A Well-deserved Break for Tea

     Leaving a replacement for the day, she stayed at home, waiting for the Ogrin to visit her for tea. Since hearing the bad news of what happened to that land, she hadn't had the right state of mind (nor the time) to taste that beverage as calmly as she usually did. Her generous event hadn't prevented her from keeping things tidy and in place at home, though. She was ready to receive Rourke at her home anytime, and she was happy to see him again, since they hadn't interacted much these last few days. Other Neopians had offered to help her carry all the new supplies and donations to the captain so he could take them to their destination on his ship, the SS Primela, and because of this, Hopbobbin didn’t have many opportunities to talk to him in person.

     Her thoughts were interrupted when someone rang at the door. She had chosen that specific doorbell melody because of how soothing it was, and every chance she got to listen to it meant she had some visits, so she adored it. Upon being opened, a tall, green Ogrin was revealed to be waiting outside. Captain Rourke was wearing his usual ship captain clothes and a rather serious expression; in his right hand, he carried a paper bag. Anyone would have thought that, from the look on his face, he was bringing bad news, but he wasn't. He actually smiled for her when she opened the door and greeted her warmly. Or at least, as warmly as he could.

     "Dear captain, welcome!" she exclaimed.

     "Thank you for inviting me," he replied, taking his hat off and bowing slightly. "I bought something at the bakery," he commented, raising the paper bag to be at eye level.

     "That's excellent, please come in. Make yourself at home," she said as she gestured towards the inside.

     Captain Rourke wasn't used to being in places as nice as this home of hers. He was a life-hardened captain who endured storms while on his ship and had drinks in bars that pirates frequented; coming to this granny's house to have some tea was a certainly different experience. He took a seat at the table while she brought the teapot from the kitchen. Granny Hopbobbin served the beverage on both cups and the Ogrin waited patiently to reveal the contents of the bag he had left on the table beside his spot.

     She had a special method to prepare a tea so delicious you couldn't just drink one cup. This was a good, innocent excuse to extend her tea parties and spend more time with her other tea-loving friends. Once she was done, she offered him some sugar.

     "Four," he replied concisely.

     "Four spoons, are you sure?," it seemed a bit excessive for her so she asked for confirmation.

     "Yes. I’ve had more than enough salty water in my life. I prefer my tea very sweet," he explained.

     "That's okay dear," she replied as she conceded his wish.

     Drawing swirls with the spoon helped dissolve the sugar in both cups and in a moment they'd be ready to be consumed.

     "Now," he took his chance after a short pause, "I hope you're hungry," he said.

     He opened the bag and showed her a couple of pieces of chocolate cake that he couldn't resist buying when he first lay his eyes on them. He truly had a sweet tooth and this was more than enough evidence for granny Hopbobbin to notice it.

     "These look lovely! I can't wait to try them," she commented excitedly.

     The Acara had been so busy with donations this whole week that she hadn't been eating much, and just the appearance of these slices of cake was enough to make her crave a bite of them. Since she was only expecting to have some biscuits with their tea, she hadn't thought of adding more objects to the table before, but she quickly brought a couple of dishes and the utensils necessary to eat. Finally sat together, the liquid on both their cups was at the perfect temperature so they took a much-expected first sip.

     "I must say that this tea is... delicious. I don't think I've ever tasted something this good," he admitted.

     "Thank you dearie. But all the sugar in your cup must be partly responsible for the flavour you’re complimenting," she joked.

     Recognizing that she might be right on that, captain Rourke laughed quietly as he looked at his cup. Granny Hopbobbin was the first to try a bit of cake, just as Rourke intended, and she wasn't prepared for how good it would be.

     "Rourke, dear, this is scrumptious!" she approves. "You made a great choice on this one."

     He was delighted with her reaction. Mission accomplished, at least on this part of the meeting.

     "Mmm," he voiced as he tried it himself, "it's really good. I'll recommend them to everyone I meet; it's a new, small business and they deserve more sales," he assured.

     After a few minutes of chatting and enjoying their tea and cake, they decided it was time to talk about a more serious topic.

     "Now, on an unrelated note... Dacardia," the Ogrin introduced.

     "Yes. We drifted off for a while," she apologized. "How are we with donations?"

     "You tell me, Granny. You're the one receiving them!" he chuckled.

     "I am, indeed, but you're the one taking them to the Dacardians."

     "Hm, you're right. Let's see," he crossed his arms and looked up as he tried to remember his report. "We've been sending a lot of supplies to the island. At this rate, they'll be able to have their civilization back to normal in a week or two," he estimated.

     "That's great to hear! I knew that Neopians were generous and kind-hearted enough to come to the aid of those in so much need. To think that a tragedy such as this could happen…,” she paused for a moment before abandoning that thought entirely. “This is also a good opportunity for the other Neopians though, because it helps them rid their homes of excessive material objects that only take up space."

     "Not to mention that they're also interested in the rewards they could get from donating...," he sneered as he took another sip.

     "Captain Rourke," she reprimanded him, "I've been working with them for a few years now, not too long ago they contributed a lot in helping those affected by the Wraith war. I think I've gotten to know their hearts and their true intentions," she corrected him. "If you need a second opinion on this matter, you can ask Atsumi; she helped me last year and she's witnessed their willingness to give things away without asking for something in return. I find that having more minimalistic lives is not just a trend, it's therapeutic as well."

     "I think I should trust you on this. You have more experience than me on this Charity Corner thing...," he admitted, shrugging. "Life at the sea makes you suspect of the real intentions of others," he added, apologizing.

     "Don't worry, dear. You mean well and that's what matters."

     "There's something I'd like to address though."

     "Oh? What is it?" she asked before having another bit of cake.

     "I've been keeping a list of objects and types of donations we're receiving. There are lots of food items and water to feed and hydrate them, books and other learning materials for their schools, new furniture to replace the damaged ones, materials to build new homes and such..."

     "That's great, and it's only been one week since we started this. They'll truly be recovered in no time at this rate!" she hoped joyfully.

     "It's going better than I expected, thanks to all these generous donors... but my issue is with the... impressive amount of weapons we've been receiving"

     "Weapons?," this confused her.

     "Weapons, yes.” Rourke took a paper, out of his pocket, with a list of all these items he wanted to discuss. “There's no small amount of snowballs, specifically, but there are also obsidian daggers, shields, battle gems..."

     "Part of the explanation I can give you is that my Giving Gadget can only process so many items per day and there have been very long lines of Neopians offering their old objects every day, so I'm forced to keep a small percentage of them as they are, unaltered. We also had some issues with those snowballs last year when they got stuck in Atsumi’s decluttering machine, so I decided not to put them through that again," the Acara detailed. "The fact that so many of the unprocessed items are weapons is a very odd coincidence."

     "That's news to me, I had no idea how it worked so I just guessed it was just, I don't know, magical, I guess?" he wondered. "Don't get me wrong on this topic, weapons are important too. With this situation they’re in, they're vulnerable to attacks from outsiders and we don't know what villains like Dr. Sloth or Captain Scarblade have been up to lately. If Dacardians have something to defend themselves, that will buy us and the defenders of Neopia some time to get reinforcements and protect them," he speculated.

     "Oh dear," she exhaled, a hand over her chest, "I never thought of it that way. Then I suppose it's okay."

     "Partly, but I think that we could do more with other materials. Could you maybe... reject some of these donations?"

     "Oh no, I could never, captain. That wouldn't be right."

     "We'll have to find a way to work with all those weapons as they are, then," he concluded, defeated.

     "Don't worry, I'm sure that we'll do just fine. Dacardians must be delighted to receive all this help. To think that their land used to be unknown to all of us..."

     "And now," he continued her sentence, "all of Neopia is working together to help them get back on their feet. Isn't it funny how things turn out sometimes?"

     “Kindness isn’t as rare as you thought it was, is it, Jethro?”

     Being called by his first name wasn’t an everyday thing, so it caught him by surprise. He agreed despite this.

     “Were there any other issues you wanted to talk about?”, Hopbobbin asked.

     “Let’s see…” he checked his list again. “No, that was it. The whole event has been running very smoothly, hasn’t it?”

     “Well, honestly, we had some small inconveniences on this side of the sea… but we’re slowly working to fix it. Neopians have been pretty understanding”, she commented.

     “Good to know. I hope it’s all solved soon. I’d hate to be inconveniencing others with this, it was meant to bring some positivity, after all.”

     Both of them nodded in agreement. All of sudden, the big clock on the wall loudly let them know the time. Hopbobbin then noticed how much time had passed since captain Rourke arrived. Their conversation was so pleasant and absorbing that they didn’t bother with something as ephemeral as time. The delicious tea on their cups was also keeping them from leaving.

     “Oh dear, would you look at the time!”, she exclaimed.

     “Time sure flies by when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?”, Rourke joked. “I should get going now, there are some matters I should take care of at the dock.”

     “I won’t keep you entertained any longer then.”

     The Acara and her visitor stood up and walked towards the door. Before crossing the door, Rourke remembered that their dishes were empty and decided to comment on this.

     “I would have told you to keep the leftovers for your dessert after dinner but we didn’t leave any.”

     “We really didn’t! It was too good and chocolate is my greatest weakness, after all.”

     “Is there anyone who isn’t weak for chocolate, though?”, he whispered. “Anyway, I’m going now. See you next week for tea again?”

     “Of course, dearie! We’ll need to check our progress again and I found this a very good way to do so”, she answered, inviting him again.

     Captain Rourke flashed her with a smile and said goodbye. He could get used to visiting her in the future, preferably under better circumstances.

     The End.