forum dancing thing // private rp with octane

Started April 17, 2019 by @blue_topaz

tune

"It's Taiwanese tea. It's sort of hard to explain, but it's like tea with little balls of tapioca in them. They're chewy, and sometimes flavored," Luther tried to explain as he rubbed at the back of his neck

“Tapioca….?” Whatever it was, Kieran hadn’t heard of it. Granted, roughly 140 human hears of his life had been spent under water, so he was a little behind on human traditions…

"It's kind of like a powder, sort of. But you can make it into different things, like a sort of bread, or the little balls in boba tea," Luther went on

Kieran was currently staring at Luther like he was from another planet. “You can make bread from the tea?”

"Well, no. Tapioca is a powder that you make the boba balls and the bread out of, not the tea. It's different," Luther tried to explain, though he was slowly realizing he wasn't doing great at it

Kieran blinked, then nodded slowly. His eyes flickered to the menu displayed above the counter, and his cheeks pinkeyes slightly when he realized that he had no idea what half the jtems were. “Er.. would you helping me pick something to order?”

"Um…well, do you like a lot of caffeine, or just a little?" Luther asked, slowly realizing now that Kieran might have never been in a coffee shop before

After only a few years spent above the surface, Kieran knew what caffeine was.. but had never consumed anything with it. “I’ve… never had any?” he admitted, uncharacteristically meek. “So a little, I guess.”

"Okay, well I can get you milk tea, then," Luther suggested with a small smile, leading them up to the front counter so they could order. "I can get one for me and one for you, and mine will have boba, so you could try a little if you want," he offered

“If that’s alright with you..” A faint, bashful smile tugged at his lips. “Thank you again. How much do I need to pay?”

"Ah…" Luther trailed off for a moment, squinting at the prices for the different things. "Three dollars for a small…Three fifty for a medium…and four for a large," he listed off

“I’ll take a medium,” Kieran decided, pulling a battered wallet from his back pocket and digging around for some spare change. “I can pay for you?”

"No, no, I couldn't. In fact, let me pay. I owe you after our lesson," Luther insisted, taking his own wallet from his pocket and fishing out a few five dollar bills

Kieran shook his head hastily. “No, no. I was late for the lesson, it’s my fault. You don’t have to pay for me.”

"And you're paying me for lessons already, I may as well treat my favorite student," Luther insisted, smiling a little as he spoke now

The comment took Kieran completely off guard. Favourite student? When was the last time I was someone’s favourite… anything?

So he nodded and ducked his head, abashed,

Luther smiled, pleased with himself as he proceeded to order their drinks. Once he was finished, he paid and went over to a table, gesturing for Kieran to follow so they had somewhere to sit while they waited

Kieran trailed after Luther, a bit like a lost puppy in this foreign environment. His usual snark and sarcasm? Gone, disappeared into thin air.

Luther sat down at one of the small tables, stretching out briefly with another small yawn. He blinked a few times before chuckling softly. "I'm starting to think I may have needed to go to bed earlier last night," he said with a small chuckle

“I know the feeling,” Kieran grimaced, searing himself cautiously across from Luther. “Do you do anything other than teach dance?”

"I…work security for a church. Or at least, I did," Luther answered with a small shrug. "I often just work as an instructor now, occasionally as security at the apartment complex I'm staying in."

Kieran gave a nod, eyebrows lifting slightly. “That’s cool, the security guard thing. Do you get a gun, then?”

"Ah…Not exactly," Luther said, looking off to the side a bit out of habit. "I don't like them. They're loud, and I prefer fear tactics over shooting," he said with a small shrug

Fear tactics….?

That didn't sound particularly realistic to Kieran—but what did he know about the human world, anyway? So he merely nodded, scratching absently at a mole on his cheek.

Luther fell quiet again, fingers drumming idly on the desktop as they waited for their drinks. But it wasn't long before their names were called, and he got up to retrieve them