castleinthemist | 03

Tea. The past few days were incredibly rough and all rough days call for tea. Lots and lots of tea. The well had come through and she was graced with a lovely tin of flavored tea straight from the Jade Dragon. It was a blend made specifically for the delicate senses. 'Bandit's Brew,' Iroh had called it, specially mixed just for her after she expressed an intense fondness of a fruit flavored jasmine that hadn't quite taken off the way he'd hoped.

Toph, though, found it as calming as it was delicious, as tasty as it was smooth, and it was exactly what she needed at that point in time. She'd had enough adventuring and exploring for the time being. Instead, she wanted to relax and let her injured back and shoulders heal.

Toph Bent a fire pit under the shade of the tree in the courtyard and let a small blaze grow while she crafted a sturdy pot and a set of cups out of clay. She monitored the water in the pot with the back of her hand, waiting until it had reached the perfect temperature to boil the leaves. She judged the time by smell and before long had a nicely brewed pot of rosy red tea, sweet and fruity in both taste and scent.

She poured herself a cup and hesitated before filling the other three.

The general turned tea guru had always said that the best tea in the world didn't taste half as good unless it was being shared with someone. Friends made it delicious enough, but complete strangers often added a unique zing. At first she thought he was finally hitting that nutty stage of old age. As she sat there, taking tea alone for the first time in ever, she wondered if, like everything else out of his mouth, there was some underlying wisdom that she didn't understand until... well, until she simply understood.

((Ooc: Free tea for all!))

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"It's no problem, I promise," she motioned for him to sit down on a nice, comfy pillar next to the one that held the tea.

"There's plenty of it, and tea doesn't go bad too quickly if you keep it cool and dry. I have a whole tin of it," she told him as she tapped the small wooden box with a knuckle.

Kadar brightened at that, sitting down and making himself comfortable. Thankfully, he was used to the spartan accommodations of the Castle, given that they were considerably more pleasant than what he would have expected, were he on a mission.

Or-- if he were still in the Temple...

But he promised himself that he would stop dwelling on that, and so he does, turning his mind towards the tea, instead.

"I did not think tea would be so readily available here," he replied, mildly intrigued.

"It's not, so much," she shrugged. "I got this from the fountain. I asked for it, and it showed up not too long after. I was kind of missing home. Thought it might help."

She gave him a sad smirk.

"Not so much, though. Just makes me miss home more."

"The fountain will bring you things that you request?" Kadar blinked. This was news to him. He had seen the fountain, but it hadn't even occurred to him that he could ask it for things.

"I guess so. I can't really explain how else an entire box of specifically blended tea available in one place and one place only made its way here."

She took another sip.

"Duo said it would do that. I tried it out, and lo and behold..."

She motioned to the tea with a foot.

"Help yourself."

Kadar reached out and took a sip of the tea, offering Toph a broad smile when he tried it. It was different than home, but still considerably delicious, and better than the washed out tea that appeared with the food everyday.

"It's very good! I should ask for some tea from my own home, perhaps," Kadar said, considering it. He wasn't certain what else he would ask for, really.

"It's a little sweeter than most. A lot of people didn't like that many flavors of fruit and flower. It didn't sell very well at all, but the old man kept it around. At least in enough supply to make me a box of it every so often."

She took another sip, relaxing against her tree.

"Glad I'm not the only one that likes it," she smirked.

"I have always been fond of sweet things," Kadar admitted. They were in short supply in Masyaf in his time, but that did not stop him from loving what he could get. Fruit was expensive and rare, but that didn't stop him either, and he could squirrel away a few pieces every so often to eat at his leisure.

"My brother always teased me about it."

"I think that's the whole point of brothers," she giggled, thinking back to Sokka teasing Katara all the time about everything under the sun. And teasing Aang. And teasing Toph, for that matter. Heck, even Zuko wasn't immune to the teasing after a while.

"If they don't tease you, they don't love you, I think."

She downed her cup before pouring herself another.

"Feel free to take as much as you'd like. I think I made too much for me to drink without getting sick."

"I think so, as well. If he did not tease me so mercilessly, I do not think I would have worked as hard at my training as I did," Kadar admitted. It had been because of Malik that he'd become an Assassin; because of Malik that he'd manage to do his first leap of faith, and he was fairly certain it was because of Malik that he'd been taken along on the mission to Solomon's Temple at all. Perhaps not for the best of reasons, admittedly.

"I will drink as much as I can!" He smiled a little, taking another long sip. "I am certain there are others who would like to have some."

"Brothers are good for you. Sometimes I kind of wish I had one," she smirked. Ah, but the ones she had- Twinkletoes, Meathead, and Firebore, were all just fine, to her.

Toph only grinned at his comment about others. Well, if they wanted to join in, they could. She wouldn't fight it in the least. Nothing went better with tea than chatter, right?

"What's your brother like?"

"He is very grumpy!" Kadar said, immediately. It was the first thing that came to mind, even to Kadar-- which might not have been the most flattering thing, but the idea fit Malik very well. "And protective-- and he is very strong, and intelligent. He is not very friendly, but he will be respectful of everyone if they deserve it."

He laughed a little. "It's just that if you don't deserve it in his eyes, he'll call you a novice forever."

"Sounds like a good brother overall, then. Actually, kind of sounds like Zuko. And maybe a little like Sokka. Although," she paused to smirk. "Sokka's more goofy than he is mean."

Oh, her beloved dunderbrains.

"Are they both your brothers?" Kadar queried, curiously. They were such strange names! Kadar was getting more and more used to the different lands and worlds that people here were from, but it never made it any less strange when he heard the names and customs.

She smirked and leaned back against the tree.

"Not by blood. We... we had an adventure and spent a lot of time together. You tend to get pretty attached to people when you fight an army with them."

Know what she means?

"And once you stake your life for theirs and vice versa, you're kind of automatically family, right?"

03 - Open

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