"Aww what d'ya mean you're out 'again'?!"
The human teenager behind the counter bowed and said, "Sorry ma'am. We should have some more by the end of the week if you wanna come back?"
Lida rapped her knuckles on the counter. "No… no that's fine. Thank you." She turned to face Remy, who had been hanging about near the entrance. "Wolf, you want anything…? Huh?"
Remy's attention was elsewhere; his eyes fixed on a woman in the corner. A huge, old tome opened before her. Her eyes darting across the page, line by line.
A small growl escaped Lida's throat. "Remy!"
Her voice cut straight through the loud music, a playlist of contemporary hits, and the hustle and bustle of the shop itself to pierce the wolflike's ears.
"Oh, sorry! I'm good thanks; I'll just grab an energy drink or something."
"What were you looking at anyway?" She asked, knowing full well the answer.
"That woman in the corner," he said, turning as they exited the FiveBucks coffee shop. "She's a witch, right?"
Lida glanced over her shoulder once more to sneak another quick peek; this time, the woman was staring right back at her, head resting on a platform of crossed fingers; her golden, feline eyes piercing her core through a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.
"That's Sofie Muromets, she's a teacher at the school down the road from my house; she's a bit older than you—us! Older than us." She laughed nervously, charging her way ahead of the wolflike into an oncoming crowd of people.
"Sure is lively here this week—Say, you think she would mind if I asked her a few questions?"
"Who, Ms. Muromets? W-Why, what do you think a grade-school teacher could possibly have to teach you, wolf?" Lida slammed on the brakes, allowing Remy—who hadn't been focused on dodging the oncoming crowd—to slam into her.
The foxlike tilted forward on her toes, heading for an awkward (and embarrassing!) face-plant onto the sidewalk when suddenly—THUD
"Woah, I'm sorry, Lida!" Remy said, gripping her on both sides with his hands.
A shiver ran down her spine.
"Geez, Rem, you're so bloody clumsy! Is it any wonder you've lost so many times to me?" She said, shaking the wolf's grip off. "That was a poor attempt at copping another feel, though."
The wolf tucked his tail between his legs. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you? I was just trying to save you from eating pavement, I wasn't—"
Lida grinned. "I'm kidding, Remy." She said, ignoring how much she wanted to revel in the feel of his touch that still lingered on her upper arms. An icy wind suddenly swept through the streets, an occasional reminder that winter was fast approaching.
"That was a cold one." Lida said. "Can't believe Hearthside is only a month away."
"Right?" Remy replied, grateful for the change of subject. "We've already had snow in Mountainside this month, even. Anyway, about Ms. Muromets…"
Despite the icy tinge in the air, autumn was in full swing in Memoria and all across the northern hemisphere. Late November was the true beginning of the holiday season for many, as farmers wrapped up their harvests for the year while planning their fields for the next—many doing both at once!
For many, the end of November also stood for the coming of the holiday season and the gatherings with family and friends that came with it.
The biggest one of all, for which much of the world shuts down for a single day, is the Harvest Feast event held on the last day of November; known as the 'Great Shuukaku' in ancient times, the Harvest Feast was an event held by villages to celebrate the hard work and labor farmers had gone through over that year; complete with feasts prepared using produce from the harvests itself.
It was a time for the farmers to relax and enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor before the dramatic change in seasons that would come in the following month.
In modern days, the Great Shuukaku is still celebrated in mass, and while some towns and cities hold massive festivals, the international holiday has become a personal affair for many, with human, beastfolk and demihuman alike opting to hold small gatherings in their own homes in which they serve dishes prepared using ingredients from local harvests; typically with a large prepared animal or monster as the main course.
That, however, did not stop the townsfolk from dolling their homes and the town as a whole up in decorations for the forthcoming Hearthside season, which begins immediately following the feast.
After turning the corner and heading up Corn Street, toward the top of the hill dividing Mountainside and Seaside, the pair made their way to Nana's Bakery; a two-story building made up of logs, stacked in a conventional Western-style log cabin.
"I'm not playing matchmaker, Remy. Go find another wingman for that." Lida pulled out a chair, planting her butt in a seat across from the wolflike.
"What? It's not like that Lida. I just want to ask her some questions about the Mana Spirits; whatever happened last month wasn't normal and you know it."
"What you think I know versus what I believe happened are two different things, wolf. You ate a dangerous fish, developed a fever and hallucinated for a bit—" she replied as Nana Bingsly herself appeared, placing a small platter containing a mug of light coffee before the foxlike.
"Oh dear, did Remy eat another Navaroa?" The old chimplike said with a dash of concern.
The wolflike hung his head, feeling his ears flatten against it. "That happened one time." He held a clawed finger up. "Just. Once."
Nana patted the wolf on the shoulder. "It's okay dear, we all make mistakes. Here's your coffee, sweety."
The spiced, earthy aroma of the spiced sweet potato coffee wafted into the wolf's face, perking him up and making his tail wag. The rich blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, a bit of sweet cream, and a light sweet potato puree melding with a dark roast coffee native to the Eastern continent.
Plip-plip-plip!
The coffee dripped from Lida's spoon as she looked at the wolflike, "This is some thick coffee, wolf." She cocked an eyebrow.
The duo had opted to return to Mountainside in the end, based on Remy's recommendation for a pumpkin spice alternative. Nana Bingsly liked to buck trends and go against the grain with her menu, and thus never offered pumpkin products outside of pies and rolls.
Instead, she offered a spicy sweet potato coffee; thicker than your average coffee thanks to the puree.
"So about the witch—"
Lida's eyes lit up as she took her first sip of the coffee, some light foam staining her lips. "Wow, this is actually surprisingly good. A bit more on the vegetable side than I'm used to with coffee, but surprisingly legit. Why have I never heard about this?"
"Lida…" the wolf said, his expression wavering at the foxlike's frequent dismissals.
"Ugh, she's not a witch, okay? They're called black mages now; same goes for priests and white mages." Lida barked, "And if it's that important to you, I'll introduce the two of you, all right? Sheesh, it's not like Sofie is going to be able to tell you much more than what you'll find on the internet."
"Maybe… but I'd still rather consult someone in person just the same. Thanks, Lida." Remy smiled.
"Yeah, whatever." She took another swig of her coffee, this time a full gulp. "You're covering the bill here though."
The lunch hour rolled over, with the bakery seating filling up fast; full of new faces as family members of locals showed up to spend the Harvest Feast event together.
"Would you look at all these people, Remy? The way they're dressed, you can tell they're not from here; or at least, not from the peninsula." Lida eyed a couple—a fennec and a human male with dark skin and a little red dot on his forehead. The couple wore lavish, flowing clothes.
Lida was never one for fashion and girly things like that, but she'd be a fool not to admire how beautiful their clothing was.
"Hey Remy, does Master have any relatives visit him during the Shuukaku?"
The wolf shook his shaggy head. "Nope. As far as I know, I'm his only family, and even then, I'm not blood related—"
"Dah, don't start that. Family is family, blood or not. He took you in and raised you as his own; I've known people who have straight up abandoned their own flesh and blood."
Remy huffed, expelling a quick, thick burst of air from his lungs. "Yeah, you don't have to tell me that…"
Now it was the foxlike's turn to have her ears flatten; not a lot could get under Remy's skin, but his apparent abandonment as a mere pup was one of those things, and Lida—in her classic way—had once again bumbled right into the subject.
"Right. I'm sorry, Remy, I didn't—"
He'd taken another sip, leaving some remnants of sweet potato puree on his lips. "It's all right, really, Lida."
Remy had explained his feelings on the subject at least a hundred times; it wasn't the fact that his own parents had abandoned him, but more so that someone could do such a thing to a kid, regardless of relation.
Lida frantically racked her brain for a change of subject; something to lighten the mood and get the wolf's attention elsewhere.
And then a Tyrannosaurus entered the bakery.
The woman, a dinolike, easily stood over seven feet tall, dwarfing the human man standing beside her. She was built like a tank; her body covered in scales, and her head donning a beautiful, multicolored headpiece of feathers and fluff.
Despite the rows of curved teeth and borderline menacing appearance, the tyrannolike was beautiful; sexy, even, though Lida dared never use that word out loud. Was the woman a model of some sort? Based on her rack alone, Lida would guess more adult film star than anything else.
And then an idea struck her at long last.
"Hey Remy, check that out." From their crosswalk bridge seat, one had a good vantage point from which to perv out should they be of such a mind.
The wolf's eyes finally left the surface of his coffee as the tyrannolike and her man crossed under their bridge seat. The tyrannosaurus' massive expanse of cleavage was a sight to behold, even for Lida—the fox silently gasping as the massive woman's head nearly scraped the underside of the walkway from which they sat.
"They're bigger than my head!" She remarked, eliciting a chuckle from the wolf. "All right, you can stop looking now." A tinge of jealousy laced her every word.
Dinosaur-based beastfolk were a rare breed on this continent, and overall, apparently.
A worldwide consensus was that they just didn't give birth as often as other species. In a recent poll held by the United Continents committee, eight out of every ten dinosaur female beastfolk admitted to having trouble conceiving, regardless of with other dinolikes or not.
The floor shook with every step the woman took, her massive clawed feet sending vibrations straight up through the floor, creating ripples on the surface of Lida's coffee.
"Dinolikes are incredible; I wonder who they're here visiting?" Remy asked as his attention returned to his fox companion, his expression visibly more upbeat now.
"No clue; I don't recognize the guy she's with either. A tourist, maybe?" she replied.
"Weird time to be traveling." Remy shrugged, finishing the last of his coffee and dropping enough Zeni into the payment box to cover both their coffees and a tip.
"So you wanna get going now that you've had your coffee?" Remy asked, taking to his paws.
"Go where, exactly?" Lida replied, untying her plaid button-up from around her waist and slipping it on. Going around in just a sports bra all the time had its perks, sure.
In the spring and summer.
"To meet Sofie Muromets!"
No comments:
Post a Comment