Day 188

[daughterofursa]

Who: Zuko and anyone!
Open: Open!
When: Day 188, morning
Where: Eastern Bastion
What: Tea time. =)
Format: I'll match.
Warnings: Honor.

It's not uncommon to find Zuko up at an early hour, but she usually spends the time doing something she considers productive--training or otherwise preparing for time on the Skyway. She doesn't leave herself much time for sitting and thinking, most days. She figures it's better that way, since her thoughts so easily turn negative. But this morning, she's trying her best not to let them.

She can be found seated cross-legged on the eastern side of the Bastion, just north of Dragonfield, watching the unaccountable sunrise with a cup of tea in hand. Actually, the whole set is with her, a plain but sturdy-looking earthenware pot and several more matching cups. She hasn't invited anyone to join her, but if any impromptu guests show up, she's decided to accommodate them. That's what her uncle would do, she's sure.

Comments

[daughterofursa]

Okay, not so normal anymore. Zuko stares at him.

"...do you always get so excited about the seasons?" This tea is supposed to be calming, not energizing.

[aprettyred]

Just like drinking from fancy glasses becomes normal when you live in a bar?

Anna sets her blanket bundle down, then settles next to it with her legs tucked under her. Crossed legs in a dress, no matter how fluffy, never really seem to work well.

"... Is the tea better with a sunrise?"

[daughterofursa]

I guess you have to know about all seven kinds.

[...did she actually list seven or were there more?]

Benders don't spend much time studying outside our own disciplines, but.. it might not be a bad idea.

[hellpyre]

[There's eight not including Satan himself but oops Rin miscounted.]

Can you even do other... bending? Like an Exorcist that's a Knight could probably still rattle off an Aria verse or two but you did say somethin' about not bein' able to do the other kinds of bending, right?

[daughterofursa]

Zuko hands the girl the cup of tea and actually smiles faintly at the next question, if a bit sadly. Her uncle would have really enjoyed talking to this girl. He would have been able to answer her easily, slipping in his usual everyday wisdoms.

But he isn't here.

"I don't think it changes the flavor any," she answers. "But maybe it- adds to the mood."

[daughterofursa]

Right. But that doesn't mean we can't learn anything from each other.

My uncle invented a technique for redirecting lightning by studying waterbenders. He was a little unconventional.

[Oh yeah.]

Do you want any tea? I forgot to ask. [This is completely relevant to the conversation, honest.]

[hellpyre]

... oh. Your uncle sounds kinda cool.

[Rin nods to the offer, shifting her egg so it can sit in her lap better.]

I guess that's why all the beginner exorcist classes have us learnin' everythin', even stuff we're not gonna use in our Meister.

[daughterofursa]

...he was pretty cool.

[Even if she realized that only recently. She sets her cup down to pour one for Rin.]

He taught me how to make tea, too.

[hellpyre]

[Welcome to the world of not appreciating people until they're no longer in your life, Zuko.]

Oh... he did a good job then! This is really good.

[She laughs a little after another sip.]

Y'know for bein' Japanese I really don't drink enough tea. I heard it's supposed to be like super good for you, though.

[daughterofursa]

I don't brew it as well as he does.

[...did.]

I don't know how good it's supposed to be for you, but Uncle probably thought he could live off of it.

[hellpyre]

[Rin laughs at that.]

I know a lotta people in my country who thought that.

[daughterofursa]

Really? Maybe he should've been- Japanese then.

...I really miss him.

[hellpyre]

You kinda look like it! ... or maybe Korean. ... definitely Asian, though.

[Rin, please.]

... I bet.

[daughterofursa]

Hm. [Well, Rin and Yukio and Ryuuji could pass for Fire Nation... excepting the tail, of course.]

You're lucky to have people here with you. I was trying to think about what advice he might give me, for being here. It's been a month and I haven't found anyone else. That makes me, what? The only one to carry on and remember anything about our world? That's a lot to ask of one person.

[She hunches over her tea.]

People didn't even like me back home.

[hellpyre]

[Which should wouldn't have if she was in Zuko's world.]

... is it really lucky if they're not even from the same version of our world? If I was bein' really honest about it and actually ignorin' how I treat them like they're my own, Ryuuji and Yukio aren't even from my world they're from a world where the Rin they know is a boy.

So... it's just me here, too.

[She goes quiet after that, figuring that's probably not the most encouraging thing she could have said to Zuko. After a pause though, she nudges the other girl gently with her elbow.]

I like you. And people didn't really like me back home either, so we're the same.

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko does give her a brief eyebrow raise at that. Rin as a boy? But... it might not be as lucky as Zuko thought, but they're still people Rin knows, after a fashion. And the bonds she seems to have with them are closer than most of the ones Zuko's had with people from her own world.

So yeah, that isn't the part she takes the most encouragement from.]

...why would people not like you?

[Maybe she didn't hit it off with Rin right away, but Zuko knows that's mostly her own fault.]

[hellpyre]

[Knows and cares about no less than the people she knew in her world. The plus being that Ryuuji is the same in either no matter what, and here she was able to admit feelings about him after a time.]

Iiiiii was kind of a bad kid growin' up. I threw tantrums, hurt people, screamed a lot, generally made myself in to a pretty scary person that no one wanted to be around...

[daughterofursa]

Oh.

[Sounds kind of familiar.]

...at least you didn't burn down any villages.

[hellpyre]

. . . no but my real father burned hundreds of clergymen and other religious figures the night I was born. So. A lotta people kinda hate me by association, too.

[daughterofursa]

I was the Fire Lord's daughter. Believe me, I get that, too.

[hellpyre]

People think bein' the kid of some one powerful is all awesome until that someone turns out to be a total asshole.

[skysung]

"My mother's name was Flamewing. She left Mama Daine my name before she died, but Mama thinks I'm too young for it yet. Dragon names usually mean something." Paarthurnax has meaning too, Zuko just can't understand his language. Kitten can. She isn't about to say what his name means, though, because she thinks that Paarthurnax has grown to be much more than his name would suggest. It's his own decision whether to tell people.

Kitten tilts her head in curiosity. "There is a nation of fire? Is the name based in fact, or is it just imagery?" Even in her world, where magic is what has the strongest pull on her, dragons have an affinity for fire. "I like that your title does not vary from man to woman. More sensible that way."

[daughterofursa]

No kidding.

[She's never heard anyone call her father an asshole before, but it definitely sounds fitting. Her hand lifts halfway to her face before she realizes she's thinking about the scar and drops it.]

You had a second father, right? That's definitely for the best.

[hellpyre]

Yeah. Shiro Fujimoto. He was a priest that knew our mom and adopted us 'cause of her. I don't really know the story beyond that, though. He was kind of a pain in the ass and was always gettin' on my case, but he was a cool guy. Even in the end...

[daughterofursa]

"What do you think? About being too young for your name, I mean." It doesn't seem like it should be someone else's decision. No more than regaining her honor had anything to do with other people.

"Well, it's not like the land itself was on fire... aside from the volcanoes... But many of the people are firebenders, myself included." Kitten should have seen that on the Skyway, even if she may have named it magic.