The Eager Cake Testers

Log Info

• Title: The Eager Cake Testers

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's house

• Summary: Pothy and Telamon's faerie dragon friend, Jyndei, team up to try and get at the samples of wedding cake that Ravenstongue's cousin has sent over for the half-elves to try... in the form of cupcakes! Luckily, Ravenstongue is there to stop them in time. Telamon comes home from a chat with the neighbors and eventually, a taste-test is had.

Lúpecyll-Atlon house, afternoon.

Pothy has decided he will be a menace.

The blue-eyed bird is taking advantage of the fact that Cor'lana's taking a quick errand down the street to fetch milk for the soup that she's decided to make for dinner. He's staring down a box of cake slices that Addy had delivered to Telamon for him and Cor'lana to sample, so they can figure out what flavor they want their wedding cake--which Addy has, of course, volunteered to make--to be.

"I can taste-test, too," Pothy declares. And so he begins to lift up the lip of the box...

"Ah-HEM."

It's not Cor'lana. It's not even Telamon. Perched into the neatly opened window is a small, orange-hued lizard with iridescent butterfly wings, his luminous eyes staring at Pothy pointedly. It appears Jyndei has returned, and the little faerie dragon has an expression of disapproval.

And then he says, rather impishly, "It's rude not to share."

Oh dear.

Pothy looks startled at first as Jyndei accosts him. And then... he bird-blinks. "Oh!" he exclaims happily in his cherubic and boyish voice. "You want to share? Okay. I can share."

He lifts up the lip of the box--

And then Cor'lana opens up the front door, a frosted glass bottle of milk in hand and a bouquet of purple and golden flowers in the other. "Honey, I'm home!" she calls out to Telamon.

"SCRAM. SCATTER," Pothy declares, and he soars off from the table. "It was Jyndei's idea!"

"Jyndei?" Cor'lana asks, a smile finding her face. She walks into the kitchen, where the box of cake samples is located, and she looks around for the faerie dragon.

Jyndei looks miffed. "You started it!" he accuses Pothy, before ruffling his wings and picking his way inside, catlike. The window closes behind him, as the little fey dragon glides over to perch on the rocking chair.

"Hello, Lady Lúpecyll. Your husband-to-be stepped next door to speak to the neighbors -- I saw him talking on their porch when I flew over." Jyndei twists a bit so he can get a rear claw up to scratch behind a hornlet. "Ahhh. It didn't look serious, so he should be back in a minute."

Pothy's feathers all puff up as he whines, "I just wanted to help with the cake sample tasting. Please, Lana? I promise not to eat all of the slices. I'll just eat tiny bits."

Cor'lana just looks at him for a moment. "Pothy, we both know you don't eat 'just a bit'," she says, and she walks over to Jyndei. Seeing that he's trying to scratch behind a hornlet, she smirks a little and offers her finger out to that spot, slowly going to scratch it for him. "I'm sure he'll be over in a moment. How are you doing, little Jyndei?"

Jyndei gives Pothy an amused stare. "He did offer to share it with me, so that is a point in his favor." The little dragon arches gratefully as Lana scratches the spot. "Always have trouble getting that spot when it itches. Ahhh... thank you, milady."

"In any case, I am quite well. I managed to make my way home after the Way was opened without incident, though there was a great and happy hue and cry about a swanmaiden having returned home as well." He flicks his tail. "So it is all for the best. I was able to secure passage back as the days grew close to your joyous union -- I wish to witness it as well."

Cor'lana can't help but grin a little as Jyndei arches. "Are you like a cat?" she asks, almost mischievously. Clearly fey whimsy's taken hold of her. "Or a dog? They like having the backs of their ears scratched. Or their butts. Or their bellies--"

"I don't think you should be touching anyone's butt besides Telamon's," Pothy says, preening his feathers to smooth them back down. "I mean, how else is anyone going to know that Alexandria's ass belongs to you?"

Cor'lana rolls her eyes. "First Aryia, now you, huh," she mutters. "It's true, he does have..."

Then she looks down to Jyndei. "I'm being rude, sorry. I'm so glad you could come back to witness our wedding. There's not too much longer to go."

Jyndei has the good grace to not snicker at the byplay, though he tilts his head. "I think it's more like cats are like dragons. They go their own way, as we do." He sits up on his haunches, rubbing at his snout with a forepaw. "Dogs aren't bad -- they are very loyal -- but they are... well, beholden."

At this juncture, the man of the house returns. The door swings open to admit Telamon. "Alright, hopefully Pothy hasn't made a mess of-- ah, Lana, you're home!" Tel comes striding in, raking a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I was talking to Burz and Carina, they agreed to keep an eye on the house while we're gone, and-- Jyndei?" He pauses, nonplussed.

The faerie dragon bobs his head happily. "Hello again, Lord Lúpecyll-to-be. I bear greetings from Quelynos -- well, my small corner of it -- and best wishes on your upcoming nupitals."

"Little Jyndei was just telling me about how cats are like dragons," Cor'lana says with a grin. She pulls her hand away from the little faerie dragon and walks over to Telamon, going up on her tiptoes to give him an affectionate little kiss on the lips. "I did almost catch Pothy about to dive into the cake samples, though."

Pothy looks around in panic. Busted. "Yeah, well... Lana was talking about your butt!" he accuses.

"Am I not allowed to talk about my very-soon-to-be-husband's butt?" Cor'lana asks with a snicker.

Telamon gives Pothy a flinty stare. "Pothy, you know darned well Addy wants us to taste-test those. I am sure -- especially in light of Lana trying to limit her snacking -- that you would be getting at least some of them."

He rolls his eyes at the whole question of his butt. "What brought that on? Do I need to start talking about my appreciation of my fiancee? The last time I did that, Pothy, you bailed for the study."

And then of course Jyndei has to put his two coppers in. "It is considered an art form in Quelynos to poetically describe a lover's, ahem, best attributes. Bonus marks if you do it obliquely and yet your audience knows exactly what you mean."

Tel gives Jyndei a slight smirk. "So I guess pasta comparisons are right out?"

Jyndei blinks slowly. "Possibly. What is pasta?"

"Please, no, not the navel pasta," Cor'lana says with a snicker, wrapping her arms around Telamon's waist. Her violet eyes are twinkling in amusement. "I don't think I could possibly bear it if you suddenly started comparing any part of my body to anything on the menu of the Rosalian Rose."

Pothy dodges the question of exactly how Telamon's posterior became the subject of conversation... because his favorite topic in the world has come up. Food knowledge. "Jyndei, pasta is a Rosalian invention that consists of unleavened dough, typically made from wheat flour, that is combined with water and eggs and then formed into a variety of shapes. It is typically boiled in salted water and then finished in a pan with a sauce and other additions, such as chicken." His tail is already wagging. "It's delicious! You should try it sometime."

Cor'lana laughs. "Oh no, Jyndei, I'm sorry, you got him going," she says. "As for how your butt came up in conversation, love, we were discussing how cats are like dragons because I was giving Jyndei a scratch--and you know how cats like butt pats, right? Or so I'm told--anyway, Pothy said I'm not allowed to touch anyone or anything's butt besides yours, apparently."

Jyndei preens a bit. "There is nothing wrong with sampling local cuisine. Man or dragon does not live on bread alone." He pauses. "Well, there is wild game, but some things are just not big enough for a proper meal."

Telamon, for his part, has wound his arm around Lana's shoulders in turn. "This is because of that remark Aryia made, isn't it. Gods, please don't let that spread. I know we're becoming names of note, as I put it to Gerald, but that's the sort of ridiculous thing that..." He looks at Lana.

"Of course you'd like it," he says with a grin. "It appeals to your mischievious side, doesn't it?" He gives Lana a squeeze.

Cor'lana continues her snickering, that happy sort of giggle that comes out of her when she's in a particularly feytouched fit of happiness. "Look, it's not my fault if everyone else begins to notices how nice your butt is in those leather trousers of yours!" she manages to get out, leaning her head into his chin as she just can't stop laughing.

Pothy flaps over to Jyndei. He leans in and whispers conspiratorially, "Now's our chance, while they're flirting with each other and being all lovey-dovey. Cake time!"

Telamon is clearly distracted, although he's not sure if he should laugh or protest. "Look, they're perfectly comfortable and stylish and functional. Are people really paying that much attention? I don't mind if you do, obviously, but..."

While Telamon tries to untangle himself from this predicament, Jyndei sits up on his haunches, gesturing for Pothy to be quiet. Then the little dragon points a forepaw at the box, and takes on an expression of concentration... and then the lid of the box begins to slowly rise upwards.

"Well, I don't mind if they look," Cor'lana admits, finally finding her voice again in all of her laughter. She looks up at Telamon with adoring eyes. "You are handsome, Tel, and I'm... Well, I try to keep up with you, and I know you think I'm beautiful, but I always considered you to be the 'looker' out of the two of us. So, as long as everyone knows you are mine and I am yours--I don't mind."

Her eyes twinkle again, a warm smile on her face. "After all, I am the only one you want. You've made that clear so many times."

... Meanwhile, Pothy looks over at the box that slowly floats open. He looks around for a moment--mostly at the two half-elves--before he flaps over into the kitchen--

"Pothy, okay, okay, jeez, wait for us," Cor'lana says with a snicker again. She may be professing her love to Telamon, but that doesn't mean she's a fool to what's going on around her. "Let's go try out some cake, love."

Telamon just laughs softly and shakes his head. "Funny, I always thought of you as the better looking one. Guess we're both blind to ourselves. But I wouldn't have it any other way, love." He kisses her lightly, hugging her back. "And I'm looking forward to the future, whatever it holds. As long as it's us, together."

Jyndei for his part tsks as Pothy immediately takes flight. "He's so bad at this," the dragon comments. "At least I can turn invisible." Deftly, the faerie dragon leaps from his perch to land on Tel's shoulder, curling his tail around the half-elf companionably. "Let us see what confections have been crafted for you, my lord and lady. I hope they are worthy of you."

"I grew up with Pothy. He can't sneak by me for long," Cor'lana says with a grin as she pulls herself away from Telamon (with a small amount of reluctance, of course) and leads him over to the box of cake samples...

Which she opens up and... They're cupcakes! Cor'lana blinks, until she notices the note that's been left inside of the box. She reads the note aloud. "These are the cake samples--the buttercream frosting on top is the exact same frosting I'll be using on your cake, but in a color scheme that's fitting for your wedding. I've already been passed notes about decorations from your fey ancestor--Grandfather, wow, you're on the ball--so don't worry about that. The flavors are lemon-lavender, chocolate ganache, white raspberry, strawberries and cream, vanilla-mint, and pistachio nut."

Thankfully, it's rather easy to tell them all apart, as there's a little initial piped on top of each cupcake in buttercream icing. Cor'lana looks over at Telamon with a smile. "Where are we starting?" she asks.

Telamon stares at the cupcake selection. "Wow. That... that's a lot of cupcakes." Jyndei is sniffing experimentally, large eyes fascinated by the many offerings laid out. Even he's not immune to good baking, it seems.

Tel looks at Lana, and shrugs with a grin. "Well... let's start with something simple. Lemon-lavender first. Actually, while you're getting them out..." He gestures, murmuring, "Sisig bursag," conjuring up an unseen servitor. "Go get a pitcher of water and some glasses," he instructs. Turning back to the others, he explains, "Something to clean the palate between cupcakes."

Cor'lana grins at Telamon. "Suddenly I'm glad we haven't even had lunch yet," she says. "Well, don't let Aryia know if I gain an inch on my waistline or elsewhere, it's because I was having too much fun eating cupcakes with you, or she might kill both of us."

"I can help!" Pothy offers. And then... He looks to Jyndei, and he nods. "We can help." The revision is said very emphatically.

The half-elves spend a leisurely hour sampling cupcakes (with the help of Jyndei and Pothy, of course). But no decisions are made on flavors yet.

For now.