(Untitled)

[general_ginseng]

The old man is careful not to shut the door behind him completely.He is very old, and has the unhealthy look of someone who hasn't seen the sun for a while. His clothes are barely more than rags and rope, and his long, grey hair hangs in greasy, matted strings. He smells, not to put too fine a point on it, as though he hasn't had a chance to

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[knifenfork]

"You're in the Outside Inn, hon." Edna Turnblad says, with a shrug as she folds a pair of pants over her ironing board. "Not the best at explainin it, but it's between different worlds and years. Like a time machine, y'don't control or somethin."

She's ironing by the fire. In the Inn, ironing is probably not necessary for her to do at all. She could just think it and have it done, but ironing is more of a stress relief thing for her. And if she's not doing something she feels restless and useless.

Edna looks up from the iron, surveying the newcomer. "Now don't you look like you just came straight off 'o livin on the streets? You best think yourself up some clothes and a cup of strong tea. Some food ought to do you good too. Go ahead, just think it, and it'll appear. It's all... magical like that."

There's wide hand waving in front of her even wider chest to emphasize the magical.

((OOC: Welcome! I'm Carissa. :D So good to have new players in the Inn! Welcome!))

[general_ginseng]

Iroh laughs. "Oh, not the streets, no." At least when he lived on the streets, he could still beg for money to buy tea. Infinitely preferable to prison.

He peers very curiously at the woman, who isn't like anyone from any of the nations he's seen before. The notion of different worlds makes it easier to accept, as does the offer of tea.

"Is that so? How convenient," he says, and strokes his beard thoughtfully. There's a momentary pause, and then his ragged garments reform themselves into a set of serviceable deep green robes, trimmed with gold. He looks greatly pleased with the transition.

"That is much better. I thank you." He places his hands together and bows slightly to Edna. "Are you the proprietor of this Inn?"

(ooc: Call me Andy. =D Thanks for the welcome!)

[knifenfork]

"Yes, much better. Well, if not the streets how on Earth does a person get to lookin like that? No offense to you or nothin, but only people I ever seen dressed in rags before were bums and hobos, jumpin from train to train."

Edna sets her iron down when he bows at her and flushes a bit, patting her hands together in front of her and touching the side of her face lightly.

"Why, I never- Nobody's ever bowed to me before!" There's a squee of embarrassed delight in her voice. "Me? Oh no! I'm not the proprietor of... of anything! Certainly not in my bathrobes!"

She flushes a darker red and tries to use her big hands to cover herself. "I'm just someone who wandered in that door there just like you did!"

[general_ginseng]

"On my side of the door, it is how we express gratitude and respect." He tucks his hands into his sleeves again and beams at Edna. "I see no reason why nobody should bow to a fine lady such as yourself."

Bathrobes look like standard clothing from Iroh's point of view. Robes are very stylish this season! And, you know, every other season too.

"If I may assume, for a moment - we aren't in the Fire Nation right now, are we? Or the Earth Kingdom?"

She did say other worlds, but he'd rather know for certain.

[knifenfork]

Edna blushes a bit deeper at being called a fine lady. She decides not to mention that she isn't often called a fine lady, either.

"The Fire Nation? And... and Earth Kingdom? No, I shouldn't think we were at either. I've never heard of any such place, but then, I've lived in Boston, Massachusetts my whole life." She offers him a gentle smile, a glint of curiosity in her eyes. "Is that where you're from, hon?"

The idea of leaving her comfort zone scares her to absolute death, but she does enjoy hearing about it.

[general_ginseng]

He's a charmer, this one.

"It is indeed. The Fire Nation is the land of my birth, but I've recently grown quite fond of the Earth Kingdom. My time in the country was most enjoyable."

He means it, too. The Earth Kingdom was a pleasant place, and Ba Sing Se was a much nicer place to live than to attempt to conquer.

"I regret that there is no one to introduce us. Still, may I ask your name?"

[knifenfork]

"What's a place like that like anyway? I know it ain't anywhere in the US of A. Is it called the Fire Nation cause there's volcano in it or somethin?"

Edna is not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, but she's lived an incredibly sheltered life in a time where events are just starting to be set into motion for change.

She folds the rest of the clothing, pressing the steam button on the iron so that a burst of steam wooshes out.

"Oh, of course. Where on God's green Earth did my manners go? I am Mrs. Edna Turnblad. It's so nice to meet you."

[general_ginseng]

"Mrs. Edna Turnblad," he repeats. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Iroh."

Well, if he's not in any of the Four Nations, then the name isn't a problem, now is it? And he does prefer it to Mushi, memorable as the name is.

"Actually, there are several volcanoes in the Fire Nation. Some stories say that the whole island was created by them. Volcanoes hold great spiritual significance for my people."

He beams at Edna again, and removes his hands from the sleeves of his robes. "But you must tell me about your country. I don't recognize any of the places you've named, and I am not poorly-travelled. If you are not too busy, Mrs. Edna Turnblad, would you do me the honor of sharing tea with me?"

[knifenfork]

"Really? I've never seen a volcano before."

Edna Turnblad flushes again and gives him a shy smile at the way he worded the request.

"An honor? Oh, you. You're really too much." She almost laughs from embarrassment, and her cheeks are very red as she covers her face with her wide hand. "Why... why, oh yes. I would like that very much. Thank you."

Edna sets the folded laundry in a basket and thinks away the iron.

She thinks up a cup of the tea for herself. "I'm not actually busy. Doin' laundry and my ironin' is a sort of stress relief for me. If I ain't doin somethin, I can't really sit still and I'm a laundress by nature."

[general_ginseng]

Iroh's tea appears in parts, complete with a tray, teapot, and a small container of dry leaves. He picks up the teapot and, rather than gripping it by the handle, cups it in the palm of one hand.

"Courtesy, my dear, is never too much," he says, settling into a chair next to his tray of unbrewed tea, teapot still in hand. "It is always an honor to share tea with good company. I really cannot tell you how pleasant a surprise this evening has been."

By this time, steam has begun to pour out of the spout of the teapot.

[knifenfork]

Edna is very interested in the interesting way Iroh's tea appears.

"Well, ain't that somethin?" She smiles, wide, in her own simple way she is amazed by the smallest of differences between the own sheltered world she's known and others. "D'you like to brew your own, make sure it turns out all right?"

Taking a sip of her tea, she nods firmly and sets it back down on the table. "I should think so, what with you showin up here in rags and all. Can't imagine what you were goin through on the other side of the door!"

[general_ginseng]

"I had my own tea shop for a while. Tea is one of my great passions in life."

He lifts the lid off the teapot and drops a precise amount of tea leaves into the steaming water.

"Oh, that. Yes." He looks to the side as he sets the lid on the teapot, looking for a moment more like a schoolboy about to be accused of cookie theft than a venerable old tea connoisseur. Or a wanted fugitive. "I assure you, nothing interesting. Merely imprisonment for high treason."

He mumbles the last bit.

"Now you, I am sure you have wonderful stories from your time as a launderess. You must have many fascinating clients."

He looks at Edna with genuine enthusiasm.

[knifenfork]

"Imprisonment? Oh my. I can't imagine you doin' anything worth being imprisoned for! But then, I suppose I have only just met you, but you seem like such a sweet man!" Edna is very sincere with this last statement, even if her hands are shaking slightly at the very idea of talking to someone who's actually been in jail and technically, would still be there if it weren't for the Inn.

"Does that make you a.. a convict? I never met a convict before!"

Edna flushes as he asks her about being a laundress. No one ever really finds such a profession interesting. Not enough to ask her about it with such honest and pure interest.

"Oh, no. Not wonderful. Hardly fascinating, but I do run into some interesting stains. Sometimes they require hard pounding with a rock to get 'em good and clean."

((OOC: I would just like to say EW, stains!))

[general_ginseng]

Iroh looks less comfortable with this subject. "Well, yes, but - I assure you, I am a purely harmless political kind of convict, not the dangerous kind at all."

Is that the grin of a dangerous criminal? No, it's the grin of a perfectly nice man. Who can light you on fire with his kung fu. But that's not so unusual, right?

"I would much rather hear about your world. I'm afraid the names have slipped my mind already. One forgets things more readily, at my age."

Judging the tea ready for consumption, he pours it into his cup and, while the teapot is in his hand, lights the little candle underneath it. By brushing his finger over it.

[knifenfork]

"I wouldn't think you were dangerous. You don't look dangerous! And people get put in prison all the time who don't deserve it." Or that's what she hears anyway.

Edna doesn't pay too much attention to the news, only to the point, where she knows vaguely what's happening and believes most of what the television tells her.

"My world is not at all interes-" Insert gasping and staring with wide eyes at his fingers. "Did you just... light that with your finger?"

She supposes he could have just thought the candle on fire, but he's a little too new to think of that so soon and why the unnecessary finger wave?

[general_ginseng]

"Yes. I am a firebender. I hope I did not startle you