Post by Lolli (Jennifur Cottontail) on Sept 30, 2022 23:09:21 GMT
Co-Written with the ever charming Marto Copperkettle
Lolli gets back to her accommodation after an interesting adventure. The next morning she gets up early and is having breakfast in the Four Winds before she’s about to go about her day. Lolli has stacks of pancakes with lots of syrup and berries on top. When suddenly she spots someone she recognises.
Lolli gets back to her accommodation after an interesting adventure. The next morning she gets up early and is having breakfast in the Four Winds before she’s about to go about her day. Lolli has stacks of pancakes with lots of syrup and berries on top. When suddenly she spots someone she recognises.
“Marto,” Lolli shouts across the room and waves happily. She quickly makes her way over towards him. She blushes along the way thinking how awkward she made things between them last time. She shakes herself off and heads over. Once she gets close to him she stops “Hey Marto, how are you? Do you mind if we… talked? I can see you look like you’re heading somewhere. I promise I won’t take up too much of your time. Want to join me for breakfast before you head off?”
“Lolli, hi,” the halfling says in mild surprise with a smile. He carries a sizable case of fey design, the wooden side facing her depicting a bountiful cornucopia. Marto looks over her shoulder and sees the pile of pancakes with their delectable berry compote and his tummy gives a very audible grumble. He laughs, embarrassed. “Uhh, sure. It seems my stomach might only protest louder if I don’t placate it. Let me just give something to the front desk and I’ll join you momentarily.”
“Sure,” Lolli smiles and hops back over to her table with her pancakes and sits down waiting for Marto to join her. She takes another bite of her food and sips her tea.
A few minutes pass and Marto returns sans case. His smile is warm and unconsciously charming. One of the waitstaff appears promptly as he sits down and he asks for the same as Lolli. With a quick nod the person departs, returning with a fresh pot of kaeth, the grinds swirling in the boiled water as it brews.
“Did you sleep well?” he asks as he slowly presses the kaeth grinds down to the bottom of the special press pot.
Lolli smiles. “I had a lovely sleep. Well… as best as I could. I mean I was sad we couldn’t do more for those sisters. There’s definitely something strange going on there. How about you? Also Marto, I just wanted to apologise again for letting it slip that your sister is…” she looks around the room making sure there’s no one eavesdropping and then whispers, “you know who.”
He chuckles at that, pouring himself a cup of kaeth and stirring in some sugar. “It’s alright Lolli. It’s bound to become more common knowledge sooner or later. If you’re worried I was mad, I wasn’t. It’s as I said, when I first started out I didn’t want to be known only as Merla’s brother, ya know?”
Lolli breathes a sigh of relief. “Ok phew. I really wasn’t sure.”
She takes a sip of tea and then starts talking quite fast trying to explain. “Like- I had just been at the ball I had organised and Queen Merla… well she had actually come. I mean I didn’t think she’d turn up with her being a Queen and all but she did. Anyway, I was chatting to Beets after and she was the one that told me and I was like Oh my gumdrop no way. And she was like it’s true. And I gasped and was like, no way. Then I started wondering why you might not have said it and I didn’t want to wreck anyway. So I tried to keep it a secret but I’m terrible at lying…” Lolli takes a breath after talking so quickly. She reaches down to take a sip of her tea to calm down.
After a few moments she looks over and says calmer. “So… you’re technically a prince then… right?”
“A prince? Uh, no. I, uh- I don’t think that’s how it-” Marto takes a breath and tries again. “No, I don’t consider myself a prince. And that’s probably the one thing I’d appreciate you maybe making sure you don’t spread around Lolli.” Marto takes a sip of his kaeth.
“The reason my sister has the position she does is because of her ties to the Summer Queen. I’ve met her once, Queen Titania. She is… something.” Marto’s eyes seem to express a sense of remembered awe but also slight apprehension. He shakes his head. When he smiles his ears are a little pink at the ends. “But I don’t think she’d appreciate hearing rumours of a claim from me being a prince. I’d like to stay on her good side if I could!”
“Ohhhh ok I won’t say anything. You can count on me. Well I’ll do my best and I will… say nothing,” Lolli smiles and takes a mouthful of pancakes.
Then she looks over with curiosity. “You had mentioned to Ziha that you had known about missing siblings… What did you mean about that?… Is that too personal to ask? You don’t have to answer by the way.”
“I don’t-”
The waitstaff comes over swiftly and deposits a plate full of pancakes covered in icing sugar and berries, then leaves.
Marto blinks, giving a small chuckle. “They’re so quick here sometimes,” he says, picking up his knife and fork. “Oh I need-”
The waiter comes back, leaving a glass container of warm maple syrup, bows, then leaves the halfling and haringon to their breakfast.
Marto picks up the maple syrup and pours it onto his pancakes. “Amazing…” He takes a bite. “Hmm, so good.”
Lolli feels awkward for a brief moment realising it might be too much for Marto to share. Lolli decides to help move on with the conversation. She’d hate to make Marto feel uncomfortable. She smiles and takes a bite of her pancakes also.
“MmmHmmm, I agree. They always taste so good here. Kinda reminds me of home. But my mum makes the best pancakes.” Lolli sighs slightly missing her mum’s cooking. Then looks over to Marto. “So what’s your favourite pancake topping?.”
“Mmm!” Marto finishes chewing the food in his mouth and swallows. “I like a bunch. Depends on the season I guess. Apples and cinnamon. Nutmeg and clementines. Chocolate chips and a thick cream. What about you?”
“Oooh good choices. Ohh I love all kinds of fresh berries and fruits on my pancakes. But fresh strawberries like these are the tastiest.” Lolli reaches over with her fork and takes a fresh bite and swallows. “Mmhmn so good. I also love adding some candy on my pancakes sometimes for that extra flavour.” Lolli smiles happily. “Ohh and bananas really work too. You know there’s a whoooole lot of things that are nice with pancakes.”
Lolli takes another bite of her pancakes and she starts thinking. She looks over to Marto and asks shyly, “Hey Marto, what was it like growing up with Queen… I mean… Merla. Did you… did you both get along?”
His enthusiastic eating slows down a little at the question, studying Lolli for a second before one side of his mouth curls up in a peculiar smile. “I didn’t exactly grow up with her, but when I finally met her, we got along, thick as thieves.”
Lolli smiles "Ohh wow! That's really cool. I mean not the part about not growing up together. Because... well I'm sorry about that. But I mean that you get along. Because some siblings don't and grow apart and stuff. Do you have any other siblings?"
"I do," Marto says, with a grin. "Two more older sisters and one older brother. What about you Lolli? Have any older siblings that you like to tease?"
“Ohh wow. I didn’t know that… wait are you older or younger than Merla?”. Lolli laughs “And oh yeah I have one younger sister, two older sisters and three older brothers. I haven’t seen any of them in ages. But yeah we all mostly get along. I tease my younger sister. But my brothers play pranks on me all the times”, Lolli chuckles to herself thinking of all the mischief. “Actually you know what’s funny, my younger sister is actually taller than me. So no one believes that she’s actually younger”, Lolli laughs again.
“I am younger than Merla. Oh and the height thing! Haha! I’m taller than my brother which I know vexes him because every time I start pushing his buttons — he’s really easy to rile up and hilarious when he gets going — he tries to stand on something that gives him a little more height than me.“
They share a laugh at that. Marto shares a few more stories of his family with Lolli before he starts asking her more questions about her home.
“You said you’re from the Summer Court right Lolli? Have you been back since you’ve come here at all?”
“Ohh yes that’s right. But not like the main Summer Court area if that makes sense. Do you know much about the Summer Court?” Lolli pauses to think of a moment. “And no, actually I haven’t been home in ages. I’ve been writing home every week but I haven’t heard anything back in a while. You know I might have to make a trip home sometime.” Lolli daydreams about home for another moment. “Ohh but I will say being here in the Dawnlands isn’t so bad, it’s quite fun because it’s so different. And oh have you met my Granny? She’s also an adventurer. She lives in New Hillborrow.”
"I do," Marto says, with a grin. "Two more older sisters and one older brother. What about you Lolli? Have any older siblings that you like to tease?"
“Ohh wow. I didn’t know that… wait are you older or younger than Merla?”. Lolli laughs “And oh yeah I have one younger sister, two older sisters and three older brothers. I haven’t seen any of them in ages. But yeah we all mostly get along. I tease my younger sister. But my brothers play pranks on me all the times”, Lolli chuckles to herself thinking of all the mischief. “Actually you know what’s funny, my younger sister is actually taller than me. So no one believes that she’s actually younger”, Lolli laughs again.
“I am younger than Merla. Oh and the height thing! Haha! I’m taller than my brother which I know vexes him because every time I start pushing his buttons — he’s really easy to rile up and hilarious when he gets going — he tries to stand on something that gives him a little more height than me.“
They share a laugh at that. Marto shares a few more stories of his family with Lolli before he starts asking her more questions about her home.
“You said you’re from the Summer Court right Lolli? Have you been back since you’ve come here at all?”
“Ohh yes that’s right. But not like the main Summer Court area if that makes sense. Do you know much about the Summer Court?” Lolli pauses to think of a moment. “And no, actually I haven’t been home in ages. I’ve been writing home every week but I haven’t heard anything back in a while. You know I might have to make a trip home sometime.” Lolli daydreams about home for another moment. “Ohh but I will say being here in the Dawnlands isn’t so bad, it’s quite fun because it’s so different. And oh have you met my Granny? She’s also an adventurer. She lives in New Hillborrow.”
Marto frowns mid-bite, half his plate of pancakes already gone. “What’s your Grandma’s name?” he asks, whilst trying to think of the people he’s met and talked to in New Hillborrow.
“Boosya. Boosya Sugartooth and my grandpa is Oswald. Do you know them?” Lolli asks curiously and smiles happily.
Marto shakes his head but smiles. “I’m sure I’ll meet them both soon. New Hillborrow isn’t that big.”
Lolli smiles and nods. “Oh definitely. Ohh and if you do see them can you say hello to them from me. That would be great.”
He puts his knife and fork down, picks up his cup of kaeth and takes another big sip, thinking. “I know enough about the Summer Court to be the most familiar with it, but I’d certainly love to know more — mostly about the Feywild in general. I’ve learned a lot of the things I thought I knew or read about were fables and fictions rather than truths and facts. But are you worried about your family, Lolli?”
Lolli takes another bite of her pancakes. She thinks about the letters she’s written to her family “Hmm… I just thought that they might have been super busy. Plus Queen… Merla said that sometimes time travels differently between here and the Feywild so maybe they haven’t even got my letters yet.” Lolli thinks for a moment. “But now you say it… it is a bit odd. Plus this is the longest I’ve ever gone from talking to them. Hmmm… I might have to go visit them soon…” Lolli tries to hide the slight worry that comes over her now with that realisation. Could there be something wrong?
A hand comes to rest beside Lolli’s, drawing her attention up to the halfling sitting across from her. Marto’s smile has changed to be an expression of sturdy reassurance. “I’m sure things are fine. It takes nearly two tendays for letters to reach my family home back in Earthart. But… if you want to have someone with you when you go check in on them, let me know. I’ll come with you.”
Lolli lets out a deep breath that she didn’t know she was holding. She looks at Marto and says softly, “Thank you. That would be really nice.” Then she perks up a bit more. “Ohh and if you did come I could show you all the fun areas and places in the Summer Courts. Oh that would be super duper fun.”
Lolli quickly shakes the thought and takes another bite of her pancakes to calm the rising panic sensation. “How is your family? Do you get to see them often?”
“My brother’s busy being a new father. I am also due for a visit back home at some point. Maybe for winter. Haven’t decided yet.”
“Oh my gumdrop, that’s super exciting news. Congratulations to them. Babies are always the cutest,” Lolli smiles over happily.
After a few moments, “Ohhh the Feywild is great. It’s very colourful, literally, to here. But I can definitely tell you lots of things another day when you’re not in a rush. I have a tendency to overtalk. I could end up talking for hours,” Lolli chuckles.
“I’m the same way whenever it comes to things with the fey,” Marto begins. He and Lolli finish up their meal, talking about their favourite parts of the Summer Court they’ve been to which, between the two of them, they quickly realise there’s so many things they both don’t know or places they haven’t been to.
“Maybe we could do a Tour of the Feywild sometime?” Marto suggests to Lolli. “I’ve been wanting to go there more, it just seems like there’s always so much going on here that such an idea gets pushed to the backburner. Oh! And maybe you’ll be able to get some more inspiration for those dresses you’re making,” he adds with a wink.
Lolli gasps in surprise “Oh my gumdrop! How did you hear about that?” Then she giggles. “I was going to say but they’re all a work in progress at the moment. I haven’t shown anyone my creations. I don’t think they’re Queen Merla ready… but yes maybe a trip home might add to good inspiration,” Lolli smiles happily.
“What did Merla say to you when she tasked you with making these dresses?” Marto asks, gathering up the last bit of pancakes onto his fork before popping it into his mouth.
“Ohh what were her exact words,” Lolli pauses for a moment. Then suddenly she remembers exactly and she looks over excitedly. She looks over with big eyes happily. “Ohh she asked me to make some outfits inspired by something, someone, or somewhere that I love. I’m still working on that exactly… but I have lots of ideas,” Lolli trails off thinking.
“Actually… on that note. Would you have anything to add by the way? Is there anything that you and Merla love together? Maybe you could tell me something and I can surprise her with something...? If I can think of a way to incorporate it. Something just between you and her?” Lolli looks over curiously.
Marto sits back and swirls his cup of kaeth before draining the last of it. He smiles to himself, before placing the fine china cup back in its saucer.
“Even if I did tell you something my sister and I love together it wouldn’t be what she is looking for. It’s gotta be something or someone or somewhere you love, Lolli. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Lolli takes the last bite of her pancakes, shallows it and looks over to Marto. “Ok I’ll work something else out then.” She smiles back.
He stands. “I should get going. It’s been great to catch up and breakfast was lovely.”
As Marto gets up to leave, Lolli smiles over. “Ok, thanks for the chats Marto, it was great talking to you. And agreed the breakfasts here are always delicious. Well, hope you have a lovely day ahead. I’m sure I’ll see you around again. Bye.”
Lolli waves goodbye as Marto leaves with a happy smile on her face after their lovely conversation.