Blackstone Foundry and Forge, Wednesday

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord was only dimly aware of any sort of holiday today, mostly by virtue of movie night last night. And, since it wasn't his holiday, and he figured he hadn't been told to do otherwise by Amaya, he was dutifully showing up for his shift (and his lessons) at the Forge.

He'd started on a sword last week. This week he intended to make some progress on it. But first, a check to see if there was any other work left out for him to do today before he got lost in his own project, which meant he was sharpening a few blades and then gathering some scrap steel all into one place to be melted down for use later.

It still wasn't life on a ship, but at least it was keeping him busy. He appreciated that.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[special_rabbit]

It couldn't be helped. Her canon demanded it.

"Well, I don't recommend it," Amaya offered, "if you can all help it. Which you usually can't, but..."

She shrugged, taking a good, much needed swig from her mug.

"Enough about that. You're in the mood for work, and here I am, just yammering on. And if I'm not mistaken, you've got yourself a sword that needs shaping."

[built_fjord_tough]

"That I do," Fjord agreed with a grin. "I've been looking forward to getting back to it all week, if I'm being honest. Both my other jobs around this island are a little more idle than I'd like. You'd think the bar would at least be a little busier on Friday nights."

Being the last day of the work week, and all. They didn't have the same calendar back home, nah, but some things were universal.

[special_rabbit]

"If radio's anything to go by," Amaya mused, "it's Tuesday that's the busy day."

Because that made all sorts of No Sense at All.

"Maybe I'll have to swing in on a Friday, give you something to do at your other job, too. I could probably stand to spend a little more time," not working herself, "at the local watering hole, anyway. But you'll like this. It's a lot of the same, boring, repetitive, hard work, over and over. If you're not feeling this one tomorrow, then there just may be something wrong."

She grinned, then hitched her thumb over her shoulder. "Go ahead and make sure you've got the forge to a nice yellow heat, then grab your sword and thrust 'er in, and while that heats up, go find which hammer you think'll suit you best."

[built_fjord_tough]

"You know exactly what I like to hear, Amaya," Fjord drawled, giving an easy chuckle as he made his way over to check out the temperature of the forge. "The hard work part, I mean, though I won't complain about somebody else stopping by the bar on Fridays, either. I'm told I'm not a disaster with a rum and coke, if nothing else."

He could make them as a snake. That was an achievement.

[special_rabbit]

"I tend to stick with just your basic ale, anyway," Amaya shrugged. "Never bothered much with any of that fancy stuff."

Because rum and coke was so fancy.

"So what we're doing today is shaping the sword, and it's probably one of my favorite parts. Heating the metal gets it soft, and then you hammer it against the anvil to try to flatten it, lengthen it, thicken it it, give it a curve, whatever else you'd like to do with it, which sounds pretty easy, but it takes a little while to figure out how the metal responds to different kinds of hits. And that's not a bad way at all to spend the day, just getting familiar with heated steel and what to does, see if you can figure out how to make it do what you'd like for it to do. Different hammers'll do different things, too, so just see what you can come up with."

[built_fjord_tough]

"Sounds like it's a lot of learning by doing," Fjord mused. "I can appreciate that."

He nodded toward the forge.

"Second set of eyes here would be appreciated," he added. "I'm pretty sure this is right, but before I get started I'd still like a second opinion, if it's no trouble."

[special_rabbit]

"Wouldn't be much of a teacher if it was any trouble," Amaya countered, with a faint breath of a laugh, because she honestly never did imagine herself as much of a teacher. But it didn't take her long to make an assessment, nodding slightly. "Just a little more with the bellows, I think, and you'll be spot on. Not too much, just enough to make it glow a bit more. You eventually get to the point where you can just tell when it's right. I'm sure there's more technical ways to tell, but I've never had any need for 'em. And you'll want to make sure it stays about that way throughout, so make sure to keep up the heat as you're working, too."

[built_fjord_tough]

"Learn by doing," Fjord replied, smiling faintly and moving to work the bellows. "I can appreciate that. Sailing's a bit that way, too. Understanding the currents, knowing the winds."

It was difficult to keep a wistful note from his voice as he spoke. Fjord had only been here a short while now, and he was surrounded by water on all sides, and he still missed the sea.

[special_rabbit]

"Learn by doing," Amaya agreed with a nod, finding it difficult not to smile a little at that tone. "Take chances, be bold, trust your gut. Really no better way to do it, if you ask me."

[built_fjord_tough]

"Only way to learn from your mistakes is to actually take the risk of making them in the first place," Fjord agreed, working those bellows with a grin on his face. "So long as you're taking care to make the right ones."

The wrong mistakes while working with superheated metal could be disastrous.

Just like the wrong mistakes while on a ship in the middle of the ocean.