What in the hells was she thinking? First, she offers some random person off the street a job and invites them into her home just because she looked so cute and oblivious wandering down the street? She’s supposed to be running a business, not a charity. Now she’s got to plan an evening to show this Gatedrop around, which she is oddly excited for. Zyx had been trying to get her to leave her bakery for months, and she would always make plans, but then be too tired to actually follow through with them. Zyx is never going to let her hear the end of this.
“Ibis, send Zyx ‘Hey bestie, want to hit the town tonight?’” Sadie said to her Ibis Stone. At least Zyx would know the best places to go, and then Sadie would have a chaperone stopping her from doing anything too stupid with Rhys. They were helpful with the morning prep, and Sadie appreciated having someone to watch the front of the store so she could replenish the stock throughout the day, but it was almost as much work directing them what to do as opposed to doing it herself. They didn’t even understand how much notes were worth. They were absolutely covered in flour by the end of prep, and Sadie couldn’t think about that for too long of she’d be lost completely.
“Zyx replied: Are you fucking with me?” Ibis said.
“Tell him I’m not fucking with him. I have a friend I want to show around town and I have no idea where to start.”
“Setting up direct communication. Are they cute?”
“Oh my hells Zyx.” Sadie was probably hitting the dough harder than she needed to, but it helped her take out the frustration.
“You didn’t answer my question, so I’m gonna guess that’s a yes. Are you sure that you want a third wheel?”
“I definitely want a third wheel.”
“Oh damn, they must be really cute.”
“Can you please stop talking so loud.”
“Are they with you?”
“Not in the room, but I kinda offered them a job, so they're at the front of the store.”
“Damn, you lesbians work quick.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“You’d die of boredom if I did. Honestly, I’m happy for you. Anything to get you out of that bakery for a night.”
“I think we’re gonna have to stop by your store first. They’re from some weird back water dimension, and their clothes stand out way too much.”
“Of course you adopt some lost doe-eyed Gatedrop.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“You could always do what everyone else does and just let them find their way on their own. Not that I could ever expect you to do what everyone else does.”
“You’d die of boredom if I did.”
“Okay so here’s the plan, you drag your ward to my shop after you close the bakery for the night. We’ll get them a new set of clothes on credit, and then we’ll start at Frizzel’s for dinner, and then head to the Pit and then we’ll see where the night takes us from there. Ibis, end direct communication before she can argue with me.”
Sadie sighed as the words she was planning her defense of a more sensible night died on her tongue, and looked at the poor overworked dough in front of her. She’d definitely need to start over, and she didn’t want to think about how that’d affect their profits for the day. The ingredients weren’t expensive, but every note counted.
“Can you make some more of those bean buns?” Rhys called from the front of the store, and Sadie didn’t appreciate how much her entire body reacted to the sound of their voice.
“There should’ve been enough dei buns for the whole day,” Sadie called back.
“But we sold out of them, and people want more.”
Sadie was dumbfounded, and worried that maybe Rhys was covering dropping a tray, or some other mistake that was going to cost her, but if people wanted more dei buns, then she had some baking to do. At least that might distract her from thinking about their evening ahead. As she waited for the dough to prove, she went to the front to make sure that Rhys wasn’t burning her bakery to the ground.
As she approached, Rhys was talking to an orc that towered over them, but was nodding along as they talked about how delicious the dei buns were and that they were definitely worth waiting for if he would want to come back in a couple hours. He ended up buying a handful of jeji tarts, and waving as he left. Sadie noticed that there was a plate on top of the counter with a small sign on it that read “Free Samples,” and a few of her goods were cut into small squares on top of it.
“What did you do? You can’t just give away the product!” How much food did Rhys just give away? Was she going to be able to cover the costs and how was she going to explain to Zyx that actually, she wasn’t going out to night and she kicked that freeloader to the curb for ruining her business. Where was she going to stay when Pioneer Corp bought everything up?
“Only a few that people were interested in, but didn’t know what they tasted like. I tried to explain how good the buns were, but people weren’t buying them and I thought that was crazy, so I knew that some bakeries where I lived would do samples so people could know what they were getting, so I cut up one of the buns for people to try and then they were wanting to buy everything that we had, and that’s why we have an order for a couple dozen of the buns from a nice octopus lady who wanted some for a retirement party at her work, or at least I think that’s what she said, I wasn’t really able to understand her, and I’ve been meaning to ask, but why can I understand what everyone is saying? I definitely don’t think that people would speak English if they haven’t ever been to Earth, and I know that we don’t have one of those liminal gates, but I haven’t heard any other languages while I’ve been here?”
Sadie felt like she had been run over by a train and knocked into the rapids of a river that was dragging her out to sea. She grasped onto the last question she heard to try and float above the waters.
“I don’t know what you mean by English, but Illatri put enchantments all throughout Haven to make sure that people could understand each other. Apparently, there were so many wizards from different areas at the time that it was easier to use magic to allow people to understand each other than to try and learn the languages.”
“Neat. Do you think I’d be able to learn magic?”
“Do they really not have magic where you come from? But I’m not really sure. I haven’t tried to learn myself, and I don’t know if you have to be from a magical dimension to learn it. Maybe after you save up some money you can go ask at the Illatri University?”
“I couldn’t imagine living in a world of magic and not trying to learn it.”
“I’ve got to go back to the kitchen, let me know if you need anything.”
Sadie went back to work, but wondered about what Rhys said. She hadn’t considered magic as anything particularly special. She knew that some of her friends growing up thought it was interesting, but she only really cared for their cooking classes. She didn’t need to know how the enchantments that kept her ingredients fresh worked, she just needed to know that they worked. Similarly, she wasn’t particularly interested in how electricity worked, or the genesis engines, liminal gates, or any of the other mundane workings that kept their society together, but maybe she should’ve been more curious. She imagined looking at Haven from the eyes of someone who had never seen magic before, and it must have been so big and overwhelming, but also so wondrous.
She looked around her kitchen with new eyes, and wondered how Rhys would see everything. Her humble kitchen instead felt exciting and new. She traced her fingers along the circles and runes that channeled magic through her cupboards, and the glyphs on her oven that heated to exactly the amount that she needed. Maybe she could also pick up some classes at the university. She might actually be able to have some free time if Rhys continued in her position.
