03 - Open

[tophbeifong]

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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[tophbeifong]

Toph waited, listening. It was harder for her to picture the world as people described theirs, but she could imagine the solid ground, thundering with the footsteps and hoof troddings of the life around her. She could imagine the smell and the heat of so many people in such a small space, and could think of all the various smells that came with people and their businesses and their animals, and more recently, their simple machines.

She decided she wouldn't want to live there.

"Sounds crowded."

Once again, she monitored the heat of the water by holding her hand over the pot, switching it from her palm to the back of her hand every so often.

[sakedrinking]

"Very. The whole world is," Haku agreed with a nod, recalling the cities she'd seen in the many Vocaloid tours she'd taken. Being on stage and seeing thousands of people crowded around it was one thing, but the truly daunting experience had been when they attended a Robotics conference in England. They met other Vocaloids and UTAU like themselves, other creators, but what had really been scary was the sheer amount of people coming in and out of the convention hall.

And that wasn't even a fraction of the human population.

"But most places are bigger than Japan. There's seven continents, and Japan is among the smallest."

[tophbeifong]

"Makes me wonder why no one just spreads out. Sounds like there's plenty of room, right?"

The water was ready, and she groped for her box. It didn't take her long to find it and she scooped out two spoonfuls with a small stone scoop in the box.

In a few minutes, they'd have more delicious, fruity tea.

[sakedrinking]

"Resources, mostly."

Haku's finger trailed along the ground, pushing blades of grass over and digging in to the dirt idly while she waited for the tea.

"Not every environment on Earth is capable of providing what's needed for survival. There have been advancements made to help that, but even so, it doesn't solve every problem."

[tophbeifong]

"It seems that with a population like that, the resources would run out faster than if everyone spread out from each other," she suggested. She remembered traveling with her friends, and how their water and food dwindled so easily when their numbers changed.

A few minutes passed and she removed the pot from the small fire.

Fresh hot tea! Even better when it's not old!

[sakedrinking]

Haku was looking forward to more of that tea. She smiled as it was poured for her, the aroma just as wonderful as it was the first time she smelled it.

"Maybe. But it's just how people are. There are cities in your world, too, right? Humans... naturally survive better together than they do alone."

[tophbeifong]

"I guess so," she agreed.

People could till the land and tend vegetables. People could grow trees and produce fruit. Other people could fish. Others could hunt. Still more people could head out to other cities and into other parts of the land and get various materials and resources, and make their part of contribution simply transport.

The more people there were, the harder it was to survive, sure, up until the point that it became much easier to divide a heavier work load to make survival and even thriving much easier.

With a thoughtful noise, she sipped her drink.

[sakedrinking]

"Well, I've answered your question. What's your world like?" Haku asked after a long sip of her tea. This really was good tea.

[tophbeifong]

"Well, I don't think it's as big as yours," she told her with a shrug, snuggling back against the tree.

"It's divided up, really. You have the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and ... and the Air temples, but no one really lives there anymore. The air nomads were all wiped out by the Fire Lord over the past century. All but one."

Hm... what to tell a freakin' android?

"We're apparently not that advanced. I thought it was cool, discovering how to fly with hot air, but I hear talk of hover boots and living in space and all sorts of things."

[sakedrinking]

That did seem small to Haku, but interesting. It made her recall things she read in history books, when Earth was made of a much smaller population and scattered across the world.

"Advanced doesn't always mean better, though. And if your world is just discovering hot air balloons that means you'll get to see a lot of advancements in your time alone. That to me is more exciting than living with technology that's already present."

[tophbeifong]

Toph snorted. "I thought hot air was advanced enough. It let us fly without sky bison, what more do you need, right?"

Though not her. Toph preferred her ground-level travel, even though it took more time than Appa.

"But to be honest, I think I'll hear about more advancements than I'll see."

Oh, come on, she could never pass up an opportunity to mess with people about her condition.

[sakedrinking]

"Well you-- ... o-oh, right..."

Awkward.

"Sorry."

[tophbeifong]

Toph had to hide her grin behind her cup.

Oh, you little troll, you.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me. I'm okay with it."

[sakedrinking]

"Are you sure... ? It was a bit thoughtless of me, to say that..."

Toph is a troll and Haku is gullible. Horribly horribly gullible.

[tophbeifong]

Toph could tell, and was trying her hardest not to laugh. Instead, she only cut the other a smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

[sakedrinking]

"Okay... I don't want to offend anyone... our situation is difficult enough as it is right now."

[tophbeifong]

"So laugh about it," she shrugged. It always helped her.

"It's not that bad, really. It could be a whole lot worse. At least everyone seems to be cooperating with each other and not trying to kill each other, on top of dodging shadow monsters."

[sakedrinking]

"Laugh about it... ?"

She hadn't really laughed much since she got there. Talking with Kadar or Duo got a bit of a giggle or a chuckle every so often, but she'd found it hard to laugh at much of anything since arriving there alone. A lot of that came from missing her family as much as she did.

But Toph did have a point.

"That's true..."

[tophbeifong]

"Don't get me wrong. It's not our homes. We're not comfortable. We're hungry and tired. We're lonely because we miss our friends. But we can make other friends, now. We get to learn about things, and do things. I think it's pretty sweet. I thought flying into the clouds was a big advancement, but here I am talking to a singing robot."

She took another sip of tea, lifting her feet onto a footrest of ground.

"I never would have gotten that chance if I wasn't pulled away."

[sakedrinking]

"Ah..."

Haku blinked a few times, then smiled brightly.

"You're right. I never would have met you or Maxwell-san or Winner-san if I hadn't come here..."

[tophbeifong]

She cocked an eyebrow.

"... who?" She didn't know people by their last names.

[sakedrinking]

"Oh, uhm."

And Haku used last names and honorifics too much to remember first names quickly.

"Duo and... Quatre."

[tophbeifong]

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think they make the trip worthwhile," she grinned. They were good guys. She liked them.

[sakedrinking]

"I think so, too."