Page 53 of Tusks, Tails & Teacakes
A soft chittering sound drew her attention to the window. Crumpet balanced on the sill, his white fur ruffled by the breeze and his whiskersdancing from side to side. His furry wings—barely larger than the leaves of a mocker nut tree—fluttered as he hopped down onto the counter.
"Well, look who's come to supervise," Lira said, reaching for the cinnamon. The flutter-stoat watched her with glittering black eyes as she began cutting cold butter into the flour mixture. "I don't supposeyoucan explain why some people are so hard to read?"
Crumpet tilted his head, his intelligent face curious as he blinked at her.
"I mean, most people give you something to work with. A smile, a frown, excessive talking about themselves—" She thought of some of the more boisterous folks she'd encountered in her adventuring days. "But Korl is impossible. One day he talks, the next day he doesn’t.”
The flutter-stoat chittered, and Lira answered in a higher-pitched voice, mimicking what she imagined would be Crumpet's response. “Maybe he’s only talking to you to be nice.”
“Fair point, Crump.” She pointed a floury finger at him. “He doesn’t have a problem talking to Val, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t,” she said in her Crumpet falsetto.
The flutter-stoat’s whiskers turned down. It was clear he was not impressed with the voice.
“Maybe that’s because they work together. Guardsmen would have a lot of things to talk about.”
“Or maybe it’s because they’re more than colleagues,” she told herself in Crumpet’s voice as she shaped the scone dough.
Crumpet, who was now grooming his wings with an air of skepticism that seemed far too knowing, chittered at her in what Lira would swear was a disapproving tone.
"I must be losing my mind, talking to myself in an empty kitchen—and answering.”
“Yes, you must,” she said in Crumpet’s voice.
"What's crazy is answering yourself," Cali said from the doorway, making Lira jump. The Tabaxi's eyes widened as she spotted Crumpet, and he flapped his small wings. "Well, hello there. That's new."
Cali stepped fully into the kitchen and released the swinging doors, walking closer to Crumpet and extending a hand. Crumpet stood on his hind legs, assessing the feline newcomer with shrewd eyes before sniffing a paw and chirping what sounded suspiciously like approval.
“Crumpet likes you,” Lira said.
Cali’s own whiskers twitched. “Crumpet, eh? Well, I’ve always been fond of weasels.”
“He’s a flutter-stoat,” Lira corrected.
Cali held up her paws. “My mistake. I’ve always been fond of stoats, flutter or otherwise.”
Lira stared at her levelly. “Because they taste—?”
“Nothing like that.” Cali waved away the suggestion. “You know I don’t catch my own food, and Tabaxis are more vegetarian anyway.”
“Glad to hear it,” Lira said, smiling at Crumpet. “I’m pretty fond of the little guy.”
“You always were a sucker for an enchanted being.”
“Sucker seems a bit harsh.” Lira cut the scones and moved them onto a baking sheet. “Besides, we've seen stranger things in our travels.”
Cali settled onto a stool she dragged over from the corner. Her tail curled around its base as she watched Lira brush the tops of the scones with cream. "Remember that talking mushroom circle in the Whispering Woods?"
"The ones that only spoke in riddles?" Lira smiled at the memory. “Pirrin was convinced they were giving us directions to ancient treasure."
"And instead, we ended up waist-deep in that fairy pond." Cali's whiskers twitched with amusement, but there was a sadness in her eyes at the mention of their fallen friend.
Lira slid the scones into the oven and didn’t miss a beat before she began measuring ingredients for the spice cake she’d promised Korl. "I miss him.”
Cali nodded. “He would have loved to see this place come back to life." She drummed her claws on the table. “This is where it all started. Right here in this very tavern.”
“I still remember how terrified I was to approach you and Malek. I knew you must be adventurers by your clothing, but I could barely summon the courage to talk to you, much less ask to join.”
