"No, I will not go!" Zia sighed as she shoved the man through the streets of Orario City, earning some odd looks from the denizens of the city. "Master, please," she said, "Alcohol isn't good for you. You need to drink something else for a change!" He scoffed at the very idea. "What other drink is going to taste bitter? What other drink is going to put fire in my belly? Tell me that, Zia!" Though she continued to shove him, she had to pause when he asked those questions. "...Tea?" she offered. "That's just leaf juice, not appetizing." "Not true, tea is great! I heard rumors about this tea house that has great tea, you should try it!" "I'm not going!" "Well it's too late, we're already nearing the place, I think." Her master gave the girl a withering look as she continued to shove him down the streets. Eventually she stopped shoving him, right when they reached a tea house. "I think this is it. Come on, Master, let's go inside!" She began to drag him by the hand and entered the premises with him. "Excuse me! Table for two, please!" she called out while glancing at her sulking master.
Bishamonten was checking to see if the various concoctions of tea were still brewing as his familia member cleaned the glasses. "You've come a long way since we first met," he commented as the Pallum girl, Lily, smiled. "Thanks Bisha! Though those sessions concerning meditation are kinda hard..." "You just need practice, it will come to you in time." Just then, the two of them heard the ringing of bells, signaling that they had customers. "Lily, can you get that?" "On it, Bisha!" She placed the glass she had been cleaning and scurried over to the entrance where two people awaited her, a young girl and a man. "Welcome to Sweet Leaves Tea House!" she chirped as she ushered them to a seat. Once they sat down, she got out two menus and placed them in front of them. "We'll be with you in a minute, would you like something to start?"
"Come on, Master!" Zia said as she tugged on the man's sleeve. He grunted as the Pallum led them to a table and they sat down on the seats. She couldn't help but giggle a little at her master's grumpy expression as he scanned the menu. She looked down at her own menu, though she already knew what kind of tea she wanted. "Um...what's a spring roll? Why is it on here when it's not spring?" she wondered out loud, earning a laugh from the Pallum. "Hey! it's not funny, I'm really curious!" "Well, the best way to get to know something it to try it out, right?" the waitress offered. "True. Can I have that and jasmine tea, please?" She glanced over at the tailor who was hiding his face behind the menu. "Master? What do you want?" He peeked behind his menu to give her a withering look before going back to it. "...Give me something bitter," he grunted, "And I think I'll have some summer rolls." "But it isn't summer, though..."
Lily couldn't help but look at the little girl oddly when she called the man her master. She hoped the man wasn't doing anything to the poor girl. Though she giggled a little when the girl took the naming of the rolls seriously and thought they were only for certain seasons. "Right, I'll get your things in a jiffy," she said as she scurried back into the kitchen where Bishamonten was brewing tea. "Bisha, I need some summer and spring rolls as well as jasmine tea for this little girl. Er, the man with her said that he wanted something bitter, though I'm not sure what kind of tea is bitter..." Bishamonten looked up from his spot and nodded. "Alright then, I will get those done in a moment." He couldn't help but frown, though. "I don't think we have any bitter tea. That's usually because the tea is improperly brewed. Can you go back and ask him what kind of tea he would prefer?" She nodded. "Okay!" She waited for the god to finish brewing some jasmine tea before handing it to the Pallum girl. "Tell them I will get the spring and summer rolls ready. Oh, and ask him, will you?" "Got it. I'll be right back!" She carefully made her way out to the table the two customers were sitting at and gently placed the tea in front of the little girl. "Here you are, one jasmine tea," she said with a smile. She then turned to the cranky man. "Sorry, we don't have any bitter tasting tea. Would you like something else, sir?"
Zia could only watch her master, the tailor, tap the table in irritation. He was muttering something under his breath, but she didn't know what it was. In any case, she was happy that she managed to push him, quite literally, into someplace he hadn't tried yet. Sometimes their role reversed as the child and the adult, something that no one really saw unless he was outside of his little shop. The girl from before that took their order came back and said that there wasn't any bitter tea as she put down the cup of jasmine tea in front of the little girl. "Thank you, miss!" she chirped as she blew on her tea to cool it before taking a sip. She gasped. "H-Hot..." "Yeah, all our tea is freshly made, piping hot too," the girl said with a smile, "So, what about you, sir?" "Get me coffee, black coffee," he grumbled, crossing his arms. "Master, I don't think they have coffee here," she said as she put down her cup. "Then what am I supposed to drink? Leaf juice?" "Master!" He continued to grumble under his breath as she turned to the girl apologetically. "Sorry, he gets cranky when he doesn't have alcohol. It's not good for him," she said. "Ah, that explains it. Anyway, what will he be having?" "Um..." She thought for a moment, looking at her teacher that was scanning the menu furiously. Eventually he put it down with a grunt. "There's nothing interesting here." Zia looked at her master, then the girl, then back to her master again. "Get him green tea!" she said, giggling as the man's eyes bugged out. "That's just leaf juice! Zia, don't-" "Well maybe he'll like black tea. Do you have black tea? It might be like black coffee because it's black, right?" The tailor groaned and put his head down on the table at her reasoning.
Lily blinked several times before she burst out laughing. "Hahaha, I-I'm sorry," she said, still laughing, "But-But that is just heehee, way to adorable!" Eventually she calmed down her giggle fit to nod at the two. "I'll be sure to get your orders soon." She scurried back into the kitchen to find that Bishamonten was making the spring rolls. "Hey Bisha, the little girl ordered black tea for the older guy," she said. He frowned as he looked at her. "Is that so?" he asked before going back to making the spring rolls. "Yeah, we have black tea boiling now, right?" "Let me finish this first, then you can send out this dish along with the summer rolls to the both of them." "Okay!" His familia member fidgeted for some time before checking the stoves and glancing into the pots where the tea was. "Hey Bisha? Which one is black tea?" she asked, earning a sigh from him. "I already told you that I will get to it in a moment, as soon as I'm done with the spring rolls." "Yeah, but the girl already has her drink. It feels weird that she has hers while he, well, doesn't." He shrugged in response as he pulled out the spring rolls with a pair of wooden chopsticks and placed them on a bed of lettuce. "Here, take these two out to the both of them," he said as he handed her the dish. "I'm on it!" She took both plates and walked slowly so as to not spill them onto the ground. "Here's your orders, one spring rolls," she said as she placed the dishes in their respective spots, "...And one summer rolls. The black tea should be out any minute now so I hope you can wait a bit longer!" She bowed a little as she went back into the kitchen.
Zia would have reached over to pat the tailor on the back if she could reach far enough. As it is, she kept pumping her legs back and forth as the two of them waited for their orders to come through, along with blowing and sipping at her jasmine tea. "Why did you even get leaf juice for me?" the tailor grumbled, lifting his head up from his spot on the table while glaring at his apprentice. "...You have a red spot on you forehead," she noted. "That's not important! I-" He was interrupted as the waitress that had taken their orders returned with their food. Zia looked down at her spring rolls, putting away her jasmine tea. "...Looks crunchy," she said as she took one and bit down on it. Her eyes lighted up. "Mmmm~" She swallowed and noticed her master, the tailor, was sullenly eating his food. "How is it? Does it taste like summer?" she asked. He grunted before swallowing. "Tastes like vegetables, mostly. What about yours?" "Crunchy! And delicious~" He couldn't help but smile a little at her response. He immediately noticed the expression he was making and turned it back into a frown. It didn't go unnoticed by the little girl. "Master, you smiled!" "Hmph, when do I not smile?" "When you're grumpy, like now. But you smiled! So it's good, right?" He grunted again as he chewed on his summer rolls.
Bishamonten looked up when he heard Lily entering the kitchen. "How are the customers?" he asked. "They're doing great, though the man keeps calling tea leaf juice." She chuckled. "It's kinda like how I thought tea would taste gross until working here." "Indeed, and you ended up liking it." He couldn't help but smirk at that. "Anyway, let me pour the black tea and I'll deliver it myself. I think you can handle watching the kitchen for me as I take the tea out to him." The Pallum girl nodded. "Okay! It's the table with the little girl and him, by the way." He nodded and poured the tea into a cup, then took the cup and walked outside to where his customers would be. He immediately noticed the little girl Lily was talking about and went over to them. "Here you are," he said as he placed the cup in front of the sullen man, "How is everything so far? Tell if there's any problems and I'll be sure to handle them."
"Great!" Zia chirped at the same time the tailor grunted. He stared at the cup that was put in front of him warily. "I'm not drinking that," he said. "But I ordered it for you, you should at least drink it!" "I am not drinking leaf juice!" She gave an apologetic look to Bishamonten. "Sorry, he's really grumpy when he doesn't have alcohol," she apologized before turning back to her teacher, "Since he's here, tell him how great the tea is when you drink it!" "I told you I'm not-" "Pleaaaaase? For the mister that brought your tea out." The two of them stared at each other quite some time before he sighed. "Alright fine I'll drink it." Her eyes lit up. "Yay!" She turned back to the god. "Sorry again, sometimes we switch being the kid and the adult." She smiled as the god chuckled before turning back to her master. The tailor was staring intently at his drink that he picked up, swirling it around. After a few moments, he took a sip of the tea, his expression going neutral. "Well? Is it good? Tell Mister it tastes good!" He put the cup down. "Well it doesn't taste like leaf juice," he commented, stroking his goatee, "Not as good as alcohol though." "Master, please! We're probably in front of the owner of this tea house, right?"
