[Mhakula Tea House]Cream With Your Tea?(Jiina)

[Neville Whitevine]

Cream With Your Tea? 15th of Spring AV 511 Neville was still adjusting to having to hold a steady job. In the past, he had relied on more nefarious means to get by, but here in Lhavit, the law was much too strict and the security too tight for that. Adjusting to this life was going to take quite some time for Neville, and those around him were going to have to be patient. Extremely patient. It was a week into Neville's new job and it was the first time he had actually showed up on time. He had gone through all the training and made plenty of mistakes, but he was finally starting to shape up a bit. Yesterday he had gone the entire day without breaking anything, and he, and most likely those around him, had high hopes for a repeat of that today. Neville was busy busing tables and taking orders when he noticed a young lady come in and be seated. He wasn't exactly sure why, but she intrigued him. She exhumed a cool air of confidence and Neville didn't seem to be the only one who noticed. Her toned, tight, beautiful appearance turned the heads of several men seated in the tea house. However, Neville's reason for noticing her was not the same as the rest of them. Physical attractiveness had little effect on him, and yet still, he felt the need to speak with her. The only logical conclusion he came up with was that she carried herself in a proud way that he admired. Quickly, at least for Neville, he walked over to the girl shortly after she was seated. "What can I get for you, ma'am." He said in his lone, slow, tone of speech. He didn't smile, as he thought doing so made him look silly, but he did have a welcoming expression. In his hands he held a scrap of paper and pencil that looked comically small compared to his large fingers, but he had learned how to make somewhat legible scribbles with then. He looked down at the small scrap and got ready to write down the girl's order before looking back up at her. There was still an inexplicable desire to speak with her, but it was beginning to be dulled by Neville's headache. Perhaps he would have to miss having another day without mishaps in order to spill something on someone to accidentally stab someone with a fork so that he wouldn't have to go the rest of the day with this headache. Perhaps that is why he was drawn to this girl, he thought. She did seem like an interesting subject to inflict excess pain upon. However, that would have to wait, he first had to gauge how she would react to an 'accidental' attack.

[Jiina]

There was a whisper going around town that there was an animal serving at the Mhakula Tea House. A live, breathing, talking animal, taking orders and making food. There was a certain level of disgust amongst the citizens, disgust that Youchi Dawn had made such a decision. Jiina could not resist the rumours, and so she set out to the Mhakula Tea House to set them at ease in her mind. A smile rose to her face, predatorial smile, as she remembered just what had happened the last time she had come here. She had met the pretty kitty Isette, and that had certainly blossomed into a profitable excursion. I have a way with animals, it seemed, she cackled to herself, her thoughts running away with her. Perhaps this one too shall be added to my collection. She did not really know what type of animal this was. If it was a Kelvic, she could not really think reason to herself that it would stay in her animal form. She did not know what this new thing would be. Jiina nodded at the young man at the door, pursing her lips and smiling seductively, her eyes flaming. It was the same young waiter whom she had trailed her hands down that meeting with Isette. "A seat, please," she purred, eyes trained on him. He gulped, and nodded his head like a puppy. As soon as he turned to lead her to her table, she dropped the seductive air, barely giving another look to the poor sweating boy. She regally walked through the tea house, knowing people were staring at the way she walked, muttering about which House she was from, as she surely was. Calmly, she sat at her table, not even bothering to look at the waiter, who walked nervously away after a few seconds silence. She heard a slow, low, and quite attractively manly voice address her, and she looked up slowly. She took in the hair, the dark eyes, and was shocked - but she did not let it show on her face. She kept her cool as she looked at the giant ape next to her. "You, sir," she said, her voice low and sultry. "Are a monkey." A small smirk broke out on her face, but she kept the conversation flowing. She smiled at him, quite a nice smile, seeming lovely but secretly laughing to herself on the inside. Was the Mhakula Tea House so low that they would indeed hire an animal as a waiter? It seemed utterly foolish. "I am at a Tea House." The announcement was obvious, which was the point she was trying to make. "I think, my good Ape, I shall have tea." And then she grinned, a wide, mocking grin. She was trying to anger the monkey and she hoped it was working.

[Neville Whitevine]

Neville had gotten used to people reacting in utter shock when he approached them in, and when he trying to take there order they followed up with disgust. Despite Jamoura being no less sanitary than any human, Neville found this humorous, due to the fact that they were actually being served by a Jamoura that had been dead for a few months. However, this woman's calm, level, response to seeing that she was being served by a giant ape was in sharp contrast to what he was used to. Neville figured that she was either already quite familiar with Jamoura, something he doubted, since he had seen no other walking apes in Lhavit, or she was very good at faking. Such good acting only belonged to those of three groups, and Neville decided that it would be a good test of his auristics and his general observation of people to see if he could decipher which one she belonged to without asking her. Her obvious comment about his form as a giant monkey brought a smirk to Neville's face, and he gave a low, gravely chuckle. It was, however, gone as quickly as it came, as it was quickly swept away by a jolt of pain from his throbbing headache. He had to choose, either he had to find another customer on who he could inflict pain, or he would have to give up his new quest to learn more about this strange girl. Luckily, just the person to become today's victim walked through the door and was soon seated. After jotting down Jiina's order, Neville gave a polite nod and his generic response. "I will have that for you soon. If there is anything else you need, just get my attention." He proceeded to walk over to the table where the other customer had just sat. Neville walk up beside there table and stepped down with one of his over-sized feet directly on the customer's foot. Between his colossal weight and the intentional force with which he stepped, the person jolted out of the chair in pain. Neville felt a sweat rush of ecstasy as the pain in his head went away, allowing him to finally think clearly. Neville, of course, apologized to the customer, and they, being very kind-hearted, accepted his apology without even a complaint. It was almost too easy to prey on the good nature of some people, but Neville felt no regret for doing it. He preceded to take their order and bring both their's and Jiina's out at the same time. He went first to the table of the customer he had attacked, hoping that speedy service would encourage them to continue their silence about the incident. When he brought Jiina her tea, he intentional made contact with her hand. His hope was that the physical contact would make it easier to focus on her aura. It did little other than help him distinguish her's from those of the rest of the patrons. However, that was all he needed. As he went back to work, he continued to focus on her aura with as much of his mind as he could. It was very cloudy to Neville and there was little he could tell from it. This was only able to eliminate one of the options regarding why she was a good actor. If she had been acting out of a desire to be nice, he would most likely be able to discern such feelings of goodness. It was, in fact, quite the contrary to that. He had a hard time discerning any exact feeling or emotion at all. This lead him to believe she could not be an actor either, since most actors he had met were over-emotional hams. Neville still had to admit that his judgement could be flawed by his desire for he to be up to something shady, considering that would have made his interest in her worth while. But for now, he would have to wait and stay around her for as long as he could, hoping to catch some glimpse of what she was really like.

[Jiina]

She raised her eyebrows as the monkey chuckled. She had not meant to make him amused, and she was slightly irritated that she had. He was supposed to be getting irritable at her impudence. Not for any real reason, of course, she just thought it would be amusing to see a giant walking talking monkey get annoyed. But the chuckle was gone as quickly as it came, and a peculiar flash of pain seemed to make it's way across the waiter's face. Her eyebrow stayed raised, a by-product of curiosity. But the monkey was soon making excuses and leaving again. It irritated her slightly that he left so ... speedily, but he was a waiter and she could not entice him forever. At least, she couldn't entice him that much now... but later. Surely. Her eyes stayed fixed on the lumbering beast as he shuffled away. There was something she liked about him, but she wasn't entirely sure what. Perhaps a little bit of admiration for being somewhat immune to her provocation, but perhaps also a little bit for his evident wit. There was something there, certainly, especially in the way he was amused by her comment. She liked him almost immediately. She wasn't all too sure why, but she did. Jiina could not help but chuckle out loud, drawing the attention of the nervous waiter she had flirted with before, and many people close to her. The impropriety of such amusement whilst being on one's own was rather strange. Jiina however did not pay them any attention, her attention being drawn as it was to the giant ape which had slammed his rather considerable foot onto that of another patron. The man had jolted out of his seat in shock, and pain was written all over the monkey's face. Though the apologies that spewed forth were readily recieved, her eyes did not wander around again. They stayed clicked to the animal. As he turned away, there was an almost relieved look on his face. Of course, it was the face of an animal and she could not be entirely sure. It just seemed ... so convenient to Jiina. But the ape turned away and came back rather quickly with the tea for the injured patron, and the tea for Jiina. As he placed the tea on her table, her hand simply lying innocently on the table - she by no means had reached out to get the cup - was brushed by the rather hairy, matted skin of the waiter. She coughed, as his hand lingered, and made a point of moving it away and grabbing the tea, taking a sip with her eyes staring, glaring, trying to figure out the monkey. The waiter, it seemed, took the point and wandered away again. But she did not want him leaving just yet. "Monkey waiter!" she called out imperiously. There was a wicked grin on her face, though, and though she was being mocking, she was not cold hearted. "That was a nice trip, before. What time do you get off?" She waited for a response, her face poised and imperial, waiting for the answer she was sure to get. And if he did not... well, she would pull rank.

[Neville Whitevine]

As quickly as he had left, he was being called back to the table. This was a bit of a hassle for the slow moving creature, but he tried to seem unaffected by it as he returned to the table. "Yes, my lady, is there something you need? Perhaps some cream in your tea?" Neville spoke in the same polite tone he tried to use with all the customers. However, as she continued speaking, he realized she wasn't just any ordinary customer. She had seen his 'accidental' trip, and she probably knew it wasn't as accidental as he wanted everyone to believe. This knowledge could be very bad for Neville is she decided to go to the management with the complaint. After a week of mistakes and training failures, another one as large as this could probably get Neville fired, and he wasn't going to take that chance. He decided he would do whatever it took to appease this woman and get her to keep her mouth shut. Still, Neville figured it was best to maintain plausible decidability, so he said nothing about the trip as if he didn't know what she was talking about. Instead, he answered her other question. "I will be done soon. If you give me twenty minutes to get everything wrapped up, my shift will be over soon." He paused, taking a long, slow breath before continuing. "Is there something you would like to discuss or somewhere you would like to go? If so, you can leave whenever you wish, and I can meet you there." Neville's deep tone was quiet. It was not a secretive whisper, just quiet enough that anybody not intentionally trying to listen in on them would not be disturbed by the conversation. Neville brought his hands in front of him and interlaced his fingers. His face and posture reflected the willing service that was expected of him, but for the discerning, there was definitely something else that radiated from the giant ape; something much darker that anyone would likely expect from a waiter at a tea house. Once he knew when and where they would meet after his shift, Neville went on serving the rest of his customers. He did his best to keep from staring at the woman, but she had certainly intrigued him. He was still unable to get an accurate read off of her. This was something that bothered Neville, not in a intense way so much as just a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. Regardless of the suspicion that it caused him to have of the girl, he continued to focus on her aura as best he could while hurriedly finishing the rest of the tasks he had to complete before he could leave. Once all the customers he had served were finished eating, Neville still had to help clean off the tables and receive his payment for the week before he could leave. Unfortunately, this process couldn't have an exact amount of time it would take, but Neville tried to make it as short as possible.

[Jiina]

oocSorry it's a tad short. A single eyebrow raised as she scrutinised the monkey waiter. He seemed calm, composed ... too much so. It was so rare for one not to have a reaction. A normal human face, Jiina would be able to check and recognise an emotion flitting across their face in seconds, but the waiter's face was covered in hair and was so differently composed to hers. It was frustrating. She didn't have her usual fallback. She should really learn that thing that Taeto had spoken about once... aurism? Aurasics? Something to that effect. She hadn't really listened. She wished she had, now. Her smile suddenly turned into a frown. Twenty chimes? She shouldn't have to wait so long. She didn't care if this stupid ape had his pay docked and was fired, she was to be served with speed and efficiency in everything she did. Before he could continue his speech, she interrupted and said in a high cold voice, "Sir, I am of the Twilight Family. My father is cousin to Weisur Twilight himself. It would be best not to keep me waiting." She smirked then, as if pleased she had embarrassed him sufficiently. In speaking so loud, she had drawn the attention of surrounding tables. The waiter stationed at the door looked nervous, and fidgeted, unsure of what to do. The slight menace that followed the monkey's next words did not serve to intimidate her in the least. Instead, she scoffed at his words. He thought she would be scared? Please. She could have this man thrown out of Lhavit if she so chose. She stood up, picking up the tea as she did so. She lifted it to her lips delicately and drank down the rest in one gulp, clanging it back down onto the tray. "The steps of the Koten Temple, please. What a lovely backdrop for what I'm sure will be a lovely confrontation. And make it five minutes, not twenty." She bow sarcastically, according him that sacred honour of Lhavit, before she turned her back on him and headed out into the Surya Plaza.

[Neville Whitevine]

Neville was disappointed to see the woman's face contort into a frown, and until she started speaking, he could not fathom why. He considered it fortunate that she had not caught him at the beginning of his shift but toward the end. However, she apparently saw it in a completely different light. Neville maintained his calm demeanor as she lectured him. She said something about a family he had never heard of, and followed it with a vague threat that something bad would happen if he did not comply with her every demand. He loud tone had indeed drawn the attention of those around them, and Neville intended to set the young woman straight right then and there. However, being slow in almost everything he did, she was already following up her tirade with more instructions. Who did she think she was to order him around in such a way? If Neville was to get along with her at all, he expected to at the least be treated as her equal. This time, Neville made sure he got in what he wanted to say before she said anything else. The dramatic fashion in which to drank the rest of her tea seamed like only an excuse to draw more attention to the scene, and this won no respect fro her from Neville. Before she could stand and leave her table, Neville started in with some words of his own. He spoke in his usual low voice, but at a speed closer to that of what normal people would hold a regular conversation. However, this was quite fast for him, and to the preceptive, it would be apparent that he was nearing the edge of being indignant about the whole situation. "I don't know who this family is that you speak of, but if you intend to lord it over me like something I should be impressed by, it simply will not work. I will meet you when I am done, or we will not meet at all. I am beginning to think that I will be doing myself a disservice to associate with you at all." Neville paused, slowing his speech and returning to the respectful mannerisms he forced himself into using while he served tea. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will be off to finish my shift, and I will meet you in exactly twenty chimes at the Koten Temple." Assuming the young woman said no more, Neville would do exactly what he said he would, as he returned to serving the last few tables of his shift.

[Jiina]

Jiina had stormed off at the monkey's last words, having not given him any notice. She was reluctant to admit she had lost that round. It was so rare that someone was as strong as she, personality wise, that she was not used to being overrun. Of course, there was Taeto, but with Taeto she always gave way to his will. This monkey was new, an anomaly. She had never deferred to anyone but Taeto, and the more she thought about it, the more she was irritated. She knew this being would not arrive at the Temple for at least twenty chimes. He would probably be late, too, if she knew anything about pride - and she certainly did. Most people, when put down in front of others, wanted to show up the other person. Jiina resigned herself to the fact that she could very well be waiting twenty five chimes before the ape even turned up at the skyglass monument, the Koten Temple. Jiina had stormed out of the Mhakula Tea House, and now found herself facing the large Surya Plaza. She stood in the small garden that surrounded the tea house, in one of the corners. She was in the corner furthest away from the Koten Temple, the large sprawling square laid out before her and the gleaming home of Zintila. Her scowl deepened at the thought of just who lay in that building, the combined irritation of autocracy and a monkey making her all the more pissed off. She would have stormed off directly towards the temple, but that would use up too much time too quickly. Instead, she wandered across the plaza taking in the sights of the people. She passed hawkers. She passed Lhavitians heading home (as the night was nearing it's end and it was almost dawn). She passed tourists gawking at the wonder of the city. She tried not to get ahead of herself, feeling the urge to run over to those foreigners and shake them by the shoulder, shouting out what a dictatorship they were under. But she couldn't do that. Only with a cursory sweeping glance of the square could she count one, two, three Shinya patrolling. There were certainly more. Petching Shinya, why were they always there? Were they to have no freedom? She idled away, people watching, for twenty chimes. The monkey said he would be there by now (though she doubted it), and if he was, she had just upped him again by being late. She wandered closer to the Koten Temple, surroundings illuminated by the skyglass as she passed them and got closer to the structure. Without looking around for the hulking brute, she counted up to halfway up the stairs, and sat in the middle. He would find her. She had already acquiesed to twenty times not five, now he should do the work. She would not look around for someone as lowly as he. She was Twilight; he should come to her.