If seeing her upset like that made David sad or guilty, he did not show it openly. Maria took his arm and they left the forge together. He led her to her home. It was next to the forge. Henry was waiting for her. "Is the party over?" he asked the silversmith novice. Henry scoffed and said "Obviously. Father went to bed. I decided to stay up late to watch for her." He then looked at Maria. "Did you have fun with your friend Joe there?" he asked bitterly. It seemed that he was finally starting to get that she was just not that into him. "It could have been better." she said. She left David's arm and walked over to Henry. "Thank you for waiting for me." she said. It was said in a genuine tone. Henry just nodded and said "Of course. I wouldn't leave you out on the streets in the night." She looked at David longingly and then sighed before heading in. David rolled his eyes. Henry looked after her and then glared at him. "What the hell is your problem, Joe!? You have a girl as perfect as that, and you treat her like dirt!" he snapped. "We're friends. I don't see her like that. Nothing's wrong with it." David told him.
Getting in David's face, he said "Just friends, huh? Did that look she gave you look like a friend." David just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think of her as a friend. That is the matter with that." Henry then sneered and said "Are you even a man? How can you look at her and not react!? Even a little." David said "I am a man. I have someone else that I care about." Henry's eyes narrowed. "I guess that means you won't mind if I take her then?" he challenged. "If she wants you, you can have her. I've never stopped you or got in between you. Why would I start now?" David shot back. He was starting to get annoyed with the conversation. Things were not very friendly here. Henry gave him another glare before going in for the night. David did not have to stand and take this abuse from anyone. Especially not from someone he could lay flat with a single punch. "I'm leaving. Good night and see you later." he said as he turned and started walking away. He was finally done. "Damn coward!" Henry said under his breath. David stopped and had to fight off his urge to go kill that boy.
He made his way back to the forge in time to see his master turn in for the night. "You know what to do. You can talk for a bit but then it's time for bed. We have a full day ahead of us tomorrow." the master said. That was not a problem for them at all. They did not need to sleep. Chris walked up to David and poked him in the chest. "You better treat us better. One day, you might find one of us taking what we want." he said petulantly. That was pretty expected of Chris of all people. Davis saw he was going to need to trat them like children. Very strong and near immortal children. "Boundaries are very important, Chris. We all saw how hurt Quinn was because Master Bretoni went past his boundaries and touched him in ways he did not want." That served to guilt trip them into not trying anything out of the blue. Chris was still adamant. "Still! If we ask you, you just have to say yes! We don't want to hurt you. We just want to make you feel good and have fun together." he argued. Rolling his eyes, he said "Doing things without my permission will hurt my feelings. Please respect that." he told them.
