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 Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 2:59 pm
 Hawthorn had set up in the Freshling common room as the Caretaker had instructed. This was not an official club, though the Caretaker kept hinting that Hawthorn ought to start it. For now, he had a single Freshling who had answered his posted notice: Margaret. He didn't know who to expect, but regardless he would have set the table the same.
Two place settings were laid out, each with a fresh cup and saucer, a spoon plate, a straining cup, a personal mini teapot, and four canisters of teas to choose from. The chairs were neatly pushed in, the napkins folded in mathematically perfect triangles on the serving plates. The sandwiches his sibling Peony had helped him to prepare were cooling on their covered tray in the bar fridge the room supplied.
As he waited for his guest to arrive, he hefted the full kettle to the wall outlet and plugged it in. Letting out a calming breath, he turned to survey the set up and allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. Everything looked perfect.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:03 pm
Margret had shown great interest in the posting. She knew that tea parties required a certain... Quality to them that she didn't have. Her siblings had shown interest in having a tea party, but she was sure none of them knew how fancy they could be. If Margret learned now, she could show her siblings later! Or they could come to the next meeting here and participate with her.
The Bakeneko tried her best to dress the part. She wore the fanciest dress she had brought with her to the academy. She fiddled with her hair and brushed any lint off of the pink dress before entering the room. "Hello?" She glanced around to see a neat place setting. She hadn't really expected them to go all out, but at least she looked the part.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:08 pm
As the minute hand hit the hour, the door opened. Hawthorn's smile remained as the punctuality of his guest greatly pleased him. He stood at the side of the table, one hand across his stomach, as if he were a waiter at a fancy restaurant, as he had seen in old black and white movies. His bearing was poker straight, head held high, shoulders rolled back. An inch more rigid and it might nearly have been a military stance.
"Welcome," Hawthorn replied in his soft, velvety voice. "Please do come in." He was about to offer to take her coat when he saw she wasn't wearing one, and swiftly shifted tactics. He took a smart step towards her chair and pulled it out from the table. "You must be Margaret," he noted with a slight nod. "I'm Hawthorn, and I'll be your host. Please, have a seat."
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:13 pm
Margret's ears swiveled back slightly and she nodded at her host. She watched as he bowed and she froze for a moment. Should she bow too? She raked her brain over the books she had read about royals and their courts and anything she could think of that had to do with bowing. She made a motion to bow before correcting herself and doing a slight curtsey. She wasn't sure if that was really right either.
She shuffled after the other awkwardly, stopping at her seat as the child pulled out her chair. "Ah, thank you." She slid into her chair. "I'm excited to learn anything you have to teach me, Hawthorn." She felt embarrassed already, but she would try her best.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:18 pm
Hawthorn nodded smartly, following the script he'd studied up on in order to prepare. Once she was seated neatly, he tucked the chair into the table with a bit of effort, being physically weaker than his mind knew the motion ought to be done. Luckily, from her angle, Margaret couldn't see his momentary falter in the otherwise smooth presentation he was painstakingly presenting.
Returning to his own chair, he sat carefully, mustering his grace and clasp his hands before him. "This is our tea spread," he began helpfully. "We each have a tea cup and pot. It can also be proper to share a teapot, but in this case, you will be able to sample different teas, should you wish to." He lifted his tea cup and righted it on the saucer, gently indicating she could do the same. "Please note the tins," he said next, wafting a hand artfully towards the teas sitting between them. "We have four selections today." He took great care to annunciate the adult sentences properly. With delicate motions he leaned forward and opened the first canister to release a green, fresh, scent.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:26 pm
Margret waited patiently, hands on her lap as to not break the one rule she did know, which was to keep her elbows off the table. Her parent's never liked when her and her siblings did that, but they let pretty much everything else slide. She watched him carefully, studying every little movement he mad so that when it was her turn, she could replicate it perfectly. At least as close to perfection that she could get.
She notice how well and eloquently the other spoke, which made her subconsciously sit straighter in her chair. She already knew that she would sound pretty silly trying to mimic his style of speaking and choose to talk a bit slower so she wouldn't have to pause or stutter. Her eyes lingered over everything he mentioned and soon picked up the saucer and cup, clattering a bit at first before studying herself. "Might I ask what your favorite tea is?" She took in the lovely scent of green tea but waited for what he would do next.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:30 pm
Hawthorn nodded to the canisters. "These are my four favourites. I can't really compare a green to a white tea...a red to a black..." He gently capped the Green and moved onto the next. He jerked slightly, his young muscles not quite having the coordination as he so dearly wanted. This canister gave off a soft, mild scent with a jasmine floral note, and blue twists of cornflower could be seen among the balled up leaves.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:35 pm
The small jerky movement did not go unnoticed to the observant Bakeneko. Her eyes flitted from Hawthorn to the tea before she chimed in. "Are you..." She paused, setting the cup and saucer down, slightly concerned. "Hm... Never mind" He didn't seem to be phased much by this so she let it pass. When Hawthorn went onto talk about how these four were his favorites, Margret pouted slightly. A recommendation would have been lovely, but she would be able to decide for herself what was her favorite. She was excited they wouldn't have pretend tea, like she did when she was younger. The scents that wafted from the canisters was almost too good. She looked over them all not sure where she should start. She reached for the more flower of sort. She thought it complement her child instructor for some strange reason.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:36 pm
Hawthorn smiled as she reached for the tea he was currently demonstrating and offer her a spoon. "It's a 3 cup pot, so you'll want to use 4 teaspoons of tea. You'll find the strainer already set into the pot. I'll put the kettle on for white tea." He shifted his chair back with a slight thump and rose to flick the kettle's button.
Returning to his seat, he opened the fourth canister and spooned out three teaspoons of a smoked black into his own pot. "That one is a Summer Flower White," Hawthorn explained. "It's key not to oversteep it. You can use the little sandglass to count off 1 minute once the water is ready."
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:38 pm
Margret took in his words, trying to imagine how she would do the action described. She looked at the strainer when mentioned. 'The tea leaves must go in there.' She thought. "Are there instructions for a pot that holds more tea? Is there some type of list? I would love one." She Smiled, taking the spoon and started to carefully fill the strainer, counting out each teaspoon slowly.
"You must know a lot about all kind of tea." She watched as he returned and spoon in the tea into his pot. "Do you have tea parties all the time?" She contemplated inviting him to more tea parties. If anything she would learn more about them.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:39 pm
"I drink tea every day," he replied. Hawthorn watched as she spooned out her dose and nodded, satisfied before turning to his own preparation. "I don't often get the chance to go all out, like this. So, thank you, Margaret." He made eye-contact as he said it so there could be no doubt of the heartfelt sentiment. He did not say such things lightly, though he doubted she would have any inkling of how much it meant that he had expressed his thanks.
Hawthorn rose to fetch the kettle, not quite boiling, and brought the hot water over. He poured into her pot for her, leaning over the table from beside her chair.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:40 pm
Margret hardly drank tea. It seemed like such a fancy thing to do so she thought it would be better done in a special way, like a tea party. But this meant that she had hardly tried any of the many varieties of tea that was out there. The Bakeneko locked eyes with the other as he thanked her. She beamed a happy smile at him. "We should do it again! As often as we can in fact!" Her golden eyes were practically glowing. "I'll help set up next time so then I can plan a tea party all by myself and then invite you!" It would be very cool to impress him, she thought to herself. "Would you like to do that?" She watched as he walked over to the tea kettle and poured water for her. "Oh, thank you." She smiled wide again, but didn't move to touch her cup, waiting instead to follow his lead.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:42 pm
Hawthorn blinked. It had not occurred to him that he might be able to attend someone else's tea party. He mulled the idea over in his mind. Critically, he thought of all the things that could go wrong. What if they burnt the tea, and social decorum insisted he drink the bitter brew anyways? What if they conducted it incorrectly; would he be permitted to correct them or would that be rude? What if there were other guests in attendance with whom he did not get along. Hawthorn let all of these concerns wash over him and quieted each carefully. Still, having another take up the appreciation for tea was important. Being able to teach or guide another was also fulfilling. At last, Hawthorn nodded, slipping back in his chair to regard his guest levelly. "Well, then we had best get started on teaching you the basics." He looked over the spread and then up at her again. "Where would you like to start?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:45 pm
The Bakeneko waited patiently for her new friend's answer. She would love to practice her tea skills with someone who knew what they were doing. Her golden eyes lingered on her cup, wondering if he'd be willing to join her in her endevours. Finally he nodded and Margret was ecstatic. "I'm glad you'll do this for me!" She giggled a bit, "Well, for us. You would get more tea parties out of it, so we'll help each other!" She thought for a moment on what the basics would be, considering she was already overwhelmed. "Um..." Her pink tipped tail swayed gently under her chair. "I'll let you decided what's best. You're in charge!" She nodded, "You're the teacher here." She was glad to know that there would be someone to help her out and also participate with her.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:51 pm
Hawthorn nodded solemnly. "If it is your first one, I would recommend limiting it to a single kind of tea. That way you can focus on paring the flavour of the tea with your repast." At this he sipped from his cup and rose again. Setting his cup down with a little porcelain clink, he moved to the little fridge and pulled out the platter of finger sandwiches so they could warm a little before serving.
Returning to his seat, he gestured to the scones and crème fraiche. "Please help yourself," he offered. While it would be polite to have the guest serve themselves first, he demonstrated protocol by selecting a scone, setting it on his side plate and scooping a dollop of the whipped 'fresh cream' onto his plate, returning the spoon to the bowl of crème fraiche and using the little spreading knife next to his plate to cut the scone and spread the cream.
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