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Post by seraaches on Jan 22, 2009 15:22:58 GMT -5
Haret gave a small sigh of relief as she cleaned the last of the tables after the lunchtime rush. She'd been caught here as she made her plans to try and repay the wonderful Queen of Spades, her Majesty Lysaras. She'd kept telling herself that soon, soon she'd move out of the Capital and make her way back to the Court of Spades. But now. . . The news had struck her like a physical blow. Queen Lysaras was dead. Replaced by some horrible woman who had killed her in cold blood. Haret had stayed home from work for nearly a week. Now she was back, but stuck in limbo; what in the world was she to do now? So she remained in the Capital, working the tables at the cafe and waited for some strike of divine intervention or brilliance. The Torque gathered up her cloth before noticing that another customer approached. She swiftly put it away and grabbed a menu, forcing a smile on her face as she greeted the customer. "Good afternoon. How many are in your party?" |
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Post by Lucca on Jan 22, 2009 15:56:08 GMT -5
 Colin was in a good mood. This wasn't a very odd thing for him, to be sure, but he was also in the Capitol, which...generally didn't put him in a very good mood. Too many disrespectful cards there, and too many just plain weird ones. He usually made it a point to only travel outside his home region when absolutely necessary, and even then to keep it as short as possible. Today, though, after the fifth time messing up while practicing an absurdly simple piano solo, he'd decided a change of pace would be in order. After happily wandering for an hour or so (at least the weather was cooperative), he'd found a little cafe that seemed not to be very crowded. He hopped inside...and blinked in surprise as he was greeted by a rather...strange-looking waitress. A Torquehelm, if he wasn't mistaken--one of those whose company he usually made an effort to avoid. They tended to carry gloom with them wherever they went, or so it seemed to him. Today, though, he refused to let that put a damper on his mood. So he returned the smile she gave him as he replied to her question. "Ah, just me, I'm afraid." |
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Post by seraaches on Jan 22, 2009 16:38:31 GMT -5
Haret had no idea how to reply to that statement; so she gave a little curtsy-bob and carefully turned to gesture into the cafe. "Yes, sir; this way, sir."
The Torque woman led the way to a table, her tail carefully tucked between her legs to keep it from getting in the way. The man was very cheerful, so she brought him to one of their smaller tables that overlooked the street and had a great deal of sunshine. It seemed, she thought to fit the cardinal's demeanour.
She waited until he picked which of the two seats he desired and then carefully slid the menu down on the table in front of him. Her time spent as a waitress here had helped her stunted social skills a great deal, yet she still struggled to be personable and friendly. "May I bring you a beverage, sir?" she asked in her usual, low yet feminine voice. "We have a wonderful selection of teas."
(( i forgot how socially awkward she is. xD;; Gomen ne! ))
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Post by Lucca on Jan 22, 2009 23:55:45 GMT -5
((sorry this took a while...company was over. XP))
Colin followed the woman briskly, a slight spring in his step. At least her being a waitress and him a customer meant that she most likely wouldn't have time to whine about her miserable life. So he was a bit bigoted...but really, most of the other realms' residents had so many...issues. Issues he didn't need to deal with. He had enough of his own.
He sat down in the chair closest to the window, folding his wings in his lap and looking fairly relaxed, but somehow dignified at the same time. (So he hoped.) He turned to look at her again (his gaze had drifted out the window for a moment) as she spoke. At least her voice, though low, didn't have the undertones of absolute despondancy he'd heard from many Torqueholms.
"Tea?" He tapped a wing feather to his beak in a thoughtful expression. He'd never been overly fond of tea, to be honest, but he usually drank it anyway, since it was said to be THE drink of the higher class...and despite his low rank, Colin usually fancied himself to be such a person. But today...he almost wanted to just let loose...but no. No, even here, far from home, he still had a reputation to keep.
"Tea would be lovely," he decided, smiling up at her cheerily. "What would you recommend?" All teas were pretty much equal in Colin's mind. None of them he really liked, but none of them were so disgusting he couldn't stand to drink them to boost his image. Well, except that one AWFUL Yarrow blend his aunt had decided to serve...but he doubted he'd ever encounter it again. Hopefully not, as he no longer remembered the ingrediants within that blend.
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Post by seraaches on Jan 23, 2009 15:37:37 GMT -5
Haret had never been much of a tea drinker before she relocated to the Capital. Here it seemed people offered you tea before anything else. So she had learned to drink it and, to a degree and with certain blends, even to like it.
This gentleman, however, held himself with an air of distinction for all that he was 'only' a Five. She was only a Seven, after all, and she hadn't started out this 'high'. Perhaps he was a famous artist or musician. There were many who didn't worry about ranking when they could be practicing their craft.
"Well, our tea of the day is Rosepip with orange, though we also carry. . ." She told the man their rather extensive list of teas, finishing up with the information, "And we can make a blend of any of these."
She wondered if he had ties to the Court, and thus knew of the new Queen at all. Most of those who had come through recently had been fleeing the Court of Spades.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 24, 2009 11:25:01 GMT -5
Colin tilted his head in a thoughtful expression, head spinning a bit as she listed off what seemed like an excessively long list of teas. In his favored cafe back home in Villa en Miir, there was a far smaller selection...possibly because most of the teas had to be imported. And since tea really was just tea to him...he decided to just make the easy choice.
"Rosepip with orange? That sounds good," he said, smiling up at her again. Despite being a Torquehelm, she wasn't so bad, he decided abruptly. Briefly, his gaze flicked to her chest, searching for her rank and suit. Odd how he hadn't tried before...a Seven of Clubs, apparently. Eh, it didn't make a huge difference to him, as long as the other wasn't a heart or a face card. Or, worse, both. Erg. He hated feeling outranked like that.
He'd always wanted to increase his own rank, after all, who wanted to be a Five forever? He didn't really have Courtly ambitions though, never being really big on politics. Which was odd, because he certainly knew his way around social politics well enough.
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Post by seraaches on Jan 25, 2009 13:35:39 GMT -5
Haret's tail did a slow wag as he picked the coffee of the day, and she her smile seemed to brighten ever so slightly. "I'll have your tea in just a moment then, sir. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have about our menu when I return."
She headed toward the kitchen with a surprising speed for her large frame. She was still careful in how she moved, however; too much of her youth her bindings had been too tight and she'd spent it hunched over and clumsy. She was only gone a minute or so; the cafe sold enough tea that they had a hot pot of water up at all times and they kept their tea of the day seeped and ready to go. It was, after all, the tea of the day.
So Haret returned with a warm pot, and she carefully flipped the nice teacup over from its place on his table and poured out for him.
(( *glee!* You're going to rank him! hehe ))
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Post by Lucca on Jan 26, 2009 19:47:07 GMT -5
Colin was momentarily surprised at the reaction he got. Pleased, but surprised. He'd never seen a Torque look so...happy before. Her tail was even wagging a bit! Briefly, Colin was forced to reevaluate his thoughts. Was this woman an exception, or was he really that blind before? Maybe he really should get out more...
This train of thought was (thankfully) interrupted when she returned, pot of tea in hand, and quickly enough that the cardinal was impressed. He shifted in his chair slightly in order to reach the teacup better with his claws, keeping his wings carefully back out of the way--they had been known to cause accidents before, and he really didn't want that to happen here.
"Thank you, ma'am," he intoned politely, grasping the teacup in his claws delicately and bringing it up to his beak. He had to hide a flinch as he tasted the stuff though; he'd forgotten to add sugar! He coughed a bit to cover whatever might have shown through. "Nice and hot," he said with a slightly apologetic smile, setting the cup down carefully. As teas went, it wasn't bad, he decided. Just needed sweetener.
At this point, Colin remembered he should have been figuring out what he wanted to eat...whoops. It had slipped his mind in all the business about tea and Torqueholms and other such things. He glanced down at the menu; luckily it didn't ever take him to long to make descisions.
"I think a sandwich would do me nicely," he said, looking back up at the waitress. He pointed at the menu with a claw.
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Post by seraaches on Jan 27, 2009 2:36:12 GMT -5
The Torque hadn't thought to warn the man that the tea would be hot; he had agreed so readily to suggestion of tea that she naturally assumed he enjoyed drinking it. Perhaps he didn't brew his own quite so hot? But their cooks were certain that it was a blend requiring hot water for the perfect seep. Ah, well; he didn't seem upset or surprised, so she let it slip by.
Haret politely scooted around to the back of his chair to see which sandwich he was pointing at; it was difficult to crane her head without moving her arms because of her binding and people seemed to be more bothered by that then by her coming closer to see.
"Excellent choice, sir," she offered softly. "It should only be a few minutes." She collected the menu without another word and quickly returned it to its place by the door before going to put in the order. She spoke a great deal more now than she had ever done before, but she still wasn't necessarily good at it outside of her work situation.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 28, 2009 18:59:32 GMT -5
Colin was relieved when his would-be faux pas with the tea seemed to go unnoticed by the waitress. So far, he had nothing to complain about in regards to her service, so he didn't want her to get the wrong impression.
With this in mind, he tried his best to control the natural reaction to shy away slightly as the woman moved closer to him. He was...a bit uncomfortable by anyone invading his personal space. He especially hated it when anyone messed up his pretty feathers. Not that she had come too close to him, and once Colin realized she was merely trying to look at what he was pointing to on the menu, he relaxed. All she might have noticed was the bird tensing and shifting slightly in his chair.
But he turned and smiled at her again as she spoke. "Thank you. I look forward to it," he told her, with a slight inclination of his head. As she bustled off to make the sandwich, Colin wasted no time in finding a packet of sugar from the center of the table. Taking it delicately between two claws, he ripped the paper with his beak and emptied the contents into his tea. After repeating this action no less than three times, he stirred and took another cautious sip. His beak turned in a satisfied smile. Much more palatable.
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