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 Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 10:58 am
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The tea shop was a soothing place, it was full of all kinds of calming smells that seemed to seep right down into a soul and warm it from the inside out. Khalla was a frequent visitor, especially when something was troubling her and she wanted to clear her head. Something about the atmosphere of the shop just helped her thoughts better than any other place in Destiny City.
So Teasvatta was where Khalla had chosen to be in the middle of her crisis, sitting at a corner table and nursing a cup of tea between her hands. It was warm and comforting and the scent that rose from it was strong. Sadly, Khalla couldn't even remember what she had ordered and despite having paid for it, she seemed to have barely taken a sip. Instead, she was just staring into the translucent liquid like it held the answer to all her troubles.
It had all started a couple of days before, when she was waiting for Amara to get home so she could finally get some advice on this Rohan situation. Only, Amara never came back to the dorm. Instead, she was greeted by one of the school counselors. Apparently it was protocol to inform someone that their roommate had been in a terrible accident while simultaneously pushing the school's counseling program on them. Khalla hadn't believed it until she went to the hospital where she found the halls packed with families and friends, victims wheeled in and waiting on rooms in the hallways. Only, as she had walked through the over-crowded lobby hoping to find Amara's parents, she had seen other faces she knew instead, family of other friends.
When she finally heard the names of all of the victims, there were seven people she knew. They weren't all her best friends, but Amara and Gabbie had both been claimed by the freak accident. She'd have been a fool not to think it had something to do with the second life of the city, but she was too hurt to put on her Sailor facade and go searching for answers right now.
Khalla frowned as she felt the pinpricks of tears welling up in her eyes for what was surely the hundredth time that day. She unwrapped a hand from her cup of tea and scrubbed the back of it against her eyelids, trying to erase any sign of her weakness. She was so tired of crying that she almost felt physically ill. An employee nearby stared at her for a moment, then looked away in sympathy. If Khalla noticed, she didn't show it, but instead went back to staring at her cup of tea.
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Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 12:26 pm
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Vera did not usually visit tea shops; she'd stopped drinking tea the first time she'd been sent to a boarding school away from her mother. She had a faint, lingering fondness for the drink, however, and she knew Janice liked tea. Liked almost anything caffienated, really. Vera had a few slightly obscure prejudices, and held the firm belief that coffee wasn't really worth drinking. So, Janice would be getting tea.
There wasn't any real reason for the gift, except that they had been not quite arguing with each other, and Vera felt that such a gesture was needed. Also, tea was far more soothing to prepare and drink than coffee. And while Janice might not need soothing, she could use a distration, even for a little while. They all could.
There were several Negaverse officers in the hospital with comas, along with several other incidental people Vera honestly didn't care about. To be absolutely honest, there were really only two victims of whatever had happened that she cared even slightly about. Well, she only cared about Charonite because he was the General-King, but also because it was obviously tearing Ursula apart to have him like that. Vera had a lot of doubts about being a Negaverse agent, but she was loyal. To the Queen, her General-King, and her handler, in that order. Hematite didn't even enter into the equation, and really never had.
Most of Vera's concern, however, was directed at what baffingly appeared to be the only animal to fall into a coma. Grendel had been affected by whatever had happened, and he was being cared for at a vetinarian's office. Nominally Ursula's charge, Vera had been asked to look after the guardian cat. She would have done so anyway, as the corrupted senshi felt a strong sense of responsibility to the cat. But Ursula had asked, and Vera had gravely reassured her Queen that the cat would be taken care of.
She shook off the gloomy thoughts for now and looked around curiously. There were tables set up for people to sit while they drank cups of whatever tea they'd gotten from the canisters behind the counter. Vera wasn't quite sure what Janice would like in a tea, so she ordered a cup for herself, something light and fruity to sip on while she thought about it. Most of the tables were empty, but as the pink-haired girl looked about the shop, she noticed Khalla sitting by herself in a corner. She looked terribly sad, and it tugged at something in Vera, something that made her go sit down at the table.
"Are you alright?" she asked gently with a soft, wistful smile on her face and sympathy in her deep purple eyes.
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Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 1:36 pm
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Khalla was startled by the sudden company that sat down at the small table across from her, her solemn eyes rising quickly to see who had barged in on her alone time. One quick glance told her that she didn't know this girl, but she did know the look that was on her face - it was one that Khalla often wore when she barged in on sad, lonely strangers that looked like they needed some help or just a shoulder to lean on.
"Yes," she lied in reflex, then sighed and used a finger to turn her teacup around in a full circle. She glanced down at it momentarily and considered the pros and cons of talking to this stranger. Didn't she expect people to open up to her? Didn't she know how much it helped them once they did? It wasn't like she had any friends left to..
"No," she shook her head sharply, answering both her own thoughts and the girl in front of her. She tapped her fingers against the teacup and looked back up at the pink-haired girl, her frown set in place. She was considering how best to answer her and how much she should explain. Then with a small shrug she simply waved her hand at the windows. "I'm sure you've seen the news and their coverage of that accident," she pursed her lips a little here and paused, as if she wasn't sure that was the right word - after all, the news channel had barely been able to tell them what it was at all. "I have a.. few friends that were affected."
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Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 9:14 pm
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 3:01 pm
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Khalla finally picked up the tea that she had been stewing over for so long and set the cup against her lips. For a moment it looked as if she might blow on the liquid to cool it down - then she remembered that she had been sitting there so long that it was probably a perfect temperature already, if not starting to cool down past an enjoyable one. She took a sip, then set her hands back down, the cup resting in them but not quite on the table.
"It seems like everyone I know was affected," her voice had an air of sadness to it that she wasn't even going to try to hide - the girl already knew that she was upset, so why disguise her problem now? "But you're right," this thought made her pause, her eyes drifting out to look at the little shop around them. She narrowed them at nothing in particular, as if in that moment she might have some grand epiphany concerning everything. After a moment, she simply shook her head and glanced back at the bright-eyed girl across from her. "The worst part really is not knowing what happened, or what will happen."
She brought her tea back to her lips to take another sip, then set it down in front of her carefully. "I came here to just get away from it all. It's like everywhere I look it's on the TV, or someone is talking about it. It's quiet here." Or it had been, until this stranger had sat down to coax her story out.
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 7:08 pm
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Vera took another sip of her tea; the fruity flavor reminded her of peaches and she made a mental note to look up what the ingredients were. It was a very comforting taste and aroma, whatever it was. "Everyone?" she echoed back, looking slightly startled. That would be pretty unbearable, to lose the majority of the people she knew and depended on to something like this. "I'm sorry to hear that," the pink-haired girl said, feeling utterly inadequate to offer any further reassurance. Simply saying 'I'm sorry' never felt like enough, but it was usually all she could offer.
She spun the cup about idly and winced slightly. "I'm sorry," Vera said again, looking apologetic for having bothered Khalla. She valued her privacy and the time she could spend quietly alone; talking to someone like this was rather abnormal. "I don't mean to be a bother." She looked questioningly at the other girl; if Khalla really wanted to talk, she'd stay. Otherwise, she'd get her gift for Janice, and some tea for herself, and be on her way.
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:11 am
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Khalla was staring blankly into the depths of her tea cup once again when Vera's startled expression reached her. She glanced up at her, her mouth open a little as if she were going to say something, but she only stared at her for a moment in silence. "Uh, not everyone, that's kind of an exaggeration I guess," she frowned a little, her brows furrowing as she tapped her fingernails lightly against the side of her cup. The soft 'tink, tink, tink' from her nails seemed to be a little reassuring at least.
"My grandmother and my, uhm, boyfriend are okay." She hesitated over the word 'boyfriend' - it was still foreign on her tongue. That wasn't something she wanted to think about right now though, not when the only people that could help her with that were in comas. The whole thought process brought on a pang of pain though and she sighed and took another sip of tea to try and wash it away. "It's not your fault though, you don't have any reason to apologize so much." She sat her cup back down on the table and smiled sadly up at the pink-haired strange.
"I'm sorry, where are my manners," she seemed to only just realize that she hadn't introduced herself in all of her sulking. She sighed and shook her head a bit, one hand brushing hair back from her face and rubbing slightly against her temple. How was she being so awfully forgetful? "My name is Khalla," she managed finally, offering her other hand across the small table between them.
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Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:03 pm
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"Oh, but," Vera said, shaking her head a bit, sending the tips of her ponytails wiggling, "A lot of close friends, yes?" She took another sip of tea, trying not to think about what would have happened if Janice had been caught up in the wake of the disaster. It hadn't happened, and the only friend she'd lost, really, had been Grendel. Who was a cat. "It might be an exaggeraton," Vera smiled,as if amused by a private thought, "There's still a little truth to it."
She bit back another apology, smile turning wry. "Nervous habit," she admitted, twisting her cup slightly in her hands. She never apologized that much around her best friend, but the steps of that dance were old and familiar, although they had become much less so recently.
"Vera," she said in reply, taking Khalla's hand and shaking it. "Vera Valentine." She looked happy, purple eyes warm, as if glad that Khalla hadn't politely asked her to mind her own business and go away. "I don't think I've seen you at Meadowview?" Not that that meant much; Vera had only been in the school since January, which was about how long she'd actually been in Destiny City.
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Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 9:57 pm
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"Yes, that's true, a lot of close friends." She smiled slightly, though if it was because what Vera said was true or simply in response to the way she was smiling was yet to be seen. With all of her friends in comas, she had been starting to forget what it was like to talk to strangers. Had she ever divulged such private things to anyone before? She wasn't really sure.
"It's alright, I've seen my fair share of that habit, actually. I'm used to it." And she was - people always called the self help line and were always apologizing for the tiniest things that often weren't their fault at all. Nerves made people do the oddest things sometimes.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Vera," she dropped her hand back to her tea cup and half laced it with the one already wrapped around the mug. She actually meant that too - this small conversation had done wonders at alleviating the loneliness that had been threatening to swallow her whole at the news of this terrible fiasco. "Oh, that's because I go to Crystal Academy," she smiled slightly at this, and had it been under better circumstances she probably would have laughed a bit. "It's a nice school and my grandmother insisted I go there, though I hope you won't hold it's uh.. somewhat snooty reputation against me." At least she knew where she could find Vera now, should she ever need to.
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:26 pm
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Vera nodded slightly, sympathetically, but didn't say anything further, merely playing her cup of tea again for a moment. She looked relieved that Khalla seemed to be taking her excessive apologizing in stride. This was all so very different from talking to Janice, or even to Spinel. But, she reasoned rather philosophically, everyone was different and required unique ways of dealing with them. "I'm not," she murmured quietly, taking another sip of her tea to cover her words slightly.
Another bob of her head indicated that she felt the same; it was nice to meet someone else, even under such strange and sad circumstances. "Why would I hold that against you?" Vera asked curiously. "I was supposed to go there, but I talked my mother out of it." All the pink-haired teen knew about Crystal was that Janice didn't really approve of the school, and had gone off on more than one rant about why. Rants that Vera had learned to tune out, though she tried not to let her friend catch her not paying attention. That would be rude and inconsiderate, something she'd almost rather die than be to Janice.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 1:32 pm
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Khalla's eyes narrowed just a fraction as she heard what she thought was some kind of murmur over Vera's tea sipping. She wasn't the rude type that pried into things better left unsaid, however, so she just let it pass. She was curious, but not enough to push this sudden companionship away with prying questions. She just pushed her cup aside, to the edge of the table, and folded her hands on the tabletop instead.
"Oh, well, some people tend to turn their noses up at Crystal girls," she shrugged lightly at this, but the sad smile on her face should have been enough hint for anyone. Khalla didn't like being judged solely upon her membership at Crystal, but then, she had a nasty habit of judging others for their unfortunate enrollment at other schools. Like a certain green-haired Hillworth boy. "It's not a bad place though, and I've made a lot of.. friends." She hesitated over the words, but covered it with a smile. Rohan certainly wasn't a friend, but there was no need to get into that.
"Why did you talk your mother out of going there?" She tried instead, switching the subject from herself to Vera. She felt like she'd been doing an awful lot of talking about herself anyway.
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Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 2:33 pm
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Vera looked interested at her explanation, nodding slowly. "That's a silly reason," she said with a small shake of her head that sent a ripple of movement through her pink hair. "But people do things for silly reasons all the time," the girl continued with a smile that was an echo of Khalla's. Mental antennae quivered at the hesitation over the word 'friends', but Vera wasn't one to pry. If Khalla didn't want to talk about it, that was fine.
"Mm, well." Vera waved her free hand absently. "I have a friend who goes to Meadowview and since I didn't know anyone else here..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. She'd been in Destiny City to attend Barren Pines, but that had not been an actual school. At all.
She'd stayed in town because of Janice, the friend she'd made at Barren Pines. And that had led to some rather unexpected discoveries. Like, who had been behind the school. And other things that Vera occasionally wished she'd never heard about or experienced.
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:42 am
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Khalla simply shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly, little more than a tiny shift. "I know it is, but it happens, these things are inevitable." Somehow, talking about such inconsequential things as school rivalries and reputations seemed to help. Mundane, unimportant chatter was a good way to take her mind off of all the awful things at hand.
"I can see how that would be more appealing," she nodded at that, curling one hand under her chin and propping her elbow on the table. The position made one long dread tumble forward over her shoulder though she hardly noticed, giving it no more than a small glance. Sometimes she still wasn't used to the heavy things. "I suppose if I didn't have friends at Crystal I'd probably be miserable there, though my best friend does go to meadowview herself."
And then all thoughts she had banished came rushing back. Her face fell a little, but an instant facade came to replace it. She was just hiding behind smiles, like always. If she could pretend that Gabbie was okay, not in a hospital bed in an unexplainable coma, then she could act like nothing was wrong. Too bad some people were just as good at reading others as she was - not everyone would believe her false hope.
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:01 pm
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"True enough," the pink haired girl replied slowly, taking another sip of her tea. History certainly seemed to be littered with examples of turning one group of people into Other - it seemed to simply be part of human nature to differentiate based on such silly things. With a sigh and small shake of her head, Vera attempted to clear off such melancholy thoughts.
A brief bob of her head indicated agreement with the sentiment; friends made all the difference. She'd been about to ask who Khalla's friend was - unlikely that Vera would know who it was, but you never knew - when the blonde's facade crumbled just a little bit.
Enough so that even Vera could make a few guesses. "I," she said instead, curling her fingers around her cup, "She's in a coma, isn't she?" Vera smiled again, trying to look compassionate. It bothered her, hurt more than a little, to see others in pain like this. It was why she'd stopped to talk to Khalla.
That sort of compassion likely made her entirely unsuitable for the Negaverse, but Janice hadn't noticed how Vera felt regarding the whole thing. Which meant no one else had either.
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 12:27 pm
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The few bricks Khalla had managed to put back together from her crumbling wall came falling down again as Vera pinpointed the reason for Khalla's suffering without any trouble. Was she really that obvious, or was Vera just really good at this? With her mind clouded as it was she had trouble figuring it out. She just knew that there was no more hiding.
"Yes," she said softly, staring down at the wood grain pattern of the table, like it might hold secrets within its swirls. "She and others," she said softly, pursing her lips even though it did nothing to stave off the swell of emotion that was creeping ever-so-slowly back onto her face.
She glanced back up at Vera slowly, drawing a deep breath that was meant to steady herself. The last thing she wanted to do was break down crying in public, let alone with a stranger she had only just met. "I don't mean to wallow about it," she said finally, "I've been trying not to let it get the best of me but sometimes it's inevitable. It's such a big story everywhere that there's no escaping it." And she was right - it was on the news, in the newspaper, on TVs in restaurants and department stores. The little tea shop had been a quiet comfort, but even it was not permanent.
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