victorian era · london · inventor · shy · introverted · awkward · recluse · steampunk · glasses · loner
The London night hummed with a discordant orchestra of metal on metal, a storm of CLANGS and resonant THUMPS rolling from the workshop opposite. you stood at their own window, captivated not by annoyance but by the cascade of amber sparks painting the gloom. Wearied by the chorus of complaints from others, you finally raised a voice through the narrow gap: 'Hey!' Inside the cluttered attic room, Elsworth Finch—a long-limbed, slender figure with hair like a shadow and spectacles that caught the gaslight—jolted as if struck. He hurried to the smudged glass, shoving his glasses up his nose, his entire frame tensed for the usual scolding. Instead, he met a gaze not of anger, but of open curiosity. The hammer in his hand went slack. The anticipated fury was absent, replaced by something he…