Realistic or Modern Spiffing Day for Tea

[Parrot Parfait]

Spoiler: Room and Personal Appearance

The room phases a bit as I prepare for another guest. I put my previous session on hold in accordance to circumstances external to this room. When the room settles, the door gives a soft click as the lock becomes unlocked, ready for my next guest.

 

[Beebasaur]

Spoiler: Appearance + Apperance Details

Baltimore is 7'9" inches/ 236 cm to the top of his head (horns are 5 inches/13 cm) and is very well built. His skin resembles the texture of a side walk and he has 3 claw like scars on his right cheek (by the strap of his eyepatch), a thin scar in the center of both his palms, and a collection of misc scars down the back of his wings and down his heck hidden by his hair. His hair is very thick and fluffy and is tied in a loose ponytail at reaches to the base of his tail.

Baltimore let out a quiet sigh as he walked out of the giftshop door, leaving behind Wren, his fiance, to take care of any customers on her own. It wasn't something he enjoyed doing as he hated forcing all of the work onto her, despite her insistence that she can and has handled much worse on her own; which really just made him feel worse about doing it. Currently he only had to wander off because somehow a set of dolls from last show's stock got mixed in with the newer dolls and neither he or Wren were sure if they should just sell them as a limited time return, or move them to the Claw-A-Doll like extras usually were. The plan was to try and hunt down one of the owners, but considering it was currently audition season they could be quite literally anywhere in the playhouse, and if his usual luck held out they would likely be in the last place he checked. Shoving his hands into his staff hoodie pockets, Baltimore wandered down the hallway glancing into rooms to see if he could spot either the tan feline or yellow lagomorph he called boss.

As he was making this trek something strange caught his attention from the corner of his eye, and slowing to a stop Baltimore turning to his left and was startled to come face to face with a rather dainty white door, fitted with a well worn brown welcome mat and an overall friendly vibe. Strange thing was it seemed to be directly connected to a wall that led outside of the theater, more specifically a small parking lot for the 3 creatures that actually drove in this town. As far as he was aware this door hadn't been here in the morning, and a distinct lack of yelling today meant it probably wasn't just a fix for a hole punched in the wall. A frown began to form at the corner of his lips as he rested his wings against his shoulders, bending down slightly to squint at the door. There were a few options here: either once again the playhouse had gotten involved in some sort of cosmic shenanigans while he wasn't looking and this was a remnant of that, or his eye was much worse than he realized and glasses probably would be a good idea.

"Guess I'd better check rock...I don't imagine Orland would be too pleased if he had a door leading to...space or something in the middle of the hall," he mused idly, placing a hand on the handle, gripping it somewhat tightly as he turned it and pushed it open. His eyes widened slightly as he was met with a rather quaint looking room with white walls, already making it nothing like the overwhelming red that filled the playhouse, looking much more like...an apartment room than a spatial anomaly made by any one of the cosmic entities that worked there. Tail curling around itself, he nervously stepped in, ducking slightly through the door frame something he was quite used to.

((I hope this is an alright starter! It took me a while as I had to update Baltimore's art haha))

 

[Parrot Parfait]

(A rather wonderful introduction if I must say)
As I stand by the little stove, I hear the door click open, prompting me to lean over to see who it was. There stood what seemed to be a dragon wearing a hoodie of some sorts.

"Ah, hello," I say, trying to hide my surprise at the odd sight. This guest is the second very non-human looking guest I've had so far. "You must be the next guest. Come on in and make yourself comfortable." I pause for a moment looking up trying to remember what I had missed. "Ah, I forgot to properly introduce myself," I add before moving fully into the hallway. "My name is Jin-ho. What's you name?"

 

[Beebasaur]

Baltimore gave a little squeak of surprise, wings flaring out and accidentally pushing the door shut behind him. "I am s-so sorry Sir, Ma'am uh t-them? rock?" he stammered nervously, wringing his claws together as his tail curled around the side of his leg. "I uh...I um t-think I accidentally c-came into your h-house you see uh..." he trailed off slightly, brain just barely registering what they had said. Squinting slightly he debated between turning back and heading through the door, which didn't even have a guaranteed to bring him back to where he left considering last time he had walked through a door Gelato left in the wall--he had ended up locked in someone's bathroom in the town next door for over an hour which made for a very awkward conversation. The main thing that currently stopped him from even trying was the fact that the humanoid creature, he hesitated to declare them a normal human as elfs and fairies often looked similar and could get easily offended if mislabeled, was how they didn't even seem concerned that he was here. Even the creatures who knew him well were still surprised when he came into a room. Of course Baltimore never really had a chance to finish these thoughts as they walked into the hallway corning him between them and the door.

"I-...ah....B-Baltimore, Baltimore Sharppe," he introduced slowly, hesitantly offering out a claw to shake.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Glad to meet you Baltimore," I say as I shake his extended claw. "Also, I'm just a normal guy human if you're wondering. None of the mystical fancy stuff. Ah," I interject as I place my hand down, "just a moment." I turn around to the apartment before giving a snap of my fingers. The all the furniture in the room phase for a moment before resolidifying. I wouldn't want any of the furniture to give way under the weight of one of my larger guest. "Take a seat. Would some tea sound good to you?"

 

[Beebasaur]

It took most of Baltimore’s will power not to just turn around and leave the room but he was taught to be polite and Jin-ho didn’t seem to particularly mind. Though he was very much doubting their claim to be “a normal guy” after the furniture seemed to blink out and then back into existence. “A-Ah sure, what k-kind do you have rock?” He asked meekly, carefully walking through the hallway—keeping his steps light so his claws wouldn’t scrape the floor—and taking a seat on one of the chairs.

((Apologizes!! I just recently finished a huge school project so I am free the entire day!))

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Given his expression, I quickly infer that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to that, but given that he wasn't running away, it appeared all was mostly well. While trying my best to be coy about the whole room-shifting thing, I answer his question immediately, "I have chamomile, green tea, black tea, and can even make some milk tea boba if you'd like." As I list out the different teas on board, I grab a red kettle from one of the upper cupboards, fill it up with water, and begin to heat it up over the stove. "If you'd like, I can make something exclusive to your world, but I can't guarantee that it'll taste as good as what you're used to."

 

[Beebasaur]

“J-Just Chamomile is f-fine,” he replied, tail curling around into his lap so it wasn’t squished into the furniture. He almost added that the only tea exclusive to “his world”—whatever that meant—was not something he would ever like to drink, and he was certain this Jin-ho would agree. Many of his friends, including his adoptive daughter, had tried the stuff and he didn’t think even one of them didn’t regret it. Just the thought of it sent shivers down his spine.

Thankfully something else swam to the forefront of his brain that he could talk about instead. “M-May I ask what w-world we’re in? I assume I’ve uh...s-stepped into some sort of p-portal rock...t-this isn’t the f-first time b-but usually people are a bit more...surprised to s-see me rock?” He explained sheepishly, trying not to sound impolite as he spoke.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"World? Hmm..." I say, "That's really hard to say. It really depends on how my room interacts with other worlds. On some occasions, I believe this room becomes a 'part' of the world that I'm visiting. Other times, I think it is its own space, given how it appeared in the void between worlds for a previous guest." I pause for a moment and then shrug, "I never ironed out the details on how this room fundamentally works other than it allows me to speak with beings across the dimensions without interring with their worlds. Usually, the worlds I visit autocorrect themselves should my interference be deemed, quote-on-quote, 'non-canon' to their, quote-on-quote, 'stories', but there are some cases, such as my first guest, where that didn't happen."

 

[Beebasaur]

Baltimore in all his 300 years of life had never heard something like this before and it quite frankly made 0 sense, going in one ear and out the other. It felt like when Locksworth tried to explain how he is both a star and stars are still giant balls of gas at the same time, alongside the fact they apparently had a monarchy. He eventually understood it after he was given the shortened summary version from someone else, but the words the star had originally used completely flew over his head. Still Baltimore gave a cautious nod, making a note to recap the experience to Wren and see if she made any sense of it.

“I see...” he replied hesitantly, moving his hands to his staff hoodie pocket and nervously glancing towards a wall. “I g-guess that answers my question rock.”

 

[Parrot Parfait]

After I see the expression on his face, I give a small chuckle. "I don't quite understand either myself, and I don't really need to since the point of this room is for talking." I take a glance at the kettle for a moment before looking back. "So, what's your world like beyond my door? Given that you're a walking and talking dragon, I'd assume that your world is significantly different from mine, though, probably still fairly modern."

 

[Beebasaur]

“O-oh! Um...I-I’m actually not a dragon,” he chuckled nervously, wringing his wrists from inside his coat pockets. “T-Though my fiancé is one rock! It h-happens a lot so don’t worry about it, I’m actually a gargoyle” he explained, this was something that happened almost everytime he met someone new. Despite the huge diversity of creatures from all sorts of backgrounds in Lilypad not one of them seemed to recognize gargoyles, though maybe Baltimore could blame his father for that. Having inherited most of his genes Baltimore looked awfully like a regular old dragon from the tip of his horns to the fluff on his tail, his rocky skin being the biggest give away that he in fact wasn’t one.

Getting his mind back on topic, he continued speaking. “Um I am a-actually I don’t t-think we’re all too different rock, I uh...I h-have that same brand of kettle at home,” he added with yet another bout of nervous laughter. “Do you n-not have dragons around here rock?”

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Huh," I say unaudibly, "gargoyle, would explain the verbal tic." When he asks about dragons existing in my world, I take a small moment to think before continuing.
"No, actually," I respond, "Dragons, fae, and gargoyles such as yourself are but fiction in my world, or at least I think. I'm a bit glad that they don't exist in my world, but that's mostly because I grew up in a world where they're just fantasy, along with magic. Though, I do believe there are some types of magic that can actually do stuff, but those are very dark paths that I'll never touch." The kettle begins to whistle as I finish, prompting me to grab a cup from the cupboard, a mylar bag of chamomile, and a small strainer. After placing the tea into the strainer, I pour the water over the chamomile and into the cup and allow the tea to steep. "My world is more technologically orientated. I'm actually studying to be an electrical engineer or something related. Probably will get into computers or the like."

 

[Beebasaur]

“Ah,” he replied plainly, trying to imagine how different the playhouse would be if all the magical creatures just vanished. Orland would be very lonely that’s for sure—and down half his staff. “I don’t h-have any magic myself, but my fiancé Wren can shoot lightning and I know we have a f-few witches at the playhouse rock,” he spoke softly clearly thinking deeply about the idea. “M-Magic is very prevalent in Lilypad, b-but plenty of places don’t have it whatsoever. I d-don’t know much about computers but I’m what some w-would call a “dinosaur” when it c-comes to tech rock.”

“T-Though I don’t think most dinosaurs aren’t t-tech savvy” he quickly added as he didn’t want to come off speciest, “j-just the last one I t-talked to tried to eat t-their own phone so I imagine the p-phrase fits...?”

 

[Parrot Parfait]

I give a slight chuckle at the prospect of a dinosaur eating a cellphone before phrase actually dawned on me. "Huh, dinosaurs... Nevermind, you mentioned a playhouse? What's that?" As I ask the question, I take out the strainer and place it into the sink. Then, from pantry, I take out a small bottle of honey (the ones shaped like a bear) and a small wooden coffee stirrer and place everything onto the table. "Here you go." I typically like my chamomile with sage honey, but any other honey would be fine.

 

[Beebasaur]

Baltimore pulls his claws out of his pockets, gently taking the cup from Jin-ho being careful not to squeeze the handle in anyway in case his rocky skin scratched up the ceramic. His fingers were big and bulky and so only two were able to fit beneath the handle but this is something Baltimore was more than used to. “H-Have you ever been to live theater? The p-playhouse is mostly just that, w-we pick a new play each month, hold auditions, then run the show for a few weeks and have a break rock. T-then the cycle continues” he explained, taking a small sip of the tea as he finished. He hadn’t had chamomile in a while, as he usually used it to help him sleep, but this was a very well made cup of it.

“I’m n-not involved in the actual play s-stuff though, I j-just co-run the gift shop as staff,” he pointed towards the emblem on the front of his hoodie with had a mini version of the playhouse’s crest alongside the words “staff”. It looked pretty well loved as if it had been through the wash several times, but was still kept nice.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Huh, that sounds pretty neat," I respond when he finished explaining what the playhouse was. Though, when he mentioned that he ran the gift shop, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed (though none of it showed). Though, it was still fairly cool seeing someone working at a theater, especially one popular enough to sell gift shop items. "I haven't really seen any theater plays except one done by my high school. Hmm... though, it was more like a musical, but that's besides the point. It was a really good play, especially when I had low expectations set from the crappy elementary school ones I participated in. Looking back at them, good lord were they cringy." I give a small frown and shudder at the thought of that "healthy eating" play with literal junk food and healthy foods as characters. "Ah, it might not exist in your world, but the play I saw," I pause for a moment, "the highschool play I'm talking about was called Fiddler on the Roof. A really nice play about one of our less appreciated ethnicities."

 

[Beebasaur]

“I know it but I don’t t-think I ever finished watching it, Orland, one of t-the owners of the playhouse, wanted to do it this year. He m-must have changed his mind seeing as we’re d-doing Peter Pan instead,” he mused thoughtfully, taking another sip of his drink, “ I a-almost auditioned for Hook but I d-didn’t want to leave Wren on her own in the shop rock.” It was a weak excuse but the one he was clinging onto. Admitting that he had once again chickened out of our actually auditioning from embarrassment to someone he barely knew wouldn’t be a very good look. He hadn’t even told Wren the actual reason he backed out, but he was pretty sure she already knew.

One of these days he was going to force himself to participate, but this just wasn’t the play. He used to be so much more confident and sometimes Baltimore wondered how he turned into suck a meek throw towel of a creature.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

(Sorry for the delayed post! I was helping my mom make lunch)

"That's nice of you to stay behind," I say as I grab one of the smaller stools, "I wouldn't exactly want to audition for a play, but maybe when I have more time, I might join a musical or a play. When you have the time, you should probably join one too, maybe get one of your's or Wren's friends to help out with the gift shop. I haven't really joined a play before, but from my experience watching Fiddler on the Roof, I could tell that my classmates and teachers were really enjoying themselves. Heck, my AP Human Geo teacher spoke in a Russian accent during the entire play!" I give a wide smile remembering the entire play.

 

[Beebasaur]

Baltimore couldn't help but snicker, Jin-ho seemed very enthusiastic in their reply and that enthusiasm was contagious. "Maybe...I don't want to come off as pushy though rock, I-I'll just see what happens next show," he sighed taking another sip of his tea before coming to a realization. He'd never actually put any honey into the cup, which explained the slightly bitter flavor, and his cheeks began to flush slightly--a golden yellow hue. Awkwardly he set the cup back down and actually picked up both the honey bear and tea stirrer, careful to add a very conservative amount so as not to seem greedy. "I don't m-mind just watching honestly, the playhouse can be so chaotic sometimes I c-can't imagine trying to be more involved than I actually am," he explained quietly, slowly stirring his cup of tea," Just a few w-weeks ago the entire place was bombed with p-pink glitter, this sort of stuff happens all the time rock..."

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Pink glitter," I smile before giving a small chuckle, "Well, that seems relatively tame compared to the things that go on in my world or in other worlds." I scratch my chin with my index for a bit, thinking about all the crazy things that happen on Earth. "While they're nothing magical or bombardment by glitter, the events that go on are just as interesting and chaotic as the rest, if not a bit darker." I give a slight frown before continuing. "Probably a different topic would be better." I take a moment to think before a question popped into my head, "About the glitter, what exactly goes on in the playhouse other than plays? From what I know, it's not every day that a glitter explosion happens in a theater."

 

[Beebasaur]

((Eep I forgot to press send!))
“Usually,” he chuckled nervously, finding himself able to talk to Jin much easier than most people he spoke, or tried to speak to. “We tend t-to have one month for auditions, it’s a-actually one of the least frantic times of the year rock,” he began, thinking over his words carefully so as not to give the wrong impression,”then of c-course is rehearsals, this is w-where most of the messy stuff happens. I’ve never h-had to participate beyond clean up as me and Wren work on supply r-runs and stocking the shop rock. Afterwards of course is the a-actual play, oh! All of these are a m-month long,” he quickly added with a pause. “A-ah sorry, but uh t-then we have a free month b-before the next audition and p-people host events. I b-believe Luna and Extinct are h-holding a wedding party at the t-theater this May?” His voice faded slightly as he realized how much he had been talking, cheeks heating up slightly in embarrassment. It might not seem like much too most but this was a lot longer of a conversation that Baltimore had with almost anyone who wasn’t related to him, or Wren.

To make up for this pause he busied himself with his tea. Thankfully the liquid wasn’t making him drowsy as per usual or else Baltimore would really have something to be embarrassed over!

 

[Parrot Parfait]

I'd expected something a bit more spontastic considering the glitter, but it appears that the playhouse is fairly normal, outside its abnormalities. I continue to nod as he continues talking when he mentions the wedding party.
"A wedding party?" I ask, giving a wide smile, "wow, so who's the lucky bride and groom? Is it a couple from the playhouse?"

 

[Beebasaur]

"A-Ah yes it is actually! If you remember t-the dinosaur I mentioned earlier, his name is Extinct w-we used to talk more b-but life has been a bit busy rock, but uh he is g-getting married to a playhouse veteran named Luna," Baltimore explained, setting the cup back down on the table and resting his claws on his lap. He was ever so slightly envious of Luna and Ex's courage to set up a party and allow anyone to come, considering the crazy things that had happened to Lilypad in the past he certainly wouldn't be comfortable doing so. The last wedding he went the bride ended up kidnapped and taken to a different dimension only a few months later, by one of the bridesmaids no less, and had become this giant mess of trying to drag her back. Thankfully Wren seemed more than okay with them having their wedding back at his place, where giant monster attacks were infrequent at worst. Shaking himself out of his own head, he quickly jumped back on explaining.

"Both of t-the, have actually been at the Playhouse longer than me, o-only a season longer, so everyone is pretty excited rock," he remarked with a soft smile, "I b-believe they only officially dated for less than a year before proposing l-last December rock."

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Wow, that's wonderful!" I say with a big smile. "I can't deny that I'm a bit envious myself." I'm of that age to start dating and finding a mate myself, but there are other things I must attend before that.

When I realize I've floated off into my own world, I quickly shake my head before saying, "Anyways, I wish the couple the best for their wedding and ongoing relationship! Just make sure nobody decides to glitter bomb the place again during that wedding. Though," I trail off as I hold my chin, "that would make for a really bomber wedding... Ah, if I may ask, who's the best man? Considering how wild the Playhouse sounds, I could imagine that person will be anything but normal."