ArchivedLogs:Teatime

Teatime
Dramatis Personae Hive, Thomas	2013-07-18 '
Location <NYC> Tick-Tock - Greenwich Village
The quiet sound of soft music and softly running water greets the entrants to this tea house, playing from speakers hidden and trickling waterfalls cascading down the rocky fountains by the entryway. The ambiance here is subdued, a quiet escape from the bustle and noise of the city, focused on only one thing: tea. Tea of very good quality. They serve it in over eighty varieties, black and white, green and oolong, rooibos and herbals and mate, flavored and straight up. The seating here comes on cushions or kneeling chairs around low tables, the decorations in earth tones, and the knowledgeable wait staff is always helpful with a recommendation or a snack suggestion to pair with your drink. Behind the long counter along one side is an entire wall of bins of loose-leaf teas, available for purchase by weight. An oasis of air conditioning and tea clinking in glass cups with ice cubes, the place is active, but not as overly crowded as the more trendy coffee places. There are plenty of tables still open, and the soft murmur of conversations mixes with the scent of brewed teas with and without floral accents. There are worse places that one could wander into on an overly warm summer day. Making his way into the tea shop, the gentleman seems to be oddly formal despite the unfortunate weather the city currently exists in. Thomas is wearing a tweed coat over a long sleaved navy blue shirt, a pair of charcoal grey slacks, and a newsboy cap sits forward upon the top of his hat. He seems pale enough, though looking at him closely shows he is wearing a bit of make up, probably one of those metrosexual fellows. A few words murmured in a british accent to a waitress leads the bloke to one of the available tables with a pot of earl grey being put on as he settled into the cushiony seating. Hive doesn't wear makeup, doesn't rock any kind of metrosexual look at all. Just sort of gamer-grungy, faded denim shorts tattered at the bottom, sneakers held together with duct tape, beige t-shirt sporting a dotted-line outline of Zelda's hero with the words '404 Link Not Found' over it. His expression as he walks into the crowded room starts out sour and grows more sour still, mind prickling irritably at the /wash/ of other minds against it, the psionic /chatter/ curling his bony shoulders in tighter. "-- s'like seven /million/ fucking degrees out there," he makes this grumbling comment with a /side-eye/ towards Thomas's long-sleeves. Shuddering. Turning away from tables to grab a menu instead and glare at it without sitting. As the hot tea is brought out for the british fellow, a simple counting litany goes through his mind as he drops in the little sugar cubes and drips of milk, even the stirring with the spoon till its just right. Still as the grumbling and eyeing occurred, Thomas glanced up towards the fellow, his first thoughts being hope that his make up was not dripping, followed by an internal chuckle that he's warmer than the world outside. Still, to the outside eye, he simply raises his cup in a slight cheers to the grumbling man before he takes a sip of the steaming cup. Hive's eyes skim over Thomas, then skim over his menu, lips pressing together thinly. His eyes narrow at the raised cup; he answers it with a small chuff of breath out through his nose. "How the fuck do you decide on a tea," he wants to know. "They have /fourteen thousand/ teas. What tea is the best tea." Chuckling, Thomas shakes his head. "Hrmm, a question for a native of brittania if ever one could be asked. Still, if you can't decide, simply pick one of the black teas and check the time of day. I believe they've got ones labeled english tea, with breakfast, afternoon and the like." Theres a general amusement bubbling in him at that, and his eyes pass over the geek reference shirt again, with a momentary thought of Jean Luc Picard and his proper quote. "Or based on your shirt, one may always go the preferred trekkie route, Earl Grey, Hot." Speaking of which, he takes a sip of his own beverage which happened to mirror said statement. "S'really probably a question for a native of China. Could make arguments for Korea. Vietnam. But you're sitting the closest. I'll take what I can get." Hive's fingers run down the menu again. "S'a present. Friend's pretty serious about his tea but -- shit, maybe I should just ask the staff. He /does/ like black, that's the caffeiniest, yeah?" Raising a brow in a tad bit of surprise, Thomas inclined his brow, a point for the verbal riposte. "If you are looking for caffiene then yes, but it also tends towards the more bitter. Assam is a popular one though, if you're looking for ones with a bit more taste than a generic. Earl and Lady Grey tends towards acquired tastes, but again more flavorful. Still, best to ask the staff, it is what they are being paid for." He gives a smile at that, then relaxes back into his own cup, mind blanking into the calm of a warm beverage. "Assam. Indian, yeah?" Hive furrows his brow at the menu. "Half this shit has fruit mixed in." This sounds like a complaint, though a moment later he reconsiders: "-- motherfucker's got a hella sweet tooth, he's probably all over the fruity shit. Probably makes hella good iced tea, too. Kinda great in this -- /Lady/ Grey? How'zat different?" Nodding abit automatically at the question, Thomas looks back to the man. "Yeah Indian, and some people describe it as a bit malty. Its lovely, but I wouldn't drink it all the time." He winces abit at the fruit mixed in comment, his mind mutters blasphemy, and he frowns. "I'd steer clear of most of the fruity blends if your friend takes his tea seriously. You don't particularly taste the tea afterwards. As for Lady Grey? Still has bergamot, but also lemon and orange. The flavor picks up a bit from the additional citrus." He gives a small shrug as he swirls his own cup and drains it down. "Really it would depend more on your friend, but its hard to go wrong with purer teas." "-- You know bergamot /is/ an orange, right?" Hive offers blandly, and then just as dispassionate-bland: "... You know lemon and orange /are/ fruits, right?" His eyebrows raise a touch, eyes still more focused on the menu than on Thomas, though his lips twitch upwards. Juuuust slightly. At the man drinking Earl Grey while muttering blasphemy at the thought of fruit-blended tea. "Assam sounds like a good. Uh. Insofar as. Anything sounds like -- I mean I don't know tea from shit so. I'll go with -- malty." Making a dismissive gesture, Thomas glances into his empty cup. "Usually one doesn't worry about citrus in tea. They go well together, the tart with a bit of bitter. Its the overly sweet fruits like peaches and raspberries that tend to ruin the flavor." His mind makes unpleasant wincing at the mentions of peaches and raspberries in the tea. Setting the cup aside in as much a gesture to staff he needs more, as to get it out of his hands. "Spice blends tend to be nice as gifts as well, though it tends to make one think about the holidays. But safer to just go with the Assam. I hope your friend enjoys it." "I'm sure he will," Hive says this through his teeth. Like even though he's getting the gift, the thought /pains/ him. "Cheerful motherfucker enjoys /goddamn everything/. He puts the menu away to jerk a nod upwards to Thomas. "Thanks for the advice, man. Enjoy your -- Tea. Earl Grey." He doesn't finish the quote. But his mouth curls up at the corners. "If he enjoys everything, you could always go for a bit of a challenge." Thomas has a little wicked grin as a waitress does in fact come and refill his cup. The thought of burning tires skips through his mind and two words "Lapsang Souchong. Not many people like it just to drink normally. It pretty much tastes like liquid smoke. People like to say its made by smoking tea over burning tires, but really they mainly just use pines and other woods anyway. But, it can be a bit of a trick on someone expecting the normal flavors." He goes through the same ritual of before to get his tea just right. "And I will, thank you. The quality here is rather good." "-- I think he'd actually love liquid smoke," Hive says with a snort. "Sounds right up his alley. Lapsang Souchong. Got it." He flashes Thomas a thin smile. Lifts a hand in a wave. His hands shove in his pockets as he ambles off, skirting through the tables to head for the counter so that he can purchase loose tea to take home. Thomas nods at the fellow again, smokey thoughts passing through his own mind, with a slight neural twinge of burning flesh accompanying it. "Hrm, nice fellow. Hope his friend is open minded about teas though," he says to himself as he settles in for his tea, taking out a small note book and setting it on the table to relax out in the world.