Kael put the two gauntlets next to each other and began working on the inner linings to protect his arms from cooking themselves when he used his fire rune.
Side by side, the pair looked like they belonged together. Matching color. Matching mesh texture. Matching build. That symmetry did something to Kael's brain that felt dangerously close to pride. He crushed it down and moved on. Leather mattered now. Not for style, for survival. He'd already learned what raw runes did to flesh. He wasn't interested in repeating it without a potion in hand.
After a bit of needlework, patchwork, and hammering, the lining was done, he placed them inside the new gauntlets and hammered them in place.
The needlework was crude by any civilized standard, but it was functional. Tendons pulled tight. Leather folded and reinforced where heat would concentrate.
