Paying Tribute #2-2

It took more convincing than Gaol had originally anticipated, but after some arguing back and forth and explaining how important all other jobs were too in the eyes of their Queen, Gaol had managed to make Marble agree to another session of armour work.

“I really can’t believe you talked me into doing this again.” Marble sighed as the iggy duo made their way towards the armory.
“You better behave this time or he will not welcome you back. Surely you don’t want his club smacking your pretty face.” Gaol chuckled, and Marble just rolled his eyes at his casual compliment, as other’s opinions on his looks meant nothing to him. But Gaol knew this, he was just being annoying on purpose.

“I am sure you will find some joy in this, eventually.” Gaol also said.
“I highly doubt that.” Marble snorted. “But I did unfortunately promise you I would give it another go.”
“That you did. And I am happy to have you by my side here as well. We make a good team. Don’t let the type of work change that.”
Marble looked at Gaol for a moment before lightly smacking him with his tail.
“I know you’re right, but shut up.” Marble mumbled as they rounded the final corner to their destination.
Gaol couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s reaction. Telling him he’s good at his job is a sure way to get on his good side, and that was a fact he was sure to take advantage of today and tell Koi about as well. Anything to make him more manageable and obedient would be useful for this task, after all.

Greeting them in the door was Koi, yet again. Which was no surprise considering he was the one who had requested for them to return.
“Welcome back, gentlemen. Today, you are in for a real treat!” Koi declared as he proceeded to show them their workstation for the day.

“This is our quality control check! As you might guess, this is where we check to make sure all the equipment parts are in good enough condition to be assembled into full armour. Today, I shall be working alongside you to ensure that everything goes smoothly, though I would like a word with Gaol before we begin if that’s alright with you two?” Koi proceeded to explain.
“Fine by me.” Marble replied. “Do I just wait for your return?”

“You’re free to look at everything if you wish, but make no calls until I have been here to double check.” Koi replied, and Marble nodded before Gaol and Koi walked off.
A bit curious about this new task, he did look at everything and made mental notes of his opinions on everything already. Most things looked fine to him, but there were some potential issues he spotted that he would make sure to inform Koi of once they returned.
He looked over as they talked, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Not that he necessarily cared, he just wanted them to return so he could finish this shift as soon as possible.

“He does seem a lot less hostile today.” Koi said as he looked over at Marble.
“It took a lot of arguing to get him to understand that not just our job matters, but that all jobs are just as important, just in different ways.” Gaol sighed. “I’m hoping it will be worth it.”
“I do hope so, more reliable help is never a bad thing, we happily accept help from everyone we can.” Koi smiled.
“Oh that reminds me. Just make sure to compliment his work and efficiency and you are more or less guaranteed to be on his good side. Hearing he’s good at what he’s doing inflated that dinosaur’s ego more than anything. Which can be both a good and a bad thing at times.” Gaol chuckled. “Let’s get to work.”

Koi and Gaol made their way back to Marble, who was somewhat impatiently waiting at this point. It was by no means a long conversation, but he wanted to get started.
“Alright, I saw you were taking a look at these things Marble. Any initial thoughts?” Koi asked as they returned.
“Well, I would say these leather strips are compromised and would potentially be unsafe so I would personally send them back for repair or even scrap them fully and get entirely new ones. This plating also seems much looser than the rest, which surely needs to be fixed.” he started, and pointed at each thing he was talking about as he was talking, with Koi nodding along as he spoke.
“Very well observed, I have to agree. These things do not fit our standard for protective gear. Well done, Marble.” Koi said with an encouraging tone.
Now filled with inspiration, Marble was determined to keep working, and he refused to make any mistakes. Gaol smiled to himself as he walked off to the side and opted to help some euoplos out with polishing instead to give Marble the spotlight he so desperately needed to stay motivated. Koi saw him slip away and gave him a nod of approval, as he worked alongside Marble with inspections.
“I will bring over some finished pieces for a last quality check as well, if you’re up for the task.” Koi said to Marble with a smile.
“Sounds good. We will get this done in no time, you and I.” Marble relied, beyond excited over how well he was doing. He was so preoccupied he even forgot that Gaol had come there with him originally.

Gaol smiled as he looked over to Marble and Koi before introducing himself to two euoplos that he sat down by.
“Hello, my name is Gaol. I normally work in the dungeons, but this is my second time helping out here. I hope we all can get along well.” he said.
“Nice to meet you, I remember you from the other day. I don’t know what you did to tame that friend of yours but he certainly seems much friendlier now than when I tried to give him instructions last time. I’m Humla, by the way. And that is my adoptive brother, Salmiakki.” the light gray, saddled euoplo said, as she proceeded to point at the gray, curse euoplo to her side.

“Glad you made him behave.” Salmiakki said barely audible as he was deep into work, polishing a large piece of armour. He was as passionate and detailed as could be.
Gaol smiled at the sibling duo, happy that they remembered him being nice from last time. He happily got to work, sorting out and sending off the few things he found that needed repair before starting his maintenance work on the rest of the armours. Luckily, none of them were too small or inconvenient for his big feet to efficiently polish, so he could work at a nice pace without needing to ask for much help.

Salmiakki didn’t say much, but he often looked up at what Gaol was doing with a gentle smile, perhaps pleased to have some new company besides his sister, Gaol assumed. Humla also seemed amused to have more company, but he could tell she had to stop herself from talking. Her personality seemed to be rather bubbly, but talking and efficiently working didn’t necessarily go hand in hand.

After working for quite some time together, the armours for the day were all polished and cared for, and looking over at Marble and Koi, Gaol assumed that everything had gone smoothly during inspections as well.
“It was nice working together.” Gaol said to the euoplo siblings.

“The pleasure was all ours, we do appreciate everything you’ve done a lot!” Humla happily replied.
“Yes, thank you very much Gaol. We couldn’t have done this much without you.” Salmiakki added with a now much less subtle smile. “Do come back again.”
“I absolutely will, thank you.” Gaol replied, all fluttery from their kindness.

1331 words