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 Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:11 am
Harriet had been in the library since about 7 o'clock that morning however Harriet never really took a great deal of interest in the time, she slept when she was tired, ate when she was hungry and woke when she was refreshed the only thing that always did happen religiously in regards to time was teatime. At 4pm her pocket watch would make a slightly click when the minute hand reached the XII position, of course it clicked ever so slightly upon every hour but Harriet had a rather uncanny ability to know when it was 4 o'clock. She was sat reading in the leather winged back chair she liked to frequent in when she heard such a click and smoothly and without word closed the present book she was reading and rose, turning she placed the leather bound book upon the seat of the chair and then strode down the small distance between the comfortable old leather chair to the desk set back in the alcove where she rest all her belonging through the days session in the library.
Sitting herself down upon the swivel set, horseshoe backed wooden and fabric chair she pulled herself closer to the desk, bend down and collected her satchel before placing it reverently upon the desk. Undoing the brass buckles she dug out an old blue and white slightly faded china teapot, a plain porcelain teacup and saucer, a flask containing simply hot water, a small tin containing a few ginger biscuits she'd made a day ago and a wooden box which contained loose tea leaves and a silver strainer. She methodically went about brewing her afternoon cup of tea when she felt a slight chill down the back of her neck, she automatically drew her shoulders up and nuzzled her knitted scarf.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 6:23 am
After 3 day's worth of unpacking and settling into her new dorm, one of the first places Edel took the time to visit was the school's magnificent library. She had been soundly impressed by the sheer vastness of the facility, not to mentioned positively intrigued by the books they flew around overhead. Her time exploring the library had been cut short during the Open House, seeing as to how the place was starting to get too crowded for her liking which prompted her to move on to elsewhere.
The ghoul had not started her classes in the Academy yet; the past few days had been dedicated to reading up on the school's policies and signing up for clubs. Now that she had a little spare time on her hands, Edel decided to visit the library again to do some extra reading of her own. She had been browsing the section on History, and was pleasantly surprised to find a plethora of books to supplement her knowledge on Halloween Town and its residents (the library at home had a rather limited and outdated selection of said topic). Picking a book off the shelf (titled: Events that shaped Halloween Town in the past 70 years), Edel was about to make a retreat back to her dorm room when she caught a waft of a pleasant aroma that drifted by. Was someone making tea? In the library? The ghoul was curious to find out.
Following the scent of freshly brewed tea, Edel soon found the person behind it, seated comfortably on a swivel chair. As she drew near the mysterious tea-brewer, the frost demon noticed a shudder, one which she was responsible for. Feeling slightly apologetic, Edel approached the scholarly-looking figure to extend her apology. “Sorry about that, it does get a little chilly around me.” She paused, giving the boil – no, ghoul, a wry smile. Perhaps she should introduce herself.
“Hi, my name's Edelweiss, Edel for short. It's a pleasure to meet you this fine afternoon.” She stopped once again, this time her eyes were upon the tea set on the table. Smiling, she added, “That's a fine brew of tea you have there, Miss -?”, trailing off expectantly so that the ginger-haired ghoul might introduce herself.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 7:49 am
Now Harriet didn't mind at all being interrupted whilst taking tea, that's what teatime was for right; tea parties? Had she been interrupted 5 minutes earlier whilst she was still reading the reaction would have been something very different indeed. As it was Harriet picked up her saucer with one right hand and her tea cup with her left and slowly swivelled about on her chair. She placed the tea cup to her lips, holding the saucer just underneath and then placing the cup upon the saucer with a slight clicking sound she lowered the pair to her lap and held it there, allowing the smell of bergamot to rise upwards. She looked up to the figure standing in front of her though somehow still mastered staring down her nose and over her glasses whilst looking upwards a look so classical of Harriet and often infuriating to others she'd found out in the past.
'Edelweiss, Edel... well yes good afternoon. Can I help you?' She stared at the icy blue eyes of her fellow student but before she could allow another word to leave her lips she carried on, 'I'm afraid I don't have a spare cup to offer you any, you don't happen to carry one yourself?' Again there was a slight pause but she continued, 'The name is Harriet, Harriet Reynolds not that that's important,' which is wasn't really as she'd never respond to her birth name, 'Tell me why does it grow cold?' Her conversation hopped from point to point as if she was really talking to herself, like muttering her own thoughts but the difference being they were spoken clearly alloud and addressed to Edel. It was whilst she was waiting for Edel to continue the conversation from the two questions she'd directed at her that she took another sip of tea and over the rip of the teacup she observed the other student, noting quite calmly that the ghoul had ice formed upon her elongated and slightly pointed ears, 'interesting' she thought to herself.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:28 am
Edel noticed the pair of piercing blue eyes, much like her own, that stared back her her under the head of flaming orange hair. She was quite the eccentric ghoul, Edel concluded, though it seemed that she meant no hostility.
“Oh?” The frost demon shot Harriet a rather amused look. “I thought you might have guessed,” she teased. “Unfortunately, it is as you have suspected, I don't carry a teacup on my person. However-” the ghoul held out her palm and concentrated her fear into it. Slowly, but surely, ice crystals began to form, arranging themselves into a lattice that soon took the form of a tea cup. “Though I'd doubt this would be suitable. Tea is meant to be drunk hot is it not?” Edel wasn't usually this cheeky, but Harriet had certainly sparked her interest with the erratic theme of her conversation.
“Actually, I happened to catch the scent of the tea you have there – Earl Grey is it? I was simply curious to find out who would be brewing a delicious afternoon tea in the library.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:01 pm
Well now that was interesting indeed she admitted to herself though the only indication of her interest outwardly was the slight tilt of her head and the spark that appeared briefly in her eyes. She didn't mind the cheek in which Edel addressed her, no she actually rather warmed to it, the fact that she managed to correctly guess her tea impressed her to the extent that she estimated the ghoul standing in front of her actually had some intelligence about her and further interested her, she liked a good banter every so often. She played the game and mockingly nodded in a manner which suggested she had already guessed the nature of the demon standing before her, before the teacup was produced but congratulated the ghoul on her demonstration anyway. 'Tea may be drunk hot or cold, of course I presume you knew that and your right it is Earl Grey which when chilled enhances the citrus taste, but let me see what I can do for you.'
She turned about on her chair back to the desk, placed her cup and saucer down and picked up the tea pot, she swivelled back around and looked seriously at the ghoul, 'Now then, the tea in here is of course HOT so when I start pouring your going to need to keep the teacup formed until it's chilled the tea enough that it's not going to melt your little piece of art.' She beckoned the ghoul forward with her left hand and stared over the rim of her glasses into a similar pair of blue eyes as to her own, 'Ready?
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:59 am
That the citrus taste of Earl Grey would be enhanced when chilled – that was something the frost demon did not know of herself, seeing as to how she wasn't quite the tea-person as her mother was. It pleased the ghoul to know that Harriet didn't so mind the playfulness in the way she addressed her, and for the other to go so far as to offer her a cup of tea, Edel was slightly convinced that they might get along quite well indeed.
Approaching the ghoul who now had her teapot in hand, Edel lowered her palm which held the tea cup, bracing herself for the hot tea that would soon fill the cup made of ice. She would have formed an ice saucer to go with it, but right now her efforts were focused into making sure that the one in her hand would not crack and break upon contact with the hot beverage. As the teapot tipped over and poured its aromatic contents into the crystalline container, the snapping of a small crack forming could be heard, to which the frost demon responded by fortifying the area of weakness with some effort. As soon as it was filled to the right level, Edel thanked the ghoul for her generosity and withdrew the cup to blow gently over it and cool its contents further.
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 11:24 am
As Harriet began to pour the tea from her beloved and treasured teapot she heard the slight cracking noise as the ice teacup was beginning to break but with some effort and focus from Edel the teacup held. She stared over the rim of her glasses at the ghoul, her eyes portraying her intrigue, granted this was Halloween and such things surrounding various FEARs occurred all the time but still one should admit pouring tea into a well sculpted teacup made from ice is still a pretty neat trick. A small grin slipped up one side of her face and she span about on the swivel chair quickly, kicking off with her feet and then slamming them to the floor again to stop herself from spinning back around again. She placed the teapot back upon the desk and grabbed the metal tin containing her home-made ginger biscuits. Spinning back around she opened the tin and held it out under Edel's nose, 'Biscuit?' the simple word wasn't really asked as a question just simply telling the ghoul to take one; who had tea at teatime without a piece of cake or a biscuit, really now?!
She kept the tin held out at arms length waiting for Edel to pick one, though they were roughly all the same, but her eyes quickly flickered about the small corner of the library, 'Your more than welcome to sit however the only chair really is that large winged back one just up the aisle, unless you've seen any on your travels.'
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:01 pm
Now that the tea was chilled, the frost demon meticulously formed a saucer to go with the tea cup and switched to holding the saucer instead. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Harriet had been quick to offer her a biscuit as well; Edel picked one from the tin as she expressed a much appreciated 'Thank you'. There was a problem now with the lack of a chair for the ghoul to sit in – she certainly would not be able to form one made of ice in a short period of time now. So despite Harriet's offer on the chair a short distance away, Edel opted to remain standing so that she may continue the amiable conversation that was budding.
Taking a bite out of the biscuit and placing it at the side of the saucer, Edel picked up the tea cup and brought it to her lips, taking a sip of the Earl Grey. “It's delicious,” she said, setting down the tea cup back on the saucer. She would have already noticed it earlier, but a quick glance at the desk told her that the other ghoul was doing some pretty extensive reading. A veteran student – she assumed Harriet to be so, which prompted her to ask, “Is there an upcoming exam that you're studying for?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:04 pm
She nodded in agreement in regards to the tea, 'Good afternoon tea, slightly refreshing and awakens the senses, no?' She noted then what drew Edel's eyes from her tea, the pile of five or six books on the desk which she'd harvested from the selves to provide her with today's ready, none of the subjects matched or married together varying from 'Dr. John Sewards phychoanalysis of R.M.Renfield' and the accompanying study 'Understanding psychosis', 'Natural Healing; the Study of Medicinal Plants.' to 'Advances in Heat Transfer' and a note book besides the pile which simply had 'Young-Laplace equation' written in handwriting which could be called eloquent if a bit rushed, below which were a few physic equations scribbled and then stopped midway through the complex exercise. She twisted slightly to stare at the pile and then back at Edel.
'An exam, not unless there's an entrance exam I've not been notified of and I presume from that question your a new intake to the academy as well else you'd of known I was new here as well.' She stared over the rim of her glasses, which wasn't hard given that they perched precariously upon the tip of her nose but her eyes shone in such a manner which suggested she'd been humoured in one manner or another, 'Scientia potentia est.' she claimed simply.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 7:10 am
She had taken another sip of the refreshing tea as Harriet turned around to follow her gaze, savoring the citrus taste. It was one of the best teas she'd had, it has been some time since she had tasted a brew this delightful. Perhaps the company played a part in it too.
Edel was surprised to hear that the other ghoul was new to the school too; so quick was she to dive into her studies and make herself (very) at home at the library, given a second glance the frost demon would still have not thought otherwise. Nonetheless, she admired the ghoul for her commitment to the noble pursuit of knowledge. Edel glanced briefly at the book she had selected for her own reading. I guess it's about time I started my own studies too she mused.
“Forgive me for making such hasty assumptions,” she replied with an earnest grin. “But you mustn't blame me for thinking otherwise. Indeed, knowledge is power.” she ended with a small laugh.
The frost demon stole another glance at the books on the desk, this time paying attention to the titles – they were on topics the ghoul herself had not ventured very far into, preferring literature and the arts for her own reading pleasure. She couldn't quite classify the readings under one category in particular (save perhaps Natural Healing and the Study of Medicinal Plants, but her prior mistake had made her a little more wary about judging a book by its cover); it was evident that Harriet read very widely.
“Tell me,” she inquired, her bright eyes widening in curiosity, “what exactly is it that you read, or do. If you don't mind sharing that is”
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:26 pm
She watched Edel take a sip of her tea and remembered her own then. She listened to Edel carry the conversation but this didn't stop her from turning her back on her acquaintance, spinning about on the chair and facing the desk once again. She placed the tin next to her tea pot grabbing a biscuit it from it before replacing the lid, biting off just under half and placing the remaining part on her saucer which she then gathered and swivelled back to face Edel once more. She stared up at Edel but choose to take a sip of her tea before answering, she blinked slowly showing her contentment as the tea refreshed her and then replacing the cup upon the saucer she held them both with her right hand and with her left waved at Edel dismissively in regards to her polite apology, 'Can't say I've met many whom have matched my love of reading so you'd be forgiven to think it was for study rather than personal pleasure I suppose.'
There was something about Harriet's eyes which would unnerve a certain someone, she stared at the object of her attentions which such as gaze that suggested she was analysing every part of it and it wouldn't be far from the truth. The present object of her attentions was of course Edel. A flicker of a grin appeared on her mouth then, 'What I read is everything and anything that takes my fancy but by what you mean by DO, I assume you mean my FEAR.' Usually of course in the larger world of Halloween town 'do' could cover a multiple of subjects but here in the academy well it could only be referenced to one thing in particular. Harriet span about once more collected her teapot, placing her teacup upon the desk. She turned about then and held out her left hand and with the teapot in her right she began to pour the remaining tea onto her hand however the tea didn't simply run off her hand it formed a small liquid ball not dissimilar to a water bomb.
The tea had the consistency of a loose jelly and threateningly looked as though it was going to break any moment though Harriet portrayed no fear herself and she confidently rolled it around her palm. She wasn't just showing off now, the tea was not boiling but it was still fairly hot so moving it upon her palm allowed her to hold it for a while longer before she placed the ball of tea back into the teapot by quickly placing the teapot between her knees and removing it's lid. Once in the teapot the ball remained, she held the teapot up for Edel to take a closer look then after a moment retracted it, smiled quickly then let the surface tension fall, the tea spilling back out into the shape of the teapot. Replacing the lid she turned her back once again and exchanged the teapot for the teacup, took a sip then span back around.
Casually she continued the conversation, 'What I am reading at present however, well Dr. Seward of course was mentored by Van Helsing himself and worked many a year in the mental institute so you'd think he'd know what he was talking about in regards to various mental complexes in various degrees, Heat Transfer is a rather detailed text book and I simply wanted to see if there was a way I could get around transferring the heat from the tea else where, say into the immediate environment so I can handle it for longer periods of time.' She grew distant then and drew into herself as if thinking however she quickly proceeded. 'Admittedly I am particularly interested to see if I am hindered by thinking I can simply apply my fear to tea, hense the text by Dr. Seward because of course the Young-Laplace equation should be applicable to every liquid form but I just can't seem to focus my FEAR on any other liquid, perhaps thats the magic of it but I'm not sure, what do you think?'
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:39 am
The ghoul took another sip of her tea, but while her smile was hidden her eyes gave away her look of amusement as she watched Harriet coolly dismiss the earlier frivolities. She however, raised her eyebrows to give a half-amused, half-curious look as she watched the other ghoul scrutinize her. It would have unsettled the ghoul but it appeared that she too, was doing her own careful study of the other party. It was only a matter of elimination by which Edel would have deduced Harriet's class, while obviously not an undead or a ghost, the lack of any other particularly distinct features would have suggested that the bespectacled ghoul before her was indeed, a reaper. Still, Edel held her judgement in on this, not wanting to exasperate the ghoul with any more of her hasty assumptions.
What happened next was by far, one of the most interesting things Edel had witnessed upon arriving in school. The gelatinous mass of tea wobbled about precariously in Harriet's hand, and judging from the way she was handling the tea bomb Edel could tell that it was still rather hot. Curious, very curious indeed she contemplated with reference to Harriet's FEAR. The ability to bend a liquid to one's will was not something particularly uncommon; water elementals or water demons with an affinity to water would be able to produce a similar stunt. Yet, she was sure that it was something different, even as she took a glance at the tea bomb that sat comfortably at the bottom of the tea pot, which upon Harriet's command broke and spilled back into the teapot to take the shape of its vessel.
Edel listened deeply as Harriet began to made sense of her choices for reading. The frost demon wondered if it were possible to brew a tea out of water less scalding, though she suspected that it would make a less respectable tea by Harriet's standards which probably prompted the ghoul to seek out other options. The next bit of information came as a surprise, but to some extent had proved some of Edel's earlier suspicions on the nature of the ghoul's FEAR. The ability to control tea and only tea was truly very unique and the mention of the term “Young-Laplace equation” quickly set the parameters for the frost demon's train of thoughts, driving her towards the idea that Harriet's fear was something much more technical that mere tea-bending. “Young-Laplace equation” did not ring a bell for the frost demon, but its scientific connotations along with the barely legible physics equations scribbled down on Harriet's desk led Edel to finally draw two conclusions – one, that the ghoul's control of tea had possibly something to do with the surface tension of liquid and two (more of a reiteration of Harriet herself), that her ability to control surface tension only had effect on liquids with the same consistency as tea. Was it the tannins? Or the entirely unique composition of it? Her thoughts were getting more and more convoluted – the topic at hand was now out of her field of knowledge, and at the end of it, Edel could only offer a weak smile to answer Harriet's final question.
“Only tea hm?...” she muttered, trailing off absent-mindedly, her eyes on her now half-filled cup of tea in her hand. “Does the type of tea matter?” She hadn't intended to, but ended up thinking aloud and she gave Harriet a sheepishly apologetic look for the silliness of the question asked. It had just occurred to her too, that if she were to go along with her hypothesis that Harriet was a reaper....and her FEAR involved tea manipulation....then her weapon... Edel stared at the teapot in disbelief.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:01 am
Harriet drifted off into thought though like being on the edge of sleep she drifted back and forth, it wasn't until she saw the look on Edel's face that she was dragged back into focus on their conversation that her know personal musing on her FEAR. She smiled a slightly knowing smile that on another ghoul or boil could of looked slightly creepy but Harriet had a light in her eye which made the gesture simply one of intelligent humour. She didn't look at the object behind her shoulder which Edel was now staring at in open disbelief, she simply kept her blue eyes upon her acquaintance and attempting to draw Edel's attention back to her and their conversation she jested, 'It's Hexed by a friend of the family when I rolled out of my cabbage, so if I'm ever out of scolding tea I can simply knock you round the head with it.' She grinned more broadly then and tilted her head slightly as she observed Edel.
Scratching the back of her head she ruffled up her already wild mop of ginger nut hair and added absently, 'I'm a Druid by race, as are my parents so poisoning is another possibility... enjoying your tea?'
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:25 am
Edel, ever so refined, managed to stop herself from sputtering into her teacup. Surely, Harriet would know that “poison” and “tea” in the same sentence was a little disconcerting. Ah, but her learned acquaintance did love to tease. Edel finished her tea and placed the teacup on the saucer, giving Harriet a wry grin. “Yes, thank you very much for sharing it.” Giving the teapot a quick glance, she added, “I'll be sure to watch out for the teapot too then.”
“Now I don't suppose I should impose on you much further; thank you very much for the tea and your kindness.” She had said it rather sheepishly, it was after all, odd and perhaps a little rude for the ghoul to have so boldly interrupted someone else's tea time and take part in it no less! Edel's eyes wandered over the table piled with books, pondering over the thought that should she frequent the library enough, she might just find her very interesting acquaintance again.
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