songerein | Tea For Who?

Entry tags:

Tea For Who? - OPEN

Who: Iroh and whomsoever wants to find him
Which: Open Log
Where: Not far from the fountain
What: Iroh enjoying sharing tea with strangers.
Warnings: Possible angst, themes of loss, possible war/death/betrayal mentions.

Iroh had found that he had been able to help people during the crisis in a number of ways. But one of them had been tea and talking. Just being there for people with a calming drink and an open ear. So he was trying that again now, once again by the base of the fountain.

Between conversations he was sipping his own tea and considering what it might take to open a tea shop here. For however long he was going to be here, that was...

For anyone who wanted to find him, he is near the fountain with a small comforting camp fire over which the tea pot is heating and a pair of large picnic style baskets, one of snacks and one of teas and tea fixings. So that he can have enough for every taste and stay a while for whoever showed up without over steeping the tea.

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"Do you want any help, my dear?" he offered with a warm smile.

'Help' raised her brows, already curiously lifted though they were. Seeing his smile, though, the lass offered a wan one in return as she presently shook her head, looking thoughtful.

"Not exactly," she admitted, and yet reached to collect her things and stand. Perhaps she'd seen some of his other visitors in her time lingering nearby, because she followed that up with a few careful steps toward his makeshift tea stand. Still at a polite distance, she added, "But... I wouldn't mind some company, if you wouldn't."

"I always welcome the company of those who wish to share tea with an old man such as myself."

Ah - a friendly sort, then. Naminé wasn't suprised, exactly, though her expression might have suggested as much. Delicate smile growing, she gave a polite nod. "Then I suppose I'll join you."

And join him she did, making her way over to where he was set up to take a seat. Thoughtfully, she tilted her head at the campfire, the tea pot; perhaps her question was obvious from her look even before she inquired, "What sort of tea is it?"

"Thank you," he said as she came to join him. "I make all different blends. Today we have a peony jasmine blend. A little mellow with a hint of natural sweetness."

Slowing slightly at his thanks, Naminé shook her head narrowly. "I'm the one who should thank you, I think." After all, it wasn't often she found herself so readily welcomed to share tea.

Humming curiously as she settled, carefully setting her things to one side, the lass admitted, "I've never had that kind before." Or smelled it - which probably prompted her contemplative sniff. A beat late, his phrasing gave her cause to wonder, "Is this something you do often, then? Sharing tea with strangers?"

"What better way for strangers to become friends than with tea and pleasant conversation?" he gave a question as reply to her question as he topped off his own tea cup and took a sip of the steaming liquid. "This way I meet the most fascinating people."

Tilting her head faintly, Naminé agreed, "I suppose that is a good one. And... it seems like you speak from experience." If his friendly nature was anything to go by.

Considering the tea a moment, the lass refrained from mentioning aloud - though she thought it - that she was hardly fascinating company. Rather, she found this fellow far more interesting than she did herself, and regarded him thoughtfully.

Then, "How does it usually go? Do we... introduce ourselves?" -- Ah. Was it silly, asking someone how she ought to make friends with a stranger? Especially when it was the stranger in question she was asking? She had the presence of mind to be bashful about it, at least, but it remained a valid question. Friendships tended to happen to her more these days, but that didn't mean she knew how to start one intentionally.

"We can. Every friendship is different after all. Whatever works best in the moment is generally best for the moment." He took another sip of tea, then refilled his cup, and made sure she had a full one. "I am Iroh."

The lass clasped her own cup with all the careful attention of someone who considered its contents a gift, and of course one she was reluctant to spill. Posture equally still and polite, she nodded her undertanding - both of the advice and the offered title.

"It's nice to meet you, Iroh," she answered, evidently unbothered by the lack of any last name. Perhaps it was because she was without one herself, for her response was, "My name is Naminé."

With that done, she finally took a curious, cautious sip of her tea. Her thoughtful hum thereafter sounded pleased enough, mouth curling at the corners. Her attention, nevertheless, seemed more readily directed at her company, as it didn't take much time for her to speak up again. "Have you been here long, Iroh...? I don't think we've met before, even in passing."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Naminé." He sipped his own tea before answering the rest of what she asked. "How long I have been here is relative, which makes it hard to answer the question. What is it that you would consider long? Based on what has happened to me here, perhaps compared to what has happened to me at home? Or a simple measure of time? In which case, what would qualify as long for you? At my age, I suspect our definitions vary," he added with a chuckle.

He had a fair point, to be sure; the way she straightened at his observation was probably evidence enough of her realization of that even before she spoke. Despite her disadvantage at guessing the ages of those who were something close to proper humans than she was, Naminé supposed Iroh seemed old and wise indeed. Likely several times older than she was, considering her real age, which put things in a different perspective.

"You're... probably right about that." Bashful though the words were, there was an amusement in them, too. "I guess what I should have asked was whether you've had time to get used to being here, yet. That amount of time is different for everyone, after all."

Sitting back slightly, she gave her tea another thoughtful sip, too small to make up much of a delay. Since he'd asked, "For me - it was a few months, I think." So that, to her, felt like a long time.

He gave her a warm smile. "I do not know that I will ever get used to such a place," he admitted. "Though I suspect I'll have little choice. Still... if I can find peace, and my nephew can find peace, then I would settle anywhere at all. And there are certainly worse places than this," he added with a chuckle.

Her, "Oh?" in response to his initial words was soft, sympathetic, accompanied by the faintest crumple of her brow as she considered the notion. Perhaps it would be harder for someone who had lived longer to acclimate to a new setting - although of course it begged a few questions that rose to the tip of her tongue. Only to get waylaid, that was, at the mention of another party involved--

"Your nephew?" Well, that implied obviously enough another curiosity about this friendly fellow. "Is... some of your family here with you, then? I know it's not unusual for people to come here from the same world, but not very many of us seem to be related to each other that way."

The idea was rather pleasant to her, it seemed, if the note of hope to her question was any indication.

He nodded. "Some of my family is indeed here," he agreed. "Both my family by blood and those with whom I share the bonds of the past." Specifically the war.

There was a certain glad wonder in the lass's eyes as she lowered her cup of tea unconsciously, holding it safely in both hands. It seemed her interest was held entirely in that moment by the notion of this pleasant old man having family along with him.

"How lucky...! It's always so nice when people don't have to come here alone. Are you-- close, with them?" Outside that which was implied by the relationships themselves, of course; given how readily he'd mentioned his nephew, that one specific connection seemed strong enough. Still, the question was a little stilted as she asked it, despite her clear interest in the subject - family was a somewhat complex topic, for Naminé.

"I would like to think that I am very close with my nephew. What he thinks, however, seems to change with the day," he said with a hearty laugh to show that he wasn't upset. "He's gone again now, off wandering probably. He does that every so often when he has hard choices to make."

A warm smile.

"As for those who I consider family in other ways, I have seen the young Avatar, Aang since my arrival here. As well as his teacher, Toph. Quite a remarkable young woman. I hope I live to see what they both become, for they and those like them are the ones who will reshape the very core of our world."

Not mentioning Azula was... a choice.

Iroh's laugh and words prompted a faint breath of amusement from Naminé as well. Kindly, she surmised aloud, "He must be young. I'm sure in time he'll make up his mind." She could think of one such fellow in her own acquaintance, wanderlust included; Riku was mellower, these days. Mulling it over a little more, though, the blonde sobered slightly to add, "Whatever decisions he makes, I hope they turn out for the better."

Listening along to the other descriptions, Naminé took another quiet sip of tea. "An... Avatar? I'm afraid I don't know what that is. But the way you talk about them - is your world in some kind of trouble?"

"I am sure they will, eventually," he said with a hint of a smile.

He sipped his tea as he considered the rest of what she said and asked. "Yes, but it is a trouble of our own making. The Avatar's job is usually to maintain the balance. That is supposed to be the balance between humans and spirits, but for the last hundred years a great war has altered the balance between humans and other humans. The Avatar has been working hard to end the war and restore the balance."

The lass paused to listen, her brow crumpling faintly, sympathetically. "That's... a very long time for people to fight." Quieter, "And a lot of responsibility for one person."

Especially one so young, who probably hadn't even been around for much of it. (Curious, too, to hear of someone with a duty involving spirits, but not too far off the beaten track for Naminé, supernatural entity that she technically was herself.) Hearing all this seemed to trouble her enough for her to linger on the explanation, and presently she asked, "What was the cause of the war? I know people disagree about all sorts of things, but to spend so much time at odds with each other..."

Part of her couldn't help but think back to what small traces there were of her own worlds' history, how so much was torn asunder by squabbling over the Light.

"A very long time, and thankfully the Avatar has some wonderful friends helping him. As for the whys of the war..." he sighed, pulling lightly on his beard.

"The blame can be laid nowhere other than the feet of my family where it belongs. What my grandfather told us his reasons were and what they actually were were not the same, of course. But what was taught to our people was that we wished to bring the advancements of the Fire Nation to the rest of the world so that they could all share in our prosperity. But what we gave them was not technology or prosperity. We brought them scars and death. Pain. Loss." He shook his head. "Some of us learned better in time, not not nearly enough of us."

He would not lessen his part in the pain spread to the rest of the world. "Whole cultures and species reduced to few if any surviving members. War is not the glory we were sold on. It isn't helping anyone. It is simply fighting and killing, each side so certain they are correct. That they're doing what they have no choice but to do. What they have to do."

Hand curling to her chest, Naminé looked thoroughly bothered by the whole matter - sad, though not angry. So many of her own experiences felt like a smaller scale by comparison, though of course the threat of the Heartless was massive, and not limited to a single world. But somehow it was worse imagining so many individuals caught up in such a conflict between humans, rather than the few who could fighting against a horde of unknowable evil.

"I... can understand wanting to help people learn, but that..." Faltering, she shook her head. "Well, it seems to me that it's just as you said. No matter what the real cause was, it sounds like it's done far more harm than good."

So much loss... She sat with the weight of it for a moment, clutching her teacup in both hands, then - finally looked up as something occurred to her. "Then you... if you disagree with the war, does that mean you've had to go against your own family?"

Not all of it, hypothetically, based on what he'd said before, but-- the implication seemed to be there just the same.

He nodded. "I did," he said, gravely. Then to lighten the mood, he laughed. "Of course my brother made it easy for me to do so."

Not that it was actually funny, but he felt badly for making the poor girl so upset. So it was time to smooth things out.

"More tea?"

Naturally, Naminé opened her mouth to offer sympathy, only to pause at Iroh's laugh. Looking perplexed a moment, she started to echo instead, "Your..." which was followed by a slightly quavering, regretful, "Oh."

But the blonde knew an attempt to shift the mood when she saw it. Despite the somberness lingering around her eyes, Naminé elected to play along, only taking a brief moment to down the very last of her tea before dutifully holding out her cup.

"Yes, please."

He smiled warmly and filled the cup for her. "A good tea brew is like a love. Unique and warms your heart."

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