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 Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 5:24 pm
On one of her few days with breathing room, Temperance decided to finally go to the tea shop she'd heard so much about. Well, perhaps not so much, but enough to be interested. She hated the days with extra time. Her clinicals had started and Temperance barely had time to think, to breathe, to rest. That was how she needed it to be. She kept busy, kept her hands moving, didn't think. The door jingled slightly as she stepped in. It was a little before close and wasn't exactly hopping. "Hello?" she said, and immediately felt stupid for saying hello in a shop.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 7:20 pm
Time at work was less time to think, and to be. It kept her away from the nasty thoughts at the back of her mind, clawing at her being. And for now, she just had to focus on tea. Tea and sales. And figuring out what to do with her ever-growing horns, stretching past the point of hiding in her hair. Autumn rubbed one of the horns with her hand, considering it. Would she have to trim them? Or something?
Well, no time to think now. There was a customer. Putting on her best work face, Autumn smiled brightly and headed out onto the floor.
"Hey, welcome to Equinox! How can I--" She never finished. In front of her, was the nurse from the party. Temperance, hadn't it been?
"...I mean, hey! How's it going... Temperance, right?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:40 pm
Temperance looked rather like a deer caught in the headlights. She hadn't expected to see anyone that 'type' of familiar, and was honestly shocked. "Uh... ah.. uh." It took her a bit to find her words. "Autumn, right?" She fiddled with her hands for a second. "It's... it's going, I guess. Listen, I've got a question for you." She beckoned her closer, because it was about ~magic~ and Temperance still felt incredibly weird speaking about it in anything above a whisper. "Oh wait, should I order first?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:17 am
"Go ahead and ask. I can, hopefully, answer anything you need while I'm brewing," Autumn smiled lightly, despite the weary look on her face. After her talk with Shun, things were... different. Guilt clung to her like a parasite, eating away at her every thought and moment alone. But wouldn't it be the same, if she had let Melany die? The guilt of letting someone slip through your hands, when you could've saved them?
"What can I getcha?" She asked, not letting herself go down that lane any further.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 4:41 pm
Temperance frowned and looked around the shop, a slightly bewildered expression on her face. "Well, um, can you recommend me something like, uh, a sleepy tea?" Her rubbed her eyes, the bags underneath dark against her pale skin. "And I ... wanted to ask you - how do you heal?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 4:50 pm
"You too, huh?" A gentle tease, but beneath it, there was a deeper layer of understanding. That misery only borne of feeling that you had personally failed someone. They had both been there, blood on their hands. And now, here they were. Autumn offered her a sympathetic look, then turned for the shelves to go through the loose tea.
"Something lavender, I think," She hummed, pulling down one of the blends. Taking just a bit, Autumn went off to the kitchen, and began making a pot. It'd be good to let her try, and hell. Autumn never turned down a cup of tea. Returning with the steeping pot, she fixed Temperance with an appraising look.
"It's... it's a complicated thing. Short version, a spider and a deer taught me. I'll tell you the long version if you think it's something you wanna learn."
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:17 am
"Only getting worse," she acknowledge with a small but exhausted smile. It had started after Black Friar's and this was just a new layer to scrub clean every night. She watched Autumn poked around the tea, surprised that she began to make a pot. Temperance wouldn't turn down something calming, however. She watched the steam curl lazily out of the pot. "It smells nice. What is it?" Autumn's teachers were met with a quizzical look. " A.. spider and a deer? I mean, I feel like I need to learn, somehow. I'm... I'm studying to become a nurse, but the healing I know. It's not enough. It's never enough."
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 5:54 pm
"I feel you there," Autumn agreed somberly, keeping her attention on the pot of tea. Tea was a faithful constant. You made it right, or you didn't. No moral quandaries, no issues of grey. It was good, or it wasn't. The pot was warm in her hands, a warm present in the dull senses that had settled over her world.
"It's a lavender blend. Lavender's nice and floral, has a relaxing smell as well as taste. It's pretty good," Autumn replied, not looking back to Temperance. At the question of her mentors, she laughed just a touch.
"Pax is the deer- they were at the Faerie Ball. The spider's the patron of the Other Ashdown hospital. ...WAS the patron. A new spider took over," She revised, and she really needed to go visit Georg in the hospital. He'd been alone for a while, if the other spiders even counted as company.
"I'm not... sure how strong I'll be of help. But if you'd like to study with me, I'm happy to teach you."
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 10:13 pm
"Do you have sugar for it, too?" She wanted to be sophisticated and say she took her tea black, but Temperance put honey, sugar, stevia, whatever she could in it to sweeten it. She drew the line at adding cream (except to earl grey; earl grey tea was a beast unto itself). Temperance closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples. "The deer - the one who wanted their outfit to pop. I haven't been to the hospital in other Ashdown. I was kind of afraid of it, to be honest." Afraid it would be opposite the regular hospital or that it'd be some Silent Hill wonderland. "You know, I would, um, like that. Learning with you, I mean." She opened her eyes and smiled at Autumn, her pleasure at the offer showing in her voice.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 4:04 pm
"Yeah! Yeah, I do. Lemme add some." And add some she did. The crystals began to dissolve, eaten away by the still-brewing tea. Wouldn't it be something, Autumn thought to herself. If you could just throw a few sugar rocks at life and make it sweeter?
Christ, she was having a day.
"Pax is a sweetheart. You'll like them, a lot." At that, she managed a soft smile. In the ever-changing world of Other Ashdown, Pax was a faithful constant. A friend in the mess of politics she couldn't begin to comprehend. And where would she be, without them? She couldn't even imagine.
"But I've gotten that before. The afraid of the hospital thing. Was kinda new, since I don't play video games. But... I think you'll like Georg."
When Temperance agreed, Autumn brightened just a bit.
"It'll probably be good for the both of us, I think. I can give you my address, and we can see how it goes?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:00 pm
"The deer has a dear disposition," Temperance murmured. "If you ever want to, you know, play video games, I have a ton at my place." Playing Silent Hill might actually be beneficial, even if there wasn't a cult. Well, she didn't think there was a cult. Anything was possible. She nodded at Autumn's suggestion and pulled out her phone. "Yeah, we can trade off - I should probably get your n-number, too." Learning with someone seemed kind of nice, and anything was better than staying stagnant.
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:30 pm
"You know, I might take you up on that. But, uh. Fair warning. I tend to punch things if I get surprised." A definitely needed warning, if they were playing scary games. A few boyfriends had learned the hard way, trying to hold her hand during scary movies. One had wound up with a black eye, once upon a time. Autumn wouldn't even pretend she was sorry- you didn't ******** with her when s**t was scary. Not anymore, especially.
Coming back with the tea, Autumn swapped the cup in hand for the phone in Temperance's, and plugged in her number.
"You're not allergic to cats, are you?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:06 pm
"I'll surround you with pillows for your punching needs." Temperance almost cracked a smile. She took a deep breath of the steam from the cup, feeling moderately better. "Not allergic to cats, no - why?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 10:49 am
"Cause if you come over, you'll be assaulted by one. My cat's an arrogant s**t and wants everyone to know how great she is." For all that she joked about disliking Rosalinde, the silence would've killed Autumn otherwise. She was loud, brash, and everything Autumn needed to get through the weeks following. How did people live without the ability to talk to animals? It was a luxury she'd grown way too used to.
"How's the tea?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 11:55 am
Temperance sighed. "I like animals a lot, actually. I just can't have one - I'd never be home for them." She took another drink of her tea. "It's good. Do you get commission?"
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