Capri Telephone game 16 entry
(This was game #16 and played on the captive prince discord. Here is what I wrote for it. A slightly cracky AU featuring Damen and Laurent being bitter rivals and respective heirs to large Yogurt Companies. Bad pun warning.)
It wasn’t every year that Akeilos Yogurts got to host Taste the Culture, an annual convention of yogurt and dairy lovers and makers from around the world. People came from far and wide to whichever specialty yogurt & dairy company was hosting, ready to sample new brand, blends and experimental curdling techniques. Damianos, heir to the entire company, knew that there was more to it than an exchange of yogurt recipes, he knew that this was really the opportunity for the large companies to scope out their competition and impress their competitors. Disguised by pretenses of friendship, bitter rivalries were carried on in the form of sabotage and rigged competitions.
Damen had to admit, he didn’t quite like the whole sneaky rivalry part. Face to face challenges were more his thing. Give him an anonymous creator taste test, or some toss-the yogurt pie at your fellow heir over pulling the plug on fridges and bad mouthing your competitors any day.
“Damen! I’ve got your sample booth now, you go scope out the competition,” Jokaste told him, swatting him playfully on the butt as she went behind the hinged counter. Her arms crossed on the table as she leaned forward, the better to display her well-endowed chest. Father insisted that even those high up in the Akeilos food chain work and interact with their customers.
“What competition? We’re obviously the best,” Damen replied, reflecting idly that the neckline of Jokaste’s shirt had to be lower than was appropriate in some of those Union guidelines His father had him read. Not that he was complaining.
“Darling, you know exactly what I mean,” she gestured languidly and significantly to the booths highlighted with blue awnings and flags. Much too excessive considering they were all indoors.
“Right.” Damen sighed and put his hands in his pockets as he began to make his way through the press of people and vendors. It wasn’t easy, everybody and their cow wanted to speak to him; praising the quality of Akeilos yogurts or backhandedly insulting him under the guise of idle speculation about this year’s market prices in salted butter, all the conversations were just obstacles to his goal.
Victorious Vere, easily their biggest competitor, was set up in a sprawl of ostentatious booths on the opposite side. Damen approached the closest one hesitantly. A folded paper sign on the corner said ‘Taste of Vere’ in fancy lettering and arrayed on the embroidered blue table cloth were paper cups of yogurt. Greek, no-fat, crunchy. The boy behind the booth looked at him suspiciously, fair enough, considering that he was the heir to Akeilos yogurt. His face was bound to be well-known to the yogurt & dairy community.
“Do you want a sample?” the boy asked, gesturing to the cups.
“Sure.” Damen did need a reason to be here after all. “Aren’t you a bit young to be working here?” he asked.
“I’m practically an adult. Besides, I’m doing this as a favor to Laurent.”
“Laurent!” Damen exclaimed, all the intel channels said that Victorious Vere’s best up and coming business manner was sick and unable to make it.
“That’s me. And Nicaise, don’t make yourself out to be some great altruist. I’m paying you ridiculously to man my booth,” A familiar, clear voice came from behind Damen’s back.
“Ah, but you are doing so so that I don’t cause trouble, which means that as long as I stay here, I'm doing you a nicely rewarded favor,” Nicaise retorted. Damen could only stand to the side and turn around in shock as his mind tried to process this turn of events. This beautiful, familiar face, turning to look at him indifferently. Shit.
“Hello love,” Laurent smirked, “long time no see.”
“Yes well, we didn’t exactly part on the best of terms.” Damen raised his hands and backed up against the booth, hating that his body language displayed so much nervousness, that he couldn't control his reaction to seeing Laurent once again.
“We? You were the one who hospitalized my brother in a bar fight.”
“Your lot started it when you used me to get the plans for the automatic churner.”
“Just business Damen,” despite the cool tones his name was said in, Damen couldn't help but remember other, more pleasant circumstances in which Laurent said his name. Not the thing to be thinking about right now.
“Hey guys? If you’re going to have some sort of drawn out ex-lover's quarrel, can you not do it in front of my booth. It’s bad for business,” Nicaise complained, not too subtly nudging the full tip jar he had set out.
“Lovers?” Laurent demanded, affronted.
“You’ve got it wrong,” Damen told Nicaise. The boy smirked when he saw the two of them suddenly united in their anger against him.
“See? Already falling back into old ways.”
“Just shut up and do your job. Or else- I won’t pay you,” Laurent threatened.
“Exploiting a child? Laurent, how could you?” Damen asked dryly. Laurent’s cool and indifferent mask slipped just a bit to reveal a flash of genuine anger. Oops.
“Watch your step Akeilos, you never know what can happen at a Yogurt convention,” Laurent snapped.
“How very cultured of you Vere,” Damen retorted. With those ever so witty last words, he turned and walked away towards his side of the convention. Back at the booth, his phone vibrated with a notification for a text.
10: 49 am Nikandros: WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM. LAURENT OF VICTORIOUS VERE IS HERE!
10:50 am Damen: I KNOW.