* [semi-closed post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan is still struggling, but she's established a little routine, specific to Dark: every morning, she goes to her favorite room - the one with all the rugs - and retrieves several bottles of alcohol. These, she ferries down to the cafe and arranges them on a corner table, where she sits for the next hour or so, passing bottles to anyone who needs a full one, and measures from the bottles to anyone who would prefer just a drink or two. By now, she's got a sense of the regulars, their preferences (though she cannot always accommodate these - it really is the queerest assortment of libations), and how much they require, but she always brings an extra bottle or two just in case.

Today, she's tireder than normal, and moving slowly. Her tea was running low, and so she's rationing it. She's even on the verge of capitulating and getting a cup of coffee to tide herself over.


[Primarily intended for Dionysus and Lan Wangji, but if anyone wants to play out the awkwardness of the daily alcohol retrieval I'm all in!]

Comments

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, I'm fine," says Susan. She's just ever so tired. She tilts her head. "Did you sort out what type of sword it was? The one that - Lancelot told me what happened the other day."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji looks away, only so that he is not making eye contact with a relative stranger when the pain of the memory strikes him. His face is mostly unchanged, aside from a little added tension to his jaw. "No. I do not recognize it."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Lancelot said he didn't, either," Susan says, mind whirling. "Suppose it's one from one of the other sorts of worlds people here come from? Or - I wonder if it isn't described in a book lying about somewhere."

[lightbearinglord]

It's a worthy idea. Lan Wangji looks back at Susan once he's certain he's mastered his expression. "The library is expansive. I will see what I can find."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I could help," Susan offers. "I know little about swords but I've been inventorying the books." The ones on the shelves, at least, have not changed with this new queer season, and since everything else has gone all strange and skewiff, then her only recourse is to finally tackle the library.

[lightbearinglord]

"I would appreciate your help," Lan Wangji says after the briefest of pauses. He touches Bichen where it sits at his hip. Anything he can learn about that sword may be useful.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Of course," says Susan. She remembers something then, and tilts her head. "You're fond of swordplay, are you not? You mentioned it on your survey.

[lightbearinglord]

That seems almost overwhelmingly evident, given the sword currently on his person, but Lan Wangji gives her a little nod regardless. He had nearly forgotten about that survey, which he completed entirely out of fondness for Nina. "Mn."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Have you any experience with demonstrations of skill?"

[lightbearinglord]

That piques a slightly more genuine interest, perhaps evident in the way his gaze sharpens. "I have participated in archery and night-hunting competitions."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I think we ought to have a tournament of sorts," Susan says. "My hypothesis is that if we've got a better sense of each other's abilities, we'll be more quickly able to sort out how to respond collectively to problems like the walking dead."

[lightbearinglord]

Something like the proposed magic salon, then, but for martial ability rather than magic or other similar abilities. Lan Wangji nods again. "It is a wise idea."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I've asked Lancelot to organize this," Susan says. She doesn't need to mention that this is a gift; obviously, organization is a delight unto itself. But Lancelot does fret so about details. "But I think we might both appreciate it if you would consult. I know very little about how to accommodate cultivation into such an event."

[lightbearinglord]

Lancelot was a worthy sparring partner, and he tended to Magnus in a time of need, a time when Lan Wangji should have been there and was not. His interest remains sincere. "I will, then," he agrees.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Good," with a firm nod. "Thank you."

[lightbearinglord]

He has not yet actually done anything worth her thanks, but Lan Wangji bows again in answer, out of politeness, before he turns and goes in search of whatever tea the café may see fit to offer. He doesn't anticipate an overly successful search.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Are you looking for anything in particular?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Tea," he answers promptly, but even he realizes that is not a particularly illuminating answer and glances back at Susan. "Green or oolong."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I believe there might still be some in the cabinet," Susan says. "It's running awfully low but there ought to be enough."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji strides over to the cabinet in question and opens it. He frowns at what he sees inside, which is, indeed, inarguably tea, but which is not in the form factor to which he is accustomed. He picks up a tin, opens it, and narrows his eyes down at the teabags within. "It resembles Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale's tea." His voice is so utterly neutral that the sheer neutrality of it may give away his feelings about that tea-drinking experience.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"It's popular in Britain. I'm afraid I've not seen green tea outside of Shen Yuan's supply, and that was ages ago."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji would rather drink nothing but plain water for the remainder of his life than stoop to asking Shen Yuan, of all people, for tea. "Do you also come from Britain?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I did. London, specifically. Same as Thomas, though I believe he arrived from a point several decades in my future."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji picks up a teabag between two fingers and eyes it skeptically. "Some things do not improve with time."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You needn't drink it if it's not to your taste," says Susan, who rather likes it and is worried about supply.