BLOODSUCKER ☆ first blacksmithing attempt

[LUMIA CIPHER.]

Smithing. It was an interest that Lumia had picked up only very recently, and yet she found herself absolutely fascinated by it. Every piece of her free time was taken up by it, smithing books quickly beginning to pile up within her room on the Anchored Tempest. In fact, it had gotten to the point that she had others glancing at her with faint worry when she brought any more back. She just couldn't help it, though. She had finally found something that interested her. Something that gave her a sense of purpose and identity, in a way. She had no intention of basing her entire life around smithing, obviously, but she was finally invested in something that would allow her to help others. Something that Caesar had never bothered to teach her about. Making weapons, forging armor... harnessing and refining her skills would allow her to help others out. To keep them safe. Hell, she would've loved to make some armor for Vayne, just to make sure her niece would always be protected if she ever went into battle. Or even if she didn't, considering how determined Aphra seemed to be about essentially kidnapping her.

For a first attempt, though? She didn't think it was such a good idea to start with something as complex as a weapon, or a piece of armor. So instead, she decided on something simple – a pot. Plenty of pots were made out of metal, and if she was able to forge it successfully, then she could even use it for cooking! Or... give it to someone better at cooking than she was, anyways. So, with what she wanted to make in mind, she we t to go get some supplies. Thankfully, the fact that The Typhoon had forges built into the territory was pretty useful for her purposes. Going to the other blacksmiths allowed her to get some metal and a hammer fairly easily, and she then headed off to the forge, her body vibrating with frantic and excited energy. She came off like a kid in a candy store, green gaze seeming to glow as the forge roared to life with a little bit of help from an NPC. What came afterwards was a great deal of melting, shaping, and hammering. In fact, Mia's efforts would probably be easy to hear from fairly far away.

When she was done... well, she had certainly made something. It did look vaguely like a pot, but it was pretty far from perfect. One side of it was slightly warped and stretched out, making it a great deal more lopsided than it was meant to be. Not only that, but the handle she had managed to create from another bit of metal was slightly twisted and messily shoved onto the side of it. It was hardly a pretty sight, but one could probably cook with it. It would just take a bit more effort. Despite this, Lumia had a disappointed frown on her face as she looked down at her cooled creation, a heavy sigh leaving her. She muttered to herself, shaking her head from side to side, "I knew I wouldn't be perfect at it immediately, but... this? Really?" She almost didn't want to leave the forge room, not sure if she wanted anybody else to see the rather malformed pot she had created.

☆ — something's going on underneath your skin

[VAYNE CIPHER-VANTAS.]

[glow=white,1,400]LIKE WE FORGET WHO WE CAN TRUST ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Smithing wasn't something Vayne had a personal interest in, but she did have massive amount of respect for anyone who did and even practiced it. Diya was no exception to this and Lumia wasn't either, believe it or not. It wasn't hard to notice her aunt's interest in smithing and it was only a matter of time before Lumia tried to make something herself. "Not everything's going to come out perfect." The orange-spotted she-cat mewed as she came up to Lumia, casting a glance at the pot that was made. She tried giving her aunt a reassuring smile, going on, "Let alone on your first try."[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[Keona.]

[table][tr][td]

keona sibéal ní faoláin.
the typhoon.
the blind dealer.
information.

[/td][td]

[div style="max-width: 360px; font-family: palatino; color: #2a4971; text-align: left; padding-top: 8px; padding-left: 10px; letter-spacing: 2px; font-size: 13px;"]Idir brí is idir muir, Tá mé i dtiúin

Perhaps for obvious reasons the dealer wasn't very interested in blacksmithing.  Crafting anything truly... She had little drive for.  She could still appreciate the work others made but, she doubted she'd ever put too much effort into putting her own paws to such things.  Her most artistic endeavors were usually sandcastles.  Something she hadn't made in a little while.

Still.  She wore the necklace Salem made for her.  The seashell carved into a 'ilima.  She kept the sword Hushsound crafted for her.  She kept all of the wood carvings her father made.  Most of what she owned... Had been made by others.  Its what made them valuable.

And truthfully... Even if something didn't come out right... It was still special when it was made with care.  At least, that's how Keona felt.  Handcrafted things carried a bit of their crafter in them.  Their love.  Their spirit.  So as perked ears caught disappointment, the wolf frowned for a moment.

A first attempt.  Well.  She breathed out softly, shaking her head. "I think it looks perfect." Spoken bluntly without much forethought.  Blatant disregard to the obvious.  Honestly.  She knew Lumia had been excited about smithing, so clearly whatever she made had been made with love.  Thus, it had value beyond its initial appearance.

[/td][/tr][/table]

© MADI

[LUMIA CIPHER.]

The approach of others initially made Lumia tense up, the young Cipher wanting to curl up into herself and disappear. Despite the fact that her work wasn't horrible, she still felt embarrassed, and wasn't sure she wanted others to see. Alas, Vayne was already present, and she... didn't hate it. She didn't laugh, or sneer, or anything else – not that Mia truly expected that from her niece. She merely still wasn't used to such gentle assurances, and soon found her green gaze lighting up. After a moment, she let out a little laugh and nodded, a sigh leaving her, "I suppose you're right... at least I didn't burn anything down while making it." Things could've gone a lot worse on her first try, and although she had taken the necessary safety precautions, she couldn't deny she had felt some anxiety in the back of her mind. She would feel awful if she burned someone's hut down while trying to make a simple pot. Thankfully, that hadn't happened.

The next to approach was Keona, and honestly, her words managed to fill Lumia with happiness. The irony of the other's statement wasn't lost on her, of course. Keona's blindness wasn't exactly a secret around The Typhoon, and it made the dealer's work around the group all the more impressive, at least in Lumia's opinion. Still, even if the wolf couldn't actually see Lu's handwork, the sentiment was still very sweet, and the young Cipher found herself purring before long. She muttered, glancing back down at her pot with a small smile, "Thank you, Keona... I'm sure that I'll be able to make things even more impressive in the future. Like armor for you! Although... I suppose spies don't really need it, unless they're out on the battlefield." Still, it wouldn't hurt to have just in case. Mentally, she added the other onto the list of faces she needed to figure out sizing for. Keona would be even harder than most, considering the wildly different sizes of her two forms.

☆ — something's going on underneath your skin

[ROXANNE R.]

A twitch of her whiskers, Roxanne was never big on smithing or anything really. She was more of a teeth and claws kind of gal but even the captain knew that would not work every time so she approached the trio with both of her mismatched gaze switching between each individual only to lock onto Lumia who seemed to be the center of attention. Ah yes, the Cipher spawn who had been ever so subtle about her wife potentially mentoring her. How cute, how amusing. How dare she take the quality free time that my wife has, came an amused thought as Roxanne lashed her tail to the sides before setting her eyes on the pot. Well yikes, that was quite the interesting pot to say the least.

If anyone wanted to burn themselves while cooking anyways, Roxie would twitch her ears ever so slightly as she hummed with a toothy grin present on her maw "It looks like a rather fun pot!" Maybe something you'd see in an abstract art museum or some shit, she was sure that someone would appreciate the pot but Lumia had tried her best in trying to make it so... Roxie couldn't give her too much shit and the captain twitched her whiskers as she added "I think you did pretty well for your first try, it's a rather neat design." Armor for Keona? Was this being genuine or kissing ass? Regardless, Roxanne would sit down with a soft sigh.

[daniel]

So she was finally blacksmithing. Having been there for Lumia's announcement, Danny was simply waiting patiently for the day to come that the girl actually completed what she set out to do, though he knew it wasn't exactly easy nor was it a hobby anyone could just start, he couldn't imagine many forges would be an optimal decision given the presence of so many wooden structures. Or perhaps that was just his worrisome train of thought and no one else's.

It was the scent of the red hot material and metalworking that got his attention, lest one forget that he was, in fact, a canine, eyes watering slightly as he approached out of curiosity. Curiosity that was momentarily overshadowed by the presence of Roxanne, and eventually balanced out by both Vayne and Keona. Danny shook his head quickly, blinking his eyes rapidly like he was trying to clear them of something, eyes locked on the lopsided little pot as he stopped beside Vayne. His head tilted to the side, one ear flopping over. His nose twitched like a bunny, curious about the newly created thing. "It's very cute." He murmured quietly, tail wagging behind him.

[glow=black,2,300]— ❤ —[/glow]

[LUMIA CIPHER.]

Ah... Roxanne had arrived. Honestly, the captain had a rather intimidating quality to Lumia, although not quite for the same reasons as everyone else. See, Mia very much knew that Diya's time was limited, and while she loved every second with her mentor figure... she also knew that Roxie was the other's wife. The captain was already loud and vaguely unnerving, but when you were taking her wife away from her? That went doubly so. It was because of this that the Cipher was quick to grin in Rox's direction, her heart beating a little fast. She muttered, her nub of a tail twitching frantically back and forth behind her, "Ah... thank you, Captain Roxanne. It's definitely... unique. Hopefully I'll be able to get something a little closer to the usual product next time, though..." There was a chance that Roxie would think Mia calling her captain was also a form of ass-kissing. However, it really wasn't. Instead, the feline merely wanted to show respect where it was due. Besides, just calling her Roxie or Roxanne felt a bit weird.

With Danny's approach, Lumia felt a wave of relief run through her, a small breath leaving her. At least she could relax a little bit now that another one of her friends was here. Not only that, but he also seemed to be supportive of her first little blacksmithing endeavor. She laughed softly before speaking up once more, "Thanks, Danny... you wanna help me out with the next one? I'm sure it could be a fun project to work together on." It was clear from her tone of voice that she was joking, however. She knew that Danny had no interest in blacksmithing, and she honestly probably wouldn't want him there. His jumpy nature would make things more difficult, especially if he got unnerved by the heat of the forge.

☆ — something's going on underneath your skin