CoR The Shake and Bake Bakery

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Knosis

Knosis

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The Shake and Bake Bakery, Lupaix
The Shake and Bake Bakery was a popular spot for those who wanted to have a snack, have a milkshake, find some decent edibles, or all three at once. The cozy shop was overrun with plants that the owner had lovingly tended for years, and the chill atmosphere was a place carefully maintained by her partner. Everything was good here, and people would often come after work or school as a hangout spot to relax, read a book, or forget about their woes for a while.

Re'Altarm was no exception to this, it was a lovely little shop tucked away in Bloodstone territory. She'd come here rather often, usually after the shop had just closed, to ask for anything they had left over. The owners were kind enough to hold things back for her, and she was sure on occasion they'd made something fresh just to make sure she had a warm meal.

She had come back into Lutetia with Skye, although they'd gone their separate ways upon entering the city. Re had every intention of trying to join the pack, but she also wanted to make sure she could stand on her two feet. Which led her to coming here and asking if she could have a job at the small Bakery.

Tia and Melena had been more than willing to give her a job, and Re took to working as hard as she could, cleaning tables and serving food as soon as she could.

With a sigh, Re flopped down in a chair during their slow period and nibbled on a muffin. She'd been here a week, and she had hoped to see someone from the pack.
 
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Margot had finally made it to Lupaix. The smells of the city couldn't drown the smell of fur, and of fang, and of blood. This was definitely an area packed with wolves. Her enchanted sandals clopped against the streets; the enchantment which afforded flexibility apparently did not change the sound of wood-on-stone. She took in the sights and the smells; never had she seen so many people in one place. One smell reigned supreme over the others though.

Fresh-baked bread.

She'd grown up mostly eating meat accompanied by foraged greens and berries; such was life in the small pack that was her family back in Iveria. She'd never had bread growing up. Not until she'd finally accepted that she was an outsider in her own pack and started roaming the countryside while they were out hunting, and run into humans. She'd never even had her food cooked before then, but when she was 7 a trading caravan invited what they believed to be a feral waif in to eat with them. She'd had stew and bread, surely a simple meal for the caravan, but one of Margot's favorite memories.

She turned toward the aroma, letting it lead her to its source. "Shake and Bake," read the sign over the door, dimly illuminated by trim lighting. She wasn't sure what shaking had to do with it, but the word "bake" she knew, and she could not help walking in. Her pack sometimes traded with humans for things they needed, but she had no notion of money, other than insofar as it was featured in whatever books she read. Like so many things in those books--dragons, elves, vicars, and the sort--not having experienced them led her to believe they were fantasy in some regard, or at least had not settled in as real.

The young girl pushed the door open and was startled as a bell rung over her head.
 
Re had just finished her muffin when the bell caught her attention. Hopping up, she brushed the crumbs off her apron and put on her best smile as she walked over to the new, fidgety patron.

"Hi! Welcome!" She said, her thick accent coming through. "Sorry about the bell, it can be a bit startling. Are you dining in or are you just wanting something from the counter?" She threw her thumb over her shoulder towards the glass counter filled with dozens of different pastries and breads. Some of them were labeled with what looked to be a leaf with serrated edges.

"If you're here for the counter, I'd suggest waiting about 10 more minutes. Ms. Melena has a fresh batch of chocolate croissants that should be coming out hot soon." She suggested.
 
"Oh hello!" She remained distrustful of the little bell on a spring over the door, but she allowed herself to take her eyes off of it for a moment and looked around the shop. A musky aroma undercut the smell of baked goods and... milk? Some sort of dairy. The musk seemed to be emanating from the plants that adorned the walls.

"I am sorry, I just arrived in Lutetia City. I was drawn to your..." Margot didn't even really know the word for "store" in Iverian, much less the Lutetian translation. "...home by the smell of food."

What is a croissant? What is chocolate? The wild witch didn't know, but she did know that whatever was cooking smelled delightful.

"I do not have much for barter. I do have shoes." She lifted up her foot, one of her crudely fashioned sandals dangling. "I do not know if that is enough but I am so hungry after my trip."

Her stomach rumbled loudly. Much in the same way that typical werewolves relied on enhanced metabolisms to fuel their transformations, so too did Margot's enchantments. She could eat a horse, if the ones she saw around the district didn't seem to be made of metal and smell of petroleum.
 
Re only gave pause for a moment, staring at the state of Margot's shoes before taking action. "Oh! Please, wait right here. I'll be right back, alright?" Without waiting for an answer, the short woman zoomed off around the counter. Not even 5 minutes later, she came back around the counter with a tray filled with various breads, pastries, and a glass of milk.

"Come come, sit! Please, come eat. No need to barter or pay. It's on me." She offered as she sat the tray down at one of the tables by the window. Re knew how it felt to be hungry with nothing to pay for food, and Tia and Melena had been kind enough to make sure she had food before. It was time to pass forward the favor.

"My name is Re'Altarm. What is yours?"
 
Margot watched the woman run off and sniffed around the shop, exploring through her sense of smell. As she was sniffing at the foliage, though, the smell of warm pastry once again got her attention. She did not know what "on me" meant, but identified it as an idiom and context seemed to suggest that this meal was free.

She eagerly moved to the table and sat. If she was in wolf form her tail would be wagging. She looked at the spread of breads and pastries. She'd never seen any before, so she grabbed the biggest first, which someone even remotely familiar with breads would identify as a baguette (and one much more familiar would identify as a demi baguette). Margot had seen it before, offered by the traveling humans she'd encountered in the wild, but did not know it's name.

She tore it in half and quickly mowed through one half when she realized the shopkeeper had introduced herself. She washed down the bread in her mouth with a gulp of the milk and apologized.

"I am sorry, that is rude. I am so hungry that I forget my manners. I am Margot of the Aedui clan. It is nice to meet you..." She trailed off, unsure how to replicate the sounds that Re'Altarm had identified as her name. She gave it her best shot, but it was not that close. Only the "Re" came out properly.

She knew it was wrong but continued, a little bit embarrassed. "I come from Iveria." She paused and elaborated. "I mean I just come here. I arrive now."

If she was more aware of customs, she might have thanked Re for the free meal, but she wasn't accustomed to paying for them anyway, so it did not strike her as odd.
 
"It is fine, don't worry. I've been where you stand and the hunger pangs are too much to think of much else." She said, sitting across from the girl. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Margot. If it is easiest, you may just call me Re."

If Re had been offended, she didn't show it. She simply seemed willing to sit and talk with the girl, and was happy for the company. She tilted her head slightly, thinking. "Iveria, huh? I know a few people from there. It is a terribly cold place. Too cold for me. I think here is barely warm enough sometimes."

"What brings you here? Just to visit and see the city?"
 
Margot shook her head no until she could swallow the bread in her mouth.

"No, I am here to live. I am not welcome back." She reached up and touched the fresh scar on her face. "I am marked as an outcast. But this is just..." she paused, trying to find the right word. "formality? Yes, I am always an outcast to them, but when I leave they make it official."

She took a drink of milk and as soon as she set it back down, Margot's expression had brightened considerably. "Hey! Do you want to see something I can do?"
 
Re felt as though she was looking into a mirror for a moment. She rarely noticed people's scars, they were all too common where she came from. She had several of her own, in fact. She gently caressed one on her arm absently as she listened.

"I see." She said, as Margot took a swallow of the milk. She began to wonder if she should go grab more.

The sudden change in Margot's demeanor was surprising, but infectious. Re couldn't help but smile as her melancholic memories faded away against Margot's enthusiasm.

"Hm, a trick or talent you possess? As long as it won't harm the shop, I would love to see." She said.
 
"Yes! I teach myself! Watch, watch!"

Margot was almost giddy at this point. This was the first person in Lutetia to treat her in a friendly way and she was excited to reciprocate.

She chose an item at random on the tray--it happened to be a croissant--and her green eyes flashed red for a moment, with a similar flash on the pastry. After half a moment, the croissant lifted off the table and floated to her hands.

"I can magick!" She said, with a very proud grin on her face. "I even make shoes! Wood doesn't make good shoes so I change it. Bottoms are hard but flexible like leather. Twigs are soft and strong like sinew." She held up one foot to show her crude craftsmanship.
 
Whatever Re had been expecting, it hadn't been that. "Uh.." She blinked several times as if her brain needed time to process what she just saw. She knew magic existed, but she had not witnessed it herself in her short life.

She stood, her honeyed hues wide in amazement. "That.. That is incredible!" She exclaimed. Her grin was so wide across her face in excitement. "How?? Show again, please?" She spoke for a moment in her excitement in a foreign language. "These? These made from wood?? Not like wood at all now, simply amazing!"

Re practically buzzed in excitement and praise for her companion. "And you learned by yourself? No teacher?"
 
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"I read! Jacques teach me. But he doesn't know magic, he just give me book on magic." She looked sad for a moment. "I forget it at home." She paused, clearly troubled by that, then a flash of joy crossed her face again. "I learn more than just that though!"

She tore the croissant into two parts and held one half on an outstretched palm. "Put your paws out, like me." Without waiting, she went about concentrating. Her eyes flashed again, much more brightly as before, and the glow lingered a bit as well. Whatever she'd done this time... Well clearly it looked different.

Both halves levitated off of her palms and floated into place in front of Re. When she put her hands out like Margot requested, she'd drop them into the girls' hands; the one on Re's left would feel like lead, the other would feel like a feather.
 
Having expected something to happen with the two pieces, she had at least braced. However, she did not expect one to feel as though it had been made of stone. She nearly dropped it and had to catch it twice to avoid dropping it on either of their toes.

The other half was light as a feather and she tossed it in the air like a piece of foam. All this time, a look of amazement on her face.

"That is amazing!" She said quietly in awe. "Maybe we can contact this Jacques to see if he can send your book? If not, maybe I can find one of my Iverian friends who could make some contacts?" She asked. "I wish to help as I can." She said, handing the pieces of croissants back to Margot.

She then tilted her head slightly, a thought coming to her. "Wait. Do you have a place to stay for the night?"
 
Margot clapped at Re's response to the weight. "I can change things," she said as she took back the roll. A flash and it was obvious that they went back to their normal weights by the way that Margot's arms reacted to the change. "I do not know where Jacques is. I do not see him in a long time. He doesn't live with the pack, he is just a travelling human trader." She took a bite of the once-heavy croissant, scarfing the whole half down in a moment, then followed it with another swig of milk.

"I do not. I sleep outside my whole life. It looks cozy to sleep inside but I do not have an inside to sleep in, so I thought I will just find some trees to sleep under." She ate the other half of the roll and washed it down with the rest of the milk, then tilted her head, thinking. "Why do you ask me that?"
 
Re tapped her chin and looked towards the back of the bakery in thought for a moment. It had dawned on her that if Margot had mentioned she didn't have money to pay for food, and she only just got to Lutetia, it more than likely she didn't have a safe place to stay. She didn't feel right to leave Margot without some place to stay.

She scooted closer, and lowered her voice. She didn't think Tia and Melena would care so much about werewolves. On the contrary, they were a good portion of their clientele. But for some reason, Re felt it was somewhat.. Secretive. Like a secret club or something.

"Please do not misunderstand me, but are you a werewolf too..?" She asked quietly. "Its okay if you are, but the city is a bit... volatile right now... I don't think sleeping outside is safe for someone-- ANYONE who is new to this area. I'm currently staying here, in the shop in one of the back rooms for a bit until I can find some apartment I can afford with some room mates..." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"M-maybe you could stay with me?" She seemed nervous and her cheeks darkened slightly. "Just until you can get your feet under you? I can take you to meet Jesse! He would know what to do."
 
"Oh I love that! I will stay with you if you will have me!" She didn't know how she would pay her back for her kindness, but she resolved to come up with something.

"And I do not have money to pay you back yet but I will find a way to get some. I have skills! I am strong. I hunt." She tapped her nose. "Good sense of smell. Because," and she lowered her voice to a whisper, "yes, I am a wolf." She gave an excited giggle and forgot to keep her voice down after that. "Iverian wolf! Aedui clan, strong wolves!"

She looked pensive for a moment. "And who is this Jesse? Another wolf? Can he help?"
 
Re flinched slightly as Margot got loud again, and she looked around swiftly to make sure they were still alone in the shop. Tia and Melena were in the back, but they wouldn't care. "Shhhh! Not so loud, okay?" But she couldn't help but grin at her new friend's giddiness. "Do not worry to pay me back, we got to help each other in these trying times, yes?"

She nodded. "Yes, another wolf. Jesse saved me when I turned for the first time. He promised me he'd be by my side when I turned for the first time, and he kept his promise. He has a good heart. I trust him with my life. But he doesn't know I'm back from Iveria. I wanted to save money enough to take him to a movie..." She blinked and blushed.

"B-but yes, he can help! He knows a lot of things. He may be able to help find a way to use your skills too. We can go and see him when I am off next." She pulled out a small schedule book from her apron. "Uh.. Won't be for a couple of days though. I work the shop a lot. Is that okay?"
 
Margot lowered to a whisper. "Oh I am sorry. I do not know wolves are secrets here. I think they are accepted. That is what the books say. Lutetia City, where wolves and humans live together." She held her hands up in a grand display when she said that last line.

"I start to think that maybe things are not all like the books say," she said, a slight melancholy tinging her voice and face. "I am stupid. I am exiled from clan for leaving, but it feels like I leave for no reason. But if Jesse can help then I will meet Jesse. And I will stay with you like you say. I can explore Lutetia while you work. Maybe if you need help here I can help you too."

She looked hopefully at the other girl. "Friends help friends, true? So you help me, you are my friend. And I help you to be your friend."

Margot knew very well that her Lutetian vocabulary was limited. She would need to work on that. In Iverian she knew how to make a verb describe something in the past or the future; she didn't know how to do the same in Lutetian, and she felt it now more than ever, and was embarrassed about it. Some time at a library should help. "Until we meet Jesse, do you know a library? I must learn more about Lutetia (and her speech)."
 
Gently, Re patted her friend on the shoulder. "Well.. Yes, werewolves are accepted here. But.. It is.." Re struggled to find words to help her new friend understand the meaning. "It is like we do not belong, and we are treated like a spider here. Usually people keep their distance from a spider if it in sight, but some people wish to kill it or some torment the spider for fun. We are the spider."

She had always been the spider, she thought. "We are friends then." She said with a smile. "And for starters..." She gently prodded at Margot's head. "You are not stupid. I know we just met, but you are very smart, especially if you learned how to do magic all by yourself and a book. Not everyone can, it is very rare I think."

The bell rings and a customer Re recognizes comes in from the outside. She jumps at the sound. "Uh, sorry. Be right there!" She calls before returning to Margot. "Yes, there is a library. I can take you to it after my shift so you can find it tomorrow. It will be closed tonight, but should be open tomorrow. Okay?"
 
Margot clapped her hands. "Yay! I look forward to it!" She watched her new friend start to serve the new customer, observing the interaction with a critical eye.

As she did, she dig into the breads in front of her. Using magic drained her a good deal and she had traveled a great distance with enchanted speed.
 
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