”A discount, hm?” Emas murmured as he waved to the departing lion and cub. When they were out of sight, he went back inside to Boneka, crossing his arms. ”Honestly, just have a cub already and get this out of your system. You’re going to make us broke in no time,” the opossum muttered, stomping back into the den. He got to work picking up the ink spill from earlier, displeased that Boneka hadn’t even bothered to tilt the pot back upright. He would have to get Lijen to procure more ink. The lion liked to charge almost cheap on everything but ink. He seemed to found it hilarious, doing so. Especially since Boneka wasted so much ink.
The starry lioness followed him into the den, moving over to a grassy spot beneath the window that served as her pallet. Laying down, she waved a paw at Emas. ”It’s fine. They’re still paying. Just not as much,” Boneka murmured, dragging an unused leaf near to her. Emas rolled his eyes, grabbing a new jaw of ink and slowly frog marching it over to her. He then went back for the brush. She was so forgetful.
”You say that but what they’re paying will just barely cover Lijen’s cost. Which leaves us no profit,” Emas seethed, grabbing a smaller leaf and brush for himself. He began writing down the basic materials for the puppet, along with ink and other things they were running out of.
”Add giant carp scales. With enough polish, they glitter fantastically,” Boneka said offhandedly around the brush in her mouth before shrugging. ”Barter with him,” she pointed out, very matter-of-factly.
Emas wanted to throw his own brush at her. Barter with him? Barter with Lijen?!. Boneka was only saying that because she didn’t like dealing with the lazy bum. He only haggled with those he found pretty and thought he had a chance with. And even then, the lion was stingy with every last gem. Letting out a tsk, Emas quickly added the giant carp scale to the list, ears down with annoyance. How will he get Boneka to listen?
That was the thing, though. He couldn’t get Boneka to listen. Drawing in a deep breath, Emas fixed her with a critical look. ”No more discounts this week. And we need to sell a few more than usual, to cover our loss,” he said firmly.
Boneka looked up with a disgruntled expression before shrugging. ”Alright,” She responded simply before a smirk overcame her expression. ”That would just mean you’d have to get more supplies from Dijen. Have fun. Flamingo and Turaco feathers,” she listed off, before pausing, staring at her drawing. Something was missing… what was it… oh. ”And a variety of butterfly wings. And a crocodile tooth.” Yes, that was it. That would be perfect. A miniature masterpiece. She was excited to begin working on it. ”Kijen should have most within his possession by now. Tell him he has two days to gather all the materials or else we find another supplier.” Boneka was serious about this. But then, she was serious about it every time. And Lijen still missed deadlines. It was Emas who kept the business between them intact.
When she looked up from her drawing, Emas was staring at her with an incredulous expression. She blinked before tilting her head slightly. ”What is the matter?” she asked him curiously. He didn’t speak for a moment, mouth working. And then, he exploded.
”Do you have any idea how much this will cost? Forget a lack of profit, we’re actually going to be paying out of our own bag for these supplies,” Emas snapped, bristling and stomping up to the lioness. He did throw his brush to the side then, scowling. ”Are you out of your mind? What is wrong with you?”
Boneka glared, lowering her head to give Emas a leveled look. She didn’t take being insulted very well but Emas was a lifelong friend. The most she could do was glare and snap. Emas knew this too, apparently; he didn’t even flinch. ”I promised the best to the cub and I will provide the best. Just get the materials and we’ll cover the expense another time. Consider this a branching out investment,” Boneka pointed out. She didn’t bother pointing out that she was quite taken with the cub’s father as well. There was something refreshing about him. It left her a bit giddy.
Emas threw up his paws. ”Explain,” he demanded. ”Explain how exactly this is branching out investment?”. The tone was as close to fury as Boneka has heard in a long time. She really riled up her little friend. Sighing, she sat up, moving to a covered hole in the ground in the corner of the main room. In it was a stack of fruit. Picking up a mango, she carried it over to the opossum, who gave her a suspicious look before he flopped down to begin munching. His paw waved to beckon her to continue.
”He doesn’t live here, Emas. Haven’t you heard the other merchants call out to him when they were leaving? I sure heard it from in here. He’s obviously just visiting,” she pointed out, watching realization slowly dawn on Emas. ”Therefor, wherever he goes, his daughter goes. And where his daughter goes, the puppet goes. When asked about it, they’ll be able to point back to me. You and I,” she remedied when he opened his mouth to protest. Emas mulled this over, slowly chewing around a bit of mango before sighing. He pushed the fruit to the side and went over to the now dried list he made. Rolling it up, he turned to Boneka. ”I’ll saddle Degil with the gems. We’ll be back before nightfall,” he muttered, before heading towards the exit of the den.
”Remember, two days,” Boneka called before recalling something that had happened in the past. ”And no more than half the payment up front this time! The scoundrel won’t get a stone more until I get that material!”