"Play with me!" The girl screamed as she landed in her brother's lap.
"Not now. I'm trying to figure out something." The boy complained.
She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Mou! You're having one of your episodes again! Isn't it more fun to play with me?"
"Damnit…I lost the feeling. Why do you always have to interrupt me like this?"
"Oh. If you lost it anyway, you can come play with me now!" The girl declared happily.
He looked away in annoyance. "But I don't want to."
"Yes you want to!"
"No I don't!"
"Yes you want to!"
"No I don't!"
"Yes you want to!"
"No I don't!"
"Yes you want to!"
"Yes I want to!"
"No you don't!"
"Exactly. I don't. Glad we've agreed. Now get off me and let me concentrate." The boy nodded and started pushing her off.
"Daaaaaaaaad! Onii-chan is being mean to me!" The girl cried.
The man walked in and sighed, running his hand through his hair. Then he sighed again as he realized there was no hair to run through on his head. "Can't you siblings just get along? When I was your age, I didn't have a sibling to play with. I had to make my own doll, with sticks I found on the ground. There was no voice recording technology, so I had to move my stick sibling on my own to play with me. You have it so easy. Why fight?"
The two children stared at their father before exiting the hall together with blank faces.
"And he is your brother! Not this Onii-chan thing! At least call him GeGe!"
"Gyokuro is a tea from Japan. What sets it apart from regular green tea is that they grow in the shade...rather than under the sun. Its name in English means jade dew, showing the level of respect and reverence its drinkers have for it." I spoke. My fingers reached into the box and took out a handful of loose leaves. I didn't need a weighing machine to know that I had taken out exactly 5 grams of it and placed them at the bottom of the kettle.
"The tea is set in the shade for at least 20 days before their harvest. This allows the amino acid theanine and the alkaloid caffeine in the leaves to increase, giving it that sweet flavor everyone raves about." I filled the pot to the brim with water before setting it to heat up. Before it could begin boiling, I turned off the power. My hand lightly touched the kettle. I nodded in satisfaction. 85 degrees celcius...perfect for what I was doing. My every action was clean, immaculate, and fluid. Despite my unhurried nature, a tea of this level of prestige could not be wasted by wasted actions. Everything had to be done on time and accurately.
I waited for 4 minutes before starting to pour the contents of the kettle into a single, immaculate cup, decorated with minor texture work on the sides. Not a single drop was wasted. A smooth aroma drifted from the still surface of the tea in the cup. "That process also gives it that distinct aroma you're undoubtedly familiar with." I gently pushed the cup across to my customer. "Please. Enjoy."
"This is the exact same explanation you gave me the last few times! You didn't even vary your actions, or the placement of your explanations. It almost feels like you're doing this to be lazy." Oni Lee complained.
"Why fix something if it ain't broke? If I just copy paste everything your tea will taste exactly like it did previously…which is what you came here for, correct?" I teased.
"Grrr." His grating voice rumbled dangerously, like a cute little pupper.
The door opened, revealing the blonde wrecking ball in all her…glory. She took a good, hard look at Oni Lee and made her fear aura blossom. Oni stiffened for a second before going back to his tea, ignoring her. The only one who was affected was Yu Xuan who fell over outside and hurt his leg again. I wonder if the ABB has medical insurance?
"Victoria. Aura is no bueno. The only aura you should be enjoying is the high class atmosphere of my shop." I chided.
"But that's!" She pointed at him angrily. "He's a villain! We have to fight!"
"If you blow up my shop, I'll spank you like the child you are." I warned.
"How can you do this!? It's outrageous! It's unfair!" She cried. "How can I see a villain, and not fight him?"
I gestured at a chair at the opposite end of the counter from Oni. "Take a seat, young Dallon."
"Now…as he is currently not committing any crimes and is simply partaking in my humble fare, you will not be attacking or arresting him. I don't care what you do outside my shop, as long as you're actually outside? Are we clear?" I blasted a bit of my own aura since she liked to use it so much.
"Fine." She sat down petulantly. "Give me something sweet. But not as sweet as the ice cream stuff."
Oni Lee perked up slightly before shaking his head in disappointment. He went back to drinking his tea in silence. Man, he's such a boomer sometimes.
"Today, I'll be serving you Teh-C. Unlike my usual, this tea is made with the humble Hong Cha, a common staple Chinese tea." I prepared the tea as per usual by heating the water, rinsing the cup and steeping the tea leaves. "Sometimes simpler is better. I always pick what suits the customer the most at that exact moment."
"The drink itself originates from the small island country of Singapore. The 'C' in Teh-C was thought to have originated from the brand Carnation which sells canned evaporated milk, another component of the drink. But, the truth is somewhat more complicated." I cracked open a can of evaporated milk. "The 'C' is actually based on the Hainanese dialect word for xian. That was in turn short for xian nai, meaning fresh milk. You might be wondering…how on earth is evaporated milk considered fresh?"
I poured in the milk and started mixing the blend, taking care not to spill a single drop despite my vigorous stirring. "People in the modern world take many things for granted, like fresh dairy products. But back then in Singapore, the closest thing they had to fresh milk was canned evaporated milk. That is why they've taken to mixing that and tea together, creating a divergence from your classical milk tea." I poured the mixture into a tall glass filled with ice. "And just like that, there are always different ways of doing things in life as well. They aren't wrong just because they're different. Something to think about."
"I know what you're trying to say but Oni Lee isn't bad because he's different. He's bad because he commits crimes." Victoria frowned, but she still slurped the drink through her straw. "Terrible life lessons aside, this is pretty good. I don't know if it's better than the ice cream milk tea though?"
"Everything I make is good. But feel free to keep complimenting me." I preened.
Oni Lee got up and walked towards me. He handed me the usual amount. "Good as always. And overpriced as usual."
"Just *cough* order something cheaper *cough* you moron." Victoria interjected.
I could feel him frowning behind his mask. "I will not order something as juvenile as sweetened tea."
"What…you scared? Afraid that your refined palette will be tainted by a bit of sugar? Big bad demon can't take liking a drink that isn't just overpriced tea leaves?" I took offense to that. None of my tea leaves are overpriced.
"Grrrr. Fine." He sat down. "I'll have what she's having." Imagine being taunted by a teenager. Skill issue.
"Coming right up." I repeated the process and passed the cup to Oni Lee. "Here's yours. I even gave you a pink straw to highlight your masculinity."
He ignored me and drank from his cup, bypassing the straw altogether. We watched with bated breath as he savored the drink. "This is…adequate."
"Adequate my ass. Everything here is a master class in making tea." I whined.
"Fine. It's not bad. I still prefer Gyokuro but it is nice to have alternatives, so I don't bankrupt myself coming here." He grumbled.
"See? Now you're looking at things from a different perspective." I turned to stare blatantly at the girl.
"Dang it. I'm here for tea. Not life lessons." She complained.
I twirled my hand. "Something something stereotype Asian joke and life lessons. You get the point."
They sat in a somewhat companionable silence after that. I definitely preferred this combination over Vicky and Dean coming together. It was slightly awkward because they would usually fight each other, but I had already shut down that option for them. Now they could only sit there quietly and enjoy the drinks I handcrafted for them. It's this kind of atmosphere that I enjoyed the most in my tea shop. The drama of thugs barging in, possible Empire 88 incursions or the Undersiders visiting in full force…those aren't actually my cup of tea.
I was never the ambitious type, even in my old life. There were banks and corporations that offered me middle management jobs with a chance of advancement to higher levels, but I turned most of them down. Instead, I settled on being a teacher. I felt like it was a good role to have in society. The pay was fine, if a bit average. But the job was safe and stable. I didn't have to deal with any corporate backstabbing. All I really needed to focus on was ensuring that the kids I taught had a quality education.
That's why I dreaded being reincarnated here so much. I didn't want to deal with the possible end of the world or Cauldron's bullshit. Moments like this, where everyone could simply sit down and enjoy my tea without fighting or spamming their god awful Parahuman abilities were what I really wanted. That, and making sure that my sister remained safe and sound. Everything else is just set dressing. Taylor can go deal with Scion. Hopefully she still triggers. I don't really have anything against her, but I don't care for her either. I know that she's suffering, but so is everyone else honestly. It's simply not my problem to deal with.
Like Mama said, I should be focusing on what I can do. But I'd add on to that and say that I should also be focusing on what I want to do. I could go pick a fight with Lung and take over the ABB right now. Maybe I'd win. Maybe the brothels could be closed down and I could try to find a better industry for those women. But why would I do that? That'd just put my sister in danger. The plot can stay the fuck away from me. Hell, I turned down someone who I felt I truly loved at the time just to not have any involvement with Cauldron. Why would I act for complete strangers?
The glass clinked lightly with the counter. "Welp. That's me. Thanks for the drink. I'll head back out on patrol. Don't let me catch you, Oni Lee." Victoria gave him the 'I'm watching you' finger point and flew out of the store.
Oni Lee also started to get up slowly, as if he was an old man with tired old bones. Before he could make it all the way, I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Dear customer, might you be forgetting something?" He received the bill from me.
"Max…the number doesn't look right."
"In what way?"
"It's way too large."
"That's what she s-" I coughed. "I mean…the bill is correct. One Gyokuro and 2 Teh-Cs."
"But sh-" He came to the startling realization that Victoria had left without paying.
"A Lannister always collects their debts. Or something like that." Never pass an opportunity to meme the Oni.
"Fuuuuuuuu-"
