Who: Raven Darkholme Lensherr and Erik Lehnsherr What: having lunch Where: outside the blacksmith shop When: Monday afternoon Warnings: nope Status: complete gdoc
Raven tried to be a good wife. Her husband worked hard to provide for their family and she wanted him to know how much she appreciated him. Their son was old enough that he’d be starting his own family soon and a part of her felt bad that she hadn’t managed to give Erik more children.
Today, she decided to surprise him by stopping by the blacksmith shop with some lunch. It wasn’t anything fancy, just some freshly baked bread and cheese , but she knew he would be hungry and this would mean he wouldn’t need to go to one of the restaurants and purchase a meal.
She acknowledged his employees before making her way back to his workstation. “Hi,” she said, greeting him with a smile.
***
Erik was glad to see Raven show up. It would make a nice break from dealing with apprentices. Especially Mieczyslaw, that young man was intelligent, innovative, and Erik was fairly sure if he was left alone he might burn the entire smithy down. Erik had taken him on at first because it was good to support another person from the homeland but there were days he tested the patience of everyone there.
“Hello, give me a minute and I will be able to leave.” Mostly he needed to grab someone and make them babysit his destructive apprentice which only took a minute then he was able to take off his apron, sluice his face and hands off before drying them on a clean piece of cloth and come back to rejoin Raven. This time since he was clean he kissed Raven on the cheek with a smile. “How are you today, and how is Kurt?”
***
“I am well today,” she said, giving him a smile. “As is Kurt. And you? I take it your apprentice has not destroyed anything so far today.” Raven heard a lot of stories about the young man with the unpronounceable name and worried for her husband’s safety with him around.
They had a nice, quiet life together and she was glad that he was in a profession that was less dangerous than mining. She’d seen several other women lose their husbands in mining accidents and never wanted to go through that.
***
“Mieczyslaw has managed to get through the day without damage. It probably won’t last.” If he wasn’t so damn intelligent Erik probably wouldn’t put up with him but Mieczyslaw was good at figuring out ways to do things no one else ever thought of he just didn’t have the skill for the follow through but Erik managed that part.
“Let’s go outside away from the heat while I eat.” It would make for a more pleasant time together away from the fires and the noise.
***
It was uncomfortably warm inside the shop, along with dirty, so Raven was happy to follow her husband outside to share his meal. “It’s a shame that Kurt wasn’t interested in smithing.” He’d grown up around his father’s business and it was enough to know that it wasn’t the path he wished to follow. Neither of them cared to push him into it, knowing there were a number of others willing to apprentice and eventually take over, so they supported him in pursuing a different career.
She followed him outside and they made themselves comfortable on a warm patch of grass. Soon the weather would be turning and they wouldn’t be able to do this.
***
Erik liked the way the breeze felt out on the grass after being inside all morning and he tipped his face up to the sun with a smile. Moments of quiet and peace during a work day were rare, they were even rarer with the company of his wife.
“I can’t blame him. If your heart isn’t in the forge then it will break it.” Erik couldn’t imagine doing anything else but it definitely wasn’t for everyone.
“Are you looking forward to the wedding this week?”
***
Raven’s face lit up when he asked about the wedding. It was always nice when they had a reason to celebrate as a town and she hoped that someday it would be their turn to host a celebration for their son.
“It will be nice to have a happy occasion,” she said. The recent murders were frightening and she was hopeful that the sheriff and his deputies would find the culprit soon. “They are a lovely young couple.” She remembered their own wedding with fondness.
***
“It will won’t it?” They had been married a long time but it was still nice to go to weddings and relive the memory a little. The town could definitely use a happy occasion after so much fear and anger.
“And we’ll be good and just dance and enjoy ourselves instead of giving them advice from the experienced couple.” Unless they asked for it. Erik honestly couldn’t even tell them why a marriage worked or it didn’t other than he and Raven just tried to be good to each other and never hold a grudge. Which was harder for Erik than his wife, he could get angry and be unreasonable far easier than she did.
****
Young people weren’t likely to listen to their advice anyway. Raven knew that she hadn’t paid any mind to what people said at her own wedding all those years ago. “And perhaps pick up some tips in case we find ourselves planning a wedding for our son soon,” she said. Kurt was getting to that age, though he hadn’t mentioned having an interest in anyone just yet and they weren’t the type of parents to arrange something.
“It will be nice to dance with you again,” she said. They hadn’t had much opportunity for that.
***
He hadn’t even thought yet about Kurt possibly wanting to get married but he was the right age so when Raven brought it up it was a bit of a shock. But she was right, that could be coming up soon. “I wonder if he will find someone or if we should arrange for him to travel to some nearby towns to meet more people.” He would never want to arrange something but maybe they needed to give him more opportunities.
“And I look forward to dancing. Maybe we should suggest more events that involve music. It wouldn’t need to be such an elaborate event as a wedding.” Just music around a bonfire would be enough to lift spirits and let them dance.
***
“That would be nice, especially with the shorter days coming,” Raven said. All the farmers would have additional time free that they didn’t have to work the fields and some gatherings with music would be a nice way to brighten the long nights.
She considered his suggestion about Kurt. “I suppose we ought to ask Kurt what he wishes to do,” she said. She wasn’t interested in pushing her son into a life he didn’t want.
***
The more Erik thought about it the more he liked the idea of the gatherings. He’d put some ideas in his apprentice’s heads and let them start planting ideas around town. They’d do the work for them given half the chance.
“Of course. It’s just a suggestion to give him options if he wants them.” Erik chuckled knowing their son wouldn’t hesitate to tell them if he didn’t want to do something.
***
That was quite true. They’d definitely raised him to speak up. “We can discuss it with him soon,” Raven said. “In the meantime, let us enjoy our meal together in the sunshine before you need to go back inside.”
She knew they were too busy for him to take a long break.
***
“Of course, let’s make the most of our time together.” They could split the bread and cheese and there was a nearby pail of clean, cold well water they could drink from nearby if they wanted. He still had a lot of hard labor in the heat of the forge ahead of him but for now it was pleasant in the sun sitting beside his wife having a meal together. “Having you here makes the food taste better after all.”
***
Raven smiled as she began to unpack the food she’d prepared. “I should do this more often,” she remarked. It was nice spending time with her husband during the day. “Though perhaps come spring.” After all, it would likely be too cold for this very soon.