Tcha-chai

"Here's your order, thank you for visiting Kannie's."

"Thank you. Come on, I got your order tall and rangy!"

"Ugh, must you call me tall and rangy?"

"If I called you Nessuna, he'd have dropped his tray. They're not used to navy flag officers in the morning period.

"But Zim wouldn't have killed you, and wouldn't have caused a ruckus."

"Oh, am I in trouble now?"

"You sure are, Mariwolfe."

"Good, when we're too good friends, the jealous folk make my life more difficult."

"Like who?"

"Quartermaster, People Engineering."

"In the land army? I'd have expected you to gripe about the Navy."

"I served with those people, personally, and so did you. Why would I complain to you about common friends?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting, Jima's the head there?"

"And she ain't had a problem there she can't handle either. She pushed that downranking of Nessuns with my predecessor's help, and while some of the Nessuns still buck for their rank back, their evals don't support it, and that's that."

"You gonna eat that?"

"My moonbread? Yes, I am." She deliberately sipped slowly on her Tcha-chai, stewed Tcha leaves, steeped in boiling water, the bags held stretched out by whole cloves and quills of cinnamon bark up to 2.5cm long. The pungent smell, which most Kagomine found most agreeable, filled the cafe, despite her being the only one who ordered it. But apparently, the smell was enough, as five new patrons lined up at the desk to order one soon after.

"How's green ink treating you?"

"It has its pluses, but all the folderol is making me want to quit and give you the job sooo much."

"Ha-ha, funny, but no, you can't. If I could handle the job, I'd have it already. I'm supposed to settle down first."

"Yeah, can't imagine you settling down, not before Levi proposes anyways."

Mariwolfe spat her tchai, then stood up, went to order herself a tcha-chai, she had never wanted one so badly in her life. The smell was overpowering now, while the baristas were making five, the strong smell of spice had her mouth watering.

Most Kagomine didn't think about it often, but as 30% of Arnd's production of Tcha, 25% of Arnd's production of cinnamon and 35% of the production of cloves, it was indeed a native smell, one most other countries were unlikely to reproduce. In far New Etrusca, or Saami, the rich would enjoy two such drinks a day, since the exports were gobbled up by local consumption, and limited by treaty.