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"I visited when I was younger. My father and brother thought it would be best that I was raised in the earth realm," Ashley began, the smirk she wore causing a tight smile to find its place on Scavenger's lips. "But when I was nine, I was uh..." she continued, looking down suddenly. "I was banned from the realm." Yep, there it was; the reason she should not have even bothered prying into Ashley's early life. She was of course sympathetic, but she wished to avoid frustrating the young dragoness, and so she felt more regret than anything else. Though her eyes would not indicate as much, not that it mattered. Ashley would no longer look at her, and Scavenger felt the strangest urge to reach out and cup her cheek, to brush a thumb against her jaw. She denied herself this, knowing it would be a step too far, so she merely settled for a murmured apology, her own eyes shifting down to her hands.
After what felt like an eternity of uncomfortable silence between the two girls, Scavenger was grateful for the arrival of their beverages. She peered curiously into the cup, eyeing the dark brown liquid as it lapped at the sides before settling. Ashley's movements quickly caught her interest and she watched with a slight frown creasing her brows at the confusion of what she saw; random substances were being added to it, with no explanation. She thought it might be uncomfortable to stare, so as Ashley raised the cup to her lips and sipped for a moment, Scavenger shifted her gaze to the left, watching as a couple seated themselves at a table not too far away.
"So the cream makes the coffee more milk like. And the sugar sweetens it," Ashley continued, distracting Scavenger's attention from the unknown pair. She looked up at the dragoness, still wearing a slight frown as the things known as 'cream' and 'sugar' were shifted from one point to another. "Try it first just to see if you like it bitter," she continued, to which Scavenger replied with a huff. She didn't know if she would, this liquid in her cup was not exactly the most appealing thing in the world, but then that was to be expected; Wraiths did not find mortal foods and drinks to be appetising, without a desire for such things. She knew she had a sense of taste, of course, but the word 'bitter' - she understood - had rather negative connotations, and she didn't particularly know if she would like it. Still, she would try it, but only because Ashley had asked her to.
Reaching forward, Scavenger's fingers slipped around the cup, fighting the urge to hiss at the heat of it against her skin. Wraiths did not appreciate warmth by anyone's standards, and so this was an unpleasant feeling, but she ignored it as she gripped firmly and lifted the cup to her lips. The warmth against her face made her want to put the cup down again and walk out, but she couldn't. Her eyes would occasionally shift upwards to see Ashley, and she felt the urge to continue. She tilted her cup and allowed the hot liquid to pour into her mouth, burning her tongue. She frowned deeply against the pain, the strain showing on her expression as she attempted not to spit it out and wash her mouth with cold water. As she gulped down the liquid, she placed the cup down on the table, perhaps a little too hard. "Nope, I don't like that," she choked, gasping a mouthful or two of cold air, before she shook her head. She pressed a few fingers to the edge of her cup and shifted it away from herself. Even with the idea that it would be cooler and perhaps more sweet, she didn't want to try anymore of this 'coffee', not for the taste alone but because it would still be warm. It felt unnatural to drink, and it pained her to do so."Forgive me..." she whispered, despite her status. She felt bad, almost as if she had let Ashley down by being unable to enjoy the same things she did.
"I guess the gods were right to make me a Wraith," she joked, attempting to lighten the mood though her voice indicated she was the furthest thing from happy she could possibly have been. She refused to make eye contact with Ashley from that moment onwards, and even debated getting up to leave. "The heat... It's too much for me."