A preview for an upcoming commission, featuring some tanuki TFing! Enjoy!
“Excuse me! Yo!” Jacob snapped out of his thoughts, realizing how long he had been trapped deep within them. The proprietor of the stall was trying to get his attention. “Yoo-ho! Trying to say hello!”“Oh! S-sorry! I was deep in thought and-” Jacob did a double take. Standing behind the produce was a green witch wearing sharp glasses and having a double black hair bun.The witch smiled now that she had his attention. “Sup! The name is Traci. You gettin’ anything or are ya just browsin’ with your mouth hanging open today?”“Oh… ah… I, ah…”“Just joking!” Traci laughed… before looking rather down. “Sorry. Not been getting many customers today. The coven expands to a new market, but everyone’s wary of a witch. So, here I am, just getting annoyed with everyone and-”Jacob was hardly paying attention to her words. He was just so taken aback to be meeting a witch. He had never seen one up close and in person before, let alone having one to talk to him. Her green skin, long nose, long chin, surprising beauty… it was all amazing in a way.This was certainly a way to break up the mundanity in his life. Maybe it was a sign for a new start or a new beginning. It was probably more a good story to share with his coworkers on his next shift, but still.“I…” Jacob said, clearing his throat and interrupting her, “I, ah, was just browsing, is all.” He looked down at the fruits, vegetables, and other plants she was selling. “You have a very nice selection here.”“Why thank you!” Traci looked rather proud. “These lovely plants are all very special. They've been magically grown and enhanced to provide extra vitamins while also increasing the flavor. It took a lot of testing and work, but I think it paid off.”“Magically enhanced?” Jacob curiously asked.“Mhm! Don't worry. Just the extra health benefits and taste. Nothing beyond that, I assure you. I'm sure if people gave them a chance, they'd-”CRASH! CRACK! “Oh come the hell on!” Jacob jumped at the sound of all that ruckus, quickly turning to where it came from.He felt very silly when he did, realizing he missed something incredibly huge right next door to the stand. There was a mini purple circus tent with stars and moons embroidered onto it. The entranceway had a drape over it, a rather strong perfume scent coming from it.Traci turned and looked as well, shaking her head. “Well, I'm only surprised that didn't happen sooner.” She sighed, speaking quieter and to herself, “Frickin’ Beatrice, the lazy, unhelpful bum. Don't know why Cassidy had her come with me. It's our first day, and she's terrible at first impressions…”Jacob looked back at the muttering witch. “What's going on?”“Oh, that's just the tent where we're selling everything else.” Traci frowned. “Sounds like a lot of it just broke so good-bye profits!”He looked back at the tent curiously. Things were taking a far more interesting turn for him that day. Sure, a lot of stuff was broken, but not everything was, right? He had to see what else a witch could be selling.He started to walk towards it. “Oh? You're going to check out that disaster?” Traci asked him, noticing what he was doing.“Y-yeah… just kind of curious.”“Well, okay then…” Her expression turned serious. “Just as a fair warning, be careful in there. Beatrice is a pretty tricky, mischievous witch despite her laziness. After breaking who knows what, she's probably not in a good mood either.”“Ah, sure.” It seemed like a fair warning to Jacob, but curiosity and a drive to try something new pushed him forward. He went to the tent, passing through the drape.Inside, the tent was a lot more spacious and wide than he expected. He figured it must’ve been because of magic, which rather floored him. To enter such a place teaming and coated in magic was so exciting!Besides that, the room was filled with many wooden shelves and benches with jars, bottles, and bags on it. One shelf was knocked over, all of its contents laying broken on the dirt.Standing over the mess was the other witch, Beatrice. She had lighter green skin and longer, messier black hair. She wore a black sundress, one that hugged her curves incredibly. She looked incredibly pretty.However, the scowl on her face and angry huffing made her feel rather unapproachable and a tad frightening. “Craaaaap,” she muttered venomously, “I'm never gonna hear the end of this. Not my fault these shelves are so shoddy and fall over easily! Ugh.”Jacob felt like second-guessing himself about this and was about to leave. However, the witch threw her gaze on him. “Yeah? What do you want?”Man, she's nothing like Traci, is she? Jacob gulped. “Umm, hi. I just wanted to take a look around and see what was in here.”Beatrice frowned. “Fine. Knock yourself out. Just stay out of the way as I clean this crap up.” She turned her attention back to the mess, muttering quieter. He could just make out her complaining about not wanting to be there and doing this kind of coven duty.Jacob stepped back and headed over to some farther away shelves to browse. He only looked back when he heard a sharp snap of the fingers.He could see the shelf and broken glass lift into the air. The shelf went back to standing up like normal. Everything else floated off to a trash can in the corner of the tent. It was cool to see magic in action like that, but he suspected she'd chew him out for gawking, so he turned back to the shelves near him.There was quite the selection of items on display. There were plenty of glass bottles and small packages with labels for plant growth, fertilizer, pest control, and more available. He wasn't much of a gardener, but perhaps trying having a green thumb might be a good way to do something new.Looking at a different shelf, Jacob found a lot more curious bottles, oddly shaped and smaller. These were filled with a multitude of colored liquids, labels on them saying things such as juice, mouthwash, cologne, and even medicine. They certainly weren't the sort of thing sold at the typical farmer's market.Curiosity got the better of him again. “Excuse me…” He turned to Beatrice, who gave him an exhausted look. “What are these?”“Oh,” she spoke, her voice taking on the tone of a salesperson (one that's very bored), “That's just the special potions and whatnot our coven develops. They're made and brewed from whatever we grow in our special gardens. They provide the drinker/user additional benefits and bonus and whatever that makes their dreams come true.”He glanced at the bottles again, a thought coming to his mind. So, they're magical. Maybe… hmm, maybe…Jacob cleared his throat and said, trying to sound as casual as possible, “Sooo, what kind of effects and benefits are we talking about?”“Better health, improvement in one's appearance… depending on what they want deep down or what's assigned to the bottle.” The witch rattled off that last part fast and rather quietly. “Senses increased, confidence booster, and all of that jazz.”Jacob twitched. His heart began to race, an urge striking him. Confidence booster… better health… a new look? Maybe this was what he needed. He wanted to change after all, making his disappointing life more interesting. Perhaps this could be the true start.