Author's Note: Phew, sorry about the delay on this chapter! Fate seemed to want to conspire against me writing these past week or so, with last Friday (and by extension, Saturday) seeing my car's battery die, so I got home late and had to wake up early to replace it (At like 8 AM when I went to bed at 3 AM), and this Friday that has just passed had me covering for my work's resident screw-up. Had to work a fourteen and a half hour shift. Money's nice, but time to write became even more scarce. Plus I have to ferry my father to physical therapy for the knee surgery he apparently had later in the week. Fun.
Ah, well, more reason to put in more effort for you all. After all, if I take it as a reason to not have to work as hard than it's just an excuse.
And a note real quick note on the heterochromia- I genuinely messed up, lmao. For some reason, in my memory, I remembered Neo's disguise having a black iris and a green one, so my bad. If it's that big of an issue I can go back and edit the previous chapter, but I'd rather keep it because...to be honest, I really like the concept. Gives Neo's disguise a bit more character, as it is still a pretty marked difference from her actual identity.
Chapter 48
Carol popped open the side of the furnace, peering into the flame tinted interior, squinting to discern the shape of the crucible amidst the heat. He was able to pick apart the practically radiant reservoir with some difficulty, and nodded. Okay, looks ready. Time to pour it out. He grabbed a set of tongs with circular clamps at the end and pushed them into the hot furnace, grabbing the crucible and pulling it out with incredible diligence, making sure not to spill a drop of the valuable metal. Well, relatively valuable, at least. He didn't want to spend another hour or so heating up an entire new batch of steel just because of one moment of errant clumsiness.
He bit his lip as he maneuvered the glowing hot ceramic vessel over to the Auto-mold, carefully tipping the lip over and spilling the quite literally burning hot metal into the insert. The molten steel hissed and spat as it contacted against drastically cooler steel, but filled the mold all the same. When he turned to set the set of clamps down to retrieve one meant for holding the blade in place as to hammer it, he noticed Mint still sitting on her counter, clapping as a result of him not flubbing the pour. He rolled his eyes.
"Yes, yes, and the crowd goes wild." A smirk played at his face. "What, no cheering?" Mint deadpanned, stopping her clapping to give him a one fingered salute. Snickering to himself, Carol traded the clamps for the crucible out for a more standard set of tongs, grasping his hammer as well. He still had to wait for the steel to cool, just enough so that he could grab it and take it over to the anvil. In the meantime he watched the machine to see if it would have any failures. Purpose built as it was, Carol still found himself hesitant to place all of his trust into something new like it.
It didn't take long for a shape to become apparent, though still glowing with heat. He fit the tongs around the tang of the blade and lifted it out of the mold. It came out in one piece with no remnants of steel laying in the mold. Hm. Color me surprised, or maybe impressed. Whatever he was, there was still something he had to work on. The still cherry red blade was laid upon the anvil, and he raised his hammer high, bringing it down with heavy force. Sparks cast about from the pressure imparted, and the wave of heat that emanated from the strike felt relaxing rather than sweltering.
Granted, most of his work had already been done with the mold, so it wouldn't take nearly as long to finish up the bladework than it normally would. Though he didn't make it a one to one rendition of what he needed to make. He purposefully left it a rough mold in place of a more accurate one because of two reasons; The first was that he didn't want to fully trust a piece of technology that he was about to use for the first time with having exact measurements. The second? Well, he just enjoyed crafting, was all. And really, did you need any other reason other than 'Because I like to do it'?
Despite enjoying the current heat of the forge, he was still sweating from it, which he still didn't mind. But the sweat was dripping down his brow, and threatened to fall onto the blade. It was no big deal, but as this blade was meant to come from his own mettle (Heh.), he didn't want the even slightest bit of moisture hitting the blade and causing it to cool unevenly. As a drop of sweat fell from him despite how desperately it clung to his skin, he flourished his hammer in a twirl, batting the drop out of the air with the rear of the hammer. He finished the motion by raising his hammer high, and letting it fall back towards the blade.
Despite how much it should occupy his thoughts, he found himself growing...well, not bored with the forging process, but he needed something else to occupy his thoughts. Usually he'd have his team around to shoot the shit with, but Cardin was laying low and the other were either studying or flirting with the objects of their affections. And he was stuck with the mute girl, who, while pretty, wasn't much for conversation. Alas, he had to work with what he was given. "You holdin' up alright, over there?" The girl, swinging her legs, responded by yawning soundlessly, fanning the air in front of her mouth. "Bored, huh?" A nod. "Well you should've said something." A spring bounced off his forehead, wiping the smile that was beginning to grow away. "Hey, don't do that. Doe-eyed gremlins use those all the time, and they hate losing them." Mint blinked owlishly, tilting her head. "You'll find out. It's hard to ignore her." He knew that well, as he'd tried several times.
Shrugging, the girl leaned back on the counter, laying down, making Carol duck his own head, face heating for a reason other than the currently blazing furnace. "You know, you're wearing a skirt, genius." He focused more completely on the blade, until the girl sat up again, with a wide grin on her face, purposefully folding her legs slowly. "Cool it, not interested in Huntresses." She shrugged, falling...well, silent was a bad term. Inactive? Either way, it passed quickly, the girl pantomiming tying a rope around her neck and pulling it taught, tilting her head as if she were hanging. It was a rather creepy juxtaposition that she was still smiling despite the grim action. "Woah, wait wait wait, I think you're taking it way more personally than you should!" What the hell was up with huntresses and rejection? Can't they take a 'no' for an answer?!
Mint shook her head, pointing to the weapon he was currently hammering, as despite starting a conversation, he was still dedicating the amount of attention required. "Huh? I'm making a dao, but I'm not sure how what you're talking about ties into it..." The girl mocked hanging once more, than pointed more insistently at the forming blade. "The hell does suicide have to do with- Oh, you meant the oath thing I talked about before." That made a lot more sense. "Well, what exactly do you want to know about it?" The girl stared blankly at him. "Right. Could I get any hints?" She hopped off the counter, shoes clicking on the concrete as she plodded around the forge. Carol returned his full attentions to the sword in his hands, inspecting it for any deformations.
It should have been a surprise to find none, but his knowledge was an instinctual one, formed from countless hours in the forge. Even slightly distracted, the blade was coming along fine, though it was at the point for the first heat treatment. He placed his hammer to the side and lifted the blade up and away from the anvil, walking across to the vice he used the past times to air cool the blade. The still hot but now unmalleable steel was clamped in place, Carol giving an experimental wiggle to see if it would budge. It didn't, and he nodded in satisfaction, turning away from the blade. "Now, time to find today's midget accoutrement..." He muttered, only to stop suddenly as the black and green girl had snuck up on him again. "Stop doing that." From the smile that grew on her face, Carol could only guess the number of ways she was saying 'No, screw you'. She did, however, hand him a piece of metal. He accepted it, turning the chunk over in his hand. It was a small, green thing, impossibly sharp on one side. It seemed familiar, somehow.
"What's this for?" She pointed at the side that still retained its paint. "Yeah, I see, it's green. Emerald, specifically, but- oh." Well, that answered the question of what she was curious about. Still... "Where'd you get this from?" The steel in question intrigued him. The blade wasn't curiously light or heavy, but he did see a jagged pattern, which suggested usage of Ice Dust. Mint pointed to the corner of the room, where a small locker was opened. He walked over to the small cubby, the form of a weapon becoming more apparent as he did so. Correction: the form of a weapon in pieces. Recognition flashed, and he placed the matching chunk of blade in the locker, shutting it and turning to the 'completely innocent' Mint. "I appreciate the ingenuity, but maybe don't give the other teams any more reason to start shit with me." She gave an overly enthusiastic nod that he knew was disingenuous. So this is what Cardin and them felt like when I said I'd stop shit-kicking with the other teams. Weird.
"Anyway..." He had a good amount of time to spare while the Dao finished its cooling. It seemed like it was high time he took a break, and his nicotine addiction was calling. But something was telling him that going outside was a bad idea...and it wasn't like there was anyone else was going to show up to the forge. "I'm gonna take a smoke break. If you mind, too bad." He was being strangely accommodating, after all. The normal ritual of lighting a cigarette came and went, and the smoke filled his lungs, bringing the release as it normally did. He let out a large puff of smoke, expecting Mint to swat the air to send the smoke away, only to notice she appeared to be calmed down, her smile a curve of her lips instead of all teeth. "Hm. Didn't take you for a smoker." She shook her head. Then why did she appear relaxed? Oh well. Not his place to introspect. He leaned against the counter, the girl hopping up and sitting on it next to him, reaching his height.
The room fell to silence for a bit, only occupied by gentle exhaling on Carol's part. "That part about the 'oath on the pain of death'? That's true. As is the fact that you've got to be on your game all the time, constantly in contact with your clients, and pushing yourself to make better weapons faster. Sounds like a lot of negatives and not much positives, right?" He flicked some ash onto the counter, sweeping it off onto the floor. "That's on purpose. You tell people the bad shit first, they get turned off. Think it's too much work, don't want to spend the time on it, or something along the lines of that. I start off saying the negative stuff to vet out the people who aren't going to put in the effort 'cuz weakness here doesn't just mean a bad product. People can die because of it." Fortunately, his works hadn't been the cause of a critical failure. He knew, he checked up the status of every Huntsman or Huntress who he'd made a weapon for almost religiously. "After they get through that, I tell 'em the good stuff. You're in a field where you'll never be replaced as your skills are too valuable, and the money you make borders on disgusting sometimes. Not to mention staying active instead of sitting at a desk all day, or some boring shit like that." The girl nodded, and he sighed. He didn't know how much would actually stick, or how interested she was in it.
"I will admit that part of the reason I told her the bad shit first is because I think she was lying about wanting to be a Blacksmith." That got the girl's attention. "When people are bullshittin', they generally tend to have this weird half-smile. She was wearing it with pride the entire damn time. That's why I started with the serious shit first with her. If she didn't have the stomach to push past that, then the smithing community is better off without her. And, I might as well say, Huntsmen as well. Their job is a lot more dangerous, and having someone like her who short-changes herself will only fall on people who don't deserve it." Unsaid was the fact that it would most likely fall on the rest of her team, but Mint either didn't care or didn't realize. Not his problem. "But, I suppose it doesn't matter. She's going to go back to whatever academy she came from, and we probably won't see each other until the next festival. Same for you I suppose." She held a hand to her face, mouth open in mock shock. Carol rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, don't pretend that you'd actually miss me. You barely even know me." No one at Beacon really did, but that was beside the point. Though it did beg the question... "Speaking of, just why are you here?" She took a moment to put a hand to her chin, looking up in thought, before looking back at him and shrugging with that same damn smile. Great. Now I'm going to have to guess. "You don't know?" She shook her head, smile slowly starting to part to show teeth again. "You don't care?" That was how he felt about the situation, but all it earned him was another shake of the head. "Alright then, give me a hint." The little shit had the audacity to grin and shake her head once more. Alright then, if you're gonna be a little shit, I'm gonna be one too. He put on his own sadistic grin and leaned his head back slightly, cocking it to look at her from the side of his gaze. "Then, could it be...you have a crush on me, hmm?" To be honest, he had no idea if it would work. He kind of just did what he thought would piss Weiss off and hoped for the best. Though, upon retrospect, maybe that wouldn't work anymore.
Mint pushed off the counter, avoiding his gaze as she stepped down to the ground. It worked? Holy shit, it worked! Or, at least, he thought it did. She walked in front of him, turning on her heel with a mischievous smile. It was at this point that Carol realized that he sincerely, incredibly, beyond a shadow of a doubt, made a severe mistake. Her hand shot out and grabbed him about the collar, making the cigarette tumble from his lips in surprise as she yanked him forward and down to her level. The strength she had wasn't the only thing that had him shocked, the lidded stare doing wonders to put him ill at ease. "Aha...ah, well...You uh...you really called me on my bluff, huh?" Carol said, nervously chuckling. "So, uh, could you let me go?" The girl shook her head, instead slowly leaning forward. "Right, not funny anymore, getting kind of uncomfortable, you can stop any moment you know?!" His heart beat mercilessly in his chest as, equally mercilessly, the twintailed girl kept closing the distance, Carol beginning to grow desperate. "Stop-," he blurted out, "-We can't kiss, we're not married!" The girl stopped abruptly, mouth popping open slightly as she was seemingly stunned. And then, her wicked grin returned. And grew. And grew. And grew yet larger still as she shook with raucous laughter, throwing her head back and full bodily roared in mirth, which was weird because it was silent. Still, it was a relief to have her out of his face, though it still burned in embarrassment. But, at least the moment had passed, and he could get back to work-
"And just what is going on here?" Oh for the love of- As if the situation couldn't get worse, the midget and her partner had to arrive. Weiss's eyebrow twitched angrily, and Carol could only guess the amount of false assumptions running through her head. Ruby backed her up, adding a piteous pout worthy of a puppy to boot.
"Yeah, what she said!" Okay, maybe it wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. All he had to do was explain the situation, as Mint couldn't interrupt him on account of having no voice. Easy, and with no chance of things getting even more poorly construed.
"Well, you see-" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. The fabled gesture that would spell his doom. And he was powerless to stop it. Neo raised a single finger to the sky, nail polish glinting in the dull light...
And aggressively stabbed it through the empty circle she had made with her other hand, jabbing multiple times as she made an absolutely lurid expression. Carol's face met his palm, Weiss hacked on air, and Ruby squeaked. Why do I tempt fate?
End note: Comments and criticisms are welcome as always.