THE MOMENT
"That's a lot of honey..," Jubilee giggled as she signed for the box. That was according to the label anyway. The box was taller than Jubilee's knees and about wide enough for her stand in with big bold lettering that read 'HONEY' in golden letters.
"Thank you," The delivery guy ignored the joke, took his gadget, and returned to his truck with minimal interaction.
"I've never even seen them use honey...," Jubilee shrugged as she bent her knees to lift the box. The abundance of honey might have belonged in a restaurant or maybe even a bakery; but, Jubilee couldn't imagine why they ordered that amount for a hobby shop. It looked heavier than it was; but, it was still an effort to pick up and get inside. She carried it upstairs and dropped it off in the kitchen. She'd barely managed to set it down on the table when Willow called for her.
"JUBILEE! Need a hand, please!" The yell came from the front of the building, downstairs and Jubilee didn't waste time replying. She was glad Willow was asking her for help more often. Of course, Jubilee herself was part of the reason the shop had been busier lately; but, she enjoyed pitching in. And, strangely enough, something about working in a hobby shop felt familiar to her. She dashed out of the kitchen and by the time she reached the small crowd downstairs the delivery was mostly out of her mind; it wasn't for her anyway.
Jubilee lived with two roommates in the shop. Willow the owner and a fairy, and Morgan, the owner's best friend who was a normal human. Morgan was out running errands and Willow encountered a late-afternoon rush that she needed help with. Jubilee helped for a couple of hours, then things started winding down again. It was a quiet moment when the only customer walked out into the evening when Willow and Jubilee finally relaxed and found time for a conversation.
"Thank you so much," Willow sighed as she settled on her chair. She preferred to be up and hovering with fluttering wings when customers were in the story. As a fairy, she could change her size and become tiny; but, she almost exclusively maintained her human size. The only time Jubilee had seen her small was when she demonstrated that she could shrink.
"Happy to," Jubilee smiled. "But, if I ever find a way home, you might need to hire another person," she giggled.
"If you ever return to your own Earth, I doubt we'll remain this busy," Willow shrugged. "But, funnily enough, I do have more help. There's another of our guildies supposed to be coming into town to stay with us for a while, we told you, right?"
"Oh right, yeah, I remember," Jubilee said. It wasn't a clear memory, but she remembered it mentioned. It was early on when she first arrived in this world and Willow told her she could stay there. That was about a month ago now, and she'd experienced so much in this new world since then, that it kind of fell into the category of background knowledge she didn't consider often. But, as her mind worked on reconstructing the conversation, she giggled. Willow and Morgan were part of a guild known as 'The Honeybees', and it suddenly clicked. The unusual amount was probably for some welcome party.
"What's so funny?" Willow asked.
"Is that why you ordered a bucket of honey?" Jubilee asked with a broad grin. Willow's eyes went wide.
"WHAT!? WHERE!?"
"Kitchen...," Jubilee wasn't sure why Willow's mood suddenly changed, and she pointed up toward the ceiling and the second floor beyond it.
"OH MY GOD WHEN!?" Willow asked the question as she flew over the counter and up the stairs in a rush. By the time she was over the counter Jubilee was right behind her anxious to see what the emergency was.
"Few hours ago...," Jubilee answered.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry...," Willow charged into the kitchen and basically tackled the box. She shrunk, just enough to stand on the table, and began tearing it open.
"What's goin-," Morgan walked into the kitchen from the back stairs and noticed the commotion first, then she noticed the box. "NO WAY!" She screamed, happily. Jubilee was glad for that. Willow had a tendency to panic about everything, and it made it hard to read the situation sometimes. But, seeing Morgan run into the room with a smile was enough to put her at ease at least. Morgan joined in tearing open the box and in less than a minute they revealed a large crystal clear jar full of golden translucent honey.
"WAIT!" Morgan stopped Willow as the fairy went to work on unscrewing the lid.
"It's been hours!" Willow protested, but Morgan shrugged.
"It doesn't matter," she shook her head. Then, she looked over at Jubilee standing at the kitchen entrance. "C'mere," she smiled. Jubilee did so with some minor confusion.
"Okay, that's better... everyone calm down...," Morgan said it while looking directly at Willow. "... we want to give a nice, pleasant welcome."
"Huh?" Jubilee asked, but Morgan nodded at Willow.
"Go ahead, now," she said. "Relax," she reminded the fairy.
"Okay, okay...," Willow nodded and began twisting the lid off in a less frantic manner. The lid was white and red, and looked like a normal tin lid; but, as Willow twisted it, it released a notable hiss of compressed gas that didn't quite belong to a honey jar. Willow took the lid off completely and Jubilee stared at the golden syrup with interest; the other two seemed to expect something to happen. But, nothing did. They waited in silence for a few seconds, then Morgan giggled.
"Still sleeping," she said, she reached over and tapped the glass, then leaned forward with her mouth over the opening. "WAKE UP!" she said. Now, Jubilee noticed a change. The translucent liquid shimmered, then darkened, then cleared up again, then it moved. Morgan stood back as the honey flowed up the side of the jar and out of the opening. It moved onto the table, then off the edge and onto the floor.
"Whoa..," Jubilee watched with interest. She didn't quite know what was happening, but at least the visual was interesting. The honey was simultaneously in the jar, on the table, and on the floor all at once as it traveled slowly from one location to the next. Then, finally, like a slinky, the tail end left the jar completely and fell off the table into a pool with the rest. Once it was all collected, the gooey gold moved vertically upward again and took on a more defined shape. It wasn't two minutes after the jar was opened that a teenage blonde girl stood in the kitchen with Willow, Morgan and Jubilee. Once she had a face she smiled at Jubilee, then raised her arms for a tall stretch as she groaned in satisfaction. Jubilee followed the example of the others and let the new girl finish stretching before saying anything. She twisted left and right to pop her back, then finally she relaxed, and waved at Willow and Morgan.
"Hey guys," she shrugged. "I'm here," she smiled.
"HONEY!" both of the exclaimed at the same time but Morgan was the first to go in for a hug. Then, Willow gave her a welcome hug and she turned to Jubilee.
"Jubilee, this is our guild leader, Honey. Honey, say hi to the summoned hero, Jubilee."
"Nice to meet you," Honey smiled and shook Jubilee's hand.
"You too," she replied. "What'd I just watch.. what are you?" she asked. Honey's smile immediately disappeared and a cold, somber look took its place as she turned and looked at Willow. Jubilee felt like she'd messed up already; but, fortunately Honey didn't let the feeling linger.
"You guys haven't told her about me at all?" she asked. Willow was about to get defensive, but Honey giggled. "It's cool, just teasing you," she said. Then, she turned to Jubilee and went translucent again, while still in humanoid form. And, she answered the question. "I'm a slime."