[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]
“You’re dwelling too much again,” Matt said. Thom startled slightly, not looking up right away, though the words sent a shiver down his spine.
Am I?
He frowned at the blank page of his sketchbook, then finally looked up toward his brother-in-law. “You think so?”
“Seems like it,” Matt said, flipping the scythe blade. He studied it for a few seconds before he eased it back into the embers of the forge to heat again. “Figured I’d call you on it before it got out of hand. That’s one of the reasons you keep me around, right?”
Thom grinned. “Oh, is that it?”
Matt shrugged, carefully shifting the blade. “Could be.”
“Not the only reason.”
“I didn’t say it was the only reason.” Matt looked back at him, smiling crookedly. “I’m serious, though. Don’t worry so damn much. You’ll give yourself an ulcer and I’m pretty sure we don’t have a good way to handle those right now.”
“Probably right,” Thom agreed, taking his pencil from over his ear and setting it to paper again. He started sketching out the lines of a large building, noting calculations along one side of the page, trying to work through in his head how it would be possible to build with the people and resources they had available, trying to sort out what else they’d need. Matt watched him for a few seconds more before he checked on the metal in the heat of the forge.
“You’ve got sketches of so many things you want to build,” Matt said quietly. “So many plans. Is there a list? A map?”
“I haven’t done a map in months,” Thom murmured. “Maybe not since the beginning. And a list…” he sighed. “What good would a list be? Priorities keep shifting.”
“I don’t know,” Matt said. “Reference, I guess. Something to help us set goals and tick off boxes.”
Thom paused, considering, then nodded a little. “Maybe I should,” he murmured softly. “Maybe I should.”
