[Quill's Rest] Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work We Go! (Solo)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Summer 79, 515 AV The day was different than any other. Each day differed from even those held within distant memory, and yet, this day, like all of those others, was also largely akin to every other day that Talya had spent living within the world of Mizahar. The sky was a pale blue, the same pale blue it had always been. There were clouds within it. Fluffy white things that created shapes if only you squinted and concentrated hard enough upon them. Maybe they'd make different shapes today than they had yesterday or the day before, but they were the same old types of clouds. The sun shone overhead, it was nearing noon. It was the same old sun it had always been- sending streamers of soft yellow light back down into Zeltiva, illuminating all of the buildings. But this Talya could not truly enjoy as of now, seeing as she had a largely full day of work ahead of her at the Quill's Rest. It was one of her more important days at work too, as today had been the first day she had been trusted enough to work behind the counter, (which she supposed was largely due to the fact that the other worker had fallen ill and couldn't come in more than anything else. But she wasn't about to tell that she had figured such out). In any case, Talya found herself dressed in her little black dress, with her loaned, white half-apron, (the one she got for work and had to return after each and every one of her shifts), tied over its skirt. Her feet were held safely in her suede boots, and the heel clicked softly against the wooden floors of the establishment whenever she walked across the floor. Behind the bar, she found, wasn't much different than being in front of it, except you could easily look out over the establishment at everything. You could see just about every nook and cranny, just as you could the matching tables and chairs, and the occasional bench too. All made of the same matching light colored wood as the walls, which she thought might have been oak or something, but she wasn't quite sure. The only real differences to being behind the bar area as opposed to in front of it- as far as she was concerned, were she could lean up against the mirror of the counter and rest a bit whenever things slowed down, if they didn't die completely, and the fact that everyone came up to her to order a drink or a refill, as opposed to her having to go out and take the drinks to them whenever they looked like they needed more, or indicated that they needed more with some sort of fancy hand gesture. As of right now, the Quill's Rest was teeming with people. Many of them were already seated at the tables around the room, if not against the counter of the bar itself, sipping their beloved kelp tea, (which Talya had never developed the taste for), or writing in their little journals, if not plain old scrolls of parchment. Some drew, some even painted with watercolors and the like, but such activity was far less prevalent. Talya didn't have much time to study any of these folks however, as she was too busy tending to the individuals seated directly around her, or the individuals who came up for a drink before getting themselves a place to sit and relax elsewhere within the establishment. One such individual approached her thusly. He looked to be somewhere in his fifties, with salt and pepper hair. He had hazel colored eyes, but as he approached the light, they seemed darker, if not a little grey, perhaps a faint green. He had a small, button like nose that had been flattened a bit, (maybe he had gotten into some sort of accident as a child), and a thin stretch of a line for lips. They were dark pink. He was shorter than her, maybe five feet six inches, and had a round belly that looked like it was filled with ale. Talya walked over to him. His eyes seemed expectant, and a little impatient.

[Talya]

Talya smiled brightly as she strode over to the middle-aged man in question. "Hello there, welcome to the Quill's Rest," she said a little too cheerily for her own liking. "What can I get you today?" she inquired, as her dark eyes settled on the far lighter of the man's own. "Just a kelp tea," the man replied as he slid some money across the counter. Talya nodded. "Coming right up," she said, as she took the money and placed it in the little safe behind the counter, before moving away to first, retrieve a mug from the stash behind the bar. They were always placed lip facing down, so she deftly turned it over between her fingers, and then headed over to the steaming jugs of kelp tea that had been prepared earlier in the day. She chose the one that seemed the steamiest, picked it up with her free hand, and then tipped the contents over and into the little white mug she was holding, until it was nearly full. Then she replaced the jug, setting it neatly down in its proper place, and returning to the man who had ordered the beverage mere moments before. "Here you go," Talya said, as she handed it over, a little less cheery than before, so hopefully it would seem a little less fake. "Do be careful, it's still very hot," she warned. The man smiled back at her. "Thank you," he said, as he moved away, taking a sip of the tea so he wouldn't spill it, as he approached a table with a few of his comrades. "You're welcome," Talya whispered, before her eyes developed a far out look they could scarcely hold, as she was beckoned over by another customer on the opposite side of the counter. "One kelp tea," the woman barked, as she held out her hand with a few mizas. Talya stretched hers out, as she eyed the woman, who looked to be about nineteen. Into her bright green eyes, and pale freckled skin. Her braided pigtails. She pushed her hand a little further, and then the woman tipped her money into Talya's outstretched hand. Talya glanced down to count it quickly- there were two silver, circular coins there. Perfect she knew, as the tea cost two silver mizas a cup. Talya smiled sweetly. "Coming right up," she said, as she returned to the holding place of all of the Quill's Rest mugs, and flipped one over, so that it would be facing the right way. She looped her fingers through the mug's grip as she walked away, tightening her hold around it, and headed over to the prepared containers of tea. She looked from the container on the right to the one on the left, and noticed that they were each almost empty. The one on the right seemed steamier though, so she poured this into the cup and handed the drink over to the woman, who thanked her. The moment she had, she got another three orders from nearby men, and went to fill it quickly with whatever was left. As soon as she had been paid, and tucked the money for everything away, she got another order. She went back to fill it and then remembered that they were out of tea and she would have to brew more. She had never done that before, and it worried her, but she had seen it done at least a hundred times, and assumed it couldn't be that difficult, right?

[Talya]

Talya walked back to the edge of the counter and her waiting customers. "It'll be a minute," she explained, "have to make a fresh pot," she added with a smile. "Sorry for the inconvenience," she finished, as she moved away to start on the tea, and the customers were left to do nothing more than smile. Talya approached the far end of the counter. The opposite side from where the guests were seated. There they had a sort of pit, which opened up into a "preparation area" that a small flame rose out of if only you lit it and fed it now and again. It had been lit earlier in the day, and now it burned dully. There was a pot in a small cubby tucked beneath the counter to the right side, along with a few other supplies she would need to make the tea- the kelp leaves themselves and some water she hoped wasn't from the bay, as she was pretty sure that was salty. Talya grabbed the pot first, and set it down on the fire. She hoped it wouldn't go out as she was making her tea. She then reached for the container of water, and poured it into the pot. She heard it sizzle and hiss as it hit the bottom, and the water level slowly rose until the pot was about halfway full. At which point, she stopped pouring, and put the jug of water back. Talya waited a few seconds, and then reached for the container of kelp. She picked out about a quarter handful of leaves, and dropped them rather unceremoniously into the pot of water, which was heating up slowly. When she was done, she returned to her customers. She found that there were more of them now, a crowd was gathering as they awaited their orders of tea. She explained the situation- it was coming, and it shouldn't be too long. They nodded, and handed her their money, which she put away. That way, when they got their beverages, they could just run off, sit down and enjoy it. By the time she had finished tending to them, several minutes had passed, and Talya decided that it would be best to go and check on the tea. When she did, she found that the fire was waning still, and the smoke was filtering out through a narrow tunnel hole thing that ran over the preparation area. Steam had mixed its way in with this, and Talya could tell that the water was hot, as the kelp was bleeding a deep green color into it. They were smaller now, shriveled up, as though they had been used completely. Talya smiled. She supposed it looked ready, so she grabbed some oven mitts on one of the nearby shelves, and lifted the pot off the fire. She then set it down on the heat resistant surface to the right of the fire. From there, she retrieved a few mugs, and began pouring the kelp tea out to those who had been waiting first, before taking new orders. Money and tea exchanging hands so rapidly, that it was dizzying for her. So much so that she didn't even notice how most only took sip of her tea before putting it back down, and never really touching it again. For it was both a little weak, and irritatingly salty.