Annoy 🆕 Premium

Elias gripped his tweezers tighter. Focus, he told himself. He lowered the hairspring into place. Wheeze-puff. Wheeze-puff.

"Toby," Elias said, turning slowly in his swivel chair. "Do you know what 'annoy' means?" Elias gripped his tweezers tighter

"Toby," Elias called out, his voice a low vibration of restrained irritation. "The solvent. Is it applied?" Wheeze-puff

"Almost, Mr. E!" Toby chirped, followed by a wet, clicking sound as he popped a piece of gum. "Just making sure I get into the nooks. And the crannies. Can't forget the crannies." Snap. "Do you know what 'annoy' means

It wasn't a melody; it was a rhythmic, airy wheeze-puff that seemed to emanate from the next room where his new apprentice, Toby, was ostensibly cleaning the workbench. It was the kind of sound that didn't just reach the ears; it vibrated against the teeth.

Toby looked at the floor, then back at Elias, his eyes wide. "I... I can help find it? I have a magnet!"

Elias closed his eyes, counting to ten. A magnet on a mechanical watch was like a flamethrower in a library. "Just... go to lunch, Toby. For three hours."