June Q & A (Patreon)

Author: Welcome, everyone, to June’s Q&A with our lovely bunch from the Night Market. June flew by fast here, and I know there are a lot of people still reading Chapter Three.  Thankfully, none of this should be too spoilery.  Now, please give a round of applause for our guests; Milo, Hazel, Gabriel and Belladonna.

We have a lot of questions to get into so let's jump right into it.  This first one is for all of you. What are your pet peeves?

Gabriel: People who aren’t hard workers.  There is no excuse for laziness.  How a person conducts themselves in their work is very indicative of the kind of individual they are.

Milo: Except there are a dozen excuse I can think of off the top of my head in favor of being lazy. One of which, being, that it’s more fun.

Gabriel: Must you always counter everything I say?

Milo: Must you always speak first?

Belladonna: Boys. Is this really necessary right now? You two should know how to hold it together for at least an interview.

Hazel: Belladonna has a point.

Belladonna: Hazel, dear, you look lovely today. Absolutely edible.

Hazel: (clears throat uncomfortably) Thank you, Ms. Malady.

Belladonna: Oh please. Most of us are friends here. Call be Bells.

Milo: Anything to say to that, Gabriel?

Gabriel: (silence)

Belladonna: My pet peeve, is liars, by the way.

Milo: Interesting. Given what you do.

Belladonna: I’m not a liar, Milo dear. Which is more than I can say about you.

Milo: My pet peeve is self-importance.

Hazel: Milo….

Author: Okay, so it looks like there may be some high emotions gathering right now. Due to the events taking place at the end of Chapter Three, I assume.  I know you are all tired, but maybe we could put that aside?  Besides, aren’t you all supposed to be working together? At the very least you should have the same goals.

Hazel: Of course. Please, author. Continue. I am sure we can all adjust our attitudes. Would it help if I made some tea?

Belladonna: Oh, I would love a cup of hibiscus.

Author: How about we just move through these as quickly as we can. Gabriel has told me there is a lot of work to be done within the Spice District.

Gabriel: I shouldn’t even be here right now.

Milo: And yet, you are.

Author: Well, this next one is a bit more fun. What do each of you hate most about dating?  How about we start with Belladonna?

Belladonna: Not that I often date, but when I did, during my much younger years, I did not like the expectations that came at the end of the evening.

Hazel: (frowning) Expect… oh! Oh. Yeah. Those. No. I don’t like those much either. Or when someone ignores you at the dinner table in favor of something else.  Like the person they actually want to be on a date with.

Milo: Who the hell is ignoring you at the dinner table? You make the food half the time. They should be singing your praises. Bowing at your damn feet.

Hazel: Thank you, Milo.

Gabriel: I for one, do not like the time that goes into the dating process.  I would much rather skip the planning phase and jump to the understanding that time is precious, and we have to take it when we can. That also means that dates will be canceled at moment's notice. Or taken while I am on route.

Milo: (snickers) Romantic. As for me, there is nothing about dating I don’t love. The thrill. The unknown. The absolute chaos. Give me someone who is ready for adventure and I guarantee we will be compatible.

Author: All of that sounds very much like you all.  How about another one for the group as a whole.  Are you all dog people, cat people, or animals of a different sort?

Hazel: Cat, of course.

Gabriel: I do not like pets, I’m afraid.

Belladonna: Human. Or if they have to be fuzzy, those cute little winged rabbits. They just come in the most vibrant of colors.  I especially like the ones with little nubs for horns.

Milo: Migilicutties. All the way.

Author: I don’t think those exist…

Milo: They do.

Author: Alright, how about some personal questions.  Milo, since you seem chatty tonight, there are quite a few out there that have their eyes set on you.

Milo: Got my eyes set on them too.

Author: And they wish to know, as a self-proclaimed cad, do you ever plan to settle down?

Milo: Oof. You go for the tough ones, huh? Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve kind of made a point never to say never in my life. I think holding yourself to one idea or one type of future is dangerous because in a blink of an eye, everything can change. Who I was ten years ago is completely different from who I am now. And I suspect that who I am ten years from now will be unrecognizable. So do I want to settle down? No. Will I one day? If the right person can convince me that it won’t end in heartache? Yeah.

Author: All valid points and I’m sure there is more to that story. But, alas, let's move on to Hazel.  The audience would like to know, how old is Mr. Billows really.

Hazel: (laughing) I think he’s about eleven? Maybe twelve. No. Wait. Fifteen.  He was full grown when he first started coming around, so I don’t know how long he lived before becoming my shop cat. But he is fat and happy, and I think has a lot of years left in him. There’s a woman, down in the Warehouses, that says she had a cat live until they were fifty. I’m hoping Billows is the same.

Author: And Belladonna, we just learned you are a business owner. Any plans on eventually just being that?

Belladonna: As opposed to a courtesan? The nice thing about me is I do not age so my so called ‘shelf life’ for entertaining will be eternal. Though, if the market gets anymore out of control, I am inclined to perhaps take a step back and conduct a more, slower, and safer lifestyle.

Gabriel: What do you mean the market is getting bad?

Belladonna: Do you truly not know?

Gabriel: Are your clients getting bad or the market, Ms. Malady.

Belladonna: I have a superb body guard, Warden. The best I’ve ever had.  Everything is under control. I assure you.

Author: That brings us to you, Gabriel. You are quite the rule follower and during this last chapter, some of us learned why. But is there ever a rule that you did break or would be willing to break in the future?

Gabriel: Of course not.

Milo: What’s that you said, Belladonna? About liars…?

Gabriel: Rules are there for a reason. I will not be breaking them.

Milo: The question was, have you broken any in the past, Gabby.  They’re looking for a dirty little secret. Which I know for a fact you have plenty.

Gabriel: This interview is done. I have more important things to attend to with the recent door activity.

(Gabriel gets up and leaves. Awkward silence fills the room)

Hazel: Did you have to push him? You know that he is under a lot of stress.

Milo: He’s not the only one.

Hazel: It wasn’t kind, Milo.  You don’t need to bring up his past like that. You know how he hates talking about it.

Belladonna: Hates talking about it, does he? Well. Good to know.

Hazel: No, I didn’t mean it like that. I… (looks to the interviewer with panicked eyes)

Author: Uh, well, that concludes this month’s Q&A.

Hazel: Thank you for having us!

Belladonna: It has been enlightening.

Milo: I think I pissed him off.

Hazel: You know you did, and we will be going to apologize. I’ll bring a basket of bread.

Belladonna: He doesn’t like bread. Try a bottle of wine.

Author:  Thank you everyone for your wonderful questions. Chapter four is on the way and I encourage you to send me in your questions for July at any point in time.  As always, your support means everything! See you next month!