Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 12:37 pm
"Awfa braw. Good luck on those," Gordon commented, "And who's Pfote? Your pet?"
"That's good," Fiona said, "And what do you usually bake?"
Because sometimes even national leaders just want to hang out
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Folaisia wrote:"Awfa braw. Good luck on those," Gordon commented, "And who's Pfote? Your pet?"
"That's good," Fiona said, "And what do you usually bake?"
The Selkie wrote:Lugh smiled.
"Oh, the pleasure is mine, Milady.", the young man said with a smile, "Though I'm afraid, that I can not help you in regards to your other inquiry. I know many people, who can... and who you will meet tonight."
Leonard nodded. "Quite a few of the girls will be there tonight, amongst them Maihrin and Enya and a few of the Amys.", he said, "I'm sure, that they'll all be thrilled to talk with you about that."
Lugh nodded.
The Selkie wrote:The tea came a minute later, a nice anise tea, which smelled heavenly.
Branwen took a small sip with a smile, which led to the conclusion, that it not only smelled good, but also was good.
"A friend of ours swears, that anise tea not only helps with digestion, but also helps against early aging and against coughing and fever.", Elin said, "And I made the experience, that Anise Tea at night helps as well..."
Branwen took another sip.
The Selkie wrote:The little cubs were hesitant at first, Darufa having a hand on Billie's shoulder in reassurance.
Then the first one was brave, slowly reaching out with his snout, sniffing carefully, first a bit confused, then with a bit of assurance as he took a second sniff.
A beat passed.
Then he licked Billie's hand, approving of her.
That seemed to open the floodgates, as the second and the third puppy came towards the two girls.
Darufa smiled.
The Selkie wrote:"It is, isn't it?", Mavie said before she opened the door into a small entrance room.
Rona took off her shoes, as did her mothers, and then offered slippers to the two guests, both pairs in a neutral dark blue. The three inhabitants took slippers themselves, Rona's being of a bright, happy yellow, while the older women had dark red ones.
Mara kissed Mavie on the lips.
With that done, the three led Mei and Tsukasa deeper, through a door into a large central living room with a table in the middle, kitchen to the left behind a door, a short hallway leading to the bedrooms. A large window front opposite to the door into the living room gave a wonderful view of the square beneath it, where the festival was going on merrily. The room was floored with dark wood, a light carpet on top of it.
"Please, have a seat!", Mavie said with a smile, offering a chair for the two visitors, "I'll put the kettle on!"
The Selkie wrote:
After the numbers were exchanged and Z said her goodbye to Macha, who answered by giving Z a quick hug, grinning as she pressed a kiss between Z's upper ears, doing something similar to Ren and telling Kiri, that she would love to do the same with her, but that was, sadly, impossible, the small group departed.
Nia supplied Ren with a handkerchief and a small bottle of water, then took a moment to orient herself.
"This way!", she said, then took off deep into Cuan's streets on a shortcut.
The Selkie wrote:Conchobar thought for a moment.
"Restaurant, no.", he said, "But there are a number of good stalls nearby. To be honest, I could use a bite as well..."
That was the moment, when General Niochan and his Grey Wolf appeared again.
"Did I hear someone being hungry?", he asked and, with two other employees of the stall, occupied the last archer position, all the way down the side of the gallery. He and the other two carried trays with food and drinks, glass bottles with differently lemonades and clayen mugs, set them up. "A little something from the house and me to celebrate. Those of you, who are hungry, feel free!"
There were murmurs, which were silenced by Conchobar, speaking in Selkie: "Is that from Mhairin?"
Niochan nodded - there were cheers.
Conchobar grinned at the Minrozians: "Or we get a snack here. Whichever works for you."
The Selkie wrote:"A Guarding Fox, who does not like young, is not a Guarding Fox.", Darufa said with a smile, "That's where their name comes from. They have the tendency to 'adopt' lost and orphaned young of other species, accepting them as if they were their own." She rose and let the two girls the space to pet the growing crowd of cubs, who wanted to get to know them. "And as such, they like the young of almost any species... there's even a legend of a Guarding Fox adopting two human children and raising them as her own, up in the Silver Mountains. The Fox-Children of Mount Aill is its name."
The Selkie wrote:Rona had giggled at the quip about her colour of choice for her slippers, but was a bit confused by the comment about how similar things apparently were to their homelands. Her Mam had caught it as well, would no doubt ask.
The tea didn't take long and a minute or two later, the entire assembly was seated at the table, with plates before them, a steaming hot can of tea being distributed, utensils laid out by Rona.
Mara looked to Mavie, who nodded.
The Lady of the House then looked to Mei and Tsukasa: "If you want to speak your graces before we eat, please do so.", she offered.
The Selkie wrote:Lugh and Leonard both smiled.
"Oh, that's for certain!", the redhead next to Haru said with a firm nod, "Our boss invited a lot of our friends and they bring friends of theirs along so we have a full house! The Cluanaire Inn will not know, what hit it!"
Lugh nodded and rose. "That's true. Cel said, they would have enough space, so let's put that to the test!", he said, then his smile turned slightly said, "I am afraid, however, that I must return to work now. Dad's most likely getting impatient already. Leonard, show them a lot of fun things, if they let you!"
The redhead grinned, hugged his friend. "Will do!"
"Miss Haru...", Lugh spoke to the older of the two women, bowed his head to her, "...keep an eye on Leonard, please. He has a tendency to get into scrapes."
And with that, he turned to Miki, while Leonard protested with a grin.
"Young Lady...", he began, softly took her hand and kissed the back of it with the softness as if she was out of the most fragile porcelain, "...we will see each other later."
Branwen and Elin nodded.
"Indeed.", Branwen said, "Both for relaxation and as herbal remedies. Where many foreigners reach for medication and pills, we reach for the Headache Tea and similar teas. Of course, only for smaller ailments." She smiled. "You will rarely find someone, who tries to cure broken bones with a herbal poultice, although they do exist."
A beat passed.
"From your appreciation of a good cuppa, I take, that you grew up with drinking tea, too?", Branwen asked with interest.
The Selkie wrote:
It didn't take too long and Nia escaped on the other side of the crowd, in a small side street, and waited for her new friends.
Indeed, some people were surprised by Kiri, which helped them to get through faster.
The Spiorad smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that... I usually don't like moving through crowds, so I usually tend to get it over with quickly. I should have warned you...", she explained, "It's smoother sailing from here on out for a while, though, so you can take in a bit of the tremendous sights..."
She turned around.
"Granted, it's a side-street, but they do have pretty flowers. And the best shops are usually on such side streets, not the Main Streets.", she explained.
And indeed, in this side-street, along the flanks of residential buildings, were a number of interesting shops, from two tinkerers and a watchmaker to a bookstore and a toymaker, as well as a flower shop, who's merchandise emitted a wonderful smell.
Nia led them further in.
The Selkie wrote:Alaina and Layla smiled - indeed, a good start for their day, especially Layla.
Her bandmate did not hold it against her, Hilda was a good and talented singer, and she deserved a whole lot of the admiration... but Alaina knew Layla for a long time now. Layla... was a person, who loved company, especially if it was a person, who she held in high regards.
Like Hilda.
Alaina almost envied her and so, she watched how Hilda wolfed her food down - her own plate was already empty.
Layla, Alaina knew, sometimes needed protection. Especially now, after she lost her father, she needed it.
After they had all finished, Alaina flagged down a waitress, paid for everyone and then turned to the other two women to ask: "Ready, everyone?"
Layla nodded, gulping down the last bite.
With that, the group rose. "So. Middle Bastion, to the exhibition of the Banna High School Pikemen.", Alaina recapped their next destination. "It's going to be fun!"
The Selkie wrote:Conchobar smiled at Lianhua.
"A healthy man is a man, who eats good, as me Mam always said.", he told her with a nod, "Believe me, eating a lot is a good sign for health! And who knows, maybe he'll grow big and strong!"
There was a round of laughs at the joke, especially from the older men present.
"In any case, I wanted to meet a few people after I finished up here. You see, one of my granddaughters is in town with a few friends of hers. They're all part of the Coileáin, that's the Iris Boarding School Complex Shenscha-Dhow Team." He shrugged. "I have no idea, what a Shenscha-Dhow Team is and what it does the whole long day, but as long as I can meet my granddaughter and her friends, I don't really give a damn what it is."
He smiled.
"Wanna tag along?", he offered to any takers, not only the Minrozians.
The Selkie wrote:Lugh nodded, then rose to his full height.
"Then I won't keep you.", he said and nodded to Leonard, said something to him in Selkie, which made him nod. "We'll see each other."
And with these goodbyes said, Leonard led them back out to the street, which was mostly empty still. It was a side-street and even on busy days, it was calm around here.
"So...", Leonard asked, guesstimating the time to be shortly before eleven. "...what do you want to do next?"
The Selkie wrote:"We usually use herbs growing around the Free Lands, either in the wild or in herb gardens - just about every household has one!", Branwen explained, "Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, never really had much of a foothold here..."
"There's a lot of songs and rhymes, which tell about the properties of certain herbs, too.", Elin added, "And enough herbalists to be considered an own branch of industry by the Merchant Guild of Leuda." She let a beat pass. "There's also an old legend, the Legend of Lugh the Herbalist and the Fastest Horse."
The Selkie wrote:Darufa nodded.
"Indeed, there are always a grain of truth in any story.", she said with a small smile, as one of the cubs sniffed Charlie's hand, finding the smell to the liking. She was allowed to pet him. "It even got made into a movie." She let a beat pass. "Anthropologists usually say, that this myth relates to actual stories of feral children and found documents, that this happened in history in the Free Lands for a variety of reasons."
"Indeed it is.", Mara said with a smile, taking a sip of her own. She glanced to Rona, who was eating with vigor and a huge grin. "Tea is the most wonderful thing in the world. I cannot understand those, who deny themselves this wonderful thing."
"It calms one down when one has to do those really, really complicated Math-Homeworks Miss Casta gives!", Rona chimed in from the side between bites.
"Don't gobble, Rona, it's bad for your stomach!", Mavie cautioned her daughter, who agreed with a nod. "You're right, though... and Miss Casta makes them really complicated!"
The Selkie wrote:
Nia smiled at the enthusiasm, feeling similarly.
As Z called her friends to hurry up, she smiled at them. She would, in the evening, return here with them, and who knew, maybe their rooms would get a new decoration?
That was all in the future, though, as Nia led them down the road. Occasionally, the small group was waved at by a few people old and young, Nia returning the favour.
It was lively here.
A keen nose would be able to pick up the scent of a river, keener ears would be able to hear it coming closer.
The Selkie wrote:Conchobar. With Yi Tieguang and Sun Lianhua.
The old man nodded.
"That's wonderful!", he said with visible cheer, "Asteria would surely love to meet you all! She's at the Iris Boarding School near Fortham and... well, that's quite a bit from where I usually am, so I don't often have the chance to meet her. That I get to meet her four friends as well is...!"
He grinned like only a proud grandfather could.
"Wait, Asteria...", one of Conchobar's friends asked, "...isn't that the daughter of your daughter, who married that Lutetiian? Enya, I think she was?"
"Indeed.", Conchobar said, which caused quite a few nods. "Fun story from their marriage, back in 2000. Anyone willing to hear?"
The Selkie wrote: Streets of Cuan.
Indeed, no one recognized the Princess, the war hero or the husband both shared, but that was not a surprise, considering, that they not only were from another world (not the Otherworld, the Selkie were a tad picky about that difference, mainly because the Otherworld, Arallfyd, was the world of myths and generally, usually, seen as the Selkie-Version of the Afterlife), but also that the yellow press in the Free Lands, if they ever wrote about Royalty, had other Royalty in their sights.
Still, a few people gave them a bit of a berth, mainly because they recognized, that one of the women was not just any tourist - they did not investigate any further, though.
And then, there were those, who were distracted as they walked along. One of them was a young man, in his early thirties, short, grey hair and brown eyes, which spoke of a very healthy self-confidence, almost bordering arrogance.
He had his hands in his pockets as he walked along, watched the people, and was watched, for the Selkie very well knew him: He was Raidri Leathchúpla of the Tribe of Navan, one of the four racers of the Free Lands in NASJAR.
He was just waving back at a young fan, who had spotted him, as he suddenly bumped into the back of Hassan (who's name he did not know, at the time) and stumbled back a step.
"Sorry, mate.", he said as he had recovered himself, "You alright?"