Tal visibly puffed up with pride at Alys's praise, flashing her a pleased grin. "Right? I mean, the rubies'd probably look good on gold, too, but it's such a soft metal, y'know? I wanted somethin' sturdy enough t'travel with." Even if he didn't wear much jewelry, and certainly not often. He was learning that it was at least nice to have the option... and he had enough friends now that showing up to some of these fancy parties wasn't the painfully uncomfortable torture it had once been.
"Hey, is there anythin' we can do t'help?" he asked the smith, canny mind already calculating ways to lower the bartering price.
She tied off the piece of leather cord that she'd measured Alys's finger with and appraised them both for a moment before nodding. "You can work the bellows ," she granted Tal. "And you can add coal to the forge when I tell you to." She lifted the latch and pushed the half-door that separated the forge from her customers open for the two to enter and showed them to their places and what she needed of them. Luckily they were standing near each other, so though the fire was loud and hot they could still talk.
"Sorry for draggin' you into this," he apologized, though not very sincerely as he snuck Alys a grin. "Figured tradin' some manual labor t'lower the price'd help us both out, though. So what'd y'think of the Climb?" Or at least that's where he assumed her obsidian center stone had come from.
"Hey, is there anythin' we can do t'help?" he asked the smith, canny mind already calculating ways to lower the bartering price.
She tied off the piece of leather cord that she'd measured Alys's finger with and appraised them both for a moment before nodding. "You can work the bellows ," she granted Tal. "And you can add coal to the forge when I tell you to." She lifted the latch and pushed the half-door that separated the forge from her customers open for the two to enter and showed them to their places and what she needed of them. Luckily they were standing near each other, so though the fire was loud and hot they could still talk.
"Sorry for draggin' you into this," he apologized, though not very sincerely as he snuck Alys a grin. "Figured tradin' some manual labor t'lower the price'd help us both out, though. So what'd y'think of the Climb?" Or at least that's where he assumed her obsidian center stone had come from.
