Sorting Boxes

Trash made their way through the streets at a slow pace, taking in the sights of the Capital. Everything was so much grander than back home, golden pillars glistening in the light and marble streets being far more clean than would be expected with all the foot traffic it gets.

A sweet smell caught Trash' attention, the teary-eyed cor turning a corner to follow it to its source, which appeared to be a market, boxes set out by the entrance. These had presumably been full of product earlier in the day, but it had been long enough for the selection to be picked clean, only a couple bits of produce still laying in the crates.

Sniffing through the boxes to figure out which fruit was letting off the sweet aroma, Trash was distracted enough that they jumped a little when they noticed the shadow of someone standing beside them.

A somewhat short cor looked up at them, Trash noticing the wheelchair they were strapped into- it was a nice shade of blue. They politely introduced themselves as Adrian, offering to help find whatever Trash was looking for, which the green cor considered before answering.

“The sweet smell… what is that?”

Adrian hummed, looking down towards the tiled floor. "I think you may be looking for Albae Berries! They are quite the hit in this season, I am not sure if I have more honestly."

Trash must have let his disappointment show, as the young cor quickly offered to look in the back, provided they could get some help with the heavy boxes. With an affirmative nod, the both of them headed to the back of the market, Adrian leading the way to the storage area which was stacked high with different containers, multiple scents of the products inside mixing together into a smell that Trash couldn’t quite tell if he enjoyed or not.

With Adrian’s guidance, Trash sorted through the different containers, which were not organised at all. Offended by the absolute mess, Trash decided that he was going to help organise the storage room, arranging products together. Adrian didn’t seem to mind, even if they seemed surprised as Trash levitated multiple of the heavier boxes himself rather than bothering to push them, too focused on sorting everything to bother doing everything manually, though he very much appreciated the magical help Adrian provided with lifting some of the boxes as well. He was trying to be efficient, not strain himself enough to crack his horn.

By the time a couple hours had passed, The back of the market had been sorted in a way that made it far easier to find the necessary produce, and the two corceis were both tucked away behind a couple boxes to enjoy a bag of fruit-flavoured candies before Adrian had to head back to work, the polite cor having headed off several times to make sure other customers were able to find what they needed, taking some product to restock the front of the market. The good news was that there had in fact been a single shipment of Albae Berries far off in a corner, Trash having easily paid the crystal shards to get a couple bunches of them. He’d also gotten some Sunset Carrots and Sparkling Honey while he was already there, packing his purchases away to enjoy later.

Having decided it was time to get home, Trash tried to thank Adrian for the berries, only for the other to insist that they should be the one thanking him for helping with the boxes, which Trash of course denied as he was the one who insisted sorting through all of them, which led to the two of them having some kind of polite stand-off before conceding to a tie as clearly both of them had been equally helpful to each other, Trash finally heading back to his residence in Klathe after bidding his new friend goodbye.

The berries were just as sweet as they smelled, and tasted even better baked into a tart.