People hurriedly run inside of the tunnel as the surging rain picks up pace outside, pushing through the underground with a loud, sharp whistle as it rushes along the rock-face. Fresh peers out of the window, watching as people run by, laughing to each other as they shake out their wet clothes. Apparently, a storm has come over the mountain.

It is late in the evening. The day had been long, but in Fresh’s eyes, successful.

The others had taken care of the store. The new help, Veli, had been flying around all day, keeping the storefront tidy, while people were running in and out of it, tracking mud and crumbs and dropping things now and then. She can’t help but admire his determination, though she does worry a little about it too. His determination is too strong to be healthy, but she supposes that it isn’t her place to question the fairy’s life and his choices.

His presence was of course, a great convenience for herself, despite her guilt about it. Because now that the store is closing and she looks around, she sees that there is nothing left to clean. All that needs to be done to prepare the store for tomorrow is to restock the shelves, which will take all of ten minutes, if the four of them do it together.

The last customer leaves and Jubilee shuts the door behind them, letting out a long sigh.

“Another day checked off of the calendar,” they say, dusting their hands and walking back to the counter.

Basil and Shamrock both sigh too, both of them leaning over forward and resting their heads on the counter at the same time, sparing an understanding look at each other as they lay there, immobilized.

“Good work, everyone!” says Fresh. “Let’s finish up and call it a day,” she suggests. Lifting her head up, she looks at Veli who is looking around, apparently still looking for more work. His left arm is tied up tightly in the little splint that Basil had helped him with. Fresh imagines that it must have and likely still does hurt a lot, but she hasn’t heard the fairy complain once. “You too, Veli!” she says. “Good work today!”

The fairy, pale in the face, nods to her and flies down to the counter.

Fresh scratches her cheek and heads back, grabbing a candy from the shelf. Red seems like a good choice. “Here,” says Fresh, setting it down. “You’re probably starving, right?”

She can hear Jubilee sigh and tap their fingers against the counter, but they don’t say anything.

Veli looks up at her and then at the candy that is half the size of his own body. “Thanks,” says the fairy. “Are you sure?”

“Mm! Sorry that it’s just candy and not real food,” says Fresh. “Ah!” She sees the difficulty he has, trying to break open the perfectly round, hardened shell of the thing. “Here.” Pressing down on it with a finger, she cracks it open and lets him get to the doughy insides.

“You did alright,” says Jubilee, looking at him as he grabs a fistful of the dough with his good arm.

Veli bows with his head, his mouth already full of dough. Fresh remembers that she was told that fairies had to eat a lot during the day to keep their energy up, since they are such small creatures. Jubilee pulls open the drawer, sliding a single silver Obol across the counter to him.

“Here’s your pay. Take it and get out,” says Jubilee, getting straight to the point.

Veli swallows, clenching the coin with great difficulty between his one good and one bad arm. “Yes, my queen!” he says, pulling it back to the candy and taking another fistful of the dough into his mouth before straining himself to lift the coin into the air with just one arm.

“Tomorrow morning, one hour before sunrise,” says Jubilee, still pointing at the door. “If you’re late, you’re fired.” Basil laughs quietly in the corner, perhaps having an odd sense of nostalgia.

Veli nods to them, his mouth still full as Fresh holds the door open and he flies out, zipping down the tunnel. She hopes he does alright in the storm. Actually, she wonders where it is that he and the other fairies are staying? Shrugging, she closes the door again, before the crack of the overly ominous thunder outside can manage to reach her.

The other three take over the restocking, while Fresh heads upstairs and prepares dinner. Having someone to clean for them really does save a lot of time at the end of the day. Using all of that energy that she saved, Fresh decides to make a strong, hearty meal today. The terrible weather starting to brew outside offers the perfect contrast for something hot and thick. A stew.

Humming to herself, she sets to work cooking and setting the table, so that by the time everyone else comes upstairs, all there is left to do is to sit down.

It sounds like it was a very tiring day upstairs today. So Fresh is glad that she got to hide in the basement. Apparently, some customers got in a fight with each other over Shamrock, which only got worse as he then left the back of the counter to try and tear them off of each other's throats. As for Basil’s creams, they sold a little too well, especially among the particular clientèle who seemed hellbent on trying to impress the giant, who just wanted to stand there and poke the little toy slimes. Jubilee meanwhile, had to spend all day chasing fairies and arguing with the tired-man, who had come into the store once again.

Fresh listens intently to their stories, as she stirs the pot filled with root-vegetables and tubers and a brown sauce that isn’t quite thick enough for her liking. She ponders for a moment, wondering what to do. Then, she realizes, running into the pantry to get some milk and flour. Though, they seem to be out of milk, having used the last of it for their coughee this morning. Well, except for one particular kind.

She swirls the bottle of dragon’s milk in her hands, deciding that it’s probably fine, before she heads back out and takes the cork off of it, sniffing it once to see if it was okay, before pouring some into the stew. Sure, it’s a really expensive thing to put into something like a simple stew, but Fresh thinks that her hard-working friends deserve nothing less. Smiling, she sets the bottle to the side and adds the finishing touches, as she watches it become thicker.

A sprinkle of salt is dropped into the pot with a dramatic flick of her wrist. A handful of crushed, dried rose-leaves is allowed to fall from her grasp, after she spins once in a circle where she’s standing.

“What the hell are you doing?” asks Jubilee from the table, looking back over their chair.

Fresh blinks, staring at the three faces staring her way, as she leans sideways on one leg, letting the last few peppercorns roll off down her fingers from her upwards facing palm. “Cooking,” she says, plain as day.

“Uh… huh…”

“Mm!” laughs Fresh, tapping the wooden spoon against the pot once before taking it off of the heat.

[Hearty Stew](Normal) Made with meat, vegetables, roots and many floral ingredients. This rich, creamy stew emits a deeply fragrant, savory smell that somehow always smells like home. Made with LOV: Cold Resistance +5 for 4 hours

“Huh... well, fuck,” says Jubilee, looking at the window.

Basil nods, agreeing. “That’s a lot of cold resistance for food.”

Fresh looks at them and shrugs. That’s probably because of the dragon’s milk, but she doesn’t want to reveal her secret ingredient. She doesn’t want them to feel bad about her having spent so much of her own money on their food. “I think a stew like this has to boil for a really long time, for everything to get really, really soft. But I hope it’s okay for you guys like this,” she says, portioning the bowls out. It really does smell great though.

“Thank you for the food!” says Basil as Fresh sets the bowl down in front of her. “I’m sure it’s very good!”

“Thanks for your hard work!” says Fresh.

Shamrock nods. “Thank you.”

“Mm! Thanks for keeping everyone safe!”

Jubilee leans back, crossing their arms. Fresh narrows her gaze, leaning down forward expectantly and staring at Jubilee from up close with her cheek puffed out. The two of them stare at each other for a moment. Jubilee relents, turning their head away and grumbling. “Thanks…”

“You’re welcome!” smiles Fresh, setting the bowl down. “Thanks for being nice to a stranger.”

“I’m always nice to strangers!” barks Jubilee, pointing up at her. “I took you in, didn’t I?”

Fresh thinks, sitting down herself as she scratches her cheek. “I guess that’s true.”

Without anyone having to say anything else, the three of them start eating. As always, Jubilee doesn’t eat with them, but Fresh appreciates that they’re sitting out here at the table at least.

Everyone really likes the stew, especially how rich and thick the sauce is, despite the simple ingredients. When asked what she had put in it to make it taste so good, Fresh simply smiles a devious smile and lifts her finger.

“The secret ingredient is looove~!” she says, clasping her hands. It's a lie, but it also isn't.

Jubilee slides their bowl further away from themselves.

“Hey!”

Basil laughs, holding on to Shamrock’s arm as the man seems to continue eating faster than before.

“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“Same plan as every day,” says Jubilee. “And then every day after that. Forever. Until we all die.”

“How exciting,” says Basil, sarcastically.

“Mm!” nods Fresh, blowing on the stew on her spoon. “It is!” she smiles, before taking another bite. The stew really is very good.

Sure, the carrots and the tubers are still a little hard and chewy and sure, so is the meat. A stew like this probably had to cook for several hours to get really, really done. But that’s okay. Because despite that, it’s still hot and it’s seasoned with delicate care and with strong emotions and most importantly, with a pinch of salt.

Tomorrow night is the night of the harvest-moon. The day that summer officially comes to an end. Fresh has an entire array of ideas that she wants to make. The items made from the harvest-moon have healing properties of a sort. Combined with the magical-crystals and the crystal-drakonium, she is sure that she can make an entire collection of useful things.

And as for that thing in the basement, that thing which she shouldn’t have made on her bad night, the thing that she should honestly keep in her inventory instead of down there in the bath, she has a very special idea for that. An idea that might end up making up for the wrong that she has committed by creating such an object.

Fresh smiles as she takes another bite. This world was going to become a warmer and kinder place, as rich and as enjoyable as this stew is.