* [semi-closed post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan is still struggling, but she's established a little routine, specific to Dark: every morning, she goes to her favorite room - the one with all the rugs - and retrieves several bottles of alcohol. These, she ferries down to the cafe and arranges them on a corner table, where she sits for the next hour or so, passing bottles to anyone who needs a full one, and measures from the bottles to anyone who would prefer just a drink or two. By now, she's got a sense of the regulars, their preferences (though she cannot always accommodate these - it really is the queerest assortment of libations), and how much they require, but she always brings an extra bottle or two just in case.

Today, she's tireder than normal, and moving slowly. Her tea was running low, and so she's rationing it. She's even on the verge of capitulating and getting a cup of coffee to tide herself over.


[Primarily intended for Dionysus and Lan Wangji, but if anyone wants to play out the awkwardness of the daily alcohol retrieval I'm all in!]

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

That piques a slightly more genuine interest, perhaps evident in the way his gaze sharpens. "I have participated in archery and night-hunting competitions."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I think we ought to have a tournament of sorts," Susan says. "My hypothesis is that if we've got a better sense of each other's abilities, we'll be more quickly able to sort out how to respond collectively to problems like the walking dead."

[lightbearinglord]

Something like the proposed magic salon, then, but for martial ability rather than magic or other similar abilities. Lan Wangji nods again. "It is a wise idea."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I've asked Lancelot to organize this," Susan says. She doesn't need to mention that this is a gift; obviously, organization is a delight unto itself. But Lancelot does fret so about details. "But I think we might both appreciate it if you would consult. I know very little about how to accommodate cultivation into such an event."

[lightbearinglord]

Lancelot was a worthy sparring partner, and he tended to Magnus in a time of need, a time when Lan Wangji should have been there and was not. His interest remains sincere. "I will, then," he agrees.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Good," with a firm nod. "Thank you."

[lightbearinglord]

He has not yet actually done anything worth her thanks, but Lan Wangji bows again in answer, out of politeness, before he turns and goes in search of whatever tea the café may see fit to offer. He doesn't anticipate an overly successful search.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Are you looking for anything in particular?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Tea," he answers promptly, but even he realizes that is not a particularly illuminating answer and glances back at Susan. "Green or oolong."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I believe there might still be some in the cabinet," Susan says. "It's running awfully low but there ought to be enough."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji strides over to the cabinet in question and opens it. He frowns at what he sees inside, which is, indeed, inarguably tea, but which is not in the form factor to which he is accustomed. He picks up a tin, opens it, and narrows his eyes down at the teabags within. "It resembles Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale's tea." His voice is so utterly neutral that the sheer neutrality of it may give away his feelings about that tea-drinking experience.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"It's popular in Britain. I'm afraid I've not seen green tea outside of Shen Yuan's supply, and that was ages ago."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji would rather drink nothing but plain water for the remainder of his life than stoop to asking Shen Yuan, of all people, for tea. "Do you also come from Britain?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I did. London, specifically. Same as Thomas, though I believe he arrived from a point several decades in my future."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji picks up a teabag between two fingers and eyes it skeptically. "Some things do not improve with time."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You needn't drink it if it's not to your taste," says Susan, who rather likes it and is worried about supply.

[lightbearinglord]

"That would be wasteful." This is intended as assurance that Lan Wangji has no plans of consuming anything he does not like during this time of scarcity. Demonstratively, he returns the teabag to its tin and shuts it.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"What does yours look like?"

[lightbearinglord]

"The leaves are compressed into a cake." He has a little left, but not much. It is not strictly a necessity, but so many of his routines are half in tatters this month that it would be a comfort.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Is it packaged in anything?"

[lightbearinglord]

With some genuine confusion, Lan Wangji turns back to face her properly. "Such as?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Are the cakes wrapped in paper or cloth, for example? I'm trying to build a mental image so I know if I've seen them."

[lightbearinglord]

"I believe the mansion supplies them because I expected it to when I arrived. They typically appear in my tea caddy." Obviously, this is not currently the case.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"So I shall assume the answer is 'no?'"

[lightbearinglord]

"No," Lan Wangji agrees. "When I purchased such things at home, the merchant would fill the tea caddy I carried with me."