The Consultation [Carina, Torin]

[Aurin]

Kilvin's Forge
45th Searing, 123 of Steel

Aurin didn't mind fetching Carina from Gel'Grandal. The practice gave him a firmer grasp on the threads of slipspace that connected the two metropolises, which would only make it easier to escape the Imperial capital if he ever ran afoul of the authorities. Since getting high on the floor with her earlier that season, he had begun to do his part to make her larcenous dreams come true and now they had an appointment with the finest runeforger he knew.

He held the door open for her like a gentleman, then urged her into the shopfront with a hand on her ass like a cad.

"...and you'll probably want to leave it with him. I don't know. Get lunch. Go do your dips and twirls in one of the rehearsal rooms at the Peacock. Avast ye, Timon," he continued, changing course like - apparently - a pirate. "Torin's eleven o' the clock appointment is here. Carina Caron's initial consultation."

"Welcome, Miss Caron," Timon said. The youth was imminently professional whereas Aurin was not. "If you would please wait here, I will let Master Kilvin know you've arrived." With a short bow, he gave Aurin an unreadable glance and then exited through the back door. He would have to make sure Torin wasn't shirtless and sweating; he tried to make him presentable when he had meetings with new clients.

"So, yes... This is Kilvin's Forge. Well, this is the storefront. The forge is in back." He waved at the glass cases protecting various items on show. "His work is excellent. Rivals that of the Skyforge, and you don't have to pay for the dubious honor of it coming with the stamp of approval of a pidge prince."

[Torin Kilvin]

The runesmith was hard at work in his blacksmithy, hammer rising and falling with intent gusto. Sweat might have been dripping off him had this Searing been like those before it, but, as it was, with Frost-like weather refusing to give up its vice grip on the seasons, there was barely a sheen on his brow even so close to the roaring forge fire.

There was a great deal of work left to get done before he took the time off he'd scheduled to receive his second cardinal rune. It was well in hand, and he would have time to spare even if the new client Aurin was bringing by proved to need a few days of his time but that was no reason to slack off. Between the runeforging ideas that were always popping into his head and the work he wanted to get done on private projects for the valley there was always more to do. Some might say he worked too hard, some of his friends might even give him looks that said as much but he was young and healthy and he loved the work. More than anything except his friends, to a level of obsession, he loved his work.

His aetheric senses made note when two people arrived inside the shop with Timon, but he recognized Aurin's aura and the fox-like man seemed in good spirits so he kept working as his ears picked up on their small talk and introductions. Soon enough Timon appeared out the back room and waved him over.

His hammer rose and fell several more times, no use leaving good steel unfinished, before he set it carefully on it's hook and pulled off his apron to don his coat instead. When he reached his growing apprentice (the lad had put on several inches in the last year, much to his own relief) the lad made him bend down so he could straighten Torin's wild blond hair before he would let him enter the shop. Once the mandatory grooming was complete the pair made their way through the little storage room and into the expanded shop front. Torin had paid for the expansion but he still wasn't used to the additional side of the room that housed many shelves, all filled with bottles of various sizes filled with a multitude of pretty, dangerous liquids.

The sigh out front now read,

'Kilvin's Forge
&
Sunrunner's Alchemy'

and the shop needed to reflect that. Not to mention, all of the alchemical substances made the space appear much fuller than it had before. Runeforging was too expensive to make a lot of pieces just to show off, so there had almost never been anything on the shelves before.

Giving the newcomer beside Aurin a smile that he hoped was a combination of winning and businesslike, but was actually closer to boyish he offered her his hand.

"Hello, welcome. How may I help you?"

[Aurin]

After the niceties were seen to, Aurin ushered them into a side room where they could sit at a table and discuss. Carina had the prototype, and a sheaf of notes she had been taking. Torin had the know-how, the forge, and a touch for these things. Aurin mostly greased the wheels. When Torin needed time to peruse or to delve into the aura of her little trinket, the fox-faced man filled the air with words to keep Carina from getting antsy. Connecting people and ensuring that social and business interactions went well was just one of his many skills, honed on the streets of several cities between Cathena and Kalzasi over the years, as well as when helping Lord Choi talk wealthy people into becoming wealthy donors, and using the secrets he uncovered to inform business transactions for Portions for Foxes.

It seemed like a positive meeting, however, and when it was done, he opened a portal for Carina. She was a Railrunner herself, but it just seemed like the polite thing to do, and she seemed a bit drained from getting herself to Kalzasi. For a man who eschewed connections, he was remarkably careful of his coven brethren. Perhaps disdaining connections had become a lie he sold himself so he could sell it to other people. One of these days, he would be the man who sold the moon at this rate.

Once the portal winked out of existence behind her, he turned to find Torin momentarily distracted from the potential runeforging job to the way his traveling trick warped the local aether.

"My loyal voyeur," he purred, then sat down once more at the table, angling his chair out so he could prop a foot on Torin's lap. "Take it off. My feet hurt. You can massage them while you give me your initial thoughts on the job."

He wanted to tease Torin about the new sign, about how it ought to read *Kavafis & Co.* or similar, but he could do that later, and he was pleased that Torin had taken on his friend and lover as a business partner as well. It would only mean more business for the business, and Portions for Foxes had a stake in that, as well. It was good to get in on nascent businesses, as the Leukos zaibatsu had done, as the Kavafis keiretsu had done.

[Finn]

Review

Experience: 5 xp, none magical.

Injuries: N/A

Loot: N/A

Notes: Was holding this open hoping that Carina would return, but it's a Searing thread and now we're in Glade, so I'm closing it and just giving half the XP reward. Neither PC is in dire need of XP, after all. So, whenever Carina does return, Torin will have at least some familiarity with the possible job.