A Very Happy New Year [Open, Mingle Log]

[meds4sale]

Who: The Medicine Seller and You
What: A rather informal (emphasis on the former) hatsugama. Come get your tea and mochi.
When: January 9th
Where: At The Mossy Fox.


Content Warning: Mischievious but otherwise harmless spooks for those who might go wandering. Because of course he would live in a haunted house.

I. HATS OFF FOR HATSUGAMA


A. Arrival
It wasn't like the Medicine Seller could have lived somewhere less remote; that might make things convenient, and unfortunately he doesn't have a single ounce of convenient sensibilities. The journey to the Mossy Fox is, for most, a long one, up twisting paths through the woods. Helpfully, brightly coloured paper lanterns have been set out along the route for those who expressed interest in the tea ceremony, and for those who just need an escape from the bitter chill, and some of the steeper parts of the trek have been shoveled free of snow.

The Medicine Seller greets any arrivals, polite and aloof as ever, but there is hot tea or chocolate and bowls of o-zoni are served around the fire pit to ward away the winter chill and to give his guests time to mingle and any stragglers to make it up to the remote home in the heavy snow.

B. First Tea Ceremony of the Year
When it seems no more are coming, the Medicine Seller leads the group from the kitchen area to the spare room. It's quite a bit chillier in here without any heat source and poor insulation, though there are several kotatsu set up so his guests don't freeze waiting for their tea and sweets.

The process of making the tea is explained, from each component such as the portable little charcoal heater, to the delicate whisk, to say nothing of how a careful, deliberate process such as preparing tea might help with counteracting the psychological elements of corruption and beasthood.

Three at a time little bowls of a thick, green tea are served, coupled with plates of the hanabira mochi. The tea lacks the usual bitterness one might expect, tasting a bit how freshly cut grass smells; lightly sweet and earthy. The mochi too is pleasant; chewy and sweet but not overly so.

II. YOU'D BEST START BELIEVING IN GHOST STORIES...

The Medicine Seller's home is... eclectic. If one were to go wandering, they may see all manner of oddities; books and charts detailing diseases and treatments, curious knicknacks and pottery, an odd collection of clockwork toys that don't seem to work, scandalous literature... with pictures, various alembics and other chemistry equipment, sheaves of herbs and other plants hanging up to dry, and things in dusty jars best not to speculate too hard on.

Perhaps that clockwork doll begins to move suddenly, or you catch sight of a giggling child scrambling up the stairs out of sight, or perhaps there is a peculiar scratching sound beneath the floor from the the cellar, or the dulcet tones of an elegant sounding woman lead you out to the orchard.

Whatever the case, there is something very strange in the neighborhood.

III. PARTING GIFTS

All good things must come to an end, though there are remaining gifts to give to the guests. Little red paper bags containing samples of tea and incense and boxes of sweets and dried persimmons all tied with omamori in shades of red, pink, or gold. Protections from the darker things that lurk in the gloom of the forests as the sun sets over Trenchwood, and nice things to share with friends and loved ones.

"I do look forward to seeing you again soon," he says with a bow. "Do have... a safe trip home."

code bases by tricklet

Comments

[unphase]

"..really? That works? Because where I left, things would infect people as a whole, leaving no one behind unless they hid themselves in their homes for a week at a time. Which I must admit, I often did. But, interactions...I can do that." She hates the idea of turning into anything other than herself. Odd enough that she can no longer phase and can summon fire now. And ice. And lightning.

"I'm Bgztlian. It's common enough to live for at least two hundred years, even up to three hundred years, at least for Bgztlian women. Though, I barely get to see them, I haven't been on-planet in ages. Occasionally, though, they comm me to let me know what a disappointment I've been." Said with no rancor or condemnation, she knows she's a disappointment by Bgztlian standards.

[onerthes]

"There are some old rules of thumb I've heard of in the past that don't work quite so well. We're often much safer as a group, even in times like that." The idea of making them all one large target occurred to them, but it wasn't just safety in numbers. Closeness protected with corruption.

"I see. So yours is a longer lived people. But why on earth would they think of you as a disappointment? You seem just fine to me." Admittedly, she barely knew her, and she knew all too well her mother's disapproval, though in her case it was because 'you're going to get us all killed.'

[unphase]

"In a group? Even when things are going mad all around us? I only worry about what I could do, the way I am now. I think this place changed me somehow. Other than the squid portion, that's a part I wish I could forget." Where she was, people would go off and do their own things for the most part and she could keep herself hidden away, but it sounds like that option isn't so great here.

"Oh, easy," she starts counting on her fingers, "one, threatening to stay with the Paris Opera Ballet when I was fourteen, two, I joined a super-hero team instead of staying in the diplomatic corps, three, I started dating a Rimborian, basically assumed the scum of the universe, four, I got myself killed while super-heroing, five, I married the Rimborian and had his child, six, the child was a boy, not a girl...it's a lot of social faux pas and if there's something Bgztlians hate, it's social faux pas. That, and losing face in society. Which I also made them do."

[onerthes]

"It's a little ... disturbing." Kind of like calling water a little on the moist side there. But understatement felt appropriate. "I try not to think too long about it, unless I'm in the company of those who joke to relieve stress. The blood you have has probably given you some added traits, but just being there for friends will help, I assure you."

She put her hand to her mouth and coughed, concealing a bit of laughter there. she wasn't laughing at the girl's situation. "Oh... family. You can't live with them. You can't escape them. My mother was convinced I would get all of us killed one day with how brazen and open I was." A shake of her head and a smile. "But if love is what got you in trouble at least in part? It's a good reason to be a disappointment. One must follow one's heart."

A pause. "Hmmm, you mentioned dying. I take it you have ways around that ... pesky condition in your world?"

[unphase]

Tinya sighed quietly. "All right. Friends. I'm sure I can make one or two of those. I used to be very popular back home," but that's a cold comfort now that she's had her trust betrayed and her very being used as another's mask for six months down to the point of imitating her to her husband. She's been a bit leery of people ever since.

And she grins at Vira-Lorr's description of her mother. "I think maybe my mother and yours should compare notes sometime. Or maybe not, it might make them even more strict. No one wants that." And Tinya blushes a little and looks down. Her relationship with her husband was shaky at best when she left, but this isn't the time to mull over that. "It was like I already knew him when we'd first met. Like there was a missing piece in my life and when I met him, I thought 'oh, there it is.' If that makes sense?"

And she flushes more. "Yes. We were able to find another body for me."

[onerthes]

"Oh, my mother had her reasons. I just wasn't willing to live in secret like the rest of our people," she admitted, smirking a bit. "But perhaps it's better that they don't share too many notes either way, though she and I haven't seen each other in more than a century now." And she hadn't bothered to write.

"Oh, that makes absolutely perfect sense. It sounds rather like the idea of true love after all." She beamed as she said that, winking over at her before pausing a moment. "Ah, and you use different bodies? I suppose that makes sense. We ... didn't have the option if the body couldn't be recovered, but they could do wonders otherwise, if you had the coin."

[unphase]

"And I didn't want to live the same life my mother lived, with every detail planned in advance. It was quite the scandal when I decided to change things up a bit." She smirks back. "A century is a long time. Even when one is long-lived." But she knows she'll have to go follow in the family tradition eventually, though not until she's willing to do it.

"Yes, it does. Granted, it wasn't that easy but since when is love easy?" And Tinya blushes. The course of true love never did go smoothly, after all. "Not exactly. I just happened to have a spare."

[onerthes]

"A good plan. Best to live your own life. And yes... a century is a long time, but a lot happened. And in the end, the needs of our tribe were transcended by bigger issues." She shrugged, her smile still mild.

She laughed softly. "Not a bad plan. Have a spare. Oh, how I'm sure a few wished they could do that trick where I come from."

[unphase]

She takes that in silently, then nods. "Even a century can seem like the blink of an eye in times of turmoil."

"Yes. It wound up being very useful." But useful is one word for it. A hostile takeover is another. She wasn't half-Bgztlian and half-Terran, she was half-Bgztlian and half-Carggite. There was another of her floating out in the ether and only the Mistress knew what the missing third of her had become.

[onerthes]

"It really can feel that way at times, like time passes almost lightning fast and you don't realize how long it's been. Sometimes, it also feels like a short time takes forever. It's all perception, but it feels all too real." She shrugged a little.

"Is that practice of producing clones common in your world?"

[unphase]

"Exactly. Like the three years in the other place. It felt like an eternity and a single night at the same time." She realizes she has to be wary here, too, since it seemed to be the nature of the multiverse that odd occurrences were common enough.

"Not exactly. I'm...my maternal line is the most important one on my homeworld. So maybe that earned me an excemption since I'm an only child?" And the odds of her mother and her father reconciling and having another daughter were nonexistent. Her father had sold two of her for gambling debts and her mother's true love was power.

[onerthes]

She simply nodded to the first, sighing a bit. "No, that sounds like exactly the sort of thing that would lead to an exception. I am sometimes a little embarrassed in explaining the situation in my own world, because I know that it comes from a place of privilege. Only the wealthy can be resurrected, and our armies were very well funded. there was need, but many of the foot soldiers could not be so readily saved..." A shake of her head. "Those kinds of resources are difficult for the common people to have."

[unphase]

"The curse of prestige, power, and money," she says a little wryly. She knows most people would kill to be in her position, but it feels like it's suffocating her. But at Vira-Lorr's description, she gives a sympathetic sigh. "It's awful. It's awful to live with it, the perks which come with privilege. Especially when there's no way to pass those privileges on to others."

[onerthes]

"A curious way to put it, but not entirely false either. A human saying... the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." She smiled over at her mildly. "But I think you know well enough that, if you become aware of how many do not have those privileges and you have the least bit of compassion, they become something of a torture in themselves."

[unphase]

"Yes, it does often seem that way." And she nods at the mention of compassion being a torture. "Back home, I was part of a--a team of people with special powers. All of us were teenagers and I kind of became the team confidante. It's hard, carrying one's own emotional weight, but adding in nearly twenty more people? It was easy to get overwhelmed," and she frowns slightly. "Not that I could let on that I was."

[onerthes]

"No, you couldn't I'm sure. Too many were depending on you. And a moment's weakness might be life threatening to the group depending on the situation." A shake of the head. "It was not quite the same. We had armies to support us, but I can imagine the kind of strain that might give a person. I suppose it may help you in facing some challenges this town might give."

[unphase]

"Exactly. We were put in active combat on practically a daily basis. Even when we weren't, we had training," Tinya said. "There wasn't much time to sort out personal issues." Like her marriage, she still wasn't sure if it would work out or not. "I suppose so? And I heard about a job? Night Walkers? That...could work. With my experiences."

[onerthes]

She nodded. Yeah, a lot of that was very similar to her own experiences. "I think, given what you said, that you should be able to find a job within the broader umbrella of Night Walkers. After all, there are many different kinds."

[unphase]

"I know that there are ones who perform? I can dance ballet along with traditional Bgztlian--though that's best done with a crowd. I heard about performing at the Red. It must be so exciting to be able to do so." Her eyes are wide and sparkling at the thought.

[onerthes]

"Yes, quite a few of them are performers like my girlfriend. I, myself, am a fortune teller. It's easy to use that as a performance and bit of counseling in my own way. It can take many different forms. Just like there are many kinds of craftspeople instead of all one sort of architect." More of a role than a specific job really.

[unphase]

"I never would have thought about a fortune teller, but it makes a lot of sense, put the way you do. But I think I made the right choice of profession, I've never been good at making anything aside from the occasional costume." She tries to laugh, but it's likely faltering.

[onerthes]

"Even the ones with no gift to see the future have a way of being entertainers and counselors in their own fashion. It's amazing what a conversation over the cards can do for someone." She giggled. "Sometimes people just need it drawn out of them. And I'm sure you've started down a good path. If you need any introductions, feel free to let me know. I've been trying to visit several places in the district."

...

"Other than the Moss King's haunt. He and I have a bit of history."

[unphase]

"I suppose so. I've never tried to have my fortune read before, Mother wouldn't let me, but it sounds like a fun way to get to know someone and ease their minds." Tinya nodded, looking fascinated. "I'm trying? The other place...it tried divorcing sex from any kind of tenderness or empathy whatsoever. Granted, sex won't be the answer to every question, but I'd like to bring those two things back into it, if I can."

"I'm afraid this is the first time I've heard of it. Is it a locally-owned business?"

[onerthes]

She laughed softly. "Well, stop by my shop one of these days. After all, it isn't as if your mother is here to stop you is it?" she said with a wink. Certainly she saw no reason to not try it out as far as she was concerned.

"Sex... is a powerful thing. It's the kind of thing that you can never truly divorce the heart from. No matter how any try. The attempt rarely ends well." That made her sigh and settle back, her smile a little sad. She'd had a period where she'd tried, just to give herself peace and reprieve from her nightmares of the world they'd been in. It hadn't gone well. "As for the Moss King's establishment? There's a gambling hall in the district. It's hard to miss if you stop by."

[unphase]

"She isn't. And I pray to the Mistress every day that she never shows up," Tinya replied, winking back. Tinya liked to believe that she lived her life solely based on her own preferences, but deep down the requirements of her world still tugged at her.

"...I know. Believe me, I know. But I'd reserve that type of. Service for those I already cared for at least a little. I'm afraid that I'm going to fall in love with many people again and try to balance everything so that no one gets hurt." She'd split her heart in so many portions back at the other world and she still loved Hunk, even if he wasn't her Hunk. But perhaps...no. She wouldn't let herself think of it.