Picture for a Frame

Chapter 5: Help and Hindrance

Loungealot struggled to reconnect the broken bits of wire on the floor before him in Flicker's quarters. "Blast it, Flicker! Why did you have to make these gadgets so complex? How's anyone supposed to figure out how to repair the blasted things?" he said under his breath in a heavily disgruntled manner.

"Sir Loungealot? What on Earth are you doing?!" a high pitched voice called out from just behind him.

He turned around. "Oh, um, Princess Flame, I'm sorry that I missed you come in your highness!" Loungealot said, going into full supplication mode.

"Never mind that! What have you done to Flicker's magic net invention?! I've never seen it in such tatters!" She demanded an explanation, clearly growing angry.

"Oh...um...well....nothing really, your highness." Loungealot said sheepishly, trying to sweep some of the disconnected wires on the ground behind him with one foot.

Flame crossed her arms. "Really? It doesn't look it from where I'm standing!" she said with annoyance.

Loungealot looked down at the mess at his feet. "Well, it's only a slight set back, really. I'm sure I'll have it put back together in no time, your highness. It's all this electric sword polisher device's fault!" he said, pointing to the device on the floor just to his right.

"Oh, how so?" Flame questioned, squinting slightly in mistrust.

"Well, I had just wanted to give Flicker's collection of inventions a little dusting...they had gotten so dusty, you know...and I thought that that sword polisher might...speed the work up a little. It all went well at first, but....um...then it just, just went berserk! Completely out of control!" Loungealot spun the story while Flame imagined the scenario in her head.

"I think you mean it worked fine until you became impatient with it, and turned it up to the highest setting!" Flame suggested the alternate version of events.

"Well...I mean...who could have tolerated how slow it was going?! If you ask me, Flicker needs to go back to the drawing board on that one!" Loungealot said emphatically.

Flame looked unimpressed. She then began to scratch her lower jaw in contemplation of something. "Wait a minute....why are you dusting off Flicker's inventions? " she questioned. "That's most unlike you." she then added.

"Well, I had a bit of time left over after I made up Flicker's bed, so I thought I would start to work on dusting these off." Loungealot pointed to Flicker's bed.

Flame looked over and gasped. "Are those....iron nails you've pounded into the sides of the mattress?" she questioned in horror.

Loungealot walked over and seemed to showcase pride in the 'achievement'. "Yes, or 'Loungealot matress sheet staying spikes' as they'll soon be known....thought I'd have a crack at inventing something for a change! Securing the mattress covering sheet was so difficult, I decided to improvise and....wallah!" he explained.

Flame slapped her forehead at the stupidity of it all. "Sir Loungealot....how obtuse could you possibly be! Didn't you notice the tight strings in the corners of the sheet?! Those are meant to secure it to the mattress....you loop them over the corners of the mattress!" Flame exclaimed in amazement at the depth of Loungealot's ineptitude.

Loungealot looked momentarily cowed. "Um...yes...well...of course....if one...um...if one wanted to do things the every day, more boring way....I suppose you could do it like that!" he said, attempting to salvage what little pride he still had.

"I think Flicker might appreciate the 'more boring' way, Sir Loungealot!" she said, pausing for a moment and then continuing on. "Where..." she looked this way and that "where is Flicker, anyway? I wanted to speak to him." she asked.