(Untitled)

[prone_to_panic]

Archie sloshes into the bar from out back, his face ruddy from the cold and effort, but he's smiling. Looks like he's been out practicing. He stops by Bar to get a cup of tea, and Alanna's note and heads over to the fire do dry his boots off a little before he slogs back to the flat to change. He reads Alanna's note carefully and nods with a

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[runmakitarun]

Makita walks over to the fire and reaches into one of her oversized pockets. This time she pulls out some of the twine from their know-tying lesson. "Hey, Archie. Got a few minutes? I've been practicing."

[prone_to_panic]

Archie grins at the youngster and motions to the seat next to his.

"I've got nothing but time, miss Makita. Show me what you've come up with , hm?"

[runmakitarun]

Makita nods and manages to tie decent version of a number of the knots Archie showed her before. A couple of the others she tries don't quite turn out right. She has been practicing, but she could barely tie a half hitch before, so she's got a lot to learn. Still, she's proud of the progress she's made.

[prone_to_panic]

He's proud of her too, and his smile shows it.

"You do learn fast, don't you?"

He gently corrects her hands.

"Don't pull so hard there, it's perfectly secure without it."

[runmakitarun]

Makita does as he instructs, but asks, "Why not? Can you make it too tight?"

[prone_to_panic]

"On some knots, it doesn't matter how tight you pull, the tighter the better. Some however, if you pull this bit too tight, you can't adjust this loop, see?"

[runmakitarun]

She tries to adjust the loop, but can't. "Oh, I see. It's got to be loose enough to slide if you want it to."

[prone_to_panic]

Archie smiles.

"Right, and then when you've got it secured around what you want, you can keep the loop from sliding with a much simpler knot right behind the first, see?"

He slides the loop around his wrist and ties a half hitch to keep the lose end from slipping.

"That way to oget it off, you only have to untie the little one."

[runmakitarun]

"Oh." Makita grins in understanding, "I wouldn't have thought of that. That's clever."

[prone_to_panic]

He picks the smaller knot open and slides the twine from around his wrist.

"That's one thing you can use that one for, but it's not the best knot for, say, securing something to a smooth rod. For that, you need a knot that won't slide at all."

[runmakitarun]

Makita tilts her head curiously, "How do you do that? Won't the rope slide no matter how tight it is?"

[prone_to_panic]

Archie glances around for something he can use as an example.

"The trickis that you have to give it enough surface area to produce enough, er, friction that it doesn't so easilly. You have to wrap the rope around it tightly and very close together. A lot of rope doesn't slip nearly as easily as just one loop."

[runmakitarun]

"Sort of like... the way you can hold onto something better with your whole hand than with just one or two fingers?"

[prone_to_panic]

"Exactly!"

He grins, pleased.

"It's all about the ammount of friction you can create."

[runmakitarun]

She grins, she's beginning to understand.

"So... there are special knots for that, right?"

[prone_to_panic]

Archie nods.

"Aye, there are quite a few."

He finally manages to find a broom handle to demonstrate a fairly simple one."