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Post by Iroh on Aug 1, 2012 20:40:41 GMT -5
Iroh chuckled. "Well, my dear, I highly doubt a sunrise is in your immediate future - unless we spend the rest of the night in this tea house. And then how would you stay awake for the rest of the day's events? Even you airihana need rest, just like the rest of us, despite the ephemeral inhuman beauties you portray."
He reached for her hand then, cradling it gently between his fingers. It was not a normal encounter with airihana, but it wasn't disallowed, either. "I would certainly hate to see you anything but that beauty, Raisa. So sunset tomorrow it shall be. But only after a full day, I insist! I will make all the arrangements with the tea house mistress here - I assume this is where you are staying until you return to Republic? So off to rest with you now, and I will cover any fees you will miss for the rest of the evening for not being present. I will send for you first thing in the morning. Good night, dear Raisa." He brought her hand gently to his lips before returning it to her and, with a gentle bow, stood and left the tea house.
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Post by Raisa/Darkmoon on Aug 2, 2012 21:25:22 GMT -5
Raisa blushed but did not lower her eyes as the general kissed her hand, so shocked was she by the gesture. She hadn't explicitly given her consent to spend her day with the General of the United Forces, but she didn't really see any way of turning him down. His funds were the reason she was here, after all. And he knew the correct course of action to acquire her company for the day. Permission from the tea house mistress, and paying her missed income for the day, on top of the extravagant price he would be charged for the time spent alone with her? Clearly she was not to dispute this change of plans.
After Iroh left, she set about to picking up the tray and readying the table for the next customers. She did as Iroh advised and set off for bed, which was in the private wing of the tea house as he'd guessed, pausing to speak with the head mistress along the way. Apparently, Iroh had beat her to that, as she simply nudged her along down the hall with a kindly smile. The smile was probably from the income she was bringing in to her through the general, she knew, but it was a pleasant exchange nonetheless. She changed for bed quickly and went straight to sleep.
The next morning, Raisa awoke to her dresser's knock on her door. She hurriedly dressed into her under robe and opened the door. The dresser was there to help with the intricate knots and folds of the obi, a process impossible to complete by herself. She chose a deep burgundy kimono with a gold and silver embroidered pheonix rising from the hem for the day, with a gold obi to match. Her hair ornaments were a lacquered come carved to look like the rising sun, and a trio of silver feathers that wrapped from under her bun to the side of her temple. After she dressed, she hurried to wait in the front of the tea house for Iroh to arrive, as it would have been horribly rude to keep him waiting. As she sat, she found she was inexplicably nervous. She had been on more outtings than she could count, and yet this one set her on edge.
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Post by Iroh on Aug 4, 2012 20:34:02 GMT -5
Iroh had his driver stop outside of the Jasmine Dragon. The driver went to fetch the airihana himself, but Iroh insisted that he be the one to do it. He was escorting the lady for the day, it was only proper that he greet her. Stepping out of the car and straightening his suit, he walked to the door of the tea house, where an attendant opened the door for him to where Raisa was waiting. "Good morning, Miss Raisa. I hope you haven't been waiting long." He bowed slightly to her, offering his arm. "You are as radiant as the sun itself today, though what else would I expect? I do hope that I can bring you around my city without attracting too much attention..." He smiled as he helped her into the car, seated himself across from her, and gave his driver the directions to the restaurant.
"Raisa, I do have to be honest with you for just a moment," he confessed. "As a man of my word, I am taking you sight seeing today. But first I have a... small matter of business to attend to. An old friend of mine is joining us for breakfast, I hope you don't mind. I promise he is good company to keep. Ah, here we are now!" As they pulled up to the restaurant, Iroh let himself out of the car, then held the door open before escorting Raisa inside.
It was an upscale restaurant, and one that still preferred to have low tables and cushions to kneel on, rather than high tables and chairs. Upon walking in, they were immediately shown to a table by the windows, and given a pot of tea. "I'm sorry to spring this on you, Raisa, truly. This engagement had slipped my mind completely. I'd asked my dear friend San Te to meet me months ago... he should be here soon, though. He isn't one to be late to anything." Iroh poured a cup of tea for Raisa and himself while they waited for their guest.
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San Te
Non-Bender
The Blue Spirit
Posts: 5
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Post by San Te on Aug 4, 2012 21:00:00 GMT -5
San Te had been at the restaurant for a while waiting for Iroh. He was wearing his Diplomat robes to inform people of his status. he hated doing that, but you can't really meet with the General of the Fire Nation military in a frog button shirt and tattered black pants. He had been hesitant to meet with his friend, not for the reason of avoiding him but a lot had been happening with Republic City and the resurfacing of the Tongs. He felt he was needed there, but Iroh was probably one of San Te's greatest friends and would never say no to him.
He did hope this was not about his extra activities in Republic City. Iroh was notoripous for bringing that up somewhere. As he waited though he hid in the background. He knew Iroh would want a seat in the sunlight. so he hid away from it just to catch his friend off guard. Watching the door and the people who entered San Te smiled as he saw his friend enter the building. He was caught off guard however by the woman he brought with him. This was something That San Te felt he could have fun with.
San Te waited till they sat and watched where Iroh sat. He waited and knew that Iroh would be occupied with either the woman or the view. Standing up he went the best way to avoid being caught by Iroh's eyes. Picking up a pair of Chopsticks and walked up behind his friend. He moved his hand up to his lips to make the sign for quiet in case the woman caught sight of him. Once close enough he pushed very lightly into the back of his friend.
"Late and his back was exposed. By all rights I should be the Fire Nation General." He said with a smile the chopsticks still poking Iroh.
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Post by Raisa/Darkmoon on Aug 5, 2012 7:45:49 GMT -5
Raisa allowed herself to be spirited away for two reasons. One, he had already paid for his time with her. And two, he was the General of the United Forced. Something told her that he wouldn't go against propriety or do anything shameful while being so much in the public eye. She also only smiled and graciously told the General not to fret over his engagement. Airihana quite often accompanied people to all sorts of different events for support, companionship, for the person to show off wealth or for, well, Raisa didn't quite know. Once she had been requested to attend a baby shower for a nobleman's wife in Republic City. She still had no idea why.
Sitting across from Iroh, Raisa forced herself not to shift uncomfortably when Iroh poured the tea first. By all means that was her job as airihana and guest, though outwardly she only smiled and accepted the cup, waiting, of course, for him to take a sip before she herself did. As she began to raise the cup, a strange figure appeared seemingly from nowhere. Raisa was about to inform Iroh when the man gestured for silence. She quickly averted her gaze. It must have been the friend Iroh was expected. Had she not been a performer and trained to notice and execute the swiftest of movements, she probably would not have even seen the man move. As she saw the blur behind Iroh and the man's way of greeting, Raisa hid her lips behind her kimono sleeve to suppress a laugh.
"Well, sir, if you are to be the new General, then you have quite the job to do today showing me the city!" She countered, pouring the man a cup of tea before Iroh could reach for the pot again. "Am I correct in assuming that you are the General's friend we are meeting? I am sorry if we did indeed keep you waiting, but might I give you a suggestion? If you had all of this extra time to come up with an assassination plan, you may want to hatch a better idea than death by chopsticks."
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Post by Iroh on Aug 5, 2012 7:58:09 GMT -5
Iroh felt the tips of something press into his back and froze. Just as he was about to launch a defensive, he heard the voice of his old friend. With a laugh, he batted the chopsticks away from him and stood, clapping a hand on the man's back. San Te had been the only one to ever get the better of him, and probably had rightly assumed he would not be focusing on guarding himself at that moment. "Yes, I agree that chopsticks might not have been the easiest way to do away with me, but you wouldn't know anything about weaponry, would you?" He joked, showing his guest to his sea on the side of the small table between himself and Raisa.
"Of course, if my own guest isn't going to warn me against attack, then perhaps you would like to be General for a day and take her off my hands," he joked again, taking his own seat once more. He noticed that Raisa had already poured San Te's cup, and wondered if he would be able to break her entertaining habits with enough time and get her to see him as a friend. It probably wasn't likely, he knew, but airihana were almost slaves in his eyes, and it would be nice to give her some relief from her burden of society. "I'll bet you have already guessed that this is my friend San Te," He said, gesturing from one to the other. "And this lovely creature is Raisa."
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San Te
Non-Bender
The Blue Spirit
Posts: 5
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Post by San Te on Aug 5, 2012 16:51:30 GMT -5
San Te laughed with his old friend and placed a hand on the shoulder of Iroh as his back was slapped by the dear man. It had been a while since he had seen his old friend and hoped to enjoy the day with his friend and his attractive companion, who had been so gracious enough to pur San Te his own cup of Tea. He laughed heartily at the remark about the chopsticks and replied himself in good humor. "You speak the truth, weapons and the like is hardly the thing for a young diplomat such as I." He said taking his seat in between the two. "The closest you'll to warfare from me is just a good game of Pai sho."
His friend had done the introductions for the two and San Te went directly at it. "Iroh, shame upon you my friend." He said wagging a finger at his friend, "You do this woman an injustice just describing her as a loveley creature. Surely a heavenly spirit would do this young woman more truth." He had smiled at the girl with his best smile.
He knew that it was going on pretty thick but sometimes playing a role right is by over playing it. "A pleasure to be in such a company of a beautiful Airihana such as yourself Ms. Raisa." He said with a bow of his head and holding up the tea cup to her before sipping at it himself.
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Post by Raisa/Darkmoon on Aug 5, 2012 22:17:54 GMT -5
Raisa pretended to be embarrassed by San Te's comment, and averted her gaze. It wasn't so much that she was unused to such remarks; even the less attractive airihana were told as much on a regular basis. But it was best to act the part and let men think what they will. "Mister San Te, I am quite certain you say that to all the girls, but I thank you for the compliment nonetheless." She said with a wave of her hand. Through her dropped gaze and coy remark, she appraised San Te in the discreet manner of all airihana sizing up a newcomer. He was finely dressed, handsome, and from his conversation with the General, well connected. But how could he not be, if he was connected to Iroh at all?
"And I agree, sir, it is quite the pleasure." She continued, quickly calculating in her mind the multitude of possible outcomes of this chance meeting for the next time she was summoned to the Fire Nation. Or at least, she assumed he was from the Fire Nation, but how would she know? He lacked the traditional dark hair and burning eyes that most Fire Benders had, especially the royal family, though that didn't mean anything. "To what do we owe this pleasure? The General was not entirely forthcoming with the reason for your visit. If this is a meeting of some importance, I would be happy to step outside for a moment for you two to converse."
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Post by Iroh on Aug 6, 2012 8:41:49 GMT -5
Iroh carefully watched Raisa and San Te as he called a server over and ordered for the three of them. An idea formed in his head and he raised an eyebrow. It could work... possibly. But not immediately. No, this little scheme would more that likely take a long time. Still, it would be interesting to see the results. For now, he put the notion aside and returned to his two guests.
"Oh, yes, lovely heavenly goddess indeed, San, but perhaps if you would accompany me to the tea houses every once and a while you'd have found her first. Instead, I have claim to her gracious company for the rest of the day." He sipped his tea. "Speaking of your absence, how goes the life of a diplomat that you can't even be bother to share a bottle of sake and enjoy the song and dance of a fine young woman like Raisa?" As he finished, the server brought over a tray of fresh fruit, sushi, three new cups and a pitcher of juice, muffins, and breakfast pastries and arranged them neatly on their table. Iroh took the liberty of passing a plate and chopsticks folded into napkins to the other two, hoping Raisa wouldn't be horribly shocked that he was, as she probably thought, doing her job for her.
As he ladled fruit onto his own plate, it occurred to him that Raisa wasn't being quite as flirtatious as she had the night before. Could she be shy? Or simply behaving herself around someone new for the time being? He decided he'd try to find out. "Were you around more, San, then perhaps you would have found this little beauty first. Though perhaps it is better that you did not - I'm quite sure you wouldn't be so sharing with her company as I am!"
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San Te
Non-Bender
The Blue Spirit
Posts: 5
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Post by San Te on Aug 8, 2012 19:31:55 GMT -5
San Te could not help but laugh lightly at his friends words. He felt he may be a little too enthusiastic but he was not one to judge how one acts on certain things. Does not mean he could not have fun however. "Iroh, you are as spirited as ever." He said sipping once again, "Maybe playing you at Pai Sho again will even you out hm?" He added with a sly smirk.
San Te loved poking fun at his friend from time to time. It was a way to calm his friend down when he went one way or the other when it came to his emotions. "Ahh Ms. Raisa you wound me by thinking I am like so many others." San Te said with a smile in response to her words about him calling her beautiful. He never really understood how such words could truly come out of his mouth, he had no time to think on it though; she had asked a question and took it upon himself to answer.
"Oh no please Ms. Raisa, stay." He said in reply to her, "This is no delicate matter to which you should believe you are intruding upon. Simply a meeting of old friends." He said with a genuine smile.
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Post by Raisa/Darkmoon on Aug 9, 2012 22:40:23 GMT -5
Raisa feigned a pout when San Te suggested that she'd wounded him, as he put it, while at the same time topping off the men's cups of tea as well as her own. Something about this man intrigued her. He was obviously smart, and cunning, and had a sense of humor. Rare. Hopefully they would have the pleasure of meeting again, next time she returned to the Fire Nation. For the moment, she was content to enjoy a light breakfast with the two of them, so unusual for an airihana to do. "I thank you for your invitation to stay, Mr. San Te." She said, ladling small scoopfuls of fruit onto each of their plates. "But a diplomat and the General of the United Nations friends! You must have some stories to share that would do best not to make it to the ears of others. Though I assure you, gentlemen, I have heard my share of secrets from others highly ranked. Nothing will escape my lips."
"And Mr. San Te," she added, her attention shifting solely to him. "I am quite certain that you are not like everyone else. I would never make the mistake of assuming as much." Her carefree smile returning, she directed the conversation once more to the two men to facilitate their meeting. "So, gentlemen, how long has it been since you last met? The General would make it seem an eternity! And what of Mr. San Te's elusive mention of Pi Cho? General, do not tell me that you haven't inherited the same skills as your granduncle..."
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Post by Iroh on Aug 10, 2012 8:34:05 GMT -5
Iroh raised an eyebrow at Raisa and San Te, inwardly plotting. He thanked Raisa for refilling his cup and sipped it as she spoke and gracefully served them fruit. He wondered idly if all airihana were as light and delicate as she by nature, or if it was a learned trait. The ridiculous thought of a clumsy Raisa made the corner of his mouth twitch into a smirk.
Raisa asked about Pi Cho and Iroh laughed out loud. "No, my dear, I am afraid that I did not gain my granduncle Iroh's knack for that convoluted game. Battle strategies and war plans, yes. But for the life of me I can't beat this son of a rabbaroo no matter how hard I try! And he doesn't like me to forget it, either." He glanced at San Te. "I still say he cheats."
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