Dresden Files: Some Assembly Required
Sep. 19th, 2007 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
awanderingbardTitle: Some Assembly Required
Characters: Harry, Bob
Rating: G
Verse: TV
Word count: 819
Summary: Home renovation. Pre-Series. Set a little while after Checkmate.
Author's Notes: For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
killash, who asked for 'Bob/Harry friendship'.
“Harry, it is a screwdriver, not a dagger, I don’t believe you are supposed to hold it like that.”
I paused in my carpentry to glare at Bob, then returned to the screw I was working on. “If it works, I can hold it however I like.” I finished tightening the screw. “Alright, what’s next?”
“Attach Panel C to Piece F, using L-bracket 4,” he read, hesitantly.
“You don’t sound very certain,” I noted.
“Yes, well I am attempting to translate from Swedish, Harry,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, why don’t you look at the English instructions, Bob.”
“They are on the other side of the sheet,” he explained. “I have a choice of Swedish, Japanese, Arabic, Cantonese and what I believe might be Sanskrit.”
“Just turn the -” I began, then remembered to whom I was talking. I extracted myself from the mess of building materials and walked over to the shelf I’d recently put up. I got the instruction sheet, looked it over until I found the English instructions, then placed it back upright. “How many languages do you speak, anyway?”
“Seven,” he replied. “I read fifteen, although four of those are obsolete.” I gaped at him. “I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, Harry.” He moved his eyes back to the assembly instructions. “Yes, I was right. Panel C to Piece F via L-bracket 4, which is the one formerly by your left foot.”
I went back to the mess and started to attach. The mess was almost starting to look like a table now. The room was starting to look more like a lab too. I had one under a trap door in the living room, but Bob didn’t do up and down well. If I left him in there, he’d be stuck. On the main floor, he had pretty much full reign of the place. The basement lab was hard to get to in an emergency, as well, and I had this space I wasn’t doing anything with. A bit of masonry (by hired professionals) and I had a secret room in the wall. Empty, though. I was adding to it as I had the money. Which is why I was now putting together a table. Working on the floor is hard on your jeans.
“Panel C and Piece F are now attached,” I announced.
“Alright.” Bob scrutinized my work like used to look at my homework. He nodded, satisfied and looked back to the instructions. “Attach Piece G to the assembly you have just created, see diagram.” He pointed. “There.”
“Gotcha.”
I added another leg to the table. “We are now bipedal.”
“It says to repeat steps 12 through 18 using the remaining pieces,” he said.
“Uh...wanna read steps 12 through 18 again?” I requested.
He sighed. “Very well. Join Side Panel A to Side Panel B.”
I selected two pieces of wood and tried to figure out how they connected to each other. After flipping them around a few times, I attached L-Bracket 6 to them and proceeded to connect Side Panel C to B.
“That piece is upside down,” Bob said.
“It is not!” I objected, strongly. I looked at it and decided it probably was. I undid the screw and fixed it. “Aren’t you supposed to be manning the instructions? That’s your job. My job is to put the table together.”
“If you put the table together wrong, Harry, it will just make more work for both of us in the end. Besides, if you had it your way, we wouldn’t look at the instructions at all and the table would end up being thrown out after you lost patience with it.”
I moved onto the next step. “Instructions are for the non-adventurous, Bob. I don’t need them.”
“Remember that birdhouse you made when you were fifteen?” he said.
“Birds lived in that house,” I pointed out.
“Yes, a family of robins that could no doubt afford anything better than the slums of that birdhouse. It was the low income family of the avian world.”
I grinned. “Well, we’re the low income family of the homo sapien world, Bob. Don’t be too judgmental.”
He sighed heavily. It took around an hour for us to get the table completely done, excluding the fifteen minutes spent looking for a screw that had gotten stuck in the treads of my left runner. I flipped the table upright and took a step back to examine it. It wobbled.
“It’s crooked,” Bob said. “You should tighten the right leg, there.”
I retrieved a thin book from one of the shelves and stuck it under the leg. The table no longer wobbled.
“Voila,” I declared. “Fixed.
“I suppose, if you wish to settle for mediocrity,” he sniffed.
“Get used to it, Bob,” I told him. “My life is just one mediocre achievement after another. Just be Zen about it.”
“Could you move my skull from the fish tank now?” he requested. “It’s rather undignified.”
I retrieved the skull and set it down in the centre of the table. “There. Welcome home.”
“Thank you, Harry.”
“No problem, Bob.”
Characters: Harry, Bob
Rating: G
Verse: TV
Word count: 819
Summary: Home renovation. Pre-Series. Set a little while after Checkmate.
Author's Notes: For
killash, who asked for 'Bob/Harry friendship'.“Harry, it is a screwdriver, not a dagger, I don’t believe you are supposed to hold it like that.”
I paused in my carpentry to glare at Bob, then returned to the screw I was working on. “If it works, I can hold it however I like.” I finished tightening the screw. “Alright, what’s next?”
“Attach Panel C to Piece F, using L-bracket 4,” he read, hesitantly.
“You don’t sound very certain,” I noted.
“Yes, well I am attempting to translate from Swedish, Harry,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, why don’t you look at the English instructions, Bob.”
“They are on the other side of the sheet,” he explained. “I have a choice of Swedish, Japanese, Arabic, Cantonese and what I believe might be Sanskrit.”
“Just turn the -” I began, then remembered to whom I was talking. I extracted myself from the mess of building materials and walked over to the shelf I’d recently put up. I got the instruction sheet, looked it over until I found the English instructions, then placed it back upright. “How many languages do you speak, anyway?”
“Seven,” he replied. “I read fifteen, although four of those are obsolete.” I gaped at him. “I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, Harry.” He moved his eyes back to the assembly instructions. “Yes, I was right. Panel C to Piece F via L-bracket 4, which is the one formerly by your left foot.”
I went back to the mess and started to attach. The mess was almost starting to look like a table now. The room was starting to look more like a lab too. I had one under a trap door in the living room, but Bob didn’t do up and down well. If I left him in there, he’d be stuck. On the main floor, he had pretty much full reign of the place. The basement lab was hard to get to in an emergency, as well, and I had this space I wasn’t doing anything with. A bit of masonry (by hired professionals) and I had a secret room in the wall. Empty, though. I was adding to it as I had the money. Which is why I was now putting together a table. Working on the floor is hard on your jeans.
“Panel C and Piece F are now attached,” I announced.
“Alright.” Bob scrutinized my work like used to look at my homework. He nodded, satisfied and looked back to the instructions. “Attach Piece G to the assembly you have just created, see diagram.” He pointed. “There.”
“Gotcha.”
I added another leg to the table. “We are now bipedal.”
“It says to repeat steps 12 through 18 using the remaining pieces,” he said.
“Uh...wanna read steps 12 through 18 again?” I requested.
He sighed. “Very well. Join Side Panel A to Side Panel B.”
I selected two pieces of wood and tried to figure out how they connected to each other. After flipping them around a few times, I attached L-Bracket 6 to them and proceeded to connect Side Panel C to B.
“That piece is upside down,” Bob said.
“It is not!” I objected, strongly. I looked at it and decided it probably was. I undid the screw and fixed it. “Aren’t you supposed to be manning the instructions? That’s your job. My job is to put the table together.”
“If you put the table together wrong, Harry, it will just make more work for both of us in the end. Besides, if you had it your way, we wouldn’t look at the instructions at all and the table would end up being thrown out after you lost patience with it.”
I moved onto the next step. “Instructions are for the non-adventurous, Bob. I don’t need them.”
“Remember that birdhouse you made when you were fifteen?” he said.
“Birds lived in that house,” I pointed out.
“Yes, a family of robins that could no doubt afford anything better than the slums of that birdhouse. It was the low income family of the avian world.”
I grinned. “Well, we’re the low income family of the homo sapien world, Bob. Don’t be too judgmental.”
He sighed heavily. It took around an hour for us to get the table completely done, excluding the fifteen minutes spent looking for a screw that had gotten stuck in the treads of my left runner. I flipped the table upright and took a step back to examine it. It wobbled.
“It’s crooked,” Bob said. “You should tighten the right leg, there.”
I retrieved a thin book from one of the shelves and stuck it under the leg. The table no longer wobbled.
“Voila,” I declared. “Fixed.
“I suppose, if you wish to settle for mediocrity,” he sniffed.
“Get used to it, Bob,” I told him. “My life is just one mediocre achievement after another. Just be Zen about it.”
“Could you move my skull from the fish tank now?” he requested. “It’s rather undignified.”
I retrieved the skull and set it down in the centre of the table. “There. Welcome home.”
“Thank you, Harry.”
“No problem, Bob.”
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 04:35 am (UTC)I loved that Bob can speak so many languages. And I liked how Harry momentarily forgot that he couldn't turn the instructions over. Such nice details!
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 02:20 pm (UTC)funny
Date: 2007-09-20 05:35 am (UTC)Re: funny
Date: 2007-09-20 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 05:43 am (UTC)And I love that, because you put such lovely touches on this theme that, while the event occurring may be a "normal" one (playing chess, owning a cat, shopping for shoes, strugging with an instructions manual, etc....), there's always some wonderful thing that separates your fics from being just that.
In this case, we have a very nice throwback to Bob and Harry's former mentor/student relationship (Bob reading out the instructions for Harry), while also expanding on this particular aspect of them and showing little bits and pieces of how they got out of that phase and more into a friendship of sorts (Bob, without feeling like he has to, reveals a little bit about his past, even if that something is as non-dramatic as how many languages he can speak *g*). And this is done in such a way that it feels so very natural, with nothing about it being forced. The events just happen. They don't need a trigger. And it's very nearly poetic the way you write it out.
Your fics amaze me because I so very often strongly feel the sense of companionship that comes through the screen on their heels, and I often walk away from reading them feeling distinctly calmed. As I've said before, your stories remind me of nostalgia--the good kind, mind you, and I can't recall if you have ever disappointed with a theme.
“That piece is upside down,” Bob said.
“It is not!” I objected, strongly. I looked at it and decided it probably was. I undid the screw and fixed it.
Hee. I love Harry's stubborn refusal to admit that he'd screwed in a piece of the table wrong, followed by his quietly just fixing the piece as soon as he realized that, "oops. I did set that up wrong!" and the fact that Bob didn't gloat over having been right. It's so great about them, that they let each other get away with simple mistakes without shoving said mistakes in the other's face.
“Yes, a family of robins that could no doubt afford anything better than the slums of that birdhouse. It was the low income family of the avian world.”
Haha! Oh, yes. I can just picture Harry's poorly-fated mess of a birdhouse, all splinters and dried up glue and a corner just barely hanging in there. And Bob just shaking his head about the whole thing. *glee*
Well done, awanderingbard! Your fic has amused me. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 02:25 pm (UTC)And I love that, because you put such lovely touches on this theme that, while the event occurring may be a "normal" one (playing chess, owning a cat, shopping for shoes, strugging with an instructions manual, etc....), there's always some wonderful thing that separates your fics from being just that.
That's one thing I love about the books and TV show - nothing is just "normal" for Harry and that's entertaining for me. Everything is a challenge for him and I like exploring those little things we take for granted that would be hard if you were a wizard or if your daughter was a wizard or if you had to deal with a cranky ghost.
Your fics amaze me because I so very often strongly feel the sense of companionship that comes through the screen on their heels, and I often walk away from reading them feeling distinctly calmed. As I've said before, your stories remind me of nostalgia--the good kind, mind you, and I can't recall if you have ever disappointed with a theme.
Aww, thank you. *blushes* Thank you for your comment. I always feel very happy when I read your reviews. :D
no subject
Date: 2007-09-21 09:16 pm (UTC)Hee. Well. Thank you! I'm happy to have made you happy. ^_^
...I like exploring those little things we take for granted that would be hard if you were a wizard or if your daughter was a wizard or if you had to deal with a cranky ghost.
Yes! Like computers. Poor Harry can't Google!!!! O_O What a fate. *shudders at the thought*
So, what's next on your fic-writing schedule? Any ideas currently rattling the mental bars of your mind? =)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 03:17 am (UTC)I'm also hacking away at a Firefly fic that is being written insanely out of order and I don't know how exactly it might fit together. And I have a bunch of little mini!Dresdens ficlets in my head that I may type out eventually.
Thank you for asking. :D
no subject
Date: 2007-09-23 09:24 pm (UTC)Hee. This seems like something Harry might say about Bob. "He knows everything there is to know about just about everything, but darned if he doesn't forget about himself at times!" Sometimes Bob just gets caught in that "mode" and it takes a direct confrontation to get him out of it, I suppose. That's why he has Harry. *g*
And yay! mini!Dresdens! Such a joy when written out by you. I can't claim a familiarity with Firefly, but I've heard so many good things about it in so many places that I probably should seek it out to watch at some point.
Finally, I must express amazement at anyone who is capable of polishing off eight whole chapters, especially considering that I feel like screaming when I have to force myself to write out a chapter TWO. *googly eyes* It's just...astounding to me. Haha. I look forward to reading that! =D
no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 11:22 am (UTC)I don't do a lot of multi-chapter fics, because I tend to think in a non-linear way and I end up with all these pieces that don't fit together. Child's Play was the first multi-chapter fic I finished for any fandom. I prefer oneshots. :D
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 07:37 am (UTC)Thank you SO much. I loved it!
The Harry Bob banter is wonderful, and the "low income family of the avian world" had me in stitches.
LOL
I love how you give so many wonderful touches of humor to your fics. Not everyone can do that.
And the end was so nice, I loved the friendship message, so subtle.
It was there since the beginning, Harry was doing all that for Bob who didn't do up and down well. LOL
It was precious
I really loved it.
Again, thank you.
:)
Nighty nite,
Killash Enchanted
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-28 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-04 03:32 am (UTC)