It happened about halfway through Bimsley's laughing fit, when Lily couldn't take the situation anymore, she rounded on Ethan and began pointing an armored finger in his direction.

"What did you do to my dad?!"

Ethan, who had yet to become a tomato, looked from Bimsley, who was laughing so hard tears were almost streaming down his face. There was a term called "ugly crying" and now it would seem a new term was warranted; "happy crying" because the facial expression on the Pul'kin's face, while covered in tears, were far from sadness. Holding up his hands defensively Ethan set his gaze on the accusing Puledas.

"Wha?! I didn't do anything!"

Ethan was more confused than offended as he was more trying to figure out what was "wrong" with Mr. Bimsley as all he saw was an adult having a merry mighty laugh at his expense.

"You liar! Look at him! He's crying!"

Ethan was about to retort when a thought smacked his conscious; "had she never seen someone laugh so hard that they cried?" He watched for a few seconds, though it was clear that she wasn't joking, as the girl was obviously concerned about her dad, the fact clearly shown on her face and posture. Feeling bad for her Ethan took a step forward with the intent to place a hand on her shoulder but he stopped when she stepped away quickly.

"I'm not lying, the tears are from laughing too hard."

In fact, the uncontrolled laughter for the Pul'kin was starting to set Ethan's teeth on edge. It wasn't that funny after all, at least not for him anyway.

"You don't cry from laughing!" Lily retorted though she didn't look as certain as her voice made her seem. After all, he was smiling and laughing, so he didn't seem to be in pain.

Ethan simply pointed to Mr. Bimsley in reply to her declaration.

"Are you blind? Do you not see it right in front of you?"

Suddenly Lily's bluster broke and she looked back to Ethan with a look of pure innocent concern, a look that, had Ethan used it himself, would have melted Cecelia's, and possibly even Lorelle's, heart in an instance. He wasn't aware he himself wield such power but the look Lily leveled at him made his heart skip a beat and his breath to catch in his throat.

"You swear he is ok?"

Ethan paused before nodding with a sincere look.

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"Yes, I swear. For some reason your father finds my interactions with Cecelia to be very... funny." He had tried to think of another word, one that seemed less simple, but hadn't been able to.

Ethan suddenly paused a second time, his mind suddenly going into overdrive before his gaze focused back onto the girl.

"How old are you Lily?"

"I turn 13 next week." The reply seemed truthful but was certainly spoke in an absent matter as her focus was still on her father, though she didn't seemed as worried as before.

"Oh..." Was all he said as he considered her behavior versus his own. Did a year make that big of a difference? Had he even been that way when he was 12? As he stood there contemplating the nature of such things the deep and hearty laughter of the Pul'kin slowly invaded his thoughts and he returned to the present.

Ah! There was the red face about to pop mentioned earlier. Unbeknownst to him Ethan had taken the typical hands on his hips stance of Cecelia, a look that caused Bimsley to laugh even harder for a few seconds. Finally, seeing that the boy might really explode if he was to continue, the big, but short man, began to bring himself under control.

While it seemed difficult for him to do so it was true that he could have calmed down earlier, however, he was interested to see how things played out between Ethan and Lily. All things considered he was rather happy with the results of their conversation. After taking a deep breath he wiped his face with his beard and then stretched his arms above his head.

"Oh by the Keepers that felt good. Too bad Cecelia doesn't find me so appealing." A split second later the sound of metal thumping upon a shoulder radiated around the forge.

"Ouch!"

Bimsley looked toward his daughter while rubbing his shoulder, a look of confusion on the old man's face.

"What was that for?"

The girl had a glare leveled at Bimsley before "hmphing" at him and turning away. Mr. Bimsley turned to look at Ethan in silent question but the boy simply held up his hands palms up and shrugged.

"So let's see, you had time to kill but didn't trust Cecelia despite the rules of the guild? Is that what brought you here?"

"How... no.... what...." He spluttered and stuttered before finally sighing and letting his shoulders droop forward. "Yeeaaa."

He drew out the yea, a sign of defeat, before looking up with a sad expression.

"But it is also fun here." He pointed toward the wall of shields behind him.

"You have so many shields... they are all so amazing."

Mr. Bimsley enjoyed a compliment just as much as anyone else, especially about his workmanship, so when he heard Ethan's words he puffed up his chest, lifted his chin a bit, and crossed his arms proudly.

"Why thank you Ethan, I'm very happy to see that you have such fine and good tastes when it comes to shields. I knew there was a reason I liked you."

He offered Ethan a grin before chuckling a bit at the boy's response.

"You mean it isn't just because of my stories about being tormented by Cecelia?"

Bimsley cleared his throat and looked away before grinning.

"Well those help to!"

Ethan moved to smack Bimsley's other shoulder but he hadn't taken more than two steps before Lily was between them and driving a rigid finger, still covered in metal, into Ethan's chest.

"Oh no shorty! You don't get to touch daddy!" She poked him several times, each time hard enough to make sure he backed away.

Ethan did so, finally getting far enough away that she stopped poking him, his hand moving to rub the offended area with the palm of his hand.