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[whitelotustea]

Name(s): Iroh, EVERYONE [Your Ancient Runes professor is lonely and sick!]
Location: Iroh's Office
Week: 34
Time: All day on the last day of the week
Rating: PG , but subject to change for each person

Comments

[sisterpsyche]

Shalice, having spent most of what seemed like the past forever feeling down in the dumps, managed to rouse herself from her funk long enough to check her journal occasionally. Not that she was hoping there would be a message from Byakuya, or anything. Pompous ass. Even if he'd apologized, he was still a pompous ass

[whitelotustea]

Iroh felt the presence of company near his door, as he had good intuition of when people were around dating back to finding spies during his military days. At the same time, he recognized it as a bittersweet presence, which upset him to the point where he furrowed his brow when he heard Shalice's confident yet softened voice.

"Please, Professor, make yourself at home," Iroh signalled toward a chair near his desk. For another time that day, Iroh shuffled some papers around as though he had completed his work. However, his sickness got in his way of getting ahead of his tasks. He also managed to pull of the warm towel on his head while Shalice shut the door behind herself.

"I am glad to see you, Professor. What can I do for you?"

[sisterpsyche]

Taking a seat at the chair Iroh had motioned toward, Shalice looked the other professor over. "I came to see if you were doing better," she said. Clearly unconvinced by his paper shuffling, she continued. "It looks like you're not."

And it really did look like he wasn't. Shalice was a hard woman to hide things from, and Iroh, while making an admirable effort to appear healthier than he was, was not very successful.

"Do you need... anything?" she asked. "I've got a wine that can kick the crap out of a cold."

[whitelotustea]

Iroh huffed at Shalice's first words to him. "Please, Professor. I am more than okay. Maybe not better, but I can do well on my own. Thank you for the kindness to visit though. It has been a slow day without any real work to do." He looked into the hearth of the fire that had been heating his water for tea. With a small wave of his hand, the fire grew as the teapot began to whistle. "Is there anything I can get for you to drink?"

The older professor laughed with Shalice's offer of wine. "It's still a little bit early for that. Or, with my age, maybe even a little late. I have only had a real drink so many times since I have come here. I am not sure I can handle these kinds of things anymore." His kindness shone in the pupils of his eyes as he looked toward Shalice. "Thank you, professor. I am only hoping I have the personal oppotunity to 'kick the crap' out of this chill."

Iroh, also deceptively good at reading people, noted Shalice's slightly unusual behavior. "I trust all is well with you?"

[sisterpsyche]

"Hmph," Shalice sounded, not believing Iroh for a second, but not wanting to press the matter further. "Of course I've come to visit. If anything was going to drag me out of bed today, I'm glad it was you." She watched idly as he fussed with the fire, smiling slightly. He reminded her a bit of her father, she decided.

"I'll have whatever you're having," she said. "It's tea, right?" The redhead laughed. Of course it was tea. Did Iroh ever drink anything else? Well, there had been that one time... Shalice leaned back in her seat. "You're strong." She waved her hand at him. "That little sickness doesn't know what it's gotten itself into."

Scratching her temple for a moment to hide her surprise, Shalice pursed her lips thoughtfully. Obviously she'd given him some clue as to the unwellness of her mental state. He'd asked in that way people sometimes did when they knew damn well all wasn't well. After several moments, she blew out a deep breath. "It's getting better." She gnawed on her lower lip, a nervous habit she'd never been able to

[whitelotustea]

Iroh chuckled at Shalice, as he was prone to do whenever someone made a compliment to him. "I didn't exactly drag you out. I'm not a general anymore. And if I were, you would be up much earlier than this. However, now that I'm not, I think I value sleeping in much more so now

[sisterpsyche]

Shalice chewed on her thumbnail. "I just mean... I wanted to see how you were. It was enough to make me get out of bed

[whitelotustea]

Iroh went through the motions with the small talk at the beginning of the conversation. Although he never took making tea for a guest lightly, he had been familiar enough with his brewing methods to go through it half-asleep with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. Often times, his tea making was just a method to get to the heart of the conversation.

Once he saw the change in tone and expression with Shalice, he felt a little more assured of her reasoning in coming to his office. Once listening to all that a clearly nervous and distressed Tilman-Sinclair, he raised his hand to stop her from over-analyzing herself further.

He stood firmly in front of her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "What happened...was not as a result of your personal plans. You were not yourself. And, if someone holds you accountable for your actions in a time of great confusion and loss of personal identity for many, they do not truly know the wonderful person you are."

[sisterpsyche]

Fidgeting, tapping her nails against the side of the cup as Iroh, Shalice took in his words. She knew, logically, that he was right of course. But sometimes, even for people like her, maybe especially for people like her, logic and emotion got tangled up and things were hard to make sense of.

"I know," she said, sighing deeply. "I don't even know what it is I think I should have done. Or not done. Or... whatever." She took another sip of the calming tea. "I've told them all nothing was their fault. I don't know why I can't believe the same of myself." She ran a hand through her hair, clearly frustrated. "It's stupid."