“Do you know master?” asked Sonja. It was not until after she had said it again that she remembered that she was not supposed to call him that in public. She chided herself mentally for including that into their acting session.

Ashton made a strange yip sound then blinked. Her eyes opened wide and she slapped her hand across her mouth. She did her best to get ahold of herself. She was no longer in heat. Hearing such a charged statement in her place of work should not have much of an effect, but she could not help herself. The longer Scott was away, the more she missed his scent in the workplace. The entire store smelled different.

Shara titled her head to the side. Something strange had just happened and there was a different air about Ashton now. What was with that odd sound, and now that she looked at her carefully her hair had started to poke up a little in a slightly triangular shape. She made an effort to take notice of such a thing, though she had long since learned her not-so-secret secret.

Currently, Ashton was keeping her secret from the department store due to the fact that the team members had been reset a while back. The administrative team had decided to turn back time to make a patch for the recent updates, and that led to the loss of memories for most people on the planet.

Ashton noticed Shara’s gaze and her hands rocketed up to flatten her hair. She smiled in a nervous way and her slightly too sharp left canine teeth hinted at something else that she might be hiding. It was that sort of thing. Leave a few hints for any onlooker but admit nothing.

“Are you alright?” asked Shara.

“Fine! Aheh, I’m fine. Excuse me though; I have to make my rounds.” Ashton nodded quickly, her hands still on her head. The sorority girl store team leader ran off at high speed. She had spent enough time with her friends. There was work to do.

Shara squinted a little when she noticed what should have been strange movement in the woman’s pants. Something was definitely going on with her. Any onlooker would think the same. Mission accomplished.

“Who was that?” asked Sonja casually. She had honestly never met such a person in her life. Nope. Not even once.

Shara revealed a smile that was quite the opposite of a smile that a mild-mannered shop girl might reveal. “Someone with potential, I think.”

Sonja opened her mouth then closed it slowly. What was this girl on about? Just what manner of potential was she supposed to possess. Admittedly, she did think similarly, and without realizing it that reason was remarkably similar to Shara’s.

The returned to their shopping. Shara wanted to take Sonja’s mind off the situation with Scott, and the shopping did help to some extent.

“There are so many things here that do not exist on my… homeland,” said Sonja.

“Yes, that is true,” said Shara. She leaned close to Sonja and whispered. “We should seriously consider what we should take with us over there. Some of this stuff is dirt cheap here but would be worth a fortune there.”

She specifically did not mention Scott, but the truth was that they could not take items back and forth without him. Shara lacked that function outside of work purposes and doing such was considered a breech of contract when using that form.

The shopping trip wore on, and as Sonja picked out numerous clothing items, they soon came to the realization that this would also be a great opportunity to scout out items to take to the other world. They had already considered such, and now they shifted their search into that direction entirely.

Archers held many secrets, and among those secrets was this wondrous substance known as ‘toilet paper.’ In truth, the moment that Sonja discovered it she was wholly enamored with it. This, of course, had happened back when she first came to Earth. The idea that the people who lived here would spend their time quilting tiny parchment together in intricate patterns solely for the purpose of wiping their backsides was quite fascinating.

In the world of her birth, people either made due with nature’s bounty or cloth, if they were on the road. At home many would use something she had learned of in this world that was known as a bidet. Water stones would be used to shoot water up their backsides, provided they had the money needed to purchase such devices in the first place. Cloths may, or may not, be used afterward.

She had heard the stories of machines, the little metal creatures that crafted such things, but it still fascinated her to know that somewhere in this world there was someone or some thing hard at work quilting a single use item for such a purpose.

Eventually, they roved over to the housewares section. Sonja’s eyes practically sparkled as she discovered the kitchen appliances. She began to hum happily as she mused and fussed over various mechanical marvels. “What is this thing? This crock?”

“A crock pot. It’s a kind of slow pressure cooker,” said Shara. “A lot of people use them to make soup, or stew. Anything that’s better if it’s left to simmer for a while.”

“I see. I see…. Hmm. Hmm,” said Sonja. “And this?”

“That an electric egg-beater,” said Shara. “You can beat eggs and mix cake batter quickly. No need to stir yourself, it does it for you.”

The housewares department lifted Sonja’s mood quite a bit. She practically danced around the kitchen wares, and then stopped to marvel at the wide variety of plates and cups. A set of fancy salt and pepper shakers made her stop and smile. So many pretty things existed here that caught her attention. A valkyrie could enjoy herself utterly on the culinary battlefield with such equipment…

“Ah. Found you an apron,” said Shara with a grin. “Though, this is usually more something a man would wear.”

Shara showed the apron to Sonja, and she immediately acquired a silly smile. It was a simple white apron, but emblazoned across the from were the words, “Kiss the cook.”