When you wish upon a... well, when you make a wish. [COMPLETED]

[ms_ema_skye]

Who: Ema, tagging Yuko
What: Ema ends up in Yuko's teahouse by accident, but decides to make a wish while she's there.
Where: um... Yuko's teahouse *points up*
When: After Ema oh-so-stupidly offered herself up to Matt via email
Rating: um... worksafe? Probably no worse than PG.
Open: 'fraid not.

God damn these doors.

Ema swore they were playing with her

Comments

[spacetime_witch]

Being quite an old, traditional teahouse, there was a walkway attached to it that went around a small courtyard garden in the back. The plants were long gone, but the walkway itself was offering Yuko some shelter while she tried to scrub off a mirror using the pouring rain. She had a water mirror, part of the kitsune mirror she had brought with her, and with this gigantic full length mirror she had found in what had probably once been the proprietor's room, she was probably just about ready to tell fortunes properly again.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"Yuko started. Who could have gotten into the teahouse without tripping up one of the wards she had laid around the edges? She tapped the mirror in front of her and saw an image of a frightened-looking young girl in a lab coat looking around. Behind her was the bathroom door, one of the two real doors in the entire place. So that was how she got in

[ms_ema_skye]

Quite frankly, Ema didn't know what to make of this woman. The odd dress didn't faze her at all--there were so many people from so many places that an unusual outfit wasn't really all that unusual. However, something seemed... strange about her in a way that Ema couldn't empirically put her finger on. Then again, Ema had been in the city long enough to realize that science meant almost nothing here.

At least the woman didn't seem threatening, merely neutral.

Ema attempted a smile. "Y-yeah. I have really bad luck with doors in this place--they ship me all over the place. I'm really sorry about the intrusion." She paused for a bit, then added. "My name's Ema."

[spacetime_witch]

Yuko smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ema. I almost had a bad run-in with a door myself. Since then, I keep them all open. This teahouse is old, its nearly all paper screens i can keep open a few inches. Its just the front door and the bathroom door that have real doors on them that must be kept closed, I'm afraid."

She shifted the weight of the mirror to her other hip and closed the paper screen door partway behind her.

"My name is Yuko. I've been staying here for a little while now." She studied Ema carefully. "You seem a bit out-of-sorts. Would you like to have a cup of tea and relax a little?"

[ms_ema_skye]

Out-of-sorts wasn't the half of it. It seemed like ages since Ema had felt... well, like herself. Ema had practically forgotten what that sensation was like by now.

Still, she attempted another polite little smile. "Nice to meet you, Yuko." She squirmed a little--tea would be very nice, although she wasn't sure if accepting foodstuffs from a stranger would be a great idea, given her track record. But then again... she was hungry, and tea would be nice after days of instant food and stale bread. Anything with a flavor would be heavenly.

Food won. "Tea... would be nice. Thank you."

[spacetime_witch]

Yuko smiled broadly. "You agree then." She closed her eyes and made a fist with her right hand. For a moment, the room seemed to grow slightly darker, and small sparks of electricity darted out between her fingers. Suddenly, the world became lighter, the electricity disappeared, and Yuko opened her eyes and her hand.

Floating in her palm was a small butterfly, about the size of a marble. It fluttered and parts of it seemed to be an iridescent purple, but this beauty was intermixed with times when it was such a deep black it didn't even reflect light. It was crackling faintly.

Yuko caught the butterfly between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand, and held it out to Ema. "Swallow it quickly, and don't use any tea to help it down."

[ms_ema_skye]

Ema watched, wide-eyed and completely fascinated. Magic was nothing but careful lighting and parlor tricks in her world. Yuko's magic was real.

The instructions were just shy of ridiculous, however. Swallow a butterfly?! It was a magic butterfly, yes, but still... it was weird.

However, Ema was not about to bicker with Yuko over things she didn't understand. Gently, she took the butterfly from Yuko and swallowed. While it didn't go down terribly easily, she didn't choke on it like she anticipated.

[spacetime_witch]

Another half-smile from Yuko. She was quite surprised, it appeared. I guess there really is no such thing as real magic in her world, she thought

[ms_ema_skye]

Ema listened quietly and watched as Yuko moved around the room, setting out bedding for her. When Yuko asked for her ID, Ema removed it and set it on the table without a second thought. The ID would be much more useful to Yuko than it would be to her. Additionally, it was a weapon that she would gladly give to Yuko, since the woman had done so much already.

The other stipulation, however, was a bit harder to swallow. There went her plans to protect everyone from Matt's wrath. She worried a bit silently, but quickly found herself too tired to fret too much. She yawned a bit and decided that she would figure out the particulars when she felt more awake.

She went over to the futon and crawled into it. "Thank you, Yuko."