Elliot rose from the cupboard where he had placed the last of the delivered ingredients.
*Klunk*
His head thumped against the upper seasoning shelf.
*Tink, tink, clink*
The small glass objects on the shelf tumbled and rolled from his blunder. Various seasoning scents rushed into Elliot’s nose and it began to itch. Elliot rolled his bottom lip and reached to rub his head as he felt a sneeze building. He didn’t notice his elbow catching the broom leaning against the wall beside him, its handle slowly sliding over to smack a pile of forgotten cauldrons and pots in the closet.
*GON-ANG-BANG-ang-ting-bang-ding….*
Elliot slapped his big palms against his ears in a panic to keep out the horrible clashing of the iron as it all settled. He hunched slightly and felt his hip bump the counter, but could only squeeze his eyes shut. He swayed and his foot caught on something, tripping him. Elliot still dare not take his hands from his ears with the ruckus so he swung his elbows forward as he fell. He was ready for a bit of hurt, and he hoped he could make it better later. His body tensed and he waited to finish falling. Elliot peaked out of one squinted eye and saw glass bottles and jars close to his face. He quickly shut his eye again, grimacing in fear of the glass which he was falling towards. Nothing happened. Cautiously, Elliot peaked again, and the jars were still the same distance away. He was tipped over, but he wasn’t falling.
Elliot then noticed The Barkeeper standing beside him. Elliot tried to wave as it was all he could think to do while in the middle of such a mess. His arm was stuck the same as everything else, so Elliot just gave a wide grin suddenly without any other motion. The Barkeeper tilted his head slightly to align with Elliot’s face.
“You seem to have been heading for a bit of danger,” the smaller man said. Elliot tried to nod but found his head could move very little. Especially with his stuck hands still clamped to the sides of his head.
“I’m n-n-not though?” Elliot said with a bit of hope in his voice as if questioning if The Barkeeper was here to save him. The Barkeeper shook his head.
“No, at the moment you have been held in place for extended consideration as to how to correct your blunder. I don’t think it would be best if I just come to pull you out from every problem. So then, how do you think you can correct this?” The Barkeeper said, his voice clear in Elliot’s head. Hands still on his ears Elliot turned his eyes to the floor and all of the glass objects. They would break and cut and stab. Elliot began to panic and his breathing became unsteady. His chest puffed and fought whatever held him. Elliot felt squished which made him even more afraid as he looked at the coming hurt he still had to try and fix. He looked back to his friend, hoping for an answer. The Barkeeper was still watching him with a tilted head.
“Elliot?” he said.
“Y-y-yes?!” Elliot said, still frightened.
The Barkeeper waved a hand and a folded piece of cloth appeared in front of him. It was grey and had trim on the hems, a piece of clothing of some sort. Elliot gave a hopeful smile again, wondering how the Barkeeper would use it to save him. The Barkeeper looked up and nodded slightly.
“Elliot, this is something I’ve been working on for you. I’ve not been sure if it would be of proper use, but we can let you try it and see. I am hoping that it will help you do more by yourself so that I will need to assist you less through the day. It will also let you do more things to some degree.”
Elliot was curious as to what such a plain cloak like thing would do for him. Still, if The Barkeeper said it would help, it most definitely would. Elliot nodded, “Ok.”
With a wave the cloth drifted over to Elliot and unfolded, a strap looping over his head of messy brown hair and settling on the back of his neck. The garment expanded to cover his front, then he felt it coil and tie behind his back. He couldn’t look down to see it fully, but he knew what an apron was. It was like Mama’s but had pockets and the grey made it look less girly. Elliot grinned at getting a new gift. He looked at The Barkeeper.
“Oooh I like…”
The knot cinched and twisted oddly at his back and Elliot suddenly felt a buzzing everywhere. Elliot’s head tingled, and his arms, and toes, and everything. It was…It was….exhilarating. Elliot hadn’t experienced such an occurrence such as this before. He looked down at the collection of glass vessels again. They were not as densely packed as he had thought previously. There was room for his hand to go between them and catch himself on the floor.
Elliot nodded calmly, “I believe I am ready.”
The Barkeeper smiled and Elliot at once resumed falling. Elliot shot his right hand forward, fingers together to wedge into a gap between the jars and bottles. The tile stung when his fingertips hit, but this outcome was prefered over what he had expected to happen. He teetered slightly so Elliot gently leaned on a glass bottle with his free hand, but with only enough force to correct his balance. Elliot bent his elbow and then shoved against the floor, rising back on stiff legs.
Once righted he appraised his new apron. It was still simply a plain grey front, but as he upturned the cloth he discovered hidden markings on the back. He looked at the magical script along the hem. He nodded, noting that they held values and conditions for enhancing the wearer throughout the various attributes which hold influence over a being’s interaction with the world. He began to look closer to study it when all at once the apron came loose and drifted back to The Barkeeper.
The Barkeeper’s face seemed puzzled.
“How do you feel Elliot?” he asked.
Elliot looked around feeling lost. He was a bit cold, like someone had just taken a warm blanket away all at once. He shrugged.
“I…I..I’m ok.”
Elliot felt heavy. A moment before he had felt like he could run and jump better than ever, and now he was just…heavy, again. He looked towards his friend who held the apron.
“Did, I-I-I do Ok with it?”
The Barkeeper nodded. “Yes, but I think I over did the magnitude of a few of the marks . It is a lot to handle all at once, and I don’t want it to be more than you can work with.”
Elliot nodded. Something within the pile of pots shifted and startled Elliot, making him duck, but he did well not to tumble. The Barkeeper smiled, “that is enough for today. I’ll prepare this better for tomorrow. You can tidy up then.”
Elliot nodded, eyes returning to the apron.
“T-t-tomorrow then.”