Cookies at the Cheerful Corvid

Log Info

• Title: Cookies at the Cheerful Corvid

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Mikilos, Patch, Ravenstongue, Stjepan

• Place: University District - The Cheerful Corvid Coffee Shop

• Summary: Another late night at the Cheerful Corvid Coffee Shop sees Mikilos, Patch, Ravenstongue, and Stjepan all meeting each other over cookies (and for Mikilos, a cup of tea). Stjepan gets a selection of cookies while Mikilos settles for a cinnamon cookie. The verdict: those are good cookies.

University District, late evening.

It's close to the end of the week in the University District, which means some student mages have already abandoned their studies for the weekend and have gotten their drink on early. As a result, the night streets of Alexandria's most magical quarter are a little busy and a little noisy with the din of students just cutting it loose at the pubs dotted throughout the District.

But there's one street that's a little place of refuge from the noise and the pre-weekend pre-gaming that young mages are getting themselves into. That street is home to a little coffee shop called the Cheerful Corvid, which bears a sign with a very happy cartoon corvid, as per the moniker.

Inside the shop, Cor'lana Lúpecyll, known to some as Ravenstongue, is having a bite to eat at the table located closest to the service counter. There's a half-elf woman standing behind the counter that looks very similar to her--only a few inches taller and with green eyes rather than Cor'lana's violet--and she's wearing a blue apron with the Cheerful Corvid logo embroidered onto it in white.

"So anyway," the woman says, leaning onto the counter, "like I was saying, a guy came in here, and you know what he asked for, Lana? Thirty shots of espresso in a cup. I told him I couldn't sell him that."

Cor'lana pauses mid-chew, eyes going wide as the woman says how many shots of espresso. She's eating what appears to be a palm-sized hazelnut chocolate cookie. She politely swallows and says, "Was he a student?"

The woman grins widely. "Worse," she says. "Professor. Said he didn't have the hastening spell memorized today, but he did the math and about thirty shots is probably equivalent for the energy he needed to grade papers."

Cor'lana shakes her head, although she's grinning, too. "I don't think any amount of coffee is going to be equivalent to magic," she says. "Even if your coffee's the best in the city, Addy. Don't you think so, Pothy?"

Pothy the white raven is also snacking. He looks up from his bowl of peanuts across the table from Cor'lana and says, "Addy is the best," mimicking her voice. Then >CRUNCH< goes a peanut.

With coat in arm, Patch opens the door to the Cheerful Corvid and steps in with a curious glance that roams lowly from wall to wall. A couple of books are tied with a leather strip, carried under the same arm as her coat, ears twitching at gossip and talk that rings from this place the moment she enters.

Patch can't help but notice Cor'lana, and her companion. Pothy noticed as he munches, bringing a smirk to the Bard's lips as she crosses casually towards the counter. "Aww, does Pothy have treats? I came for a treat myself." letting the two women continue their talk as she still has no idea what she'd like to order, nor what is carried. It's time to investigate!

Stjepan ducks under the lintel, then straightens up, nose twitching. He, apparently, followed his nose here. He pauses though, and stifles a laugh. "I should've known." He breaks into a grin, and waves towards Cor'lana and Pothy, then wanders towards the bar.

Mikilos enters a few moments after, smiling faintly as he pauses behind someone he can't see over. As the way clears, he waves to those present. "Ladies, gentlemen, good to see you all." A look between Cor'lana and the barista. "...cousins?" he guesses

The two half-elf ladies look at each other for a moment before they both burst into snickers. "It's pretty obvious, I guess," Cor'lana says. "Yes, we're cousins. Please meet Adelaide Branfeax, proprietor, head pastry chef, and head barista of the Cheerful Corvid Coffee Shop."

Addy snorts. "Call me Addy, please," she says. "Adelaide is an old woman's name. I'm not old. Of course you'd end up bringing more friends of yours to the shop, Lana."

She claps her hands together, her green eyes sweeping over Mikilos, Stjepan, and Patch with a sort of excited zeal. "If you came here for a treat, then you're in luck," she says, gesturing to a display case that appears to be lightly enchanted to give off a constant stream of cooled air. Mouthwatering cheesecakes and scrumptious cookies of all sorts are displayed lovingly on large plates and in trays. "Just about everything here is my recipe. I stole Lana's cheesecake recipe, though."

"Good poets borrow. Great poets steal," Cor'lana says with a grin. "I recommend the white chocolate mocha and the hazelnut chocolate cookie, but that's just my favorite. Pothy recommends the peanuts."

Pothy gives Cor'lana a look that suggests he'd eat everything off the menu... if he was allowed to.

Stjepan ambles up to the case, nodding to Addy. "Thank you." He gestures, "Can I have your four favourite cookies?" He opens his hands. "I don't want to be unnecessarily picky."

Mikilos smiles to Pothy. "Peanut cookies, or without the cookie? But for myself one of those large cinnamon cookie things, the sign is turned so not sure what you call them. And a cup of tea, please."

"Four faves for the big guy, cinnamon cookie and cup of tea for the archmage Mikilos," Addy says with a smile. She goes and reaches into her display case--she picks out a chocolate chip cookie, a hazelnut chocolate cookie, a gingerbread cookie, and a lavender-lemon shortbread cookie, all the size of the average human person's palm.

Cor'lana blinks. "Where do you know Mikilos from?" she asks, raising a brow as she looks at her cousin.

Addy just looks at Cor'lana for a moment. "Honey. Lana. Baby. I run a shop in the University District and I read the Crimson Pen books like they're going out of style. There's a few that have definitely-not-Mikilos on the cover. Of course I know who the archmage is. Hard not to."

Once she hands off the cookies to Stjepan--on a nice little porcelain plate, to boot--she goes over to a rather impressive bit of artificery in the corner. Addy gives the machine a slap on the side before she pulls a lever, and hot water comes out, pouring into a cup. She selects a teabag from a drawer somewhere in her service counter and plops it into the cup, then retrieves a cinnamon cookie from the case and presents it out on a plate. "Order's up, archmage," she politely informs Mikilos.

Stjepan pays up, coins perched delicately in hand, then takes the plate daintily. He's going to need a pinky up to do this justice. A sidelong glance at Mikilos. "The things I miss." A nod, leaning on his elbows as he considers the cookies on by one.

Mikilos sighs and puts a hand over his eyes, but grins, chuckling. "Ah, the illustrated copies. The plain are bad enough, but those pictures just... how can anyone pose like that and not hurt their spine?" The elf grumbles as he fishes out a couple of coins for his purchase, motioning towards the Tip Jar for the change.

Addy snorts as Mikilos describes the illustrations. "Right?" she asks. "I don't care what they say about stylization. Those poses just looked painful. At least the writing's fun to giggle at. Like, uh, that one that had totally-not-you riding off into the sunset on a unicorn's back? I laughed so hard I had to run to the ladies' room."

Cor'lana, meanwhile, peers over at Stjepan. She squints a little at that cloak on his back. "Stjepan. Nice cloak," she says. "Where'd you get it?"

Pothy pauses mid-crunch on his peanuts to look at the cloak, too. Strangely enough, he says nothing--no demands for snacks, no demands for affection.

Stjepan takes up the lavender-lemon shortbread, and pauses with it halfway to his mouth. "Your timing, Cor'lana, is impeccable." He sighs, looks at the cookie longingly, and says: "It was a gift. I happen to rather like it, personally."

Mikilos snorts himself, nodding to Addy, and takes a sip of tea. "Some of the tales are... stylized... versions of true events. Kol and I did meet several times, and there was certainly tension, but no romance. The bit with the unicorn, though, pure fabrication. I'm inclined to think colorful mushrooms were involved."

Addy sticks her tongue out at Cor'lana. "Sheesh, Lana. Let the man eat. You make Telamon talk when he's just trying to enjoy your cooking?" That's a rhetorical question, but she does also observe, "Nice cloak, though. She's right about that."

Cor'lana waves off Addy's outrage in a gesture that's... well, somewhat confident-feeling for the sorceress. Especially when one considers that barely over a year ago, the sorceress was an anxious girl that hung about in gardens or crept on occasion into Mithralla Merchandise when she mustered up the courage to do so. "I'm just having a conversation," she says. "Was just curious, also. Eat, Stjepan. Someone has to, considering I don't."

Then she looks down at her half-eaten cookie. "Don't have to," she corrects herself.

Pothy, meanwhile, cracks open another peanut, as though to underscore that his mistress may make bold claims... he still very much eats.

Stjepan smiles into his cookie. "Such a relief." He takes a decent bite, and mmmms happily, "I can see why this is a favourite." Finally, he glances down, fingering the cloth. "It was a gift," he repeats, shaking his head a little. "Well earned, I think."

Mikilos nibbles his chosen cookie, nodding approval, and pairs it with another sip, looking to Cor'lana curiously. "A Ring of Sustenance, I'm guessing?"

Cor'lana smirks a little in another strange and self-satisfied manner. "No," she says. She taps the top of the strange feather mark emblazoned into her chest in dark ink. It's visible from the neckline of her dress, although this one is not nearly so low as the dress that Mikilos saw her in before--granted, he was probably focused on someone else in the room when that happened. "Effect of my dealings with my fey ancestor. I just don't need to eat now if I don't want to. I don't even feel hunger anymore. I just eat if I want to--like this cookie."

She takes a small bite of it and swallows. "Earned--in a similar manner, I think, that Stjepan's cloak was earned. Maybe not quite so dramatic, though," she says with a wink.

Stjepan grins at Cor'lana. "I don't know. Your mark sounds rather dramatic in its acquisition." He leans back, and demolishes the rest of the lavender cookie implacably.

Mikilos hrmms, stareing a moment, then realizing that he's staring and looking away, then realizing he'd just made it obvious he'd been starring. "Ahem, well, likly best to stay in practice. Not sure you could lose that, but awkward trying to eat when don't fully recall how."

Cor'lana snickers at Mikilos's double-take. "Well, that's something I've never seen Mikilos do," she says. "Other than him losing his senses around the Queen of Air and Darkness. I can't blame you there, I suppose, but I felt pretty bad for you--especially when Telamon and I made it through just fine."

Pothy stops dead-still as the Queen's name is mentioned. The peanut even falls from his beak back down to the table. Cor'lana looks over at him, purses her lips, and reaches over to pet him. "Sorry, Pothy, sorry," she murmurs quietly. "It's okay. You're away from her. Nothing can hurt you."

Addy blinks a few times. Then she quietly looks over at Stjepan and asks, "How's the cookie?" She can't relate to all this adventurer-talk, but she can relate to food.

Stjepan grins at Addy, hitting her with both dimples. "It's fucki-- fantastic." He salutes her with the hazelnut cookie. "I've got high hopes for this one, too." And then he bites down, eyelids fluttering just a little with the initial hit.

Mikilos snorts softly, and smiles. "I do try to keep from being obvious. And-..." the wizard looks to Pothy, and takes another bite of cookie instead. "Very good, though not quite what I was expecting. Ansine with the cinnamon, maybe? Potions I can do, but never quite caught the knack for baking."

Addy looks very self-satisfied as Stjepan eats the cookie. "Well, come on by whenever you like, big guy," she says playfully. "Got plenty of cookies to sell ya. If I'm not here behind the counter, someone else is, but the cookies will be just as good. You should try the cheesecake next, though."

Pothy shivers a little, and the poor creature takes wing, landing on Cor'lana's shoulder. He makes little raven-whimpers, and he nuzzles close to Cor'lana's face, burying his head into a few locks of her dark wavy hair.

Cor'lana presses her lips together for a moment. She takes a breath in. A breath out. "If I'm ever strong enough to..." she murmurs, before she looks back to Stjepan and Mikilos, rising from her chair at the table. "I should take Pothy home. Addy, thanks for the cookie again."

She waves with a small smile to her friends and her cousin before she departs from the Cheerful Corvid with a not-so-cheerful corvid on her shoulder.