She frowned up at him. "I was paying attention last night; I know the way." He continued to smile at her. "This is a prince thing isn't it?"
He nodded. "Sort of, more like an etiquette thing. If the men stand when we enter the room, don't freak out, either smile or nod and take your seat. They will only sit when you do."
"Dude."
"You'll be fine."
Sure enough, the second they entered the dining room all the men rose. Feeling ten times more nervous she gave a smile and quickly sat down banging her knee on the underside of the table. "Son of a bitch!"
Oron reached over and helped her rub it. "Poor thing."
"Coffee," a voice croaked.
Izzy looked over to Meryn. "Has she had any yet?" She noticed that both Aiden and Darian looked a bit nervous as they kept sneaking glances at Meryn.
Aiden shook his head. "She wanted to wait for Coffee Goddess."
"Yikes. Okay, Cam where's your machine?"
Ryuu entered from the kitchen. "If you would follow me, I have already set up the machine, ran a few test draws and put most of the supplies I could find on the counter."
Izzy stood quickly and followed Ryuu to the kitchen. "How bad is she without coffee?" she asked, as she began measuring out beans and prepping the cup.
"On a scale of Amelia to murder in the first degree... murder plus arson and torture," Ryuu admitted.
"Holy fuck! She needed this like an hour ago when her eyes first opened?"
He nodded solemnly. "Exactly."
Izzy never moved so fast in her life. After all, her mate was out there with the uncaffeinated terror.
She carried two steaming mochas into the dining room. "Here you go Meryn, try this." She placed both cups on the table and stepped back.
Looking like the girl from the Ring, Meryn lifted her head slowly swaying back and forth. She grabbed the coffee and took her first sip. "Ahhhhhhh."
Aiden and Darian visibly relaxed in their chairs.
Izzy was about to return to the kitchen for the other drinks she prepped when Ryuu came in carrying them in on a tray. "You're amazing."
He simply smiled and nodded toward her seat. "Sit down, I'll be bringing breakfast in momentarily."
Liam wiped at a pretend tear. "We get a moment of pure heaven before both the squire and barista leave."
"Damn baby, what is this?" Oron asked, staring down into his glass.
"Thanks to your suggestion before bed last night, I mentally listed all the drinks I could make, I thought you'd like that one."
He took another long sip from the straw. "It's sweet, but bitter and is that raspberry?"
"It's a personal favorite of mine, a quad shot, white chocolate mocha, with raspberry syrup. Thank goodness Cam bought every coffee bar supply he could find, I had everything I needed to make it."
Oron whimpered as he continued to sip his drink. "It's so good."
All around the table, everyone enjoyed their specialty morning coffees. Izzy couldn't help but stare in fascination as Meryn slowly came online. By the end of her second drink she was upright and blinking. "Did she say quad shot?" she asked.
Serenity nodded. "Yes, she did, but you're limiting caffeine remember?"
Aiden's eyes darted to his mate quickly and instinctively he leaned back slightly. Meryn yawned and nodded. "But she said she could do a half-caf thing. If all four shots are halved, that's technically two drinks."