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This must have been her third trip to the shop this week. Apparently her mentor's thirst for booze had switched gears to tea. It was a good shift but Falair was pretty sure his bladder might explode if he kept drinking so much tea all the time.

She had planted some plants in the garden behind the tent to help with supplies but they weren't ready yet. So she would continue to run from one end of the reserve to the other as much as she needed to. As long as it kept him sober she had no real need to complain.

You couldn't get tea poisoning could you? It was an interesting thought. Perhaps she would put it to the test. Fai would be a good subject, of course she would never tell him that she was doing it. The young mare knew better, plus ya know, he was spry enough. If it could happen it probably wouldn't kill him.

Falair put the idea away for the moment as she exited the shop, carrying a couple large sacks of dried tea leaves in her arms.

Falair had been lost in her thoughts when the other Horsewoman bounded up to her. It took a second for her to catch that she was being spoken to. She wasn't in the least bit startled though. The mare had no problems with others in her personal space.

Brown eyes smiled down at Sayuri, instantly picking up that they were fellow clansmen. Her greens were a nice change to the warm colors that everyone else generally wore. Well, save for Faiyum but he was a special case all the same.

Reaching into one of her bags, she pulled out a tea leaf. Holding it out for Sayuri to inspect. "They are tea leaves. For making tea, see?" The curiosity in Sayuri's question and eyes was endearing. "My mentor has been drinking a lot of tea lately so I need to buy lots of bags of these leaves to replace what we've used until my plants are ready."

She nodded. "Yes you are correct, I'm surprised you've never had tea before.." Wherever she went or whoever she was with there always seemed to be tea. Not that she minded, tea was nice if prepared right. And sometimes tasty cakes or cookies were served to. Falair had to admit the cakes and teas were a guilty pleasure of hers and if none were presented with the tea she was always disappointed.

Giggling at her observation, she tucked the leaf back into the pouch. "Well, he is trying out sobriety so tea is a good substitute. Though he still grumps over the fact on occasion. Or stares longingly at his grape orchard." Even still with his griping she preferred Faiyum sober.

"You grind up the leaves and put them in a little piece of cloth, then tie the little cloth up into a pouch and steep the pouch in hot water. After a while the hot water takes on the essence of the leaves and then you have tea. I've drank quite a bit of tea in my life and if prepared correctly it is very good. You can add sweeteners to it, milk, sugar, honey, what ever you fancy. Plain tea can be a bit bitter to some." Hm, well that was an interesting request. She'd never had someone assist her in making tea but what harm could that do? Plus it would be nice to have some company too.

Falair nodded. "Sure that's fine. I'm sure Faiyum wouldn't mind me bringing someone home. And if he does well too bad." She laughed, a wide smile behind her mask that reached her eyes. "Come on, my home is not too far from here. We'll make some tea and I believe I have some cakes or cookies too." The mare motioned her head to the right before she began walking towards home.

Adjusting the bags in her arms Falair nodded. "Yes, Faiyum would lead you to believe that it wasn't a suitable substitute for him. But he is a lot better now than when I had first found him upon my return." Dirty, drunk and smelling pretty bad. Falair preferred not to relive that experience. They had made a contract of sorts between them. So far Fai had kept up his end but he certainly did nothing to hide it when he was moping about the situation.

Falair chuckled when Sayuri spoke of what seemed to be a black thumb. "Its a tricky thing for sure. I'm not the greatest at it either, but I am learning. Most of my success seems to be dumb luck though." She sighed heavily. Being an Alchemist was not easy, especially when you hadn't really found your calling. And everything serious that she put her heart into tended to blow up in her face.

Literally.

She couldn't help but smile as the other mare's excitement to learn how to make tea. Falair saw a bit of herself in Sayuri whenever she was learning new things. "Well then Sayuri here is hoping that your tea making experience goes off with a bang." The saying felt awkward and alien to Falair's tongue. She was trying to integrate a bit of Scarling talk into her every day vocabulary to better understand their culture.

As she lead Sayuri around a corner, a large tent soon came into view. It had flower beds of flowers leading to the entrance, their buds closed as they were night time flowers. Falair moved towards the door flap, coaxing Sayuri to follow. "Here we are, home sweet home."

The tent was large with several sectioned off 'rooms'. But the living area was well furnished. A large chaise on one site of a fire pit and what was a recliner adjacent to it. Tables, shelves, all covered with random artifacts, books and items. It was very cozy, homey. "Feel free to make yourself at home." Falair motioned towards the chaise. "It will take me a minute to put these leaves away and get everything ready." She moved towards a table that had several large clay pots sitting upon it.

Falair wasn't sure 'better' was the correct term to use for Faiyum. She knew why he drank, although the reason to her was a poor one. But loss effected them all differently. Some grieved a short time, others longer. Some cried, others got angry or lost themselves to smoking and drinking. The Alchemist, herself, seemed to be coping a bit better than some. At least on the outside.

"Well, you can't be good at everything. Though some people try. Better to find what you are good at and stick with it. Everyone has a part to play." Typical Famine way of thinking. Of course, Falair had a long time to go before she either finally was successful or she just gave up completely. And she was a stubborn mare.

She laughed and shook her head slightly. The beads in her hair clicking against one another. A bright smile reaching her brown eyes. "Only if you use the wrong ingredients. But...we might be able to whip up something exciting that isn't too explosive."

As Falair began to put the leaves away into the jars, Sayuri would start to hear a slight 'hmmmmm' and 'haawww' sound coming from beneath the chaise. The thbt thbt thbt noise followed by a slow roll accompanying it. Two misshapen eyes peered out from it's hiding place.

She had spent a lot of time in the human world, but Falair cut her interactions with humans to a minimal amount most of the time. Observing mostly if something they did interested her, but other than that she did about the same as what Sayuri was good at. Scavenging plants and materials for experimentation. Some things gave really interesting results and others were just duds. But oh when you found something that was amazing with reactions.....

Falair lost herself in the amazement of it all for a second. The other Horsewoman's question snapping her out of it. "Oh yes! Tea is always served to guests of course. Or, if they do not enjoy tea some other sort of beverage is also acceptable. But tea goes better with cookies and cakes usually." With a nod, she lifted a clean tea kettle off a nearby shelf. "Of course, its as easy as one, two, three."

Reject hummed at the strange mare, inch worming on his belly closer to her finger before latching on with soft gummy lips. Drool running out of it's mouth as it made a noise that sounded somewhat like laughter.