Mira's Marvels: Bubblegum Bath

"An...old watch?" I asked, frowning a bit as I stared at the thing. Mira scoffed at the question.

"This 'old watch' is actually a very important piece of magical technology, thank you very much. It's my weave-watch. It allows me to make all sorts of spells and enchantments. They don't just hand these out to any old witch doctor, John."

"What's the difference, then, exactly...?" I asked, still a bit confused. Mira let out a small sigh and shook her head slightly; her googly eye googled around ever-so-slightly with the motion.

"It's simple, really. Unlike M.D.'s like me, Witch Doctors specialize solely in the alchemical arts." She pointed over toward the shelving against the wall with all the vials before she spoke up. "They use alchemical reagents to make potions. I dabble in that a bit here at my shop. The bubble bath, for instance, is a simple bit of alchemy. But—" she shifted her hand toward the cork board with the tags I had seen earlier, "—my real area of expertise is spelle-weaving - the art of using runes to create spelles that alter the very fabric of reality." Her grin widened at her little sales pitch, and she waved her fingers with a little flourish. There was a gleeful sense of pride in her tone as she spoke, and I could tell it was something she was passionate about, even if I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.

"Oh yeah, your sign did mention something about 'custom spelles' outside. Are there really two e's in the word, though?" I asked. It seemed a little silly.

"Oh, that?" Mira asked, her cheeks turning a little pink. "That's just a typo, honestly. The word is actually spelled like you'd expect, with one 'e'. I actually made a mistake when I originally applied the enchantment to the window, and no matter how many times I try to fix it, but that darn second 'e' just keeps sneaking back on there. It's really stubborn."

"So, you could say that you... mis-spelled the word?" I asked with a smirk, as I raised my eyebrows. Mira just rolled her eyes and sighed before she continued on, tragically ignoring my amazing pun.

"Anyway, it takes years of dedication, discipline and training to master the craft of spell-weaving. It's much more involved than simply mixing a few reagents together in a vial and calling it a day." She wagged her hand dismissively at the notion.

"I... see. But you're... still a witch, though, right? I mean... technically," I said.

"I prefer the term magician, myself. Sounds a bit fancier, don't you think? Besides, it fits with the job title," she said, with a smirk. She still sounded like a lot like a witch to me, but I wasn't going to argue with her over semantics.

"I suppose you're right. So, anyway...how do you...erm, alter reality... exactly?" I asked. Mira beamed at me with a radiant smile as her eyes lit up at my question.

"I'm glad you asked. I'll show you! Follow me!" She excitedly rushed over to the cork board with all the tags on it, her heavy boots clunking on the wood flooring as she went.

"Alright, then," I said, running a hand through my hair. Heat blazed in my cheeks as I followed close behind. Clearly, she was very excited about this whole spell-weaving thing. We shuffled past the shelves with all the vials, and my eyes were drawn to the tags hanging on the cork board as we approached. They were made out of a shiny, silver foil that caught the light. They had large rings composed of various tiny glowing symbols pressed into the foil of the tags, overlapping each other like some sort of otherworldly Venn diagram. Each ring was composed of its own matching set of twelve symbols, and the rings glowed with the light of various different colors. I scanned a few of the labels and saw names like 'Breast Embiggener,' 'Breast En-small-ener,' 'Shortener,' and 'Tall-ener.' Whatever these things were, Mira clearly had fun with her naming conventions.

"What... exactly are these?" I asked. Mira stood next to me and beamed with admiration as her eye swept across the wall of tags.

"These little beauties are one of my specialties - charms, for quick and easy spellcasting. They make spellcasting so simple that anyone can do it - even if they have no magical inclination whatsoever. They don't come cheap, though," she added at the end. I picked up one of the Breast Embiggener charms and frowned as I thought of Beth back at home. She always wished she had a bit more to offer in the way of curves, but I really didn't mind; she was still beautiful without them.

"What are these little symbols here?" I asked, pointing a finger at one of the glowing rings. Mira grabbed another one of the Breast Embiggener charms off the hook and held it up so I could see it.

"They're runes," she said matter-of-factly, as she ran her finger along the edge of one of the circular patterns. Each was a different color: one was light orange, another was a verdant green, and the last glowed with an aqua blue light -- the effect was really quite pretty. "These little symbols carry all sorts of powerful magic within them, and weavers like me combine them to make all sorts of effects. For instance, the charm you're holding can be used to increase bust size. I've also got ones that'll make you taller or shorter... smarter or faster. Those are just a few examples, though - the sky's the limit, really, as long as you know the right runes... and the effects they'll have when combined. I can do custom spells as well - those can get a bit pricier, though, depending on the request." I looked down at the little tag clutched between my fingers, marveling at the way the light danced off the silver foil and the runes glowed softly.

"So, you're telling me that I could use this thing to make my wife's, er... breasts... bigger?" I asked, looking back up at Mira.

"Well, it would only work if she actually wanted them to get bigger, of course. There are safeguards in place to prevent any non-consensual transformations. But, anyway, that's the idea, yes. I thought that much was pretty clear from the name."

"Well, I'm sorry; you're just casually telling me you alter the laws of reality, and you just... sell these things to people? How are people not lining up around the place for these things?"

"Well, first of all, my spells aren't exactly cheap - it's not like I just give these things away for free, John. And second of all," she said, with a slight frown, "honestly, the shop is a bit hard to find most of the time. It never stays in one place for too long, and the wards that protect the shop from wandering eyes... work a bit too well." My eyes widened and I shook my head. Teleporting magic shops, protective wards, and reality-altering magic spells? It all sounded so... unbelievable. I mean, I had seen her do the thing with the ramen cup earlier, but I was still having a hard time coming to terms with all of it.

"So, um wow. Okay then, Magic is... really... real, I guess," I said, letting out a long breath. I glanced at the wall of shiny glowing tags and frowned as I put the Breast Embiggener charm back on the hook. "Um, this whole spell-weaving thing is kind of a lot to take in. Well, everything is, really. It's all kinda blowing my mind a little bit, to be honest." Mira nodded as she put the charm she was holding back up on the wall with the others.

"Well, if the charms are a bit too mind-blowing for you, we could take a look at the alchemy supplies while we wait for the boys to get back with the bubble bath. It's nowhere near as interesting as spell-weaving, so your mind should be safe." She winked at me as she pointed a pale hand toward the display with all the vials next to us.

"That's fine," I said. You said the bubble bath is an alchemy... thingy, anyway, right?"

"Yep," she said, as she started to walk that way. "It's technically a potion, though I definitely wouldn't recommend drinking it. It tastes awful."

"You drank... bubble bath? Why?"

"I was curious," she said, with a shrug. "It still worked... in case you were wondering." I rolled my eyes at her as we made our way to the alchemy display.

We arrived at the shelving with all the vials on it, and it certainly was a bit less... flashy. There were all sorts of different colors, shades, and types of liquids in the vials. Some of the liquids were thick and viscous, while others looked similar to water, just colored differently. Some of them had little flecks of stuff in them, and some were cloudy. Some of them weren't even liquids at all; one of the vials had some sort of steaming vapor trapped inside, and others had what looked like hair in them, little bits of herbs and pinches of dust... there were all sorts of things in them. There were two separate sections of shelving; The section on the left, labeled 'potions,' held only liquid vials, while the section on the right was labeled 'reagents.' That one had a wider variety of vials, including ones containing solids and gases; there were still some vials of liquid mixed in among them, though. There were handwritten labels for every slot, but the individual vials weren't labeled at all. Some of the vials of liquid on either side looked the same, and it was a bit confusing.

"Do any of these vials ever get mixed up?" I asked. "Some of them look really similar."

"Nope! It's actually impossible to mix them up. Watch!" Mira chirped as she flashed me an excited grin. She grabbed a couple of similar-looking orange vials from either side of the shelves and quickly swapped their positions. After a couple of seconds, the vials just... floated out of the shelves, moving through the air of their own accord before settling back into their specified locations. "Pretty nifty, right? It's a handy bit of spell-weaving, for sure... keeps everything in its rightful place and prevents shoplifting, too. If you were to grab one of those and try and leave without paying for it, it would just wriggle out of your hand and fly right on back to the shelf."

"That's... actually really cool," I said, picking up and examining one of the vials on the righthand shelf. The little alcove had a label on it that read 'Firewine', and the vial sitting there was full of glowing orange... stuff. The glass was warm to the touch. "Firewine, huh? This stuff must really pack a punch. What's it taste like?"

"Ooooh, no, no, no. You don't want to drink that," she warned, shaking her head softly. "Reagents aren't like potions; they're raw alchemical ingredients." She pointed at the vial in my hands and raised her eyebrows. "If you drank that, your insides would literally melt, so... needless to say, you need to be very careful with these things. They can have all sorts of nasty side effects if they aren't handled properly."

"It would probably help if you labeled the vials, then; that way you'd know exactly what's in them."

"Bah. There's no need for that," she mused, before flashing a smug grin. "There are labels on the shelves, after all; plus, thanks to my enchantment, you can't mix them up. Like I said before, the system here is all very precise." She picked up another, similar-looking glowing orange vial from the side with the potions. "Now, this one, you can drink. It's what I like to call my Warmerizing potion. It's actually made with Firewine, but thanks to the addition of a couple other ingredients, it's completely harmless. Like the name implies, this little guy will heat you right up in an instant, no matter how cold you are. A couple drops can also keep food warm for ages, too - I use it all the time."

"Cool. I could use some of that right about now, actually; it's pretty chilly out tonight," I said, chuckling. "How much does all this stuff cost, anyway? I don't see any prices anywhere."

"It all depends on the quality of the reagents or potions; the prices aren't really set in stone. There are cases where the same two potions can be vastly different in terms of their effectiveness; it all depends on the magical potency of the reagents you use. Thus, the more powerful the potion, the higher the price!" she said. "The products in my new line are very easy to manufacture at a consistent level of quality, though, so I'm charging a flat rate for those, to keep things simple."

"Gotcha. How much will I owe you for this fancy bubble bath, then?" I hoped it wasn't that expensive. I really couldn't afford to spend too much. Mira was silent for a moment, then grinned at me as she just... let go of the vial she was holding. I watched, still hardly able to believe my eyes as it just... floated there for a moment and before once again drifting back to its proper place on the shelf. I hesitated for a moment before I let the vial of Firewine in my own hand go, and I grinned as it slowly drifted back to its own spot on the 'reagents' shelf. Mira's voice pulled me from my reverie, and I turned my attention toward her as she spoke up.

"How about this?" she asked, with a grin. "Things at the shop have been pretty slow lately, so I've been looking for ways to drum up some new business!" She reached into the inside of her coat and pulled out a stack of business cards for the shop. She held them out to me, and I grabbed them and gave one of them a once-over. It had the name of her shop, a phone number, and what must have been a line for the address - at least I assumed it was; the third line on the card I was holding read 'you're already here.' "I'm pretty busy running things here, so I whipped up those business cards to help bring in new customers. If you agree to hand them out and help spread the word about my shop, I'll let you take home the bubble bath for free. Let's call it a little new customer special. Deal?" She held out her hand to me, and I grabbed hold of it - curiously, it was a bit warmer than I expected it to be.

"Deal," I said, with a nod, as I gave her pale hand a hearty shake.

"Wonderful!" Mira beamed at me as pulled away and then clapped her hands together excitedly. My smile faded and a frown replaced it as my eyes flicked toward to the door to the back room. I was feeling a bit anxious about Beth being at home alone for so long.

"I hope they get back here before too long," I said, frowning a bit. "My wife's waiting for me at home, after all." Mira checked her watch again, then looked back at me.

"I'm sure they'll be back pretty soon," Mira said, with a reassuring smile. "Crunchy and Wrapster are pretty quick on their feet, but I do have a lot of inventory back there. Regardless, you shouldn't worry too much about it; the shop runs on its own localized timestream, so barely any time should have passed outside by this point. Go ahead and take a look at the time on your phone." I pulled out my phone and my eyes widened to find that it had been exactly one minute since I had entered the shop, even though there was absolutely no way that was possible.

"What? How?!" I asked, in utter disbelief. Mira flashed me a sly grin.

"I did say weavers were able to alter the fabric of reality, didn't I?" she asked, smugly. "I'd like to see an alchemist do that," she said, smugly.

"It is... pretty impressive," I said, a bit hesitantly. Weird magical time dilation bullshit aside, I still didn't like leaving Beth alone. I noticed that I didn't have any cell service in the building, either so if Beth tried to reach me, it wouldn't have come through as long as I was in the store. I couldn't help but worry about her - it's what I did best, after all. I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and sighed as my eye caught on the silver wedding band on my finger as I pulled my hand out of my pants. Mira must have seen that something was bothering me, because her smile faded and was quickly replaced with a look of concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked. After a moment, I shook my head.

"Not really. I'm still just... worried about my wife, is all," I said, frowning. "I feel bad. I'm... here, and she's at home, all alone and hurting-," I paused then, and my gaze drooped to the floor, "- again. I feel like I'm always... letting her down." I looked up at Mira, and she had a pensive look on her face.

"What do you mean?" she asked, as she cocked to the side again. "You're here because of her, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but..." I let the sentence trail off as I considered whether or not to get into it or just drop it. Mira gave me a reassuring little nod, as if she was encouraging me to open up. I let out a sigh. "The day of our wedding, we were dancing together and... she slipped and fell. She broke her leg, and I feel like... it was my fault. I haven't been able to bring myself to dance with her since." Mira nodded, after a moment.

"It sounds like it was just an accident to me," she said, with a shrug. "Why do you think it was your fault?"

"I should have caught her," I said. "I let her get hurt." Mira shot me a weird look at that. "I should have protected her."

"You can't protect her from everything, though. People get hurt. That's just part of life," she said, matter-of-factly. "If they didn't, I'd be out of a job. Well, one of them, anyway." She chuckled with amusement at her joke. "Anyway, you should try not to blame yourself for that. Have you told her any of this?" I shook my head. "Why not?"

"I... just don't like thinking about it, I guess," I said, with a shrug. "All I know is that I'm just... scared of hurting her again. She actually wanted to dance with me earlier tonight, but I sort of... shut her down. She got frustrated, went back to her yoga, and then... well, you know the rest."

"Look, I'm just a magical doctor-slash-shopkeeper who lives alone in her magic shop-slash-apartment with my Two-Cat, so I might not be the best person to turn to for advice on this stuff-" Mira began, with a grin. "-but it sounds to me like you two need to sit down and have a talk." I took a moment to consider her words.

Beth was very supportive and understanding; it was one of the reasons I loved her so much. I was the one who didn't like confrontation. I knew it would probably be fine, but I just... avoided the issue, like I always did. It was no wonder that she was a bit frustrated with me. Nothing would get solved if we didn't at least have a conversation about it.

"Maybe we should," I said, with a nod. "I'll talk to her when I get home."

"I think it might help," she said, with a warm smile. "But then again, I'm not an actual therapist, so, ya know, grain of salt, and all that." I chuckled.

"Well maybe you can go back to magical college, or whatever. Get your magical therapist license and add that to your list of job titles." Mira grimaced and shook her head.

"I've had enough of college, at least for now," she said, with a shrug. "I've got a music theory degree just gathering dust upstairs, anyway."

"Fair enough," I said, with a shrug, but then I flashed her a weird look as I realized what she said. "Wait, music theory? Why?"

"I wanted to be a DJ at one point," she replied, with a forlorn sigh. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.

"Eh, it's fine. Some things just aren't meant to be, but I like to think people always end up exactly where they need to be."

"Like how you became a magical doctor?" I asked, cracking a smile.

"A magical doctor-slash-shopkeeper," she reminded me, with a wink. "But I didn't mean me; I meant you. More specifically, how you found your way to my shop tonight."

"What do you mean?" I asked, throwing her a weird look.

"I told you how I don't get a lot of customers earlier," she began. I nodded and waited for her to continue. "But in all the time I've spent running this little shop - and trust me, I've been doing it for a very long time - every customer who's ever walked through that door needed something - something that can only be found here. I think that the people who could use my help the most always find their way here, John, and I have a feeling you're no different."