Tea Time

Cast: (Felicia, Gunter & Jakob)
Prompt: Felicia fails at making/serving hot tea, so she tries cold tea and it works.

"Okay, no more messing around! I've got this!"

Felicia had finally done it. She had learned how to serve tea properly.

"Warm the tea, warm the cup, pour the tea, put the cup on the tray, pick up the tray, walk to the table!"

Indeed, she had finally mastered the process. From there, she had learned to deal with her next obstacle- her clumsiness.

"Slooooowly walk! Heel first, toes last! Scan surroundings! Stop walking if I have to! Don't take risks!"

It was even harder for her to master, but she had done it. It would appear she had finally learned how to serve tea-

"It's cold."

"What?"

Gunter sipped the tea. "Definitely cold." He flashed a sympathetic smile. "But for what it's worth, this is new ground for you."

"Awww!" Felicia took a seat across from Gunter and buried her head in her hands. "I'll never learn how to serve tea properly!"

"Now Felicia, I don't condone that quitting attitude," Gunter scolded. "After all, I won't always be here to look after our liege. Could I rest easy, knowing I'd left things to you, who would give up and moan whenever things weren't going well?"

"No…"

"Typical old man," Jakob scoffed, dusting a nearby bookshelf. "Always playing the age card. Reminding us how he's going to die someday, at the drop of a hat. As if that makes him special."

Gunter smirked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this tea was made by you, Jakob. Since it's cold and bitter like you are."

"It's bitter?!" Felicia repeated in shock, before Jakob could retaliate. "But you only told me it was cold!"

"Well… I was meaning to get to that," the old knight admitted.

Felicia sighed. "Do you know the worst part, Gunter?"

"What's that?"

"I've actually made tea before, back home! And it was good tea!"

Gunter raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yes! Even when Father or Flora would make tea, mine was different, and it was their favorite!" Felicia explained. "But the old staff told me not to do that anymore, so I stopped. And now I can't make or serve a good cup of tea!" She hung her head back and groaned. "Uuuugh! Why am I so horrible?!"

Gunter shot Jakob a look before the butler could say anything. He went back to cleaning and Gunter cleared his throat. "Felicia, are you telling me that the way you make tea now is different from the method you used back in the Ice Tribe?"

"Yeah?"

The old man leaned forward in interest. "How did you make tea back home?"

"Oh. Well…" Felicia looked upward and tapped her fingers on the table. "I think… Well, it was still cold. But not just because of time or living in the Ice Tribe. I made it cold on purpose. There were bits of ice floating in it."

"Hmm." Gunter thought aloud. "Some drinks are best served cold. I suppose cold tea could have its appeal…"

"Uh-huh! And that's not all!" Felicia was getting into it. "I'd put the sugar in the drink! The old staff didn't like it because they said Corrin should get to decide how much sugar to add. But Father liked how sweet my tea tasted!"

Gunter smiled. "You know… I bet Corrin would too."

"You think so? Okay! I'm gonna try it!"

Jakob rolled his eyes, and spoke under his breath. "Gods save us."

"Don't warm the cup, chill the tea without freezing it, pour the tea, use a spoonful of sugar, stir the tea, drop a few ice shards, put the cup on the tray, pick up the tray, walk to the table!"

Felicia began her journey back to Gunter.

"Slooooowly walk! Heel first, toes last! Scan surroundings! Stop walking if I have to! Don't take risks!"

The pink-haired maid set down the tray and bowed.

"Your tea is served."

"Thank you, Felicia." Gunter raised the cup and took a tentative sip. Preparing himself for something colder and sweeter, based on Felicia's description, he was pleasantly surprised. "Hmm… Pretty good."

Felicia gasped. "You mean it?!"

The veteran nodded. "Felicia, I think we've found your niche."

"Thank goodness!" The maid turned over to the butler. "Jakob, want to try it?"

"No thank you," he dismissed, not looking away from reorganizing the books.

"Forget him, he can't even make good coffee," said Gunter. "If you can make another cup of this, I'll fetch Corrin, and we'll see how your tea fares." He smiled. "But I wouldn't be too worried." His smile faded. "As long as you're careful, that is."

It took all her concentration, but Felicia was able to do an encore. She made the tea just as she had, and even kept it safe as she trekked across the room to the table. This time, it was Corrin seated at the table, as Gunter stood by, arms folded as usual.

"Here you are, here is your tea!" Felicia presented. "Enjoy… please!"

Corrin nodded. "Thank you, Felicia."

This was it, the moment of truth. It took a little persuasion on Gunter's part, to convince Corrin to try this tea. But now the maid could finally see, once and for all, if she can serve a cup of tea her liege would enjoy.

Corrin set the cup down, and stayed quiet, yet focused on another matter. Perhaps letting the taste linger?

Felicia could not bear the suspense. "H-how was it?"

"… I love it!"

"Really?!"

"Yes!" Corrin was beaming. "Felicia, this was great!"

Gunter smiled. "Goes to show, maybe the key to success is doing what one would normally do, instead of what others tell them to do."

"Please, that sounded so forced. And heavy-handed as well," Jakob commented. His eyes then met Felicia's. "However, now that our liege has expressed interest in your brew, I'm afraid I must learn your ways." He cleared his throat. "Felicia… How do you make tea?"

Felicia grinned. "Why Jakob, I'd be happy to teach you!"

A/N:

Felicia making ice tea. That's actually the drink I've had the most in my life, so when someone requested this, I knew I had to be the mod to write it.

Gunters faux-losophy at the end was my attempt at slapping on a moral to the story at the last second. But I thought it fell flat, so Jakob said what we were all thinking.

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