They might be here to visit, but no force in the world could stop a Blackwood witch from being industrious. So after a stop at the park for a bit, the Blackwoods had headed over to town, carrying the boxes of cosmetics and consumables that the Old Wives had brought with them to start trying to fill the empty shelves that Pam's weeding out had left behind.

There were cleansers, there were bath bombs, bubble baths, body sprays. There were lotions, there were soaps, showers gels, scrubs, and shampoos (with conditioners of course). Massage oils, hair care products, solid perfumes, lotions, even candles. It was like someone had gone through the Lush website and used it as a checklist for production.

"Okay, even I'm impressed," Adrian admitted, looking around at everything they were unpacking and shelving. "How did you all get this done in such little time?"

"Foresight," Muriel deadpanned.

"Wait, really?"

Lydia thumped Adrian in the ear. "Mundane foresight," she told him. "Some of this we've pulled off of shipments to go to the Anchor Markets, so they'd better sell."

"And we reached out to the other covens for help," Agatha said, dreamily. She was in a particularly good mood today. "Your cousin Nora, from the Gulf coven, has been sending us her shower jellies."

"Shower jellies?" Adrian asked. Muriel was already tossing him a box that contained a pair of them. He pulled one out and and laughed as it wobbled in his palm. "Amazing," he said. "Nora is clearly a genius."

Had he met Nora? He couldn't remember, but if you gave him a minute or so, he could probably recite where in the family tree she was.

"We've also started making products without magic, just for your store," Lydia added, holding up a box that was lightly shaded gray instead of their normal white. There were far more gray boxes than white, actually. "Most of the magical cosmetics you sell here are bought as novelties, as opposed to magic being a requirement to sell to the Holy City. Making purely mundane versions means less we'll be diverting from the Holy City to you, but also let us make your items faster and can be sold for cheaper."

"Without having to skimp on the quality in other areas," Muriel added. "Not that we ever would mind."

"But you'll still get some, along with whatever stuff you personally make," Muriel reassured him, amused by whatever expression she saw on his face.

Briefly, Adrian worried what Pam would say if he told her he was now selling some stuff that wasn't magical. And then he figured that so long as he swore that the stuff he was still selling remained free of plastics, parabens, and unethically-sourced mica, he was probably all set.

[Open]