well as both of the massive 68-pounders. It was neither of them that stole the attention, or rather the ire, of the engineer though. Archer watched on, bemused, as Lawrence none-too harshly described how 'finicky' the half-dozen puckle-guns were, not to mention how often they jammed or overheated "Because that bloody gunnery officer can't help herself when she hears them firing and refuses to let the bastard things cool."

Archer cleared his throat and made to speak as Lawrence turned to look back at him a little sheepishly.

"You seem to focus a lot more on the systems of the ship, as opposed to her crew. Actually I don't think you've mentioned the crew in any capacity aside from that comment about the gunnery officer."

Lawrence paled a little in embarrassment.

"I said that out loud?"

Archer nodded, stifling a laugh at the expression on the man's face.

"Bugger. Apologies. She's bloody good at her job, but she makes mine a hell of a lot harder."

"Awe, a compliment? I'm touched L!"

Seemingly from out of nowhere an arm was slung around the engineer's shoulder, and Archer watched on with amusement as the man grumbled his discomfort but seemingly abandoned himself to his fate. Archer was a little taken aback, not just because this was a woman on a naval airship but also because of how young she was. Archer was only twenty-four, but this woman had to be a few years younger than he was.

"Only half of a compliment, and it began with me stating how much I loathed your inability to let the puckle-guns cool."

"Meh, same difference. About as close as I can wring out from you anyways, ain't it?"

Before either of them could respond the woman thrust a hand out towards him with startling speed, gripping his own hand and shaking it with no small amount of enthusiasm before Archer even had had the chance to even realise she'd moved.

"Chief Petty Officer, Gunnery, Talwynn Trenholm. How do you do?"

"I'm well, ma'am. Assistant Engineer Archer Haywood, at your service."

The woman scoffed and looked over at Lawrence.

"God, this one's the opposite of the last two, ain't he?"

She turned back to him.

"No need for titles and the like here, Mr Haywood. Besides, you're probably a few years older than me anyways."

Despite himself Archer smiled. This woman was the exact opposite of Lawrence. She leant in and dropped her voice to a stage whisper, giving him a conspiratorial grin.

"Don't worry about him, he's a big softie really. Well, except for when it comes to the First Mate, but then pretty much all of us agree that he's a massive cun-"

"Okay, that's quite enough from you, young Miss."

Lawrence quickly walked over and physically picked her up before setting her down a few paces away. It seemed almost comical, given that she must have been more than a foot shorter than the engineer, but Archer made sure to keep his amusement mostly to himself. She gave a mock-curtesy to them both, throwing back one last comment to them as she walked away.

"Seeing as he won't tell you about anyone in the crew while he's on shift feel free to join us all in the officer's mess in the mornings! It's in the same room as the main mess, but there's a separate table for us lot. Enjoy your stay up here!"

Lawrence sighed and shook his head in what seemed to be a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Right. Speaking of mess we should probably get ourselves down there soon. Not for food, but just so I can show you some of the things we'll need to fix in there every now and again. Cookers, ventilation systems, that sort of thing."

Archer stopped and thought for a moment.

"Huh. I never really considered that I'd be fixing that sort of thing."

Lawrence shrugged.

"I said as much when we met, though I suppose in fairness to you that you weren't really expecting to be fixing anything at all, seeing as the engineering job was thrust upon you last minute. Up here the engineers have to double as handymen, since no-one else knows how to fix anything apparently."

Archer huffed out a laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds true enough. So, to the mess then?"

Lawrence grumbled out a comment about how the whole bloody ship was a mess, which sounded almost like a witticism, but Archer chose to keep that to himself. He'd only been here half a day, after all. He allowed his mind to wander to those he knew in the crew as they walked towards their destination, running through what few names and personalities he'd met so far. There was Captain Crowle, who seemed to be a very charismatic and forwards man, followed by his repugnant and snivelling second in command, the First Mate Stefan. Archer wasn't the biggest fan of the man just by his first impressions, but he did his best to push those misgivings to the side. Maybe he was actually quite nice and just wasn't doing that well today? Well, he supposed that the Gunnery Officer's review of the man wasn't exactly glowing either, and she seemed to have been here a while, so maybe not.

Lawrence was probably the easiest person to quantify so far, probably just because he'd spent more time with him than anyone else. The man was quiet but not shy, stern but not strict, and authoritative without being scary. All in all he seemed to be a most pleasing fellow with, if nothing else, an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of every single system, part, and stockpile aboard the ship. If there was anyone he could learn from on this old bird, he felt that Lawrence was his best bet. Talwynn seemed nice as well; she seemed enthusiastic and almost sickeningly cheerful, but if she could get away with pushing Lawrence like that then he wasn't about to start making any comments about how cheerful she always seemed.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Who else... who else... ah, the marines, of course! He'd met three people in the marines so far, four if he counted the man who'd been sent down to relay a message from the captain, asking if he'd "got that bloody speaking tube working again yet?"

A stern glare and a sharp comment that the captain would be the first to know when it was fixed sent that man on his way, but not without Lawrence muttering a sighed apology for his terseness. The man had smirked and walked off, tossing a comment back over his shoulder about 'stress' and 'joining for cards later' telling Archer that the man must have known Lawrence and not taken it harshly.

Apart from him there was the Sergeant and the Corporal, who seemed to be related, as well as his new friend Michael. That made, what, seven, eight people so far? One day in and he'd met around a fifteenth of the crew in total, which he didn't think was too bad. He broke himself from his thoughts as he climbed the last ladder, taking them to a corridor leading into the ship. The hallway was wide, and there was a large set of doors that swung open and closed as men came and went.

"Ah, here we are. The mess hall. Follow me as I go in, and I'll point out where everything you might need to know is."

"I apologise for speaking out of turn, but why can't we just walk around inside rather than hover by the doors? Won't it be easier to see?"

Lawrence gritted his teeth a little and seemed to steel himself.

"Alright, if you insist. Follow me."

The engineer pushed the doors open and took a step inside, Archer following just behind. The room was warm, far warmer than it had been outside, and the smells of delicious food and strong alcohol combined to create a strange fug that almost overpowered his senses.

"Over there in that corner, that box? By the ceiling? That's for ventilating the room and stopping this place from feeling like an oven. There's another opposite, over there, see?"

Archer nodded, mentally noting down their locations and what to look for as Lawrence continued. The room was empty at the moment, and Archer supposed that most of the crew must still be on duty or otherwise busy. Or maybe they're all taking advantage of the last of their shore leave and eating portside. Must make a nice change.

"Apart from those two things there are the-"

"LAWRENCE!"

An extremely peppy and almost childishly excited voice rapidly approached, a blur launching itself across the room at the engineer and latching onto him like a limpet, hugging him tight. The man flushed red, a light stammer in his voice.

"Cooke, this is highly inappropriate. Please, I am on shift."

The young man seemed to be about Archer's age, about his mid-twenties, but seemed to have a countenance made up of nowt but sunshine and rainbows.

"Is that a free pass to hug you when you're not on shift?"

Lawrence visibly tried to prise the young man off of him, but to no avail.

"Absolutely not."

The juxtaposition of the serious and stoic-faced engineer and the smiling young man was almost comical, and it took quite a bit out of Archer not to laugh and potentially spoil his prospects with is new boss. Eventually the man let go of Lawrence, smile never faltering even for a moment, and Archer could have sworn that the engineer for just a moment had the beginnings of a smile on his own face.

"Archer, may I introduce you to my long-time friend and colleague, Talon Cooke. He's the head chef here."

The man smiled wide and waved at him before taking his hand and shaking only slightly less vigorously than the Gunnery Officer had.

"Hi! It's a pleasure to meet you, mister! I'm Talon, like Lawrie said earlier. I'm glad to know he's got some help again, God rest the twins."

"Cooke, we talked about this. Please do not call me that around others."

The man giggled a little, pressing the back of his hand too his mouth.

"Oh, right. Sorry Lawrence. It won't happen again. Until it does."

The engineer sighed and put his head in his hands before turning back towards Archer.

"Right, well we can look through the rest of the mess tomorrow. I'd say you've earned some rest. Come on, let's get going."

Cooke seemed a little sad at Lawrence's sudden announcement of departure, but he didn't say anything about it or try to push them to stay. There was definitely something going on between the two of them, but whether it was a playfulness, friendship, or something else, Archer couldn't quite tell.

"Oh, well I suppose I have some preparations to make as well for the coming days. Don't push Archer too hard, Lawrie."

Lawrence shouted over his shoulder about his discontent at the nickname, but the friendly cook was already gone.

"Sorry I cut us short there. I was... Cooke means well, but no matter how long we've known each other we've always been... well, about the opposite in terms of outlooks. He's like Talwynn, but if Talwynn's bloodlust was replaced by more cheerfulness. Anyway, we're on the way to our rooms now, so lets leave that to the side."

Archer nodded before stopping for a moment, something clicking in his head as Lawrence spoke.

"Wait, I get my own room? I thought the deckhands all slept in hammocks below deck?"

Lawrence nodded.

"They do."

"Then why aren't we heading there?"

"Because you're not a deckhand. You're the assistant engineer. You get nicer quarters. See, the job's harder, but the payoff? That makes it all worth it."

They soon arrived back onto the walkways that lined the outside of the Sunbird, where Lawrence continued to tell him about what he could expect to find inside his room and to please, for the love of God, let me know if one of the twins stole something and pawned it before they passed.

"Your room should have a desk, dresser, and chest of drawers. You know, store all your personal belongings. Apart from that there's of course your bed, which is built into the wall. Sounds cramped I know, but I've never met someone from the groundside that ever complained about that."

Archer nodded in recognition, not that the man in front could see him, and answered with his own only slightly awkward question.

"Is yours much the same? Your room I mean."

Lawrence nodded, still not turning back to look at him.

"Aye, pretty much. There'll be one or two minor differences since I've had a hell of a lot of time to personalise my quarters, but its pretty much the same as yours. The only real difference is my bed."

"Your bed? How's that different?"

"It isn't in my room, per se. Its built directly into the exterior of the ship, so that when I open it I'm greeting with all the sensations of the sky rather than some stuffy officer's quarters."

"That's a bit exposed, surely?"

"Exposed? Aye, some might call it that. But I'm at home up here. I'm at home amidst the rushing of the winds and the calling of the gulls, the feeling of the air about my face and the moisture of the clouds on my skin. I'm at home with all of this up here."

Archer was silent a few seconds as the realisation hit him.

"You're... an Aetherborn?"

Lawrence gave an absent smile and nodded.

"Aye, that I am. I was born up here, on this very ship, and here I live till this day. Two leagues up and never far from tomorrow. You never met an Aetherborn before?"

Archer shook his head, still a little dumbfounded.

"No... no, I haven't. I was expecting..."

"Something different? Almost otherworldly? Yeah, don't worry, there's plenty of folks been disappointed when they realise that an Aetherborn is no different from the rest of you, except we're born in the skies. Ships, sky-ports, whatever. That's it."

"I'd heard you were more superstitious than people born on land."

Lawrence cocked an eyebrow, incredulous.

"You mean the Aetherborn or me in particular?"

"The uh... the Aetherborn."

The engineer let out a chuckle and shook his head.

"Yeah, I'll be honest with you I have no idea where that stereotype came from. Why would people who spend their whole lives in the skies be superstitious about what goes on up here? People from the groundside are more likely to have superstitious beliefs about happenings up here, surely? Not saying 'Leviathan' is a pretty good one, probably one of the more famous ones anyway."

Archer physically had to restrain himself from stopping the engineer from saying the name of that accursed ship aloud, thereby proving Lawrence's point.

"But... the ship's name brings bad luck. When it went down at the Carronade Pass-"

"When it went down the crown prince was never found. Yes, I know well what happened that day."

There was a hint of a smile about the engineers face, quickly replaced by the stolidity that seemed to be his resting face.

"How? How do you know what happened there? Did you read of it, hear of it in the news?"

The man's smile came back a little wider. It seemed he was having a little fun here.

"No, because I was there. This old bird was there."

He heavily patted a guard rail a few times, as if to make sure that Archer understood he was speaking of this ship and not some other 'old bird' nearby.

"The Sunbird served alongside the Leviathan when it went down?"

The word Leviathan tasted strange on his tongue, and came out a little more forced than he had intended. Lawrence nodded at him, seemingly pleased that he was already trying to shed a little superstition about life on an airship.

"Aye, she did. The Leviathan went down, that much is true, and the Royal Albionic Navy lost its flagship that day. Of course we also served alongside her sister-ship, the Behemoth, which survived the battle, but people seem to forget about that."

Lawrence turned to the side, his voice somewhere between an absent mumble and an annoyed, almost argumentative tone.

"Besides, how can a ship's name be 'unlucky'?"

The engineer stopped himself and shook his head chuckled a little.

"And there I go woolgathering again. You should ask Talon about some of my rants about superstitions sometime. Or don't, on second thoughts. You'll hear enough of them yourself these next few years; it takes embarrassingly little to get me drunk."

There was silence between them again for a few seconds, this time a far more comfortable one. Well, it was as silent as was possible on an airship, mused Archer. What with the wind and the engines and the birds, it was very unlikely he'd know true silence for quite some time.

That proposition didn't seem all that bad, to be honest. He could see himself getting used to the white noise quite quickly.

Lawrence wordless began walking, waving Archer along behind him.

"We'll be at our quarters soon. We've both got our own rooms, since we're officers, and they're closer to the base of the ship so we can respond to any situations with the engines or turbines faster."

Archer was given pause for what seemed to be the umpteenth time that day as the words of his new boss washed over him.

"I'm... huh, I know you said it earlier, but I still can't get over the fact that I'm an officer. Besides, I don't- I can't-"

"Yes, I know. Whatever you're going to say, I can guarantee I've heard it from the twins when they first signed on. 'I didn't go to an academy', 'I don't know how to lead', 'I have no idea what I'm doing'. Trust me, I've heard it all. And you know what I said to them every time?"

Archer shook his head, and Lawrence turned to look at him a little better with a kind smile on his face.

"You'll learn. Now come on, let's get you settled. Your room should be on the right here."

"I hope so, seeing as the left is just 'the sky'."

Lawrence chuckled and shook his head, pulling open a door. It was made of metal and slid open rather than swung, which was peculiar,

"Why do they slide?"

"For the opposite reason that the captain's door opens outwards."

"And that is?"

"The captain's door opens outwards so it's harder to break in during a mutiny. Mine and the twin's rooms, the latter of which is now yours, don't have any sort of lock because the captain wants to make sure he can seize me if needs be."

Archer blinked twice, unsure if he was misunderstanding something or not.

"You mean to say... why would the captain need to seize you?"

Lawrence gave a noncommittal shrug and looked him up and down.

"Tell me, Mr Haywood. What do you make of our captain?"

Archer stumbled over his words a little, trying to work out what sort of answer Lawrence was hoping for. When he couldn't think of anything other than the offhanded dismissal of things such as spare parts and the apparent need to seize Lawrence in the night, he decided that rather than mention those things he would simply tell the truth.

"Well... he seems very gallant and brave. He carries himself like a true buccaneer, which I will confess I found both rather strange, since we are aboard a navy ship, and quite charming. He comes across as very charismatic and... well, if I may be blunt, quite comely."

Lawrence was silent for a long moment after this, and did not speak until Archer was quite sure he was about to drop dead from embarrassment. Before he spoke he looked Archer up and down once more, and, seeming satisfied with whatever he saw, spoke again.

"Aye, he does seem that way, doesn't he? Be careful around him, Mr Haywood. Be very careful indeed."

Archer stared at the form of Lawrence as the man began to walk towards, presumably, his own quarters.

"Archer. Please, if I am to call you 'Lawrence' then you must call me Archer."

The man turned around and looked at him before smiling.

"Very well then, Archer. I shall do so. Take your time to acquaint yourself with your room. If you need me for whatever reason then I'll be in mine the next door down. Knock before you enter, if you'd be so kind, but otherwise feel free to come to me if you have any issues settling in."

They were both silent a moment longer before Archer spoke again, trying to change the subject.

"These 'twins', can you tell me of them?"

There was a sad smile on Lawrence's face as he turned to leave, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Of course. Not right now though. You need to get some rest. We set off tomorrow in the late morning, just after the last of the crew get back aboard. We'll be at work constantly then, so sleep well. Have a good night."

"Yourself as well, Lawrence. Good night."