A little mending

[Rosalie Mercedes]

Sloane's massive hooves clunked against the pavement as he trotted alongside the street. A harness resided around his immense muscular body as he took the wagon along for a ride. His large head went back slightly as the reins were pulled and he came to a stop in the entrance of the smithy. Barely a moment passed and a small woman, a child, descended from atop it's enormous back.

After tying the reins around a post, Rosalie walked further into the smithy and looked around the old building. Weapons of all sorts layed here or there along the walls while red hot metal boilled in a large cast iron pot. She took a few more steps forward as she spoke, “Hello Julius." She smiled at him. She knew Julius all her life as far as she was concerned. Her father had always taken her with him when he needed things fixed or to aquire some new items. To her, he was a friend of the familly and someone that could understand her pain more than most. Though at the moment she needed a few fix-its and such for the stable.

[julius]

Julius had only just come out of the back room when he heard the familiar voice of his young friend coming from nearer the side entrance of the shop where he had room to load or unload more significant orders. He hadnt been expected anyone to show up at the shop like that, it had been a slow couple of days and he wasn’t thinking that very moment to make the change. Spinning around in sudden surprise at hearing the girls voice to the side of him, Julius nearly let a large bucket of steal for melting slip from his hands. Such a mistake wouldhave caused him quite some time of pick up duty, as well as more than likely a few good cuts and scrapes to his unclothed torso. Much to his relief though, he did manage to catch himself quite conveniently before the bucket fell from his arms. After pulling the bucket close to him, Julius took in a breath of relief and set the bucket down on the ground by the doorway to the backroom where he had come from.

Turning and walking more calmly then over to Rosalie, Julius smiled quite nicely and even laughed a little at his own rediculous little jitter. “Hi there Rosalie.” He said smiling at the young girl he had known so long. “You know?” he continued, starting to chuckle a bittle again, “I still can’t quite get over how old you’re getting girl.”

He looked over and saw the horsedrawn wagon outside the shop, and more than easily recognised the horse and buggy as the girls. “I see you have some stuff for me eh?” he said more than asked. Julius wasn’t trying to cut off any smalltalk, just saying the only thing he could think of at the time. He wasn’t always the greatest at making conversation, so he made due with what he had. He knew Rosalie wouldn’t get offended or take it the wrong way, she knew him well enough.

[Rosalie Mercedes]

Julius always did get so consentrated on his work that he often got lost in his own world. Rosalie took a step forward and was about to tell him to be carefull so's to not drop anything but refrained to do so as his blured self caught hold of everything and no damage was done. When the re-run was over and her friend took in a deep breath, she giggled a little and bore an amused expression on her face as he walked over to her while laughing.

The child grinned slightly at his remark and replied teasingly, “I don't think you'll ever get over the fact that I'm aging as it seems to surprise you every time you see me.” When she finished her retort she winked at him with a jovial look about her face.

Addressing his later statement she responded with a nod, “One of the wheels on that old wagon of ours broke while we were using it yesterday. I brought it along for you to take a look at. It's in the back of the wagon.” She said while she made a motion with her hand in the direction of the wagon that was attached to Sloane. “If it's not too far gone, I'd like to have it fixed. If it is, I'll be needing a replacement for it.” She looked off as though searching her mind and a moment later her gaze came back to Julius as she continued, “We'll also be needing more horseshoes for..... three horses and two donkeys.”

[julius]

“I suppose it does.” He said laughingly, getting a good kick out of himself, thinking back at how he said as much every time he saw the young girl. It was true though, he never realy could wrap his mind around it. He had seen the girl ever since he was working his way into the blacksmith shop to begin with and she was just a toddler. In his minds eye, Rosalie Mercedes was just a little tyke, and seeing her all grown up, or getting there in any case, was certainly a lot to fathom. “You have to understand, Rosalie,” he said to her with a smile a teasing look on his face as well, “You used to be two feet tall. I got used to you being like that, now you’ve gone and thrown a good sized twist in my little world.” He chuckled a little some more and looked aside at that wagon she had halled over to bring him the wheel.

“I guess I should go have a look at that wheel then.” he was starting to straighten up his face, though was still grinning and chuckling slightly as he started to walk over to the wagon she had parked outside. “as for the horseshoes,” he continued, “Those just cant be done.” He joked, and laughed again, walking away from her. “They’re simply too much work.” He finished and turned his head around to face the girl, sticking his toungue out at her.

[Rosalie Mercedes]

She simply smiled at him as he reminised. "I supose you may be right about a twist being there. But I did not do it on purpose even though i don't mind it one bit." She smirked, "Would be boring for me if I was still two feet tall."

Rosalie shook her head slightly, the smile never leaving her face as he joked around about the work to finally stick his tongue out at her.

"Yeah. I did realise that and i supose you may be right." She tried to hold back from laughing as she spoke unto him. "I was going to offer you a bonus payment of a free homecooked meal over at the familly stable with some old friends but as you don't care for that........"

They seemed to have this everlasting ritual of teasing each other and even with the passing of her father it did not cease. Of that she was glad as it made some things stay the same. Made life a little more livable.

[julius]

“Hey hey hey!” Julius quipped quickly turning his head to face the girl again as he lifted the large wheel from the back of her wagon. “Now who ever said that?” he continued, chuckling a little at her ruse. “Who in their right mind would turn down a home cooked meal? Certainly not a guy like me.” He shook his head slightly at Mercedes while holding the wheel against his torso and carrying it back into the shop. “I think I might even have some horseshoes already from the last time I got bored at work.” He laughed a bit as he got closer to where the young girl stood. “good thing I can always count on you coming back for more. Those animals of yours seem to keep up the breeding faily well. Good thing I suppose, in a city like this. Always a growing need; especially now, what with the whole situation out there. The army has been keeping me busy, and I don’t doubt that they must have some orders in at the stable as well.”

Julius put the wheel down on the counter by the front entrance. It wasn’t far from there to get it into the shop by the forge; his main work area of course had to be near the entrance so he could tend to customers that came in at any time. He was afterall alone in the shop at most any time and some of those items on display were worth a lot of money. Julius couldn’t afford any shoplifting, for as much work as it took to make any given item. And he’d had a fair few try too. Keeping guard wasn’t so easy while working so hard and so much. Good thing he was in such good shape and was such a good runner, otherwise he wouldn’t ever be able to get the catch on those pesky thieves.

“So when were you thinking of having this dinner at the stables?” Julius asked, leaning one elbow on the counter and looking at his young friend. “I’ll have to make sure to close down the shop that evening. Can’t be working when theres dinner to be had.”

[Rosalie Mercedes]

“Hey hey hey!” Came the expected cry from the blacksmith and Rosalie giggled. There was never any doubt that when food was involved, a male was sure to react quickly, and to this child it was funny every time. Maybee one day it would get old, but for now it was all good.

When Julius finished talking about the meal, he headed back to the subject that started the ruckus; horse shoes. "They are indeed. We are expecting to receive more horses next month so as to be able to fill the orders. As long as there is no troubles with the shipment." She frowned while thinking of the recent activities that seemed to always find a way to throw a wrench in Karador's plans. "So if all goes well, we'll be needing horse shoes for them as well as usually half the shipments come with almost finished foot wear." She smirked a little, "I'm sure that you'll have fun making more in whatever spare time the army leaves you with."

In an army, a portion are on horseback while others are on foot. Many different tasks yet they all need weapons and don't usually have only one weapon on them. So with her workload about to increase drastically, she could only imagine how much his was about go up. He would not have much spare time in the near future.

Then, there it was. More proof that a man and his gut could not be separated. She giggled some more and smiled at him while she shook her head in disbelief before she continued. "A couple of the stable workers that have been around since around the time you met me will be dining with us tomorow evening. Mother and I would like to have you over at the same time if that's alright with your schedule." She smiled widely. "I heard the cook say that the main course and the desert will be a delight." She winked at him.

[julius]

“Oh really!?” Julius exclaimed in reply to her comment on the quality of the food. “A delight eh? And dessert too. Yes, well, I will definitely have to close shop tomorrow evening to spend some good quality time over dinner with some old friends.” He smiled, looking at Rosalie as he still leaned one elbow against the counter. “I’m sure I can make some extra time some other night to work on those horseshoes for your coming shipment.” He added, casually smiling and looking about the shop for a second. “Priorities have to be set and lines have to be drawn somewhere.” He said looking back at the girl. “A man has to take a break from work at some point to have a good meal when its available; not to mention catch up with old friends at a little get together.”

Julius lifted the wheel off the counter and held it against his chest again as he started to carry it into the back. “I haven’t seen your mother in quite a while.” He commented, hesitating a slight bit to think. “Hows she doing?” Julius asked, quite honestly interested in the womans well being. “God,” he continued. “It has to have been a good three or four months since ive seen her.” he finished speaking just as he set the large steal wheel down next to a big anvil with a metal mallot leaning against it near an unlit furnace. “I really need to get out more.” He continued, a pensive look on his face. “Leave work behind every now and then and go visit some friends. Might do me some good to leave the shop sometimes.” Julius had begun walking back towards Rosalie as he was speaking.

“Anyways,” he said, shaking his head once quickly. “Here are those horseshoes I have already.” He continued while bending over behind the counter and bringing up a couple boxes of horseshoes onto the countertop. Within them was one set of horseshoes more than she had asked for and two more sets for donkeys than she needed; there being four sets of each. “You can just take them all.” He said, smiling at the young girl again. “Eight for the price of five.” He continued. “Hows that sound?”

[Rosalie Mercedes]

Her smile spread even wider across her face as he became even more exited over the prospect of the meal. Food aparently being a 'priority' with solid 'lines' drawn around it. Those lines were probably the contour of his plate. She giggled some more as he continued on and her imagination took her on a few side tracks with what he was saying.

Having changed subject now to that of her mother, another question came forth, “Hows she doing?” Before she had a chance to answer he went on about how long since he last seen Rosalie's mother and the importance of getting out more to spend time with friends.

Three or four months sounded about right. He had not been to the stables since a few weeks before the incident and her mother never went to the smithy as she was usually needed elsewhere. Now of course, she will probably never make a trip to the smithy with her new situation.

He went onto one of the reasons of her visit as he bent over and pulled up a few boxes and gave her a special offer on the horseshoes. "Who am I to refuse such a good deal?." She replied smilling and handed him the money for the horseshoes. "Thank-you."

Going back to his previous question she contined, "And to answer your previous question, Mother is getting used to her new life but it's still very hard on her. Especially when Father is mentioned." Her eyes started to get all teary again as she looked at Julius and spoke of her mother's situation and of her father. She turned her head away and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

[julius]

Julius leaned in towards the young girl quietly as he rested both his elbows and forearms on the counter. "Don't worry about it Rosalie." He said sympathetically. "Hard times are harder to deal with than they sound. Your mother is a strong woman though kid, she'll make her way through it for sure. she's even got you to help her out, so theres really no worry for her. You should send her my regards though in the meantime, and ill be seeing her myself tomorrow evening as well." Julius smiled at the girl and reached his hand out to her. "I have to get back to work now though," he said, not really wanting to return to his labors, but knowing he had to. "the army is keeping me far more than busy as ive said, and they need their stuff soon. means more work for me. I'll have that wheel back to you tomorrow when i go over there too, seems easy enough to fix."

[Rosalie Mercedes]

The child tried to smile as he spoke, finding it hard to gather the energy to do so. She allowed him to completely finish his thoughts so as she would have time to bring herself together enough to reply. "Thank you. Mother will be pleased to hear from you and we''ll all be looking forward to seeing you tomorow evening. Should let you get some work done now if you don't want to be late." She laughed a bit. Like he'd be late for dinner.

Rosalie started to head for the doorway and after having put the couple boxes of horse shoes in the wagon, mounted Sloane once more. Turning back to look at Julius she said with a smile, "Thanks again for the horse shoes. Will see you tomorow."

With that, the masive hoves clunked against the pavement again and they both went off into the distance towards the stables.