Bubble Tea | Open

Ryan had been at his best, soaring up at the skies that morning, riding winds he was generating and harnessing. That day was a workday for him, so he was dressed in a proper attire: Water-resistant pants and jacket, that would also keep him warm up in the skies. However, he had plans. Up in the skies, his n-disk around his wrist had vibrated, and a message appeared for him, a notification he had set for himself.

"Try Bubble Tea!"

Of course, the new discovery. "New" was...a generous term. It was just that the government was exercising strict control over what was released to the public. Ryan thought of this as rather oppressive and unnecessary most of the times, but what could he do? Having already gathered some clouds further away from New Rome, he deemed that with the very gentle natural winds, he could take a break and continue later. So, the youthful man rode another wind towards New Rome.

"Taking a break, Bob!" he shouted over the wind to his Dyad for the day, Robert. Robert was a hawk, and he nodded to show he understood, flying next to him. Ryan hadn't found a permanent Dyad, but the nature of his contribution to society and task was important and required large amounts of power, so there were animal-shifters for him to make a Pact each day.

Minutes later he had reached New Rome, as wind-riding was a very fast form of travel as one would expect. He looked down at the landscape, and with the help of his n-disk and a 2D image it projected, he located the shop. Now...Ryan's take-off and landing weren't delicate processes, they were more like a helicopter doing this...though there were no helicopters probably in that time and date.

So, near the new shop and the line, people would see a man...falling from the sky, towards a nearby building. For most, it wouldn't be a confusing sight after a moment to process it, it was known that the city had a Cloud Shepherd, but it was always alarming to see one falling from the sky. A whooshing sound was heard, and some wind was blown towards all directions, and Ryan finally landed on the roof of a small building, managing not to stumble.

The man then reached into his backpack and took out a climbing rope and hook he had for these instances where he landed on a building, much safer for others than landing at the street. He secured the hook at the edge of the roof, then neatly climbed down. After ten minutes or so, he joined the line too, behind a dark woman who was impressively tall, probably even taller than himself. Ryan didn't like standing for long hours and large gathering of people, but he was curious about this new product, so he could be patient.

Ryan wasn't as presentable as he would have liked, with his brown hair a bit messy from having been literally exposed to all kinds of winds, his attire looking a bit disheveled for that same reason. The man wasn't entirely unfamiliar with people talking to him, since his position and job made him kind of well known...but it was mostly people asking him what the weather would be like tomorrow, how it felt to fly, or asking for specific kind of weather.

So, Ryan was surprised when a question of a different nature came from the unfamiliar woman with the impressive stature and an aura of confidence. He turned to look at her-finding that she wasn't really looking at him for some reason-, and he took a moment to assess if it was an actual question waiting for an answer, a rhetoric question, or a protest not unlike those of grumbling old people seeing the world changing in ways they don't approve of.

He decided to treat it as the first. "Well..." he said, rubbing the back of his head. "If you are talking about the safety of those around me, I make sure no one is very close to where I land if I can help it. And most of the times, it's not an urgent landing and I can arrange that." he said, shifting his weight from foot to foot a bit. Talking to strangers was a bit odd for him. If it was in a "structured" way, say him reporting to someone or talking in a formalized environment and for a specific reason, he was very confident and showed great communication skills. However, when it came to less structured interactions with strangers, where there was no specified "reason" for it, he was a bit nervous and unsure.

"If you are referring to my safety, on the other hand. Well...unfortunately, I haven't managed to be as delicate as most people are when it comes to handling my magic..." he admitted, smiling a bit. "But well, as long as I don't end up breaking my legs or ending with my face in the ground, that's good enough, right?" he said in a more lighthearted tone, the line progressing a bit at that.

Ryan was a bit taken aback when the woman asked if there should be laws about safe landing. He wondered if he had done something to insult her or displease her and he reflexively felt a bit bad at the thought, but she didn't look as if any stray gust of wind had inconvenienced her or ruffled her up in some way. 

Then, she seemed to relax a bit, even show him a faint trace of a tiny smile. He wondered if there was merit in explaining more, and he decided there probably was...after all, his actions reflected in the government. 

"Ah...I'm a bit of a special case, so I don't think they would bother to make laws for one person. I uh...well...I'm not the only Air Mage who can fly and, subsequently, land, but most Air Mages who do this have...delicate enough control to be much more precise. I...my focus is purely on power, volume, force...at the expense of technique, much more than any other. But that's what makes me suitable for my job." he said with a small smile and a very, very polite tone.

"I saw the ad, yes! I'm curious about this new beverage, people have speculated it will be very popular. I even set a notification so I can come in time." he said. Then, he looked at the line. "Well...kind of in time. I wonder why they allowed only one shop to produce this...If something is good for the public, it wouldn't harm if many offered it, right?" he pondered.

Ryan was not a confident conversationalist when it came to discussing with unfamiliar people, without a specific topic in mind. And especially women made him a bit more nervous still. It didn't help how he noticed that the woman's attention was only half in this conversation...it made him feel like she was uninterested perhaps, or that she was looking for a chance to drop it. 

"I see..." the man said, shifting his weight from foot to foot a bit. "If that's the case, kudos to the owner. He has done a lot of good marketing too, I suppose, for so many people to have gathered during this first day of the new product..." Ryan remarked idly. 

"Ah, here we are. Seems like the waiting is over, and we can finally enjoy the bubbly goodness." Ryan said in a bit of a merry tone, one that could easily be used as an "introduction to a goodbye" if the woman wanted to break off now, like Ryan thought was likely. Small talk, never his forte.