PM to join [The Bean] Slow Work Day

[Jovhel]

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4th of Fall, 514 AV
14th Bell

Jovhel stood behind the counter with a empty expression and an even more empty mind. Most every day he got up around the fifth bell to work the counter while his employer, Hagard Astram, took his daily one hour cup of tea and mustache trimming. Most every day he never left The Bean until the twentieth bell. Most every day he always got the “14th bell, 30th chime” feeling leaving him ready for a long nap. What else was there to do besides work? He really had made no real close friends in the Citadel, he hasn’t really done much since he went to the theatre close to the end of last season.

Now another droll day, even the world outside the small window of the business seemed dreary. What he needed was a nice stirring conversation, but there was no afternoon customer rush to be had here today. As Jovhel glanced at the faces and the backs of the few heads that sat around the store. Nope- No- No- Just the antisocial regulars and the usual old people. Neither choices were appealing to him. So there was no one to talk to and he was simply mindlessly wiping the same spot of the front counter over and over and over again.

He predicted his dreary day wouldn’t be getting better anytime soon, because, though it was getting chilly, who wants a piping hot coffee or tea in the middle of the day? Maybe something exciting would happen, he heard about what happened about a caravan from hearsay yesterday. But he was dreaming more that some dashing, young knight might need a tea for medicinal reasons and did not have the intelligence to go to the Stormhold Salves.

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[Garland]

Garland ran through the door into the Bean. "Quick! I need some tea for reasons that seem rather stupid now that I think about it... hmmm..." The patrons inside the shop looked at the young squire with equal amounts of shock and the urge to rub their temples.

Not long after Garland's rather loud entrance, Catherine, Garland's Patron Knight, followed him inside, looking rather sickly. "For the last time you idiot, I'm fine." She said with a small sniffle, she had come down with a cold, but she insisted to work today just like every other day.

"No, you are not. You need bed rest and a nice warm cup of tea." Garland said and led his mentor to a booth. "Beside, tea would be good, it is getting colder everyday. Hopefully the snow doesn't come too soon."

"You just had to jinx it, didn't you. Besides, I don't like tea, can't I get a coffee instead?" Catherine groaned weakly. She sat down inside the booth and sat her sword on the side.

"No, because tea will be better for you and, I need you to relax, not have a caffeine rush..." Garland said and went back to the counter.

[Jovhel]

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This place was so slow. Jovhel was so sleepy. His eyes were becoming heavy and, though standing, he was ready to fall asleep. His eyes began to droop. He resisted his closing eyes, but soon enough he was snoozing away. It was rather peaceful for the few seconds of his slumber, but good things never last.

All too suddenly, a booming voice filled the room and jolted the poor bartender to attention. Had he been sleepy before, he certainly wasn’t after that. He felt the hint of adrenaline rushing through him keeping his heart beating rapidly and his senses aware of his surroundings. The source of this disruption to The Beans quiet atmosphere was a teen, followed by an unwell woman, a knight from the looks of it, who sounded like she spent a little too much time with the boy and his personality.

The younger of the two looked rugged, but could be Jovhel’s age, a little short for his taste though. But he was a customer, not a candidate for socialization whatever the nature. The woman was boyish. She seemed tough and hard on her subordinate. She looked threatening, even more so with the effect her health was having on her appearance. Jovhel snapped back from his evaluations and gave them both a troubled smile as they streamed through the entrance.

“Hello and welcome, Sera and Ser. He assumed them both to be knights. May I interest you in a coffee or a tea? He held his smile as they continued a hushed conversation between the two of them. The boy went bumping from chair to chair, approaching the counter. Jovhel shot a short glance back at the kettle over the fire, the water was almost hot enough to serve.

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[Garland]

"Some tea please. preferably something to relax someone instead of waking them up." Garland had said. "Nice to meet you, my name's Garland. The grumpy one is Catherine."

Catherine gave a low grunt in response.

"Forgive her, she's feeling a bit under the weather. Oh and some coffee would be nice along with the tea." Garland looked around the shop, it seemed rather empty. "Slow day? At least you don't have to worry about stressing yourself out today."

Catherine gave a small sneeze and wiped her nose.

"She'll be fine. She has a fast metabolism, so she heals quickly." Garland grabbed his coin purse and opened it. "How much will all this cost?"

[Jovhel]

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A coffee and a tea then, very good Ser. A relaxing tea... Jovhel eyed the boy, then the woman who was massaging her head. ...of course. Right then, my name is Jovhel, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Jovhel turned his back to the front of the store to gather the necessary supplies for their request. For the tea and coffee together, it will be a total of five silver mizas. Jovhel pondered for a moment as he grabbed a scoop of coffee from a burlap sack on the back counter.

Jovhel thought to himself That’s the correct price isn’t it? I know Syliran coffee is three silver mizas and Lillian Root tea is two silver mizas- wait. Is it Lillian Root tea I need to give him, or Iskyny tea? Damn, it’s those two I always confuse and Mr. Astram stepped out. Ok, so one is the calming tea, used to relieve anxiety and panic attacks, and the other will knock one of them out for about eight hours. He gripped his chin and conflicted between the two. He laughed nervously, using the time he was speaking to stall while he figured out a solution to his predicament Yes, it's very quiet. More so than usual, even for this time of day, but some stress would be nice. It keeps the the mind awake and the blood flowing. I can’t wait and ask Mr. Astram now, he thinks I know what I’m doing and he’s counting on me. Iskyny is the more expensive tea, so it must have more important medicinal qualities than Lillian Root tea, so it has to be Iskyny that has the power to put people to sleep. Much to Catherine’s fortune, Jovhel pulled the glass jar of Lillian Root from it’s place on the shelf.

Confident with his decision, he turned his head with a beaming smile and said Yes Ser, it’s five silver mizas.

Focusing his attention back on the task at hand he pulled out a tea cup and two mugs, it was time for that cup of coffee for himself as well. He took some time to put a cup of coffee beans into the burr grinder and went cranking away at the grinder lever until consistent coffee grinds resulted. By now the kettle steaming somewhat so he removed it from the flame, so he took the boiling water and poured a small amount into a teapot for warming, returned the kettle to the fire waited a moment, and tossed the hot water. The proprietor of the shop taught him this and said that warming the teapot was absolutely essential for a nice spot of tea. This time he put tea leaves in the pot, two generous teaspoons worth, followed by a cup of the kettles steaming water. The tea was going well so far, but it needed to cool.

Now he began to focus on the coffee. The grinds were ready, all he needed to do was mix them with the hot water. He grabbed a pot, approximately 4 inches in diameter, from the shelves under the back counter, removed the boiling kettle from the fire, and poured about two cups of water into the pot. He took grinds from the coffee grind, a tablespoon, and measured each scoop before dropping the grinds in the pot four times. The coffee and tea were sitting nicely now they each needed to sit for a respective amount of time.

He called out to Garland and Catherine. The tea will be done in a little more than a chime, and the coffee will be finished in about four chimes. He gave a nod and went over to the nearby water pump to wash the kettle and spoons he had been using.

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[Garland]

Garland placed the money on the counter and leaned on it. "Alright, I'll wait for it here." He looked over to the window and noticed there weren't many people walking by.

"How long have you been working here? You seem to know what you're doing. I haven't been a squire for long, only started this season. I've heard this place is very popular, but I've never been here before. I've always been tight on my money, and I've always thought this place was expensive, no offense. Do you sell any snacks here?" He said rather quickly without pausing for breath.

Catherine had looked up at Garland. She was too tired to speak up at her loud and annoying subordinate. Of course she had gotten used to it, but other people will probably find him annoying, like that one knight that always talks and never shuts up. She could never remember his name though.

[Jovhel]

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Jovhel’s eyes widened at the squire as his entire mind worked to decipher the questions and comments coming at him. He definitely needed that coffee. There was barely enough mental capacity to take the few things he was saying. Slowly, he processed the information and dispensed a response, one by one.

Uhhhhhhhh, Ya. He chuckled to this conveniently placed comment, I’ve worked here not six days before the bronze tower began to blaze red. I’m far from an expert, but I’m grasping things rather well. He turned his back to Garland and picked up the pot of tea. He grasped a strainer and held it over the nearby teacup as he poured the contents of the teapot through it. A squire, huh? I see. I know we have regulars, but The Bean has formidable competition to be found in the Stormhold Salves. Our prices are nothing less than reasonable. the same as the prices over there too, however we only serve tea and coffee. Then Garland commented about snacks. A very blunt question, but it revived some curiosity and intrigue in Jovhels mind. I’ve thought it was a bit bland that we only serve drinks, but I suspect that we will need the knowledge of cooking and the approval of a few higher authorities, my employer included, before we can do that.

Jovhel put the teapot down and turned to Garland with a teacup destined for Catherine. Here is your tea, and your coffee will be done soon. Now that it would be a chime or two before he needed to pick up pace again, he could focus on the talkative patron, and maybe even his companion. So if your a squire, Jovhel looked from Garland to Catherine you must be the knight responsible for his care, yes Sera?

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[Garland]

Garland nodded about the food. The lack of food was actually quite confusing. They could hire a baker, a few are he knew around the town that were pretty good and sell on their own. A partnership would be good with for all of them, and it wouldn't be too long to get the paperwork done.

"Unfortunately so. He's the annoying one I got paired up with..." Catherine gave a small cough and took her cup of tea. She took a small sip of her tea, the sweet smelling tea whiffed into her nose, she relaxed a lot more, her tense muscles were slowly relaxing and loosening.

[Jovhel]

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Jovhel felt an awkward tension with Catherine’s comment, and chose not to hear it. He turned to the back counter to prepare the coffee with a troubled expression spread across his hidden face. He had concluded that the relationship between squire and patron was far from formal. Some knights preferred a more casual approach to mentor-ship, but this bond was different, even from those.

Jovhel peered into the coffee pot. The grinds were not floating around the coffee was it had been when it was boiling and instead settled to the bottom of it’s container. This was good, everything was going as it was supposed to. He took the one of the two mugs he brought out earlier and a ladle and used it to scoop the coffee into the mug without displacing the grinds below. He did the same with the other mug. The first mug slid across the front counter until it sat in front of Garland. There you are! Jovhel said with his nose in his own coffee mug. Shortly after, the Mizas the squire set on the table were swiped into Jovhel's fist where they were put below the front counter in a strongbox.

Jovhel looked at them speculating what it might be like if they stuck around. Would Garland focus on Catherine, or stay here and continue shooting the breeze. Would they even stay? Catherine has been rather quiet, but maybe she might start to socialize, though by what he saw so far, it wouldn't seem likely. Well, Sera Catherine. My sister, much like I, left the our home in the Mithryn Outpost to find her own way to Yahal. None of us have heard from her in a while, but I think she wen't to join the Knighthood. I was wondering if you could recall anyone by the name of Chaimei of the sons of Havid? One would recognize our faces in each others. But I suppose that if she lost contact with us, she would be stationed away from Sylira so it's a long shot.

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[Garland]

Garland grabbed his cup and blew on it gently to cool it off. He ignored Catherine's comments, she's always like that when Garland drags her to some place she didn't want to go.

Catherine took a sip of her tea and stood up. She made her way towards Garland, a bit slowly. She was still very dizzy and sick. She did feel a bit better though. She leaned on the counter. "Can I request some more sugar and Garland could you get some pastries outside."She gave him a few Midas for some food outside.

Garland nodded and ran outside. Catherine gave Jovhel a smile. "I'm sorry, her name seems familiar but I can't say I know her. Sorry."