2.37 – Sales

None

The phantom feather sensations were off and on as their day continued. Maple tried not to mind it because it wasn't like it felt bad. Not bad at all, unlike how a nipple might grow numb or become unpleasant over time.

The sensations her feathers provided were consistently good. She just couldn't understand why her body seemed to be malfunctioning. She had Emma touch each feather, but none of them felt like the source.

Maple sighed, and resigned herself to having another unusual day. Emma gave her a consoling pat on the back, and Maple pulled her shirt back down over her baby wings.

"It's free prana. Everything's fine."

They were resting in the shade, having successfully sold another two jugs of milk to a diner. In return they'd gotten a couple of biscuits as a tip, much to Emma's delight.

A bar before that hadn't needed any milk, which Maple supposed made sense.

"Well, eight jugs to go. You'd think selling milk wouldn't be this tedious. I wonder if there's a grocery store or something we could try next."

Emma nodded and then squinted toward the sun. Maple felt a little bad dragging her around like this. It really didn't take two people to sell milk.

"You can go to your job if you want, cutie."

Emma leaned into her, giving her a half hug. She gave Maple a look, asking if she was sure.

"I'll be fine. You deserve to earn money too, and we're not going to be, uh, solvent for a while. I think that's the word I want. We'll barely have enough to pay the girls and buy any other supplies that come up. Wanna walk in that direction together?"

Emma nodded in understanding, and then with enthusiasm. Maple smiled and looked around. She'd not particularly been to this area before, and only vaguely remembered the direction they'd come from.

"Um, which way is it anyway?"

Emma giggled silently with a hand over her mouth, and then looked toward the closest wall that surrounded the city. She pointed to the top of it and pulled out her chalkboard.

Did you know each side has a different color?

"Wait, really?"

She'd noticed the top of the wall near the inn was painted at some point, but hadn't wondered why.

Emma nodded and drew a square with four colors of chalk, then marked the inn near the pink line by drawing a brown butterfly.

"Oh my gosh, that's so useful. Did Marielle teach you that?"

Emma nodded, and then tapped her temple to say Marielle was smart.

"She does seem to know a lot of things. Alright, which way then?"

Emma stuck a finger in her mouth and removed it with a pop. She held it up in the air as if gauging wind direction, then pointed down a street.

Maple rolled her eyes at the theatrics and began pushing the cart that way. Emma hopped on and resumed her relaxed position.

After a couple of blocks they came to a cafe called The Morning Brew. Maple stopped, parking the cart along the curb.

"Ooh, I haven't seen many cafes here. I bet they go through a lot of milk. Hmm, I hope the cart's okay here."

There were a lot more people passing by than earlier in the morning, as well as a bunch seated at outdoor tables. Emma gestured that she'd guard the cart, and Maple nodded.

"Alright, I'll try to be quick. Hopefully it's not run by sloths this time."

A cacophony of smells hit her as she entered; an odd mix of floral, earthy, and fruity. It was actually pretty busy, with the line nearly reaching the door. The prior places they'd stopped had been mostly empty.

She supposed etiquette deemed she wait in line like everyone else and then could ask if they wanted to buy any milk.

Would she also need to buy something? Some of the drinks were nearly a silver, and she'd hardly be able to justify that. She perused the menu hanging above the counter, looking for something cheap.

Along with drinks were things like cookies and cinnamon rolls. Then she spotted a section for qawah. That was what they called coffee here, and it'd been far too long since she'd had that mug at Mirkham's.

Like, three days far too long.

She would get it no matter the cost, but only if they made her buy a drink. If not, then she would resist and stay frugal.

Most of the people in line were holding an empty mug or tumbler, while Maple carried a clay jug of milk to offer from as a sample. It made her feel even more awkward and self-conscious, as if the feather wasn't doing enough of that already.

She tried to distract herself with idle thoughts like 'come get your morning blue at The Morning Brew', but nothing seemed able to take her attention away from the phantom feather. It was flicking now, left, right, left, right. If she focused, she could almost imagine the sensation was it flicking back and forth against a nipple.

That was just a guess, though, and it made no sense either way. She bounced from leg to leg, trying not to imagine the source of the feeling.

Once it was finally her turn in line, she got a good look at the [Barista]. A half-elf with purple hair and dark clothing. She'd seen similar in Earth's cafes. Maybe their worlds weren't so different after all.

Maple spaced out, thoughts wandering inappropriately, and missed what she'd said. The [Barista] repeated herself.

"Is it your first time here? If you want your drink to-go then you'll need to provide a mug or buy one for three coppers."

Maple snapped herself out of it---that damned feather.

"Um, it is, but actually I wanted to see if you guys wanted to buy any milk? I'm starting a dairy, you see."

The [Barista] made a hmph and turned to shout toward the back room.

"Gary! A milk supplier is here."

She turned back toward Maple, disinterest on her face.

"He'll be with you in a minute."

She called for the next customer in line, and Maple hesitated for a moment with coffee on her mind before deciding it wasn't worth the awkwardness to place an order at that point.

She stepped to the side and waited for Gary, who ended up being the gnomish owner of the place. Gnomes were somewhat rare, but she'd seen a few by now. What set them apart from dwarves were their pointy ears and, usually, smaller frames.

Gary was bearded, less than four feet tall, and completely ripped, with nearly the build of a typical dwarf.

He called out to the [Barista].

"A what now?"

She gestured toward Maple and went back to taking an order. Maple approached nervously.

"Hi, um, I was here to see if you wanted to buy any milk. Now, or in the future. We're starting a dairy to replace the one that shut down recently."

He grunted and gestured for her to follow him to the back.

"It has been a pain without SuQ. Most of our drinks are better with higher quality milk, and we go through a lot of it. Is that a sample?"

He gestured to the jug Maple had been carrying. Maple half-nodded, opened her mouth to say not all of it was, and then thought better of it. This could be their biggest customer yet if it went well.

"Y-yeah, try it if you want. I think it's high quality. And, a high level [Cheesemaker] said it---"

"I think it's starting to turn, sweetie. It's blue."

He'd taken it from her while she was talking and opened it. Maple suppressed a sigh.

"It is blue, but it's not bad. It's, um, enhanced. Try it, I promise it's fine."

Gary raised an eyebrow and gave it a sniff.

"How about you try it?"

"Uh...Okay, sure."

She tried not to wince as she took the jug back from him and raised it to her mouth. The milk was fine. It'd come from fine people. She'd seen the process herself. Who knew what conditions cow's milk was harvested under on Earth. She took a sip.

It was warm.

She tried to imagine it was just normal milk from home. She swallowed and noticed Gary staring at her.

"Sorry, um, I don't really like milk. The idea of it grosses me out, is all. And don't even get me started on sour cream. It's fine though, see?"

She took another swig, this time managing to suppress any reaction. Gary chuckled.

"Alright, I believe you. Let's see, then."

He took several large gulps, clearly considering the entire jug a free sample, and then let out a satisfied ahh.

"This is pretty good, actually. You humans are just weird on this continent. It's fun to make ya squirm."

Maple shrugged, not bothering to correct him. Her wings would be obvious soon enough. She didn't love sharing opinions with the kind of people Thera grew up around, but what could you do. Gary set the jug on a counter and turned to Maple.

"So. Why is it blue? The people have had enough weird milk of late, I'd say."

"That's fair. There's nothing wrong with it though. My girlfriend is a soap slime, and blue, and she enhanced it."

Gary laughed loudly, practically cutting her off. She'd even been careful not to specify how she enhanced it.

"Sure, and my wife's a dragon."

He wiped a tear from his eye. Maple crossed her arms.

"She's outside if you want to meet her. Even Mirkham said the milk was better than usual. He used to be in charge of SuQ's milk processing and cheese making, and he's a really high level."

"So SuQ's lot is involved. I'm not sure I'm interested, Miss...?"

"Maple."

She said it automatically, and Gary laughed even harder.

"Of the sex zombie fiasco? Everybody knows that name. I've even seen flyers about some event she's running now."

"That was the succubi's doing. I actually helped stop it, and that's why everyone heard my name! This milk is pure, I promise."

A pang of guilt made her break eye contact, but she wasn't lying. The succubi had exploited her Skill without her knowing. She wanted to correct him on the Tree of Maple flyers too, but that'd be even more off-topic.

Gary shook his head, and Maple knew she was losing him. She hadn't thought she'd actually use that sales pitch from earlier, but she had to try something.

"What if you used it as a gimmick? Like, 'come get your morning blue, at The Morning Brew.' It could be big!"

He laughed again, and Maple felt her cheeks heating up.

"Did you just come up with that?"

"Ugh, fine. Don't buy any then. Thank you for your time."

Maple grabbed the jug, but he put a hand on it to stop her.

"Hey, it's just funny. Tell you what, if the price is good then we'll give it a try. If there's no funny business, then maybe we'll buy more in the future."

Maple breathed a sigh of relief.

"Really?"

He nodded, and Maple began the discussion on pricing and explained the jug deposit. Gary seemed to find it acceptable, but spoke as they were finalizing the deal.

"Okay, four jugs for now, but how about knocking off another copper each?"

Maple shook her head, just about on her last nerve with this guy.

"Sorry, I can't really justify that. You're already getting a deal compared to current prices, and there's plenty of other places I could try if you don't like it, to be honest with you..."

"Fair, fair."

That settled half of their remaining jugs of milk. Maple wasn't used to having to set hard lines like that, but it seemed to have worked.

He showed her which room to set them in. It had a preservation field, apparently, and was filled with ingredients.

Outside, Emma was still waiting for her. Maple took a moment to hug her.

"Sales is brutal. I got him with a pun in the end. Will you help me carry these, please? Gary's the gnome owner if we see him. He didn't think you really existed."

They laughed over that and Maple picked up a jug while Emma engulfed the other three. Emma's head tracked the menu inside while she followed. Maple was sure her goofball would have ordered one of everything if it'd been Emma waiting in line instead of her.

Gary found them in the storeroom as they were finishing up.

"Well damn, and my wife still ain't a dragon! More fool me."

Emma handed him her go-to greeting card, which he read and then returned.

Hi, I'm Emma. I'm a soap slime.

"Well met, Emma. I'm Gary. Full gnome blood, if you were wondering. I have to work for this physique. I apologize for doubting that your human could pull someone so above her weight class, but well, your kind is rare here these days. How about a drink for the road, for each of you? I'd ask that you pay for the cup if you don't have one, though."

"Ooh, yay."

Maple already knew what she'd be getting. Emma nodded regally, and then wrote on her chalkboard.

Throw in a pastry and I'll put a good word in for you with the next dragon I meet.

"Tempting. Meet a lot of dragons, do ya?"

Emma squinted and gave him a sly shrug. Gary laughed while Maple rolled her eyes.

"It's a deal, then. El, get these two a free drink and pastry!"

He shouted through the doorway to the half-elf [Barista] and gestured for Maple and Emma to follow him out.

They had to wait in line again and buy tumblers, but at least their drinks and pastries were free. Maple squished Emma's cheek and shared a smile.

"Another successful scheme from the blue cutie."

It was an enviable level of charisma, and that was part of why Maple loved her.

When it was finally their turn in line, Maple ordered a hot qawah. The feather had only increased her prana since their first interaction, and Maple tried not to stare at El too much while she took her order.

"Do you want your blue stuff in it?"

"Black, please. And give my pastry to her."

The [Barista] shrugged and then took Emma's order. Two pastries---one strawberry, one blueberry---and a sweet iced tea with blue milk.

Maple sipped her hot coffee while they continued on their way. Deliveries would be one of the better parts of her job, she decided. Acquiring customers was annoying, but they managed to knock out the rest of the jugs before they even reached Marielle's.

Maple pushed Emma the rest of the way on the cart just for fun, her feather stimulating her the entire time, and then they said their goodbyes. Maple headed back toward the inn, looking for a place to sit down and try something on the way.