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

[skysung]

A guest is coming from the dragonfield, actually, rather than the main part of the Bastion. Kitten chirps a greeting, calling out in mindspeech, "Good morning! Have you food as well, or only tea?"

She sniffs the air, trying to answer her own question. The way to this dragon's heart is through her stomach, but she'll willingly join Zuko even if breakfast is not on offer.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko looks over at the young dragon's approach, and shakes her head. "Just tea. I guess dragons probably don't drink tea, do you?"

She's not completely sure on that count, because the dragons of her world don't talk either, but it seems like a reasonable assumption.

[alwaysintense]

Ishimaru's daily routine mainly consisted of practicing kata with his kendo stick, meals, feeling he had no use here and worrying he'd forget his school lessons without any sort of real practice here. (Also worrying that everything he had spent his life learning would prove useless now, but he tried to avoid thinking about that.) Even without school he continued to be an early riser, and had spent the morning so far doing the first of these things.

As he finished up he might have moved on to that third thing, but he was distracted when he smelled tea. (He hadn't had any since he arrived at the Bastion, and maaaybe he only picked up the scent because he missed the caffeine a little.) Looking around he saw the young lady with her tea set, and realized he didn't really recognize her. Of course he had introduced himself to so few people since he arrived, it really was shameful...

So he'd just have to greet her now! He strode over to the spot where she was sitting, preparing his words. "Hello! How are you doing this morning?" he boomed, being probably far to loud for this time of day, not that he'd ever realize.

[skysung]

"I eat and drink most anything. I was raised by humans, after all." Even humans don't try some of the things Kitten has. That big box of myrrh she ate years ago, for instance, really was a bad idea. Kitten burped smoke for a week afterward.

[windgod]

[Ippo had been up before the sun had a chance to rise, though to be fair he'd been up for the past few days as a whole. Sleep came sporadically and even when it did come, it was plagued by vicious nightmares that quickly brought him back to consciousness. Seeing Coach Kamogawa one last time had been both a blessing and a curse; it had given him the resolve to move on, but it also brought with it the terrible finality of what the calamity had wrought on his life. So, Ippo had retreated into himself as he tried to put those pieces of himself back into place, to make sense of his emotions as they ate away at his chest; as always, he resorted to training in order to focus his mind elsewhere...but this morning was different. His punches were sluggish and his form was sloppy, no matter what he tried he just couldn't get himself into his groove and his overall form suffered heavily from it, leaving the young man frustrated.

He could feel the guilt, the anger, the confusion and sadness welling up in his chest as he rested his head against the nearest tree to him, trying to take deep, calming breathes while his body shook. He didn't know how he was supposed to deal with all of this or how he could be expected to...he knew he had to, but going about it was something else entirely. He finally drew himself away from the comfort of the tree and shook his head as his nose caught a whiff of something remotely aromatic in the air. Turning his head, he saw that woman from the skyway...Zuko he thought her name was sitting slightly to the south of him and from what he could tell, she was making tea. Whatever kind of tea it was, the smell of it was enough to calm him, the sensation drawing him closer as he made his way over. Abashedly, he rubbed the back of his head as he came to a stop a few inches away, remembering their last encounter and realizing that she probably didn't have the best opinion of him.

Still...if that tea had any chance of calming him down, he'd be willing to take it. The haggard look of his face and the sunken look in his eyes was enough to let anyone know he wasn't exactly in the best way at the moment.]

Umm...sorry to bother you but, what kind of tea are you making?

[Well...that was about as unawkward as he was likely able to start the conversation, but he was still just going to stand for now. He felt it might be disrespectful to take a seat before he'd been offered one.]

[daughterofursa]

"Oh." She looks briefly confused, as she doesn't think who raises you can really change what it's okay for you to eat, but... Maybe not all dragons are strictly carnivores.

"...would you like a cup, then?"

[skysung]

Kitten does know that it isn't usual for the People to be able to change their diets, but Immortals are a little sturdier. Briefly, it occurs to her to wonder whether spidrens could eat vegetables, if they had any desire to do so. Of course, spidrens would never care to try, so there's no way for that to be tested. "I enjoy different foods, and my stomach can process most things. Indigestion is very rare for me."

"Yes, I'd like a cup of tea. Thank you."

[daughterofursa]

Loud enough that Zuko gave a start at the sudden greeting, some of the tea sloshing over the side of her cup onto her hand. She quickly transfered the cup to her other hand, shaking the first to cool the hot liquid.

Looking up at the stranger, she answered awkwardly, "Uh... All right... I guess."

[alwaysintense]

"Ah! Sorry!" He wishes there was a napkin to help her out with of course there isn't a napkin.

But she seems to recover so, whew.

"...Well that's good! I should introduce myself." Hmm, can't try a handshake while he's still standing. He gets down on his knees, careful about how much of his uniform is actually touching the ground before holding out his hand. "My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! My motto in life is Simplicity and Fortitude! And who are you?"

[daughterofursa]

[Ippo is right to assume that Zuko doesn't think all that highly of him. He was reckless in that fight-- but all the same, she can't really condemn a person for recklessness, considering her own track record.

She looks up at him as he approaches, noting how tired he looks. There probably isn't a one among them who doesn't have something to weigh heavily on their thoughts, with all that they've lost.

Her tone is a little stiff when she answers, but she's not trying to be unfriendly. She just... doesn't really do friendly.]

It's jasmine. I could pour you a cup, if you like.

[If he's looking for an invitation, that's about as much of one as he's likely to get.]

[daughterofursa]

Is it normal for someone to have a motto?

Zuko hesitantly holds her hand out in mimickery of his gesture, clearly not understanding his intention. She isn't familiar with handshakes. "Zuko," she says simply. She just doesn't bother with her title anymore, but she might have found something else to add if his introduction weren't so baffling.

[daughterofursa]

Talking with a dragon about indigestion. What would her uncle make of that?

She moves the tray with the set a little closer to Kitten and pours a cup for her. Zuko would hold it out to her, but she isn't sure how well Kitten does with holding things. Probably best to leave it on the tray. "There you are."

[skysung]

Kitten takes the cup carefully in her clawed forefeet, bending her long neck to take a sip. Drinking does nothing to impede her speech, so she asks as she does, "Does your world have dragons?" Zuko does seem to have some preconceived notions about them.

"You would never see one drink tea in part because how would they manage it? Most are far too big to drink from a cup like this size. I am still an infant."

[daughterofursa]

"It did." She looks into her teacup for a long moment before continuing, because this isn't the best thing to have to admit. "My people hunted them almost to extinction. There were only two left alive, that I knew of. I doubt they gave much thought to tea."

And of course, now they're gone, too.

[alwaysintense]

Once she has her hand out he grasps it for a short but firm shake. He approves of her introduction, short and to the point.

Still, he would like to turn this into an actual conversation. What could they talk about... hmm.

"This whole situation... it's pretty bizarre, isn't it?"

[skysung]

Kitten hissed at that, snorting smoke that mingled with the steam rising from her tea. "Humans have killed dragons at home, too, and others have seen them as commodities or weapons. My mother was the most recent among those."

She has only a fuzzy memory or two of her mother, who died just after Kitten's birth. "That is why many of my kind did not approve of me staying with Mama and Papa. They wanted me back in the Dragonlands, where we have lived in isolation for centuries. There are old grudges, and dragons have long memories. Grandfather Diamondflame let me stay with my adoptive parents. He told everyone it was none of their business what he did with his own family."

[daughterofursa]

"You could say that," Zuko agrees. "The situation, and the people." She may or may not be referring to Ishimaru in this instance, although there are plenty of other people she considers a little strange.

"Have you been here long?"

[daughterofursa]

Awkward. Even if Zuko has never done anything personally (aside from inadvertantly suggest that she could take on a dragon), it was her family that started it, and so her responsibility. Hearing that humans in other worlds have been just as stupid doesn't help anything.

"I'm sorry to hear it. You deserve more respect than that."

[skysung]

Kitten tilts her head to the side in something resembling a shrug. "I do not agree with blaming an entire race for the actions of individuals." Her serious tone gives way to something with a hint of humor at her own expense when she continues, "And it is harder to command respect when I am still so small that Mama says I have to grow into the name Skysong. Everyone calls me Kitten for now."

[alwaysintense]

"There certainly seem to be a lot of people here from strange places... But I was hardly in a normal situation before, well, everything, either." All possibly insulting connotations seem to have passed him by.

"I think it's nearing two months now. Perhaps I should be trying to keep some kind of calendar!" That would certainly be useful to everyone, wouldn't it?

[daughterofursa]

"Maybe it wasn't my fault, but as Fire Princess, my nation's crimes are my burden to bear. O-or at least, they would have been..."

She's not certain about now. About how much of her home she ought to carry around with her.

Her expression softens a bit as Kitten continues. "...I didn't even realize that wasn't your name."

[daughterofursa]

"It does seem hard to keep track of time here. I'm not even sure what season it's supposed to be."

She's about to take a sip of her tea when she realizes she hasn't offered him any. It wouldn't exactly be polite to sit here drinking her own with this guy sitting right there. "...do you want any tea?"

[skysung]

"Princess isn't queen, and nothing can be done to change history. Only the future."

Kitten hates thinking about home, about what she lost. Her adoptive brother and sister, who she absolutely doted on, were only two and three years old. Supposedly there's a way to put things back, but Kitten doesn't know if she believes that. She can't bring herself to bring anyone else false hope, so she sits on her own and says nothing.

Until she bursts out into a series of clicks and whistles that are her closest approximation of human laughter. "Kitten is not a very dragonish name, but most of us have silly names until we grow up a bit. Icefall and Steelsings are older than I am, but they're still Scamp and Grizzle.

What does it mean to be a Fire Princess?"

[daughterofursa]

"How was I supposed to know?" Zuko asks, nevertheless looking sheepish at that laughter. A lot of people here have strange names from her perspective. She wasn't about to remark on a dragon having a name like 'Kitten' when she had no idea if that was normal or not for the talking variety. 'Skysong' is still a lot different from 'Paarthurnax' anyway.

"It doesn't really mean anything now," she says to Kitten's question. She even feels a bit silly for mentioning it, but it's been on her mind. "I was a member of the Fire Nation royal family, and about to be crowned Fire Lord. That's not so different from a queen, I guess."

[alwaysintense]

"Maybe when the bastion is more repaired we'll have clear seasons! Of course the weather now is entirely acceptable to me. It would be terrible for them to kick in only to leave us shivering in the middle of winter."

He clearly startles a bit at the offer. "Is that okay? I would appreciate it!"