Edsel, Melanie, and Cat are still playing around with the elements I extracted, so I just wave to them and head into the house to see what the girls are up to. I find them still in bed, but they are anything but asleep.

"You girls eaten yet? Well, aside from the obvious." Apricot joins me in laughing when Amelia blushes. Blushes, but doesn't stop what she's doing.

"Mnh. No, not yet. Why don't you go -ahh ah- go cook something. We'll... Uhng!" The pixie never finishes her sentence, so I leave them to their fun and whip up something for the three of us.

...

I'm halfway through my plate before the two of them stumble downstairs. They're both wearing satin robes and the stockings from last night are just visible below the hem and above their slippers.

"Good morning." I pull them both in for a kiss.

"Mmm, morning." Apricot licks her lips. "You taste like syrup."

"And, you taste like heaven." I respond before going in for seconds.

"Nnh, sex later." Amelia whines, her eyes locked on my plate. "Food now."

"Yes, Ma'am." I chuckle when she blushes again and bring their plates out of storage. "I can't have my favorite guardswoman going hungry."

"You're awfully chipper for a prisoner who was being punished all night." She mumbles around a mouthful of blueberry pancakes. "Do we need a repeat performance tonight?"

"As long as you wear those stockings, you can do whatever you want to me." My hand caresses her thigh as I lean forward to lap up a bead of syrup from the corner of her mouth. When her legs part, inviting me to probe deeper; I abandon my breakfast for another meal entirely.

Unfortunately, I'm interrupted by Apricot before I get more than a taste. "I'm as hot for these crazy socks as you are, but we're about to have company."

"Nng!" Amelia shivers when I growl into her wetness. "Your friend has the worst timing, Babe."

"Lauren!" The blonde growls when I remove myself from between her legs. "You stupid, clothes-obsessed elf. Why couldn't you have just stayed in bed for a few more hours?"

"It must be revenge for the dress." I kiss her on the lips before going to greet our visitors. "Go ahead and finish your breakfast, I'll wait to talk business until you're ready."

Apricot must be checking everyone that comes out of the gate because the carriages are only just arriving by the time I get out of the door. Melanie is still outside, so I detour to her first.

"Hey, this must be the seamstress Lauren was talking about yesterday." I give her the heads up. "I'm sure she's going to want a demonstration. Oh, and how much more silk were you able to make yesterday?"

"About half of what you took." She replies before gathering up her apprentice and heading inside. "We'll have a batch ready to go whenever you're ready."

"Thanks, you're easily my favorite alchemist." She just rolls her eyes to that, so I go to greet Lauren and her guests.

"Ah, there you are, Sorrel." The elf greets me with a warm smile. "I'd like you to meet Blanche Wolfsfeld and her chief apprentice Felicia."

"Good morning." I give the newcomers each a shallow bow. "I'm afraid you caught us in the middle of breakfast. Amelia will be out in a moment, but I can show you to the lab to see how the silk is made."

"You're the one who made the scarf?" The seamstress raises an artfully plucked eyebrow while looking my chainmaille jogging suit up and down. "Is this how you always dress at home?"

I shoot Lauren an 'is she for real?' look, and get a tight smile in reply. I decide to give this woman the benefit of the doubt because Amelia's friend brought her, but she is not off to a good start.

"I just finished my morning run not too long ago, got a bit distracted afterward and honestly forgot I was wearing it." I snap my fingers and the copper chainmaille vanishes, leaving only the undersuit which swiftly morphs itself into white slacks and a button-up shirt. "Better?" I arch an eyebrow right back at her.

Lauren is freaking out and the woman's apprentice is fighting not to smile as her master looks like she just swallowed a lemon.

"Passable." The seamstress nods, but all I can think is 'second strike, one more and you're out.'

"Well, let me show you where the magic happens." Cane-mode Blackthorne in my hand, I all but strut into the workshop. Edsel shooting me a smirk when I walk past him.

"Melanie, Catherine, please let me introduce Seamstress Wolfsfeld and her apprentice Felicia." I gesture to them with a flourish, earning another not-smile from Felicia. "They would like a demonstration of the silk-making process."

"Of course, of course." Melanie already has the jar filled with a goopy solution of melted cotton. I also notice that she's decorated the shelves with random chemicals to keep them from easily guessing the recipe. Smart move, that. "We were just about to extrude another batch, they're welcome to watch."

The seamstress doesn't say anything, which is probably for the best. She's opened her mouth twice so far and has managed to annoy me each time.

Melanie pumps up the pressure on the jar and swiftly fishes the string out of the acid with a glass rod before attaching it to a spindle. This spindle she passes off to her assistant who takes a couple steps back to give the string a chance to air dry a little before it gets wrapped on the spool.

"Remind me to add some rollers so she doesn't have to stand so far back." I was too busy teasing Lauren yesterday to notice this, but it's an easily fixable problem.

"You're just collecting the loose fibers at this point?" The apprentice, Felicia, asks this. "If you're adding rollers, you might as well integrate a spinning wheel too."

"True." I nod. "It just hasn't been necessary so far." A finished spool jumps into my outstretched hand. The fibers on it float up into the air before spinning themselves into thread that wraps itself back around the spool. "It's a bit harder to control than plain cotton, but I think I've gotten the hang of it."

"If you can do that, why do you even need a partner?" Felicia speaks again.

"Honestly, I only care about dressing my girls." I reply with a smile that makes most of the women in the room blush. "But, there's obviously a market for this stuff, and until Melanie can build up the rubber market, we might as well make the lab profitable."

"So, this is what, a side project for you?" She looks a little shocked.

"Technically it's a side project of a side project." I let out a little chuckle. "I hired Melanie to make rubber because I wasn't interested enough in doing it myself, and only added the silk production as an afterthought."

"Speaking of production." Wolfsfeld finally speaks. "Will you be able to produce enough to meet demand, you weren't wrong about there being a market." She looks like she's biting into a lemon when she admits that.

"Production won't be an issue." I materialize a rubber glove. "The rubber we're also making can be turned into protective equipment that will let even non-alchemist work safely around dangerous substances. You never know when some fool is going to stick their hand in a vat of acid, after all." I proceed to do just that.

Melanie just rolls her eyes at my demonstration, but it's effective enough for everyone else.

"Do those gloves work on anything?" Felicia asks when I remove my hand and encourage the acid clinging to it to flow back into the bath. "Because I know a few dyers that would be very interested in getting a pair."

"Most things yes." I nod and then turn to Melanie as a thought strikes. "I forget if I mentioned this or not, but don't use them to handle mercury. The rubber sucks it up like a sponge and will make it more likely to get mercury poisoning."

"You did not, but thank you for remembering." She sends me a grateful nod, making me think she might have had plans to do just that.

"I can also build and, since I'm apprenticed to the head of the enchanting guild, will soon be able to enchant any needed equipment." I had planned to work on my enchanting today but, with the attempted break-in and everything else, those plans got pushed to the back of the queue. "At this point, it's just about finding the right people to work with." I look directly at Felicia when I say that last sentence.

"Ahem, yes. Well, we might be able to work with you." Blanche clears her throat and speaks in a haughty disinterested tone.

"Well, we'll be sure to keep your interest in mind." I reply in a congenial tone that anyone who has been turned down for a job would recognize in an instant. "There are still a few other people to see, but I'm sure we'll make our decision soon." And, it won't be you.

"What is there to decide? I'm the best seamstress in the city; no one else even comes close." Does she seriously think that her reputation -one that I had never even heard of before today- can excuse her attitude. "Lauren, talk to your... friend. I took precious time out of my day to come all the way out here." I think she does.

"And, I am extremely grateful to you for that." It takes all of my meager acting talent to say that with a straight face. "But, as a successful businesswoman, I'm sure you understand that one shouldn't just jump into these things. Please, keep the scarf as a thank you for fitting me into your tight schedule. We'll be in touch." It's the closest you're going to get to anything of mine, and don't contact me.

I start ushering the three women out of the workshop at this point. A polite, but disinterested smile plastered on my lips the whole time.

"Lauren, talk to him." The old seamstress practically barks at Amelia's friend one we get outside. "Tell him that he's making a mistake here. You do want to still be welcome in my shop, don't you?" And, if I wasn't going to work with her before, I sure as hell won't now.

"That's alright, Lauren." I put my arm around her shoulders, as my congenial smile morphs into an evil grin. "I'll be happy to make you whatever you want from now on, including all the starweave you could ever dream of. There's no need for you to go to the 'second' best clothesmaker in town anymore."

Felicia takes her now spluttering master by the arm and ushers her into their carriage and away from the farm before the woman can dig herself any deeper.

"..." Lauren tries opening her mouth, but no sounds seem to be able to make their way past her lips.

"That woman couldn't even recognize starweave when she saw it being made right in front of her. She's not worth either of our time." I cast magnify on my shirt to highlight the tri-axial weave. "Now, come on in. Amelia should be done with her breakfast by now."

I ignore Ed's laughter, the amused look on Melanie's face, and the shocked expression on Cat's. And, just guide the still stunned Lauren into the house, once inside we're met by howling laughter.

"Oh, that was amazing." Amelia wipes a tear from the corner of her eye. "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to tell that cow off."

"You saw?" Lauren starts to come back to herself.

"The whole thing." Apricot smirks. "I had a feeling that Sorrel wouldn't be too happy about having his... meal interrupted. So, I cast farsight to let us watch." That pause was definitely intentional.

"We knew it was going to end like this as soon as Wolfsfeld opened her mouth." Amelia explains, still trying to fight off the odd giggle. "Oh, but, Sorrel. Heheh. The way you treated her was amazing. I was afraid you'd just throw her out or something, but you destroyed her with a smile instead."

"It would have been fine if she just let her apprentice speak for her." I shake my head with a sigh. "Do you think Felicia picked up the hint I dropped about 'working with the right people'?"

"She'd have to be blind not to." Lauren joins the conversation again. "I don't know if she will, or even can, leave Wolfsfeld though. I hope she does, but either way, I'm going to make you keep your word about making me whatever I want. And, you can start with breakfast; I completely forgot to eat in my excitement to get them out here." The kitchen still smells like food and it set her stomach to grumbling.

***