<span style="font-weight: bold">Saturday, April 6, 1912 8:07AM</span><br/><br/>"Well,"<a class="postlink" href="https://creativefreedomrpg.com/viewtopic.php?p=347186#p347186">Leandro Matt</a>blew at his fingernails -- so unusually clean with nary a trace of black charcoal after two months of not working his usual -- as he stepped out of the taskmaster's office and into the hazy Southampton Docks air. "That was easy."<br/><br/>He wasn't really that desperate on hopping aboard<span style="font-style: italic">The Titanic</span>. No. It was more a self-challenge, to see if he could connive his way onto it. If he were serious about taking up a new line of work, he would have tendered his real name at the least. But no. Equipped with a fake name and a fresh writ of approval from the taskmaster, Leandro headed towards where the workers were already milling. The fact that labourers were already bustling before the break of dawn testified to the urgency of the matter. There was little time left -- three or four days -- for stocking up and furnishing before she would officially set sail. And that probably contributed to his hasty hiring.<br/><br/>But Leandro stopped mid-dock. Awestruck. Shell-shocked. When they said she was the biggest ship in the world, they weren't kidding! The coal miner paused to marvel at her awesome beauty, not truly appreciating her immeasurableness until now, when he actually stood there up close. Captain Ahab stood defiant before Moby Dick. Leandro cowered like a krill. He would recover eventually, his blue eyes trying to fathom how big she really was. From stern to bow, imagining each window the width of his shared boarding room -- more like a closet -- and... he lost count somewhere in the middle. Yeah, she's huge, alright.<br/><br/>"You there!" A foreman shouted, interrupting his calculating trance. "Stop slacking! Yeah, you! With the papers!"<br/><br/>Oh. Right. Well, that at least confirmed his ticket to ride. Leandro nodded with a smile.