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Blackstone Foundry and Forge, Wednesday

Fjord had been mildly concerned, after yesterday, about the idea of going to work at the forge today. Not that he didn't enjoy the work, but given that he couldn't so much as hold his hand out yesterday without summoning his falchion (and that he'd been stuck mid-summon at one point and that was an experience he didn't care to ever repeast), he'd worried that there wasn't much he'd be able to do here anyway.

Surprise seawater splashing around the place while working with superheated metal would have been... not great.

Fortunately, things were back to normal today, which meant that after he came in and made damn sure everything was in its usual working order, he was setting himself up with the sword he'd been working on, throwing a lot of yesterday's frustration into the swing of a hammer and the shaping of his first blade.

It wasn't perfect by any means. It still needed a bit of fine-tuning. But he felt like he was getting a feel for the way the metal reacted to certain blows with certain hammers, and was feeling pretty good about it overall.

Anyway, it took his mind off of yesterday, which really was the best part of all of this at the moment.

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Since Amaya was able to spend her morning in front of her coffee maker actually making coffee and not pounding on it like it was a sword in the works boded well for the day. She didn't feel the need to just stand around, waiting for someone to talk to her, or continue an endless cycle of fruitless work until interrupted, either (well, not any more than normal on that last one, she supposed).

But she figured there was one big test to apply to make sure everything was back tomorrow and yesterday was just one of those....delightful little flukes that she'll never have to talk about again.

"'Morning, Fjord," she said as she came down, lifting his mug to let him know she was setting it on the worktable for when he was ready for a break, seeing as he'd already gotten right to work.

Then her shoulders sagged in a sigh of relief. "Thank the stars," she said, "my own words! And I didn't call you 'Muscles.'"

Not...that it wouldn't have been accurate, of course.

Well, that earned a pause in the working for Fjord to glance Amaya's way, eyebrow raised slightly.

"'Muscles?'"

He appreciated the coffee, Amaya, but needed to just take this moment to go, 'what?'

And Amaya just waved a hand dismissively. "Just part of yesterday's....whatever the heck that was this time around," she explained. "When I wasn't stuck in a corner somewhere thinking I was working on a weapon, I guess I was having a completely one-sided conversation at anyone who'd listen, thinking I was talking with someone called Muscles."

To be fair, it had been a shirtless Kaidan that had prompted that particular cut scene, so it was pretty easy to see why NPC-Amaya might have gotten a bit confused.

"Huh," Fjord replied, glancing at his sword for a moment, and then shrugging and smiling crookedly. "Well, I appreciate that you're back to yourself, then."

Because really, being called Muscles by Amaya would've been awkward.

Once Beau was reasonably sure the world around her wasn't about to go as completely berserk as it had yesterday, because she really didn't feel like getting caught in a loop of trying to walk up some stairs or something, she decided to go and do a little bit of exploring.

Which, when she came across the forge, turned into "doing a little bit of bothering Fjord," which somehow seemed like the thing to do.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she yelled from the doorway. Unnecessarily loudly.

"Beating on hot metal with a hammer," Fjord called back, not missing a beat.

Literally. The hammer fell down on the sword again a moment later.

Beau snorted in amusement. "If that's what you're into, man, sure. Did yesterday fuck with you too?"

Though not inaccurate!

"You and me both," Amaya snorted. "You come out of yesterday unscathed, though?"

She was...not exactly in a state of mind to notice most things.

"A little," Fjord agreed, "though I'm given to understand I had it easy compared to some folks."

He paused a moment, set his hammer aside, and quenched his sword, turning to look at Beau as he dusted his hands off afterward.

"Every time I held out my hand, I found it was suddenly full. Got stuck that way for a while, actually. You?"

"More or less," Fjord agreed. "If the worst that happened is I went through a day without eating, I'll cope. It wasn't a great time, more frustrating than anything. Can't say I went around calling people 'Muscles,' though."

There was a lightly teasing note in that, yes. Apparently he was comfortable enough with Amaya to actually do some experimenting with 'lightly teasing.'

"I got chased by chickens," Beau said in a tone of infinite disgust. Not at the chickens, just at the sheet absurdity of having to admit to being chased by birds. "And there was a two headed cow in my bathroom. The going through walls was kind of cool though. Like it would be if I could control it."

She gestured toward the sword. "You made that?"

"Chickens?" Huh. Come to that, going through walls would be pretty cool, Fjord had to admit. At least to himself. On the outside, he was going to just be blatantly amused about chickens.

"I made it," he agreed a moment later, regarding the length of metal thoughtfully. "I took an apprenticeship here to fill the time; this one's my first."

He didn't seem to have fucked it up too terribly or anything yet, if he did say so himself.

"Can I . . ." Beau considered for a moment. "Can I take a look at it? I'm not like an expert or something, so I'm not going to tell you the balance is off by the width of a straw or whatever, I just want to check it out."

Weaponry at the Cobalt Soul had extended to maybe a handful of monks who preferred shortswords, but nothing more explicitly intended for battle than that.

Did you want to be called Muscles, Fjord? Because that's how you got called Muscles.

"I'd watch it if I were you," Amaya warned, willing to take that light teasing and volley it right back with a note of challenge. "Just because I did stop doesn't necessarily mean I will."

And while Amaya was certainly no slouch herself in that category (she literally couldn't afford to), there was no doubt on who'd win that contest between the two of them.

Fjord considered that request, and then smiled, shrugged, and lifted the sword again for her to look at.

"Careful, it'll still be hot to the touch," he cautioned. "That forge isn't exactly cold."

It was a simple longsword, nothing quite so elaborate as his falchion, for all that his falchion could be considered elaborate, either. It was, undeniably, a sword-in-progress, at the very least.

Fjord would remind himself that, coming from a human, it probably wasn't even meant ironically! After all, so far as half-orcs were concerned, he was positively svelte.

And besides, it wasn't like she'd be calling him Tusks or anything.

"Why, were you hoping to keep that up?" He raised his brows in... curiosity? An answer to her challenge? Possibly some combination of the two.

Edited 2018-11-07 22:13 (UTC)

"I know, I know," Beau grumbled, though there wasn't as much real irritation behind the words as there usually was. It still didn't mean she was going to be especially careful, and did have to yank her hand back with a muttered curse before finding a safe way to pick up the sword.

Well. Sword in progress.

"Ha, check me out," she announced, swishing it experimentally in the air once or twice. Just . . . indulging the remnant of the kid who'd just wanted to be a fencer, if only for a few seconds. "Do I look badass?"

Not really, no.

"No," Amaya said firmly with a laugh. "Absolutely not. And hopefully Kaidan's not feeling keen on keeping the nickname, either. That's the weirdest thing about it, too." Well, maybe not the weirdest, but it was up there. "Can't think of anyone I've ever even called Muscles before. I have no idea who I thought I was talking to back there."

"Probably the same person I was trying to attack every time I reached out my hand," Fjord offered. The hammer came down on the sword a few more times. He was really getting into this. "Contrary to whatever the island was thinking yesterday, there actually are some situations where it's better not to have a sword in your hand."

"Exceptionally badass," Fjord replied, giving her a crooked smile as he leaned back to ~~supervise~~ observe, arms crossed over his chest. "Ever use one of those things before?"

He had... a doubt or two.

"Mmmmm, I don't know," Amaya grinned faintly as she tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think I might have to side with the island on that one, though. I assure you, my bias is purely business on that. Speaking of which, how is the sword coming along? Think you're getting a a good feel for it?"

"Sure," Beau said, and technically ~~(hi, Jester)~~ it was true, if you counted goofing around with one and not actually using one in a fight. ~~Or maybe it was true, who knows at this point?~~ "Been a while though. It's not really my thing any more."

"It's been an interesting exercise in learning how the metal works under different hammers and different amounts of force," Fjord noted, nodding toward it. "It's beginning to look like something, though. That's promising?"

Hopefully!

"Fair enough," Fjord replied, looking her over thoughtfully. "So, what is your thing?"

Arm wraps, staff, he could manage a guess, but was going to ask anyway. Because conversation. With someone from somewhere reasonably close to home.

Yes. Please.

"Just looking to make some money, you know." Beau shrugged, nowhere near ready to actually admit her affiliation to the Cobalt Soul out loud. "That's kind of what I was trying to go for before I took my little detour to this place, just like taking a little tour down the Amber Road."

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Blackstone Foundry and Forge, Wednesday

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