Page 16 of Competing Against Thor

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you do that."

I shrugged. "I don't like to, it feels like it goes against what the metal wants, but sometimes, the situation calls for it."

"Good note." He paused by his station. "If your hammer doesn't shape the metal like you want, move on, if you hit it too many times, it loses the lightness."

"Got it." I smiled at him and headed to work, knowing exactly what I was going to make.

Chapter 8

THOR

One look over in Daisy's direction made it clear that she was in her element. Even though she'd shown me her technique when we'd skill-swapped, it was something else to see her lost in creation. The expression on her face was one I recognised too, it was the magic of creation, the one that felt even better than doing actual magic.

I glanced up at the timer, relieved to find that there was still half an hour left. It wasn't a huge amount of time, but it was enough for me to put some final touches to my own sculpture. I'd done several leaves using Daisy's method, not quite confident enough to use it for flowers when I didn't have the same delicate touch as she did. But I'd used my own to create dandelion seeds. Maybe it wasn't flowers in the strictest sense, but I could see a lot of people liking it.

"You have one minute remaining!" Duncan called.

I stepped back and looked over my sculpture, hoping that I wasn't about to spot an imperfection that I didn't have time to fix.

"And we're done!" he called again. "Step away from your sculptures!"

The bell sounded, signalling that filming had ended.

Daisy came over and leaned against the pillar by my station. "It looks good." She nodded towards my sculpture.

"Thanks. I did a couple of practice leaves first." I gestured over to where they were still sitting.

She picked one up and turned it over in her hands. "It's good. Better than my first attempts."

"You probably had less experience when you first started shaping them like that," I pointed out.

"Hmm. True."

"Can I see what you made?"

"Sure, but you should be quick, they'll be coming to get it in a moment," she replied.

I headed over to her station, accidentally brushing past her as I did. Her breathing hitched loud enough for me to hear, filling me with thoughts that I really shouldn't be thinking when we were here.

Or without her having a say.

I refocused my attention on the sculpture instead. She'd been much more confident in using the technique I showed her than I had in hers, and had used it to create the top of a toadstool which shimmered in the light of the studio. A flower leaned over it, the petals each beautifully created.

"If I was doing this in my own studio and without a time crunch, I think I'd have put a fairy on top of the toadstool," she said.

"That would have looked beautiful," I responded.

"I'm glad you think so."

Two of the studio team appeared and made us move out of the way so they could move it through to the judging room.

"You're going to getJudge's Choicethis week," I said as I watched them cart both of our sculptures away.

"I appreciate your confidence in me, but I doubt it. I haven't won it yet, the others are too good for that," Daisy responded.

"This is your week," I assured her. "Your sculpture is beautiful. It's even better than your daisies." I gestured towards the plaque with her name on.

"That's because I put thought into this, whereas I made the daisies on a whim." She wiped her hands on a cloth. "But I am glad you like my flowers. It means a lot coming from someone as talented as you are."