Brewing Stand | DNF, DreamNotFound

1

"George, are you sure this is really what you want?" The man in front of me asked, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. His eyes looked tired and a bit dead and his hair had a few streaks of gray.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Do you know the constique-"

"I'm aware of them, yes."

"Alright then."

He pulled out a vile of some thick, red liquid from the long brown cloak he wore. It was too bright to be blood, too thick to really be anything else. I assumed it was crushed spider eyes.

I watched him work his magic with a brewing stand. There were three bottles but he cut off the flow to two of them so everything would go to the bottle in the front. He poured a small amount of this bright orange and red sparkly pouder into a tube. He poured that weird red stuff into another area, and then some clear formula, and he used one of those things you use for eye drops to put just two drops of something similar to milk into it.

"Now we wait." He said, looking at me, "Mind if I ask who this is for?"

"You know, somebody." I replied, "Somebody I've known for a long time."

"And you're not afraid of losing them if this makes things weird?" The man asked, curiousness more evident in his voice than judgement.

"I know it won't. We've known each other for way too long for that to happen." I smiled, thinking of all the years we've been together and how I've watched him and his pretty face grow into an adult.

"Well, as long as you're sure." The man checked the potion, dipping a stick into it. The stick came out colored yellow for some reason, and he frowned. He flipped some switch and watched it carefully as the potion bubbled.

"I honestly can't believe you traveled all the way out here to some drug dealing van for a potion." The man said, "You have no reason to trust me. It's interesting."

I shrugged. "No reason to not trust you either."

He glanced at me and smiled a little. "You better learn to trust people less before you get yourself hurt. You're lucky I don't have a reason or an urge to kill you."

This man is fucking weird. But for some reason I genuinely think he's honest. Maybe he's just too honest and that's the problem.

"I plan on starting a nation, you know." He told me, "You're welcome to visit when it's begun."

"Maybe I'll stop by." I said.

The man took the potion out of the stand and shut it all off. He shook the potion in his hand and held it close to his face, inspecting it like he was looking for something inside of it.

"This should do it. Six of those pearls, for this."

I nodded and took out six ender pearls from a bag in my pocket. They're small, so it's easy to keep them on hand.

The man took them, and soon I was holding a potion in my hands.

"Pour that into something they're going to drink, but pour all of it or it won't work."

I nodded again, "Thank you. By the way, I never got your name."

He smiled, "You don't need to know. If you ever want to see me again, ask about L'Manburg and you'll find me."

"...Okay then."

---

I set the potion down on my kitchen counter. Now it's time to plan. I think I'll invite him over for a nice dinner and I'll slip it into his wine. He'll be too distracted by the fact that I'm cooking and preparing a genuine dinner for him to notice anything's off.

And then he'll drink the potion, and I'll get what I want from him.

Sure, it may be cruel. But if he's not willing to give me what I want without bribery, I have to find something he wants that I can provide. And currently, there's nothing I have that he doesn't.

But soon, that will all change. He'll want something from me, and I'll make my move. We'll make a deal, and I'll let him have what he wants from me and I'll get what I want from him.

This is going to be perfect.