This morning's prompt is 'mortar'.

Stuff!

"What are you making, now?"

Alex set the pestle down in the mortar, and glared at Vera. Veracity was helping him, doing maintenance on the small army of bots he employed in his 'garden', but she would have done that for the bots anyway. There was a strange thing going on there, like she almost shared her soul with the inanimate matter turned animate. He sighed.

"Thanks for helping me."

Vera stared at him like he'd grown a horn in the middle of his forehead.

"Are you alright?!"

"Of course!" Alex said and changed the subject. "I'm making a traditional Markov sauce."

Vera made a face. "Bitterroot gives me gas, and it's in everything they like!"

"Not everything..."