"Hey, all." I announce to the crowd. Everyone is already here and hungry, including Gen's family, and a surprisingly sober Tess. "I don't feel like plating everything up, so just grab whatever looks good, just remember to save room for dessert." All of the tables fill with food, much to the crowd's delight. "Oh, and the green pitchers are non-alcoholic, yellow meant for human-level tolerance, and red for beastkin." The few beastkin perk up at that.

I sit down and start putting together a plate. Including a large pour from a red pitcher full of watermelon punch. I need it after all the work I did today. And, still have to do.

"Mmm, that's some good barbecue." I compliment my own cooking after biting into an overstuffed sandwich that I slathered with just enough sauce to drip out the edges when I take a bite.

"I have to agree with you there." Reinholt mumbles around a mouthful.

"Oh, you're happy as long as it's meat." His wife, Dulcette, teases. "This is quite nice though, sweet and tangy."

"I'm glad you like it." I say with a nod. "If I had known you all were coming, I would have gone with something a little fancier."

"Don't be silly." Erick waves the thought away. "Just the novelty of some new dishes is more than enough. I mean, just look at Gran, you can practically see the new ideas brewing in his head. And, I love these little egg things."

"Devilled eggs." I provide the name. "They always do seem to vanish first from the buffet. And, aside from whisking up the mayonnaise, they're dead simple to make. That reminds me, I wanted to make some sort of powered food processor. Just something else for the ever-expanding to-do list. Oh, Elise." I say her name when the thought of rapidly spinning blades reminds me about missing limbs.

"Hmm?" She looks up from her plate.

"I was going to ask at lunch, but I suppose Erick isn't the only one who got distracted." I laugh at myself. "But, I was hoping you could put me in touch with some people who are missing fingers or toes. I promised my guards that I'd look into limb re-growth and thought it would be better to start small."

"Oh, is that all?" She says in a deadpan voice before turning to Amelia with an exasperated sigh. "How do you deal with him every day?"

"The sex helps." Apricot answers for her, drawing a laugh from the table.

"Ha-ha." I roll my eyes at her. "Look, it shouldn't be all that difficult. Do you remember the stem-cells I described when scanning Annette here? Well, I know the trick lies with those. I just need to capture some salamanders to get a good look at how they re-grow their limbs, and then use magic to replicate that in people. Hopefully"

"Colonel." Erick uses his Baron voice. "I know you have a few people that meet his needs, have them report... Is tomorrow fine? And, where would you like them?" He asks me in his normal timbre.

"Here, and after the run in the morning should be fine." I nod. "I know I've seen some salamanders in the woods north of here. So, I should be able to grab a few to experiment on during the run."

"You're going to hurt the poor little lizards?" Apricot pouts.

"You know I don't want to, Sweetie." I scoot my chair closer to hers. "I swear that nothing I do to them will be permanent and, thanks to the sap I'm going to use to speed up the process, they'll be better than they were before. I'll even make sure that they're asleep for the whole thing, so they won't feel anything."

"...alright..." She sniffs. "I don't mind killing for food, but just cutting their legs off like that... Nnh." She shivers a little.

"Would some dessert make you feel better?" Grilled peaches, cobbler, lemon meringue, and a plate stacked high with brownies appears in front of her.

"Maybe a little." I'm pretty sure this is what she was aiming for from the start, but I don't mind playing along. I kiss her on the cheek before returning to my plate.

"Would it be alright if Martin and I observed?" A light fills Elise's eyes.

"You promise not to hurt any lizards?" I tease and rub Apricot's mop of orange hair. "Of course you're welcome to come. I'm hoping to do this with as little healing sap as possible, so a couple of extra healers might come in handy. If you'll pardon the pun." Stan snorts out a bark of laughter from the next table over, he and all of the guards have been listening closely to this conversation.

"What is that pie?" Gran interjects when Apricot cuts herself a slice.

"Lemon meringue." I dart in and steal a scoop of the custard from Apricot before she can react. "It's a pain to get right, but oh-so-good when you do." Everyone starts clearing their plates as quickly as they can then, so I'll bring out dessert as soon as possible.

...

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"You really need to start producing this chocolate stuff." Reinholt moans around a mouthful of brownie.

"I know." I nod. "But, between the blight and the business, it just got pushed to the back burner. Do you have enough left? I can make some more if you need it."

"I wouldn't say no to more." He smiles. "What all do you need before you can get that side of the business running?"

"Oh, the biggest need is to train up some apprentice chocolate makers." I reply. "Not that I could be considered a master, but I can't do everything myself. At least, I don't want to. Then, I'll need to build the equipment for them to use and contract with some dairy farmers for the milk chocolate."

"Well, considering that you're the only one around these parts that can make it." He chuckles. "I think that makes you a master by default. Still, that sounds like it might take a while."

"Yeah. The only reason I was able to get all this up and running so soon was thanks to Melanie, and now Felicia." I send a smile to my two managers. "But, don't worry, I'll start selling batches soon-ish. Need to build a market for the new treat, after all."

"I think you got a good start on that tonight." Delainey gestures around the room, and nearly everyone has a brownie in their hands.

"Speaking of, I should get started on the safety equipment for the lab. But, first." I turn to my guards. "Toni, I'm good to finish up your eye now."

"I know you." Colonel Hollen speaks up making the woman blush. "Aside from taking that healer hostage, that was some fine work. She was acting as bait for some bandits, but they found out and tried to flank her group leaving her to deal with three men all on her own. She took them out and went to help her squad rout the rest of them. After taking a dagger to the eye."

"I've left that life behind." She ducks her head, her cheeks flaming. "Sorrel is not only giving me my eye back, but a second chance at a peaceful life."

"Well, right now he's giving you a cup." I say with a laugh. I've been holding up a shot glass full of healing sap for a good minute now. "And... there you go. Do be careful with it this time; all those nerves at the back of the eye are a real pain to rebuild."

"..." My security guard just stares at me, and then her hand, then all around the room, and finally at Fawne who pulls her close before towing her away as tears wash down both of their faces.

"Now where was I?" I choose to ignore the looks I'm getting right now. "Nnh, I wish I was more skilled with metal; I really want to work on those other fire extinguishers, but they need to hold a lot of pressure and I just don't trust what I'd make not to have a fault in it."

"I can't see what you're doing wrong." Apricot knows that I've been having trouble with metals like the spring on the telegraph and the crossbar for her bow. "But, I know as much about metal as you do."

"More firefighting equipment?" Erick raises an eyebrow. "Better not let Adriana find out." He adds with a laugh.

"Mhm." I grunt. "I'm surprised she's not here demanding more hoses or enough sprinklers for the entire city."

"I did hear that she's been buying up a lot of brass." I drop my head down and pinch the bridge of my nose when Erick says that.

"I need to make safety goggles anyway; I might as well get started on the ampoules for those." I start planning out what I want to get done tonight, and what I'm likely to accomplish. "You haven't seen the lab yet, shall we head down?"

"Yes, please." He grins. "Though we should probably get going after that; I can tell that you still have quite a bit to work on."

"I can send the rest of this lot off." Delainey speaks up. "But would it be alright if I got a look at this safety equipment? And, I'd like to hear more about these other fire extinguishers; Melanie said that you mean them for the lab itself."

"Yeah, the first and easiest will just be compressed nitrogen used to blow something like baking soda onto the fire." I explain. "The second I mostly just want because they're fun to play around with. Girls, help me out here, my air spells still need some work."

Reaching out to the co2 in the air around us, I start drawing it in and compressing it as tightly as I can while keeping it from heating up. I doubt I could get it down to a liquid on my own, but with Apricot and Amelia helping we soon have a small orb of liquid carbon dioxide floating in the air before us.

"What is that?" Amelia is the first to speak up. "I know we were drawing on that stale air you used to make the leavener, but this..." She trails off while exploring the brand new liquid with her water magic.

"Yeah, all gasses can be liquefied." I respond with a smile for her fascination. "This is probably one of the easiest since it doesn't need to be supercooled. You can keep playing with it, but do you mind if I borrow a bit for my demonstration."

"Yeah, yeah." She says off-handedly and halves the orb, sending one part to me.

"Now, like I was saying, it's fun to play with." I poke a hole in the bubble compressing it and spray a rapidly expanding foam straight up.

"Ack! Cold!" Apricot screams when some splashes off the ceiling to hit her.

"Yes, things heat up when compressed and cool down when they expand." I explain basic physics to the pixie and earn myself a smack on the arm. "That why it's good for fighting fires, that and fire can't breathe stale air any more than people can. Still, the dry powder works a lot better in most cases, especially in a lab."

"Does it have any other uses?" The head of the alchemists' guild is staring at the orb Amelia kept as hard as she is.

"It's a decent solvent for oils." I shrug, only knowing a few of its plant-based uses. "Especially if you bring it to a supercritical state. And, since this can be done at a lower temperature than steam distillation, it's good if you want to separate a plant's oils from its waxes."

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow at that before getting a sheepish expression on his face. "And, uh... supercritical?"

"When you increase the pressure and temperature beyond a certain point, the critical point, a substance stops behaving distinctly like a gas or a liquid." I rush through the explanation after catching Tess in the corner of my eye. "I'll explain more down in the lab, I see someone I need to speak with real quick."

They all take the elevator down, and several others wait outside of it for their chance.

"Hi, Tess. I glad you came back." I greet her with a smile. "I hope you enjoyed dinner."

"I've had worse." She shrugs, but I can see brownie crumbs in the corner of her lips.

"You're welcome to join us down in the lab if you would like." I offer. "It's mostly going to be boring science stuff, but you and the girls can play cards or something while complaining about what an idiot I am."

"Tempting." She smirks. "But, I think I'm going to make an early night of it."

"Alright." I smile back. "Just let me know if you need anything. I owe you for fucking up so badly."

"Don't worry about it." She sighs. "Just go do your science stuff. I'll be fine."

"Yes, you will." I agree.

***