[ P ] ☼ An Apple A Day [feat. Kismet]

Tormentosa

The sunny wolf rose with the sun. Eyes bright and wide as they launched out of their nest and prepared for the day. Their parents had called them silly for wanting to set up a shop inside of the marketplace. It's in the mountains! They said. How will hungry travelers get to it? They said! Well, ha! They knew it hadn't been a bad idea. Hungry vendors needed to be fed and tea'ed! Those that traveled up the mountains also needed the proper food and beverage, and that's where they delivered!

Now they had a nice bustling teashop! With all sorts of flavorful teas and pasties.

A teashop they needed to get to post-haste!

They loaded up their daily supplies onto a cart and attached it all to their faithful steed! Sturdy the cow.

"Alright there, Sturdy ole gal! Let's head off! Time to sate some hungry customers, eh? Haha! Alright, off we pop!" They grabbed the cow's lead in their maw and led the way to the shop!

Once they arrived, Tormentosa harnessed Sturdy outside of the shop where she could nibble out of a provided feed and water trough. Then, they headed inside and opened up for the day, placing up a sign that proudly declared "Open" in several different languages to account for the myriad of different tongues that the citizens spoke.

Then, they started their daily duties of prepping teacups, hot water, honey, and milk --provided by Sturdy-- in preparation of their first customers.

English | Gaelic | Latin

Coding (c) Plymouth

The first few weeks of her tenure as a Cabinet member had passed in a ....well, not a whirlwind. Da'Ira was too sleepy, too quiet, too nice, to really be served by such a chaotic description. Kismet had been busy, sure, but it wasn't the frantic sort of preoccupation that precluded thought.

As the Head, she was ostensibly in charge of distributing the nation's wealth. Sometimes, 'distribution' included coordinating donations, managing disputes between merchants, coordinating trade routes between other nations, overseeing the manufacture and procedural wherewithal of the nation's chits...among other things.

So, damnit, if she wanted to take a break to drink some tea, then she was damn well going to make some time in her schedule in order to drink some tea. It was her one vice, a holdover from her youth in Rionnach - not that she'd admit as much to anyone else. She'd spotted the tea house out of the corner of her eye while making the rounds a few days ago, unprepared for the thrill of excitement that rushed through her at the sight - and she'd promised herself that she would visit as soon as she could.

She had a little bit of time before her meetings started this afternoon - so she woke up early, rushed out of her den, and all but skipped into town. She was waylaid a moment or two by citizens eager to greet her, and she spared a moment to reestablish connections, even as inwardly she seethed at each interruptions.

Finally able to extricate herself, Kismet spotted the nearby cow - yum - Kismet bounced into the tea house, bright eyed and bushy tailed - or at least, wearing a mask well-worn into similar grooves. "Good morning!" She offered a wide, friendly smile to the wolf behind the counter. "I can't tell you how excited I was to see a tea house here; it's been absolute ages since I've had a good cup of tea," she gushed. "What do you recommend?"

Tormentosa

"By the Stars and Fae abound! Have I been blessed by a visit from the Head of the Cabinet? In my quaint little teashop?!" The brightly colored wolf lifted a paw up to their mouth excitedly, the absolute picture of dramatic excitement.

Their tail wagged behind them like a blur, their ears were perked so much that they looked twice their size. Which was impressive because they were already too large for their head. "Good morning, Miss Kismet! An absolutely wonderful day it is, too!" They bustled from behind the counter to greet the sandstone woman. "If you want good tea, you are in the right spot! I can satisfy any of your tea'ly needs!" The wolf gave a solemn nod of the head, juxtaposing the silly topic of "tea'ly" necessities as well as the furious wagging of their tail and obviously exuberant air that they held.

"Now then, recommendations. If you're looking for a bit of a pick-me-up, I can recommend a lovely peppermint tea, if you want a little bit of a relaxing experience I'd say your best bet is lavender tea, or if you want something delightfully fragrant I'd personally recommend peppercorn and cinnamon. That one has a nice sweetness with a little bit of a kick to it, one of my favorites in the morning, marm." Tormentosa took their job very seriously as tea proprietor and their naturally bubbly persona made talking to absolutely anyone a breeze.

English | Gaelic | Latin

Coding (c) Plymouth

Insipid cheer brightened her face, a falsehood tinged with fact. Lies tangled with truths so often that the spider web was all but indistinguishable from the weave. But these were easy lies, harmless, in the grand scheme of things. The only ramifications they might betide were of the personal variety. Connections borne and bought with kindness were just as valuable as ones bartered with cold coin.

Granted, for the most part, the peoples of Da'Ira were eager victims. Unaware and unknowing, they accepted and expected everyone else to be fair and forthright, for they were fair and forthright folk themselves.

The proprietor, for instance. Kismet's smile widened as she was greeted with bubbly enthusiasm, first recognized and then lauded for her position in the Cabinet. She dipped her head in a mockery of modesty, answering the other wolf's dramatic shock with a showy curtsy in effort to play along. "Well, of course! I've heard it's the very best around!" she said.

That was a lie. She didn't know this teashop from a hole in the ground. It'd just been the first one she'd seen in this backwater. But none of that mattered if the tea was as good as they claimed. All of a sudden, she brought herself up short, as if a thought had just occurred. "Oh! But you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, of course, but I'm afraid I don't know yours. I'm horribly embarrassed; It's such a pleasure to meet you, ser...?" The other's scent confused her, so she erred on the nonspecific form of address, trailing off meaningfully in order to prompt an introduction.

She listened attentively as Tormentosa began to list off the variety of teas in stock, and even she could not stop her eager press forward over the counter. "That last one sounds delicious. If you like it enough that it's earned such a glowing review, how could anyone resist?"

Tormentosa

The wolf practically squealed in delight when the woman confirmed that she thought it was the very best tea around. "Eeeeee! Yes yes yes, I knew it! I knew it! It is the very best in Da'Ira!" They waved a paw emphatically. "Not that I like to toot my own horn. Haha! Toot toot! Oh oops! There it went, hahaha!" If there was one thing that could be said about the wolf it was that they were excitable! But, if there were two things, it was that they were also genuine and their enthusiasm was certainly not for show.

Okay, maybe a little bit... but it was mostly their own genuine enthusiasm.

"Oh, please, no need to honor me with any honorifics! I am simply Tormentosa or Tor or Torm or whathaveyou. No need for any sir's or ma'am's or ser's here, hahaha! I am but a simple seller of fine teas." Though, clearly, they were quite flattered.

"Alright then! One peppercorn and cinnamon tea! Ah, my esteemed lady, would you like any pasties to go along with it? Perhaps a blueberry scone? They'd be the first batch and fresh from the oven. Nice, sweet, blueberry goodness, mmmm?" Perhaps if they impressed the Head with their treats then they would get recommendations and have more critters come into their establishment.

English | Gaelic | Latin

Coding (c) Plymouth

Her voice was coated in syrup and sugar, and the teashop proprietor drank it down like sweet ambrosia. As they launched into almost comical levels of enthusiasm, Kismet was given to wonder if perhaps there might be more to the shop's tea than what was strictly advertised. Had she, in her genuine quest for refreshment, managed to stumble upon the front of a drug cartel? As she listened to the bat-eared wolf 'toot their own horn', she reflected that they certainly seemed prone to sampling their own wares, if her suspicions were correct.

But...no. That would be decidedly too underhanded, too deceptive, too interesting, for Da'Ira. Though their peoples made perfect victims, Kismet did so often find herself missing the unscrupulous politics of Rionnach. Here, if someone wanted to ply illegal stimulants in their tea, they'd include it on the front signage.

She was handily provided with the proprietor's name, and afforded more, besides. "Tormentosa, then. I won't forget it, I promise." Her earnest words were accompanied by a bright, sincere smile, her pale honey eyes dancing with good humor. Well, that would certainly explain the place's name. How...on the nose. "And oh! A scone sounds sooo good. I'll have two, please. I've got a busy day, I'll stock up on goodies while I can."

This, at least, was true. Meetings followed by more meetings topped off with more meetings. Merchants to soothe, citizens to schmooze, and politicians to ply. When every conversation was a showpiece, every interaction was a new stage. Fortunately, Kismet had perfected her act a long time ago. She paused, and then tilted her head. "While I'm here though, Tor...Is there anything I could do to help you? How's business been doing?"

Tormentosa

What a delightful lady! They were glad that they represented the kingdom! How wonderful that she came down and interacted with the non-Cabinet members. Although, honestly, Tormentosa would expect nothing less! They always had the best rulers here in Da'Ira and Kismet fit the mold perfectly.

"Righto! Two scones coming riiiiiight up!" And then, they busied themselves with preparing their first customer's order. They fetched a teakettle, filling it with water and the aforementioned peppercorn and cinammon. They made a fire on the stove for the tea and the scones, then grabbed the pre-prepped dough and brought it to the oven with their peel. Now, it would have to sit for a bit to be prepared.

Of course, while they did all of this, they chattered amicably and enthusiastically. "Anything to help me with? Hmmm... Let's seeee here.." They trailed off, thinking about it. "Well, I'm not sure if I bally-well need anything! Hahahaha! I've gotten the best customers and a primo location to see my wares. Hmmm, well, mayhaps if we could pull more customers from other regions to sell to! That way, we cold spread the Da'Iran culture and delectable treats!" Not a thought of making a profit was in the teamaker's head. They sincerely just wanted to share their food with more wolves and meet new creatures with different ways of thinking.

The teakettle started steaming, making its signature noise as Tormentosa bustled over. Dropping a teacup in front of Kismet as they went and, seemingly in one motion, also grabbed the teakettle and poured the liquid out for Kismet. "There you are, my lady! Scones should be done in two shakes of a cow's tail! While you're waiting though, here's some honey and milk, straight from ole Sturdy herself. I'm sure you passed her by on your way in here." They pushed two sealed containers with the aforementioned honey and milk to the woman.

English | Gaelic | Latin

Coding (c) Plymouth

The relatively harmless interaction continued, and though the content itself seemed asinine, Kismet was content to count it as networking. Relationships forged and friendships made were never written off as wasted time. Even if she never interacted with Tormentosa again - unlikely, if the proprietor's tea was as delicious as advertised - she would leave the tea shop today knowing that the other wolf would remember her fondly. And next time the election rolled around...well, they were already such good friends, weren't they? Why wouldn't she secure their vote?

As the shopkeeper toddled around behind the counter getting everything ready, Kismet watched with a fond, wistful air - part curiosity, part careful attention, all good humor. If the other looked over in the process of proofing the dough, they would only see an attentive customer taking an interest in the process. In truth, Kismet was partially distracted, running through her schedule for the day, and partially using the time to observe and assess Tormentosa themselves.

She wasn't even a little bit surprised when the strange, overly-enthusiastic wolf waved aside her inquiry of aid. Though...they did have an interesting thought on broadening their prospective client pool. Kismet actually paused enough to pay attention at that. "Have you thought about shipping your proprietary teas, maybe?" It was offered thoughtfully....even if her motives were purely selfish. "If you organized a mail-order delivery service and focused on your branding, so folks could order from far away and know who you are and where their goodies came from...You might get more folks willing to travel here, to get it all straight from the source, you know? And even if they didn't, you'd still get to share your tea with folks, who would then share it with other folks, and they might come?"

After a few minutes, a cup of warm tea was poured in front of her. Milk and honey were provided, even as the proprietor continued their mile-a-minute chatter. Kismet grinned, carefully sniffing at the warm, spiced scent emanating from the delicate china cup. "This looks perfect, thank you!" Her tail waved amiably behind her, ears flicked back and then pushed forward in gratitude. For now, she didn't add anything to the brew, instead breathing delicately over the surface to help cool it before taking a few tentative sips. Her eyes widened in not-entirely-feigned pleasant surprise. "This is delicious. No, really. It reminds me of a...chai? Almost. Not quite. Maybe it's just the spice. It's definitely got that kick you mentioned."