2.14 – One Step

None, really

Thera still wasn't done with her things, so after getting the pot filled with dirt, Maple reluctantly decided to go to Mirkham's home. It was something she'd vaguely planned on doing that day—before buying a pot had somehow ended up taking several hours—and she couldn't justify not doing it.

She'd never visited the dwarf at his home, and was relying on the address being correct. Nervousness filled her as she knocked on the door. It was on the larger side, as far as houses went within Syber, and with everything she'd heard from the man—he apparently also had some wealth.

Mirkham opened the door, and Maple looked down at him. He spoke first.

"Ah, Maple. What a surprise. I was expecting one of the other milkmaids today. I don't suppose you were active enough for your teats to be sore, too. What can I do for ya, lass?"

"Hi—what? No, I wanted to talk to you about, um, possibly starting a dairy myself, and seeing if you were interested..."

Mirkham threw his door open with a sigh and waved her in.

"I suppose there's no avoiding my fate. The lot of ya can't just let a dwarf retire in peace. I'll hear ya out. Come in."

Maple followed him in, and immediately saw half a living room taken up by dairy equipment. A hobby? In another corner was a smaller area with glass bottles that looked like they'd be used for brewing alcohol. It was all neatly organized, immaculately clean, and the brewing area looked far less used than the dairy area.

Mirkham led her past all that and into the kitchen, where an unmistakable aroma filled her senses. Unmistakable, but—it couldn't be, could it? What an amazing day for hot beverages, if it truly was. Maple took a seat.

"It smells nice in here."

"Mm, that's qawah. Ever had it?"

"Um, maybe. If it's also called coffee...?"

Mirkham shrugged and came over with a pot of it. He filled a mug up for her. Maple took a hot sip and closed her eyes, savoring it. It was coffee, and so much better than a dream. Mirkham set a tray down between them.

"It pairs painfully well with a side of cheese. You could also put cream or sugar, or—bah. Plain with cheese is the best, trust me."

Maple ate a cube of cheese after another sip, and couldn't say that she disagreed. She'd already usually taken her coffee black, but paired with cheese? She thought it'd be weird, but—no, it was really good. She took another two sips and then ate another cube.

"Where do you get it from?"

"Ah, it's imported. I could give you my contact if you wanted, but it's rather pricey. I have his card somewhere."

Imported from the land of delicious hot drinks. Maple never felt a stronger urge to move somewhere else. Maple declined the need for contact information; it wasn't the time to develop an expensive habit. Mirkham nodded, and then prompted her.

"So? Pitch me, or whatever it is you're going to do."

"Um, I mean...I was thinking of starting a dairy, because there's a market gap now right? And I have this friend who's willing to give me a loan, and I know you said you don't want to run something yourself, but if you were just doing, uh, dairy things? It's a little bit overambitious for me, maybe, but..."

Maple twiddled her fingers, well-aware that she couldn't even convince herself of the idea. A dairy. If Mirkham declined, that'd be nearly enough reason to scrap the idea. Or, if he could just put forth a convincing argument against it—

"Eh, if you're managing everything and buying all the equipment, then why not I suppose? The others sure aren't going to leave me alone, that's the truth."

"The others?"

"The other milkmaids. They teats are sore. Production doesn't just stop on a whim, y'know, and the milk has to go somewhere. I've been processing it for some of 'em with me own equipment in the meantime. Better than wasting it."

Maple's eyes opened in realization, and she nodded. The milk didn't just stop; the milk must flow!

"I thought I'd even need to find somewhere to buy potions for that, but I guess if it's them then I wouldn't, huh? Um, what all would I—would you need me to buy? And, um, how much would it cost, roughly, do you know?"

Mirkham exhaled through his nose and scrutinized Maple with a long look. Maple hid behind her mug of coffee, or qawah.

"A good pile of gold. How much is this loan you mentioned? The most important thing would be liquid storage, enchanted to at least prevent spoilage. I'll use me own pasteurization equipment if I need to, while volume is low. But you'd need your own at some point, vats for cheese if you're planning on having me do that too. Most of the ones who would join on the spot are still lactating, so no potions in the short term. But you need pumps. Good ones. SuQ Dairy didn't leave any pumps, and it's wearing on the poor ladies."

Breast pumps. Where the heck would Maple get those? She felt lost while Mirkham took the idea seriously, as if she could really pull it off.

"Um, the loan is for up to 500 gold, but less is better. It's like, every 10 gold loaned also gives up 1% of the company. Also, SuQ's warehouse is being auctioned, right? So I was going to see about buying that, um, if you knew when that was..."

Mirkham whistled at the sum.

"Selling off parts of the company right from the start. Interesting way to do it. I suppose my salary could be done in a similar manner if you wanted to save in the short run, once we negotiate that. I'd say don't bother with the old warehouse, unless it's really cheap. It's far larger than what you'd need, and they took all the equipment with them. I have but one, unbreakable condition, if I'll be joining you on this."

Maple nodded for him to continue, hands clasped together on the table. He loudly clapped with each word, and Maple flinched.

"No. Sex. In. The. Dairy."

He wiped his palms off on his shirt and then met Maple's eyes. Maple slowly nodded.

"Um, right. That's fair. I wasn't planning on anything like that..."

"Good. You saw what it got SuQ in the end. I don't care what any of you do in your free time, but keep it separate from the work."

It was a reasonable condition, and should be fine, right? It wasn't like Maple was some kind of pervert who managed to turn every situation into something lewd—

A knock came from the front door then, sounding a little frantic. Dort stood up.

"Ah, that's probably Betty, dropping off some milk."

Maple followed him to the door, for no particular reason, and saw that it indeed was Betty; the cow beastkin lifer from SuQ, who she'd talked to a few times in the past. Her face was wrought with worry.

"Mirkham, is everything all right? I heard slapping noises, and worried you were giving somebody what-for. Or worse, that it might be the opposite!"

"Everything's fine, Betty. I was merely emphasizing a point to Maple here. She's thinking about starting her own dairy, and I'm thinkin' about agreeing to help her out."

Mirkham nodded over his shoulder to Maple, and Maple winced. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to do it! And Betty's reaction only upped the pressure.

"Oh, well I hope you do. I hope she does. Hello, dear. It's been awful without the dairy around. My poor bosom, pardon my language. The other girls feel the same. We'd all line up in a heartbeat. Especially if you get some pumps. Even basic ones would be better than trying to just—squeeze it out by hand. TMI, TMI, I know, sorry. Here's today's milk, Mirkham."

She hefted a large glass jug up for Mirkham to take. He set it down by his equipment in the living room while Betty waited by the door. Maple felt for her, and her poor back. She always seemed like a sweet older lady.

"That sounds, um, unpleasant. I was going to talk to all of you about it, if Mirkham did agree. I don't have any experience with running a dairy or anything, but um, I'd try maybe. Do you know where I could get—pumps?"

"Not a clue! I'd buy one myself if I did, just to relieve this pressure. Same with all of that other stuff; I'm a simple bovine woman, myself. But if you need milk—you already know which inn the girls and I frequent? I'll let them know of your plan, and I'm sure they'll be happy to hear it."

She hefted herself up, indicating her near-infinite supply, and then looked away, slightly abashed. Maple tried not to look stressed by this new information. It was a good thing, really, but if she got their hopes up and things fell through...

"Yeah, Mirkham told me where it was. I'll try to find some pumps. You all have just been delivering milk to him for now? How much would I need to pay you all for it, so that I know?"

"That would vary, dear. We all had different contracts and specialties. I'm Skilled out for quantity. I can't speak for the others, but I'd settle for even just one copper a liter in the short run. Just for the relief it'd bring if you got pumps. It'd also be nice to not have to walk so far, or carry such a heavy jug. SuQ Dairy was a lot closer to me, just saying."

Maple nodded and considered this, and Mirkham gestured.

"Would you like to come in, Betty? I've got a pot of qawah brewed."

"Oh, no. I won't take up more of your time, especially if you're planning. I know nothing's set in stone—but the girls will be so happy when I tell them."

Betty gave Maple a final, considering glance. When Maple only nodded, Betty wished them well and left. That was one trip saved at least, and it was good that they'd be up for it—but Maple's stomach spun. She returned to the kitchen with Mirkham to finish their discussion. He seemed to notice her discomfort.

"Things progress quick, don't they, lass? Just take it one step at a time. I'll remind you that my Skills multiply the net production. I get anywhere from twice to four times as much by the end, depending on a few variables. I don't know how the price of milk is doing, or the prices of any of the supplies you'd need, but it should be more than doable as long as ya've got me. And my salary isn't important in the short run; we'll negotiate when it comes to it. I feel bad for the ladies, mostly."

And just as long as Maple followed his one condition. She didn't think that would actually be an issue, but she had mildly considered that the Cum Race and everything was an outlet and industry on its own, which also now had a market opening. She'd just scrap that idea entirely and focus on milk.

"Wew, okay. Um, so I guess I'll try to find breast pumps somewhere, and I need to register as a business and get the loan stuff sorted, and I'll need storage—would like barrels work for now? And I'll even need customers, and a warehouse, and equipment, and a way to deliver it, and—"

"One step at a time, lass."

And the milk—Mirkham multiplied the output, so that was good. But each of the milkmaids would want their own contract, and how the heck would she even do the math to figure out what she could sell it for without taking a loss, when Mirkham's output multiplier and what she paid varied so much? She'd have to calculate all that, and keep track by hand? They didn't even have spreadsheets in this world!

"Even something like that fancy pot, with the right enchantments, would work for storage for now. Just focus on finding pumps, and the business things you need to do. The ladies can keep dropping off here for now. Not that I want to be involved in any of those decisions, I'm just sayin' what I'm thinkin'."

He gestured to the pot Maple had opted to carry with her, rather than drop off at the inn before coming here. Maple nodded and took a breath. She forced herself to smile.

"Alright, fair. But you're in, then? I should—actually do all this?"

"That's what I've been saying, lass."