1stmacleod | Warmest place in winter

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Warmest place in winter

((This is an open post intended for anybody who'd like to play a thread visiting Connor at his forge. I consider any threads on this post fair game for Kai to jump in on, too. Additional similar posts available on request!))

The smithy, Connor's pride and joy, is technically a refurbished shed a little ways out from the back of the house he shares with Kairos. What started as an ivy covered, mostly stone building has since had most of one wall removed and replaced with a set of barn doors, with a sturdy support beam between them. It makes the place drafty and cold in winter, when it's not in use, but once the big forge has been going for an hour or two, it can get hot enough that the open doors let in a welcome breeze.

He has the doors open now, and the open side of the building faces the huge garden plot that takes up much of the back yard. It's covered with snow, now, cross-crossed with doggy pawprints of two different sizes. There's a semicircle of ground before the open doors that's free of snow, although it may be muddy in places. Frequent opening and closing of the doors combined with the heat of the place have melted it away. The sound of hammer on anvil rings out across the yard, and Sorcha is rolling at the edge of the snow with a big stick dragged from the nearby woodsy patch. It's a peaceful scene.

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Balthazar chuckles again at the dog, but hesitates to get her more riled up than she is in the middle of Connor's workspace. "Hello, Sorcha. You're a good dog."

He sets his burdens down, glancing at Connor's work curiously, then back to his friend. "Oh? Where did you go? I'm sorry I haven't been in touch much."

Sh play-bows from under a bench, tongue lolling, but then it all becomes too much and she has to make a charging run after the stick she left lying at the edge of the snow, flinging it into the air and racing around the yard. She's a good dog! This is awesome!

"Japan. To Mount Niri. I... had an old teacher there. He's gone and it's not the same, but it's still beautiful there. I let Kai have a day of shopping in Tokyo, too." He wipes an arm across his brow and sets his tools aside, letting the metal cool for the moment. "You brought beer!"

He may have to run off and play with her later. Saint isn't nearly so exuberant. Reflecting that she's a good match for her master's physical endurance, he turns back to Connor. "Japan? It's been a long time since I've been there."

He pushes the six-pack forward gently. "A specialty store opened up a few blocks from me. Help yourself; it's chilled."

Connor definitely picked the right dog, or she picked him. Even when she settles down as an adult, she'll be the running type. It's what they're bred for, and that makes her excellent company on his morning exercise.

"It was just a few days, but it was... relaxing." Connor nods toward the bench his jacket is thrown across. It's long enough to seat several people, and in a spot just close enough to the forge to be nicely warm, but not uncomfortably so. "If you get far enough away from the cities, though, things haven't changed too much." Like Balthazar, he can appreciate how hard it can be to see how much the world has changed.

Balthazar sits gamely and picks up the grocery bag. "I also brought some dog treats for the pets, and some candied violets for Kairos."

He pushes the bag at Connor, then retrieves a beer for himself. He brought them to share, after all. "I keep thinking I could go back to Wales. I'm not sure I'm ready, but...maybe if I drag Maximus along..."

"I... don't go back home to Glenfinnan very often." He admits quietly, sitting and taking a beer too. "It's not the same anymore. Might be easier with a friend..."

He pops off the top and takes a swallow, watching Sorcha flinging snow and her stick around in the yard. "Thanks, Kai'll like that. She's up in the house." She works on jewelry, and he works out here on larger pieces of metal, so they each have their hobbies. "I'll see if Regina wants to come out and play in a little while."

"Oh?" He looks at him. "I'll go with you if you'll go with me."

He might still drag Horvath along. He doesn't think Maxim and Connor would be best of friends, but they shouldn't clash badly, either.

Smiling, he nods at the suggestion. "I couldn't remember the little one's name. Regina seems about right, though."

"Heh. I'll go with you, anyway." He and Horvath are both serious types, with a wry sense of humor. They might be wary of each other, but they're not likely to get in a fight.

"She's Sorcha's big sister, but she can't keep up running." Regina is Kai's dog, but Connor does adore them both. He's just a dog person.

"That's a start." He smiles and bumps shoulders with him.

He takes a sip of beer contentedly, then laughs at the mental image of the tiny dog scampering after the deerhound. "Should I bring Saint over some time? He might be able to bridge the gap."

Connor flashes a smile. "Sure. I want her to be friendly. Try to expose her to other people and other dogs." Clearly it's working.

"Glad I talked you into getting him?"

"Jelani visited me the other day. We took him and her dog to the park. Nice little outing. It made me realize I've been taking some of my friends for granted." He smiles at Connor.

"And yes, I wouldn't know what to do without the little mooch, at this point."

Connor's eyebrows lift briefly, and he lets out a quiet little chuckle. "Thanks, I think. And they do grow on you..."

As if she knows she's being talked about, Sorcha brings her stick and pushes it forcefully into Connor's lap.

He smiles and reaches to pat Sorcha's neck. "I think it's playtime. But what were you making, before I interrupted? Pausing won't spoil it?"

"Just a shelf bracket. I'm planning to set up a stand somewhere, in the spring, and sell some stuff. Not sure where yet, but I'm building up some stock." He'd be delighted to show off his whole smithy, though, and after he tosses the stick for Sorcha, he half stands. "Want to see?"

"Mm. An open-air crafts market, maybe. That sounds like fun, actually. Let me know if you find a place; I'd love to visit." Balthazar sets aside his drink as Connor stands, getting up as well.

"Of course I want to see. I'm here, aren't I?"

Connor chuckles softly, and heads for the center of the place, the forge itself. It's made of cement blocks and two thirds of it forms a table about elbow high. There's a nice wide edge of brick all the way around, which the shelf bracket is sitting on, but inside that it's a pit of coals, several feet wide and long enough to hold an entire sword blade. At one end of the bed of coals the table rises into an oven, with some kind of metal chimney above. "I got lazy, so there's an electric blower," He gestures to the metal chimney and whatever modern equipment is inside. "But I built it myself."

"If you were lazy, you'd let someone else do your metalworking," Balthazar points out with a laugh. "I'm impressed. And you'll never lack for heat during the winter, either."

He's inclined to take his coat off, in fact, but resists for the sake of having a barrier against dog slobber. "I've worked the bellows for smiths before, but I never tried to make anything, myself."

"A bellows is hard when you've got no assistant, and Kai can't touch half the stuff in here." It's a reminder, what she is, that anything he works in iron is off-limits for her. That's driven him to experimenting with other metals, and that's not such a bad thing at all.

"That's why I ripped out the wall." He gestures to the open barn doors with a grin. "It's nice, this time of year, but in summer it's sweltering." Some masochistic part of him enjoys it anyway, because it's familiar.

"You should have offered to hire me; I could use the exercise." He grins. If he thought Connor would ever take him up on that, he wouldn't have suggested it.

"It's an excellent workshop. I'm envious." And on that note, he sobers a little. "I've been thinking of buying a little property in the Nexus. As a safe house; maybe a vacation cottage."

"Maybe I should install a bellows and hire you to work that?" He smirks briefly, hand lingering on the brick wall of the forge.

"This isn't the Nexus, but it's a nice place. Out of the way, and I don't think my kind live in this world." Also it helps that it's France, which is so reassuringly familiar for him.

"I'll think about it." Balthazar grins. "It might be better to just plan on walking or sparring sometime."

He nods thoughtfully. "You think it's not a bad idea, then? I don't need anything big or ostentatious. But a garden would be nice."

"I'd spar with you. Or maybe we could bring Jelani in, make her work against two opponents at once..." He looks thoughtful.

"It's a good idea. Especially the garden part." He may be biased, of course. He has his happiness, though, and new friends, and he wants them to have the same happiness he does.

"I'm no match, I'm sure, for either of you." He smiles. "But if you promise to go gentle at first, I'm game. Better with a staff than a sword, though."

He's watching Sorcha play, now, through the open door, expression soft and distant. "Or an orchard. I'll have to look into it seriously. Things are looking up these days."

Connor is perfectly serious about sparring, so he considers this thoughtfully. "Might be good for her to get practice against different weapons... we could work up to it. I'll square off with you first, let you train up."

His gaze follows Balthazar's, to Sorcha rolling in the snow with all four leggy limbs in the air. "...They are. You look better than you used to. I know I do. Is it wrong... that part of me keeps wondering when and how it'll all come crashing down?" He's a pessimist at heart, and he wrestles with it.

"That sounds reasonable. I trust you not to rip me a new one." He chuckles softly, but he knows it's a serious offer, and he's willing to accept in the spirit it's given.

"Wrong? I don't know. It's understandable. I'm terrified every day that I'll do something to make Maxim hate me, or some wild apocalypse will threaten my world...when you've been down for a long time, it's easy to be expecting the other shoe to drop."

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