The Blushing Tcha Cup

"Welcome to The Blushing Tcha Cup, the prime tcha establishment in Lai Dang, I am Katarva, I will be your Sun'ga." The host spoke perfect Kagomine, clearly someone had told... Oh, wait, the lifeguards in livery were certainly telling...
"Thank you for your welcome, and the blessing of the Elements on this house of plenty in the domain of Kautanissian."
The host picked up the very priestly return greeting immediately. This guest might have Kagomine bodyguards, probably from being Kagomine-born, but was part of the Kautanissian Conclave, a religious leader of such stature hadn' t been seen in Lai Dang in decades, at least. "An honour." And he dropped into a flawless kowtow, touching his forehead to the floor in front of him.
"I had thought such extreme devotion would be rare here, are you not hardy individualists, freedom fighters, anarchists, even?"
"'The elements keep even a rebel warm, when his cause is just.' Said Acapella Kagomé , I but heed her writings."
Mikhala knew the writings in question well, she'd been amazed by the amount of Kagomine fanboys and fangirls she kept meeting here in Lai Dang. "There shall be two for tcha. And please let me permit my lifeguards to enjoy refreshment, even if they will not be sitting with us."
Three lifeguards? That was easy, Katarva thought, and signaled for some of his waiters to prepare a pot of the potent golden warrior brew.
"Would you like to order at this time, or would you rather wait for your company?" His command of the language, his avoiding gendered pronouns(modern Kagomine uasge eschewed them in mixed settings, but most other languages didn't, especially not the five-gendered Laidanese language, who followed Tsou conventions) meant he wasn't just a fanboy, someone had trained him, probably the local spy shop.
"I know Luci would much enjoy some Black and Emerald."
"Alas, we are all out."
"What would you have, that would besuit a priestess and a lay worshipper whose deeds ring brightly in the element's favour?" Mikhala knew she was going to pay through the nose for a pair of tcha cups, she intended to get her money's worth in quality tea, or barring that, entertainment.
"Oh, we did manage to get six cups worth of Temple Guardian Leaves?"
"Temple Guardian? Well, I don't think Lusi has that regularly..."
"But you do?"
"My office overlooks the bush, you know." Calling Temple Guardian a bush was an understatement, it was a kilometer square in area, and visible from space, but that was kinda the point, one of the largest bioforms on the planet, it was famous for the taste of its leaves and petals, and the uninitiated tended to confuse the two. Export of Temple Guardian was regulated by the treaty of Rannick, and this reminded Mikhala, she should expand distribution to the rest of this new Lai Dang pact, or she'd have some explaining to do...
"The bush?"
"Temple Guardian, it is, legally, a bush. It's the largest plant alive right now, but it's literally a single bush with interconnected stems and twigs and roots spanning an area the size of a large stadium."
"I'm told the nearby stadium blocks out the bush, to prevent accidents?"
"You can tell the political leanings of a photographer, in regards to the conclave, at least, in whether or not pictures of the bush focus on the bush, or the stadium the bush chokes..."
"Chokes?"
"The bush is literally bigger..."
"And your office?"
"My volcano-side office is bigger still, but volcanoes are untidy that way."
"Huff, huff."
"Hi Luci!"
"Zim, sorry, the envoys of the Sarn were insistent."
"And they want you for their own, at some point, I won't hold it against you."
"What, me?"
"Your mother and father, and indeed, my late husband, were high in the succession rolls of the Saer, it wouldn't surprise me if you give some headaches to Aquavit Derred, Mastareir and Hetman of all Sarn, Sarnath, Ralt and Luxem."
"He's not here though, he sent some of his proxies."
"Oh, more fool him, mark my words, that'll bite him later, in their landsoblat."
"Landsoblat?"
"Division of Lands... And your mother is by rights the heir to the title of Electoral Princess of Saer-Natthingham, a very senior position."
"I knew she was high in Saer, but not how high..."
"Literally the third in command, in their system... But the one that works most like Nameihomei, if you want a comparable to Kagomei."
"That high?"
"You'd have to give up your position at state to accept, I'm afraid, no double dipping."
"Well, of course, but that's not why my palms are sweaty... I mean, you never really talked about mother before, only father, and how important he was in Benevent..."
"I was trying to get your bother motivated dear, his position is much less clear, a muddle of politics doesn't do Benevent justice, and that was before you threw in the Brescians. And then you add to the brew, because the dell'Auros, the hereditary rulers of Brescia are our family friends, and have been for generations, and are our main rivals for about half the titles above Lucair of Ferrare."
"Like that isn't famous on its own right!"
"I'm not saying its unimportant, I'm saying the more important titles generate significant amounts of... friction."
"Oh, wait, you don't expect Linni to settle for Lucair of Ferrare?"
"Well, he could, if he decided to just roll over and let the dell'Auros take everthing."
"But there's more for him there?"
"He's a prime candidate for Beneventi Res, and Mindanao would have a stroke..."
"What, grand-uncle Mindanao hates us?"
"No, he doesn't hate you youngins, he just thinks his daughters should get first pick..."
"They did..."
"That's why he'd blow a gasket... He tried to get them to that title first, and they got snubbed... It'll take him years to recover. While you and your brother just slid in, like you were born to either Saer or Ferrare."
"You were talking about Benevent..."
"As long as I'm alive, I'm Res Benevent, and nither Mindanao nor your brother can say so much as a peep, but when I die, I've picked your brother, so he's the next Res Benevent."
"Doesn't that mean you get to pick a lot of kings?"
"Three? Kagomine, Saer and Brescia, you mean?"
"Well, Benevent at least."
"Is that what they teach you in school, lately?"
"How does Res Benevent or Res Brescia work?"
"Mindanao is Res Brescia from lack of competition, outside of Benevent... If Linni becomes Res Benevent, he trumps Mindanao and just becomes Res Bresciani."
"Wait, my kid brother? King of a Gubba-12 nation?"
"You wanted Saer, I tried to explain to you to wait..."
"No, it's fine. He gets wine better than I do, and Saer, well, I like Grobu, and Saer is very much a music paradise."
"It is, isn't it? How does Lunqui react to touching a grobu that Jean-Sébastien Wolfgang-Motzbach touched?"
"He.... Look, I gotta pull him back to earth most times..."
"I bet. I've been to that palace, they do let me in, from time to time."
"It was yours, before it was mine..."
"Being my sister-in-law's does explain a lot..."
"Mommy was there?"
"She was, she worshipped the ground Jean-Sebastien walked on... And she could play a grobu to make you tear up..."
"I wish I'd seen it."
"I get what you're saying, but you have different skills, and some of them involve your beau doing the work..."
"I'm that transparent?"
"Lunqui is very much your grobu boy..."
"Aw, please, he's ..."
"Your financial advisor? Really? You think I'm stupid?"
"What do you think has been happening?"
"You've been ovulating each time you looked at that boy for more than five minutes!"
"Auntie!"
"I'm sorry, Aumhavar, is this a bad time?" The slight, petite and sunglasses-wearing woman in the severe pure white wungli's body language was pure confidence. Normally, Mikhala would have greeted them politely, and make them leave after a perfunctory greeting, but the woman's face was familiar.
Luci was blushing, fiercely, and said nothing, while Mikhala spoke: "You have the advantage of me, it seems, I am Mikhala Veneer, Second Duty Kautanissian, and you are?" Using only her priestly titles, she'd been greeted in the religious, not civil manner.
"I am Leyla Du Lahk, Demi-Potentate Kautanissian, I'm amazed we hadn't met yet."
"We met, I thought you looked familiar, but it's true we've never had much opportunity for conversation, join us? This is Lusitania Van Pelt, Lanungmei of Trusimon vice-undersecretary of state for commerce."
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting business of state? Or worse, private confession?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"I thought we'd discuss our common husband..."
"Let's table that discussion until a less public setting presents itself." Luci and Linni were the only ones who'd been at the wedding, and she hadn't told anyone at state yet. "Oh, of course, perhaps we can meet at Mama Loma's, later."
"I'd like that. Luci, have you been?"
"No, not on this trip."
"Oh, but you've been there before?"
"No, my parents did, I've seen hundreds of pictures, it's definitely on my bucket list."

Type

Cafe / Tearoom

Parent Location

Lai Dang