NOVEL NEXT 11: Federation of Ikea
With Morgana muttering “Casimir” under her breath, Astrid assumed the two were familiar as the man sat down beside Morgana.
Spinning on her heel to check on the pot of water, Astrid bent down and took a tin of tea leaves out from the cabinet. Setting them down on the counter with a faint clink, Astrid turned towards Casimir with a well-practiced smile, “Good morning, how can I help you?”
Letting out a long “hmm...” Casimir swept his finger along the menu while ignoring the icy side-eye he was receiving from Morgana. “I’ll just have whatever she’s having. You’re making a pot already, no need to make you do more work.”
“Alrighty then,” Astrid murmured, flashing a double thumbs-up before taking the water off the heat for a moment. Filling the pot up just a touch further, Astrid set it back over the small flame.
Sliding back into her seat, Astrid froze as Casimir offered a handshake. “I’m Casimir, a business executive in the area.”
“W... Why so formal?” Astrid stammered, returning the handshake as an awkward tinge of embarrassment climbed onto her cheeks. “I’m just some random person...?”
Taking a business card out of his suit, Casimir scratched his head and explained himself as he felt a heeled foot stab into his calf under the counter. “I’m a senior executive in a company called the Federation of Obsidian, and one of our most major branches is furniture making. I just wanted to give you a business card if you ever decide to renovate and replace your furniture.”
With Astrid stuttering a “thank you” before excusing herself to attend to the tea, Morgana let out a long sigh. She knew DAMN WELL the Federation of Obsidian did ZERO furniture production.
Morgana checked her nails over, ignoring the faint smug grin tugging at the corners of Casimir’s mouth. She felt bad for the poor girl, Casimir was a pro at making people feel uncomfortable. At least this time it was a good situation...
Astrid, on the other hand, returned to make some light conversation as she went through her well-practiced tea-making motions. She couldn’t help but have some theories about the two guests in front of her.
Maybe they were leaders in competing companies? Maybe they were rivals in the same workplace? Maybe ex-lovers who were now frenemies?
Astrid did hear Morgana’s regretful mutter about leaving behind a person named Lysander...
Morgana sure muttered a lot to herself for no reason. Astrid worried it was stress-related, but it could’ve also just been a normal day-to-day thing.
Sliding over four tea cups—two for the guests and two for her and a potential Valencia—Astrid poured out three cups first before setting the pot down and settling back into her seat. “Please enjoy~”
With a pair of “thank you”’s sounding out, another smile blossomed on Astrid’s face as she reassured them it was not a lot of work. Sipping her tea, Astrid continued the conversation as best she could. “Do you two both live near here? I haven’t heard of either of the companies you two have mentioned, so... uhm... is the headquarters far from here?”
Making the briefest moment of eye contact, Morgana and Casimir both raised an eyebrow as they formed a tacit agreement. They had come to the same conclusion: Astrid had no idea who they were.
It went beyond a simple ignorance towards their status though. Astrid’s budding divinity was growing day by day, but it seemed she had no clue how or even if there was a way to sense there were deities around her.
Continuing the conversation, Morgana and Casimir mixed in a few white lies here and there as they got to know the bubbly shopkeeper.
“What did you mix into the tea? It’s... amazing...” Morgana mused with an impressed sigh, “I can feel my fatigue just melting away.”
“Ohhh, nothing really,” Astrid shook her head, “I just spread a little bit of my power through the tea leaves beforehand. It helps the taste a little, so that might be what you’re feeling. Valencia says this is totally prohibited, but... you know, let’s just keep it as a little secret between us, alright?”
Nodding, Morgana assented after a short pause. It just ‘helps the taste a little’? Morgana wanted to shout ‘no way’, run out of the store, shout ‘no way’ some more, and then come back to have another cup. It was definitely more than just a taste helper!
Morgana felt her eyebags fading, her slight wrinkles smoothing out, and her body releasing its tension. As a deity, she didn’t age past her metaphorical prime, and could pry her age forward or back how she liked with enough resources and time, but to get pseudo–age reversal? For free?
Maybe she needed to invest in some magic-infused tea leaves and teapots...
Pulling out her phone to set a quick reminder to start looking into the tea industry, Morgana kept the conversation going as Casimir mirrored her actions.
Casimir, like Morgana, couldn’t get enough of this tea. He would’ve been the first to admit he was skeptical. Walking into the store, it looked cozy, but a little old and worn down. The tea pots and cups seemed ordinary, and beyond Morgana, it was empty.
He had constructed the perfect plan in his mind. Go in, introduce himself, hand over a business card, drink some ordinary tea, and leave. The connection would be enough for a first step and he could send subordinates to continue building it up.
The first wrench was thrown into the plan when Morgana was already sitting at the front counter, looking—as always—like she had just come from a wild party.
The second wrench came when he felt a prickling, needle-like sensation under his watch. With his fatigue and general torrid mood fading a bit from the tea, Casimir pried his watch back. Then, before his very eyes, Casimir watched as his oldest scar—one from when he was still a mortal—stitched itself out of existence.
Furniture, all of a sudden, didn’t seem like such a bad industry to branch out into...
-----
A little more than an hour later, both Morgana and Casimir had left, leaving Astrid their phone numbers after a long conversation. Astrid didn’t really need their numbers, but she decided to enter them into her phone anyway—after all, who knew if she’d need help with... furniture or fishing... one day.
Sipping her tea, Astrid suppressed a murmur of surprise as Valencia hugged her from behind. Resting her chin on Astrid’s head, Valencia wrapped one arm around Astrid’s body while pinching Astrid’s nose with the other. “How are you doing, dear?”
“I’m doing well,” Astrid sighed as fatigue crept its way onto her face, tugging the corners of her mouth down while scrunching her eyebrows. Trying to rotate herself around the chair to look at Valencia, Astrid admitted, “I probably pushed myself a little too hard... so if it’s okay, I’ll probably take a nap later...”
Getting a pointed squint of suspicion and slight increase in nose pinch strength from Valencia, Astrid tried to keep a straight face before a grin broke onto her face as she reached up and pinched Valencia back. “Don’t worry about me, it’s fine! I know how to take care of myself! Everyone gets tired sometimes!”
Relenting, Valencia freed Astrid’s nose before sliding into the seat beside Astrid. “You have a point, sorry for being overbearing... Also, though, of course you can take a nap, it’s the second day since you’ve been awake! I’m more surprised you’re not bedridden, so feel free to take as many naps as you want, okay?”
“I’ll be taking you up on that offer no need to worry. I’m a professional napper,” Astrid reassured, pouring Valencia a cup of tea from the now-close-to-empty pot. “Anyhow, have you finished baking your pastries?”
“No, I’m close though,” Valencia shook her head with a long sigh, taking off her hair bandana to let her hair down. “It’s already in the oven, so once I take it out you’ll be able to eat as much as you want.”
“Save some for the customers,” Astrid laughed, refilling her own cup.
