Historically grounded original fiction. In a close, smoky workshop, a bronze worker steadies a cracked vessel and makes a careful repair while an assistant controls the heat behind him. The moment is invented to emphasize the body around the object: force travels through the tool, sound fills a confined room, and hot metal makes ventilation and coordination part of the craft. Ancient bronzes preserve evidence of casting, joining, hammering, finishing, and repair, but they rarely preserve the name or feelings of the person at the bench. From the evidence: the vessel, workers, and repair decision are fictional; the wider period and material setting follow [The Met’s overview of Classical Greek art](https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/the-art-of-classical-greece-ca-480-323-b-c).
