[Hopetoun] A feast for the eyes.

[Vega]

58th Ashan, 721

"Righteo, then," Vega said, looking at Lars with a smile. "I got the ok from Darius, we're no longer busy buildin' the beacon. Lets get plannin' shall we?" Lars nodded and Vega smiled. "I've made a list of what we can do. So, what I want to do is have a chat an' bounce some ideas around." She gestured then to the people with her. "These are my cousins, Sian an' Lily an' Fi" There were general nods and greetings, people said hello to each other. They then sat down together. It was a nice trial, the weather was reasonable and they were meeting in Vega and Arlo's camp.

"Is Arlo around?" Lars asked and Vega shook her head. "He's off huntin', I think," she said, "Or cookin'." Whatever it was that he was doing he'd made himself scarce before someone started organising him into doing something, Vega realised. Sensible lad, all told. She made sure that everyone had a warm drink and snacks and were comfortable, and then she started to talk.

"Alright, so, Darius has given the go-ahead to have a feast on the 1st Ymiden with the excess stuff we've got from this season. All of us, together, an' we can sit out under the stars. I've got to be honest an' say that I'd like to give thanks to Xiur an' Daia, an' Saoire - all the Immortals who've helped us. But also, I want to make the focus us, the people of Hopetoun." Lars nodded. "So, I've got some lists," Vega said. Sian looked at her in surprise, but Fi grinned. Vega had trouble with reading and writing, but while that meant Sian and Lily expected her to just not do it, Fi understood Vega much better. She wouldn't let the difficulty beat her.

"So, we need to eat on somethin'. I'm thinkin' that we could make like a big long table what joins together or comes apart," Vega said. Lars glanced up from her lists which he was trying to read - Vega's penmanship was far from good - and he spoke his confusion. "Joins together or comes apart?"

"Yeah," Vega said. "So, if we make a table what's rectangular, an' another table what's exactly the same height, an' width, then on the underneath of both tables we have a bit what's stickin' out, an' another bit what hooks around a stickin' out bit - we can join them together there, or separate them. So, if we have those on the sides, all four, we can put our tables in a square, in a long rectangle, or in steps, sort of thing. Whatever we want." Lars shook his head slightly. "I wouldn't have thought of that," he said. "Well, we need to be able to use them again, don't we?" Vega was clear on that. "An' as the settlement grows, or where we use them changes, we need to be able to keep usin' them. That's the best way to do it that I can think of. I'm sure there's better, but it's like beds on the boats. We often have single beds what flick-flack together in order to become a double bed. Means you've got options."

Lars nodded. "So, we make the tables. But then, we need to make sure that we've got chairs" Vega said. "Foldin' chairs will be easier to store. They work for you?" Lars chuckled. "Yes. They work." "Good!" Vega exclaimed. "That means that they can be used in lots of places, too."

She was happy with that. "Now then, what's next?"

[Vega]

58th Ashan, 721

Lars looked at her, and Vega thought about it. "Actually, if we've got people sittin' at these tables, we need to make sure that no-one's bangin' their legs under there on a hangin' down hook what'll click with the clickedy-clack thing." To his credit, Lars simply nodded. He wasn't really sure what else he could do at this point. "So, I reckon what we do is make tables with shallow drawers underneath them, on the long side, an' the flickedy-flack thing is in between the drawers." He raised an eyebrow and then he sighed. "I'm not makin' no sense am I?" Vega grinned. It was fine, she knew that sometimes she had ideas and then, having had them, it was hard to explain.

"Right. Hold your handrail an' boop back a mo. Look. Here." Vega started to draw in the dirt on the ground. What she drew she then filled in one bit with some orange sand. "Right. So the big shape, that's the table. These four squares, the ones in the corners? They're the legs. They have a flickedy-flack thing too, they connect if we want them to. " Lars nodded. If he didn't ask what a flickedy flack thing was, he thought, this almost made sense. "Then," Vega continued, "these red bits, they're the drawers. They're not very deep, but they're deep enough that it means that people don't lift their legs for where there's the x's an' the hoops. Because those.." she looked at Lars and he grinned. "Those are also .... flickedy clacks?"

Vega chuckled. "Close enough, aye. So that means that we can connect the tables or not, an' people aren't goin' to be hurtin' their legs. Also, we get storage. " Lars considered it. Somewhere, he thought, she really knew what she was doing, if only he could somehow manage to translate her. "So, they won't be able to be folded?" That caused Vega to pause and she looked at it, then she smiled. "Yeah, they can. Look. If we hinge them so that they fold in the middle, on the horizontal, so that the top of the table touches - then the drawers jus' need to be secured closed an' the legs fold down the side."

Wincing at the mental gymnastics, Lars pictured it. "So, the drawers are underneath while the table is up and constructed, and are the outside when it's folded?" Vega nodded. "That's right. An' if we have them so they can secure closed, it means that we can store table linen an' cutlery an' gubbins like that in them, for next time they're needed."

He nodded. "That's very clever."

"Well, I am. An' I've had a lot of practice," she said. "At makin' space-savin' an' foldable things. Ok. I'm thinkin' that maybe we want to make benches, rather than individual chairs." He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Why?" Vega was tidying up her 'drawing' and she answered almost casually. "Well, if we're lookin' at storin' things, a bench can fold in on itself much better, an' it can be made to fold into three long planks. That bein' the case, it's easier to store. Individual foldin' chairs are more fuss-filled, an' we don't need that." Thinking about it, she concluded. "A bench, with a back, that'd work best, I think. Sian, can you put together some bench-cushions?" Sian nodded. "Easily done!" She was her usual chipper self and Vega smiled. "Thanks, love. Now, these benches. In the very middle of the seat, if we've got a bench, I can put a sort of indent, a small river for us to put some sand in. Orange sand in the winter, green in the summer. Keep our behinds warm or cool, dependin' on the season." Lars looked at her and shook his head slightly. "What makes you think of these things?" It was a genuine question.

"Survivin' in the wild means thinkin' of everythin'. It's a good philosophy to have. So, I think, ok, what do we need? A place to park my bum," she smiled. "An' if I'm parkin' it, I'd like to park it somewhere comfortable, an' warm or cool, dependin' on the season. Come to think of it, I'll put an indentation into the middle of the table, if I can, an' have it as a place to keep food warm." She grinned. "THere was a bit in the middle, between the drawers. I'll have that be a pair of small openin's what have lids an' can be filled with sand or have stuff put in them. Right."

Lars shook his head. "So, how do we go about making this?" Vega grinned. "I'm goin' to make two now. One I'll put together, an' the other I won't. That way, we'll have an example of what it's goin' to be, an' we'll have all the pieces needed. " He nodded. "Get me some wood, Lars, would you? I don't wanna be carryin' stuff." He got immediately on with it and Vega got to work.

First, she looked at the size of the table, and the height. That was important. She wanted it on the taller side, so that the drawers would fit, but she also needed to think about the center of it. Things needed to be reach-able if they were placed in the center and Vega decided on a four-plank approach. It folded then on the second plank, and that meant that there was less to do since she didn't have to cut widths, only lengths. Then, the legs, and the ability to 'lock' those in place, either together or apart, meant a few smaller pieces - but the fundamental leg was a large rectangle of wood. The hinges and so on were relatively easy - and the drawers were pretty straightforward. She worked by her usual method of measure, measure, cut and an hour later, she had a table. And, all the pieces needed to make one, alongside. Looking at Lars, she grinned. "Right, so this will seat four people, comfortably. You tell me how many we're makin' an' I'll go from there." He did some quick calculations in his head. "Can you make thirty of them?"

Vega shook her head. "Me? No." She smiled then, and gestured. "But us? Yes."