Disappointment and relief flooded my body after the drink. With a sigh, I place the cup into the sink to be washed. I turn to Cirice who just asked about the drink. "It has the taste I need, but it's not actual alcohol. So I don't know how many will drink it." I tapped my finger on my chin, thinking, thinking, until a spark of an idea came up. I mumble, "That could work."

I hop to the drinks, handing them off to the robots that were willing to assist. Before I turn to the counter and find some pouches, ones that I quickly add some lavender powder into. Getting a large jug and spoon, I pour the powder into it and stir. The color quickly turns a light purple.

Cirice gets back to her prep of the side dishes before bringing Keyke a taste of some stewed apples to try and notices the purple drink. 

“Try this! What are you making there? That’s a pretty color, it almost looks like me!” Cirice giggles. “I’m sure people are willing to try anything if its free.”

   "Thanks! Here, lets try each other's treats!" I quickly go and get a cup for each of us, pouring my new concoction for us to try. I had Cirice one glass, and take one myself. I quickly snag a bite of her apples, which were divine. I give a little taste to the drink, an actually pleasant and fitting taste to go with crabs. I smile, "We will be having Lavender Cult-Aid!" I raise my class in the air, or to where normal people could probably hold the cup at rest.

Cirice takes a glass and toasts it against Keyke’s glass and takes a sip, “Oh this is really good!” She smiles, “I’d love your recipe, I don’t suppose you have a cookbook I could add to my collection, do you?”


She tastes the apples as well, and gets back to work. With all the preparations done, all they need now is the actual crabs.

   At the mention of a cookbook, my head perks up. "I may not have a cookbook, but I do have a recipe book for my many drinks. I warn you, most are teas~." I give a little playful finger wave, but it's evident I'm playing around because of my smile.

   I pause to think, "I don't have it on me at the moment. But if you ever come to Dragon's Cradle, you can find me either in Thorack or in the sky garden! Just ask around for Keyke!" I smile and wonder, when is Veliky coming back with those crabs?

As if on cue, a familiar voice rings in, its mellowness washing through like a wave of icy water on the shore. But it doesn't come through to Keyke; only Cirice can hear it, and not with her ears. It's preceded by a familiar crackle^[1].

"Cirice, this is Veliky. You there?" There's a strange seriousness in her tone.

"Hey Vel! There you are! We're just about done prepping here, how was crab wrangling?" Cirice asks with a giggle.

"..." The pause allows Cirice's chipper attitude to fade into awkwardness. "We'll talk about it. You and Keyke should probably come outside. Front door."

And with that simple recommendation (though it came across as more of a command), there's another crackle to indicate that the exchange is over.

---

1. (Red Rogue's Hood) Clandestine Rogue's Earpiece

“Oh good!” Cirice chirps excitedly, “Veliky is outside with crabs I think!”

She washes her hands and pauses, giving her new friend a contemplative look, “She said for us to meet her outside. Um… I just realized I don’t actually know your name dear… Is it… Um… ‘Kinky?’”

   The news of the crabs being brought in, I quickly start gathering the items to bring along. All until the question of my name came up. I could only stop and slowly process while my eyes are wide open, staring in complete confusion. While still in slight shock, I slowly reply, "It's Keyke...I thought I said that before." I stop and contemplate our conversations till this point, slowly realizing I haven't introduced myself to Cirice. "I guess...not."

“OOOOOOH KEYKE!” Cirice says with obvious relief. “That’s a much better name! See I wasn’t sure since this is my second language… It seemed like I misheard but I still thought it best to ask. Thanks for that. Human names can be so strange I don't really know what to expect.”

Giving Keyke an apologetic smile she links arms with her and the pair of them head outside to see what Veliky has brought them.

   Second language, humans...that is the wording I focus on. I mentally file it away as I quickly fall out of shock when Cirice links her arm on mine. I accept the arm and follow with a skip, trying to keep up with her rather than to be dragged due to the height difference. I give a playful shout of, "Onward!"

   It was very entertaining, though, when we get outside and see the surprise waiting for us.

The weather outside is as foul as it was before: muggy air and damp cobblestone, with infrequent but heavy drops of rain from a blue-grey sky. And, of course, a crustaceous smell hangs thick as smog, salty and sweet at once. It's as if the very atmosphere of the slummish piers crawled its way into the district; one can almost hear the phlegmy voice of a wisened sailor, warning to stay indoors. It's a day that nobody in their right mind would want to spend outside. But, at the moment, there's little option.

The street just out front of the cafe is best described with one word: bemused. To Veliky's credit, there is a handful of people gathered -- hopefully more will come, in time -- but they generally seem confused, looking and shuffling about without much direction. Maybe they're made uncomfortable by the presence of those tin constructs with the gleaming-crimson eyes, whose metal hulls occasionally ting as a raindrop strikes their pauldrons. She's difficult to spy at first, but Veliky is also here, arms crossed over her casual dress and wearing a bitterly tired (or maybe tiredly bitter) expression. She's quick to notice Keyke and Cirice out of the corner of her rime-covered eye, and minces toward them with purpose.

"You're here. Good." As blatant a greeting as ever, and carrying that same semi-urgency that her voice held over the line. "We've got good news and bad news. The bad news is, despite our coordinated efforts, we only managed to catch a single crab." But then she turns her head over to the street-corner, just beside the cafe. "The good news is... THAT'S the crab."

It would be easy to assume that the crustaceous smell in the air came from an assortment of crabs infesting the area. But turning one's head to follow Veliky's gaze, one could be fooled into thinking that this gargantuan crab is the sole source of the stench. Unmoving, it's been hung from a pair of makeshift posts, its legs splayed out at least five feet in either direction! Its barnacle-splotched chitin is a stonish grey, and its proportions aren't unlike a spider crab -- unnerving, especially with the thought that this creature must've been alive and scuttling at some point, but it does mean that there is a metric ton (almost literally) of leg to crack open. How they're going to boil it is another issue...

“Oh my goddess… Veliky… That’s incredible!” Cirice blinks with shock. “How on Charon did you even get this here? Is it dead? Looks dead… We’re gonna need more pots!”

The kitchen didn’t have enough pots to fit half this gargantuan crab’s meat, what would they do with the excess? The crowd had already gathered… An idea springs to mind.

“What if everyone goes and brings pots from their home and they can take some meat and cook it for themselves at home?! We can cook some of it in the meantime and just portion the rest out for the people!”

Its a relatively solid plan, one that ensures nothing goes to waste, but she isn’t sure what her companions will think of it.

“I can start cracking it open if you wanna organize the crowd, Keyke.”

She summons Crestfallen into her hand and unfurls it into its bladed whip form. That’ll crack a crab nicely.

   At the offer given by Myst, and being slightly worried at the sight of the bladed whip, I walk to the growing crowd. As I walk to them, I could tell some of them were very worried, seeing the person I was just with. I cupped my hands and started to yell at the crowd, "Everyone, please line up! We are cooking it now." Now few will listen to a child, many more will listen to a grown elf. "You heard her! Move it or lose it."

   I turn to the very recognizable voice and smile, "Nit!" I give a clap as her walked closer to me, watching the new group I had found with interest. "So, are you finished with those meetings you needed to do?" He leans over and rubs my head, allowing me to lean into it for a moment before stopping and giving me an expectant look. I sigh and glace to the crowd. "Sadly, they all wanted to know about the crabs, and mainly when this would be over with." The crowd was slowly following instructions, and that was reasonable, as it would take a while to cook the crab.

    Speaking of which... "Hey Nit?" I look back up at him, trying my best to not grin like a mad woman. He doesn't look down, instead he focuses on the crowd. He does release a little hum in order to let me know I'm being listened to. I point to where the girls were, "They might need your help with making enough fire to cook the crab. Just follow what Cirice, the moon elf, and Veliky, the halfling, tells you to help with!" He looks over and gives a small nod to me. I release a small applause as I walk back to the crowd to direct people with any troubles they maybe having. He walks to the girls to help cooking with the crab.

---

Bringing NPC:

Nitin Ashwood(Earth Domain Apprentice)

Cirice's wonderment was to be expected; Veliky was nearly as shocked when she first saw this monumental crustacean (and she saw it when it was alive). She stands beside the elf, reaching no higher than their knee, and looking on at the crab with a level of disillusionment; after all, as fantastical as it may be, Veliky's far more concerned about issues of practicality. She doesn't give much thought as Keyke walks off, without a word.

And it's now that Veliky's faced with the unexpected, unsettling and ever-so-slightly suggestive sight of Cirice wielding a bladed whip. Or maybe calling it a 'whipped blade' would be more accurate? It's a surprisingly decent piece of artifice, all considered, and Veliky can't help but wonder where she got it from...

But there are more pressing things to consider, like this idea that Cirice just suggested and at which Veliky can't help but give a cynical sigh that diffuses into the salty air.

"Cirice... you realize that most of these people don't *have* homes, right? And that the pots that they do have probably aren't for cooking in?"

"...Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right." Cirice admits, pursing her lips, "Well um... I suppose we could buy some? I've got some solars, I can go buy from a store for the people!"

The Crescent Islander never fails to perplex Veliky, now offering to pay for something when she's standing in front of one of Charon's richest businesspeople. Is it a cultural thing? Whatever the case, it's unnecessary here.

"No need." Her voice doesn't hold much appreciation; in fairness, it's difficult to appreciate someone else's funds when money at this scale is barely a concept to you. "Give me a moment and I'll get it settled; we can hold the boil here. You can go ahead and start cracking open its shell, thoug-... Who're you?"

She suddenly asks this question as she turns a bit to the right. Arms crossed and eyes narrowed, her mode has switched to 'suspicious' like a bot's might switch to 'attack.' What's caught her attention is a sylvan elf, suddenly approaching them with intent. He seems calm, walking without any aggression, but Veliky's learned better than to take that at face value.

But, alleviating much (though not all) of Veliky's skepticism, he stops and introduces himself. "The name is Nitin, an old friend of Keyke's. She saw me in the crowd and asked me to help with the cooking."

A glance past him shows that he approached from where Keyke now stands, lending a precious bit of credence. At first, Veliky wonders just *how* he's supposed to help with the cooking; but then she catches that distinct, yet indescribable scent of mana on him. 'A mage.' she'd bet.

She gives him little more than a nod to show her approval, which is all she's willing to give for now. "Alright. Stand by, we'll get the equipment ready."

With that curt command, she raises her right hand, balled into a fist in front of her mouth, and speaks a strange little phrase: "Summon Meal." It's a phrase that doesn't seem to have any meaning at first; but then, on the back of her hand, arcane-blue sigils forms and twist around one-another like grinding cogs. They form a circular rune of mathematical precision, surrounding a small pictograph of... a sandwich.

Suddenly, she turns away, but keeps her fist raised in front of her and continues speaking into it as if it could hear her.

"Yeah. Get me twenty pitchers of water, no food necessary. But also, are we able to throw in some empty pots?" There's a moment where the sigil emits some faint sound, though not loud enough for anyone but her to hear. "Good. Get at least ten, and make them as large as you can find." There's a long pause, filled with that same tiny sound; and then, "That's right. No, nothing else. I-" Her face turns sour. "No, I don't have a rewards card, I'm the CEO. Confirm and end call."

Still clenching her fist, she extends that same arm forward. She closes one eye as the other begins to glow with that same arcane hue that only enhances the rime-like blue of her iris. But, other than that, her stance and bearing is much more casual than one might expect; it's like this is all just another day in the business. She points that fist at different innocuous locations, making faint hums of hope and disappointment, like she's Goldilocks doing a soup taste-test. Eventually, she settles on one of the empty tables that she can see through the cafe's still-open door.

"That'll do." She unclenches her fist, which causes something of a chain-reaction: first, that glow disappears from her eye; then, the sigils disappears from her hand; and last, and most impressively, arcane polygons manifest and begin to move across the table in precise motions! Rectangles likes panes of mana-glass gradually sweep across the table's surface. And in their wake, appearing from thin air on the table's surface, are precisely the things that Veliky ordered^[1]: twenty pitchers of water, and a collection of pots and pans. Once the table is completely covered with them, all organized in neat sections, the polygons disappear.

Veliky finally lowers her hand, letting out a sigh. "There we go. We have our dishes." And then, she turns her attention to Cirice. "How're things on your end, Cirice?"

---

1. (The Grand Feast) Summon Meal

Perched atop the crab with her whip wrapped around one of its massive claws as she pulls it tight and jerks it, cracking the shell open to get to the meat inside. Usually this would be done after the crab was boiled, but there wasn’t a pot in Charon that could hold this monstrosity. The smell was pungent and a terrible thought occurs to her; her clothes are going to smell like this for ages… Too little, too late on that revelation.

She conjures a wall of light floating beside her like a plate and begins hefting the meat out onto it carefully¹. She goes to the other claw and repeats the process until the wall is heavily laden with soft crabmeat and she lowers it to the ground and hops down herself.

“We’ll need to cook all of this before we harvest the rest. Oh good you got pots!” She smiles, “I don’t suppose you have magic for cleaning clothes you could teach me? Oh hello new friend!”

She waves to Nitin. “I’m Cirice, are you here to help with the boil? If so grab a pot and let's start cooking!”

---

1 Wall of Light