Ch: 13 Dinner at Jules' diner (Patreon)

Edited by Aldous

Sorry for being late. DM chapter should be out tonight. I underestimated how tired I was yesterday. 

Chapter 13

Dinner at Jules’ diner

One second she had been sitting in her chair before the huge computer, and the next she found herself standing in the large clearing full of the T-shaped System hubs. It was just as busy as it had been when she first got there. Looking up, she noted that some time had passed. She checked her watch and noted that she had been gone for over an hour. She looked around at the crowd and felt a little antsy. She didn’t know why, but she felt vulnerable all of a sudden.

She quickly walked back to the street and was on her way back to her apartment when she realized that she forgot to buy her home supplies. Things like her shower curtain and silverware. Cursing she looked back at the hubs, but they were really crowded. She really didn’t want to go back into that crowd. Turning around, she found herself looking at the stalls on either side of the street. The people were selling all sorts of stuff on the white tables. She hoped one of them sold housing supplies.

She found a stall that was selling all sorts of junk about five minutes after she started searching. Looking through the stuff she pulled out a fork and spoon. They looked alright and didn’t bend when she messed around with them. They only had one of each so she bought them. She rationalized it by telling herself she had no plans of inviting people over to her place. All she needed was one set.

A few minutes later she spotted a table with what she thought was a shower curtain. It wasn’t though. It was just a curtain. It was a nice beige color curtain with a nice, huge needlepoint design on it of a large flower. Lily fingered the design in awe. The detail was amazing. It was huge and whoever made the design must have spent weeks on it. She would have loved to use it as a shower curtain as she didn’t have windows in her apartment, but the only problem was that it wasn’t plastic. The water would go right through it. She put it down with a sad sigh.

Looking over the table she spotted an entire pile of the things. They weren’t all curtains, she found a few table coverings and even some simple dresses in the pile. She held up one dress to herself, and bit her lip. It was too big, and would drag as she walked, but otherwise it was really cute. She put it back and looked around at the rest of the stuff on the table.

“Excuse me.” She asked the really old woman behind the table. “Do you know where I can buy a shower curtain?”

“You can use that one.” The woman said, pointing to the curtain that Lily had been first drawn to.

“I need something that will block out the water.” Lily said distractedly as she looked over the lady’s stuff. “Do you have any plastic shower curtains? Something cheap?”

The old lady tilted her head at Lily and frowned. “Ain’t no plastics since the invasion. Mana hates them. Where did a youngin like yourself hear about plastics.”

Lily gave the woman a shy smile. “I’m older than I look.” She told the woman, fingering the amazing curtain again.

“You ain’t that old. Not at level 5 mage.” The old woman told her, stepping closer to the table.

Lily blinked in shock then realized that the old woman must have used Identify on her. It annoyed her so much she decided to use it back. The only problem was that she had no idea how. She looked at the woman and metally said identify. To her surprise it worked.

Susan Turner, Human. Tier 5, Master Riflewoman Level 62. Threat: extreme.

Identify has leveled up.

“Girl, watch that temper of yours,” The old woman said with a very serious look in her eyes. “It may get you a beat down. Now, I’ll let that pass, but you better not do that until you either get some levels under your belt to back that up or get your Identify a lot higher than it is now. Some people take that sort of thing as an invitation to fight.”

“I…but...no.” Lily said, stumbling over her words.

“S'alright.” The older lady said, waving at Lily. “That thing is waterproof. Should work for a shower curtain. I can give it to ya, for a tenna.”

“I’m sorry if I’m going to sound rude, but I’m new to… well, everything. I don’t know what a tenna is.” Lily said, trying her best to be polite. Most of the people she bought stuff from just gave her a paper slip with the price on it so that she could just accept the charges.

“S’okay.” The woman said sitting down with much more agility than Lily thought she should have. “Tenna means tenth of a credit. A hundra is a hundredth of a credit. And a penny is .001 credits. You from one of those settlements that don’t use the System?”

“No. Well, kind of.” Lily said, shrugging.

“Ain’t my business.” The old woman replied. “You have an odd accent. You from the north east? New York or somesuch?”

“I spent some years just outside of Boston.” Lily replied, surprised.

“I’m from Mississippi, traveled up through there during the invasion. Never been to Boston. Demons did something awful there, ain’t no one wanted to fight there.” The old woman replied.

“I don’t want to offend you, but are you normal?” Lily said, then quickly backtracked as she realized just what she said. “I mean your tier. Is your tier level roughly whatever everyone else’s is around here?”

The lady cracked up laughing. “Oh dear, no.” She told Lily. “I’m retired. Working on my Tailoring now. Most people around here are tier three. A few of the stronger ones are tier four. We got maybe two others who are as high as me. Since this is a war zone, we got a guy who calls himself General Washington, cause he’s black. That general guy is, I hear, tier 6. He takes care of the big stuff.”

Lily, wondering what the man’s race had anything to do with it as the woman herself was also black, just nodded.

“You gonna pay for that?” The old lady asked, pointing to Lily’s hands.

Looking down, she realized that she had picked the curtain up again. “Yes, of course.” Lily said, looking around for the paper to pay for it. The powerful old lady chuckled again, reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. She wrote the price down and handed it to Lily. She hit accept as soon as she took the paper and handed it back to her.

“You be careful, now.” The old lady said, nodded to Lily. “Lots of people out here be looking to take advantage of a young, pretty girl like yourself. Don’t trust them boys, or some of them girls. You understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Lily said, thinking that the advice was a little late. She gave the woman a brittle smile then moved off to do the rest of her shopping. She had to buy another bag because she left hers back in her cabin in her world. This time she bought a backpack. It was dark brown with yellow buckles.

She stuffed the backpack up with random stuff she either forgot to bring or stuff she hadn’t wanted to take with her. When she finally declared herself done she was about halfway back, or at least she hoped she was, to her apartment building. She started thinking about dinner. She had more than enough mushrooms to last a few months, but not enough to last until she could go back to her cabin. So she would have to make things stretch.

She looked around at the tables, but, aside from some fresh vegetables, no one was selling anything else food-wise. It was only then that she remembered that someone had told her that most people bought their food from the System Hub. She was the odd one out who bought all of her food from a grocery store on a regular basis. Now that she thought about it, it was probably why the store owner had his son deliver her groceries to her home for her. He probably didn’t want to lose her business.

She was still thinking about it when she spotted the restaurant that she had eaten lunch at. Remembering how amazing the food was, she decided to get her dinner there. She hurried her steps to the restaurant and went inside. The place was mostly deserted just like when she was there for lunch, but there was a young-looking Native American woman sitting by a table reading a book while she ate. Jules the cook was standing behind the counter with her arms crossed in front of her.

“Welcome back.” She said as Lily got close enough. She sounded funny to Lily. Like, she added a bunch of extra syllables when she spoke. “You got, Translate?”

“Yup.” Lily said, still trying to figure out what was different with how she was talking.

“Almost.” She told Lily. “Focus on how I speak. Try again.”

At first Lily was confused then realized that her skill was already working. She guessed the funny extra syllables must be French. She did as Jules asked, focusing on the funny syllables, and spoke again. “Hello Jules, am I getting this right?”

Lily could hear the difference in the way she was talking. To Lily it felt smooth, for a lack of a better term. It was like the way she was speaking was jarring, but if she focused on the odd syllables things felt smoother. She found it oddly satisfying to speak correctly. She thought about her very few conversations with the other sellers on her way there and felt a little warmth in her cheeks as she realized she must have come across as an idiot to them.

“Perfect.” Jules said with a smile. “Just focus on how you speak, and you’ll be a natural French speaker in no time.”

“Thanks.” Lily said, then quickly spoke again. “I mean, thanks.” She said, really listening to the syllables this time. She realized she had to really listen to how she was speaking every time. It sounded bad when she only made a little effort to listen to herself. She really had to focus when she spoke, otherwise it came off wrong.

“Amber, this is the young woman I was talking about.” Jules said to the other woman.

“The one you said André was annoying?” The woman asked, putting down her book.

“This is my wife Amber. Amber, this is Lily, right?” Jules asked, looking at her.

“Yes.” Lily said and accepted Amber’s hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you.” Lily said to the woman. While Jules had long black hair and stood slightly taller than Lily, her wife was several inches smaller than Lily, and had dyed her hair blonde, and had it in a short pixie haircut.

“Do you mind if I use Identify on you?” Lily asked Amber. “I just got it today.”

“Sure.” The shorter woman replied, with a smile on her face. “I have nothing to hide.”

“You can do me too.” Jules said, hugging her wife with one arm.

Amber Tremblay, Human. Tier 3, Fire Witch level 78. Threat: extreme.

Julia Tremblay, Human. Tier 4, Water Witch level 31. Threat: extreme.

“Does it alway say threat: extreme when people are higher level than you?” Lily said, confused, as she sat down with the two women.

Both the women laughed. “At low levels, Identify only has four classifications to threats. Extreme, which means that the target you used Identify on is at least two tiers above your class. It will show severe if it is over one hundred levels higher than you, and acceptable if it’s less than one hundred above or below you. If it’s further than a hundred levels below you then you’ll get a negotiable threat. Just remember that even a negotiable threat can still kill you if you don’t take it seriously.” Jules told her.

“Or if there is a swarm of them.” Amber explained.

“Or if there’s a swarm.” Jules agreed. “Just who have you been using Identify on? Some people take it as an insult and will call you out for a duel.”

“Susan Turner.” Lily told them. “She’s a tier five master riflewoman.”

“Oh my goodness.” Amber gushed. “She was out today. Dammit, I bet she already went home. She has the most amazing enchanted needle work. Let me tell you: beast on the battlefield, but good people. Helped me out when I first joined the Adventurers’ Guild.”

“She saved my life once when I was still active.” Jules said with a slight smile, as she looked down at the floor. “Me and my group were out hunting when we got caught up in a stampede. We thought we were done for, then here comes good old Ms Turner. Took out the whole stampede. Just like that.” Jules said, making the sound of a machine gun as she shook her body like she was firing one. Lily couldn’t help but laugh along with Amber as Jules did her impression.

“Ms Turner is a legend around here.” Jules said with a big smile. “She’s a Yank like you. Came up just after the invasion, and helped resettle Quebec. She’s been here forever.”

“Her daughter is a bitch though.” Amber said with a scowl. “Got a rep for leaving her people behind when out on a job. Not a lot of people like her. She mostly goes out alone, as no one wants her on their team.”

“Oh.” Lily replied, not knowing what to say. To break the sudden tension she pulled her backpack off and pulled out her new shower curtain. “This is what I got from her. Cost me a tenna.” Lily told them and watched their expressions when she said ‘tenna’. She only relaxed when they didn’t make fun of her for using the word.

“Oh, wow.” Amber gushed. “Look at the enchantment. The needlepoint is spot on.”

“What’s the enchantment do?” Lily asked, looking at the needlepoint flower that Amber was currently running her hands over.

“On this?” Amber said not looking up from the flower. “It brings out the beauty of the flower. It draws the eyes right to it. It is amazing work. You should get André to put some of his spells on this. You don’t want to damage this. It's an amazing piece of art.”

“You said you paid a tenna for it?” Jules asked, looking at it from across the table.

“Yeah, why. Did I pay too much?” Lily asked, a little fearful. She knew she was supposed to bargain when buying things like that on the street, but she never did. She didn’t know how, and even if she did she would be too shy to do so.

“Oh, no.” Jules said, shaking her head. “If anything, you got it for a steal. She basically gave it away for free. Her stuff is worth a lot. This thing here, I bet would go for at least a hundred credits, maybe more.”

Lily went white when she heard that. She remembered what she had asked for when she was at the table. A cheap shower curtain. She felt her cheeks get really warm.

“What did you do?” Jules asked, looking at Lily.

Lily told her story. Jules had tears coming down her face because she was laughing so hard and Amber might have too, but Lily couldn’t see because the woman was hiding her face in her arms. Lily was shocked and very happy that she had the courage to tell the story to the two women. She was even more shocked that it went over so well. She hadn’t expected that. She had just told her story. She wasn’t trying to be funny, but it came out that way. She smiled at the two laughing women, proud that the situation turned out so well even if it was unintentional.

“I gotta go pee.” Amber said standing up. She patted Lily on the way towards the back of the room.

Jules calmed down after that. She smiled in the direction of the other woman and sighed. “I love her to death, I just wish she wasn’t working herself to death over a stupid profession.”

Feeling awkward, Lily didn’t know what to say. So she nodded to the woman.

“She’s saving up for that new profession. You know the spell smith thing?” Jules said, looking down at her hands. “She’s been taking all sorts of jobs since she heard about it. I think it’s stupid and dangerous, but I can’t tell her that, you know. Who wants a profession that no one has successfully made anything in except the Lost Sage? I heard that you have to be level one hundred before you can even modify a spell. Not create, modify. Level one hundred before you see any progress. That’s crazy. And that’s not counting that the highest person is only seventy-eight and that was after he got mentored by the Sage herself.”

Lilly froze as she watched the other woman, wondering if Jules knew who she was. She started to mentally go back over the time she spent in the restaurant, trying to think if she had given something away.

“Was it when she used Identify on me?” She wondered to herself. She leaned back and watched the other woman wring her hands in worry. She seemed to be genuinely worried to Lily, but she knew she was bad at reading people's emotions. Socal settings were not what she excelled at and, after Lowell, she knew that very well. “Just look at what I did at Ms Turner’s table. I acted like a braindead idiot. Just rifling through what was probably hundreds of credits of merchandise. Not merchandise; artwork. And then I asked if she had a cheap shower curtain. My god, I’m a wreck.”

She watched when Jules looked up as Amber came back out of the bathroom. She didn’t look at Lily, but again Lily didn’t know if that was because she was trying to fool her or not. She wished there was some spell where she could read the intent of people. She thought about it for a few seconds, creating a spell to read people's minds, but aside from how wrong it was for her to personally read other people's minds, it was also a recipe for abuse. She could never share that spell. She could imagine just how bad it would be if a bunch of people could read other people’s minds. She shivered at the invasion of privacy that would bring.

“Ok, I think I’ll start cooking.” Jules said, standing up as Amber sat down. She gave her wife a kiss then walked back behind the counter and started pulling things onto the stove.

“So where are you living? The housing projects?” Amber asked, once Jules had left.

“Yup.” Lily replied, nodding.

“Good, that’s a great place to live at your tier. Don’t stay in your room. Spend some time in the courtyard mingling. That’s a great place to meet people and see about getting into a team, if you’re into combat. If you're not, it’s a great place to network and sell your low-level crafts. I was born here and I still lived there for about three years. Met Jules there too, though we didn’t get together until much later. She was dating this other girl and I thought I was straight.”

Lily listened, not saying much as the other woman talked about her life when she lived in the housing projects. She took note of the other woman's advice on not using any alchemy potions from beginning alchemists.

“Wait until they are at least beyond novice,” The other woman recommended. “That way, you know they have some experience and the stuff won’t poison you. Also, always lock your door. People can get a bit wild after a few drinks and you don’t want the party to come cashing in. You know what, I’ll come by and spell your room so no one but you can get in. I got a few monster cores that I can lend you. I’ll need them back when you move up.”

“What kind of magic will you put up?” Lily asked, curious. “What kind of defensive spells does a witch have?”

The other woman looked at Lily oddly before smiling and shaking her head. “I’m a fire witch. We are a pure offensive class. No, I was talking about a tier 3 neutral spell. I got it when I moved in with Jules. It cost a pretty penny, but I made it back by working for this guy who did security. I still do some work for him now and again, but he has another mage who does it full-time. Plus, I get more on combat runs so it wasn’t worth it in the end.”

“Is the restaurant not doing well?” Lily asked, looking around. “I’ve been here twice and, aside from you and André, there hasn’t been anyone else.”

Amber laughed and shook her head. Lily sat still, feeling like she had been slapped in the face. She had no idea what she said that made Amber laugh. She hadn’t meant to be mean, if that was what this was, and, to be honest, she hadn’t realized that it could have come off as being mean until after she said it out loud. Still, it hurt to be laughed at when she didn’t know why the other person was laughing at her.

“I’m sorry.” Amber said, putting a hand on Lily's forearm. “It’s Sunday. I know most other cities don’t do it, but here in Quebec we usually take the day off. We go wandering around buying stuff,” She said waving her hand at the door out of the restaurant behind her, “and have a family day. Most people are at home eating with their families. Normally it’s so busy that you can’t find a seat in here. Jules stays open for people like you and André who have nowhere else to go.”

Lily relaxed a bit and nodded. She still felt bad about reading the situation wrong. She hated that she did that all the time. It wasn’t this bad before she got locked away in the hellhole, but now it felt like she was constantly getting things wrong. She hated it. She felt like she couldn’t do anything right but her spells.

She was brought out of her introspection by the sound of plates being placed on the table. Looking up, she found that Jules had placed three plates full of blue meat that kind of looked like steak on the table with what passed for mashed potatoes as a side. Then she gave her wife a kiss and sat down on the other side of the table. The meal was amazing and Lily devoured it even though she had planned to get it to go.

When she was done with her meal, Lily sat back and smiled. “My wifie is the best cook in Quebec.” Amber said with a big smile. “I got to go pee again.” She said, before she jumped up and kissed her wife. Then she ran to the bathroom.

Jules smiled at her retreating wife and shook her head. After sitting there for a few moments looking at her plate, she stood up and collected the empty plates. Lily stood up to help, but Jules waved at her to sit back down. “I got this, don’t worry.” She told Lily.

Lily sat at the table and watched as Jules started cleaning up. She was still worried that they were only being nice to her because she could give her away her profession. She wanted to believe these people didn’t know who she was, but after Lowell, it was hard. She bit her lip and really thought about her profession. She hadn’t realized that it was so hard. She wasn’t surprised that Herold hadn’t figured it out. He didn’t listen to her when she told him to meditate so he could see through his soul. She didn’t think he would have even after she left. She was kind of worried about Corrina though. Did the System take the profession away from her? Did she stop practicing for some other reason? Did she even want the profession or was she doing it to get closer to her?

“Does it matter?” Lily asked herself, feeling low. “The knowledge is out there. I can die tomorrow and humanity wouldn’t lose anything. I’ve done my job, it’s their turn.”

She looked up, feeling very low. She saw the two women and saw how happy they were. She envied them. She knew she didn’t deserve what they had, not that she was that way, but she could envy what they had together. She watched as Amber joined her wife in the kitchen and helped wash the dishes. She watched, feeling like a voyeur, as Jules rolled a towel and snapped it at Amber. It got a chuckle out of her.

“Fuck it.” She told herself and stood up.

“How much do I own you?” Lily asked, as she walked towards the counter.

“It’s on the house.” Jules said with a big smile. She had some soap bubbles on her head.

“No, I insist.” Lily said, with a fake smile.

“Fine.” The other woman said, wiping her hands on the apron that was tied around her waist, and scribbled a price on some paper. Lily got the feeling that she shouldn’t have insisted, but she didn’t feel right eating and not paying.

She accepted the price and handed the piece of paper back to Jules. “Thanks, that was an amazing meal.”

“Thank you.” Jules replied, regaining her smile.

“Hey, Amber.” Lily said, casting her Grimoire. “This is for you.” She told the other woman, as she pulled on the side of her book. Once she pulled the small skill book out she held it out to the other woman.

“Oh honey, I like you, but I’m a one woman girl.” Amber said, reaching out and throwing her arm around Jules’ waist. “I’m flattered though.”

“What?” Lily asked, completely confused.

“That’s not a …” Amber said, holding her hand over her mouth. “Oh my. If that’s not what I think it is, then what is it?”

“It’s a skill book.” Lily said, a little irritated, as she held the book out to the other woman. “What did you think it was?”

“In Quebec, mages sometimes write… invitations in their grimoire.” Amber said, tilting her head to the side.

“What?!” Lily asked, letting her hand drop onto the counter with the book. “That... No… I don’t…” Lily said, all jumbled up at what the other woman had thought she was doing. She also felt her cheeks get very warm.

“What is a skill book?” Jules asked as she walked up with Amber.

“Amber, just take it.” Lily said, just wanting this to be over with.

“You know, that has to be the plainest grimoire I have ever seen.” Amber said with a smile. Lily almost took it as an insult until she noticed the mischief in the woman’s eyes.

“It’s the original grimoire.” Lily replied with a smile, as Amber finally accepted the skill book.

“Original?” Jules asked, shaking her head in confusion.

“Oh, fuck!” Amber said as she opened the book. Lily started walking away as the pages started flipping by themselves.

“Stop!” Jules suddenly yelled. “What did you do to my wife?”

Lily froze at the woman’s tone of voice. She was slowly turning around to explain when the book went up in flames. Lily watched as Jules turned back to her wife and Amber started to jump up and down, yelling in joy. Jules and Lily froze as they watched the other woman jump up and down.

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” She said turning to her wife. Then she froze for a couple of seconds and turned to Lily. “You’re her!”

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone, okay?” She said to the overexcited woman. “I don’t want anyone to know. Seriously, consider it payment for the book.”

“You’re the Lost Sage!” She yelled and pointed at Lily.

“Not any more.” Lily replied.

“Wait, what is happening?” Jules said, sounding angry. “Someone better tell me what is going on or people are going to start dropping.”

“She’s the Lost Sage.” Amber said, with a huge smile as she pointed at Lily. “She just gave me her profession.”

“I didn’t see any titles when I used Identify on her. There is no way she could hide that from me. I don’t care how high-tiered she is.” Jules said, frowning.

“I lost my title because I deserted an illegal conscription.” Lily said, tiredly. “Look, I’m just going to go now. Thank you for the meal. It was amazing.”

“You can’t go.” Amber said, looking hurt. “In fact you can eat here for free whenever you want.”

“This is my diner!” Jules roared as she turned to her wife. “No one eats for free, unless I say so!”

“It’s okay, hun.” Amber told her wife, patting her on her forearm. “She gave me her profession. I’m a level one spell smith.”

“You can’t do that.” Jules said, shaking her head. “You can’t just give stuff like that away. The System won’t allow it.”

“You can if you created it.” Lily told her.

“You, sit.” Jules said to Lily, pointing to the table where they had dinner. “You too, Amber.”

Lily, still a little afraid of Jules, sat where she was told. Amber joined her. They both watched the irate cook storm back into the kitchen and pull a bunch of bottles out of a cupboard before she walked back to their table. She slammed a bottle down in front of Lily. Then she did the same to Amber, then herself.

“Talk.” She said, looking at Lily.

So Lily did. She told the other women about being trapped in the hellhole and how she discovered how to create spells. Then she went on to explain how she escaped and how she got caught up in the illegal conscription. She then explained how she lost her title and how she ended up in Quebec.

“And here I am.” Lily told them. “Do you want a skill book as well?”

“Oh no.” Jules said, shaking her head. “And don’t ever tell anyone you can do that. There are a lot of people who would make you disappear just for the information you can pull from your really plain grimoire.”

“It’s the original grimoire!” Lily said, defending her book with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s pretty cool.” Jules said, smiling for the first time since Lily pulled the skill book out. “Amber is right. You eat here for free anytime you want, but no friends. They have to pay.” She said as her smile faded.

Amber squealed with glee and hugged her wife. Jules just rolled her eyes, but Lily did catch a small, gentle smile as it crossed the woman's face.

“Amber will walk you home. I have to stay open for a few more hours. I got a few more regulars who will be coming later.” Jules said, nodding to Lily. “Thank you.” She said in a softer voice.

Lily nodded to the other woman and stood up to leave, but Amber spoke up. “Backpack.” She said pointing to where Lily had left her backpack. Feeling her cheeks burn again, Lily raced back and grabbed the backpack before joining Amber at the door.

“Can’t bring you anywhere.” Amber said with a smile, as she opened the door for her.

“Thanks.” Lily said, meaning both her backpack and the door.

As soon as they were out the door, Amber asked, “So, any tips?”