T42 - Monday

[hernando_fuentes]

6am, the humidex was over 80%. The walk to the store had been damp. The quokka were huddled around the air conditioning wall vent when he arrived. Hernando turned the thermostat down to kick the AC on.

The sidewalk sign rattled impatiently, the wood of the frame clacking together. Hernando saw the specials and frowned. "On a day such as today, perhaps only iced teas should be on sale? It would encourage people to hydrate and also maybe to spend a little more time indoors enjoying their drink, instead of out in the sun and humidity?"

The words on the sign disappeared and new ones formed.

SPECIALS
Iced English Breakfast ("Just Plain Tea") - $1.75
Iced Chai Masala - $1.75
Iced Moroccan Mint - $1.75
All Teas Available Hot or Iced
You Don't Want Hot Tea Today
No, You Don't.
NO, You DON'T.


Hernando decided not to argue with the sign's tone. Walking it outside, he placed it on the sidewalk. Back inside, he started doing large brew-ups of the sale tea to put carafes in the under-counter cooler. After a moment of thought, he set up some plastic pitchers to go in the freezer. If it turned into slushies, well, on a day like today that wouldn't be so bad.

Simon dropped off a large box of Cupid's Cupcakes at 6:30, so the pastry display was well and truly stocked.

Store description with pictures

[OPEN!]

Comments

[myownface]

Sparkle had attempted to navigate Portal Hell yesterday to get to work. He'd attempted it with a fish in tow, and had wound up trapped in a reality where someone mistook Milady for some manner of royalty, and there had been a whole... thing.

Anyway, he was here, exhausted, and toting a betta fish and a large envelope - he'd stopped to pick up his mail - to the first place in town that looked half interesting. New shops in town were fun, and iced tea sounded way better than coffee, no matter how close to just faceplanting to sleep he was feeling.

[hernando_fuentes]

"Good morning," Hernando greeted pleasantly, "Welcome to T42. What can I get for you this morning?"

He was curious about the fish. It wasn't every day someone walked into the store with a fish though that had happened last week as well. This fish appeared to be alive and not spitting glitter.

[myownface]

"Hey," Sparkle said, smiling and giving a sleepy wave. "I think I'm in the market for an iced tea. That minty one sounded good, maybe? I dunno, I've been up all night trying to rescue a fish from-- actually, no, having lived it doesn't make it sound any less nuts."

He shook his head. Dammit, Portalocity. At least he had mail to go through, anyway.

[hernando_fuentes]

"Certainly. The Moroccan Mint is a blend of green tea and mint, so it has caffeine. Were you trying to stay awake or would you perhaps prefer a drink that is just mint? We have that too," Hernando offered.

He smiled a little at the disclaimer about the fish story. "I too had the opportunity to rescue a fish last week, but mine was only a toy and not a friend."

[myownface]

Sparkle put the fish and his mail down on a table and made grabby hands.

"Caffeiiiiine."

He was so dead on his feet.

"... You got The Fish, huh?"

[hernando_fuentes]

"Moroccan mint it is," Hernando smiled and pulled the carafe out of the fridge. He filled a large glass tumbler with ice and poured the tea over it, letting the ice settle a moment before adding more tea.

"Indeed, I got the fish," Hernando answered, a note of pleasure creeping into his voice, "I was able to fix the poor burned body of it with new metal scales. My partner Zack added a glowing green eye that sets the scales off nicely. It was an improvement over how it looked before."

He pushed the tumbler across the counter to Sparkle.

[myownface]

"That does sound pretty nice," Sparkle replied, smiling faintly as he reached for the drink, digging into his pocket for his wallet and finding American money hiding in among all the credits he'd converted most of his cash into for staying on Coruscant. "Metal scales, huh? Maybe I'll head to the park on Wednesday to check that out. Scale mail isn't something I've had a chance to play with, but it usually looks pretty cool."

[hernando_fuentes]

"It looked better than the poor burned thing I received," Hernando answered, "Would you like some scales? I did not know how many I would need so I have somewhat more than I can use left. They're not all the same color, I'm afraid."

[myownface]

"I don't mind that they aren't," Sparkle said immediately. "I like colourful things." He paused, and then smiled sheepishly, and explained, "I went to school for costume design last year and I've kind of started to pack-rat neat things I can work into stuff. I have a whole room upstairs at Demon Marcus that's just... like... random costume crap. If taking them off your hands would be doing you a favor, I'd be happy to pay you for them, even."

[hernando_fuentes]

"Costume design? For theater or dance?" Hernando asked curiously, "In Mexico, I had some friends who made costumes for the university theater department. I can certainly bring the scales in later this week, or even perhaps drop them off - Demon Marcus, you said? The clothing store? I saw it in the business directory."

[myownface]

"Theatre," Sparkle supplied, "though, uh, I'm not really tried and true there, yet. I kind of figured that on an island like this, being able to fake my way through any different clothing style would be useful." He paused and added, "I get some weird requests at the shop, sometimes. But yeah, Demon Marcus, and I usually open up on Sundays. When I can get in, anyway."

Stupid fish royalty.

"If that fails, I do Wednesday shifts at Pick Your Poison, too."

[hernando_fuentes]

"Iris' store?" Hernando asked, quite pleased that he knew the store in question, "Oh! Was it you who cleaned it? It was immaculate when I went in to visit her."

[myownface]

"Iris'-- yeah, that was me," Sparkle admitted, his smile going a little wry. "I needed a distraction that day."

He got carried away. He was excellent at getting carried away.

"She's good people, though. I mean, to work for, you know? Gold star, would be her minion again." He sipped his tea, closing his eyes and just kind of smiling stupidly for a second as he appreciated it. Yeah, that hit the spot. "Puts up with a lot of my bullshit, which I appreciate."

[hernando_fuentes]

"She seems very nice," Hernando agreed completely, "She was showing me some flowers from her home. It was a very nice welcoming gesture."

He smiled a little at evidence that Sparkle enjoyed the drink.

[myownface]

"Her flower collection is awesome," Sparkle replied. "It kind of puts my little collection of houseplants to shame, but, like, she grew up with flowers being a big part of her life. It's pretty cool."

He sipped at his drink some more, and then idly made a reach for the envelope he'd carried in under one arm, opening it up and pulling out a few glossy prints to look over. They had developed really nicely. You know. For hands having very special moments in the matcha powder, and all.

He hummed thoughtfully.

[hernando_fuentes]

"So she said to me, yes," Hernando nodded, then brushed his hair off his forehead. "We were discussing having some of her tea featured here. She had some mixes we do not have."

He watched Sparkle pull pictures out of the envelope he'd carried. His viewing angle was poor. From the counter, he could only make out general impressions of green and pink.

[white_oleander]

"What if I really do want hot tea today?"

Enter Astrid Magnussen, queen of following directions except for insignificant acts of rebellion that were honestly usually against her best interest, sketchbook under her arm and two bucks in her pocket, figuring drawing in the café was a good way to spend the rest of her afternoon.

[hernando_fuentes]

"I would, of course, serve you hot tea," Hernando said pleasantly, "though cold would be a better choice for today."

[white_oleander]

Astrid smiled faintly. "Maybe," she said, "if I were going outside, but I think I'd like to stay in. The Moroccan mint sounds good. Hot, please."

She did prefer her tea hot, anyway, but just the fact that the sign told her she didn't want her cemented it in her head. There was the crux of it, maybe. She liked being told what to do, but the moment you told her not to do something...

"Wouldn't they be more likely to drink them hot in those regions, anyway? Morocco and India? They drink it hot despite the heat, I think."

And now she was trying to show off, in a casual way that she thought sort of fit the boho feel she was trying to dig up by coming here to work.

[hernando_fuentes]

"Moroccan mint tea is mixed with a sugar syrup while hot and poured from a great height that aerates the tea and allows it to cool just slightly before drinking," Hernando explained, "It is a way of serving the tea, not the blend itself. Here, the name is only for the blend of green tea and mint. They do, as you say, drink it hot or at least warm."

He scooped some leaf into a tea bag with a ceramic scoop and used water from the far left dispenser. He overturned a small plastic timer and set it to steep.

[white_oleander]

See? And now she learned something. Astrid smiled a little, using that to lead into making conversation while she waited for the tea. She was getting...better at that, conversation.

"Have you ever been to Morocco and had it like that yourself? It sounds...like it would be kind of cool."

[hernando_fuentes]

"I have not been to Morocco. I have barely been out of Mexico except to this coast. There is a Moroccan restaurant in Mexico City - El Morokki - where they serve true Moroccan tea. Lito and I would go there sometimes with a group of friends," Hernando answered quietly, "It is an interesting way to have tea. If you can find a Moroccan restaurant around here, I would recommend trying it."

The timer ran out of sand. Hernando removed the bag and placed it on a saucer with a spoon. The mug followed. He pushed it across the counter to Astid.

[white_oleander]

"Oh," said Astrid, her eyes brightening a little as she shifted, digging her money out of her pocket to put two crumpled up bills on the counter. She made a valiant if ineffectual attempt to smooth them out a little before pushing them forward, her smile a bit apologetic. "I loved living in Mexico. Never really in Mexico City, though. If we lived there, I don't remember it. I mostly remember Guanajuato, Playa del Carmen. My mom had a boyfriend who had a hotel there, he was from Mexico City and left when the weather turned, but we didn't go with him. We stayed and closed up the hotel, then moved out when a bunch of feral cats decided to move in, too."

Her smile went a little sad, focused on her fingers as they grabbed the handle of the mug to bring it closer. Then her eyes danced fleetingly up as she asked, "Do you miss it? How do you like it here? You probably came when you opened this shop, right?"

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando took the bills and made change for her. "We used to vacation in Playa del Carmen. In a cabana, on the beach. I do miss it. The heat, it is drier in Mexico than here but I am adjusting. I did come here when I opened the shop. Originally I had planned to spend the summer traveling the East Coast, visiting museums and galleries and private collections. The island had another plan for me, I suppose, so now I am here. I do love it here. It is so beautiful, and so strange."

He glanced at her and returned a question, "How long did you live in Mexico?"

[white_oleander]

Astrid shrugged, wrapping her hands now on the mug as if to warm them, despite the fact that they were already plenty warm, clammy, despite the AC. "It's hard to tell exactly," she said. "It was all in bits and pieces, a few weeks here, a half a year there, and I was pretty young for a lot of it." Because she was so much older now, obviously. "Basically any time we got a little tired of California, we'd pack up and go somewhere else for a while. Mostly Mexico, it was just easier, but we went to Europe a few times, too."

And now here. But there was no we anymore, just her. She lifted her mug, blew on it first before tentatively taking a sip.