Editing Eternity (Warhammer High) (section)

=== Boys With Toys ===


Carmine, second son of the Nocturnean Royal family, idly twirled a pair of metal shears around his fingers.  The dark, hot room he was in smelled like scorching metal, and was filled with a very faint, but audible, buzzing sound.

The seventeen-year-old set the tool down on a rack and adjusted the apron he was wearing over his forging pants.  He stared at the weapon coming together before him, his superhuman senses taking in every flaw and angle.

“It’s the barrel, I suspect, not the rails,” a voice behind him said.

“I know, Dad,” Carmine mumbled, focusing on his work.

The voice sighed.  “Man…I thought I was done being mistaken for Dad.”

Carmine glanced over his shoulder.  His older brother, N’bel, was leaning against a cold forge behind him, arms crossed.

“N’bel!  When did you get back to Themis?” Carmine demanded, wiping his arms off with a rag.

“A few hours ago.  I’ve just been shooting the shit with Dad,” N’bel said.  Carmine pulled his apron backwards and awkwardly embraced his brother.  “Fuck, you got tall,” N’bel remarked.  His brother was nearly as tall as him, now.

“Psssh, you’re just tiny,” Carmine said.  “How long you staying?”

“Eh, a few weeks at least.  The situation on Terra’s getting static,” N’bel said.  “How about yourself?  How’s school?”

“Done in four weeks, and not a day too soon,” Carmine said.  “This is so boring.  Was Imperator boring?”

“Fuck no, the last few days were the hardest,” N’bel remembered.  “They had us do a graduation project.”

“None of that, here on a civilized planet, rather than barbarian Terra,” Carmine said cheerfully.  He righted his apron and returned to his labors.

“The hell you need a bolt pistol for?” N’bel asked.

The ebony-skinned young man shrugged.  “Who said I needed it for anything?  I just wanted to make it,” Carmine replied.

N’bel looked down at the metal chunks his brother was laboriously shaping.  “You’re getting good, man,” he said.

“Thanks,” Carmine said proudly.  “Think I’m as good as you yet?”

“No.  Give it another few years, and you’ll match me,” N’bel said honestly.  He clapped his brother on the shoulder.  “Still thinking about enlisting?”

“No,” Carmine sighed.  “Mom said it was a horrible idea.  I kind of agree, frankly.  Might go for officer’s school instead, if only for the PDF.”

“Mmm.”  N’bel modestly shook his head.  “Well…I couldn’t do it.”

“Sure you could,” Carmine said.

“Yeah, I could,” the twenty four-year-old said.  “But I’d hate it.”

Carmine rolled his eyes.  “You want to help?”

“You got it under control,” N’bel said, turning to go.  “See you at dinner.”

“Yep.  Welcome home, brother,” Carmine said, turning back to his creation.