The rest of the morning goes by in a slog, at least for me. After she got back from the first supply run, Apricot showed Amelia a trick to keep her spell going without conscious thought. The blonde instantly pulled out a book and has been lost in it ever since, only looking up when I swap out the plants for her to distill.

I, on the other hand, am bored out of my mind. I thought that switching between growing the herbs, making more bacterial soup, and producing the baking pearl would be enough to keep me occupied. But, even with, or perhaps because I'm writing out everything I can remember about math and chemistry, it's just not enough.

"What’cha doing?" Apricot asks from her miniature lounge chair. She's happy enough to just sit back and soak up the sun in-between runs.

"Trying not to pass out from boredom." I answer while setting up some archery targets.

"Hahahah." Her laugh chimes out over the yard. "I'm surprised you're not already lost in the magic."

"Me too." I grumble. "I was actually counting on that, but I just can't seem to slip into the fugue state like usual. Math and chemistry aren't helping, so archery."

"I should practice, but eh." She shrugs and flops back down. "It's too nice of a day and I'm working too much as it is."

Just as I'm returning from setting up the last target, I feel a strong mage coming down the road. Looking up I spot half a dozen people wearing the same jacket, all riding in the same open-top carriage.

"Looks like the fire brigade is here." I announce while loosening up with a few stretches.

"Nnh, but I'm just getting to a good part." Amelia whines before setting a bookmark to save her position.

"Hello there." The mage I sensed before hops off the carriage. She's an older woman, but has a muscular frame and seems filled with energy. "I heard you called for the best of the fire brigade."

"You're welcome to help, but even more welcome to help keep me sane." I chuckle. "This is so repetitive and I just can't seem to zone out like usual. I'm Sorrel, by the way. This is Apricot, and that's Amelia. You must be Mizz Struhl."

"Adriana, please." The boisterous woman turns around to introduce her team. "These are Nickie, Izzie, Maddie, Guthrie, and Bat."

"Isabelle." - "Nicole." The first two to be named correct her.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Adriana doesn't seem to care that the nicknames annoy them. "So, what do you need us to do, besides keep you sane?"

"Just copy Amelia, there." I duplicate the simple wooden stills she's using and fill them with some quickly grown plants. "Pushing steam through the plant draws the oils out, which will then be deposited in the barrel when you cut your mana at the end."

"I can see why you're bored." She starts pumping steam into four of the over-sized stills just like Amelia is but quickly drops down to two. "Damn, I thought I was the strongest water mage around. How are you managing that?"

The rest of her team can't even manage a single one on their own; they go two to a still with Bat sending steam into both.

"Oh, it's all thanks to Apricot." Amelia smiles over at her tiny lover.

"So, you really are a pixie." With those giant moth wings, I'm not sure what else the woman thought she could be. "You never find your kind outside the mountains."

"Oh, she's been with me since we first met." I deflect, knowing that this is a touchy subject for Apricot. "I entranced her with my magic... and other things, and she's been following me ever since."

"Hah!" Adriana barks out a laugh. "Shapeshifter, right? I've known a couple of shifters in my time and they've each been worth following around."

"Oh, she's just after me for my music." I say while changing out a full record for a blank one.

"Don't forget about your cooking." The pixie adds with a grateful look for the distraction I provided.

"I'll make you something special tonight, but it looks like the next batch is ready to go." I quickly swap out the full barrels under Amelia's stills for empty ones.

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute." She flitters past the barrels, making them vanish with magic before taking off to the south again.

I move to get the next batch of 'soup' and baking pearl ready, making it a double since the fire brigade is helping out. "They may need more sprayers if you guys can keep this up."

"I can probably manage for a few hours, but the team won't even last half that." The fire chief comments.

"That will still cut the overall time down quite a bit." I say and go ahead and make a few dozen more sprayers.

"Ah, I've been wanting to get a look at one of those." She wanders closer while I'm working on the rubber parts. "Do you think they could be useful for firefighting?"

"Mhm, possibly." I shrug and start making something else. "But, something like this might work better. Fill the interior with a solution of baking soda and water, and then have a glass bottle full of a strong acid here. You flip it upside down; the stopper falls out, starting a reaction that sprays water out of the hose." I use baking pearl and vinegar to demonstrate.

"If you kept one of those in every home, or even just one on every floor of an apartment..." She trails off thinking of the possibilities.

"A larger one built into a wagon might work as well, but I'm sure there's a better way." I pull out my enchanting books and start thumbing through the air runes. "Yes, that might work. This would act like the pump on the sprayers... But, I'm overthinking things." I smack myself on the forehead and start messing around with rubber and fabric.

"Uhm. Amelia was it?" Adriana turns to the smirking blonde. "Is this normal?"

"When you give him a puzzle to solve, it is." She answers with a laugh.

"The city has plenty of water pressure." I speak up after creating a makeshift fire hose. "You just need to get that water to where it's needed. Set extra-large faucets in the middle of each block and then, when there's a fire, you just hook this hose up and you've got the water right where you need it."

"She gave him a puzzle, didn't she?" Apricot laughs when she comes back in for a landing.

"Shut up." I stick my tongue out at the pixie.

"How many of these can you make?" Adriana grabs the hose and starts examining it. I left the layers revealed on one end, there are two layers of rubber with a woven mesh in-between for strength and a tough canvas exterior for protection. "And, how much water can they take?"

"We're still in the testing phase, looking for the strongest, and most durable mixes." I hedge. "But, I can make as many as you want. As for how much water? Enough that even I would probably have trouble holding onto it at full blast."

"Uh, no offense, but you look like a stiff breeze could blow you over." She pointedly looks at my slender limbs and emaciated frame.

"That's it; I'm asking the Colonel for a set of the equipment the beastkin use. I need to bulk up." I step back and draw Blackthorne into bow mode, sighting on the farthest target; I fire and just barely hit it. Just barely because I aimed too high and almost overshot it. "I'm stronger than I look."

"Damn!" Guthrie swears. "You could hit the other side of the river from here with that bow. I know some beastkin that couldn't do that with a recurve bow, what is that thing made out of?"

"Lightning struck oak." I answer, my pique leaving me as quickly as it came. "And, before you ask, it's a Plantkin thing. I didn't even know making Blackie was possible until it happened. Isn't that right, Buddy." I shift him back into staff mode and feed him a couple of cocoa woodchips.

"Uh, sorry about touching on a sore subject." Adriana ducks her head. "But, remind me never to piss off a Plantkin."

"It's mostly the older ones you have to look out for, I'm..." I hesitate while looking for the right words. "...somewhat unique."

"I'm beginning to see that." She nods. "But, never mind that. Let's talk about these hoses, how long do you think it will be before you can produce them?"

I'm about to answer when Melanie comes running out of the lab. "Sorrel, I got it. I can hardly believe it, but it worked just like you said." She's waving around a pencil that's been turned into an impromptu spindle, a couple centimeters thick of fine thread spooled around its middle.

"That's excellent news." I take the thread with a smile when she holds it out to me. "You didn't have any problems with the process?"

"No, it went fine." She shakes her head, her smile as wide as mine. "In fact, I spotted a few areas where I think I should be able to improve things."

"Fantastic." The word comes out slightly distracted because I'm focused on manipulating the new thread.

It's not nearly as malleable as plain cotton is, but much easier than working with wool. It takes a moment of practice before I feel comfortable trying to weave with it, but it's not long before I'm holding a silken swatch of fabric in my palm.

"Did you just make silk?" The fire chief's eyes are bulging out of her head, and the rest of her team are crowding closer to get a better look.

"It's not actually silk, but it has similar properties." I say while shaping the swatch into a dress for Apricot. "Here you go, Sweetie, the first of many. Sorry it took so long."

"I love it, Sorrel. But, it smells funny" She does something with magic, it's not like my cleanse spell or Amelia's bath, but seems to get the job done to her satisfaction. "That's better. And, so soft too."

"I made a starweave version of satin." I explain. "So, it's soft and luxurious. The filament size is still a bit thick, but it'll do for now."

"That... uh, how?" Adriana asks, gobsmacked. The other women on her team are just staring at Apricot's new dress with poorly concealed envy.

"Trade secret, sorry." I say with a smile. "We should be bringing it to market soon though. Now, about the fire hose." I redirect the conversation. "We've only tested one aspect of the rubber, but I can take the best of that test and make you a prototype."

"We're already running low on lampblack." Melanie warns me.

"Nng. I really need to learn some earth spells." My modified wood is great for a lot of stuff. But, open flame, not so much. "Do you want to go talk to Edsel? See about getting us a burn chamber so we can make our own."

"I can do that." She agrees a little too quickly, confirming my suspicions that there might be something blossoming between them.

"Thank you... and, good luck getting past the gate." There still seems to be something of a crowd just past the wall.

"I doubt it'll be a problem, and there's likely a few free carriages hanging around too." She replies. "That'll keep me from having to walk as far to catch one."

"See how the bicycle production is coming along too." I add before she leaves. "I'll be happy to commission one for you; I know that having the lab here isn't the most convenient."

"Oh, I think it's worth a little inconvenience." She says over her shoulder with a smile.

"So, it looks like that prototype will have to wait a bit." I tell Adriana with a placating smile. "But, that'll give us a chance to do some durability testing in the meantime."

"I can get you that black stuff if you need it." She offers. "Bat, you're just draining yourself splitting your focus like that. Take this purse and go get as much of that stuff as you can find."

"We've gone over this before, Adriana." The man named Bat says with a tired sigh. "We work with you, not for you."

"You can keep the change." She rolls her eyes.

"Well, alright then." He changes his tune an instant after she says that. "Lampblack, was it?"

"Yes." I agree. "It's a paint pigment, so look wherever that stuff is sold."

He nods and heads over to the carriage they came in. While he's doing that, I swap out the plants in Amelia's still for fresh ones.

"Alright." I turn back to Adriana. "I'm still going to want to at least do a pressure test before I send you off with anything. You and Amelia are busy, and my water magic isn't as strong. So, that means I'm going to need a bigger water tower. Apricot, can you watch the oil while I'm building?"

I walk down closer to the riverside after she nods and start shaping wood into support legs. This thing will only be temporary and won't hold that much water, so they don't need to be very thick. But, even so, I'm still glad I grew the extra trees to restock my lumber supply.

"I'm taking this batch out." Apricot buzzes past me while I'm two-thirds up the tower.

"Thanks, Apricot." I smile up at her. "You've made this whole ordeal a million times easier than it would have been."

"It feels good to help." She flies closer to kiss me on the nose before flittering away.