fandomtownies | Blackstone Foundry and Forge; Friday [02/04].

Entry tags:

Blackstone Foundry and Forge; Friday [02/04].

It was very rare for Amaya to be down in her shop and distracted by something that wasn't her work, but somehow, through a chain of events that may never quite be clear or come to light, she had stumbled across something on her phone that morning and it had sucked her in and refused to let go. Even as she watched it all in repeat, she still found herself holding her breath through all the tension and the drama and the anticip...pation, before finally breathing out with the release and barely having enough time to recover until it moved onto the next one.

Eventually, she might be able to pull away, but if she did, it was probably just going to be to fetch the bolt cutters for herself, because zounds! If that wasn't quite possibly one of the most satisfying things she'd come across on the internet...

The Forge is open!

[[ yeah, I don't care that I'm probably going to get eaten by work, I couldn't have this enter into my life and not do this as a result. Link is arguably NSFW if you're a total weirdo like me lol ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was miserable out, still, which had threatened to put a real damper on Irene's wardrobe when she set out across town today-- but if one could not wear one's brand new cashmere cape and a pair of $500 rain boots on a dreary, terrible day, when could one? Was that not the point of having a cashmere cape?

In any case. It seemed like someone was in the Forge today, and Irene would never dream of passing up such an opportunity. Particularly when she had been on her way to the Perk to people-watch anyway -- much better to just pop in and watch one of her favorite people without leaving any of it up to chance, right?

"I don't know if I even knew you had one of those," she teased as she stepped in and caught sight of Amaya with her phone. (That was a fib. Irene would have never pursued a woman for this long without at least establishing that a phone number existed for her somewhere.) "I don't suppose there's some sort of extensive Blacksmith Twitter scene or something?"

"Hmmmm?"

Vaguely aware that someone must have entered the shop, Amaya turned her head toward the sound of a voice, but those bright blue eyes stayed locked onto her phone. After all, the pressure being squeezed onto the thin, ridged rebar was was finally causing it to swell toward that final breaking point, and any moment nooow....

The bar finally snapped, clean and sharp, and Amaya let out a long breath of all that air she'd been holding, and if that wasn't quite possibly one of the most singularly satisfying things in the...

She seemed to recall that she was about to do something. Right. Someone had come into the shop. She paused the video quickly before the next one could suck her in, as well, and she opened her mouth to get out a greeting as she finally looked to see who it was, and...

"Ah." She blinked a few times as if to confirm. "Irene."

Oh, of course it bloody was!

It was entirely possible that Irene had some sort of secret sixth sense that would have drawn her here no matter what today, because whatever was on Amaya's phone now seemed like it must be much better than Blacksmith Twitter, and maybe much more up Irene's usual alley, so to speak. (Though, imagine the hashtags! Imagine the petty feuds over, like, welding or something!)

"What," Irene asked, her own bright blue eyes raptly fixed on Amaya and her phone and whatever was on there, "are you watching?"

Because. Well. Irene would like to see that reaction again, please, regardless of what was apparently so satisfying on that phone. Irene was hoping someday she could inspire something like that reaction in Amaya, really, but for right now she'd just take the privilege of seeing a repeat performance.

And, just like that, all the various shades of red that Irene had witnessed playing across Amaya'a cheeks at various times all seemed to fade into but pale remnants of the brilliance that was darkening her face in that moment.

"What?" she asked. "Who? Me?"

She looked down at the phone in her hand, then up at Irene, and then promptly moved to hide that hand behind her back.

"Nothing!" she insisted, but even she knew that this was not helping her case at all, and so she quickly amended. "Blacksmith secrets."

And instead of hiding the phone, she just chucked it over her shoulder, as if to better her chances of denying that it was ever in her hand to begin with, wincing slightly at the ensuing crash that told her that, yup. Yup. Probably going to need a new one of those now...

Face managing to find just one more shade of red to discover, she still defiantly lifted her chin to add, staunchly, "If I told you...I'd have to kill you."

"Oh, I'm pretty hard to kill, but I fully invite you to try," Irene assured her casually, looking at where the phone had crashed with a wince before turning her gaze back to Amaya. "Must have been something really good."

This was kind of her favorite day, right now.

"You're all red," she added, extremely helpfully. And, you know, Irene was visibly thrilled by all of this, for lots of reasons, but she also was never one to leave a thread dangling. "Absolutely gorgeous."

Goddamn that almost-certainly broken phone. She'd probably never actually know what it was, but at least whatever that video was had done a bit of groundwork-laying for her today, it seemed?

Apparently, Amaya's face actually had managed to push itself to the limits of redness, but, boy, was it sure trying to find more! Amaya was going to firmly ignore that, though, or at least she would try to.

"Oh, well," she said, mustering up as much false nonchalance with an all-too-stiff shrug of her shoulders. "You know. Working in front of a hot forge all day, it's just bound to happen."

It should be noted, of course, that she was standing absolutely nowhere near the forge in question.

"Oh, I'm sure," Irene agreed with a sage, solemn nod that would have certainly been more convincing if she could wipe that smile off her face. "You wear it very well. What kind of blacksmithing secrets were you looking at? I won't tell anyone. Or you can try to kill me so your secrets die with me, if you must, but I'd rather not go through the hassle."

Please let it have been some sort of old-timey blacksmith porn. Or not old-timey, non-blacksmith porn! Something. Because damn if Amaya wasn't something of a puzzle to Irene -- and don't get her wrong, the challenge there was absolutely part of the appeal -- and this had all the makings of a peek at what made her...tick.

"Kind of defeats the purpose of a secret," Amaya huffed slightly, "if you just go around telling anyone in a smart cloak about it just because they asked, now, doesn't it? It's neither here nor there." Quite true, actually, with the state of that phone. "What brings you in, Irene?"

Which was always a dangerous question, since the answer seemed to be, more often than not, just to stop in and see her, which was clearly an absurd and nonsensical answer, Irene, but in the off chance she was actually there for something...more...useful....

"I'm quite good with a secret," Irene assured her, which was true to a point, "but I'm just going to be curious forever now, I suppose."

But the way Amaya had so not wanted her to see -- to the point that she broke her phone! -- was like a gift unto itself. Between that and smart cloak, Irene was finding that today was a great day to be very interested in puzzles.

Pretty, interesting, strangely suspicious puzzles.

"And I'm here to see my favorite blacksmith, of course," she added, because of course. "Visit you, see what you're working on, ask how your day's going...."

She waved a hand in a little circle, shrugging a shoulder as she smiled over at Amaya -- a non-verbal, 'Et cetera.'

Edited 2022-02-04 18:08 (UTC)

Amaya looked a little dubious for a moment--but she supposed it wasn't as if Irene really knew many blacksmiths, and her being the only one on the island made her a shoe-in for favorite by default. Besides, she could figure it was favorite in the sense that one had a favorite shop, because that's where you knew you could depend on quality and the good stuff.

Satisfied with the way those mental gymnastics worked out for her, she gave a small nod. "Nothing too exciting at the moment," she allowed. "Mostly just letting Dwight take over my shop to finish up that new counter." With a hitch of her thumb toward the counter-in-almost-finished. "Got a good stockpile of throwing axes on hand if the axe situation at the Devil's Nest doesn't clear up soon, and I've been mostly pounding out some damascus for the roses I always make come this time of year. I...suppose it's probably a busier time of year for you this time of year over at, erm...your...shop?"

She wasn't exactly keen on bringing up anything adjacent to the mushy holiday, really, or skirting too close to the affairs of Irene's business, but it was business talk all the same, so that meant it should be safe.

Ish.

"Oh, quite," Irene assured her with a bright smile. "Loads of people buying up lingerie and accoutrements for the big day." Accoutrements was one of those wonderful, vague words that could mean so many things, so she was purposely pairing it with lingerie to see if she could get a reaction.

"I'm throwing a party at the shop next week, actually, to try to stir up a bit of business before the holiday. I was rather hoping you'd come. Maybe bring some of these interesting-sounding Damascus roses."

Go ahead and just deny an invitation to her face, Amaya. Irene was practically daring her to, given the expectant glint in her eye.

Oh, Amaya would have absolutely no problem at all with informing Irene that, wouldn't you know it, she already had an engagement for that day, set in stone, immoveable, knowing full well that the actual date of this soiree in question was not actually mentioned, except....

...for just one little thing.

That sweet siren song of a sale.

"Are you interested putting in an order, then?" Amaya asked, latching onto that as firm as that clamp in....erm, well, firmly. Latching onto that firmly. "I could definitely have some ready by next week. Even got some Tanalore steel on hand if you want to do a color-array, might even be able to work in some gold-tipped as well."

"Sure!" Look, this was the woman who was out for a casual day about town in a seventy-five hundred dollar cape. She'd bought a mace she didn't need because she liked Amaya. Let's throw some more cash on this whole situation, why not. (It helped that Irene knew she'd be getting some beautiful craftsmanship, too, and would probably have been thrilled to go this route even if she hadn't been trying to woo the blacksmith herself.) "But only if you promise you'll come and stay for the party."

But also, let's not make this too easy.

"I still owe you that drink, too."

Well, the whole point of parties for Amaya was networking and business,so with a guaranteed sale weaved right in, it would be kind of hard to say no at that point. She just figured she'd make sure to focus very hard on business.

"I think," she hoped, "I can manage that," Amaya said with a nod. "But I'm pretty sure there's some sort of statute of limitations on owed drinks. That's practically ancient history by now, I'm sure you're in the clear."

So help her, actually trying to get out of a free drink?

Well, she wasn't going to probably try that hard, but she felt she at least had to make some kind of effort.

For...reasons.

She could focus plenty hard on the business, sure. The business of being in Irene's sexy shop, surrounded by sexy things, and probably turning a whole kaleidoscope of shades of red the whole while. Or at least, that's what Irene was hoping for.

But more importantly!

"Oh, I won't hear excuses," Irene declared airily, waving a hand. "On the contrary -- at this point I rather feel interest has gathered and I actually owe you two drinks."

Ahhh, zards. Amaya could maybe live with herself for brushing off a drink, but two? She squinted a little, weighing out the losses, and decided, actually, if she really wanted a cost analysis that could make it worthwhile and balance out having drinks with the fact that it would be drinks with Irene...

"Make it three," she decided, "and we'll talk."

Ha. Got 'er.

"You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Blackstone," Irene declared with a grin, thrusting out a hand to shake on this proposition. "But I think I can, indeed, stand your company for three drinks."

Oh, the tragedy of it all. Twist her arm more.

Dwight arrived pretty much on schedule for the day, morning food and drink offering in hand. Things were comign along nicely with the counter and display cases. And while he was glad for the overall success so far, there was a twinge of something there as he realized what else that meant in terms of the routine that had kind of been established over the last few weeks.

As he walked into the strangely quiet forge, Dwight looked around trying to find Amaya. And when he saw her, all those internal musings and feelings disappeared, as he was more confused than he was before as he watched her studying her phone closely.

"Hey, Amaya?" he called out somewhat curiously as he set things on the table. "Everything alright?"

Edited 2022-02-04 13:10 (UTC)

"Hmmm?"

At least with Dwight, Amaya had, deep there in her more cognizant brain, been expecting him, so she wasn't quite as distracted as she might have been if it weren't for the routine and the underlying expectation. "Oh, yeah," she said, distracted all the same, but she waved a sort of dismissive hand his way and almost was about to stop the video except that it drew her back in at the last second as the steel bar being crushed started to buckle. She couldn't just stop it now, this was when it started to get good, and it strained and strained, the pressure building more and more until finally, finally....

Zounds, that was a damn good snap and Amaya, unaware of the pleased grin in her face, the redness of her cheeks, the shortness of her breath, stopped the video and turned her attention to the task at hand.

"Hey, there, Dwight," she offered, cheerful but clearly distracted, "what can we do you for?"

And then a blink, as she realized she'd gone a bit autopilot there, but clearly on the wrong track. She shook her head, and was suddenly a little more aware of the red on her cheeks as it was definitely deepening.

"Right," she said, lifting a hand to rub her forehead. "The counter. Coffee. Breakfast."

You know, the thing thay had oh-so-handwavily been the routine for a week now. Whooops.

Ok so this was a whole new level of confusion, even for Amaya. And that flush? Rare sight but Dwight couldn't deny there was a certain amusement he felt at that and just how totally off her game the usual stoic Amaya was.

He took a moment to appreciate all that then grinned even bigger at Amaya. "Aye, breakfast. And since this might be one of the last ones for s while, we'd better enjoy it."

And because no he could not pass up the opportunity that had almost fallen into his lap, he had to go there.

"Sooo.... What was all that?" he asked nodding to the phone.

"One of the last ones for a while?" Amaya asked, head tilting as her eyes strayed toward the counter-in-progress. "Think you might be finishing up here soon, then?"

Oh, what's that? There'd been more? A question, perhaps? Funny. Amaya must have missed that. O H W E L L.

Dwight sighed. Maybe internally. Maybe it came out a little. And he gave Amaya a look, knowing there was no point in pushing the question.

He followed her gaze over to the counter and gave a slight nod.

"Will be working on the finer carvings and details today and then all that's left is the staining and then installing the glass pieces" Dwight said simply. "Shouldn't take too long to finish up so long as nothing crazy like a freak indoor blizzard, gremlin invasion, or something else weird happen." Or you know like Amaya getting the urge to add more onto the project or branch out into some new project entirely. Plenty of opportunities to extend things out a bit longer.

Not that Dwight was worried or disappointed about possibly being done with work at the forge or anything... no.. absolutely not... perish the thought!

And there it was again, that odd little twinge about the project getting finished up already, the one she was just going to dutifully ignore and hopefully forget about, just like she did the last time she felt it.

"Well, now you've just gone and jinxed it, no doubt," said Amaya, who also definitely did not somewhat hope that he had gone and jinxed it. It was Fandom, though. You never did know!

"But it will be nice to see it done and complete and in all it's glory." There certainly was no lie there, at least, and she snorted. "And then figure put what looks shabby around here compared to the new shiny so they can get an upgrade, too."

Not that there's be much. Door frames and accepting, mostly. Possibly the worktables, but they took so many beatings, that'd be kind of a pointless waste...

"Eh, its Fandom. We'll just roll with whatever punches it wants to throw at us" Dwight said with a shrug.

See? he was already basically a Fandom native at this point in the game.

"And I'm sure there are some things around here that might need a little TLC here and there" he said with a smirk thrown Amaya's direction.

"I mean," Amaya pointed out, "that goes for just about everything around here. If we went looking around for any old thing that needed a touch-up, why, I'd think you'd probably never be finished around here!"

And that would...clearly just be terrible!

"Hmmmmm will have to make sure to take a look before I start packing things up. I mean," Dwight continued with a slight smirk, "I am sure it's been a while since any sort of inspection was done to look for any potential problems."

You know... like wear and tear, termites, terrible Fandom Specific wood eating bugs... You never know what kind of disaster could be waiting to happen just because things hadn't been closely monitored and repaired when needed!

"We can make a list of anything you think might need a little touch up and repair once we're all done getting this set back up" he said with a nod towards the counter. "Would be a shame after all for me to pack up and get back to the shop just to find out there's more stuff that needs to be done around here."

See? Practical and logical.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Blackstone Foundry and Forge; Friday [02/04].

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject