“We have dragon jerky, for dragons, not made out of them, basically just beef and firebloom components, a bit of sage. We also have sardine treats, nut and raisin mixes, mini fruit bowls, dried or fresh, seed and crumb mixes, and various roots and leaves to chew on.” She chuckled at the tiny dragon’s attitude.
"Thank you, can he have the dragon jerky? He sounds real adamant about that one." He says, Con now tugging on one of Hunter's pointed ears playfully. "Darn it Con, stop pulling my ear." He complained to the small dragon.
Aethelind laughed, pulling out a jar of jerky and a small bowl, which she filled with the dried meat. Then she quickly prepared the customer’s tea, making the shape of a good luck charm with the honey before stirring it in. “That would be [insert price]. We’ve got couches over there where you and your familiar can be comfy.”
"Okay, Con can you grab my wallet?" Hunter asked, the dragon gave a small chirrup and pushed his head into Hunter's bag. He comes up a few minutes later with a small green wallet that resembles leaves. Hunter grabs the wallet from Con and pulls out a few bills, Con checking them to see if they were the right amount. "Here you go, I hope this is the right amount." He said, handing them to the women.
“Almost, here’s your change.” She handed a few coins over and slid his order across the counter.
"Thanks," He laughed. "I sure am saying thanks a bunch,"Hunter said and was immediately smacked on the head by Con.
Aethelind grinned and leaned her elbows against the counter, Chamomile (chipmunk) peeking out from his little roost in the neck hole of her knitted shawl. “Where’d you pick him up?”, she directed the question not to the customer, but to Con in slightly garbled dragonspeak, as a joke she hoped the customer would take well.
"I can speak human ya know." The small dragon sassed, crossing his wings. "And I picked him up in Fae a couple thousand years ago."
Aethelind blinked in surprise. “Wow. Err, that must make for a very strong familiar bond.” She glanced back at the customer. He certainly didn’t look thousands of years old.
"It certainly helps that he also has to be my seeing-eye animal," Hunter said jokingly as Con picked up the blink of surprise. Phft, her voice is surprised. Mortals are funny. Hunter thought.
Seeing… eye animal. Oh. Aethelind felt exceedingly stupid. She recovered quickly, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. “I’ve never seen a dragon as a seeing eye animal before! He’s very handsome.” She reached out a hand for Con to sniff.
Axion being nosy as usual is listening to the conversation while she drinks her tea.
Rigel sauntered into the store, putting out his cigarette. He hadn’t ever been here before, but it looked cozy enough. His eyes glazed over the menu, just needing something simple to wake him up.
Seeing… eye animal. Oh. Aethelind felt exceedingly stupid. She recovered quickly, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. “I’ve never seen a dragon as a seeing eye animal before! He’s very handsome.” She reached out a hand for Con to sniff.
Con sniffed her hand, tilting his head he asked. "What type of magic do you use the most?"
"Con stop bothering her."
Aethelind smiled, glancing briefly at the new customer (Rigel), who was looking over the menu. Turning back to the Fae customer and his familiar, she replied. "It's alright, I don't mind. I'm sort of a… natural healing or herbal witch I guess. Minor charms too, like levitation and whatnot, but mostly healing." Feeling slightly awkward, she spoke to the newer customer (Rigel), not wanting to turn away from Hunter and Con, but also not wanting to neglect a customer. "Sir, can I help you with anything?"
Hunter walked away when she started talking to the other customer waiting in line, he headed back outside and to the park. He hummed quietly as he climbed into his tree, making his way to the top.
Rigel turned slightly, his tail twitching but he asked smoothly, “Do you have any spicy teas?” He held his breath for the moment when someone would see his tiefling descent and leave, or cause a scene. It always seemed to happen, at least when he wasn’t at the casino.
(how come people didn't like his descent?)
Aethelind's eyes skimmed over the customer briefly, mentally classifying him as a tiefling. Mostly, she just felt relieved that the Shoppe existed as a safe space for species and magic practitioners generally not accepted in society. The customer might have felt nervous anywhere else, but here he didn't have anything to fear. "Yeah, we have Spicy Masala Tea, Red Dragon Chai, Peppermint Fire Tea, Ginger Tea, Very Very Cinnamon Tea, and Ethiopian Black Tea. Would you like yours mild, medium, spicy, or very spicy?"
(Tieflings tend to be ‘untrustworthy’ to most and have a lot of negative connotations (I think some background was that they are from hell… (Feel free to fact check me on that…))
At least that’s what I’ve read before from wiki)
Rigel lips curled upwards ever so slightly, “Any of them sound amazing, I’ll take whatever is hottest. I’d love very spicy with extra spice, if it’s not too much trouble?” He grinned a little, weight lightening off his shoulders. There weren’t many places around that accepted people of tiefling descent nowadays, and just to have a place other than the casino… It would be a nice change.
(k thanks)
"For sure!", Aethelind said brightly. "I'd recommend the Red Dragon Chai, it has a lot of kick to it. Unique taste too. Would you like that to-go, pre-packaged as a mix, or just to have in here??"
(Just let me know if I should change anything (I’m not positive about all tiefling background myself lol) :)
“I think I’ll have it here,” Rigel smiled, and he knew it was just a chance but he wanted to try and make a genuine friend so he added, “My name is Rigel, by the way.” Most of his ‘friends’ were just from the casino, and generally were only his friends when Rigel was losing a game of cards.
(np, feel free to alter stuff as you like :)
(I'm getting into dnd rn, don't know much yet)
(lol Rigel is so relatable)
"Hi Rigel." Aethelind smiled widely as she prepared his drink, hoop earrings jangling. "I'm Aethelind, and I should probably have a nametag but I forgot it at home.", she laughed lightly, shaking some red powder into the hot mug of chai tea, which was emblazoned with a rune for safety. "You from around here?"
(Cool! I’m just starting a dnd group and we know absolutely nothing XD)
“Yeah, I tend to skip around the city a lot, heck, most of the time I don’t know where I’ll end up asleep. Though I do have an apartment, I never really seem to use it…” Rigel shrugged then laughed a little, “How about you? How long have you been in the city?” He tilted his head to the side, tail swishing just a little.
(Lol)
Aethelind paused briefly, not sure how to respond to the first bit. Recovering quickly, she stirred the tea one final time. “Since I was seven, we moved around a lot when I was younger. Think gypsy caravan.”, she laughed lightly. “And here’s your drink, that would be [insert price].”
Rigel pulled out his wallet, a raggedy old thing, and gave her [insert currency amount] giving a little extra few dollars, “Keep the extra, I really enjoyed meeting you.” Rigel smiled taking his tea. It smelled like a delicacy, like fond memories.