eswareinmal | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Characters: Sir Crankybutt and the not yet knighted Crankybutt
Open? If someone else really wants to bother Hawk, sure.
Where: Hawk's Smithy.
When: Some time after Alanna's thread
What: Sir Lineface wants a sword. Mr. Hates the World makes swords. Profit?
Warnings: Crankybutts.

One good thing with this place, Hawk reflected, was that he had a career built in that actually was useful and he could make a living off of, rather than selling to hobbyists and SCA types.

The downside was that he actually had to deal with people coming in and asking him to make things. Thankfully, mostly things that were practical and not idealistic bullshit like back in the real world, but still annoying anyway. And it wasn't like he could get Aralu to be useful for once and take care of requests or anything like that. Who knew where the heck she was spending her days, but as long as it wasn't hanging around his neck, he didn't care.

He gave a deep sigh as he leaned back against one of the wooden beams of his work space, mug of coffee in hand as he watched the hustle and bustle of the craftsmen district around him.

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When Alanna went into town, it was with only a rather nice knife she had found in the armory. She was familiar enough with the quality of the other weapons available that she could easily identify the work of a superior craftsmanship. That was all she was looking for, really. She could work with lesser swords than the magic sword she was familiar with in Tortall. As far as she could tell nothing would require anything more of her. But if she could do better, she would.

She entered the smithy with barely a glance at the man behind the counter. She would tell him that the boy sent her only if he had something worthwhile to offer. With that in mind she set about examining all of the equipment he had on display, every weapon and piece of armor.

A short few minutes later she hummed her approval and finally turned toward the man.

"You do excellent work."

Tell him something he didn't already know...

"Looking for something specific or just looking?" he asked, tone dry. He hated small talk. And people.

She flashed him a wry grin. He wouldn't settle for flattery. That was good, it meant he took his work seriously.

"Everything. How can I pay you?"

Hawk was distrustful of flatterers. Normally they wanted something and somehow felt that compliments were payment.

"Money or materials, unless you have something you specialize in to offer in return," he answered before taking another drink from his coffee.

She made a face.

"I haven't got any money, just a sword and a horse, neither of which you can have." Not without a replacement, in any case. She wasn't so attached to the horse that she wouldn't be willing to trade it for another.

"I can work, or I can find work elsewhere and pay you from that."

Hawk sighed. "Great. One of those," he muttered under his breath. "The hell did you show up for if you didn't have any money or trade?" he grumbled.

She raised her eyebrows at him and glanced around at his wares once more.

"To see if it was worth the effort. I could use anything from the armory for free. Why get a job when I have work to do?"

Wait. He paused, looking at her sideways. "Just off the boat, huh? Or book in this place," he rolled his eyes. "The stuff in that armory's all crap," he dismissed. "Better off being used for scrap and reformed, if there's any saving any of it."

He scowled bitterly, looking down at his mug. It was stupid of him, because he knew that metal was metal and most of it didn't care, but it always pissed him off to see poorly made stuff. Like the person who made it was in too much of a damned hurry to just make something that he didn't care about what he made.

"Tell you what. Bring me some of that crap, and I'll remake it into something worth having."

She nodded, but then frowned. Getting things for free had never really sat well with her.

"I'll see what I can find, but I will repay you eventually," she promised, a little leery of the idea of sacrificing her honor for better weaponry. Better to pay for it the honest way.

Hawk nodded. "Yeah, sure." Like he was going to say no to being paid. "So. Standard heroing crap? Lightweight armor, sword, all that? Or do you actually know what you're doing and looking for?"

Alanna huffed and walked over to a heavy set of plate armor.

"I was thinking something more along these lines," she corrected, weighing the chest plate in one hand. It was a bit heavier than she was used to, but her normal gear was designed by her own brother to be lighter and stronger than anyone else's.

"And if you don't mind, several knives as well. Throwing and fighting knives." Not exactly knight fare, but George had taught her how to use all manner of weapons in her school days. She began to list items she would need.

"Armor for my horse, in case we have to ride into battle. A sword, of course. I can't imagine I'll need a lance but a smaller pole arm might be useful. An axe, if you have anything small enough to be carried with armor. Chain mail, of course." She fingered the dark ember hanging from a chain around her neck as she considered what else she might need.

"That ought to do it, Goddess willing." She was going to be working off her debts for a long time, but it would be worth it. Especially if it managed to keep her alive long enough to pay him back.

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Tall order," he commented idly, setting his mug down to follow over, looking her over critically.

He was quiet just a moment before reaching under a counter and pulling out a slightly heavy knife, one that he'd gotten in a trade that he hadn't decided what to do with yet. It was ornate, but was weighted badly and had a weak blade. In other words, utter crap.

"How's this one feel?" he asked, expression even. It was a test, of course. Someone who actually was familiar with weapons would know what a load something like that was, but someone putting on airs? Not so much.

She took the blade in her hand, running her fingers over the decorations. Pretty showy, the kind of thing George would hate to see her with. It begged to be stolen. She weighed it in one hand and flipped it into the air, letting it drop to the ground rather than cut her hand when it spun out of control.

"I'll need something a little better than that if you want it to be used and not put on display for the rest of its life," she commented, picking it up from the floor and handing it back to him, one eyebrow raised. He had much better wares to offer than this.

Hawk chuckled, bending down to retrieve the knife and stash it back under the counter before moving back to a locked case in the back. There was no indication that he used any key, but it opened at his touch. "How light weight do you normally use?" he asked, picking out a few knives and testing their wights and temperaments.

"Depends what I use them for," she answered, leaning on the counter to watch him more out of boredom than any real interest in how he protected his wares.

"As light as I can get for throwing knives, anything I'll be wearing under my clothes. Something a bit weightier for a straight fight." She took the knife from her belt and offered the handle to his back. "I brought this from the armory, it's about the right weight."

Hawk turned, holding the knife a moment, making a face. "That thing's going to shatter next time it hits anything solid," he commented, handing it back. "I swear, somebody must have pissed off the guy they got to stock that armory, either that or it's just a trap to get us all bumped off," he muttered, going back to his own selection. "Here. How's this one?" he offered, holding out a very plain looking blade.

And it might just have succeeded, if it weren't for the more competent warriors in the castle. Faulty gear could kill a knight much easier than a strong opponent.

"Much better," she commented as she noted the simple design. Less likely to get her robbed, at least. She weighed it in her hand and gave it a few careful waves through the air. The balance was much better too, a superior blade all around.

"That feels about right."

Hawk nodded, frown quirking just slightly. "Which way should it be adjusted to be exactly right?" he asked. It was so much easier making stuff for himself than for others. He could adjust things on the fly with no fuss. If this stuff was going to be used seriously....

Heh. That'd be a good challenge.

"Heavier is better," she supplied noncommittally. She would have to practice with the things no matter what they ended up weighing, but she was in the habit of using things heavier than they needed to be, to build up muscle. Gods forbid she be weaker than anyone in any way.

"I'm not so set in my ways that I can't learn to use new equipment."

Hawk nodded, picking up another knife to hand to her. "Better to start out with something that fits as close as it can first." It was a matter of pride too. If he was going to be sending his work out into a real battle, like hell he was going to send it out off in any way.

Alanna merely shrugged. It was rather like being fitted for new clothes, and they hadn't even gotten to the armor yet.

"If you had a wider array for me to look at, I could tell you more precisely," she suggested.

"I only have so much metal on hand," Hawk pointed out. "Custom work's better than one size fits all bullshit anyway."

"Whatever you like," she surrendered, feeling once again like she was being fitted for new clothes. This was going to take a long time, wasn't it?

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