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+--- Thread: A Cup Tea? (/showthread.php?tid=8039)
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 08-25-2014
"Would it work? Well, it has certainly worked on all those doors around the city where people have been hanging signs. I swear, half of Ul'dah has closed shop since the recent influx of adventurers."
She looked over a few more of the rugs and mats till she noticed Aya's mocking gestures. She looked up and ears flushed when she heard the irate customer complaining over prices. Her eyes grew wide and she rolled them slowly in their direction as if to say to Aya 'Some people...'.
"Well, I am afraid they do not have the phrase you asked for.", she replied, suddenly unable to take a joke. It was more likely due to her own embarrassment of having to overhear that unpleasant exchange.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 08-25-2014
"Drats!" she snapped her fingers, grinning still. "I could really have used one of those...!"
She turns around, running her fingers over the woven fabric of a tan and brown rug, marked with a geometric pattern that seemed to change, yet repeat, over-and-over again across the surface of the rug. Without moving her attention from it, she asked quietly, though still smiling pleasantly, "Don't enjoy the market haggling, hmm?"
"I like to hear the things they say. Sometimes they tell stories, especially the merchants!"
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 08-25-2014
Coatleque folded her arms and moved back to Aya's side to examine the rug she was so interested in. "Oh, a story I would enjoy, yes.", she remarked. "However, it seems to me that most people would rather argue over the smallest things. Has anyone ever contested the price of miss Momodi's ale?"
The question was half rhetorical. She knew there were most likely plenty out there, like that contemptible Roe who made it his personal goal to insult almost any drink he bought.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 08-26-2014
Aya grinned, a laugh light about her lips, "Of course they do! Not that Madam listens! But besides... if you didn't haggle, the Merchants would just overcharge! They would even overcharge the two of us!"
The rug merchant himself, his head turned to watch his lovely potential customers, smiled broadly to the two of them, "Not I, miss-es. You can be assured of that!"
Aya laughed along with him, "Not yoooou!" she giggled in reply, "Only the fairest prices, and the finest pieces!" she grinned, as she lead Coatleque back out toward the avenue.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 08-27-2014
She was still looking at one of the rugs as Aya pulled her away back towards the avenue. The merchant's words still in her ears. "See, Aya, not all merchants aim to take advantage of you!" Either she really was that oblivious, or she just did not want to face facts.
They had not gone even five paces, and Coatleque was about to ask where they were heading next, when a rather forward man stepped up to them both with a large glass bottle in hand.
"Ah, now here are two of Ul'dah's most discerning women, I can tell! Two lovely ladies who care about how others view them. I have here some of the finest perfume in all of Thanalan! Why, I am told even the Sultana herself wears this when 'ere she leaves the palace! Just one little whiff and suitors will be lined up at your door for miles!"
She backed up a step in surprise at being so suddenly accosted like this. "O-oh, no no no, I-I am fine as I am thank you, Ser.", she began to reply as she looked to Aya. The merchant's attention seemed to shift between them both.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 08-27-2014
Aya's attention had been on Coatleque as they were approached on the street, and the sudden arrival of the perfumesman was as unexpected as it was surprising, and the girl bumped into him with a enough force to stagger him, and to cause her to gasp as she quickly recovered her blanace.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"Â She repeated, breathily and apologetically, as he recovered, and continued on his pitch.
Still holding a hand to her chest, where her collar bones met, Aya smiled between the two of them, she grinned to the man almost beaming,
She was an associate of Miss M'Jumalis', and was presently wearing one of her fragrances, Desert Bloom! Still, who didn't like an opportunity! "Are you providing samples?" she asked with an expectant smile.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 08-27-2014
The merchant stammered for a moment as if he was caught off guard by the request. "Oh, but you must understand miss, this fragrance is so rare and sought after that I simply couldn't give it away for free. Even to someone so lovely as you. Perhaps I could be persuaded for a mere twenty-five gil?"
To this Coatleque scoffed quietly. Not too quietly however as the man snapped his attention back to her. "You may think me bold asking so much for so little. But this bottle itself is worth over two thousand alone! And all I'm asking is the price of a mere cup of ale for the pleasure of wearing this scent o'er the next day n' a half!"
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 08-27-2014
Aya pouted playfully, "Awwwwwwwwww..." she glances over to Coatleque, in her elegant dress, wondering just who the Perfumesman thinks she is, "Even to someone as lovely as us, a full 25 gil just to try?"Â She turns her eyes, wide and blue, back to the fellow, "Are you sure? You know if its as wonderful as you say, we might not be able to resist buying a bottle."Â Her smile returned, soft and hopeful.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 08-29-2014
"Sorry, lady, but I have to eat don't-cha know. I can't just be handing out me goods to everyone for free!" It was clear neither of them were about to budge, so Coatleque sighed and decided to step in. "Alright, here, twenty-five gil but no more!"
The man turned back to her with a glint in his eye. He eagerly snatched up the money while thrusting the bottle forward into her hands. "Oi, and here you go, enjoy it!" he blurted as he pushed passed her and disappeared quickly into the crowd. It happened so fast she did not bother to notice which way he headed.
Holding up the perfume now for closer inspection it appeared to be nothing more than an old whiskey bottle half-full of some dirty looking fluid. Black specks circled around as she swirled it.
"Erm... Aya? I don't think this is perfume..."
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 09-03-2014
Aya watched the little exchange with alarm, tensing for a moment as Coatleque offered the handful of gil to the nefarious perfumesman. She let out a gasp as he unloaded the bottle and burst away, she whipped her head about for a moment to watch him running, vanishing into the crowd.
As she turned back, she leaned a little bit closer, peering at the bottle with narrowed, blue eyes. "Hmmmmm... I think you're right! No wonder he wanted the 25 gil first!"
She stood back up with a shrug and a smile, "Oh well... shall we head to the cafe?"
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 09-03-2014
Coatleque looked back once more trying to find the man within the crowd. With a disappointed sigh she set the bottle down on the side of the lane and moved to rejoin with Aya. "Yes, please."
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 09-03-2014
Aya cast a bright smile Coatleque's way. At least 25 gil was not much of a loss for the trouble. "Don't let him bother you, at least we'll have a story to tell, right?" she grinned to the paladin as she started to lead them further down the avenue.Â
"The cafe I have in mind is just a little way further, its a quiet little spot, I think you'll like it!"
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 09-03-2014
"Yes, of course", she replied. A story. She wasn't sure she would be wanting to share this particular story with anyone else she knew.
She followed Aya as they continued along. For all her years in the city, these roads were still unfamiliar to her. She tried to take in as much of the surroundings as she could, between avoiding others in the road and keeping her dress from dragging through anything unpleasant. "They do have a place to sit, I hope!"
RE: A Cup Tea? - Aya - 09-03-2014
Aya smiled bright, with the playful cant of her head as she leaned back, looking at Coatleque. The paladin did not quite seem to get it, the story was not one to be shared with others, but to be remembered as a shared experience between the two - the very essence of the bond between friends. If that passed over Coatleque's head now, at least Aya's friendly smile, would not.
"Of coooooourse! Just where do you think I would take you?" she laughed in reply, "Its a wonderful place to sit, and let the world just go by outside."
She lead the pair a little further along the street, the target of their journey coming into sight. The cafe's storefront was simple itself, a wooden door and mesh-screen covered window set against the stone construction of the city itself. She had seen many of its like before, often with tables and chairs set outside to host customers on fairer days - here she saw a single chair and table, where a grey-beareded man smiled, nodding and waving periodically to passersby.
RE: A Cup Tea? - Coatleque - 09-03-2014
The Knight smiled back to Aya. She might not admit it openly, but she could do with simply watching the world go by right now rather than always being a part of it.
When they finally reached their destination she looked over the storefront. It was small enough to her that she probably would have passed it by without a second thought on any normal day. As they walked up to the entrance the old man smiled at them. Coatleque could not help but to smile back with a slight curtsey.