Elzbieta's answer to my question comes as a little surprise. Cream cheese. Well, maybe it shouldn't really surprise me. I can imagine that these two things will go quite well together. With a little fresh bread in addition it'll be quite a nice meal in fact. Now I just need to do a little more shopping since I of course have neither cream cheese nor fresh and fluffy bread in the house.

My housemate can obviously guess at the very obvious thoughts going through my mind too. She quickly terminates my line of thought by raising a finger, almost as if to admonish me.

"You'll go no where. You'll stay right here in that chair and do whatever you were doing. Or you could rest your eyes too for a moment or two. I'll go and do the shopping."

I'm actually quite relieved. It probably shows on my face too.

"Thanks. Could you get some fresh bread too to go with the rest, while you are at it?"

She nods and grins.

"Will do. Now, don't overdo it while I'm out with Ulryk, yes?"

She blows me a little kiss before heading out with her boy firmly secured against her chest in a cloth wrap used as a baby sling once again. As they leave, quiet descends upon the shop for a little while.

Well, relative quiet anyway. I can still hear the birds outside chirping and the bees flocking to the wild roses and ivy growing up the walls of my home emit a constant buzz too, but that all is just background noise. Something that is nice to have, but at the same time something I can ignore without too much effort. I'm very tempted to rest my eyes for a moment or two. In the end I don't because I'm afraid that I would fall asleep before I could even realize what is happening.

Thus I decide to keep my mind busy, at least for a little longer. I do so by drafting up the circles for the first enchantment to be put on the hearthstone in greater detail. To the point where I, in theory should be able to apply them.

First I work out the circle to make the enchantment respond to a command phrase. It's not too hard. Except, I trash that design again a moment later, because the use of a command phrase instead of a command word makes it too long for the inner most circle of the combined design. It uses just too many runes. No way around it. I'll have to move this one to the outermost circle instead.

Instead I make the circle to heat up the anchor object the innermost one. it's the most basic after all. If not for the fact that it has to be connected to the second and third circle to incorporate awareness of the ambient temperature and the trigger it might even by downright trivial. Even so, I'm pretty satisfied with the design I have drawn up not much later.

I let out a happy little sigh and close my notebook for a moment. My eyelids are getting really heavy by now. The temptation to just rest my head on the counter for a moment or two and close my eyes is getting ever stronger. The only reason I'm not doing it is, that I know all too well that my back will kill me if I fall asleep like that for any length of time. Painful lessons learned at the academy in Barter Town keep my from repeating these mistakes.

It's too bad that I can't exactly just lie down either. Not without closing the shop anyway. It's not like we have anyone around who seems to be a notorious shoplifter, but it still would be unwise to encourage things like that. And besides having the shop open without being present to finalize any sales would be bad form.

An old memory resurfaces at that point and I perk up and sit up straighter again too, as I ponder it a little more. At the academy, the librarian had a little bell at the front desk, so students, or anyone else for that matter, could summon her from elsewhere in the library if they needed help with something.

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To be honest the library wasn't that big, but with the over sized, sturdy shelves it could at times be tricky to figure out where the librarian might be. The same is, in a way, true for my situation. The house isn't that big, but a bright little bell would be just the thing to summon me from the workshop in the back, so I don't need to spend so much time out front at the counter. In fact, I'd probably still hear it even if I were to be in the garden behind the house.

Yes, this idea bears some merit. I'll have to ask Olgierd and Nawoja if they can cast a little bronze or brass hand bell for me. Once they are done with the last project I commissioned. That enchanted crystal lamp. Maybe I should refocus my efforts on that enchantment. I promised Agnieszka one of those after all.

Maybe I should visit the two at their workshop to check on the progress? The design Olgierd proposed was artistic after all, it'll take a while to finish. Would he mind if I were to drop by? Would I be a bother? Well not if I bring some more business. Probably. I'll visit the smithy tomorrow, or maybe the day after, depending on how well I feel. Yes, that sounds like a decent plan.

Right now though I'm getting a little too sleepy to keep going. I really need to rest a little. And even if going to bed or sleeping here at the counter are not viable options I can still lean back on the bench out front and rest my eyes a little.

The sun has moved on by now too, so I'll be sitting in the shade instead of in direct sunlight which might still be too much for me right now. It's a pretty cozy spot on a pretty nice day over all and thus just what I need. I sit down, stretch my legs and lean back, taking care to not disturb the plants and the buzzing bees too much. Then, at long last I close my eyes to get the rest I really need.

It doesn't take long for sleep to claim me and I don't fight it either. If someone needs something from me they can just wake me. And the dream that soon envelops my mind is a pretty nice one as well. It starts with a starlit sky, except the stars it turns out aren't just little dots of light, they are softly glowing crytsal sea turtles swimming in a sea of darkness.

It's a silly dream of course, obviously inspired by thinking about the enchanted crystal lamp for Agnieszka and the design Olgierd drew, but it's nice anyway, so I don't really mind. Not in the slightest. I just let my mind drift along the glowing crystal sea turtles for a little while. Turtles. Turtles all the way to infinity.

This state of things isn't meant to last though. I mean, obviously it isn't. In this particular case I don't get woken up by a customer though, but by a happily babbling baby boy and his mother, who comes bearing the additions to our meal I have asked for. Well, probably. I can't be quite sure, as she is carrying a cloth covered basket.

She flashes me a brief smile, as I begin to stir and straighten back up.

"Hey there, sleepyhead. No need to hurry. I still need to make some preparations before we can eat."

Now that awakens my curiosity. I arch an eyebrow.

"Preparations? What do you mean?"

She chuckles and lifts the cloth over the basket for a moment to let me catch a glimpse. There is a bowl with cream cheese but no bread in there. Instead a few little lumps of well rested dough, by the looks of it, sit there next to the bowl with the cream cheese.

"I'll rekindle the fire so I can bake us some fresh flat bread. No bread fluffier and fresher than one freshly baked after all."

I blink in surprise, but I don't argue. She is right after all. I just really hope that she knows what she is doing. I for my part have no clue about baking bread after all. Thus I just nod dumbly, before she continues.

"And that way I have a minute to cut up the pickled cucumbers too, if that's alright with you."

Again I blink in surprise. After a moment I nod though. Cutting up the cucumbers sounds like a good idea. I, in all honesty, haven't given this all that much thought, thus my reply sounds rather uncertain too. I'm not going to question her though.

"Uh … sure?"

Elzbieta lets out another soft laugh, bends down and gives me a little peck on the cheek.

"Take your time getting up. We'll be in the back getting everything ready."

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