Drinks and Rumors

"Miss Ma! I ordered that!” “Sorry! Coming!” Mahannana sprinted across the room, her magic being the only thing preventing the tray from going flying. She skidded to a stop. “Your beef stew! Sorry about that!” The girl’s face flushed from the exertion as much as her embarrassment. “Not a problem! You’re doing great, Miss Ma! Keep up the hard work!” The elderly adventurer gave her a thumbs up. “T-thank you very much!” She bowed. Before she could take off again, a female villager tapped her arm. “Excuse me, but I ordered ale, not beer.” “I-I’m on it!” Mahannana retrieved the incorrect drink and bolted for the bar.

“Ma-Chan! Breath!” Esmo clapped her on the back. Mahannana jumped. “I’m glad you take your job seriously, but you’re stressing yourself out for no reason! Remember, quality over quantity! Give enjoyable service and, if anyone bitches, send 'em to me!” Mahannana loaded the next round of drinks onto her tray. “Speed will come with experience, and so will memory storage! You’ve only been working here for a week.” Mahannana forced herself to speedwalk instead of sprinting like a track star.

‘I’m so out of my depth here!’ She thought as she smiled at the customers. ‘I didn’t realize serving was so fast paced!’

Despite tearing her daughter a new one for being late, Selena had been shockingly receptive to her daughter working at a tavern. Mahannana had let her mother cool off for a few days before telling her about where she'd been and Esmo’s job offer. While Selena had insisted on meeting Esmoranthe and checking the place out first, she seemed to understand that taverns in fantasy world’s like Nyxphiria had a different cultural context than drinking establishments in their world, and Mahannana understood the desire to give the situation a vibe check. ‘Seriously, though, the level of freedom mama has been allowing me here is crazy! I can tell she’s really having to force herself to shut up some days, but she’s basically letting me do whatever I want!’

“Aww you’re so cute!” a scantily clad archer from an all-female party cooed. “You look like a little doll!” “Thanks...I think...” Mahannana smiled awkwardly as she served the group. “Oh, just ignore her.” An older, scar-covered woman rolled her eyes. “But you are a nice girl. Thanks for your service.” She passed Mahannana a handful of gold coins. Her eyes sparkled at the money. “Oh my gosh, this is so generous! Thank you!” She carefully tucked the tip away in her pouch. ‘At this rate, it should only take two years tops to be able to afford a building!’ A young woman dressed like a witch regarded her carefully. “If you didn’t wear it on your sleave, I’d never know that you were an otherworlder.” “Is that good or bad?” Mahannana asked. “It’s good! Some of the otherworlders we’ve encountered in our travels who became adventures... they’re pretty entitled and have egos the size of a mountain.” A swordswoman with braids and glasses shuddered. “And some of the men are so creepy and scary...” The older woman smiled. “It means you’re a respectful, smart girl and act like you were raised here.” “I see!” Mahannana grinned.

‘This feels good!’ Mahannana thought to herself as she bounced back to the counter. ‘All the praise I get here is pumping up my ego!’ Having served the crowd at hyper-speed, she took a quick rest at the bar. “Judging by that grin, you’re having fun.” Esmo commented as she wiped a glass. Mahannana nodded. Oddly enough, while she had awful social anxiety, she’d never been overstimulated by loud environments with lots of people. If she wasn’t forced to interact with anyone, the background noise was soothing and kept her calm. “It’s only a bit overwhelming. Mostly just trying to remember the orders and stuff. I’m not good at memorization.” She adjusted her frilly apron yet again, annoyed at how it kept coming uncentered.

“You’ll figure it out with time.” Esmo promised. “It took me a while to know what the hell I was doing, and I was the owner who had only myself!” She sighed. “I am sorry that you’re the only waitress, though. I did have two others, but they quit suddenly right before you accepted my offer. I can’t seem to keep waitstaff for the life of me.” She sighed.“Thanks again for offering me a job!” Esmo turned away. “I told you to stop with that! It's not a big deal. We mutually get along so I’d like to have someone like you working for me, that’s all.” Mahannana covered her snicker. ‘She’s so bad at hiding how much she cares!’ The bell over the door dinged.

Mahannana hopped up. “Welcome to Esmo’s tavern! It’s a pleasure to serve you!” “Ahhh, Ma-Chan is so cute in that little apron!” Lirhilde flew at the girl and instantly began squeezing and cuddling her. “H-hi, Lir-Chan!” Mahannana choked out. “Lir, don’t smother the poor kid!” Omthor laughed. “Lir-Chan! Mr Omthor!” “How’s your shift going, Ma-Chan?” Selena slipped through the door that Omthor was holding for her. “Mama!” Mahannana wrenched herself from Lirhilde’s grasp and tackled her mother in a fluffy hug. “I’m tired, but it’s going great! What are you doing here?”“We stopped by to see your mother and heard about your new job!” Omthor ruffled her hair. “We had nothing better to do and figured we might as well have an adult’s night and check the place out!” 

“Friends of yours?” Esmo leaned over the counter. “Oh, yes! This is Lirhilde-Chan and her husband Omthor!” Mahannana introduced the two. “They’re otherworlders, too, and me and mama’s friends. They run a blacksmith shop.” The couple greeted Esmo. “Hey, Ma-Chan, show your friends a good seat. First round is on the house.” Esmo said as she turned and entered the kitchen. Mahannana smiled. “Esmo is a little...moody is the word, maybe? But she’s super sweet to me! Right this way!” She led her mother and friends to a table in the back of the tavern, right next to the party of female adventurers. “This should be less chaotic for you!” She announced as the three sat. “Here’s the menu. What drinks would you like?” “I’ll just have beer.” Omthor shrugged. “If possible, I want the alcholic version of that drink you told me about.” “I’ll have what Selena is having.” “Beer and two orange dreams! Got it!” Mahannana jogged off to give Esmo their order.

“You’re so lucky to have such an adorable daughter!” Lirhilde gushed as the adults watched Mahannana disappear. “Yeah.” Selena agreed. “But I never realized she could be so capable and...lively? Not until we ended up in Nyxphira, anyway.” While she was still confused at Mahannana’s ability to thrive in their situation, it didn’t make her any less proud of her daughter’s achievements. “I honestly never thought she’d be able to graduate high school, let alone get a job.” She admitted reluctantly. “Yes, I wanted her to but...it felt like everything was such a struggle for her that even those minor things would be a feat. I’m glad she proved me wrong.” “Well, everyone succeeds in their own time and way,” Omthor shrugged. “You might not be able to define what it is, but there’s something in this world that was critical that she was lacking back home. Maybe that wasn’t the most ideal situation for her?”

Selena stared out across the crowd. It was strange, hearing people praise her daughter. She was so used to always having to fight for Madoka to be seen as her own person. Madoka was already constantly overlooked but, the second that Selena had to step in advocate for her daughter in the areas Madoka couldn’t do for herself, it was like people dismissed her as having no capability or agency of her own. Her daughter was autistic, not stupid or helpless, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that with the way some people acted! For years, it felt like she’d been screaming into the void, demanding that people look at Madoka and acknowledge her existence. Now, while Madoka still relied on her for emotional support and coregulation, it was like she suddenly didn’t need that. As happy as she was for her daughter, Selena still felt guilty. ‘Was I just stupid and hurting her all these years? I tried so hard, but nothing seemed to happen. Then we end up her and it’s like she unlocked every single door with ease on her own. Was I really that bad of a parent that I couldn’t help her succeed like this in the last fifteen years?’

“What should we eat?” Lirhilde peered over the menu with rapt attention. “The fried mushrooms and leeks sound amazing! Oh, but the special is beef stew...ooh and they have pasta!” Selena and Omthor exchanged a look. “I’ll have whatever you order, dear. I trust your judgment.” Omthor resigned himself to his wife’s enthusiasm for food. “Ma-Chan said you found the good stuff at the festival, so I’ll follow your lead.” Selena agreed. As Lirhilde chattered about food to her husband, Selena zoned out and looked around the tavern.

‘Wow, this place is packed! I’m glad Ma-Chan is working for somewhere so reputable.’

“- the elves?!” Selena’s ears twitched. ‘Did I just hear the word I thought I did?’ She strained to hear, praying for her canine ears to aid her. She picked up on the whispered conversation of the group of women next to them.

“Shush! You can’t just say that word! People will hear!”

“But you’re serious?”

“Well, I did hear that report, yes. But if it’s true or not, I don’t know. They seem to have been sighted a few towns over. Only a handful of them. Probably just scouts.”

"Are you actually saying that they have penetrated this far inland into Aetheron for the first time in nearly nine hundred years?”

“I don’t know if they have or not! That’s what people are saying, but they haven’t been able to prove it one way or another yet!”

Selena’s blood ran cold. ‘Elves were sighted near here? But I thought they were mainly at war with the capitol and never came this far! Aqua promised me that Umbria was safe and Elves never attacked near here!’ Her stomach churned. ‘No, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That lady said someone had reported seeing elves, but the sighting wasn’t verified. It’s probably nothing but rumors. Besides, there's how many hundreds of us from Japan running across this kingdom now? Some weirdo from our world might have been mistaken for an elf by an adventurer.’ Selena soothed herself. ‘Aqua would never lie, and all the books I’ve read said the same thing; there haven’t been any elf attacks in Umbria for hundreds of years. I’m just being overly paranoid again.’

Despite explaining what she overheard away, Selena couldn’t completely let go of her unease, even as she admonished herself to stop overthinking. There was something about the rumor that was hitting her differently, even though she couldn’t explain it.

‘It’ll be fine, everything's fine. Nothing bad has happened, aside from Bisky’s slime mishap. It’s not like we’re taking advanced quests or traveling, so what’s the worst that could really happen to us?’