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

Someone had gotten into the forge and stoked the fire and got the doors and windows open well before Amaya had even finished making her coffee that morning. It was the Saturday after a prom after a sex pollen week, and Amaya had been through this song and dance more than enough times to know exactly who it was, which meant that she was going to take her bloody time, thank you, and was eventually coming down into the shop with her largest mug for coffee in one hand and another mug of tea in the other.

Because there was no way she was letting that girl anywhere near coffee if she could help it.

It was almost unceremonious, the way she set down the mug on a worktable and nodded at the slightly-taller-than-last time blonde girl in armor who grinned over at her excitedly. "Morning, Mother!" she declared brightly. "You've given the place an upgrade since last time!"

"Yeah, well," said Amaya, with a sigh as she sipped her coffee and looked around at the new counter in particular, "had a few projects done, gotta keep the place looking spiffy and nice."

"And what's this?" Zephyr asked, leaning down to pick up one of the badly battered swords from the pile that had collected over the week, turning it over and examining it with a laugh. "New apprentice?" She wrinkled her nose at her mother. "Not very good, are they? Ooh! Or are you trying your hand at some modern art?"

"....I'll tell you when you're older," said Amaya, who was trying not to think about the fact that, oh, zards, Zephyr was probably, what? Fifteen? Sixteen by now? They grew up so fast, even when you only saw them once in a blue moon when this particular bit of Fandom weirdness hit. "'Til then, how's about you make yourself useful and sort through those and see if any of them are still salvagable?"

Zephyr looked dubious about this project, but she was also a little curious, and almost could see it as a good challenge.

The Forge is open!

(No appointment necessary!)

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So, how does one approach a topic such as the one that brought Dwight to the forge today? As tactfully as he could he reasoned. And so as he stood in the doorway- now open and unbarred- Dwight called out to Amaya before heading in.

"Hey Amaya, you around?"

Edited 2022-04-02 15:17 (UTC)

Amaya was around, but, before she could even think to answer, Zephyr looked up from where she was reshaping one of those swords with an excited gasp.

"Yes!" she said. "A customer!"

Just like that, she ditched her hammer and hopped over to greet the people coming into the shop, with a grace that seemed surprising considering the piecemeal platemail she wore, and she met them with a bright smile and a pump of her fist.

"Welcome to Blackstone Foundry and Forge...Fandom Island Branch!" She looked far, far to pleased about that. "Anything you need? Zephyr!" DRAMATIC PAUSE!!! "Can do it!"

Cue the sigh from the counter, where the only thing it seemed Zephyr could do so far was give her mother a headache.

Ok this was totally unexpected and Dwight was just gonna stare for a moment before giving an uncertain smile as he glanced over towards the counter.

"Ah thank you... Zephyr," he said pausing for a less dramatic pause of his own. "Right now, just looking to talk to the boss lady herself" he said with a head tilt towards Amaya and gave the girl a grin. "If I think of anything though, I will definitely let you know. Alright?"

Zephyr followed Dwight's nod back to her mother, and when she looked back at him, her eyes were only there for a second before, grin increasingly growing, they slid over to the boy that was with him. Then back to Dwight, over to Amaya, and back again with her mouth open in an absolutely delighted expression of faux shock.

"Are you one of my mother's friends?"

Her attention immediately shifted to Kristoff.

"Are you one of my brothers?"

"Zenobia," Amaya started, "don't make me use the whole name, we'll be here all day. Not every kid who walks in here in your sibling."

But the way that kid was looking at her with recognition gave her the feeling that that one? Definitely was. Of course he was!

"She always says that," said Zephyr, leaning in to whisper it to Dwight like sharing a secret, "but they always are. You're probably the sturdiest one so far! I bet you might actually be able to give my father a run for his money! He'd still beat you, of course, but you might manage to give him a challenge."

Edited 2022-04-02 16:52 (UTC)

"Sibling? I have a sister?" Kristoff asked glancing from Dwight to Zephyr, his eyes growing wide.

Just as Dwight was about to try and stumble his way through an explanation, the boy's expression changed to one of sheer joy as he broke into a huge grin.

"That is so COOL! I always wanted a sister!"

Dwight was not gonna argue the logic at play here and decided firmly to be thankful for whatever island magic was going on. Taking the now very familiar box of pastries from his son, Dwight made his way over to Amaya.

"Mom!" he called over to Amaya with a wave around at the forge in general. "I hope you and Dad get your main shop fixed up and in order soon! These individual shops are too small really. You don't even have room for your double display wall of weapons!" he lamented, clearly proving that yes he was half Blackstone through and through.

"So..." Dwight whispered as he set the box down and whispered to Amaya, his eyes still on the two kids. "Seems he is from Fandom... sometime in the future it seems. Kid knows the island like the back of his hand. But keeps talking about a big shop we both have together..." Dwight gave a slight shrug. His head was still swimming trying to keep up with it all.

"I've had dozens of half-sisters," Zephyr was telling Kristoff, while Amaya rolled her eyes and shook her head in a clear indication that it wasn't even worth the effort to correct her anymore, "and about twice as many half-brothers. The shop here at Fandom is actually bigger than the one back home, on account of the anvils, but our Crumbler is much more impressive. This one doesn't even look like it's capable of tucking someone in at night!"

And while Zephyr was already fitting neatly into that all-too-familiar Big Sister role, Amaya just looked at Dwight almost apologetically before turning her attention entirely onto some of those pastries.

"So this is a fun thing that Fandom likes to do sometimes," she offered dryly, helpfully, through a mouthful of doughnut.

"So, bringing back dead kids isn't enough, it has to go an make entirely new storylines and lives for us huh?"

Dwight shook his head and reached over and grabbed himself a sugary treat. "oh and brought these too... didn't know, figure you might need it as much as I do..." he said handing over one of the cups of coffee. "And from the look of things...."he added with a glance back to Zephyr, "I might not be far off on that."

He watched the two of them talk for a moment and then ventured a glance at Amaya and offered a slight grin. "They do seem to be getting along well at least. And Kristoff definitely thinks his Mom deserves the world."

And he was just going to busy himself for a moment with his own caffeine and and sugar indulgence.

There was a little bit of an awkward shifting out of Amaya, adjusting how she was leaning on the counter a little, when Dwight mentioned his daughter, because zounds, that definitely put a bit of a different perspective on this whole situation, didn't it? A perspective she wouldn't have had any idea of how to deal with, so she was glad that he definitely didn't leave it at that, and by the time her gaze had drifted thoughtfully from Kristoff to Zephyr and then back again, she snorted a bit wryly.

"Just you wait," she said, "until Zephyr really starts in on the 'my dad can beat up your dad' schpiel; it's practically her favorite pastime. She's...definitely a handful, but I will give her this. Whoever taught her how to forge did a damn fine job."

Her chin quirked toward the other one. "He seems like a good egg, though," she said. "Not surprising...all things considered."

Careful, there, Amaya. That almost sounded like a compliment.

And as if on cue the 'other one' came rushing over as if he as going to give his mom a big hug bust stopped short, still bouncing a bit with that typical little kid energy and excitement.

"Mom! Mom! Guess what?" he asked still bouncing a bit. "Dad has a puppy at his shop! He is the cutest thing ever! I wanted to bring him with us but Dad said it wasn't safe for him here with ya know... the fire and everything..."

And yes, there was that childhood energy that both parents were likely going to sorely missing by the time this was over. Dwight was just going to take another large gulp of the coffee and give Amaya a certain look over the cup as he tried not to grin too obviously. Kristoff really did remind him of Amaya in a lot of ways, and he was pretty sure there were some good Hendrickson traits in there as well.

Considering how Amaya sort of pulled back a little and straightened up from where she'd been leaning on the counter at that approach, it was probably a good thing Kristoff stopped short where he did, but she was still regarding him a little like a trap that could spring at any moment.

"Yeah, well," she said, "your dad's pretty smart like that. A puppy in here would probably nothing but trouble."

"I asked Mother if I could have a wetzel wolf for my fifteenth birthday," Zephyr supplied with a small injured, perhaps even sulking tone, "but she said no."

Amaya, who had never had such a conversation in her life, of course, now looked incredulously toward Zephyr to declare, "Wetzel wolves are not pets!"

To which she simply grinned down at Kristoff as she said, "Father said he would for my sixteenth, though."

"He did not," Amaya insisted, with all the certainty in the world, as if she actually even knew anything about the man, and her attention also shifted back to Kristoff. "But, yes, Snoopy's a sweetheart, maybe later, your dad'll let the both of you run around the park or something, work off some of that energy."

"I am sure there will be more than one trip to the park" Dwight said with a smirk. "Kristoff has already been talking about the lighthouse, the docks, and going fishing at Selkie Lake. I am sure there will be lots of adventures still to be had."

Here Dwight would pause for a moment before glancing at Amaya and then to Zephyr and then back to Amaya. "Could always make it a... group get together or something. Could be a fun little outing."

He had almost said family get together but caught himself before it could slip out.

The allure of a blacksmith's forge was far too much for some curious young visitors, clearly. Or at least for Hamish, who had already been denied the prospect of making a volcano out of papier-mâché (and downgraded to a kite, as though that was remotely the same.)

"What's in here?" he asked loudly, deftly evading his mother until Irene was practically chasing him in through the door.

"For fu -- heaven's sake, don't touch anything!" she scolded, ignoring how this was pretty much the last place on the island she wanted to visit with this particular weekend...addition, and instead focusing on hurrying in after Hamish and immediately seizing him by one of his little hands. "Hands to ourselves in here, Hamish. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mum."

"Oh, not to worry, ma'am," Zephyr assured the woman with a curious glance at both her and the little boy with her. "If he does cut off a hand, I know the way to the clinic, and I am very fast."

Amaya's mouth opened to respond to that, realized there was no response, and then decided to just eye the kid suspiciously a moment before regarding his presumed mother.

So help her, if she wasn't his only mother....

"Irene."

Zephyr was getting all kinds of curious looks from Irene, but she was also savvy enough to note that she had not been greeted as mother and be very thankful for that. But she was still curious about who the girl's other parent might be. This weekend wasn't her favorite, no, but it had historically been an illuminating one, at least.

"Amaya," she returned, giving Hamish a sharp little tug closer to her as she spotted him making eyes at those battered swords. "This is, er -- this is Hamish." And since she was quite relieved to probably not be this lovely young lady's mother, it was only fair she shed some light for Amaya, too. "His father is in London, it seems. Old friend."

The very existence of a potential father to any child of hers, in any universe, was an anomaly for Irene as it was.

"Irene Adler," she added, offering her free hand to Zephyr. She did usually try to treat teenagers like adults when she could. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Amaya made absolutely no effort to mask the sigh of relief at the word father, and Zephyr eagerly took the proffered hand.

Carefully. She was wearing her gauntlets, after all.

"Zenobia Eduarda Percival Hector Yamaya Ramon Jr. the Fourth of Daventry," she announced proudly. "But you can call me..."

Pause for dramatic effect and dramatic pose...

"Zephyr!"

And hold!...and...

"The pleasure's all mine, Miss Irene. Hamish." She gave a nod and a grin to the boy. "Pretty sure you might be the first kid to come in here it sounds like I'm not related to."

"That can't....possibly be true," Amaya protested.

"Mmmmm," Zephyr squinted up toward the ceiling thoughtfully. "Pretty sure it is! Or just about nearly."

"That is a lot of names," Hamish contributed, eyes wide. "Is your dad here, too? Or other mum." He had surmised that the woman over there was probably Zephyr's mother, and clearly she knew his own mum, too.

That wasn't surprising. Hamish's mother knew everyone.

"Sounds like you've had a busy day," Irene commented lightly, glancing over at Amaya with nothing short of sympathy.

"Oh, no," said Zephyr, blithely waving a dismissive hand. "My father never shows up. Even if he could come, he wouldn't, he's much too busy defending and protecting the Crown. Mother claims to not even know who he is, which is just absurd, everyone knows my father, he's the most accomplished, renowned, decorated and handsome knight of the realm!"

She broke off a grin. "At least until I become a knight! I'll be able to join the Knight's Tournament this year, too! So he'd better watch out!"

Her smile turned a little sweeter as she asked, "And what does your father do, Hamish?"

Amaya, meanwhile, met that sympathetic look with a withering one. "It is that time of year, it seems," she sighed, her attention idly on the children. For no reason. Definitely not out of any kind of genuine curiosity about thre answer to Zephyr's question or anything else about this apparent child of Irene's or anything like that...

"Your dad is a knight?" Well, now Hamish was left with no choice but to be openly jealous -- but, he was also a remarkably observant child, raised by remarkably observant parents. (Or, well. Mostly raised by a nanny, but still.) So now those swords and the whole blacksmith thing was making way more sense to him, and he exclaimed, "You're a knight? That's why you've got swords!"

It all made sense!

"My dad is a detective," he continued, waving his arms (complete with Irene's hand still fastened to the end of one of them, because there was no way she was letting him run through here untethered.) "He works with Scotland Yard to solve all the crimes they can't manage on their own. Do you need any crimes solved? He can do it."

Hamish was confident that his dad could solve anything. And if he couldn't, then his mother could. But he wasn't supposed to say that this weekend.

And cue Irene's other hand immediately falling on top of his curly little head, as though that might just make him stop talking. This was almost outright painful, and it showed on her face.

That look on Irene's face was...almost enough to make Amaya reconsider any commentary, quirking an eyebrow up as her gaze shifted from Hamish to her, but then she realized she really couldn't help it. Call it...a little...turning of the tables, perhaps.

"A detective," she said, making sure to sound very impressed, "eh?"

"Yup. I'm gonna be a detective, too," Hamish told her, having exactly no idea what went in to becoming a detective, but rather determined on that front all the same. "But I don't want to wear the hat."

Irene, who had been torn between trying to drag her child out of here versus listening to these little crumbs of information she was being given today, actually snorted in a highly un-Irene sort of way. Snorted. Not laughed. "You don't have to wear the hat, love," she promised, touseling his hair a bit before looking over at Amaya and Zephyr. "Hamish's -- father once did a promotional photo in an incredibly silly deerstalker cap. Wonderful to know that's still a thing in the impossible future. I assume knights don't have to wear anything ridiculous to compete in this tournament?"

Please take that topic change and run with it, Zephyr. She was counting on you.

Amaya was now doing a rather poor job of holding back a faint smirk, in part because, look at that, Irene had gone and saved her the trouble of deciding whether or not to ask about the hat, but mostly because of that snort. She still would never be too wild about this particular weekend, but she was glad she'd not gotten something like that out of it.

And Zephyr, for her part, did seem to pick up the topic, even if she wasn't going to run far with it it quite yet, seemingly starting to regard Irene now with a sort of challenge almost as he shoulder straightened and she seemed to smooth out her breastplate. "Only if you consider armor ridiculous," she stated, almost as if challenging Irene to just go ahead and try.

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

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