Room 227, Tuesday Afternoon

[thatsmysword]

Henry still wasn't certain that he wasn't dead.

He'd spent the past week and a half just... going along with whatever was happening here. He didn't know what else to do. He listened to people explain things he barely understood, and he went rummaging around to complete assignments that made no sense, and...

And he was here.

In a bed so soft he wasn't sure what it was made of, staring at the ceiling with the door open, thinking about death. And life. And which one of those he was currently involved in.

[[ open ]]

Comments

[thatsmysword]

"I don't even know how they get the water to come all the way up here," Henry said, with an easy shrug, and-- "Do you know how they do that?"

Please don't let him know you know anything about anything, Luma. You'll never be rid of him.

[even_bigger_teeth]

Luma shrugged back, just as easily.

"Besides the pipes?" she asked. "Some sort of reservoir, probably, I think that's what they have at home. Surely, they had Wells in the 1400s?"

Please don't think Luma knew anything about anything, Henry, for your own sake. Unless it was maybe hunting rabbits.

[thatsmysword]

"Aye, outside, yes," Henry said. He pointed past her into the hallway. "But there's a bit of metal in there where if you twist it, the water just comes out. Are you saying they have a well that high? Inside?"

[even_bigger_teeth]

"Oh!" said Luma. "You mean thr faucets! Oh, that's where pipes come in, there's all sorts of bits of metal that work through the walls to carry the water to all the faucets. Very annoying when one breaks and it can damage a whole room if you're not careful, but they're very important."

Said with the confidence of someone who had to deal with hiring someone to fix some pipes recently. She despised the whole experience, but at least now something helpful was coming from it!

[thatsmysword]

"The pipes carry the water up?" Henry asked. "That's quite a feat!"

Spoken like a man who, in another timeline, would be confused by a fountain being right in the middle of Kuttenberg several times in a row.

[even_bigger_teeth]

"I think it has something to do with pressure?" Luma said, then gave another shrug. That sort of thing hadn't factored into much of her tutoring, to be honest. "I think it's a bit like the Roman's and their aquaducts, but I don't really know much about it. I'm sure someone here could tell you more about it, though, if you really wanted to know."

It sounded pretty boring if you asked her, though.

[thatsmysword]

Not to Henry. "Right, but not you," he said easily. "Ah, I'm Henry, by the way. I think I've seen you about?"

[even_bigger_teeth]

"Very much not me," Luma agreed emphatically, with a shake of her head and a dismissively snort.

"And I'm Luma," she offered back, "Zarrin. And possibly. I just started here, I live down the hall, with my sister Eleanor."

[thatsmysword]

"Must be useful, having a sister around," Henry offered. "At least you have something that feels familiar."