[Open] Let them drink tea

[royalmushroom]

Who: Peach and YOU
What: Did somebody say TEA PARTY? No? Well *I* heard it. Come drink tea and chat!
Where: The dining area
When: February 1
Warnings: C for CUTE

Winter months were always dreary, especially if it meant being stuck inside to get away from the cold. Sure, some might not mind it, but others did. Luckily, there was someone around. Someone who had made it her mission to get people to smile and be happy.

That someone was Princess Peach.

Maybe you'd come for a snack, maybe you just wanted a quiet place to eat and read. Regardless, when you entered the dining hall, Peach was there, decked out in her finest, and she'd commandeered the space. There was pink everywhere. Ribbons, tablecloths, curtains, you name it. She was brewing pots of tea in elegant china, and she had plenty of blends to choose from. Plates were filled with cookies and cakes, that she'd spent hours baking herself. "Welcome!" she would greet people with a smile. "Please, come and have a seat! The party's just starting!"

Comments

[royalmushroom]

It was better than nothing, as far as she was concerned. "I'm glad!" she replied. "How would you like some cake or cookies to go with it?" she suggested with that ever-present smile.

[will_be_god]

He supposed it couldn't hurt. He needed energy for his later walk, after all. "I will try both but in small amounts."

[royalmushroom]

"I can do that!" She replied, glad to see him relent finally. Perhaps he'd change his mind and request more after he'd tasted the small sample platter she put together for him; a small slice of two different cakes, and a couple of different types of cookie.

[will_be_god]

"I will reserve these for later," he muttered as he wrapped the cookies in a napkin and slipped them into his jacket. "As for the present..."

The way Cyrus tasted the cakes was a process that could be defined only as elaborate. Taking a small piece from the end of one, he sniffed at it, took it on his tongue, let it sit on the tip, moved it slightly back, pushed it against the roof of his mouth, and finally swallowed it, only to repeat the process with the other piece.

"Hm. I prefer the lemon cake, although the carrot cake has more nutritional value."

[royalmushroom]

"Well, in small quantities, and as an occasional treat, nutritional value isn't as important, is it?" Peach asked him with a smile, looking him in the eye. "Indulging every now and then is fine, as long as you don't overdo it! Would you like some more?"

[will_be_god]

He stared down at the plate, thinking. "I would prefer to remain with the tea, if you could demonstrate a different variety," he decided.

Health and prosperity, he remembered.

[royalmushroom]

"Oh, I can certainly do that," Peach suggested, tapping her chin. "Do you have any favourites? Or favourite flavour profiles?"

[will_be_god]

"Citrus, usually. Although I cannot keep with it. Something mild must be used to keep us alert to those changes."

He seemed to recall having that conversation years ago with a lower agent, before he had begun stocking the break room refrigerator with the everpresent energy drinks.

[royalmushroom]

"Well then, I think I can get you something for that," Peach suggested. She thumbed through the tea bags she'd found, settling on an herbal tea packet. "Here we go! It's got orange, and..." She sniffed at it. "Ah! Green tea blended."

She set about preparing it, pouring hot water into a cup, letting it steep, and offering it to Cyrus. "See if you like that!"

[will_be_god]

He nodded in reply, but sat silently and watched the tea spread itself through the water. The change was simple--the mixture was added, but it just sat there, making no action of its own but changing everything around it. There was something deeply philosophical about that.

Finally he broke the silence, not knowing how much time had passed. "As with everything, the influence of doing nothing spreads."

[royalmushroom]

Peach blinked a few times. "So... does that mean you don't like it...?" she asked curiously, not understanding where that particular thought came from.

[will_be_god]

"I...ought not to." The words were slow and cautious. "Yet it gives me time to think."

[royalmushroom]

"Oh! Then you should embrace it," she suggested. "Sometimes you just need... clarity."

[will_be_god]

"You're a ruler of the people, yes?" He sighed deeply. "What do you believe is paramount to you? To them? Are they the same?"

[royalmushroom]

"Hm? Well, what's most important to me is that my people are happy and thriving," she explained. "And I would assume that's paramount to them too! So I suppose so!"

[will_be_god]

"And what benefit does that grant? Happiness turns us away from the wider world, and we come to ignore its ills." A bit of weariness crept into his usually emotionless voice.

[royalmushroom]

"But isn't happiness what everyone strives for?" Peach asked. "We want to survive, and to thrive, whether by conquering the world's ills or in spite of them."

[will_be_god]

"And how many people choose the former rather than the letter?" Cyrus asked, voice returning to normal. "That is why we must act."

[royalmushroom]

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow," Peach said. "I want my people to be happy... That's enough for me if they are. I consider my efforts a success."

[will_be_god]

"Are the people conquering the world's ills, or are they merely enduring them?" He swirled the remaining tea in his cup. "The world must change. That is evident by the mere existence of strife. And yet so many would keep their heads down and never confront the forces keeping them that way."

[royalmushroom]

"And how would you propose to do that?" she asked.

[will_be_god]

"To change the world..." It wasn't a clarifying question but rather a reiteration. "We must cast aside the shackles of our spirit, shed the bindings of our past...But you wish for me to be specific."

A long exhale. "Very well. I have sought the power of two deities of creation. Palkia of the flow of time and Dialga of the expansion of space. Do you perhaps recall 'Bob', formerly of the school that was once here?"

[royalmushroom]

"I'm afraid that was before my time," Peach said, shaking her head. Her arrival here was fairly recently, all things considered!

(dang this thread has been going for a year)

[will_be_god]

"I see. Another of you was here before. I must bear that in mind."

He stirred his tea. "How do you propose we address these issues in society? You are a leader, so surely you must have answers of your own."

(That tea is ice cold by now)

[royalmushroom]

"The only way to change the world on such a grand scale is for leaders to come together in the spirit of peace and cooperation and work hard to cooperate," Peach replied. "Such an effort would be monumental, and would require adapting and compromise between all the affected nations, but wouldn't be impossible to achieve. In the meantime, we can work to improve the standard of living, such that the citizenry wants for very little, and is ensured a certain quality of life. That way they don't need to suffer great hardships that they are either physically, emotionally, or financially able to endure."