Chapter 14

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Other than the brewing processes: a brewster's work also involves heavy doses of cleaning and sterilizing cauldrons, kegs, and tanks. Bending water for rinsing comprises a huge amount of the actual work of concocting the brewsters like to jest that they are mostly janitors who occasionally whip up beer.

Wanda Maximoff started her day on the brew deck, she watched as the malted grains mixed with boiling-hot water to produce a substance called wort - the liquid base of the beer. Milla then double-checks the beers' recipes to make sure the other ingredients: hops, yeast, and adjuncts are weighed and ready: she added the hops for the IPA, the quantity of additional black roast malts for a stout, and the specific yeast strain for a Belgian beer.

Brewsters in small-scale bierhouses have indeed the inventive freedom to cook eccentric beers, which Wanda appreciates. The redhead eyes the fluid transfer of hot liquid between stainless steel cauldrons.

Wanda levitated the contents of 10 large barrel cauldrons; over 500 pounds of steaming wet grains into bins. She then rolls this outside where the local farmers of the town will pick up the spent grain to use as additional feed for the cows.

Milla checks on the beers in the fermenting cauldrons; the temperatures & tests pH as well as the other indicators of the frothing beers. She smells & tastes every one of them for quality control; with her anti-alcohol runes activated.

Milla runs the beers into the jugs from the bottom of the tanks to see what the yeast is doing, all the while adding notes to clipboards hanging from each fermentation cauldron.

Wanda & Milla ate their lunch while waiting for the beers to get ready for refilling, bottling, canning, and storing for ripening. Earlier that day the adult had packed their lunches together, so they could just eat them wherever they go at work - their meal consists of mashed potatoes, a vegetable salad, and pan-seared fish.

The ginger noticed how quiet Milla is which is uncommon for the kid. She also eats minimal considering that she loves every dish related to spuds. At the present moment, Milla also tends to stare at nothing - it made Wanda worried.

"Are you ok?" Wanda said. Milla ate a spoonful of her salad.

"Hmm?" Milla said, her attention caught. Wanda sees the girl's eyebags.

"Are you ok?" Wanda repeated firmly.

"I'm fine," Milla answered, eating mashed potato.

The red-haired woman knew that she was lying.

"Do you have another one of those nightmares?" Wanda said, referring to astral travelling to the Dark World. The girl was silent for a second before answering back to the woman's question.

"Yes," Milla said quietly.

The woman nodded.

"Finish eating… Then we'll go see the problem later, ok?" Wanda said to which the girl nodded.

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"Hey!" Wanda said after she saw Liseth and Natasha smoking a coffin nail outside the Bierhaus. The motorbiker and the assassin look at the ginger and the kid.

"We're going home," Wanda said, holding Milla's hand. Liseth glances at her wristwatch.

"It's not time yet? Is she sick?" Liseth said, referring to Milla.

"Yeah," Wanda said, excusing both of them.

Liseth nodded: "Alright, get well - (nodding to Milla),"

"Thanks, Liseth," Milla said.

The Variant [Part One] [Wanda Maximoff [FF] | Elizabeth Olsen Where stories live. Discover now