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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on Mar 25, 2008 22:19:10 GMT -5
Tem took the seat opposite Elyssa, and she smiled as he sat and took the chance to take a closer look at his attire. It was definitely the style of the upper class, but even moreso than she was used to seeing. Either he was going to extraordinary lengths to impress someone at the higher levels or he simply didn’t get to pick and choose his clothing. She decided on the latter, for her companion seemed the type of person who would choose such frivolous clothing under normal circumstances. The practical side of her mind advised against bringing it up as a conversation topic, and so she let the thought be pushed to the back of her mind.
“Yes, this is a very nice place,” she said in response to his comment about the tea shop. “I completely agree. Tea would be quite appropriate.” He waived to a waiter, who then nodded and left for the time being. She watched as Tem adjusted the coat hanging on the back of his chair and listened to him speak. She unintentionally gave a sigh of relief. It was immensely refreshing to find someone who didn’t want to discuss matters that were normally the topic of every young person’s conversation.
Elyssa paused for a moment, trying to think of something intelligent yet not so inherently boring that would, as he said, put him to sleep. Her eyes wandered, as they always did when she was forced to actually think about something. It was an unusual and frustrating circumstance for someone who was normally quick with words, but she soon thought of something. She could only hope she wasn’t being too blunt by saying it.
She started by giving her most charming smile. “Well, since I wouldn’t think it too forward to inquire about your life, I hope you would feel the same way and indulge me a little something about yourself. Tell me about your past, your interests, anything. I would really just love to know more about you.” She cocked her head to the side, waiting.
[[soooo sorry about my posting delays]]
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on Mar 30, 2008 0:23:46 GMT -5
((I can't be mad because this response was pretty slow too so no worries.. ) Tem smiled at her invitation to talk about himself, he liked that she was interested in him, but being asked like this made him freeze up. As he sat there, he wondered if there was anything interesting enough to start a conversation with. “This is more difficult than I had expected,” he said with another smile. To stall for time he waved at a server, who promptly walked to their table. He inquired what they would like and Tem answered tea, the waiter asked what type they would prefer. The man looked impatient and Tem didn’t want to waste his time by taking ages to decide, so he just chose with his usual favorite, which of course he couldn’t remember the name of. “We’ll take that dark tea that has those spearmint leaves in it,” he said vaguely. Somehow the waiter realized what he meant and gave a sharp nod before darting off. Tem frowned, the man had disappeared before he had a chance to ask for something to go with the tea. “I hope you don’t mind that I just ordered my favorite type of tea, the man seemed busy. In fact, too busy to ask if we wanted anything to eat. Which I kind of do,” he said. “I think you will like the tea that I picked, it is rather good, as far as tea goes.” He rubbed his thumb over the smooth surface of the table thoughtfully, then decided to make a confession of sorts. Leaning forward, he said, “Between you and me, I can’t stand tea. When I am at tea with someone I usually mix excessive amounts of sugar into it and then choke it down.” Tem laughed halfheartedly, “It’s pretty much a crime in Tortall, isn’t it? People seem to worship the stuff.” He liked that his uncle wasn’t here to give him a disapproving look as he said that, it was relaxing to not have him breathing down his neck, constantly worried about Tem embarrassing him. It made Tem feel giddy and wild, a strange combination that spelled out a sense of freedom that he only got when he was running. He wondered what his uncle would say if he knew that he was having tea with a strange young woman that he had met in the marketplace, his face would probably go a few shades lighter than it already was, that was for sure. Tem liked being away from it all, even though he knew that he would never survive without his uncle’s guidance. Society was far too confusing and irrational for him to live in without someone to tell him exactly how to deal with it, and remembering this made his enjoyment of the moment as bittersweet. As much as he loved a good rebellion from his uncle, the truth always remained that he owed so much to his uncle. Tem adjusted the collar of shirt, tuning himself back into the conversation at hand, it was too hard to think about all this while talking to someone at the same time. As usual, he shoved his doubts into the back of his mind and focused on the situation at hand. He wanted to be entertained by this new friend that he had found, she had incited some of his infamous curiosity, which he felt that had been smothered lately.
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on Apr 1, 2008 8:52:20 GMT -5
Elyssa sat, her hands folded neatly on the table and watched as Tem became a bit nervous from her invitation to talk. She wasn’t totally surprised about it; most young men were a bit reluctant to chatter away about themselves, unless of course they were of the gentry, in which case it would be their most beloved pastime. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. As much as her mother would be enthralled by it, Elyssa simply did not find such men attractive on any level. She liked her friends to have at least some depth to them, and Tem seemed to have more than the usual young nobleman, a thought that made her relived beyond explanation.
He appeared to be thinking of something to tell her when he suddenly stopped and waived over an impatient-looking server and ordered tea. She grinned when she heard that he ordered a variety that she liked rather well. He seemed taken aback by the waiter’s hastiness and apologized for not ordering anything to eat. She shrugged. “I’m not terribly hungry, but if you’d like, I’ll ask for something to eat when he comes back,” she said, her eyes moving to the waiter and watching as he bustled about the shop. It was a bit odd to see such hasty service in a tea shop, after all, it was a place where most folk went to slow down the pace of their hectic day and relax over a hot, steaming cup of tea and a scone or something of the sort.
Tem’s confession made her smile. Not the usual young nobleman, indeed, she thought happily to herself. She was also quite amused to find that his taste for tea was much like her own. “I tend to find that with enough sugar it’s actually quite pleasant, but not on a daily basis. Makes me a bit jittery when I drink it frequently,” she told him, giving her hands shake for emphasis. “And it’s only a crime, I think, if you told that to the queen. Rumor has it that she’s rather fond of her tea time. Otherwise you’ll most likely only get a slap on the wrists for good measure.”
She gave yet another smile, but inwardly she was quite deep in thought. Her mother’s reaction to any of the events that had taken place today would be quite amusing to watch. According to her, Elyssa has done any number of things wrong while conversing with Tem. Her mother would say that she should never have been so bold as to step in and meddle in affairs at the market. She should never have agreed to attend tea with a young gentleman unescorted – but technically, she wasn’t exactly attending tea. She had just been invited for a casual drink by a new friend. All things considered, she wasn’t doing anything terribly wrong. The thought made a feeling of excitement stir inside her.
And besides, Tem didn’t seem the type to particularly care for proper social protocol, and so Elyssa decided that she shouldn’t either. It would only create tension, and he had just barely begun to relax. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, wondering what the rest of it looked like after being in the cold wind just minutes before. The waiter suddenly appeared at their table carrying a tray. On it was a teapot, two cups set neatly on saucers, cream, sugar, and honey. The waiter set it on their table and walked away without so much as a word to either of them.
Remembering her manners for the first time that day, Elyssa picked up the teapot and poured both of them some tea. She looked up at Tem, her eyes full of curiosity. “Loads of sugar for you, I’m guessing. Any cream?”
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on Apr 2, 2008 0:32:43 GMT -5
Tem watched the servant set the tea tray on the table, the tea cups were delicate with lightly painted floral designs covering the sides. He watched Elyssa pour the tea, he was glad that it wasn’t the gentleman’s job to pour tea, but without it he had nothing to keep his hands busy.
He grinned when Elyssa said that she didn’t particularly care for tea, Tem could hardly believe that someone else in this country shared the sentiment. Her comment about the only time that it was a crime not to like tea was with the Queen was comforting, but he wasn’t sure if he believed it completely, in his experience insulting tea in front a Tortallan was like spitting on their favorite coat, but it was nice of her to offer comforting words.
Tem nodded when she asked about the sugar, “Yes, load up on the sugar,” he said eagerly. He rather liked sugar, even if it came bathed in the unpleasant taste of tea. “And no cream, please, I can’t-“ he waved his hand over his stomach, “digest it? Is that the correct phrase? Regardless, I didn’t have dairy when I was young so now dairy makes me ill.” He smiled, “Though, for the record, it makes for an easy practical joke. The other schoolboys would always sneak cheese or milk or something into my lunch to see if they could get me to get-ahem- get sick during class.” Tem laughed a broad laugh, throwing his head back, but then realized that this was a tea parlor and a little more decorum was expected and stopped himself suddenly. He grinned sheepishly and continued in a quieter voice, “It is a good story now, though for a boy of seven or eight it was mortifying. Luckily, after a few times the teachers learned to step to the side after lunch.” He laughed again, but rubbed his hand over his mouth to quiet it. “I’m sorry, you didn’t ask for that story, but the cream question just made me think of it. I hope that it wasn’t too inappropriate?”
He looked down at the table, he was behaving most ungentlemanly today. Earlier he had been about to brawl with the spice merchant and completely lost his temper, and now he was being a little too candid about his life. He rarely told anyone about his distaste for tea or his issues with dairy, but here he was, just blabbering it all. He justified it internally by deciding that if he made too much of a fool of himself he could probably avoid her for the rest of his life because they had been strangers to begin with. There was something about complete strangers that was comforting; there was a lack of the need to impress or to not disappoint the other person.
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on Apr 10, 2008 12:56:09 GMT -5
Elyssa listened intently to Tem’s childhood memories while she finished pouring tea into the cups. She then proceeded to spoon sugar into both cups. A heavy dose was dropped into Tem’s cup, not to be matched by the few meager spoonfuls added to her own cup. She set Tem’s cup in front of him and then placed her own within reach of her hands. Looking up at him, her face was filled with curiosity. She had never before heard of anyone whose body could not handle milk. Everyone she knew in Tortall practically grew up on the stuff, including herself. She felt pity for a few seconds when he told of the jokes played against him, but then laughed when the mental picture of it entered her mind.
Tem, too, threw his head back and laughed; a hearty laugh that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside him. Some people sitting around them turned and looked, but Elyssa merely smiled at them and with her eyes she told them that staring was universally known to be rude. She turned her attention back to her companion. “No, no, you’re quite all right,” she told him. He seemed embarrassed by his outburst of laughter, which was understandable considering their location. “Personally, I think it’s fascinating. I’ve never come across anyone at all with such a story.” She took a sip of her tea and made a face. It needed more sugar; that was for sure.
While she spooned a bit more sugar into her cup, she tried to keep her friend engaged. “Where could you come from that would make you have such a reaction to dairy?” Stirring her tea, her thoughts started flying about again. As far as she knew, all the countries in the Eastern Lands had no qualms with milk and dairy foods; in fact, in some countries it was one of the main industries. That only left few options for Tem’s origin. Either the he came from somewhere far to the west or a place in the south. She had guessed upon first seeing him that he was not from the Eastern Lands judging by the way he interacted with the folk in the market.
She leaned forward a bit, intent upon hearing his answer, but not so much as to make him uncomfortable. It was a fascinating thing to talk to him, and she felt that being around him gave her a feeling of adventurousness. It was quite like the feeling she used to get when her elder brothers, Damien and Jonathan, would drag her with them around the city getting into all sorts of trouble. Ever since they had left to start their own lives, she had missed the feeling of freedom that filled the air in their presence. Tem had begun to bring that carefree feeling back, and she wanted to cherish it for all it was worth.
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on Apr 12, 2008 18:59:14 GMT -5
Tem accepted the cup of tea from Elyssa and raised it, he tipped the cup toward his lips but he didn’t actually take a drink. He already knew that he didn’t like it so he didn’t see much of a point of forcing himself to acutally drink it if it could be avoided, but the habit of going through the motions of raising the tea cup to his lips without drinking was so ingrained in his manner that he did it mindlessly. The gesture had been practiced so much over the years that he hardly even noticed that he was doing it anymore, he even looked natural enough at it that if one wasn't looking close enough it was barely noticeable.
He lowered the small cup to the saucer carefully as he heard Elyssa ask him where he was from. While he was glad that she found his story ‘fascinating’ a part of him worried that it was in the usual way that people found him fascinating, they usually saw him as a novelty that was interesting only insofar as to make them feel more superior about their own culture. He weighed the thought carefully, that didn’t seem to be her intention, but he’d been wrong about people before. He always assumed the best of people and was nearly always disappointed with startling consistency, but he was a slow learner when it came to this type of thing. He went back and forth on the issue of trying to avoid the subject before finally deciding to tell her straight out, she probably wouldn’t think much less of him, he hoped tentatively.
“I’m from the Western Reaches,” he said simply. Tem looked down at his tea cup and rotated it on the saucer slowly with his fingertips, not daring to look up at her while he said it. “That’s probably why I am such a terrible gentleman,” he said with a chuckle as he took the delicate cup by the handle and raised it to his lips for another fake sip.
“But what about you?” he asked hurriedly, looking up from his tea cup to her face. He didn’t want to talk about where he was from, it always made people uncomfortable or unpleasant. “Where are you from? Port Caynn? It’s a grand city, isn’t it?” He realized that his transition didn't sound exactly sincere, it sounded like a line, which is kind of was, but the sentiment behind it was genuine. "That sounds like a nicety, but I really mean it. Port Caynn is an interesting place to live, I think."
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on Apr 25, 2008 8:49:20 GMT -5
Elyssa sipped her tea, noting dully that it needed another hefty dose of sugar, but she refrained from dumping the bowl in her cup to maintain at least a smidgen of decorum. She laughed upon hearing Tem’s response to her question. A terrible gentleman, he was not, she told herself. Reminiscing on the thought, she looked down at her tea for a moment, picturing in her mind’s eye all the times her mother had brought her before other such “gentlemen” who had been less than half as respectful to her as Tem.
And the Western Reaches — she had only heard stories of the people across the sea, but she’d never actually met one and carried on an intelligent conversation. Hearing this now, she looked up at Tem again and took a closer look at him. His features were different than those of the Tortallans, to be sure. For the first time she noted the difference in the planes of his cheekbones and the pigment of his skin. Without even noticing it, she cocked her head to the side, studying him. Now that she knew such an interesting tidbit about him, Elyssa found it difficult to look away.
She caught herself, turning her face away rather abruptly. She raised her cup to her lips to hide the tiny circles of rose that had appeared on her cheeks. They faded rather quickly, as was normal when she blushed, but she couldn’t help but wonder why it had made her so embarrassed. Normally such trivial details and mishaps didn’t, and so it was rather confusing to think about. Once she had recovered herself, she looked back up at him and smiled, trying to recover herself. With any luck, he hasn’t noticed, she thought to herself. But considering he’s of the higher class, he probably has been raised to take notice of such things.
Elyssa pushed the thought to the back of her mind, deciding that she would not let it bother her. “A terrible gentleman, you are not,” she told him casually. “You are just young and forgetful. Like me, I suppose. It can be a rather unfortunate thing sometimes, especially when you’ve a whole crowd of folk just watching you – like at a party or something. It’s happened to me many times…” She laughed after realizing that she was, again, beginning to babble.
[[Sorry again for the wait. Take as long as you want replying]]
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on Apr 28, 2008 13:23:42 GMT -5
Tem let out a sound that was practically a laugh, perhaps it would be better described as a rueful chuckle. He leaned back against his chair and looked down the steaming brown liquid in his cup, “I know that feeling all too well,” he said with a sigh. “My past experiences with parties and meetings for tea and the like are embarrassing at best. I suppose that part of it has to do with being young and forgetful, but all of my friends who are equally young and arguably more forgetful than I am seem to be doing much better at mastering society.”
He raised the tea cup to his lips, forcing himself to take a sip. He resisted the urge to cringe at the bitter taste and set the cup back on the saucer, wondering what could be so wrong with water that Tortallans would drink this strange concoction so much.
“But then again,” Tem said lightly, “my friends have the advantage of being Tortallan by birth or whatnot, which most people prefer I suppose.”
He rotated the cup on the saucer, as gesture he did when he was thinking about what to say next. He stopped rotating the cup suddenly and looked up, “But really, I know that I overreact to what other people say sometimes. I have a bit of a temper sometimes.” That was a bit of an understatement and Tem grinned sheepishly because she had already had the privilege of experiencing that “little bit of a temper” at the market place, though luckily it was diffused before it escalated to a full rage this time.
“I also have a tendency to hit people. Call it the savage in me.” The word ‘savage’ was spit out with a good amount of irony. He hated that word but since others insisted on using it so much he figured that he couldn’t really ignore it, though when he used it, it was always with a fair amount of mockery laced in it.
His fingers went back to rotating the small, flowery tea cup on the saucer as he waited for her response.
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on May 15, 2008 8:43:34 GMT -5
Elyssa gave a small laugh, for she could empathize very well with embarrassment. It seemed that, at least to her mother, she was an abomination to society. “Yes, it always seems that those with arguably less intelligence are always somewhat higher on the social ladder.” She shook her head and began to trace the flower design on the cup with her finger. “Well, anyway, it does to me…I can’t really speak for everyone else. I know a few people who would love to have me punished for saying something like that, but it’s true. It just…it really seems like those who are born with money don’t really appreciate where it comes from and what value it actually has. Instead they squander on parties and clothing and weapons…”
She stopped herself suddenly. “Sorry, I’m getting a bit out of control.” With that, she laughed again, trying to make it seem that the subject did not bother her, when in actuality she found it vexing. She gave a heavy sigh. “And you do have a point there, about being Tortallan by birth. There are so many more opportunities here that those in the Eastern Lands, or the South or the Western Reaches,” she said, gesturing at Tem with her hand. “I just wish that people could be born with more common sense, I suppose.”
Looking at her tea, she found that her thirst had vanished and the hot liquid no longer held its appeal. She set it down gently on the saucer, trying not to make the ceramic clink together as she’d been taught. It was slightly ironic, she began to realize, that she had spent so much effort trying to cheer Tem and now she was the one in a slightly foul mood. The thought made her want to laugh, but she refrained.
Hearing Tem’s tone when he mentioned the word “savage,” she took a moment to think. Was he met with so much prejudice here that even a simple word would bring such a foul reaction? But, in fact, the word would not be so simple if it brought him displeasure, she then realized. A growing curiosity made her want to ask more about his past, but etiquette reminded her that it would be impolite, and so she decided to save the topic for another time. Another time, she mused. Yes, I do not believe this will be the one and only time that I see Tem; I mean to maintain this new friendship.
“Well, I only ask one thing, and that is that you don’t hit me,” she told him with a grin.
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on May 22, 2008 2:33:18 GMT -5
Tem nodded when she said that people with money always seemed to waste it. He knew, and was friends with, many a rich fellow that would agree with that statement full heartedly, then run out and buy everyone another round of drinks. “I know what you mean about rich people squandering money,” Tem said, “but as long as it’s their money to squander I suppose I don’t have a say. Myself, I think that the only thing keeping from doing my own share of squandering is the fact that my uncle keeps a tight leash on every coin.”
He took a sip of his tea, it was getting a little cold, which didn’t improve the taste, but it was already bad enough that Tem didn’t really notice the slight decline. Perhaps it was even better a little bit on the cold side because at least it seemed more like a real drink that was meant to refresh instead of to be sipped at.
He had to smile at her passion about the subject at hand though, he respected that she had an opinion about the subject, but she probably didn’t much care for him saying that he would probably join the ranks of the spoiled and wasteful had he been given the opportunity. “I don’t mean to make myself sound like an irresponsible aristocrat,” he said, “Or that I think that being spoiled is a particularly good thing. It’s just that having money just makes me want to spend it. I don’t really need it and it has never really made me all that happy so it just slips through my fingers.” He smiled and extended his fingers, wagging them in the air like there was visibly something slippery about them.
Tem leaned back in his chair when she spoke about all of the opportunities that Tortallans had. He shrugged, “I wouldn’t say that Tortallans necessarily have all of these marvelous opportunities. There are certainly opportunities in other places, though they are very different from the ones here. Not that I’m complaining about Tortall by any means.” He really wasn’t complaining about Tortall, he rather liked it here. For the most part.
“I think that I will find it to be easy enough not to hit you,” Tem said, glad that she was able to take his comment lightly.
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on May 30, 2008 23:28:26 GMT -5
Nodding gravely, Elyssa listened and agreed with what Tem was saying. Perhaps it was only because she’d only had experience with the poorer side of the social ladder that made her so frustrated by the wealthy. Until this point she hadn’t even considered how she would behave if she were born into money, and naturally the self-righteous part of her wanted to believe that she wouldn’t squander a single bit of it. The more rational side had the better reasoning, however.
“I suppose I understand,” she said, “Most people work all their life dreaming of a day when they will be able to afford the lavish lifestyle of the wealthy. I guess it wouldn’t make sense not to spend the money, then. It would just sit there, useless. And then there’s those like you,” she said with a slight sarcastic air, “people who can’t hold onto money even if it were sewn shut in a coin purse and their hands were bound.” She laughed, hoping he didn’t take offense to the statement.
And as for Tortall—well, he’d caught her there. She’d never so much as set foot outside her homeland, and her only knowledge of faraway lands was obtained by listening to sailors talk of them. She now realized she should have known better, for sailors were notorious for their lavish hyperboles when speaking of their travels. For the first time in a long while, she felt a bit embarrassed and was quite shocked to feel her cheeks turning color.
“Forgive me, it was wrong to speak with such ignorance.”
Elyssa dipped slightly her head and smiled. “Why thank you, I have found that getting hit is not particularly pleasant. I try to avoid it whenever possible.” Gesturing to Tem, she said, “And you have only made it that much easier for me. I really don’t know what you’re talking about, being so un-gentlemanly and all. It seems to me that you have it quite figured out.”
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on Jun 10, 2008 12:41:03 GMT -5
Tem laughed at her comment, he was rather irresponsible when it came to money. He grinned sheepishly, “So is the nature of my personality, I really wouldn’t be able to hold on to it with bound hands and a shut coin purse. Money comes and money goes.” He shrugged and threw his hands up with a smile, “No sense in being stingy.” He laughed a bit at this because saving money wasn’t technically being stingy and his idea of shopping was completely impractical impulse buying, he loved nothing more than to buy something that had no practical use whatsoever. Also, he was required to occasionally buy a round of drinks for his friends, seeing as they were always taking turns buying each other rounds, usually with their parents’ money. It was woefully irresponsible, but as a group of rowdy young men it was hardly unexpected.
He shrugged when she apologized, “It’s alright, it’s hard to understand other places when one’s never been there. In fact, I don’t even come close to fully understanding Tortall and I have lived here for years. Even now, you could probably teach me a thing or two about Tortall that I would have never learned by myself. Tortall is a rather large place, I still haven’t ventured everywhere in the city, though not for lack of trying.” Tem tried to wander the city, but his uncle usually kept him far from the less wealthy side of the city, saying that the only reason someone in Tem’s station would frequent there was for shady reasons. And he was also concerned that Tem would get robbed or get tied up in something less than savory, so he kept fairly tight tabs on where Tem was headed though by now he was hopefully old enough to know better than to get into too much trouble. Hopefully.
He flattened his hands on the surface of the table, pressing his palms down, he really wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing, it was just another form of fidgeting. “I don’t think that simply not hitting one person qualifies me as a good gentleman,” Tem said, “Though I suppose that it is a start.”
He noticed that the tea had been all but abandoned, “How does your tea please you?” he asked politely, but with a smile. He would have been willing to bet that she found it as distasteful as he did, but he wanted to ask anyways, just to see if she would tell a white lie or voice her thoughts on the rather trivial matter.
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on Jun 20, 2008 15:37:33 GMT -5
Elyssa shrugged. Perhaps it was the way her mother raised her that made her overly thrifty, or perhaps she just had a problem letting go of money. After all, one could never know exactly when more of it would come in. But, she told herself, when you have as much money as the nobles do, it’s not so much of a worry anymore. They can afford to go out much more often than the rest, and most certainly they could afford luxury—something Elyssa’s mother wanted so desperately for her daughter when she would finally be married off. The girl on the other hand thought that money would be nice to have, but it was certainly not of the utmost importance for her to find in a suitor.
She smiled at Tem’s comment about Tortall. It was quite true that one could live a very long life and never visit its every corner. The city, however, was something she was more than familiar with. “Oh come now,” she teased, “Port Legann isn’t that big. Surely you’ve seen at least most of it, even if you haven’t lived here very long.”
Tilting her head to the side, she began thinking. That mischievous, conniving part of her brain was envisioning dragging Tem all over the city until he could distinguish the cobblestones on one street from another, and it was a rather amusing prospect.
The corners of her eyes lifted as she laughed. “But perhaps you are more gentlemanly than the fellow on the street who would hit anyone if given the chance. That’s worth a bit of credit, I do believe.” She raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he would think so lowly of himself. Was it a past experience? Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to pester about it.
He asked how her tea was and instinctively she looked down at it. It sat still in the porcelain cup, getting colder by the second. In truth, tea was merely tea to her, but perhaps he was looking for a certain response? After all, he had picked out this tea, and maybe it was his favorite. To say that she hated it would possibly insult him. The cool side of her mind noted that Tem wasn’t one to care much for insults, for he’d already proven over and over he had a sense of humor. Elyssa sighed, pondering.
Grimly, she smiled. “Tea is tea,” she told him. “Hot, cold, sugared, honeyed, mixed with ale and sipped with a spoon…” She trailed off for a moment.
“Perhaps next time we shan’t order this variety,” she told him with a wink.
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Post by Cuauhtemoc Scott on Jun 23, 2008 2:19:35 GMT -5
“Port Legann may not be particularly large, but Port Caynn is a different matter all together,” Tem said with a grin, even though he knew that she had meant to say Port Caynn. He blushed a little, “Well, I haven’t been able to see large portions of the city.” Tem gazed at a different table where people were enjoying their tea, he watched them for a moment, thinking about something entirely unrelated to them, then snapped his attention back to Elyssa.
“My uncle keeps a pretty tight leash on my whereabouts,” he explained. “I know, it’s rather embarrassing that he is still so strict now that I’m older, but he is an old fashioned sort of gentleman who believes that I’ll get robbed or some such thing if I venture into the lower districts. He worries too much if I venture anywhere ‘unsafe’ and I’ve already given him enough gray hairs that I try to mind him.” He shrugged, “Try, that is. Sometimes trouble can be too alluring for me to say no to. Besides, I’m sure that people in the lower districts must have something more exciting to do than rob every person that wanders into their district.” He did intend to fully explore the city sometime, but he would probably have to wait until his uncle either became senile and completely unaware of Tem’s whereabouts or trusted him enough to wander the city alone. Probably senile would be the more realistic of the two.
He didn’t want to say anything more about his state of gentlemanly behavior, it was a sensitive subject due to the amount of scrutiny that was constantly on his manners. Most people who knew him when he was young still saw him as the boy in feathers and bones who didn’t know what a fork could possibly be used for and no matter how much he worked on his manners they never seemed to replace his original image. He liked talking with Elyssa because she looked at him through fresh eyes, she couldn’t judge him for who he was because she didn’t know him back then. He rather liked that.
Tem frowned when she said that she didn’t like the tea, “You mean that it is not the best beverage that you have ever tasted?” he said, clearly joking, “You insult me.” He laughed and looked down into his cup, which was still mostly full. “I like the next time part, but why must tea be involved at all? Unless, of course, we were to mix it with ale and sip it with a spoon, in which case I would hardly argue.” He laughed again, his laugh a little too loud for the small shop, but he forgot to mind it until people at the next table over looked over again.
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Post by Elyssa Vetinari on Jun 27, 2008 0:17:12 GMT -5
Elyssa’s eyes widened as she realized that she misspoke. She laughed and shook her head, befuddled by her own mind. Why she had said Port Legann and not Port Caynn was unbeknownst to her, but instead of letting it get to her, she merely played along with her mistake.
“Indeed, Port Legann isn’t quite as large as Port Caynn. I found it a wonderful area to practice navigation.” Seeing his cheeks turn color a bit, she decided to move onto something a little less embarrassing for him. However, she couldn’t help but feel a nagging in her brain that truly did wish to take Tem around the city. Well, maybe everything except the innermost, poverty-stricken areas where even she would be flagged as a wealthy target for theft.
“Trouble can be quite alluring,” she agreed, “especially if there’s a reward involved of monetary value. That’s why so many of them steal—in the lower districts, I mean. You probably knew that, but it’s really the only excuse they have. They’ve been stripped of so many material riches that even a slightly worn pair of shoes seems a godsend.” She shook her head. Dwelling on the negative was something she had been trying to avoid. Ah well, she thought to herself, one can’t always steer clear of the nitty-gritty details.
Nonetheless, Elyssa tried to approach a different topic of conversation. It appeared that the question of his manners had been withdrawn from their discussion. For some reason, she couldn’t rid herself of curiosity; she craved to know the story behind his seemingly ungentlemanly” behavior. Patience, patience, she had to tell herself. It’s his story to tell, if and when he wishes to say anything about the matter, he will. Until then, the girl would just have to push it to the back of her mind, a feat not easily done with her busy mind.
Tem seemed slightly put out from her tea comment, but she knew he was joking. “Nonsense, this tea is absolutely splendid! It’s simply marvelous, wonderful, delicious…” As she ran out of adjectives, she raised her hand in surrender. “All right, all right. Next time no tea will be involved, I promise.” She gave him her warmest smile, not noticing that the decorum they were exhibiting was considered unfit for a tea parlor. At this point in time, however, Elyssa could quite possibly care less about the states of the other patrons.
“Ale on the other hand is an amusing proposition. Are you saying, good sir, that you wish to slowly drunken me up by spoon-feeding me ale and then laugh at me as I attempt to sing old ditties at the top of my lungs? At two in the morning?” She hoped he would take light of the statement, after all, it was meant in good fun. Maybe if she worked hard enough, she would get them kicked out of the tea parlor—something her mother would highly disapprove of, but a person only lives once. They might as well do something rambunctious once in a while.
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