[October Prompt] No Mead

4. Inconvenient, perhaps, but not really an issue.

Corraine had never been much of a drinker. Sure, she didn't mind a drink here and there, but taverns had always been a stressful place for her. Somehow, they always ended up too tight, too crowded. It was no place for a magic as cursed and foul as hers, where her very presence could make others too sick to their stomachs to eat or drink. They were too claustrophobic, too dangerous. Too overwhelming for the reclusive Corraine. Though she wanted to like them, wanted to understand, she simply could not enjoy her time in a bar.

The only time she enjoyed drinking was at the kindness of others. A wanderer as herself, desperately trying to get by day by day, she did sometimes find the kindnesses of others. Barkeepers or townsfolk who saw her need, or her unwillingness, to ruin a night at the tavern even if it kept her from her dinner. Or others yet who offered her their spare rooms for a night and offered her a drink in the meantime. Those drinks, those kindnesses, were treasured by Corraine. Sharing a drink was a small act of kindness to some, but for a doe who was a stranger wherever she travelled, it was incredibly meaningful to her.

So, when the mead stopped flowing from the town of Mead, it didn't affect Corraine much. She wouldn't have bought it for herself, and much preferred other offerings like tea when given the choice. Though she appreciated it when gifted by strangers, it was no great loss to her in its absence. Though she felt for those who missed the atmosphere of a busy bar and could see the worry on the faces of tavernkeepers and their regulars alike, she herself did not mind. She would survive this, and whatever else came her way. Survive and, maybe, one day, learn how to thrive.