Chapter 23: Carman's Choice

It had been a busy yet oddly quiet time at the workshop for the past week. Livre mused on how much life Carman brought to the shop, his personality when interacting with customers drew them in, inspiring wonder in the children in a way Livre couldn't match. Was it because he was the same age as them and was showing a lot of knowledge? Or was it because he was breaking difficult concepts into terms the children could understand? Or rather was it how he would take the time to answer the children's questions without getting annoyed like most adults tend to become?

Holding one of Carman's toys, Livre couldn't help but get captivated by the multiple moving parts and gears Carman had worked into the design. The particular fidget spinner had been made specifically for Livre, and he often found himself messing with it while on break or while in a lull between serving customers.

The ringing of the bell over the entrance broke Livre from his trance. "Good afternoon, welcome to Leschot's Clockwork Shop, here for toys and clockwork repair. What can I do for you today?"

"It's me, Carman." Said a child's voice, looking down over the desk Livre was surprised, "Ah, so it is, sorry about that I was once again mesmerized by this little gadget you made for me. It's function may be simple, but there's something about many gears spinning smoothly in tandem that just draws one's attention. Do you agree?"

Looking around Livre noticed that Ryuzu wasn't around, "I see that Ms. Ryuzu is out adventuring, were you getting bored in the apartment or something? I remember you wanted to take some time off to pick a school to apply to. Is there something you need from me?"

Carman walked around the desk and sat on the other chair while turning to face Livre, "Yes, I've been having a bit of trouble coming to a final decision, there are pros and cons for either of the schools, they have equal commute times, their facilities are up to date, and their teachers are up to standard with the curriculum being reviewed every 3 years to keep in touch with current understanding of clockwork engineering. However, one school teaches the civil engineering and the other teaches military engineering. I have uses for both, and have been leaning towards the military engineering school, but I keep finding reason why the other school might be good as well."

Carman continued to list reasons why each school had potential to aid in his future endeavors, at the end he asked Livre for advice.

"....so you can see where I am having trouble picking, I was wondering if you had any advice that could help me in this decision?" Said Carman

Taking a brief moment to digest the information Carman had just given him he found that none of Carman's points were wrong, infact it was clear he had been deliberating over them for a while and had weeded out most of unimportant details. In the end, he glanced at Carman and said, "Carman, while I'd be happy if you followed me in the field of civilian engineering, I'm sure that your talents could be better put to use in creating better technologies to protect people. I've seen how much information you gather from the broken gardemeks I have seen the notes on improvements you jot down on scrap paper. So long as you don't go down the wrong path and make weapons of mass destruction or let your knowledge and tech fall into the wrong hands, I am sure you will do amazing things, surpassing anything I could dream of. If you want to learn about civilian engineering l will teach you everything I know, it might be a bit out of date in places, but I'm sure that my knowledge can help you kickstart your development. I'm the end, it is up to you to decide the future you want to live, the school is just that, a school, it's a useful place for sure, but I have connections to other clockwork engineers who can help you get the information you want to develop. Never forget that I am here for you." Said Livre while parting the top of Carman's head, ruffling the redhead's shortened hair.

"Thanks Da-Livre." Said Carman, cutting himself off and correcting the last word with a bit of redness creeping up his face.

Livre's hand stopped as his mind froze, what did Carman almost call him, surely it couldn't have been what he was thinking right? A mischievous grin curled Livre's face as he lowered his head to Carman's level and pattern him on the shoulder, "What was that you were about to say Carman? come on, don't be embarrassed."

Carman flet a slight shiver work it's way down his spine as he noticed the single minded focus, no obsession that Livre seemed the have suddenly developed, he hopped down from the chair and circled around the desk. He didn't feel any danger from Livre, but the smirk he could see on his face was unsettling. The embarrassmenr from almost calling Livre "Dad" was working it's way throughout Carman's mind.

"Come on Carman, you can say it, no need to be shy.." said Livre as he stood up from his seat and started to walk towards Carman.

"Nuh uh, never" said Carman who bolted to a nearby cluster of shelves, Livre in pursuit running in the slow exadurated way adults tend to do when playing with small children.

Running and taking a few turn, Carman somehow made his way behind the desk and into the storage area, he quietly tries to catch his breath. He looked around the corner for Livre.

"Is he there?" Asked a voice behind Carman.

"No he doesn't seem to have....." Said Carman before realizing that he was supposed to be alone in this part of the shop.. slowly turning is head he came face to face to Livre.

"Boo"

If asked, Carman will rebuff any statement saying that he jumped three feet in the air and screamed increasing in both volume and pinch exponentially until it was so high only animals could hear him. Anyone who was in the nearby area on the other hand would say otherwise. Dashing off after Livre's scare, a few papers fell out of Carman's overalls landing on the floor as he dashed out of the workshop leaving behind a laughing Livre.

After recovering from his laughter, Livre stopped over to pick up the papers Carman had dropped, unfolding one of them, tears were brought to his eyes, not from laughter this time but a cocktail of emotions including joy and surprise as he saw the adoption paper with Carman's careful signature on it.

-To be continued