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[sometimesboth]

She still didn't quite understand the concept of it, but Kate was willing to give it a try. She liked the idea of making something different (and BIG), so she was in the rec room looking for books that would help her understand what a playground was, exactly

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[pokerplayereyes]

Ned was wandering, trying to get his bearings for the place. A copper learnt his beat through the souls of his boots. That damn box had given him a pair of strange shoes, black and white with rubber soles, too thick to feel anything through, so Ned was trailing his fingers along the wall as he walked.

When he walked into the room, an infernal noise started up. Ned managed to pick words out of the racket, I fought the law and the law won?.

Gods.

[sometimesboth]

Kate didn't usually pay much attention to the music box, mostly because she didn't quite understand it, and the music it played was still very foreign to her ears. Sometimes, though it was just so loud that it was impossible to ignore.

"I'm guessing it means you," she said to the man who had just entered. "I've never really had anything to do with either side of the law."

[pokerplayereyes]

"I'm a Watchman," said Ned, looking irritable. "Law's pretty much all I know how to do."

He scowled.

"Is there any way to turn that thing off?"

[sometimesboth]

"I don't think so," said Kate sympathetically. "I've seen lots of people yelling at it, but no one ever seems to be able to make it stop. Maybe someone more mechanically minded than myself might have some success, but I'm only a blacksmith. I don't really understand how the music gets in the box."

[shewhowasnot]

If Yalith had known about the bookshelf's...tendencies, she would have been even more baffled and intimidated by it. It was rather large, and had all sorts of the 'books' on it, and Calvin had explained that they were all stories or instructions inside. Which, to her, was quite a lot of stories.

She had been trying to get something for the twins to teach her from, though, and while she was not ignorant to be instructed only by pictures, she had come to the conclusion that if she linked the symbols and the images, eventually it would all make sense.

Unfortunately, she couldn't seem to find anything right, and she sighed.

[sometimesboth]

"Not finding what you're looking for?" Kate asked sympathetically. She definitely understood that. "It used to only give me books intended for little children, but now that I actually want things about them, it's not being very forthcoming."

[shewhowasnot]

"Are you..." Yalith looked at the woman, a little bit surprised. She didn't look pregnant. Perhaps she was caring for some of the children here. "Does it often not give the things a person wants?"

[sometimesboth]

"I think it gives people what it wants them to have." Kate saw the way the girl was looking at her, and it made her laugh. "It's for a project, not for myself. There are a good many children here, and apparently it's a common thing for them to have... devices to play on. Not where I'm from, though, so I've been looking for pictures and things. A thing's worth doing right, if it's worth doing at all."

[peelingscales]

Eustace came in to see a dark-haired woman poring over books of children's play sets, big flat books with colourful pictures of slides and swings and jungle gyms. "Always wanted one of those when I was a boy," he said thoughtfully, turning his neck around to look at one which sported a red awning, two slides and a swing made of an old tire. "Did you have one, growing up?"

[sometimesboth]

"No, I didn't. I've never even imagined such things as this, built just for children," admitted Kate. "I had a doll I was very fond of, though mostly I liked to play with my father's tools when he wasn't looking. Which was a bit dangerous, and now I understand why he'd take a switch to me when he caught me."

[peelingscales]

Eustace grinned, finding it easy to picture this woman as a small girl exploring things she shouldn't. "My cousin Lucy was like that," he said, mostly suppressing the pang that still came whenever he thought of her being gone. "She was always exploring, getting herself into trouble." Though Lucy's penchant for getting into trouble had led to all of them getting into Narnia, for which he thought none of them would fault her.

[chris_cutter]

It'd turned out that building a playground was a bit more work than Chris had first anticipated. Easier in some respects, yeah, but more difficult in others. Which was why he'd decided very early on to let Duck and Stu handle the more complicated things while he focused on building the fort and the sandbox.

However, building a playground was also turning out to be a hell of a lot more fun, which made the time go a hell of a lot faster. Fast enough that lunch seemed to sneak up on him and he walked into the Compound with a bright (if kind of dirty) smile on his face when he saw Kate in the rec room.

"Hey," he said, voice cheerful as he wiped a hand over his sweaty forehead and joined her at the bookshelf. "How's that slide coming?"

[sometimesboth]

"Well, I don't think it'll be very difficult." Kate looked up from the book she was studying, which had pictures of very elaborate children's play sets. "At least, it won't be if we make it simple. I'm not sure I have the tools to make a twisty one like this."

[chris_cutter]

Tilting his head a little, Chris tried to peer over her shoulder and gave a shrug, still grinning brightly. "I think simple's all we need anyway," he said easily. "Will you need help?"

[willbewonderful]

Duck peers at the woman in front of the bookshelf, then at the stack of books under his arm.

"Uh, think I got 'em all, already," he says guiltily. He's never spoken to her before, but a blacksmith on the island is exciting enough that Duck knows who she is, and what she must be doing here in the rec room. "Kate, right?"

[sometimesboth]

"Yes, Kate. Hello." She eyed the books he'd taken from the shelf with interest. He seemed to be studying the same subject she was. "Share?" she suggested.

[willbewonderful]

Duck holds them out to her. "You can have 'em. Already found what I was looking for." Once his hands are free, Duck puts them in his pockets, his gaze on the ground almost shy. "So, you're going to make that slide, eh?"