Mint Black Tea

"Absolutely not."

You say this after hearing the most incredulous suggestion from none other than your brother. He looks to you pleadingly.

"Come on, Rose, please?" he says, hands together.

"Dave. We are not taking Kanaya to McDonalds for her first experience with earth food." you say with an air of finality. "That would almost be as bad, if not quite as much, as going to Taco Bell."

"And what's wrong with Taco Bell?" he puts his hand on his hip and looks to you with mock offense. "The Nacho Cheese Dorito Locos Taco is objectively the best food item on the planet, and perfect for a first timer from light years away. Do you want to take that experience from her, Rose?" He shakes his head. You sigh and look to Kanaya, who looks fascinated by your conversation in a way you find oddly cute. Endearing. You meant to say endearing.

"Kanaya. I would implore you to ignore this buffoon who has no idea of what he speaks of, and take my proposition instead" you tell her. She looks to you, then to Dave, and then to Terezi.

"Well, I...do not want to take one of your sides over the other. Terezi?" she looks to her friend, tilting her head. Terezi pauses, putting her chin in her index finger and thumb. She taps it a few times, and after looking at you all shrugs and says "The court sustains the given objection. Go with the earth girls suggestion."

She looks to Dave, who's mouth is agape, and says "Sorry, coolkid. But my client deserves a fair compensation. And I am afraid your earth 'fast food' has been found guilty by charge of indigestion."

"I feel betrayed, Rezi," he replies, "I thought we were friends."

"The court's judgement must be impartial," she says seriously, then breaks into a smile.

"Well if you're going to side with Rose, fine," Dave shrugs with his hands up. "So, where are we going? Or do I even have to ask?" he says, quirking an eyebrow at you.

You simply smile.

*

The Nookworm and Cranny was a small yet comfortable little restaurant tucked in between two of Dave's favorite spots. It looked out of place in the middle of the two fast food chains; a small alcove that looked like a cafe carved into a very large tree trunk. It smelled of cooking food, cedarwood, and herbs. It was like being in...well, a restaurant carved into a tree. Of course, there weren't any trees around here actually large enough for this sort of thing, so the entire place was simply made of wood. Still, twigs tended to grow from it's walls, so it may as well have been.

After Dave reassures Kanaya of the naming choice, you all go in and take a table. Kanaya is fascinated by the place. Did they have restaurants on Alternia? Or at least, where she lived? Either way, an eatery on another planet had to be intriguing, especially one unique as this.

A waitress comes by with menus and asks you all what you want to drink. Dave goes for his usual apple juice, Terezi opts for cherry soda, and you go for an earl gray tea. Kanaya decides on the mint tea. When the waitress goes to put in the orders, you ask Kanaya what prompted her choice.

"Well," she says, "Unfamiliar as I am with earth beverages, I did have tea on Alternia. Where I lived, there were many tea leaves and such around. I would suppose humans make their tea much the same?"

"If you boil them in water too, then yes, I suppose it is similar," you tell her. "Did you have mint leaves as well?"

"Oh, no. I just chose it because the mint leaf in the picture was green. We do tend to prefer things of our blood color," she explains, and you see her looking sideways, unconsciously brushing a hand on the hem of her jade green dress. And there's that flustered feeling again. Honestly, what is wrong with you today?

"Huh, I guess Terezi must be kind of a weirdo then, because I haven't seen this girl eat anything without something red on it," Dave muses, looking to Terezi. She sticks her tongue out. He tells her to put it back, only for her to lean over to try lick him. He starts to get up, and at that moment the waitress arrives with the drinks and food menus. While she puts them down, you see Kanaya look to you, then to Dave and Terezi, and stifle a laugh with her hand. You give her a knowing smile and an eye roll.

While Dave and Terezi immediately go for their drinks, Kanaya takes the cup handle and softly blows. She's definitely drank tea before this, and after a few blows she takes what you can only describe as a dignified sip. After a second she gives a sigh. Her smile tells you everything you need to know.

"So, what is your verdict on earth tea, Kanaya?" you ask her.

"It is...most interesting. Certainly not Alternian tea. Different, but not bad. I quite like it."

"You find it most pleasing?" you say.

"Exceedingly adequate," she responds, smiling again.

"Hey, do you mind finishing that before the food gets here? Mint messes up my sense of smell...and taste." you hear Terezi say, already looking dissatisfied at the drink of cherry soda she just had.

"Just stop smelling it." Dave tells her. She looks to him with a look of such contempt that you see him almost grin.

You see Kanaya eyeing the menu. "Pardon, but, are we supposed to decide on our food before the server human returns?"

"Yeah, you're right," Dave says pointedly. "I guess we're all just used to knowing what we want to order here. Way to be considerate of our guest." Although you can't see his eyes through his shades, he somehow moves his eyebrows in your direction and Terezis, as if he wasn't distracted either.

"Excuse me, coolkid! I've been trying to get mint out of my sense of smell over here!" Terezi exclaims. "And it's not like you or earth girl noticed either, especially with her making red googly eyes the whole time."

"What?" you say, flushed.

"What?" Kanaya asks, unaware.

"You should go for the burger," Dave says simply.

"Dave, that's junk food." you tell him.

"Are you kidding? They make that stuff gourmet over here! And besides, I know you were gonna recommend your usual roast duck with quail eggs, but you can't just bombard a newbie with the complicated stuff. You gotta start 'em off simple. Like say, meat between two pieces of bread," Dave explains. "Good old burger."

You're about to explain that they don't even serve that here when Terezi pipes up with "Get the burger, Kanaya. My client speaks the truth."

Dave looks smug, and you see the new girl look between him and Terezi. Before you can think on it too much, the waitress comes by and asks you all if you've decided what to eat.

After you put in your orders and the waitress goes to put them in (and get necessary refills), you have a thought.

"Kanaya? If I may, why did you decide to come here, specifically?" you say. That's a good conversation starter, you think. It also means you get to hear her talk more, you say to yourself quieter in your mind.

She frowns in thought, considering her answer for a moment. "Well, I suppose it...only made sense, really. An upper schoolhive in a troll friendly area that takes transfers from Alternia, having Terezi here...getting away from what's going on, of course." she explains.

"Why'd you choose psychology though?" Dave interjects. "I mean, if I were you I woulda taken an easy class, like...creative writing, or something."

"Don't let Karkat hear you say that," you say, noticing Kanaya's knowing smile.

"I suppose I reasoned, if I am going to be staying here on earth with humans, I may as well know how they think," she muses. "If I may return the question, why did you decide to take psychology, Dave Strider?"

"Pssh, I ain't in that class. Our music composition teacher wasn't here today, and we have a shortage of subs, so I just rolled up to the class my sister's in. I get to chill and annoy her at the same time, so, two for one deal." He shrugs. And she laughs, yet again. You wish you could make her laugh like that.

"Well, for those of us who ARE in the class, *Dave*," Terezi leers, "I want to be in the courtroom someday, and if I'm going to be effective, I need to know how criminals think. Specifically, human criminals. Your legal system is weird, by the way."

"I think weird is rather subjective in our situation," Kanaya responds. Terezi looks like she's about to concede to that when, lo and behold, your food arrives.

On Dave's plate lies a simple bacon cheeseburger. On Terezi's, an enchilada with red chili sauce . For you it's a lemon pepper rainbow trout, pan seared the way you like it. And for Kanaya, it's a classic burger just like Dave's, ordered medium rare. Anything above tended to be too dry for trolls.

"Alright, no one dig into their food yet. We gotta watch Kanaya take her first bite." Dave announces, gesturing to the troll in front of him.

She takes the burger into her hands, and...bites into it, fangs effortlessly tearing in. She chews, and her eyes light up.

"This is wonderful," she whispers, eyes practically sparking. She takes another bite, and then another.

"You GO, girl!" Dave enthusiastically cheers, fully amused by her liking of the food. You find yourself slightly irritated.

"She still would have liked the fish better," you mutter, and Dave quirks an eyebrow to you.

Kanaya is almost halfway done with her burger at this point, while Terezi gets started on her food ("I'm not gonna be smelling anything for the rest of the day, hehehe!") and Dave indulges in his own burger.

Once you're all finished eating, Dave offers to foot the bill, to which you reply saying it's your turn to pay.

"C'mon Rose, it's the least I can do," he says, not being very specific, but you might have an idea of what he means.

"No no, I insist. Really" you say, unknowingly cold. Dave shrugs and says "Your book budget."

One the waitress comes by to collect the plates and leave the receipt, Dave says "Well, I think I better make it to the one class I actually have today. Thank for getting the tab, Rosie" he tells you, knowing full well you hate that nickname. "And I'll be seeing you around, Kanaya. Welcome to earth, by the way." He tips his shades and takes Terezi off with him. You're unsure if they're going to make it into a classroom.

And so you're left alone with her. She gives a sigh once they leave, and sits back. "That was wonderful," she tells you. "Such a simple idea. Just bread and human animal meat, yet...I found myself enthralled. You humans do know beauty in simplicity," she says bread as if the word is foreign in her mouth. Which it is.

"I wouldn't say that about everything human, but...in some things, yes," you say with a smile. "I apologize if my brother...irked you, in any capacity."

"Oh no, it's quite alright. I'd almost apologize for Terezi. And anyway, Dave is quite wonderful. I can see him being a very good friend to have," she smiles. You really love seeing that smile. And the fact that she referred to your brother as just a friend.

"Well, I believe we should be going to our next class. You'll be fine finding it by yourself?" you ask her.

"Yes, thank you. I do believe I'm sharing it with one of my other friends, so they can assist me if needed," she replies.

You nod and get up to leave when she calls you. "Rose?"

You look back, and she says "This was quite nice. I...could we perhaps do something like this again, tomorrow? With perhaps, just the two of us?" she says, and you notice her absentmindedly taking her dress between her fingers again, and there's that shy look, too. Wait, why are you already noticing these things?

"I think that would be pleasant. See me after class tomorrow?"

She nods, and goes to the opposite direction of you, her class being on the other side of the campus. You think it odd that no one's around to assist her, especially Terezi. But you think she will be fine.

You're thinking a lot of things about Kanaya Maryam at the moment.