Recent content by Hop Littlethorn

Lyra had many questions, and, unfortunately for Hop, they were all mostly fair. "I think you may be right about the strain it's put on me to keep all of this to myself for so long. I always justified it as saying that their 6 lives were worth more together than my own. I took great pains and...

Hop deliberated for a long moment before answering Lyra again. It wasn't an easy question to answer, and he still wasn't sure if he could even trust her with this information. Even if she wasn't, well... part of the issue, she might inadvertently spread rumors, which could have the same result...

Wait... she had the journal the whole time? Hop had to admit he was feeling a bit prickly about the situation now, as he had functionally invited over a quite-innocent woman to his cafe after hours, for the sole purpose of interrogating her... Although, in all fairness, he did know the blouse...

Hop found it peculiar that Lyra seemed to be feeling some genuine distress that she'd woken up Jade from her evening nap. Of course, she didn't have the context that sometimes Hop would wake them up just to make sure they ate in the morning, or at night. Or sometimes just because he felt like...

Hop responded quickly as he walked back into the dining room. "No, not at all, Jade usually wakes up around this time anyway, so she probably wouldn't have been asleep that much longer anyhow." It was a lie, to be sure, but he wondered if Jade could tell the difference. "Anywho, I just...

"I suppose I'll have to take your word about your bad luck not being contagious, although if I start seeing more black cats and broken mirrors than before, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call you on that," he said. He was being coy with her now the way he was with many female guests who dined...

While he was pleased that she found the scent amenable, and he should have been more than willing to take the payment from her, Hop nonetheless found himself unable to accept these terms lying down. But then, before he could react, she'd already plopped the coin pouch on the table, its...

Hop felt he'd already assuaged Lyra's concerns with his previous comments, and so elected to ignore that one last question about whether or not his business would be alright. It didn't matter, asking it--either it would be, or it wouldn't, and he'd spent far too many sleepless nights already on...

Perhaps it was because of the energy she was putting into the conversation, or perhaps it was because she seemed to feel genuine remorse, or maybe it was because she had a certain appeal to her appearance unlike most of the highborn ladies who ventured into the Cafe. Or, maybe it was just...

A handshake was certainly an unorthodox way for a woman of her status to be greeting him, especially given the circumstances, but Hop figured that her clumsiness perhaps extended beyond the physical, which was completely possible, and after all, he was a charming waiter, right? Lyra--ah, that's...

Wait... has someone done that to her before? This poor woman, he thought. "I have no intention of dropping you; after all, you are an esteemed guest of my little cafe, and I intend to do, well, whatever I can at this point to make sure you have a satisfying experience," he said, offering a...

Maybe things would finally calm down, Hop thought. He accepted her help, but he couldn't help but notice as she did so how shaky she was, yet more concerning was the clamminess of her palms, which anyone might find unpleasant to the touch, but really the issue was that said hands were...

The journalist's notes, he figured, were ruined at this point, but it was of little consequence, for one did not need a journal to remark on a dining experience as terrible as this one. He was almost paralyzed as it seemed that his every move would only serve to invite more disaster and...

Good. His attempts at apology seemed to be going over quite smoothly. Maybe this food critic would be kind to his little cafe after his fervent efforts to correct her dining experience, and... ...and she just spilled the cayenne coffee everywhere, oh gods, this is not happening. He thought he...

Hop watched with great trepidation as she finally sipped the peppermint tea, watching with a distinct curiosity as a wave of relief seemed to hit her features at the taste of it. Well, Chamomile will be pleased to think it wasn't technically her fault. What she said next, of course, would...