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Post by raisa on Oct 18, 2008 6:54:43 GMT -5
Raisa watched, a bit stunned, as Kuang rushed in grabbed a jacket, and said a few rushed words before dashing back downstairs. After the momentary shock of things having moved so fast she looked back at the shelf and traded the soap she had with another bar that, once she applied soap to fabric, she noticed worked much better.
With the proper soap put to use her yukata and obi were cleaner than they had been in a long while. She found a drying press and ran the fabric through several times and though her clothes were mostly dry when she was done they were still a damp cold. Looking around it didn't take her long to spot a clothes line outside one of the windows. Raisa figured a few minutes out in the warm sun and they would be perfectly suitable to wear.
With her clothes hanging outside and nothing left to do Raisa felt a bt odd. SHe couldn't go downstairs in a bathing robe so she kneeled on the floor and sorted the few things she had tucked in her obi. It wasn't much, her fans and her tinting stick wrapped in silk. The red tinting stick had been the only makeup she hadn't sold almost two weeks ago. She hoped that if she found a steady place she could buy new makeup and resume her life as a dancer.
Sitting in the patch of warm sunlight that was falling through the open window, Raisa closed her eyes and tried to imagine the teahouse down to the last detail. The low tables set around the center of the room, business men enjoying a hot cup of tea or some cool sake poured by her youngest sister. Her mother kneeling on the floor with a shamisen in hand, plucking at its strings and filling the room with soft music. And the rice paper doors that opened up to reveal Raisa and her older sister, fans poised and moving slowly to the music. Her father talking to this man and that about one thing or another.
Relaxed Raisa opened her eyes, though the room wasn't like her home back in Omashu she felt as though she was closer to home than she had been in months. She rose to her feet elegantly, like she had been tuaght, and went to the window. Grabbing a handful of the warm fabric she knew it was ready to wear and she pulled her clothes back inside.
She took of the bathing robe, normally she would have been nervous that someone would come upstairs and see her naked she was oddly relaxed and she took her time dressing, making each fold in her yukata perfect before she tied the obijima about her waist. She carefully wrapped the obi around her waist, tying it expertly in the front before twisting the finished piece around so the bow was at her back.
Looking down at the clean fabric she felt so much like her old self it made the last few months like a faint haze, as though they had never happened but she had only dreamed them. She tucked her tinting stick into her obi and went to place her fans there as well, but stopped. She hadn't opened her fans in weeks let alone danced. Flicking open the fans she looked at the beautiful ink painting on the thin fabric and almost mechanically she flicked one fan into the air and cuaght it on decent, closing it in one fluid movement.
In her mind she could her the strings of the Shamisen being plucked and she began moving with the fans like she had in Omashu. So lost in her own world she didn't even know how long she had been upstairs or if anyone was coming up said stairs.
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Post by kuang on Oct 18, 2008 21:17:59 GMT -5
Kuang patted her chest in relief after about half an hour of running back and forth to wait tables and such. She looked over at the extremely small amount of customers left (it was well past lunchtime anyways), and said to her uncle who was waiting alongside her,
"Mind if I go?"
He laughed, and nodded.
"Made a friend, then?"
Kuang pouted a little bit, then nodded. Her uncle was well aware of her curiosity in foreigners, (thanks to their wonderful stories) and loss of interest in regular citizens (she knew all the local fairytales already). He shook his head smilingly, and said,
"Introduce me when the restaurant closes. Have fun."
Kuang glued a grin to her face, and set the tray she was using on the counter after bolting through the kitchen door (to the surprise of her aunt). She walked quietly up the stairs, meaning to scare Raisa from behind, only to find the door slightly ajar. Kuang used her well practiced stalk- "following skills" to slip in between the gap unnoticed. She was rather taken aback at what she saw.
Raisa was dancing, arms moving fluid, like gracefully prancing water. Kuang unconsciously sat on the floor, her head and eyes following every movement. Kuang could easily conclude one thing about her new "friend" -
She was a VERY good dancer.
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Post by raisa on Oct 20, 2008 11:23:22 GMT -5
Raisa moved to the sound of the Shamisen that played in her head and as the last echoing note faded from her mind she snapped her fans shut and clapped the two pieces of wood together. The noise was enough to snap her back into the present and she blushed feverishly to see Kuang sitting on the floor watching her, though a small bit of her felt releived that she wasn't laughing. Actually it looked as though she was in aw of the dance.
"I'm sorry i didn't notice you," Raisa bowed in apology- partly out of respect for an elder and partly to hide her red cheeks, "I just got cuaght up in my past, I suppose I should pay more attention to the present,"
Though she was embarressed about her preformance to a silent room she cuoldn't help but feel so much like her old self, happy to have exicuted the graceful moves in such precision. In a rush she tucked her clothesed fans into the back of her obi.
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Post by kuang on Oct 27, 2008 9:52:11 GMT -5
Kuang smiled, and then shook her head smilingly.
"You should be proud of your performance, Raisa. That's something that you could really go far with!"
Kuang was in honest admiration of the graceful friend she had made, and had a sudden urge to try to do the same. She looked at Raisa, and the at her hands, and her feet. She tried to position them properly (to much fail), and glared at her oddly placed limbs with a perplexed sort of look. She then bit her lip, and said,
"Think I can do it too?"
Kuang laughed sheepishly, adjusted her tunic a bit, and held up her hands, attempting to mimic the moves that Raisa was showing off earlier (rather oblivious to Raisa who was watching). She then looked up at her hand, and with a strange, awkward jerk, tried to bring her hand down. She shook her head, and pouted. Kuang stopped for a moment, and looked up at Raisa again.
"I'm doing this completely wrong, aren't I...?"
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Post by raisa on Oct 27, 2008 12:33:16 GMT -5
"Most definatly," Raisa said, but she was smiling, a rather sincere and cheery smile which was something that had been long vacant from her face.
"Here," She pulled her fans back out and handed on to Kuang, "now don't worry if your not perfect, I've been practicing since I was a little girl,"
Raisa stood parallel to the girl and looked over at her, "I'll do it slowly, just try to follow," She smiled again and snapped open her fan, the painted sakura tree and all it's pink buds looking anxious on their silk to be moved. She dipped her arm down and in a rolling motion she held it up, angling her face down at the floor. Slowly she moved on foot back and as she slid the other next to it she left her fan hand fall, swinging behind her then back in front where she expertly positioned it to hid half her face. She raised her eyes to Kuang, "Now you try,"
She watched, feeling a slight tug at her heart strings. She hadn't had a part in teaching her little sister, but as her mother had tuaght her it was to be her job to teach her duaghters, now she was teaching a stranger and she felt as though much of her life had lead her to this point. She had no family, no husband and most certainly no children, and up until this afternoon she was sure this city would never allow her to dance again, now that seemed to have changed and this girl had changed it. Raisa was more sure now then she ever was of anything that she owed this girl a great deal and it was for more than just a shower and kindness.
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Post by kuang on Oct 30, 2008 2:21:05 GMT -5
Kuang bit her lip and tried her best to mimic the flowing movements of Raisa's arms, but to no avail. Instead, her "dance" was choppy and strange. So concentrated, Kuang stepped to the side once - and fell over her foot onto a table. She blinked, limbs sprawled out in the most awkward and slightly painful positions, and laughed.
There had been many times when she was told to laugh like a lady, hand over mouth, like a bell, but for Kuang, it was impossible. No matter how graceful she was on her own stage, the kitchen, when it came to anything else, she was... Slightly less than the average person. Kuang did not sound like a bell, but more like a braying donkey.
Regardless, she had to admit, although her bottom was slightly sore, it was rather funny. Obviously, she was not cut out for dancing, but it was fun anyways. She looked up at her new teacher, and burst out in laughter again.
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Post by raisa on Nov 6, 2008 9:33:46 GMT -5
"You aren't exactly light on your feet are you," Raisa said. She had collapsed to the floor, clutching her side as she attempted to control side spliting laughter, "Are- are you okay?" She tried to say as she gasped for breath.
She took deep breathes in and out, slowly gaining control as she pulled her self up to lean against the table.
"Maybe I should start with something simpler, like balance," She giggled a bit, but it stopped abruptly when her stomach gave a large and very un-lady like growl. She looked down at her stomach then burst out in another fit of giggles.
She wasn't surprised really that her stomach had giving such a loud protest to neglect, all she had eaten that day was a few bites of squid that she had managed to spot on the ground. She found it most humiliating that she had reduced herself to eating food of the dirty roads, but she got what she could without stealing.
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Post by kuang on Nov 20, 2008 3:54:36 GMT -5
Kuang was still on the floor, holding her sides and laughing for all she was worth. Her ears perked up when she heard Raisa's stomach growl, throwing her into another fit of hysterical laughter. Grabbing Raisa's wrist, she said,
"We're at a restaurant, remember? Let's go get something to eat. My treat!"
Without giving her the chance to answer, she pulled Raisa up from the ground and dragged her down the stairs, tripping over the twenty-sixth step in the process, and almost taking her hostage down with her. Sheepishly, Kuang rubbed the back of her head, and said plainly,
"Whoops, my bad!"
She looked around at the kitchen and said,
"So, whaddaya wanna eat? I can make everything but pork buns, since I fail at making pastries... Though if you'd like to eat those, I'm sure Auntie wouldn't mind doing it!"
Kuang turned to look back with question in her eyes, only to find that Raisa hadn't responded at all.
"Hello? I asked you what you wanted to eat...? It's free of charge, you know, so you can pig out all you want..."
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Post by raisa on Nov 23, 2008 16:14:58 GMT -5
Raisa was easily pulled along, her feet barely touched the stairs making her her near fall that much more scary since she had been in mid air when Kuang slipped.
Now down stairs Raisa felt a bit nervous, she didn't deserve any charity and she felt bad eating their food without paying so she struggled to think of some way she would be able to repay her.
"I can't take without paying, I've already done to much by using your bath and laundry," The only thing she could think of was to work for the Lu's, but she wasn't sure they needed an entertainer and she wasn't a good cook at all. She could probably wait tables, but she wouldn't know until she asked.
"I can't take without paying," she said again, continuing on a different note this time, "but if you need I could work for you. I can't cook, but I could wait tables or even dance on occasion, it's not much, but I would forever be in debt for your kindness if I did not offer," She had been fidgeting with her delicate fingers under the cuffs of her yukata, but she steadied them now and gave a small bow to the older girl.
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Post by kuang on Dec 14, 2008 23:40:26 GMT -5
Kuang stopped short, and then burst out into laughter.
"What, did you think I'd give you food for free? Sure, the washroom and bath, but not food! It's a restaurant, remember? Of course you'll need to work. Especially if you're looking for a job."
She smiled, and continued,
"If you're going to eat here, you're going to pay with a service fee!"
Kuang began laughing again.
"I can't imagine you in this dirty old apron, though... We could definitely use another waitress. Or, we can stick you in a dancer's outfit and have you do the entertainment instead like you mentioned?"
She bit her lip a little, and then continued her strained drag of the younger woman to the always-heated stove. After introducing Raisa to her surprised relatives (most of her friends were old storytelling seniors, after all), she stopped by the cooking pot. She paused, and looked at Raisa, and then back at the pot.
"Anything I can interest you in on our menu?"
Kuang paused again.
"Actually, we don't have a menu. Think you can write one to pay for your meal?"
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Post by raisa on Dec 15, 2008 7:42:47 GMT -5
Raisa blushed deeply, she did feel a bit silly having assumed it was free, but the girl hadn't metioned other wise, but Kuang didn't seem too unsettled by the assumption and seemed more than happy to take her up on the offer.
"I would be happy to write up a menu if you'll list of the foods you offer," She smiled, it wasn't something she was used too especially recently and so the motion hurt her cheeks a bit, "How about I write the menu first and then I'll have something to eat,"
Things felt like they were really looking up, since she had met this girl she was clean and presentable for the first time in months and now she had a job and she knew it would beat wondering the big city day after day in vein.
"I haven't noticed much interest in the style of dancing I specialize in, not here in Ba Sing Se," truthfully she didn't want to dance here, not becuase she didn't think people wouldn't like it, but becuase she didn't think she deserved to. When she danced in Omashu she was considered a bit of a star, a celebrity almost, but after living off of garbage scraps and stolen food she didn't feel like she deserved any kind of pampered position, "Put I'm steady on my feet so i'm sure waiting tables would be doable," she had a feeling being steady on her feet was a good quality for a waitress, though she had noticed Kuang wasn't much for staying upright and absentmindedly wondered how many customers had worn their dinner due to that fact.
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