[ We find Istvan toiling at his forge in the basement. Between the whir of the ventilation fan and the sound of hammer against anvil with only a little metal in-between, it's a hard place to miss. ] [ We also find Tia, going to this place with the intention of talking to Istvan. Let's see what happens! Session Start. ] * Tia finds her way to the door of Istvan's forge, and she knocks on the door. Istvan? * Istvan is workin' on the forge, in his standard flame-retardant overalls over t-shirt and pants combination. Waves of heat are coming out through the door from the forge. * Istvan looks up, taking off his protective goggles. "Tia? What's up?" *puts down his forging stuff; dips the scimitar he was working on in a tub of water to cool it* [ The scimitar hisses at Istvan, which in this case is a good sign. ] * Tia walks over. "Hi, Isty." She looks down at her hands. "I'm sorry that we made you mad, even if Kenji won't say he is." * Istvan waits for the scimitar to cool, and then places it off to the side. "Not 'we', Tia. You didn't do anything." Just Kenji. * Tia fidgets with her dress. "Well, I told him I wanted you to join us..." Was his idea, though. And I had no problem with him, or you, offering. I appreciated it, even. My problem is that, even after I say no, he doesn't let up. Seriously, Tia. I'm not mad at ya. * Istvan rubs his neck. "I'm not even seriously mad at Kenji. Just really, really annoyed." * Tia nods. "Is there anything I can do?" Prolly not. Kenji's stubborn, and I ain't budging on this. Just have fun with him, I guess. Maybe he'll be too busy with you to bug me, then. *grins* The only other solution would be to eat his brains, and I don't think either of you want to try that. * Tia finally laughs. "You're really not mad at me, Isty?" Nah. You didn't do anything wrong. Wouldn't be fair to be mad at you for what Kenji did. * Tia nods. "It still makes me a little sad that you and Kenji don't like each other, though." I know, I know. Just... we don't get along. Personalities don't mesh well. He thinks he knows what's best for people, and I don't like people telling me how to lead my life. s'like mixing ice cream and creamed spinich. * Tia nods again. "Yeah, Alci said that too. I guess I understand." She smiles and gives Istvan a hug. "I'm glad you're not mad at me, though. I feel better now. And I won't ever ask you about your past." Tia nods solemnly. Thanks. I appreciate it. S'just... it's not like I did something horrible or anything. It's more... people find out about my past, they expect me to act a certain way. But I don't wanna act that way. So it's easier to just not talk about it, so I can live my life how I wanna. * Tia nods. "That makes sense." Now I just have to convince Kenji of that. *smirks* * Tia grins. "I can try to talk to 'im." * Tia suddenly remembers something. "Oh! Alci was sayin' something about identifying the piece of rock from Mr. Dragon's cave. You wanna come along?" Don't bother. Don't wanna get you involved in this fight. *pauses* Sure. I am kinda curious about what made him think he could take on the entire campus. And I've got a bit of a lull in forging jobs coming up. * Tia grins. "Alci's at Red Lightning, talking to Kardos. I told her I'd find her there." Okay. Just gotta finish this scimitar, and do some repairs on a flail, and I'll be clear to go. * Tia nods and grins, obviously much relieved. "Okay! I'll be upstairs." [ Minisession End! Might continue tomorrow, we'll see. ]