Slipping into the back alley, my claw leaves the wall behind and I come out to the still rusty backend of Liada's shop. Glancing down at an old broken anvil, I pick it up and gently bounce it up and down in my palm. The front comes crushing into my grip and I drop it back down with an insignificant bang of iron on paved road. Arriving at the door, I sigh and take off my hat and mask, leaving one claw free to fiddle.

"I'd be swearing a whole bunch if this place used normal keys." I mutter, applying a spit of magic to the intuitive technology keeping me out. It lights up and the coggy style of the city comes to life with slow, steady thunks between gear teeth. The process speeds up until it is smooth and finally, after all the needless drama of the mechanism. Click.

Opening the door, I am met with the smell of cooking or just cooked breakfast. Taking another sniff as the door sings its lock song again, I turn to the sound of movement. Shining, strawberry cream hair swishes into view and then it lingers as the owner walks off. Coming into her kitchen, I go idle as it becomes clear none of us really wants to talk to the other.

Chittering.

"..." she sighs and puts a plate down on the table, "Where have you been?"

"I needed to go clear my head." not that I've really gotten anywhere with that...

"Is the pay pending or...?" she assumes and I start to shake my head, hat and mask finding a place on the side away from all the open containers. Fitting a digit into the fastens of my cloak, it drops with a mud-laden thud and I start to pick at my body. End of a bandage soon in a pinch.

"It wasn't a job, I was just outside of the city for a bit of the night." I explain, leaving it at that as it really doesn't matter and explaining it will probably just annoy her. She doesn't want to hear about Lari, she most certainly doesn't want me to make it clear how much my mind is dominated by her.

"I see..." she goes, a long, dark nail tapping little stab marks into the side, the noise's like a pecking bird.

"Did you only make something for yourself or am I allowed some, please?" I ask, adjusting my grip on the bandages as I start to end up with a sizeable roll of the stuff. Throwing it away into my pile, I get started on another part of my body, more and more muddy water stains breaking apart as I do so. The pull of the bandages is barely noticeable even on my more exposed flesh.

Liada's expression brightens and she points a finger at a covered-up plate. She rushes over and takes the cover off, the plate nearly sliding off the table with how quick she is about it. I nod in thanks and she relays the assortment of toppings she was in the process of putting away just now. One more roll of bandages comes off and I put it with the other load.

Liada starts to laugh, an awkward tinge to it as she sits back down, "I'm not sure what to think right now. You lacking magic is not something I have good memories of but it gives you more than enough reason to sit down and enjoy my cooking!"

I smile back at her beaming and throw a frustrated stare at the last of my wrappings. Really, I want to get this all into the washing machine now and be done with it. I could eat then do it but cleaning myself after eating and doing it before is a little... Ah, I'll just finish stripping.

"Well, while you're sorting yourself out, I guess I'll explain what I've made. On this plate I've baked some cored-out apples with a sugar-cream mix filling. I had a bunch of cake mix left over from the other day but it was from some savoury thing I was trying out and I put it with some fish I was able to get from the market. I've never had it before and the name's escaping me right now but it's orange, curiously enough. Don't worry about how mine has black stuff on it, that's just some lead garnish and over here I..." she explains, slight breaks in her speech for gentle huffs.

"Realised my attention is on my bandages right now?" I ask in response to her trailing off.

"Y-Yes." she likely nods and my chittering twitches to a different tune to communicate the smirk I cannot show right now. And with a final twist, the last bandage is fully in my palm and out of it into the pile. Grabbing it all up bar the mask, I hug it close and move over to the washing machine, putting it in and looking back.

"Will you likely need anything put in here? Not really enough with just me." I point out and she nods, rising to then go off and get it. Watching her tail carefully make the turn, I keep an ear out for how heavy-footed she is and I look at my mask. Should probably bring that into the shower with me, give it some cleaning before sitting down and polishing it proper. Liada rushes back in with a barely filled-out basket and I take it from her.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Can I start explaining it all again or should I wait for you to...?" she asks as I sort through the washing to make sure there is nothing that is at risk. Maybe it's the Tobaballian in me, but I still do not know if there's anything magical about this device. There's the chance it will be like the legal requirements of alcohol and them having magic that keeps people understandable. Or maybe it's like other things and they're just... Things.

"One second." I answer, inputting the details for the machine and gently tapping the knob of the tap near enough above to get my claws wet 'n' clean. Turning to her with the hard flicking of my claws, I nod and she tries to find where she was at again.

"Honey... Jams... Fresh fruit... Cheeses... Not this one, this is my special cheese." she mutters, going through and reading labels even though she really doesn't need to. I get in her way and gently take her cheese-holding arm and bring it close to my eyes.

"So rather than grapes or whatever it is they put in it, you've had gold shavings mixed in?" I ask, letting go so she can hide her precious delight.

"Of course, I like gold. I don't think I've ever known a single ddrai'och who doesn't love the taste of proper, -normal- gold. Thankfully, I've been able to find companies who handle artisanal usage of metals and I worked a deal out some time ago for them to work with others." she explains, rambling a little on the background information as she joins me at the table. My claws pick through the toppings while I am paralyzed between the choice of cutlery and my own means.

"Sounds expensive, going to multiple groups to work out a small deal like that." I remark, assembling the things with the highest magic content before I shake them out onto my food. Liada's hand shoots across the table and she stops me from emptying a whole jar of jam onto one of my apples. I mutter my annoyance as she slowly backs down with it going out onto her palm.

"Your eating habits are expensive when they do come on by!" she both jokes and reprimands as she licks her jammy surface clean of the sugary sweetener.

"So, the gold?" I say, getting us back to the question.

"Well, it was at first... I did try to tell you some time ago but you were..." she shakes her head, "It's gotten better, though. Turns out, like with how a lot of my customers are people just interested in what I am, I've influenced a whole culinary trend! Like, imagine that, me, once a prisoner in some no-magic backwater and now I am pretty much a celebrity for little to no reason!"

"Was certainly interesting being imprisoned in my homeland without actually being a criminal." I comment, not particularly bothered by her words but it still doesn't stop her from flinching.

"I didn't mean..." she tries to apologise and my head shakes.

"It's fine, Liada. At least we can both say there are things we hated about Tobaballe!" I tell her, chuckling a little to get a smile back onto her face as a hand goes through her hair. Some fingers catch some knots and she forces them apart, flinching at the brief pain.

"But... Uh, yeah. It's gotten a lot easier these past few years with the food expenses. The industry is all set up now, I suppose. We're out of the dreadful early stages where no one wants to do anything because there's not enough resources to go around." she says, her mind wandering towards the end and I frown. I've never really heard much about the home she's come from, if it's because I've never asked or never been there is a pointless thought exercise. I've not been there for anyone for half a decade now.

"I guess we've been quite lucky with where we've ended up. Thrurstradtur-Suhurlodst certainly seems to be the place to be when you're not a human or native of the land." I say, though, the irony of my words is not lost on me and this is even with me looking further back beyond Smiling Jhurack. My entry into this city was rough, the glass might not be here anymore, but I am still walking through a tight, sandpaper fit.

"I have a feeling it's more Suhurlodst to thank here. A whole city of curious students with a passion for learning and well, I remember my arrival quite well." she giggles and I let out one snap of laughter.

"You hid behind my cloak like a little baby." I tease and she gently throws a sealed glass something at me. Catching it with only the edge of my eyesight helping me, I put it down with an amused tut.

"I did no such thing..." she pouts, crossing her arms whilst her tail smacks the kitchen floor a few times to rattle the place up.

"But, yeah, I see where you're coming..." I say, trailing off at the end as I read what is on the label of her invalidated weapon. Swallowing my next bite, my brow rises in time with my gaze shifting back to her.

"What?" she goes, her best attempt at whistling not amounting much. Though, admittedly, the fact she can whistle is better than anything I can do with it. I lost the ability when my jaw became as rigid as it is now.

"Isn't lead a source of silver?" I question, just about recalling some of my time back in Tobaballe when I was being put through the early lessons of waste recycling and how low-value items can be worth quite a bit. It was mostly in regards to them making sure we could get copper wiring out of old junk, but, this came into the lessons.

"Not all the time, no. Lead itself is fine and I think the trace amounts of silver helps the flavour even though it's otherwise toxic to my kind." she elaborates with some random gestures and I put the lead shaker down. It quickly enters her hands and she looks the label over before pushing it back my way, a detail marked out.

"Ah, I see. I suppose it helps as well that if it is high in silver content then they're probably going to take it out for the purpose of money and other things?" I put out there as my chittering picks up the pace as I lick up the apple cream lingering in my teeth. This damn osibindah jaw of mine...

"Most likely," Liada nods and she sets aside her things to watch me, "So..."

A piece of apple falls back onto the plate, mushy from chews and slimy with spit.

"What?" I go, swallowing what stayed in with an active tongue grabbing what it can. It's good.

"Do you like it?" she asks, smiling with put-together hands. The fingers interlock while her cheek rolls on her knuckles.