The next time Arthur looked at a clock, five hours had passed. The knowledge he was tapping into was in some ways a lot like his own. These were people who loved making tea, loved making people happy with tea, and loved being around tea in general. They were both higher leveled than him, but not by that much. They had skills a lot like his, with similar wordings aimed at slightly different purposes.

The real difference was the depth of their experience. Everyone was an expert in their own way of tea making, so there wasn’t much they could teach him about boiling water or organizing a kitchen. But the other two teamasters had their own branches of expertise. Fate had taken them down new paths of tea. In those ways, they knew orders of a magnitude more than Arthur did. He’d get there, but they had just had more time.

And so Arthur talked about what he knew about boba, and got a wealth of information in return. Where to look for the good herbs, what gadgets were useful versus what gadgets were wastes of time, and how to dispose of unused tea at the end of the day. He learned how to get plugged drains clear without using majicka, bits and pieces about how to pry preferences out of customers, and even the best way to time bathroom breaks during a rush that just wouldn’t stop.

It was years of progress, not in terms of his class but in terms of insights he was gaining. And that was on top of the practical things. Mizu had shoved him headfirst into a treasure trove and he wasn’t sure she even knew it.

“I wish I could give you two more back.” Arthur tossed a boba pearl in the air and caught it in his offhand. “I just showed you how to make boba a little better. There’s nothing I can show either of you about being a teamaster, generally.”

“Well, that’s the breaks.” Lup smiled as he tried to dismiss it. “It’s a bit expected, honestly. A lot of your class is tied up in that medicinal effect skill. It’s not something we can copy. Unless you have some kind of majicka-enhancements you do freehand that aren’t medicinal at all.”

“I don’t,” Arthur said before he realized he might.

Shit. How do those ones actually work? It’s not like they’re actually medicine.

“Actually, hang on. Let me try something.” Arthur picked up a bit of boba dough, rolled it into a few pearls, and hit them with majicka in a way that had long since become normal to him. “Here. Tell me what you see there.”

“I’m not an appraiser, but…” Ceti pursed her lips. “That feels jam-packed with majicka. What does it do?”

“It does whatever you want,” Arthur said. “It works with other stuff you’re trying to do with your brewing. It’s just… majicka. I just stuck it in there. I usually think about it as being part of my medicinal brewer skill because it’s my medicinal stuff that takes the most majicka.”

“But it’s not limited to just medicinal effects.” Lup rolled the bead of boba around in his hand, thoughtfully. “Does it help?”

“It’s not efficient. But for big rushes, or monster waves? It’s nice to be able to stock up majicka you wouldn’t otherwise use. I run batches before bedtime, when I can.”

“That’s… hmm.” Ceti’s eyes dropped as she tried to figure out the implications. “Would it work for tea?”

“I haven’t been able to get it to. But I’m not sure how it works for boba, so… maybe? Both of you are better at tea than I am. Do you have skills for processing tea?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“I do. For storing it, or improving it slightly.” Ceti nodded. “And Lup has Blender.”

“Maybe you can try to misuse those skills in the same way I’m misusing medicinal brewer.”

“Yeah, I’ll give it a shot,” Lup said.

“While you do, try this, as well.” Arthur tossed Lup a pouch of Portable Arthur. “That’s the other thing I’ve made that works the same way, I think.”

“What’s this one do?”

“The same kind of stuff I do. Medicinal effects. Pep enhancements. Just not as well. It works off user intent.” Arthur gave another packet to Ceti, for good measure. It wasn’t like he actually needed it. “I figured friends could use it at home, when I’m not available.”

Ceti looked at Lup, and Lup looked at Ceti. Arthur waited for either of them to say anything, but neither did. The seconds ticked by, until Arthur was glancing frantically back and forth between the two teamasters, trying to figure out what he had done.

“Should I tell him, or should you?” Ceti asked. “He doesn’t know. I don’t suppose he would.”

“I can. Arthur, remember how you were saying you didn’t know how well your tea lesson would go over? That you didn’t know much yet?” Lup asked.

“Yeah? I mean, either of you could run circles around me with practical advice.”

“Ten minutes ago, I would have been polite and said that in a nicer way.” Lup finished the last of his latest cup of headache tea, then put it down. “But now I’m guessing things don’t go down quite the same way.”

“Why?” Arthur asked.

“Were you planning on talking about these products? At all?” Lup asked.

“They didn’t really occur to me. Most people should be able to do about the same thing, right?”

“No, Arthur, they can’t. You’ve made your skill, which nobody else can do, portable. Whether or not people can duplicate that, you’ve turned yourself from a local variable to a wild card that can affect the whole empire,” Lup said.

“And if they can duplicate it, Arthur?” Ceti laid her head down on the table. “Then you’ve changed the entire world.”

—

“So how did it go?” Mizu set down her book as Arthur arrived back in the lobby. It looked like she had been waiting up for him.

“I think Lup would kill for you now,” Arthur answered. “What did you do to his well?”

Mizu wobbled her hand in the air a bit, uncertainly. “This and that. But you know what I meant, Arthur. Did you have fun?”

“So much. They both know… a lot. Did you know they would?”

“Older people tend to. Even if they aren’t famous heroes of the realm. They’ve just learned a lot. I noticed you never really rushed to tea shops in the same way I go to wells. I figured you didn’t know how big of a deal that would be.”

“I didn’t.” Arthur decided to hold off on telling Mizu about how the two older people had decided he was probably a tea messiah of sorts. It seemed like the kind of thing that could wait until tomorrow. “But yes, I’ve probably shaved years off being good at my job. So thank you very much. Are you going to bed now?”

“In just a second. Come here.” Mizu held out her arms like she wanted a hug, but as Arthur leaned in, she grabbed his cheeks and pulled them apart. “Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff. Milo told me you had an acid bath. I decided right then to wait up.”

“Just for that?” Arthur tried to give Mizu side-eye, an attempt complicated significantly by the fact that she was actively rubbing her face on his.

“Just for that, he says. As if a freshly softened Arthur walking around wasn’t worth it.” Mizu stood up a little higher, pulled down Arthur’s head, and brushed her cheeks across his forehead. “Arthur, we are going to have a kissing time.”

“What, right now?”

“Of course not right now!” Mizu flicked him. “I’m exhausted. And I don’t even have snacks. But soon.”

“I accept this fate.”

“I thought you might. Now go to bed and I will too. We are meeting up tomorrow night.”

“Where?” Arthur asked. “When?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find you.”

With the knowledge that a water demon was now on the prowl for his satin-smooth skin, Arthur climbed the stairs to his room and collapsed back on his bed. His body seemed to realize all at once what a very, very long day it had been. He hadn’t yet unlaced his shoes before falling over, and now was extremely reluctant to sit up to take them off. It took him a minute and two near-misses of nodding off to sleep to actually pop up, slip off his shoes and socks, and collapse back over.

Just before he fell asleep, he remembered that in addition to Mizu’s quest to nuzzle his skin, tomorrow was Milo’s day to help with Arthur’s presentation. He needed to get whatever rest he could. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.