Blackstone Foundry and Forge; Wednesday [10/27].

[special_rabbit]

When she wasn't having kids build seige weapons and flinging gourds into the great wild yonder, Amaya had been, of course, hard at work, and the results of that hard work had her bringing out the sandwich board again, neatly writing out a sign, and setting it outside the shop to garner everyone's attention as they passed by, hopefully After all, she'd gotten more than a few compliments on her mask at that party last week, and being able to turn a compliment into a business opportunity was definitely something Amaya prided herself on:

Homecoming 2021!
Monster Mash Mask Bash!

Don't be caught DEAD in any old mask!

Get yourself a custom-made metal creation from
BLACKSTONE FOUNDRY AND FORGE!

Unique designs! Surprisingly lightweight!
NOT SHARP!

There's still time!
Put in your order TODAY!

Satisfied with the advertisement (especially the pun, don't even), Amaya head back into the shop, where she had been trying to figure out the best way to arrange the practice dummies to better show off examples of the masks she was selling, because they were all wearing them now, which was a nice juxtoposition with the ones that still had a few daggers or throwing stars or arrows still stuck in them.

The Forge is open!

Comments

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight was walking down the street with an oversized duffle bag slung over his shoulder. The walk from his shop wasn't too long of one and while the bag over his shoulder was a bit on the heavy side, it wasn't totally unmanageable.

A short time later he was standing outside the forge, a smile on his face as he read the sign Amaya had set out. Walking in he called out with a wave.

"Hey Amaya! How's it going?"

[special_rabbit]

"Well, hey, there, Dwight," said Amaya, looking up from where she'd been focused on carefully weaving some gaue through the gaps in a small mask that was gearing up to be clearly inspired for a whole mummy ensemble. "No complaints! Hope it stays that way, too!"

And, of course, by now, she'd clocked the heavy back over his shoulder, and it very firmly took a grip on her intrigue.

"What's that you got there?"

[alwaysonguard]

"Oh I am sure with that kind of advertising" he said with a nod towards the sign outside "you are going to have plenty to do. But hopefully the mad rush waits until I can at least show you these."

Dwight walked over and set the bag down on one of the miraculously clear tables and slowly pulled the zipper open with a slight grin as he paused for a moment for dramatic effect.

"Got those first few prototypes done for the boxes I've been working on . Wanted to get your thoughts on them and see if you like them so far."

[special_rabbit]

Zounds, what Amaya wouldn't give for a rush like that! But for now, all that dramatic presentation managed to lock her interest in pretty tight, and once the boxes were revealed, Amaya didn't exactly let out an appreciative ooooh, but her expression looked like it was working up toward it.

"You know," she said, after a moment, of picking up a box and looking it over, giving the wood a light knock with her knuckles and then boldly taking a peek inside, "I'm thinking these look pretty great, Dwight, only they're missing one key thing..."

She trailed off conspiratorially, because she wasn't about to let him have a monopoly on the dramatics!

[alwaysonguard]

"And what might that be?" Dwight asked as he picked up one of the boxes himself and gave it a once over again.

He looked at Amaya expectantly. He had an idea of what she was going to say, but he was not about to ruin this little back and forth they had going.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya indulged in just a little more inspection before offering out her answer in an overly thoughtful tone.

"I'm thinking....what these really need...is a shiny new display case for them to go into!

"Now where in the world could I find someone who could put together something like that?"

[alwaysonguard]

"Hummm.... that is a tough one" Dwight mused, putting on a show of thinking quite intently for a moment. "I'm sure I can find someone with the skills and know-how to put something together. Or, I guess I could always come up with something.... given the right motivation" he added with a smirk.

[special_rabbit]

"Oh, well," Amaya mused right back, "I think there might be more than a few shiny gold pieces"--or modern monetary equivalent, rather, "--in it for you, if you think you might be up to the task. Or no one else manages to come to mind!"

[alwaysonguard]

"Ya know what? I bet I can come up with something" Dwight chuckled, giving Amaya a quick wink.

Because, there was never too many projects to have going on and no such thing as too much work. Which Dwight knew was a lie... but shhhh don't mess up his coping mechanism.

"Where would you want it set up?"

[stykera]

Stark, seeing the sign outside the forge while walking, was reminded that he had been considering looking for a backup for a very specific sort of mask for quite some time. Nearly a year, actually. Ever since his had been carried off by raccoons last Halloween.

"I didn't know you made masks," he said as he entered the shop.

[special_rabbit]

"It's a brand new enterprise!" Amaya informed him proudly. "Felt a little inspired," aka she realized there might actually be a market in it, "after last weekend's party!"

She gave him a bit of a grin.

"How've you been, Stark? Can't imagine why you might be interested in something like that..."

And this was her mentally kicking herself for not discovering this untapped market with a potential customer built right in sooner!

[stykera]

"There were a lot of masks there," Stark said with a small smile. "I wasn't the only one, for once. I was wondering...I lost mine, last year, after Halloween when I wasn't myself and the raccoons took it and... do you think you could make another? A spare? In case something happened."

Or in case some of his friends finally got around to bedazzling the Banik.

[special_rabbit]

It really was a shame, actually, that those friends had yet to properly bedazzle the Banik.

And Amaya's grin grew, as she heard the words she was hoping would come out of Stark's mouth the moment he came in.

"Oh, I'm sure I could," she assured him. "Doesn't even look that complex! Unless, of course, you were looking to do something special, and, even then, I'm always looking for a good challenge."

[stykera]

There were some traditionally sparkly winter holidays coming up that might offer prime bedazzling opportunities...

"It's not complicated, no." Stark shook his head. "And it needn't be fancy. It just needs to fit properly. Fit comfortably."

[special_rabbit]

Amaya nodded. Those were incredibly reasonable margins to meet.

But before she got into what she would need for that, there were a few more bigger picture questions she could think of.

"Any particular kind of metal? What's the one you've got now made of?"

[stykera]

"I'm not entirely sure what this one is," Stark said a little apologetically, reaching up to trace a finger along the edge of the mask. By which he meant he had no idea at all.

"It's fairly light." Which was a good thing.

[special_rabbit]

Amaya bit her lip for a moment, but, well, she'd probably have to ask this eventually, anyway, if she was going to get good enough measurements to make sure it fit...and comfortably, besides.

Just seemed kind of, well...a bit personal to do so, since you never really saw Stark without that mask...

"May I...see it?" she ventured, holding out an uncertain hand.

[sharp_man]

Hannibal smiled at the sign as he came in. "I wasn't certain you made things that weren't sharp," he teased. "Good afternoon, Amaya."

[special_rabbit]

"I'll admit," said Amaya brightly, "I was a little reluctant to include that detail on the sign, lest anyone get the wrong idea about the larger heft of my wares, but I was assured that, when it comes to certain things, it might actually be preferred."

She then met him with a grin, and a duck of her head in greeting.

"Good to see you, Dr. Lecter. I don't suppose you've come in to see about some silverware, by chance, have you?"

[sharp_man]

"I have," he said, still smiling. "Although I am also now curious about your masks. Where would you like to start?"

[special_rabbit]

"You're the one with the money," Amaya countered. "Client's choice."

[sharp_man]

"The silverware, then," Hannibal said. "What have you got for me?"

[special_rabbit]

"Silverware it is," Amaya agreed with decisiveness, and went behind the counter so that she could pull out a box, set it on the counter, and opened it up for him to see. "I've got examples of some of the designs I've been thinking of. Don't mind if some of the forks look a little off; it took me just a few tries to really get those right, if I'm perfectly honest, but you can see, the problem worked itself out nicely in the more recent ones. I included the others, because just look at the work on these handles! How could you just ignore a smart design like that!

"Of course," she added, "if none of these strike your fancy, Doctor, we can hopefully use them as a jumping off point."

[sharp_man]

"Of course," Hannibal agreed. He picked up a few and looked at them closely, running his fingers over the work.

"The scrollwork on this one is lovely," he said, holding one up, "but I prefer the shape of this one. A combination of stark and intricate."

[special_rabbit]

That scrollwork had almost required Amaya to go get her glasses to help her finish it, so it was particularly validating to have it be noticed. "Could always try a combination of the two, easily enough," she offered. "Maybe with a little alteration to the scrollwork to better reflect the shape. The two together as they are would just be kind of a mess, if you ask me."

At least, she thought so. She didn't know fancy from her left foot, really, so she could be entirely wrong. She did, however, have a budding interest in trying to understand fancy a little better these days, for no reason whatsoever, thank you.