#baronyofthesilverwolf

She slides off the stool. "Ya'll pay attention now, gonna learn you somethin'." And she proceeds to walk the younger nocker through the forge, naming and explaining.

Thistle pays attention, sometimes asking for clarification, other times prodding at more details on the "HOW"

She gets a FULL explaination.

It's also apparent that she wasn't lying when she said she'd done her research - while clearly a novice with metal and leather, she's picked up enough to ask semi-informed questions.

Willy doesn't -crush- her; she doesn't fluff her up either. Answers questions by -encouraging- questions.

She responds well to the prompting - she's curious about How To Do just about everything, and How It Works and Why That Way? So long as it doesn't press too hard on her work and her skill.

Well, she does get pressed a -little-. Why do you -think- it works like that?

She has ideas! Sometimes very wrong ones, but usually plausible. And she has a good sense of how moving parts work together...

And for nockers 'wrong' is relative; not 'according to the formulas this won't work' but 'Did you get it to work? Did you DIE?'

Well, one time she did this repair on Gertrude that shouldn't have worked, but the carburetor is still chugging along six months later....

"SEE?" Aristotle proves the point.

"Yeah. I like fixing stuff."

"...I also kinda like taking stuff apart, not gonna lie."

"How else you gonna figger out how it works?"

"Exactly!"

"Yeah, so." Slurp "You got all this?"

A nod. "I think so."

"Kin you make coffee?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah, well, what we've gots fine for now. Let's see you work." And Willy takes up her stool again, staring at Shells.

"Work... what?"

"Whatever. Go for it."

"Is... is there scrap or something?"

"You tell me."

"Uh..." She looks around, searching for the discard pile.

Willy drinks burnt coffee and watches.

She picks through the slag, uncertain.

A frown as she works through the process. Stoke the forge. Tongs. Hammer. Quench bucket. Anvil.

Heat the metal - is that long enough? Is it the right color? She checks it too often, and takes a guess at when it is right.

She's not skilled with hammer and tong - nor does she have the brawn of a blacksmith. Her metal cools too fast, and she has to reheat it. The blade is crude, and the temperature issues will make it brittle.

That is - she works like someone who has seen a video or two, and heard the steps, but has no experience.

But she's trying.

Willy just.... watches.

She SCOWLS at the metal, like that will get it to behave.

"Oh, fer &^$%(!!" The proto-blade cracks in two.

Willy cackles softly "Now ya'll gettin' the hang of it."

"How do I stick it back together?"

"Melt it."

She wipes the sweat from her eyes and sticks the metal back in the forge.

"There ya'll go."

"What did I do wrong? Why'd it break?" Watching the color change - it's still orange, not hot enough to be straw-gold yet.

"Ya'll cooled it too quick."

"How you know it's the wrong temp?"

"Ain't like you can touch that shite."

"I kin see it. Hear and smell it, too."

"Yeah, fine, but what's 'right' look like?"

Willy explains the technical part ".... but also, you gotta learn to see it. Experience. An' remember, this might not be your best skill set; you might be better at other stuff."

"Damn youtube videos don't really show you enough...."

TAP tap tap tap tap. Flattening the stock, trying to get it blade-shaped.

"It's metal. Ya'll kin hit it."