"No!" Zayn exclaimed in agony, bereaved at the doom of all the effort he'd spent through out the entire day.
He went home feeling burnt out and disheartened, welcomed by the view of Mary's lukewarm cooking.
His deflated frame sighed in exasperation. Mazed in a frustrated glare, he stirring his food sloppily over the plate, unable have even one bite of supper.
"You taste it too, huh", Felix asked with a smile, laced in a wry pitch. "The wonders her meal brings", he mischievously humoured.
Though put in the way he did, her cooking weren't exactly the best but fairly weren't well into the worse either. It scaled right between the thin blur between narrowly manageable and completely not hated.
Right from before his first meal, Felix had warned Zayn of the 'exquisite' quality of his wife's cooking or so he always termed everytime she was around.
"Yup. Just as 'exquisite' as you said it would be", he sarcastically played along, already too involved in his little charade.
"You guys talking about the food? So tell me how is it?" Mary asked, walking into view as she leaned against the kitchen door, with a smile ready to be praised.
"Exquisite! Darling. Just Exquisite", he congratulated, masking how he truly felt behind a dubious smile.
It wasn't that he naturally enjoyed hiding the truth from her but his fear were based on the anticipation of what her reaction might turn be if he did.
And after years of a prolonged facade, it was way too late for him to turn back now. To him, the only choice he had now was to pretend even harder and join as much people in as possible.
And progressing on, the secret and inevitable burden that followed, remained theirs to carry.
Mary smiled, as Zayn too commented with a two-faced smile, consciously avoiding using his words as a weapon of lie.
So far he didn't say anything, technically it wasn't lying.
The warmth of her smile shined but didn't reciprocate delight in them rather it raged like coals piled within their guilty but braced hearts.
Actually amid all he felt then, the food barely even tasted at all let alone in a bad way so in a way he was in the clear of any accusation of falsehood.
His mood though well hidden, was as transparent as crystal to the experienced and caring youths.
"What's the matter, Zayn", she asked sympathetically, her voice etched with concern.
"It's nothing", he shrugged. "Just thinking about how to avoid a few mistakes. That's all."
"His experiment–", Felix cleared up to Mary, while tugging on a piece of turkey in his hands. "His experiment today didn't turn out the way he'd hoped", he explained.
"Is that all?" She asked still unable to see a justifiable reason for his apprehension. "Don't worry. No matter the problem, I know you can do it. All you need is little inspiration to get you moving", she encouraged as she squatted closer towards Zayn.
Catching Zayn by surprise she held up a piece of cloth underneath her apron wiping off the food stains dotted around his face.
Zayn just nodded, a bit embarrassed but slightly warmed by the concern she displayed.
"Yes and don't worry. Tomorrow, maybe I could bring out some time to help as well", Felix offered after concluding with his plate.
"Now come help me with the dishes", she smiled, trying to take his mind off his thoughts.
While doing the dishes, Zayn kept searching through routes to achieve his desired result but not an idea sparked through into potential success.
Almost concluding his chores, he sniffed in a bit of smoke, noticing that the coal powered stove was still on.
He picked a bowl of water and sprinkled over it instantly quenching the heat.
As he spread through the ashes, he noticed there was a key difference between the used coal and the fresh ones in the pile.
The used were noticably more brittle than the freshly mined ones and that overly encountered knowledge, struck a chord of inspiration in Zayn's mind.
His mind resonated clearly for a long-sought solution and there it was lurking withing the dirty dunes of ash and coal before him.
This new found but unrefined technique he rode on, fuelled his optimistic perspective and eager intent to once again visit The Forge.
His approach this time was mostly similar to the last but with a few distinct tweak.
Adding a few other natural chemicals he manage to recreate the a better version of the thick substance of yesterday.
During the piping section, he blew up a semicircular shape, warping it between designs before he finally concluded.
The difference rested in how he could make it hold out against rapidly dropping temperature.
Naturally, with any material such would easily grow brittle but he had a trick to that too.
He was going to use a cooling devise, though only temporarily and unsure, his inventory should do just fine.
He stored the glass work into the inventory.
Time passed by and waiting grew into groaning. He wasn't sure of how long he was suppose to wait for it to cool off but mentally, he'd know when it was ready.
It wasn't until he had finished assisting Felix with his work and they were about to leave that it was finally done.
He summoned it into his hands and by sight, tested its apparent stability.
It stood firm and flat over his wavy palms, as clear as water but the most satisfying feature was the fact that it went two seconds without crumbling.
His joy was overloaded with triumph and only rocketted higher after he received the system remark along side his pursued reward.
[Congratulations! You have completed your first invention]
[20 IP granted]
"What do you have there?" Felix asked, with eyes flared with curiosity.
Zayn laughed. "Oh this. It's called glass. I'll elaborate more at home", he said, clearly trying to get a better stun from both faces at home.