Ha Na soundly ignored her, still hugging Tori with one arm around his waist. “You be my grandson from now on, alright?”
“Done,” he said and meant it more than words could express. He knew Ha Na was mostly joking, but he wished she actually meant the offer. She’d love him as a grandmother should. His own grandmother couldn’t even bring herself to look at him.
“It’s a wonder we got done, considering how much you two play.” Melissande reached over the packaged shampoo bottles and poked Tori in the shoulder with a pen. “Come back here, you. I’m not done with you yet.”
Tori flashed her a smile as he disengaged from Ha Na’s hug, resuming the task that sent him over there to begin with. Namely, fetching the labels from the printer.
Cassie had taken over setting up the labels and such to print, as she could do that from her laptop and not move from the chair. But the printer was not near her, instead perched close to the ingredients table, leaving someone else to fetch them from the tray. Tori picked up the stack and returned to Melissande to help her put on the many, many labels.
It was quite the array of things they’d made this morning. Shampoos, lotions, hair tonics, facial cleansers for acne.
One of the products, he’d helped tweak—the willow bark topical salve. It would be far more effective for sore muscles than before.
Lisette mentioned they made something along those lines for Alric, but more powerful and infused with magic in a way they didn’t dare sell openly on the market. It was the first hint Tori had that the king was suffering from some old injury. The way he acted, it wasn’t at all obvious.
They were done brewing for the day, the bottles lined up neatly. Everyone was a little tired from moving and standing for so many hours but satisfied, too, with a job well done. Tori wanted to sit for ten minutes, but they were so close to being finished, he chose to push through it instead.
Cassie had printed out a stack of invoices, and their job now was to get the labels on the right jars. Apparently, the dragons took it from there, as they were the ones in charge of shipping and handling. It was a fair division of labor, and another sign that this clan really knew how to support each other.
Tori looked around the room, still marveling at it all, despite being in here for seven hours. Eight mages, all working harmoniously together, and enjoying the work.
Nine, including him, and they had very much included him. Welcomed him with open arms and smiles and never once made him feel awkward for being there. If this was any indication of what the clan was like as a whole—and Tori bet it was—then it was an amazing place to be.
How had Tori ever feared these people? How had he ever thought of them with hate? Now that he knew them, he’d give anything to be one of them.
“I’m really excited about the new lip balm line,” Carla said, pulling him out of his thoughts. She joined the sticker assembly line on his other side, tackling the shampoo bottles. “I think it will sell really well.”
Tori shot the mage with pale blond hair a shy smile. The lip balm was something he’d made for himself, a protection against the bitter cold of Finland. It healed chapped lips quite well and required little in the way of magic to work. Perfect for the everyday human. “I’m glad you were willing to try it.”
She nudged him with an elbow, a playful expression on her face. “It’s obvious you know your craft. Why wouldn’t we? And really, sometimes we’re stumped for ideas of what to create next. You can’t offer the same products all the time. The market goes stale on you.”
“That’s very true,” Lisette agreed, picking up the temporary containers for the lip balm. New containers needed to be ordered for the new product before it could be packaged and shipped. “With Tori’s help, we’ll be able to take on more orders, perhaps start offering customized packages.”
“Ooh, that’s a great idea,” Cassie enthused. “Customized packages are the bomb! Everyone likes those.”
Elissa showed up with a wooden crate and loaded in the products already labeled, her movements quick and efficient. But then, everything the mage with the wide brown eyes did was done efficiently. Tori had figured that out over the course of the day. “You’re all assuming that Tori wants to stay with us.”
He swallowed hard, the motion painful. Working here would be a dream. Being able to do magic freely and have it as his everyday occupation was a fantasy he’d never entertained because it was too painful. Just today had felt surreal. But if they were seriously talking of him staying.... Doubts reared their ugly head, and he really didn’t want to know. But he had to. “Is that my choice?”