Taking a breath, or taking work along with? [End]

[Greenie]

He grimaced again. "Usually just out here. Occasionally the other Courts. I rarely get sent out to the realms - that would be far too exciting," He replied dryly. His "escapades" were usually entirely business as well - he rarely had time to stop and chat as he was doing now. Technically he shouldn't be.. but if Colin didn't tell, he wasn't going to tell! "The Kings tend to get sent out to the interesting locations, since there's more of them." Even there he was the exception - as a King, he'd been one of few, and hadn't gone anywhere.

Mia considered the word. "Less of a terror, and more of a sneak. He's rarely outright rebellious, but he likes causing trouble." He sighed. At that moment the cake chose to show up - it was a giant, two-tiered creation, covered in chocolate fondant and adorned with raspberry-flavored roses and crownings, but it was difficult to see, as it was covered in a box that had one small "window" at the top of it. He thanked the delivery man, and pushed the box across the table to Colin. "There you are! I'm sure our food will be along any moment. As for Zether.... I can only hope."

[Lucca]

Colin smiled, amused, though he tried to tone it into a more sympathetic look. "Ah, I see. Well, not all the Realms are exciting...I've never had much fun making a delivery to Morganberry, for example...I've met plenty of pleasant Morganberries, mind you...just not usually pleasant clients from that region for some reason." He shrugged, privately thinking it would be quite exciting to see other Courts. Well, if he had enough prestige that they'd actually give him the time of day. Someday, he thought to himself dreamily. "But you're a Queen," he argued teasingly. "Don't you have some say in where you get sent on missions?"

He chuckled again, nodding to show he understood...but before he could say anything else on the subject of Zether, he was distracted as what must have been the biggest cake he'd ever seen was wheeled in. And from what little the Cardinal could see from the viewing hole in the box, it looked amazing. "Oh my..." Colin breathed, unable to help a wide-eyed look of awe. "Thank you...this looks amazing. Suits." He wondered how he was going to get it home in one piece...it would take some doing and a lot of careful flying. Either that, or he'd have to hire a delivery service.

[Greenie]

Mia idly tapped his finger on the table, musing over the few realms he'd been to. "I've never been to Morganberry, but I've met some of their ambassadors; they're.. an interesting people." Shall we say? Yes, that was the polite version. "I visited some of the realms before I officially joined the Courts, but I never made it to any of the vacation spots, alas." Unless you counted Midori - but he didn't particularly count giving birth as a vacation. "Have a choice?" He snickered. "I wish. No, I get sent where I'm needed. If I have a choice - which isn't often - it's usually a 'lesser of two evils' scenario."

He was absurdly pleased at Colin's expression - it wasn't often he got to deliver happy little presents on unsuspecting laps. "Not a problem. Oh, food!" He exclaimed happily, as the waiter descended upon them with their dishes. He let Colin enjoy the cake and dug in.

[Lucca]

"They are at that," Colin agreed with a nod...though one might wonder what he would say if he knew there was a Morganberry girlfriend in his future...but that has nothing to do with this current time, as he didn't know this and wouldn't for several months yet. "The Realm itself is...well, it's a nice enough place, but far too flat in my opinion." But then, since the Cardinal was from the Villa...most of the other Realms seemed flat to him. He laughed a bit, shaking his head in sympathy. He was definitely loosening up a bit around this Ferret. "The hidden pitfalls of being royalty, eh?"

He was distracted from staring, open-beaked at the cake when their food arrived. Promptly, Colin shut his beak, blushing slightly under his feathers, and turned to the food. It smelled wonderful, and tasted even better, having that sort of 'rich' taste food sometimes had that made it all worth it--until the one paying saw the bill. But considering in this case the one paying was a titled Queen, Colin could enjoy this meal free of guilt. He did keep stealing glances at the cake, eventually deciding he didn't want to risk it to his own clumsiness--he'd hire a professional delivery guy.

[Greenie]

Mia had never really understood the few Morganberries he'd met - he had yet to meet one outside of Court, though, which may have something to do with his dislike for them. Those of them that went to Court tended to be a bit.. overbearing. "Flat? I'd never thought of it that way." He snorted, having already decided he didn't particularly want to visit.

"Yes, yes. They always avoid telling you how life-stealing it is.. but I suppose I'm one of "them" now, so I probably shouldn't betray my secrets... whatever they are." The ferret grinned. If only he had people to "creatively lie" to to convince them to join in their ranks. Finding Kings - and even Jacks - was becoming annoyingly difficult.

The ferret eyed the cake, which he'd realized was a bit big for the bird to carry on his own. "Are you going to need help with that? I'm rather good at convincing waiters to do things they don't want to." He snickered, and eyed the feline that was making his rounds to tables.

[Lucca]

Colin chuckled a bit at Mia's joke...privately thinking about the day (hopefully not too far into the future) where he himself might actually be of a high enough Rank to consider joining the Courts...his only reluctance was that he still didn't have much experience with politics. Good manners could only get you so far once you actually had to be making descisions. Well, that and he worried he wouldn't have time for his music anymore, which was the most important thing to him. Meeting Queen Donnie had eased this fear--somewhat.

"Oh!" Colin flushed, in the process of taking a bite of his meal, and turned to glance at the cake, then at Mia. "Well, I was thinking I may hire someone to deliver it to my home for me...since I don't want to risk damaging it on the way, and flying all the way up into the Villa with something that heavy would be a bit...awkward for me." He looked a bit sheepish to be admitting this, but gave Mia a small smile.

[Greenie]

Mia eyed the bird, wondering what he was thinking about. All this talk of Mia's job had to make him curious as to what the members of the Court actually did, yet he wasn't making many attempts to poke or prod the ferret for answers. Most people were less scrupulous than that.. or they were so wrapped up in the fact that they were talking to a Queen that they blathered. He hated blathering.

He considered that. He'd simply assumed Colin was taking it somewhere else in the city - a perfectly respectable distance to bribe a waiter to take something - but the Villa was another matter entirely. "The Villa, hmm? Well, how about you find someone you trust, and I'll cover it? It's my fault the cake's so big, anyways, I can hardly let you take responsibility for it." He mentally chastised himself for not thinking it through entirely - poor bird couldn't even carry the cake at all.

He let Colin think about that, then continued with his next train of thought. "So where are you off to after lunch today?"

[Lucca]

Ah, drat, had he not actually mentioned before he lived in the Villa? Colin wilted slightly, feeling somehow inadequate that he had let this piece of vital information go unspoken. After all, so many people lived in the Capital, from all regions, that it was silly of him to still think, whenever he saw a Card from his own region, that they still dwelt there. "It's all right, not your fault at all," Colin assurred him hastily. "But that's...very kind of you. I do know of a good delivery service..."

The Cardinal thought about it a little more while he ate some of his lovely meal. He'd need to get in contact with them very soon, then, the sooner the better, so that the cake could possibly beat him home...

"Hm?" Colin looked up, distracted, and swallowed hastily, since talking with one's beak full is just plain bad manners. "Actually, after this I should probably head home...get my Mother to working on those curtains...though if I know her she's already started." He smiled at Mia. "I was actually thinking that maybe we could get the waiter to do us a favor...of notifying the delivery service about the cake."

[Greenie]

Mia didn't mean to upset the bird, but he wasn't entirely sure what he'd done; it was a fairly simple assumption, and also easily corrected. Colin lived in the Villa, so they took the cake to the Villa. Problem solved. "Good. The cake will get home safe and sound, then. No worries." He smiled reassuringly, hoping Colin wasn't offended by something he'd done. He was so oblivious sometimes, he knew that..

The ferret nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. I should probably be heading back to Spades myself.. They're going to wonder if I got accosted." He snickered. Chances are no one was going to pick a fight with him, looking like he did, but anything was possible in this City. "I think we can arrange for that.." He motioned the waiter over and requested the favor; the waiter immediately sent a bus boy out to the delivery service at a dead run.

[Lucca]

Colin forced his beak into a natural-looking smile, not wanting the Queen to think he was offended or that he was upset at anyone but his own fool self. His crest was smoothed back and he managed to feel mostly calm, which surprised him. The Queen had such a casual, friendly manner about him that it was hard for Colin to remember he was in the presence of royalty. Luckily for the Cardinal (or so he thought) his good breeding made certain that he kept careful guard of his tongue around anyone, no matter their Rank. Though if he met someone low enough, he'd expect them to show proper deference to him, or he may get upset.

Even the Ferret's strange appearance seemed oddly familiar now. And at the thought of the good word Mia would put in with Queen Donnie for him to perform at Court he was dancing inside. "I'm not worried," Colin said, the smile still firmly on his beak. "Just...don't want to inconvenience anyone, is all, and least enough yourself."

He continued to eat, watching as the bus boy scurried off on the errand and calling out a thanks to him. Wow, Mia really -did- have a lot of clout with the waiters...look how fast that boy was booking it. Maybe he was a Spade? The Cardinal turned back to Mia. "Ah, thank you, Your Majesty. And thank you for lunch, as well, it was...a real pleasure to have your company," he said politely, figuring that he might as well say all this now in case Mia had to leave in a hurry to get back to Court. Though he didn't feel as bad as he normally would for distracting a Queen from their duties since he was helping Mia with his mission to find curtains.