Strategy: Tea and Introductions

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The annual arts festival was one of Kevalin’s favorite events throughout the year. Being and artist herself it was a wonderful experience not only getting to share her passion with other artists and cultivators of every kind, but also to show the dragons of Aquella her skills proudly. 

She had been hard at work all year making various pieces for the festival. She had sculptures, tapestries, paintings, mosaics, and more! Of course she made art all year anyway, and sold a couple pieces here and there, but the Festival was specifically made for sharing one's art, and this was the first year the green aquarion would be able to participate. 

She had laid most of her pieces out on a floating raft the night prior, and was just grabbing the last few artworks, along with some tradables to buy herself and her friends some items, before heading out for the day. 

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Kevalin swam up to shore with her- uh… pod she supposed. She wasn’t quite sure if they were an official pod. Tusk, Mollab, and Gull stuck together, had since their hatching. Kevalin had simply missed having ‘younger siblings’ around, even though the trio wasn’t much younger than herself. They hadn’t told her to leave once she was done showing them around the lagoon she called home, so she stuck around and had become quite close to the siblings.  Noxin was a similar story, they started out as Keva’s friend, but ended up simply staying with the group one day. 

The group had agreed to split off on their own for today, as both herself and Nox had their own shops to run, and the others were eager to see what was new from previous years. As such, Tusk started wildly waving to a friend, Gull seemed intrigued by a music stand not too far from where they swam up, and Mollab dove and swam off to go explore. 

“Aria’s tea stand?” the green giant inquired turning to Noxin. While they did each have their own sales to run, the two aquarion had agreed to stop by one of their favorite tea places, run by a root chomper named Aria. Kevalin had worked with the terran herd to create a type of teacup that could be kept underwater so that aquarion could more readily enjoy the drink. Because of this, her and Nox, another frequent customer of the shop, had been offered a free cup each today to celebrate the festival. 

“Indeed” Noxin smiled, turning to swim toward the shoreline where Aria and her stall were set up. The pair made their way over, Romeo, a friendly bluish-grey root chomper smiled happily upon hearing their arrival. Both aquarion said hello, notifying the poor sighted pair of who they were, as it was harder to scent a dragon in the water. 

 

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Aria acknowledged them by name, then turned back to cleaning a cup used by a former patron. She wasn’t the chatty type, she was blunt and straight to the point, not unkind however. Romeo was the chatty one of today's sales duo, his smile could reel dragons in for miles, and he could talk about practically anything without getting bored. He also had a mind for strategy, something Kevalin appreciated greatly. 

“What can we get for you lassies?” Romeo asked with a grin. “I’ll have a yellow-dock and Kava root tea please.” Kevalin answered with a smile wading over to the side of the tea tent to allow Nox and Romeo to finish up their order. “Turmeric with some hibiscus added if you would Romeo.” Noxin said with a nod and a happy swish of the tail. “Of course! Those’ll be done in a jiff,” The root chomper happily chirped turning to take out the respective ingredients and stone ware. “Might I interest you in any snacks today? We’ve got some fine vegetables we can grill up, and some purple buns made with carrot and ube if you’d like to try those?”

Kevalin perked up at the mention of the buns, asking if she could get one of those as well. “Doesn’t ube give you a stomach ache?” Nox chuckled after asking Romeo for a small side of grilled veggies. “Okay, yes,” Keva sighed “Buuuut it’s good and therefore totally worth it.” the giant declared, raising her head and holding a flipper to her chest dramatically. The abyssal simply snorted, shaking their head affectionately. Keva ate many-a foods that she had one reaction or another too, and she did so happily, even if it came with a stomach ache or a sore mouth. 

The two quietly chatted, watching as terran and a few aquarion stopped by the little tent, until Romeo notified them that their treats were ready. He set them on a little floating table, and the two aquarion thanked him and moved over to a spot not so close to the tent as to not crowd newcomers. “I haven’t tried the turmeric before, is it any good?” Keva asked Nox, picking up her purple bun with her tail, taking a bite. “I don’t think I’ve ever had it as a tea before,” the abyssal began, “but my grandmother used to bring it home to eat sometimes.” they said with a small bittersweet smile. Keva nodded, letting the purple dragon have a moment, and simply taking the time to enjoy her purple bun.