Melanie & Layton, Rated G
“How’s it going?” Layton asked as he climbed down into the subtrain, where Melanie was hard at work with a few other engineers to replace a broken part.
“Pretty good,” Melanie replied, standing up to turn and acknowledge him, “Will you look at this? I have a quick question for you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Layton’s brow furrowed a little in confusion, “Not sure how I can help you though-you’re kinda the expert around here.”
She smirked playfully at that, “Look. We don’t technically have to replace this part now, but it’s going to become a problem eventually.”
“How soon?” Layton asked.
“Dunno,” Melanie shrugged, “Could be a few weeks or a few years.”
“So what’s the catch?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The catch,” she gestured towards the part in question, “Is that it’s getting to be on its last legs, and when it goes out, it could go out with a bang depending on the weather. If we hit track turbulence at the same time…”
“Okay,” Layton sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face, “How long will it take to replace it, and what will the cost be?”
She explained, and they went back and forth for a bit. Eventually Layton decided to err on the side of caution, letting her fix it. He usually deferred to Melanie on things related to the upkeep of the train-she knew it best, after all.
Then, he left to let her continue fixing the train, trusting her enough with their lives to let her be.