Arkay muttered to himself as he wandered the overly large supermarket. He was listening to some music on a small audio player, which was connected to the headphones he was wearing. As to what Arkay actually wanted to buy, he wasn’t particularly sure. There was a shopping list in front of him, but Arkay wasn’t paying attention. All he knew was that he just needed to get out of the house for a bit.
Suddenly, Arkay and his trolley came to an abrupt halt. A very fluffy halt, into something much larger than Arkay.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Arkay immediately blurted. “Wasn’t paying attention.”
“It’s good. No problem. Just accident.”
Picking himself up, Arkay glanced upwards to see what he had bumped into. It was a wall of fur and feathers. Fluffy, soft and yellow.
“You wouldn’t know where the spices are, friend?”
A telepathic message fluttered in the air briefly before delivering itself to Arkay. The wall of fluff turned around to face Arkay, revealing itself to be a large, orange-billed avian being.
“Oh, you prefer telepathy?” Arkay asked.
“Yes. Makes it easier to talk, friend. You can continue with sound-based communication though, if you prefer.”
Arkay blinked for a second, then glanced at his shopping list. “I was just about to go there anyway, I can show you.”
“That would be appreciated!” The large, fluffy avian being seemed to drift to one side, letting Arkay pass, before floating slightly ominously behind the former death god. The aisle wasn’t too far away, just a few meters north. But Arkay understood that these shops were basically mazes to anyone who rarely visited them.
Just ahead was the spice aisle. This aisle in particular was huge, and ran across most of the shop, with 10 aisles running perpendicular through it. Arkay was looking for onion and garlic powders, but he had no idea what his new furry buddy wanted.
“So, uh, which spices do you need?”
“A few.”
The larger being trailed off, inspecting each shelf and reading all the labels of the spices near it. Arkay watched as it started high then lowered itself down, hovering with ease. If it had hands and feet, Arkay couldn’t tell, there was so much fur in the way. However, the being slowly lowered itself down, reaching for the same shelf Arkay was standing at.
“You want onion powder?”
“I do, actually. Makes it so much easier to cook with!” The fluffy entity may have been smiling, but it had a beaked mouth and it was impossible to tell. “Garlic too. And yes, the pea powder, which I adore.”
“Pea powder?” Arkay glanced back at the shelf. He hadn’t really noticed the dried powders from other vegetables.
“Yes, they go very nicely in my home-made crackers. Cannot get enough of peas.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Arkay shrugged. “I cheat and use garlic powder when making fancy garlic butter.”
“I am sure your garlic butter would go well with my pea crackers! Anyway, thank you for the assistance.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Arkay found himself smiling a bit. “Are you new around here?”
“Somewhat. You?”
Arkay nodded. “Yeah, I’m moving in from the other side of this sector.”
“For good reasons?”
“Good and bad. It’s complicated…” Arkay trailed off.
The large wall of fluff snorted. “Would you like to talk about it over coffee one day?”
Arkay blinked, then looked up at the creature. “Coffee?”
“Yes. Hot water with a brown, bitter powder added to it. Preferably with milk and sugar.”
“Heh, I know what coffee is, don’t drink it myself. But going out for a drink would be lovely!”
“Lovely. What is your name?” the feathered wall asked.
“Oh, I’m Arkay!” Arkay bowed. “And you?”
“I am Dumk!” Dumk replied, bowing its head. “We should meet for coffee soon.”
Arkay’s smile turned into a frown. “I’m mostly busy moving house this weekend.”
“So am I, funnily enough. Some other time then?”
“Sure, I guess…” The smile returned. Arkay reached into a small pocket dimension and pulled out a business card. “Here are my details, let me know when you’re free!”
“Wonderful!” Dumk quacked. “See you around!”