Jigano's lips quirked at hearing about 'elves,' a term he'd almost never heard from anyone else's lips but theirs. It was a warm reminder of what they shared, even if so much else in their homeworlds had been different. "What sort of charm was it?" he coaxed, paying perhaps a bit more attention to the story than he should have, and a bit less attention to his not-quite-sword than it needed. "And what did this quest for his birthright entail?"
Luckily Caiside kept his movements slow and steady - give or take the shaking of both their hands - and Jigano was able to correct most of his mild mistakes by a simple application of re-heating and pounding the steel flat again. He met Caiside's eyes at the talk of fathers, and gave a slow, understanding nod, warmed in spite of the blight at having someone who really did understand, though at least he had known that his father loved him, even if the stoic smith hadn't really understood his more scholarly son.
"I didn't have much choice," Jigano admitted wryly at the compliment. "It was a bit, ah, 'thrown in the deep end and sink or swim.' I found myself unwillingly bonded to an artifact, and further bound by it to a group I had little in common with... and then the torch of our town's namesake went out, and my mentor went missing trying to discover what had happened with it so I went after him..." He shook his head ruefully, nostalgia and pain in equal measure in his voice as he raised the sword-blank to inspect it and then offered it to Caiside for approval. "How is this looking?"
Luckily Caiside kept his movements slow and steady - give or take the shaking of both their hands - and Jigano was able to correct most of his mild mistakes by a simple application of re-heating and pounding the steel flat again. He met Caiside's eyes at the talk of fathers, and gave a slow, understanding nod, warmed in spite of the blight at having someone who really did understand, though at least he had known that his father loved him, even if the stoic smith hadn't really understood his more scholarly son.
"I didn't have much choice," Jigano admitted wryly at the compliment. "It was a bit, ah, 'thrown in the deep end and sink or swim.' I found myself unwillingly bonded to an artifact, and further bound by it to a group I had little in common with... and then the torch of our town's namesake went out, and my mentor went missing trying to discover what had happened with it so I went after him..." He shook his head ruefully, nostalgia and pain in equal measure in his voice as he raised the sword-blank to inspect it and then offered it to Caiside for approval. "How is this looking?"
