How Green Becomes Wood

Claire laughed lightly when Alec waved goodbye and went back to her job, finding herself hoping she'd have time to make it back to them before the class ended. Then she just felt silly, it's not like they didn't go to high school together.
 
Xander finally finished his clay vase and sat back, nodding in satisfaction. The pot itself was a bit wonky and still looked like a top hat sitting on its top, but the wave lines were perfect. That was something to be proud of. "I could get the hang of this, I think."

Alec giggled, still needing to finish up his pattern. "We could open up a pottery shop together."

"Pottery and flower shop," Xander put in.

Alec smiled and nodded. "Absolutely! That would be so cool. Maybe Uncle Tristan would let us have it like a sister shop to his. That would mean some amount of good reputation right off the bat."

"It fits the vibe," Xander agreed.
 
As the class began to wind down, the main instructor reminded everyone to put their names somewhere on their vessels so they could be moved to the drying rack without getting lost. Once they were dry, they'd be fired in the kiln: once this happened, they'd be alerted via email and text message, and they'd have the option to take them home or schedule time to paint or glaze them.

After this was explained, Claire demonstrated how and where to wash their hands to actually get the clay off.
 
Alec and Xander both put their names carefully and clearly on the bottoms of their creations. Once that was done, they patiently waited their turns and washed off their hands, getting all the clay off mostly easily thanks to Claire's instructions. They were one of the last to finish up, and they started heading for the door. Alec dwadled, waiting to say goodbye to Claire. Sure, he'd see her at school, but this was different! And it felt weird to leave without saying goodbye.
 
As soon as Claire could get away from the rest of the class---which she certainly didn't rush, especially as some were tipping her---she went over to Alec and Xander, also wanting to say goodbye, "Did you have fun?"
 
"Oh, it was a blast!" Alec grinned. "Thanks so much!" He hesitated. "Are we supposed to tip? We can. Sorry, that's awkward."

"Shut up," Xander said blandly. He handed Claire a decent but not outrageous tip. "Thanks You were good."
 
"Hey it's no big deal," She promised them, but did still take the money, although she didn't count it, "We're allowed to accept, we're just not allowed to ask. I appreciate it, though, seriously. Do you think you'll come back to paint or glaze them?"
 
"It kind of depends on what you're going for," Claire replied, "Glaze can make it more water resistant, but it's not necessary. Look at all the ancient pottery, they didn't glaze the inside of old wine amphoras. At least I don't think they did. I think this clay tends to look better painted or glazed, though, because it doesn't really have that lovely red colour, it's more just grayish white. Acrylic paints will usually look more matte on it though, compared to a glaze. We do have both brushing and dipping glazes, so if you want to paint lots of detail you can do either. We've got a bunch of samples you can look at, if you'd like. I will say, acrylic paint probably won't last as long as a glaze."
 
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"Then... As much as I love bringing on the color, I'm going to say glaze," Alec nodded. "In this case, longevity trumps artistic beauty."

"Good choice," Xander nodded to him. "Wise decision."
 
"Don't worry, glaze can be super colorful," Claire told him cheerfully, "Some of them are really cool, actually! I can show you some, if you'd like! Glaze isn't just, like, a clear coat!"
 
"Oooo, yes, please! Please show!" Alec said eagerly.

"Oh no," Xander groaned. "Now we'll never get home. I'll have to live here and sleep under the tables while he picks colors. I wonder if I can eat clay for sustenance? Or maybe pitying visitors will bring me scraps."
 
"I can live with that compromise," Xander agreed. "Let's do this."

"Also, you still have the keys, and I can't drive, so you have the power," Alec pointed out. "Lead on, Lady Claire!"

"Yeah, but Ba wouldn't approve of me leaving you behind," Xander remarked, following them. "Mama might find it funny."
 
Claire led them over to the shelf of pottery for sale, some of which were just a single colour, but some were done in multiple colors, some were patterned, and some even had little designs like strawberries or flowers painted on. "See," Claire took down a clown-inspired teapot, "Glaze just refers to a specific kind of paint."
 
"It can be tricky to work with because it has special rules, but it's a ton of fun even when you kinda mess it up," Claire said brightly, "And it's cool in like... a mechanical way, because after you paint it on, you fire the piece again, and then it vitrifies too, it's like glass. When you paint it on, the colours don't look like this at all."
 
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