Feathers tickled at Theo’s nose, bringing him back to the world of the waking. He awoke with his arms wrapped around Tirr in the vest pile. The “bed” had become… surprisingly comfortable over time.

Enough so that he didn’t mind sleeping on it as much as he had before, at least.

Tirr nudged his head against Theo’s chin.

“Ow, Tirr, your horns!” Theo recoiled from a sharp poke he received when Tirr pulled his head back.

“Nice day!” the zilant chirped, flapping out of Theo’s arms into the air. His body shifted from sleepy lavender to a voracious green.

“Yes, yes, I’m getting up,” Theo said, pushing himself out of bed. His arms and legs cracked as he stood up, stretching. “I’ll make you breakfast in just a second.”

Pops, cracks, and sizzles followed as Theo prepared breakfast for him and the gluttonous dragon. He was lucky he’d made some good sales the last few days, or Tirr might be harder to feed. Word was spreading about his shop and its prices, and adventurers weren’t ones to miss out on a good deal.

After his bottomless pit of a dragon was fed, Theo hummed and danced around his home as he readied himself for the day - and took care of Adam.

Soon, Theo found himself in his shop, sign flipped, and awaiting customers. He began to inscribe a second copy of the Adam Flipper for Galeen.

The name would probably change. He didn’t suppose Galeen would want to call out “Adam Flipper” every time they used the wand.

A head nudged against Theo’s arm just before he made contact with the blank wand. “Tirr! I’m enchanting! It’s really hard to erase inscriptions once I make them.”

“Really hard!” Tirr said, in his voice. The zilant coiled around Theo’s body, nuzzling against his neck.

“That tickles- ow, horns again!” Theo yelped, the point of the spiral horns protruding toward the back of Tirr’s head poking his neck again.

“Again!” Tirr said, chirping happily. He rubbed against Theo more, crooning.

“Ahem,” a voice said, clearing their throat.

Theo looked up, coloring. “Sorry! Welcome to R- Maraz. G-Good morning.”

Tirr shifted a bright shade of red and growled.

“It’s okay, Tirr,” Theo said, patting the lizard until he turned a pale yellow.

“I’m unclear on where you found a feathered zilant, but I suspect I’ll learn soon,” Maraz said, his eyes drifting loftily across Theo’s shop.

That was… as close to good news as Maraz was willing to supply, clearly. Theo’s eyes brightened. “You- The Terrents are free?”

Maraz rubbed his eyes, sighing. “It has been a legal nightmare, but yes. We were able to find… inconsistencies in working conditions compared to law-required standards, eventually. They’ll be at the Guild’s building soon.”

Theo strode over to Maraz, nearly bouncing out of his shoes with the spring in his step. “That’s amazing! I’ll just close the shop and- Oh dear.”

If stares could kill, Maraz’s would have in that moment. “‘Oh dear’ what?”

“I um- I have a very important delivery coming today,” Theo said, staring at the floor.

Maraz leaned in, looming over Theo. There was a smile on his face, but it didn’t look happy. “Tell me now, Theo. What is this delivery that’s so important?”

Theo felt sweat drenching the small of his back. He swallowed. “Well um, I managed to secure a deal you see. A chosen blacksmith named Neniramli-”

Holding up a hand, Maraz pinched the bridge of his nose and stared up at the roof slats. He muttered to himself, “Of-fucking-course he met Neniramli. My life can never be easy, can it?”

“You um- you know Neniramli?” Theo asked, eyeing Maraz’s rings as they shone in the light. He wondered what kinds of enchantments some of them contained. The inscriptions had to be tiny. Tier 5-made at least.

Maraz glared back down at him. “Yes, I know that headache of a cephalopod. He’s nearly as much of a headache as you, but he’s… too- nevermind.”

Someone who could stand up against Maraz and come out on top? He’d been wracking his brain on how to get Maraz off his back for good and now? Now he had some ideas.

Tirr, seemingly sensing his elation, made happy trilling noises.

The brutish man noticed Theo’s excitement - and probably the dead giveaway from the zilant. “I can still squish you, don’t get any ideas.”

“Me?” Theo asked, placing a hand on his chest. “Ideas? I’d never in my wildest-”

“Stow it,” Maraz said, holding up a hand again. “How long until this delivery arrives?”

“Well, Neniramli said it would be here by midday,” Theo said, glancing up through his roof slats.

“I… suppose the Guild might take some time with the Terrents,” Maraz said, sneering at the sun as if to make it move through the sky faster.

“Oh, right,” Theo said, remembering his earlier promise. “I still need to figure out their whole housing situation. I suppose I could clear out space in the workshop maybe…” He glanced over toward the direction of that room.

Maraz scoffed. “As if we would allow you to house them. They’re far too valuable to the Guild for their knowledge about the Relicor family. This forest situation is the first instance we’ve had in decades where we can pin something on them.”

“Is this Relicor family… that bad?” Theo asked, watching people pass by his shop through the window

“They are…” Maraz paused, searching for the word. “Prevalent. They push their influence on the Merchant’s Guild quite often.

“For what?” Theo asked, wincing when Maraz stared flatly at him.

“Money, of course,” Maraz said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. “They sell their products for more and pay less in taxes. Typical rich family things.”

Theo raised a brow. “...Aren’t you rich?”

Maraz extended his fingers, glancing at the rings dotting them. “...I suppose. But not Relicor-rich. They could own a tenth of Romuen for all we know. Maybe more. Too many damnable subsidiaries to keep track of.”

Theo nodded, pretending he knew what the difference in wealth even was. “Right. Those darn subsidiaries. Well, I should really get to my work. You’re um, welcome to stay. I could make you tea or something? Or you can come back in a few hours.” He really hoped for the latter.

“I, unfortunately, cleared my schedule for the day specifically for you,” Maraz said, closing his eyes as he rested against the wall. “I’ll stay so we can go as soon as the delivery arrives.”

“That um, works,” Theo said, a small part of him dying inside. He’d been so sure that giving Maraz the out to leave for a bit would work. “So, tea? Or um, I could make you something to eat?”

Maraz cracked an eye open. “What kind of tea? Never mind. Make me whatever.” He waved a hand.

“I believe I know which kind you’d like,” Theo said, smiling. He rushed off through the door.

Not wanting to waste time with Maraz in his shop room, Theo pointed at his kettle. “Heat.”

Steam began to drift out of the spout immediately. Clambering through his cabinets, Theo had to pull over a chair to reach the back.

Various bags of tea types nearly fell to the floor as he pulled out the one he had in mind. “Gransdia, perfect.”

Preparing the tea, Theo steeped it, using a single cast of Distill to hasten the process. He poured and tasted his own cup of the mixture with a spoon, blowing on it to cool it just enough. The sweet, yet earthy flavors of the mildly magical leaves caused the corners of his lips to rise.

There was a reason Gransdia was also called “Grand Day.” Maybe this would make Maraz less of a grump.

Theo stepped back out into his shop with the cups and the kettle on a tray. His nice set of cups. And the fancy tray. “I’m back!”

Maraz eyed the cup suspiciously, and sniffed it. “You took maybe a minute to make this tea. Do you just… leave a kettle brewing all day?”

“I am an alchemist, Maraz,” Theo said, sipping from his cup. It was burning hot. His tongue might have burnt a bit on it, but he wouldn’t let Maraz know that. “I have my own spells. Like so. Cool.” The steam drifting up from the tea ceased. His next sip was… below lukewarm, but not exactly cold either. Just the right temperature to be highly unpleasant to drink.

Heat moved to Theo’s cheeks now, but he took another sip, pretending he hadn’t just overdone the spell with his lacking control. At least the magical effects of the tea helped abate the embarrassment.

Maraz chuckled.

Drat. He hadn’t hid what he’d done well enough.

“What kind of tea is this?” Maraz asked, drinking his own cup. He didn’t even flinch at the heat of the drink.

“It’s-” Theo’s eyes flashed closed as his own tea splashed him. When he opened his eyes, Tirr’s head was fully in the cup, gulping the tea that remained. “...Gransdia. Otherwise known as ‘Grand Day.’”

Maraz’s lips came up into a genuine, smug smile. “I’m certainly having one now.”

Theo sighed, feeling the tea soak through his vest down to the shirt underneath. He set down his cup. Tirr made an annoyed whine. “I… will go change.”

Grumbling, Theo pulled Tirr off his neck and held him out so he could look him in the eyes. “Tirr, please don’t do things like that. It wasn’t very kind of you to take my drink like that, okay?”

“Okay,” Tirr said in his voice, but sadder, and shifted to a deep blue shade. Beady, glistening eyes stared up at him.

Guilt bit at Theo. He wasn’t strong enough for that. “Just um, I can make you your own cup of tea next time. Try to not splash it on me?”

The zilant turned yellow once more, chirping. “Nice day!”

“Gods, that was saccharine,” Maraz said, taking another sip from his own cup. “I can feel my teeth rotting.”

Theo frowned at him. “I’ll be right back. Watch Tirr for me?” He set the zilant on his counter and walked through the door to go change.

When Theo returned, Tirr sat coiled on top of Maraz’s head and down his shoulders. “Aw, and here I thought Tirr didn’t like you.”

“He doesn’t,” Maraz said, glaring up toward his head. “The little thing knows I don’t like him.”

Tirr flapped his wings. “Don’t like!” he said in Maraz’s voice.

“Tirr, you can rest on my shoulders, okay?” Theo said, holding an arm out to the dragon. Tirr flapped twice, unwinding from his perch on Maraz and coiling around Theo.

Theo couldn’t help but laugh as the feathers tickled him.

“Well, Maraz, I have to get to work now,” Theo said, walking behind his counter and picking up his inscribing stylus. “You can um, browse? I’m afraid I don’t have much for entertainment out here. Just don’t steal any more of my designs like you did with that ring.”

Maraz shrugged. “No promises if I see something I like.”

Theo frowned, but hoped the man was joking, despite past actions. They were… cordial at this point, even if temporary, and he wanted to think the man would respect that.

The morning came and went with surprising speed. Theo nearly finished his wand while answering questions Maraz came up with as he inspected the various enchanted items in his shop.

His answers were vague enough, but Maraz seemed to have at least a basic understanding of enchanting. Though, it was clear his expertise was in body enhancement enchantments.

Theo found himself wondering if Maraz’s body enchantments were similar to Adam’s, or if the man had fancier, rarer runes. Probably the latter, if he had to guess. That Explosive Strength he had used back when he caused the Snap had been powerful.

Customers came and went as the day went by. Some turned and left the moment they saw Maraz, but others shopped, if nervously. If anything, one man may have made a bigger purchase out of fear.

Theo wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but seeing money go into his safe helped. Even if Maraz scoffed at the amount. However, he soon turned to Theo.

“Your delivery appears to be here,” Maraz said, setting down one of Theo’s window displays. “Finally.”

“Oh, good!” Theo said, rushing to the door. He opened it, smiling at the group of delivery people. “Thank you so much for the delivery! Wait, where are you going?”

“Neniramli specifically said to drop it off outside,” a chosen man, some kind of shrimp-type it seemed, said. “Something about a final test? Can you sign here?” He presented a small ledger for Theo along with a quill.

“Oh um, sure,” Theo said, scribbling out his signature with a flourish. “That’s… mildly inconvenient. Is the delivery really this small?” He peeked past the man at the diminutive crates behind him.

“Ah, right,” the shrimp man said, turning to his crew. “Kystrel, Weerna, size em up!”

“Got it,” they both said, holding out their hands. “Normalize.”

The air around the boxes warped for a moment, and Theo realized why the crates had been set relatively far apart on the ground.

Each crate, five in total, expanded by about three times its original size, scuffing on the ground as they did so. Theo stared on in horror. How was he going to move those? Would the crates even fit through the door?

He glanced back at Maraz, smiling with amusement, and the door. Probably. But it’d be a tight fit.

Theo, however, had an idea. He turned back to the shrimp man. “Thank you. Do I need to do anything further?”

“All set,” the man said, nodding to him. “We’re off now. Let’s go.” He waved a hand behind him as he walked off, hopping onto a wagon with his crew. It was full of similarly small boxes, and, to Theo’s surprise, no horses at the front.

Mana flowed into his eyes, and the wagon in front of him lit up. Enchantments covered every surface of the cart. It began to roll, and soon sped out of view as it traveled down the street at shocking speeds for the weight of cargo it clearly carried.

Turning back to Maraz, Theo emphasized a sigh. “Goodness, these boxes sure will take me a while to put away all on my own…” He tried to lift one, over-exaggerating his struggle.

The boxes were heavy, though. He could barely even shift them on the ground, let alone lift one. He looked at Maraz again. “This sure would go faster if I had some kind of… oh, body enhancer type to lift these heavy boxes so we could get to his job faster.”

Maraz pinned Theo with a glare, but sighed and walked down the stairs. “Neniramli is a headache for me even when he doesn’t intend to be…”

Theo scratched Tirr’s head as he watched Maraz squat down and grab the box. Runes lit up across Maraz’s hands and neck as he whispered a spell. He stood up with only a little effort.

“Guide me to the stairs,” Maraz said, nodding his head toward them. “If I miss a step, it’s your product and your stairs breaking, not me. Maybe you breaking too.”

“...Let’s move things without the threats, shall we?” Theo asked, moving around Maraz.

The man held the crate above Theo’s head and slowly lowered it. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you over the bones splintering.”

“Um, nothing,” Theo said, ducking out from under the box and stepping up the stairs. “Let’s um- up the stairs, right?”

It took some bickering, and several more empty threats from Maraz, but soon, all five crates sat in Theo’s workshop.

Maraz had wanted to place them in his store room, but the gransdia must have been working because he only threatened two more times before placing them in the workshop instead.

Theo patted the final crate once it was down - it felt like the right thing to do.

Tirr’s forked tongue poked out at them curiously. The zilant slithered off of Theo’s shoulders to inspect the boxes closer.

Maraz wiped sweat from his forehead, huffing slightly. “Now, we’re going.” He grabbed onto Theo’s arm, tugging him along.

“Wait I just- I need to pack a bag,” Theo said, slipping out of the man’s grip. It was… gross that it was so easy to do because of the sweat.

Maraz growled, but followed Theo around as he picked up various products and slipped them into his bag. A mix of potions, wands, and other combat-oriented items went in one by one.

“...Are you planning to fight an army, Theo?” Maraz asked, raising a brow.

“Well, a garden snake attacked me last time I went to that forest, so I’d like to be prepared,” Theo said, grabbing yet another wand. It went into the bag with a clatter of wood on wood.

Maraz shrugged, grabbing Theo’s arm again. “You’re good now. That’s more than enough. We’re going.”

Theo closed his bag, calling for Tirr as Maraz dragged him across the shop floor. “Come on, Tirr! We’re going. Oh, shoot, my roof slats!”

Maraz flicked a ring, and the lever shifted, closing the slats. “I said we’re going. No more interruptions. We’ll see the Terrents, and then the forest.”

Regaining his footing, Theo let Tirr slither into his bag, and fell into step next to the man. “You can um, let go. I can walk.”

“We’ve wasted enough time, I have a better solution,” Maraz said, turning to Theo. The look he gave was far too familiar. “Give me your bag, Theo.”

“But I-”

Maraz grabbed the strap from Theo’s shoulder and pulled it off over his head. “It wasn’t a request.” He slipped the bag over himself. It was… a tight fit over his considerably larger body.

Next thing Theo knew, he was in the air, tucked under the man’s arm.

The world blurred as runes lit up on Maraz’s skin.

A small part of Theo wondered why this happened to him so much. But, he’d see the Terrent family soon. Safe and sound.

And that was all that mattered.