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It was not an Earl Gray sort of day. Nor an Oolong tea day. He could not call it a MateVana day either. For Howl, today was a Matcha tea day.

The lad was not exactly Asian at all (unless you considered Caucasian to be Asian), but he had grown up to appreciate tea. At first, it was simple herbal teas, since his parents did not want to start him on anything too unsettling for his young body. As he got older, he was introduced to various white and black teas. He developed a love for the drink, and as a result, he pursued other types of teas, like Rooibos, Oolong, and Green teas.

Today he was able to go into town, and without Franz. His friend could be a delight at times, but he also could be a burden as well. At the moment, Howl suspected that it would be easier to go about without Franz uttering how girly the tea was. The teal haired gentleman, however, was mildly regretting his decision, because now he would be left high and dry if his current choice of cafes let him down on his tea desires. He sincerely hoped he would find some Matcha at the cafe as he entered the building, a little bell ringing to signal that another customer had come in.

He had not been in the building for five seconds when he heard the mention of his name. And the proper title of "Mr." used with his last name at that. It must have been someone he knew! Glancing towards the sound of the voice, he found the gentle beauty of Bell McMahon there to greet him. A smile lightened his feminine face as he casually walked over to the fawn-haired lady. In greeting, he offered a very polite "Ah, it is a pleasure to see you again, Miss McMahon."

He did not want to be presumptuous and take a seat prior to being invited, so he remained standing. Casually, he wiped the long strands of teal hair from his sight so he could fully take in the sight of the girl. She had a gentle beauty to her, which was something he did not mind taking in from time to time. Howl could appreciate various types of beauty, but he had a preference towards an elusive type of beauty which was far from commonplace.

"How is the day treating you today? I hope it is not treating such a lovely girl as yourself in a cruel fashion. It would be an injustice if the day were treating you in a less than kind fashion." His thoughts of tea were put on hold as he hoped to lead into a polite conversation. Though in the back of his mind, he made a note that he should ask this girl about the selections of tea in the facility. Miss McMahon seemed to be a regular at the cafe, so she should know more about it than himself, at least he justified such mentally.

Being a lad raised on manners, he easily spouted out "Oh, thank you! It is quite kind of you!" Nodding his head in acceptance, he pulled the chair back and lowered himself onto it with one graceful movement. Remembering those days in his childhood when a teacher would tell him to scoot his chair in because it was too far back, he scooted the chair in as quietly as the floor would allow him.

He could not help but notice her shuffling to put papers away, but decided against mentioning it for now. She had passed the conversational ball back towards him, and he needed to be respectful and return it to her with a proper response.

"Well, I am not at school, which in itself is always pleasant. My studies have been faring well, and fencing practice is faring as well as to be expected from a team of 3 students total." He paused her and glanced up towards the ceiling, as if trying to recall anything else in his life at the moment. Not able to come up with anything, he resumed looking to Bell, giving her the appropriate eye contact she deserved. "Yet, I must say, nothing extraordinary had happened for myself recently."

It was here that he prepared to return the conversational ball to the girl, partially using his keen observation from earlier. "I hope I was not interrupting anything, Miss McMahon. Were you perhaps memorizing another enchanting script for a performance?" He tilted his head slightly to the left, which in turn caused his long teal colored earring on the respective ear to dip slightly.

"A test on setting a table?" he parroted in a calm tone. It had been a while since he had heard of young ladies being tested on such subjects. Back home, when he was younger, he had gone to a school where girls were expected to learn these manners of being a proper young lady at an early age. As he recalled, that was the equivalent to middle school for most people. Once he got to high school age, the emphasis became academics since he had moved up to a new school. It was expected that the young ladies already knew the finer things in life and now were preparing for academia. At least the educational facilities back home realized that the world needed a balance of proper etiquette and academic challenge during these times.

Pausing from his little mental dialogue, he nodded his head and cheered politely "I wish you the best of luck with it. Tests, no matter what subject, can be very draining." He chuckled slightly, hoping it would ease the edge off of the dreaded subject of "test taking."

Though he still strongly desired a Matcha tea, he needed to properly address the questions bounced in his direction. In a casual and nearly witty tone, he answered "My dear Miss McMahon, the two others on the team are after I recruited. It would seem our school does not think highly of any sport that does not require you to physically bash each other with some sort of large object." He sighed slightly, but it did not seem to hold any sort of grief in the puff of air he exhaled. It was just a sigh and nothing more.

He smiled. There was that opening he was looking for. The long haired lad made do with the opportunity and simply asked "Miss McMahon, I was actually wondering if it would be possible for you to answer a question for me about this cafe's selections in tea stock. Would you mind?" His blue eyes politely kept their gentle, polite gaze upon Bell's face, the way a man should do to show he was respectful, rather than a lecherous fool. He could not help but wonder how so many boys (for Howl would refuse to call such immature scoundrels "men") could be so blatantly rude. Howl had his own urges as well, but the public was no place to succumb to such temptations.

Keeping his eyes contentedly where they were at, he decided it would be best to simplify his request then. Not everyone knew the intricacies of the various green teas out there. "Would you happen to know if this establishment serves any sort of green tea?" Of course, not all green teas were the same, but he suspected if they had any green tea, he could suffice for the day.

For a moment, Howl was quiet, bringing a finger to his mouth and looking up slightly. He was thinking it over. In a bare basic tea facility, they usually had Matcha, but Matcha also was a bit more tedious to prepare. You had to prepare it a particular way, and from his prior experiences, cafes usually did not go the extra mile to bring in special preparation teas. Another tea that frequently underwent such avoidance was the blossoming tea. It was perhaps the most beautiful of teas, just because it had a flower that blossomed open inside of the tea. One could only fully appreciate such if they had a glass tea pot though.

He returned his glance to his current companion with a smile. "I will see what they have available then, my dear. Would you mind terribly if I came back here after I order? Or would you like some time to resume your studies?" He in all honesty was in no rush, so he remained seated politely until the fawn haired girl gave him a response.

Tilting his head forward for a polite bow before standing himself up. "Then I will excuse myself for a moment, Miss McMahon." He'd walk himself up to the counter and order a tea. As he expected, it was not a Matcha tea, but a very generic "fake" green tea, like you got in bottles in bulk at the supermarket. It was not quite the same, but Howl had little to complain about. He had purchased a beverage and he got it. In the back of his mind, he noted that he would have to look into a specialty tea shop so he could purchase some slightly less common teas at his leisure.

Returning to the girl at a casual pace, he pulled out his chair seated himself down gently. To stir up some more conversation, he vocalized his observation and plans that he had just thought up. "Alas, it is as I feared. I will need to search for a dedicated tea shop in the future." He would have attempted a dramatic sigh if he was a melodramatic character, but it was not his nature, so he didn't attempt it. Instead, he offered a polite chuckle at the situation as he took another sip of his tea.