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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 22, 2014 17:25:12 GMT
Annice: She giggled softly at Sinsir's comment. "Oh, I hardly think so," she said, waving to another group that was grinning at her. "They're just happy to be noticed, I think!" She said this, but once she had gotten a small community in an outlying town of Easter Village to break into song.
Olive, having finished listing off the syrups, went into the next room, the group following her. "And now we have the first of the set of cider rooms," she gestured over the railing to a bunch of elves who were inspecting apples and moving them to a conveyor belt, only tossing one in every hundred or so. A few looked up to see Annice waving and had smiles huger than the last elves on their faces when they started waving back.
"They go through a process to check for bruises, bumps, cuts, anything that might have happened during shipping. We don't toss many, in all honesty, because of the quality of our source, which, as most of you know, is one of the best farms to likely ever exist. If you'd like to move onto the next room now, we do have some samples available!" She pushed open the doors as one of the elves from down below gestured for Annice to come closer. She looked around and shrugged at Sinsir before finding a staircase and asking an elf who scurried up to them if it was really okay.
"Yes, yes of course! It will only be a moment! Then you can return to your tour!"
He turned to Sinsir and said, "My apologies! We'll bring her back forthwith!"
The young elf took her hand and lead her down the steps where she was promptly bombarded by elves from the various rooms. Not much could be heard of the conversation up top except for when she left with an apple and a candy cane and shouts of "Bye Miss Annice!" and "Enjoy your tour, Miss Annice!" and "Please come back to visit soon!" were heard.
Annice made it to the top of the stairs and smiled sheepishly at Sinsir before offering him the candy cane. "This is for you! Elf orders." She began to wonder if he was right about how easy it was to become a celebrity in this factory as they moved to the next room where samples we're being given out. Miss Olive was talking to one or two of the people on the tour and the rest were chatting with each other in groups while enjoying cups of cider. Annice pocketed her apple with every intention of enjoying it later.
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Post by kryss on Aug 22, 2014 18:31:56 GMT
Sinsir: He grinned uncontrollably while the elves spirited her away. It wasn't hard to make him smile, but around Annice it seemed a constant occurrence, and though he couldn't see, he was smiling so much the ends of his mouth were curling inwards.
"I see why you're such a good teacher." He said when she finally made her way back upstairs. He accepted the candy cane from her and called down in a restrained voice, "Thank you!" Several of the workers waved cheerily up at him before returning to their work. Sinsir tucked it into his suit pocket, very reminiscent of Mr. Kandi himself. He escorted her to the next room, just in case the elves couldn't contain themselves much longer.
He quickly located where the cider was being handed out and wove his way over, grabbing two cups and finding her again. Handing her her drink, he asked,
"So how are you liking it so far?"
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 22, 2014 18:39:55 GMT
Annice: "Oh, it's just wonderful!" she cheered, smiling so hugely that her eyes were closed. "Everyone's so friendly, and there's so much magic in every corner! I just love it here!" She looked down at her cider curiously before looking back up at Sinsir.
"Cheers," she said, holding up the cup, "to being just the best of friends!" It was true- she had already grown considerably attached to his friendship and was looking forward to spending as much time with him as she could.
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Post by kryss on Aug 22, 2014 19:35:03 GMT
Sinsir: "Cheers," he said, gently tapping their cups together. He took a slow drink, savoring the taste of the cider. He let out a small "Ah" of satisfaction before returning to the conversation.
"I would imagine e Easter has its share of magic as well," he said. He looked at her over the edge of his cup. "You seem to have plenty of magic yourself."
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 22, 2014 19:47:20 GMT
Annice: She sipped her cider somewhat warily before pulling away and putting a hand on her cheek. It was so delicious! All the spices worked together to create a harmony with the apples that enveloped the senses, and she was quite sure she'd never tasted anything quite like it before. "Oh my," she breathed before taking another sip.
She pulled her cup away again, laughing. "We do, yes, but apart from healing and talking to animals, I'm afraid I don't have much! There are plenty much more gifted than I- why, my sisters have healing powers that you wouldn't believe. My youngest brother can soothe any animal in just moments as well. Besides, all of that is nothing compared to..." She gestured and looked around at the room surrounding them, implying she was including everything beyond the walls, the magic that made up Christmas Town as a whole, "this."
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Post by kryss on Aug 22, 2014 20:14:34 GMT
Sinsir: "It sounds pretty wonderful to me," he said, drinking more of the cider. "Healing, I'd like to have something useful like that." Looking around, he saw that most of the tour group had already left the room. "Oh, we don't want to be left behind!" He hurried ahead, going slow enough for her to keep up.
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 22, 2014 20:22:34 GMT
Annice: She trotted to keep up with him, nearly running into him when they caught up to the crowd. She giggled softly and looked up at Miss Olive.
"...wraps up the tour! From this point on, those of you who've been on the tour know, it's free reign of anything past this point! The only rule is not to disturb the workers if possible and that after your first full cup of cocoa in the tasting, it's two silver bells a cup. The first is always free, as compliments of taking the tour, of course. Mr. Kandi's rules! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have, and thank you so much for coming on the tour today. We hope to see you again soon!"
Annice looked over at Sinsir, who was more experienced in this than she. "So... there's a tasting room?" she asked before finishing her cider.
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Post by kryss on Aug 22, 2014 21:05:13 GMT
Sinsir: He strolled into the tasting room with Annice.
"Oh yes. It's quite impressive. And I suggest we hurry over there, before you start a riot and get impressed into an elf slumber party." He teased. The room they walked into was like a factory in and of itself. At least fifteen silver faucets dispensed various kinds of cocoa, ranging from their new flavor that was actually just hazelnut, to white chocolate, all the way to what might as well have been a melted chocolate bar.
All along one entire wall were hundreds of small flavor pumps. Despite their size, Sinsir had never heard of them running out. There was every flavor he could imagine. At the very end there were several kinds of whipped cream, sprinkles, syrups, and marshmallows for toppings. Each station was manned by one or several elves, and the flavor station had at least a dozen, who darted around pressing buttons for the flavors people called out.
Sinsir led her over to the first station, where an elf handed them elegant silver cups with a large "1" engraved on them. He moved her down, selecting his usual medium blend, with the cocoa beans grown on the mountains just outside of town.
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 22, 2014 21:30:31 GMT
Annice: She thanked the elf for the mug softly before getting completely and utterly overwhelmed by all the options. Her eyes darted around, trying to take everything in, but her head couldn't wrap around some of the options. She watched as Sinsir, with no hesitance, gravitated toward one of the containers and followed him, doing the same. She could be original later.
When they got to the pumps, Annice, again, was completely overwhelmed. She looked around at everything until she found a very specific pump labeled 'vanilla cupcake.' What the difference was between that and vanilla cake, she wasn't sure, but it sounded cuter. After watching people get one, two or three pumps of the syrups, she decided she probably only needed two. Sinsir had already finished and she inwardly scolded herself for missing if he had added any pumps of anything in his or not.
They made their way over to the toppings bar where elves chattered happily and asked them if anything looked good to them.
"Oh! Um..." she looked around, head spinning. The elf laughed. "First-timer?" Sinsir nodded with a smile and Annice felt her face get hot. "Y-yes, sir," she said, still investigating a pink whipped cream out of the corner of her eye.
"That looks nice," she said, pointing to it. The sign below it said it was just normal whipped cream with an added coloring and that it was new. The elf nodded and gave her a sizeable, perfectly shaped dollop on the first try.
"Any sprinkles?" She nodded, pointing to some normal-shaped, pastel-colored ones and he sprinkled some in her mug. "Oh! And, these, if that's alright?" she asked, pointing to some mini-chocolate ships.
"Of course!" he sprinkled them on for her and she thanked him, moving out of the way slightly.
The elf turned to Sinsir. "And for you?"
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Post by kryss on Aug 22, 2014 23:15:03 GMT
Sinsir: As usual, he got a pump of ginger flavor and a pump of cinnamon. He made sure to thank the elf that had scampered across the thin railing between the pumps to get the syrups for him.
At the toppings station, he got a half sized dollop of cinnamon whipped cream and curled chocolate shavings on top. He sipped it, the sharp taste of the mountain chocolate quickly banishing the lingering taste of the cider.
"How is yours?" He asked Annice, noting how colorful her cup was.
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 22, 2014 23:26:58 GMT
Annice: She took a deep drink of her cocoa as Sinsir did and decided she had made a very good choice with the vanilla cupcake flavoring. And the mountain cocoa was superb! She pulled her cup away, not noticing a pink sprinkle that had decided to make its home on her upper lip.
"Oh, it's divine! I must admit I was skeptical about the concept of drinking chocolate, especially when 'hot' was attached to the front of it, but clearly Christmas residents know something Easter Village doesn't!" It had happened all too many times that the warm sun beating down on her bonnet and further freckling her face an arms melted the chocolate in her pocket, resulting in a sticky mess and an inwards scolding. Once it had been a light scolding by her mother, actually, but she smiled before tending to the laundry. She smiled at the thought.
But, having been completely immersed in re-living the memory, she blinked at Sinsir, sure she had missed something. Turning fully toward him, sprinkle still idly sitting on her lip, she apologized. "Oh! I'm sorry, I was... somewhere miles away. How did you say your cocoa was?"
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Post by kryss on Aug 23, 2014 7:26:19 GMT
Sinsir: "I am overly fond of it, I'll admit. It's one of the few drinks I can have freely, definitely one of the few non carbonated." He saw her drift off, likely into a memory or train of thought. There was a sprinkle on her lip. A pink one. He had the urge to wipe it off with his finger, but thought that might not be appropriate. Instead he let it be, decided to see if it worked itself out. He looked down and saw that she was already almost done with her cup.
"Would you like any more?" he asked, already reaching into his pocket.
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 23, 2014 7:34:38 GMT
Annice: She hadn't noticed she was almost done with her cup until he mentioned it. She swirled around the remnants of what was left, contemplating. Silver bells couldn't be much, right? Like, maybe more than jelly beans, but less than peeps.
"That would be lovely," she said, standing up. "Would you like some more as well?" She needed to be better prepared in the future if she ever wanted to treat him to anything, most likely! He really was a gentleman! She found herself thinking that he was quite handsome as well, especially for a person made of cookie. His face was somewhat angular, like he was sculpted by careful hands-- and he was, she was quite sure!
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Post by kryss on Aug 23, 2014 7:42:58 GMT
Sinsir: "Right away then, miss!" he said, leading her all the way back to the beginning. He handed the elf four silver bells and received to mugs identical to the ones they had before, except they had the number "2" engraved on them. "They like to keep track," he whispered to her conspiratorially. He headed through the line, getting the same thing again, although he encouraged her to try something new. He had found his niche, but she needed to search for hers.
Once they had their cocoa, he turned toward the rest of the factory.
"Would you like to explore a little? There's not a lot more to see, but it's very nice. They have receptacles for used mugs in every room" he assured her.
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Post by zykrinnox on Aug 23, 2014 7:48:05 GMT
Annice: This time, she got a lighter cocoa, with the same two pumps of vanilla cupcake, but topped with a chocolate whipped cream, though she topped it with the same as she had before.
"I'd love to!" she said brightly before sipping at her new blend. "Mmmm!" she gushed automatically. "I'm definitely getting close to finding a usual if this isn't it! It's divine! I know you've found your usual, but would you like to try it?" she asked, holding the cup toward him innocently as they walked out of the tasting room. She thought nothing of the gesture, having done it with her family and younger students before.
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