Working Too Hard

Fortuna paid for the bags of rice flour with the carats sent to her by Dan a few minutes ago. Though she was often found working at Kitchen Goods, she was just as if not more often found around Burrowgatory performing various tasks for others for money. A few of her friends were shop owners or managers just because of how often she showed up doing deliveries. Today was no different.

Dan sent her a text that he needed some very specific rice flour for mochi, and he did make sure to emphasize exactly the kind that he needed. Fortuna already knew the kind he used from the amazing tour he'd given her of his confectionery shop but he was the type of person to clarify anyway, which Fortuna imaged was probably due to some crappy delivery experiences with others. Nevertheless she didn't feel any personal way about it. It was her job and she dealt with much, much worse types. It was nice to deliver to someone she considered a friend.

The bags she carried were pretty heavy, so she actually brought with her a small collapsible cart to roll the bags on. It was a pretty busy day with many buns walking the streets but she didn't mind it very much. Living in a very suburban area made her appreciate the bustle of the city, which is where she spent most of her time anyway most days.

When she eventually made it to Dan's confectionery shop she was admittedly a bit tired, but chose to feign a confident exterior for when Dan came to the front at the jingle of her entrance through the door. When he noticed it was her he held open the door to the back.

"Thank you. I appreciate that you're always very quick about your work."

"Well, if I'm not, who's going to pay me for it?" Fortuna joked. The humor didn't seem to land with Dan how she intended it and he just agreed with her.

"You can bring it back here."

She brought her cart to his area with his mortar and pallet and set them down beside the the other bags, which he did seem to be unusually low on. He immediately got back to work.

"Huh. If you don't mind me asking, what made you get so low on stock? Usually you're always on top of that." Fortuna put her hands on her hips, appreciating that she didn't have to carry or wheel around heavy stuff anymore.

"It's the time of the month where Quince advertises a new kind of imp for sale. And as you may know..." he took a moment to continue as he worked on some detailing on a mochi flower, "she is willing to forgo the luxury price of her pets in exchange for my wagashi. Well, because of that, whenever she updates her store I get an abundance of orders for my wagashi. I set a limit per person for a reason, but because many buns want her imps they're willing to circumvent my rule for them."

Fortuna noticed that he seemed very annoyed by this. "How come you haven't stopped them then?"

He glanced at her and smirked a bit uncharacteristically. "I do when buns are foolish enough to mention that they're buying them for her, but aside from that most buns are smart enough not to say anything about it. So truly, I can't tell the difference between them. If it were so easy I would do something about it."

Fortuna nodded. "Well, I gotta go then. But if I hear about anyone skirting your rules I'll send you a message about 'em. Just don't mention that I'm the one who tipped you though. That could be pretty bad for my business."

While Fortuna folded up her cart and starting heading to leave she noticed Dan give a small smile. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

She smiled too as she left the confectionery shop and checked her phone for any other errands she could fulfill with the rest of the time she had for the day.

She saw that the best paying offer was for someone who wanted to pick a bunch of apples together and groaned. She accepted the offer but was not looking forward to doing any more physical labor for the day. Once this was done she was going to have to treat herself for all the work she was doing with a really nice dinner.