Mortal Delights(2)
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“You’ve gotten pretty good at this Emma.”
“Eheh-Heh....well it’s been over a year now, so I’ve had a lot of practice.” The reddening color on Emma’s cheeks grew a bit brighter the moment she gave that response, lifting her head she surveyed our strange gathering before tipping over the counter to look down at me.
“Madam...is this...your son?” Considering the obvious hint of confusion now on her face, my contrasting appearance must have been responsible. Imagine her reaction if she’d seen what I looked like before.
“Yea this is Liam, he’s four years old......by the way you don’t have to keep calling me ‘madam’ you know, Julia will do just fine.”
“Alright, then you can just call me Emma then.”
The tender smiles this girl gave us felt nothing less than natural, and yet there was something curiously strange about all this.....
“My you two seem to be getting along quite well...and here I thought I’d have to introduce you to each other.”
“She’s stopped by here a few times, so I’m a little familiar with her.”
“I guess its not all that strange...this town isn’t that big anyway, so you’d be hard pressed to find any strange faces around here.” Reaching into her robe, Vreena took out a single silver coin and placed it on the wooden countertop.
“I’ll have two of those Faerie buns.”
Emma’s gave a blank stare to the piece of metal now on the table, after the shocking realization hit her she entered into something like a flustered panic.
“W-w-w-wait a minute elder Vreena! That’s way too much money for a few-”
Her fit of confusion came to an abrupt end after the old woman extended her wrinkly palm. It wasn’t meant to be anything intimidating or threatening, coupled with the gentle smile on her face the gesture had actually come off as being quite reassuring.
“Take it. If you don’t want it for free then give me as many buns as that can buy, I’m sure there’s someone out here who’ll appreciate it.”
After taking a deep breath, the girl had no choice but to comply.
“What an honest girl....”
Julia’s words were just barely within range of my earshot, without even looking at her I could easily guess as to what expression she now wore.
“I think I’ll have two Faerie buns. Let’s see if Liam will end up liking these.” Following in Vreena’s lead, Julia placed her order with an aura of anticipation. She’d just mentioned my name earlier, but I got the feeling that out of everyone here she was the most anxious to receive her order.
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“Here you go, this is about as fresh as you can get em’.”
After five minutes, Emma had finally finished the human cuisine and placed a few strange boxes on the countertop. Wafting from them was a white trail of murky steam that seemed almost viscous in its erratic motions, the aroma from the freshly made pastries was riding along that captivating stream of hot air, once again inviting a reply from my now human body.
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“Fufu...Looks like you can’t wait anymore.”
Julia immediately opened the thin box, placing it in my hands with an ecstatic look on her face.
“Go on...try it.”
At her word, I took a bite from the surprisingly soft pastry, the delicate structure melted in my mouth and a flood of new sensation temporarily blanketed my mind. The next thing I knew.....the box I’d been holding in my hands was now empty, both my hands and mouth were now covered in sticky residue.
The three people before me stared in amazement, holding back their mellowing expressions for as long as they could before bursting into laughter.
“Heh-Heh-heh....was it really that good Liam?” Julia, now chuckling to herself with glossy eyes stooped before me with a handkerchief.
“....It was sweet.”
Emma’s face sparked red with the brightness of the evening’s sunset. It seems she’d inadvertently ended up taking my off-handed comment as a compliment.
“Look at that, Emma it looks like you’ve actually got me beat here. It's the first time I’ve ever seen Liam eaten anything that quickly. Is there some secret ingredient in your recipe?” Julia’s words sounded both intimidating and earnest.
“N-no not at all. I just made it the usual way.”
The bashful girl timidly replied, her face still a beet red color.
“I see. Well either way, you still did a really good job...there’s no going around that. Good work, Emma.”
She flinched after hearing those words from Julia. I was starting to get a handle on what was going on here so now was the best time for me to test my hypothesis.
Stepping forward, I posed a question to the child now looking down on me -
“Emma....are you sad?”
Just then, the young girl’s face went completely blank, it was like all traces of the emotional torrent present on her face only seconds ago were usurped in an abrupt wave of silence. She stared at Julia, eyes widening and lips quivering, it was hard to tell at first from where I was standing but her entire frame seemed as if it was shaking slightly, like a delicate leaf rattling against the midsummer breeze.
There was an odd crunching sound, and from the corner of my eyes I saw the old woman, Vreena clutch down hard on her round-top staff, casting her down casted gaze to the side.
“Emma....?”
“Ah!.....My bad...it looks like I zoned off there. Oh, I don’t know if this will help or not but here, have a few more of these. It’s on the house.” Reaching over the counter, she extended a few more of the conspicuous thin cardboard boxes to me. The objects rested heavily in my small hands.
“Are you sure, Emma?” Julia asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
“It’s fine, Liam seems like a nice boy so I’m sure I won’t regret it.”
“Well..... if you insist. Although I must apologize for earlier, I have no idea why he’d ever ask you something so strange.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Alright, then I suppose it's time we head out. I’ll see you some other time then, Emma.”
“Yea take care, and Liam you’re free to come back any time, we’ll always have more pastries for you.”
Her face had somewhat returned to normal, the only one here who’s visage hadn’t softened up yet was Vreena, she was stuck staring at the ground this entire time. It was certainly contrasting with the previous display she’d been putting on just now, but because of that I was able to see something rather interesting.
“Yeah I’ll definitely come back!”
Trodding alongside Julia, I declared my intent as loudly as these thin vocal chords would allow. Those humble words still managed to leave a bold impression behind, reaching Emma’s ears amidst the resonant sounds of the bustling townscape.