A Farmer and a Bladesmith walk into a Forge...

"Oh definitely! I would be bored out of my mind if we were all the same!" Daniel grinned a little bit. "I don't mean any of it as a bad thing, it's just my own preference. I will say that flowers make more people smile than potatoes." He smiled at Malcolm, "Yeah I know Alex. We work with the strawberries a lot together. He's a way better cook than I am, for sure. I just think that it's kind of crazy how many differences there are between people that most assume are exactly the same."

Looking at his hands, he chuckled a little bit. "I actually really like that concept. Being different while being the same."

"Really?" Daniel was a bit shocked. "Every child of Ares I've ever met has been either a jerk or a bully." He felt a bit embarrassed by his response, they had just been talking about differences so he shouldn't be that bewildered. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though. I'd be glad to meet one who doesn't hate me on sight."

The farmer chuckled a bit. "Did you forge the son of Ares' weapon? I can't imagine talking much to one of them without a reason." Maybe that made him a little judgemental, but the Ares cabin hadn't been too classy about his inability to use a 'proper' weapon. He might have been a little bitter, and he felt guilty about the fact that he felt justified in it.

Daniel smiled broadly as Malcolm talked. He had seen plenty of guys who were head over heels for someone before. In Adams County, there wasn't much excitement besides who liked who. He wasn't sure he should say anything though. Malcolm might get embarrassed. To tell the truth, Daniel really didn't care about the stereotypical norm for relationships. People fall for who they fall for. You'd be better off telling a plant not to grow.

Finally, he decided to speak up. "Not to pry, but does he know you like him? It doesn't bother me, in case you're worried, but I'm just curious. You seem like you don't get a chance to talk about yourself much." The tanned farmer gave the son of Hephaestus a friendly smile. He hoped that Malcolm wouldn't think he was being nosy; he was just interested in the gentle giant. He was a sweet guy, very friendly, and his heart was definitely in the right place.

The African American demigod chuckled lightly. Daniel was right, he never talked about himself unless he was around his half siblings are Jackson. "Oh, yeah, he knows. We're kind of...dating." Malcolm bit his lip and could feel his cheeks heat up. "We went to a Renaissance fair last weekend and it was...amazing. I'm demisexual by the way." He stated, going to check on the staff. He picked it up with his hands and brought it back to where he was sitting at. Taking a pencil like device, he started drawing the designs into the staff of the scythe.

Daniel grinned, scratching his head. "Well I don't really know what to say other than congrats. If you like him that much, he's probably a pretty good guy." He cocked his head slightly at the demisexual comment. He had never really heard of that before. Watching Malcolm move and begin drawing the design onto the staff, he sat quietly for a second before speaking up. "So... If you don't mind me asking, what's demisexual? I know that heterosexual is boys liking girls and vice versa, and homosexual is when you like the same gender, I've never heard of demi before. Unless it was before god." He smiled a bit, slightly embarrassed he had to ask. The only exposure to these things came when he was here at camp, but it required him to interact with others more than he was comfortable with.

"Oh, okay!" Malcolm's explanation helped Daniel quite a bit. He had never really been exposed to anything other than what he considered the standard as far as attraction went. In all honesty, he liked the concept of it. A smile broke across his face as he thought about it. "I actually really like that. So you have to like who they are before anything else when you're demisexual?"

While he spoke, he continued to admire Malcolm's work up to the current point. He was willing to bet some of the Athena campers would be jealous of the design work.

Daniel nodded and continued watching. It made sense to him, but he thought that was how everyone should be. He wasn't sure it was exactly the same for him though. He wasn't sure he would ever look at a guy that way, but he also didn't think Malcolm was wrong for his feelings. Too many people back home would disagree. With a start, Daniel wondered if race was the only reason Malcolm had bad memories of the south.

Deciding to answer the blacksmith's question instead of asking, he said, "Uhh, sure! That actually would work pretty well, I think!" His face broke into a huge grin. He was getting more and more excited as time went by.

Daniel nodded and sat until Malcolm came back with the vials. "I think I can do that." He wasn't sure how his portion would turn out, but he was still willing to give it a try. He reached out a calloused hand to pick up the gold colored vial. Since Malcolm was working on the other end, he had plenty of space to take his time trying not to mess up.

"Uhh..." Daniel was taken by surprise with the question. He never really thought much about other gods and goddesses. "I suppose there could be..." He shifted a bit as he worked, trying to think of how he felt about the idea. "Based on what I know, the gods and goddesses are sort of based in human memory? So I think there probably are others. I'm not sure if we'll ever know though." He gave a small smile. "I never would've thought my mom was a goddess in the first place though. So I guess anything's possible."

Daniel smiled and shrugged. He liked mysteries because they let him daydream while he worked. He let out a bit of a laugh. "You've done pretty much all the work though. I'm like a kid just coloring in the lines" He grinned ear to ear, his eyes lighting up. "Yeah, I can do that part too I think!" So far he hadn't made any mistakes, so he was confident. If he did make mistakes, they weren't obvious. He was thrilled with how it was turning out. If all that needed to be done was the blade, the scythe could be done really soon. Daniel couldn't wait.

Daniel nodded absently as he focused on his task. "Alright, be there in a sec." He took longer than he probably should have for the particular job, but he didn't find any mistakes that he could see. It had taken a little while, but not long enough for Malcolm to be finished yet. The son of Demeter's eyes shot wide open as he looked at molten celestial bronze being held up by seemingly nothing. Must be a Hephaestus power... He walked over to the giant blacksmith and coughed slightly so he didn't startle the other boy. He had a feeling that molten metal manipulation might react badly if he was startled. "I finished the staff tent."

Daniel held the staff, wide eyed as the scythe blade formed before his eyes. He was impressed. Any form of kinesis was deemed a pretty cool power at camp. The ability to manipulate molten metal, and likely cooled metal was a pretty cool talent. The farmer almost wanted to be jealous, but he didn't really know why it would make sense for him to be able to do something similar. He had no real need to do something like what Malcolm could do. He watched the whole process silently and shoved the blade into the water like Malcolm had directed. A huge cloud of steam hissed and rose the moment the blade hit the water. "How long should I leave it in the water?"