His movements were quiet as he walked through the familiar path. A woven basket hung on the crook of his elbow, filled with various cuttings from his garden. This set would hopefully tide him over for the next few orders. They were steadily coming in daily, which was good for the business but made it hard with such limited growing space. He would have to explore expanding his land or finding another harvesting ground in Verdanthi. That would be hard enough with the continual expansion since it joined into the Central Realms a few centuries prior.
Elias shook his head. His land was inherited and generous with its harvest, but the growth of his shop had been unexpected, especially within the latest decade. He would find a way. He pulled out his newest addition to his tools, the blasted thing that it was. Helpful? Yes. Annoying to learn how to use? Also yes. He grumbled as he flicked through the different interfaces. With a sigh, he found the right one and located the nearest Dysc.
Sometimes, he felt old despite being in his fourth decade. Still young, but the advancements in magic that came from Earth’s technomagic, made it hard to keep up at times. At least this Dysc was close to his home and made it easier to get to Versant, the central city of Verdanthi.
The walk was decent in the early sunrise hours, nothing was crowded and nothing was making him feel rushed. He was usually at the store before now, but today was good harvest weather. Perfect for getting a fresh batch of essential potions in, especially with the beautiful flowers that would aid with beauty balms. Elias pondered while he walked, devising a schedule of brewing and bottling ingredients to sell. Today would be a productive day.
Elias stopped with a scowl as he approached Obscure Brews. A few patrons were standing outside, which surprised him as he expected them to pick up later in the day. But no, the laughing woman who waited with them was a genuine surprise. He hadn’t seen her since she picked up the luck potion a month ago. He really couldn’t keep track of the days as efficiently when his schedule was eat, sleep, and brew potions. With a few days here and there thrown in that were for harvesting. Rarely did he leave Verdanthi.
“Elias!” He was greeted the moment he was within range. Sulli’s face lit up and he could see some of the flower blooms woven into her hair brighten in color. Fascinating. She bounced over to hug him and he stiffened under the unexpected contact. Sulli pulled away before he could react beyond the initial movement.
“Thank you so much! I was just telling Certhana about how your luck potion was phenomenal quality.” Sulli babbled, taking the woven basket from his arm without a word. “I wanted to return because I promised I would within seven cycles of usage.”
Elias listened as she babbled, seeing that Certhana was his order for a soothing solution. She was an older woman, who was half forest elf and goblin, with a slight hunch to her body. Sulli sidled up next to her and he could see the shift in magic. He was working on releasing the closing wards, allowing them entrance into the shop.
Elias could see the delicate magic flow from Sulli and over to Certhana, its gentle caress seeping into the elder’s body. Her hair gained a new luster and there was a bright glow on her skin the longer that the two touched. Sulli followed behind Elias, guiding the elven elder into the store where she could sit on the window bench seat.
“If you give me a moment, I will gather your orders. I appreciate your patience. It shouldn’t take very long.”
Elias gave them a small shoulder bow before departing to the shop's backend. He could hear Sulli casually chattering in the ears of the other patrons. A very genial presence radiated from her, giving the shop a pleasant feel.
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“Elias,” he heard his name being sung as Sulli peeked through the plant curtain separating the back and front. He jerked away from what he was writing in surprise. He knew she had checked in with him and offered blood samples to test for abnormalities or reactions. Elias had not known that she had remained behind. Sulli ducked through the ivy and practically ran for the same plant she had doted on in her previous jaunt to a place she shouldn’t be.
“Ms. Tarkäm, you’re not supposed to be back here.”
“Sulli.” She corrected and waved a hand before returning to her cooing over the plant. “Oh, aren’t you such a handsome fellow? I know we only met briefly, but it’s lovely to see you again. I see that your petals have blossomed.”
Elias paused in his retort, seeing her delicate magic fan in the ambient area. It brushed over him with a gentle caress while it tickled at the pershiron plant. One that could cause paralytic effects with a prick of the barbed thorns within the blossom. Or that could cause severe hallucinations at the mere inhalation of the pollen. A very deadly plant that she treated like a pet.
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It was fascinating to watch her scratch at the bud, just underneath the blossom and thorned teeth to trap its food. He could feel the magic of the plant purring under her attention. Elias propped himself against his desk with his arms folded. He should be more annoyed at the intrusion, but something about the woman drew him in.
“What did I say about you not being a pet?” Elias drawled, uncrossing his arms.
The plant in question bristled its thorns and puffed out the blossom petals. Elias had just enough time to dive towards Sulli and pull her away. He snapped up a ward to capture the cloud of pollen that it spit in his direction. One of the easier ways to collect it, but some calls were too-close-for-comfort when pissing off a killer plant.
“Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected.” Elias drawled with his arms around Sulli. He ignored the lovely floral scent coming from the woman to step away. The containment magic floated gently while the pershiron plant bristled its thorns at them. Sulli pulled away, dancing around the containment shield to soothe the agitated plant.
“Oh, he’s such a meanie to you. You’re such a handsome plant and you’re doing your best. Aren’t you?” She cooed and stroked its leaves.
Elias rolled his eyes and shook his head at the shameless plant. Of course, he would be stuck with a plant with a personality. One that would give him sass if he even spoke or glanced wrong in its direction. He pulled the containment field closer to where he could put the highly valuable and potent pollen into specialty jars.
He hummed under his breath while scooping it in small measured doses. Later, he would take this to the market, where some sellers would pay him nicely. One decent thing that would come from this weird day. He only has a minimal awareness of Sulli meandering around. He grunted and pointed in her direction, “Not that one. It gets finicky when you’ve been exposed to Faelin magic.”
“I haven’t?” Sulli’s voice rose in confusion. Still, she backed away from the row of delicate looking vials. She tilted her head in the direction that the pershiron plant was churring. “Really? I hadn’t thought that you would come from the Otherside.”
That had Elias setting down his equipment to give her his full attention, “You can understand them?”
“My mother is an Anthousai, one of the older ones from before the Great Divide on Earth, when she left with my father. If you think this is impressive, I’d wonder what you’d think if you met her.”
Elias pushed away from his preparation desk and joined her near the antagonistic pest called a plant. It rattled a little before turning it’s petals as if to snub him. Elias rolled his eyes and held out a hand, summoning a vial to his hand. He uncorked it, causing the snippy pershiron to swing its bud toward him.
“I apologize that I offended you. Would you take this as my apology? And I’ll ask you for some of your pollen next time than trick you into doing it.”
He held up the vial that had a live specimen in it. A critter that had a very bug-like appearance. It was a sleek black body with six legs and armored wings. The wings were layered together but had a veined appearance when they were camouflaging. Its head was pointed and in the shape of a leaf. If it were hanging from the underside of a leaf, it would have blended into a shadow.
The plant perked up and opened its bud fully, revealing the delicate inside that the petals and thorns protected. It was a soft, dark purple cavity that dipped down into the stem. That was where it would trap its prey and secret a fluid that would help the plant gain nutrients.
Sulli giggled, “I’ve never seen a plant have a personality like this one. Do you think it’s because it has Faelin origins? I know only a little about the pershiron plant. They’re not common.”
“This one has a unique personality. Most of the others from where I harvested from were more docile. This one went out of its way to spray me with the pollen any chance it got. I eventually got fed up and brought it back here so I’d stop having to leave the shop.”
Sulli took the vial with the Bhaili insect and dumped it into the open purple mouth of the hungry plant. The Bhaili tried reorienting itself but found it stuck to the inside, unable to fly away. There was a deep hissing before the pershiron folded in on itself to digest its newest meal. There was a sweep of energy that gave them the impression of pleasure before fading.
“So, about your store.” Sulli turned to Elias. The switch in conversation left him confused.
“What about my shop?” Elias frowned. He looked around to see that everything was in place and looked fine.
Sull rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, smiling at him in a way he wasn't sure he should trust. “I know you have been busy as of late, and you had me promise to return for testing. I think it would be a wise investment for me to help around the shop.”
Elias blinked at her, not expecting her to volunteer to work for him. “You want to work here? Me hire you?”
Sulli nodded and smiled, tucking a stray strand behind her pointed ear.
Elias narrowed his eyes at her, "Why are you asking? You shouldn't need to find work, especially with you being an Unbonded Anissive and with a Familial Sundry watching over you."
The smile dropped from Sulli's face, and a darker, more ugly expression took its place. Elias stepped back, feeling the necrotic type of magic that rolled off of the now very angry Anissive.
"Excuse you. I was offering to help and was asking because I wanted to help. You didn't have to be so rude."
Sulli turned and stormed from the shop, the plants around her wilting as she left. Elias stood there in shock, not expecting the sunshine girl to drop into such a reactive state.