Hitomi Bread and Goods
Tag: Kamil

Amon was at large. Amon was a large. Amon was at large.

That one thought repeated through her head endlessly after having heard the result of the last match. She could only imagine if her team had won, they would have had their bending taken away. All of them. In front of the whole audience. Not only would it be scary, frightening and traumatic, but humiliating as well. She felt bad for the winners, even if they had cheated to win. No one deserved their bending to be taken away and especially not like that. On the other hand, the same thing could have happened to the Avatar's team and if the Avatar lost her bending, then who would stop Amon and his troops?

It was the weekend and the day of rest for the spirits, as people liked to say, so today was the one day they weren't open for business, her parents very fond of their religion and enjoying a day of rest themselves. She didn't blame them, but one a day like this, she just wanted to work to put her mind at ease, but she couldn't fire up the oven just to make a few snacks, but, thankfully, her dad and brother had made some pie last night and Airi couldn't resist eating away her stress.

Sitting behind the counter of the shop and with a plate on her lap that held a generous slice of pie, she ate it away bit by bit. If the Equalists had attacked such a public place, who wasn't to say they would start attacking shops and homes, pulling people away into the tunnels to have their bending permanently taken away. Her bending was a part of her as much as her toes and fingers were. She needed it. Without it, would she still be the same person? As much as she didn't like the named used to taunt her in school, she would rather be the ditzy firebender rather than the ditz. At least she could have something, some strength to make up for her handicap.

"I'm going to need more pie..."

[/color] she whispered to herself as she took the last bite of her slice, though remaining seating. Though eating the stress away was somewhat relaxing, she didn't want to move just yet back into the dark kitchen that, for every other day of the week, was light by the fire in the stove. [/blockquote][/blockquote]

It was quite amazing how much could happen in such a short amount of time. Like with baking, for example. One instance you’re not looking at much in particular, then suddenly BAM, perfection. Maybe that wasn’t really that great of an example, but he’d always been a little out of it on days where the bakery was closed where he didn’t have much to do. He had already done a fair amount of cleaning and if he continued doing that much longer he'd start enter him doing 'a questionably large amount' of cleaning. But he didn't want to sit around and do nothing, it gave him time to think and he didn't want that time. At least, not right now.

Amon had the ability to take away a person's bending and the thoughts that came with knowledge were less than pleasant. There wasn't all that much for him to worry about, but what about Airi and his parents? On one hand he thought that was pretty amazing and if Amon did that to his family they'd all be non-benders and he didn't have to feel left out. He promptly slapped himself in the face after having that thought; he shouldn't be wishing for that to happen. No he should be worried for them. What if it was Airi's team that had won the Probending tournament? She would have lost her bending! Which would have been great but totally not and he wasn't enjoying his thought pattern. What if the Equalists broke into the bakery and took his entire family's bending away? Aisen was having a bit of a hard time seeing what was so wrong with that other than the damage that would have been done to the bakery, which was missing the point again.

Why did it have to be the ability to take away bending? Couldn't Amon have the ability to maybe give someone the ability to bend? Aisen imagined that to be less traumatizing than the former ability. Ugh, he was starting to feel tired. Couldn't he just do some baking on his own? His parents wouldn't get angry at him, would they? Or at least, that angry. He needed to do something else. If he cleaned anymore, though, the place really would become spotless.

Maybe he had missed a spot somewhere in the shop.

As he dragged a broom with him he doubted there was a missed spot in the shop, but there was his sister, who seemed noticeably troubled. He couldn't even begin to imagine how she was feeling right now, and he felt the need to try and cheer her up somehow. Maybe ask her if she wanted to fire up the oven regardless and make something together. Some sibling bonding to get their minds off of things. Instead the words that came out of his mouth were; "If you keep eating so many sweets you're gonna get fat." Not what he fully had in mind, but it was an attention catching opener, to say the least.

Hitomi Bread and Goods
Tag: Kamil

Airi looked up, seeing her brother standing tall above her, sticking out her tongue at his comment. "Nuh-uh," she replied, a small smile on her lips though nothing too drastic of a change from her previous expression of worry and fear. "You'd have to use more butter for that to happen,"

[/color] she commented in a way that really would only be funny to a family of bakers. Butter sure did make things nice and rich, making it a real treat, though too much would make someone gain more weight than they might want to.

She stayed silent for a few moments, the thoughts of Amon coming back to plague her mind. She wanted to say that she was scared and feared the future of Republic City. Gangsters she could handle well enough to make it out alive, thugs were easy and she didn't mind pickpockets, but knowing that there were people out there that could take her down easily and strip her of the only weapon she had to defend herself was just so frightening.

The woman looked up to her older brother, a small pout on her lips. "You should bring me something to eat,"[/color] she said, poking his leg with her finger, her chin resting on her knees. Then a thought hit her. "What are you cleaning for?"[/color] The kitchen should have been cleaned yesterday night and unless he was making something, there shouldn't have been a lot to clean. Unless she completely forgot that they made another batch of bread.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

OOC: Since kamil hasn't responded in a while I'm moving Airi to another thread. 01/14/2013

Shtiya sneezed. He had come down with a wretched cold — one he suspected was quickly turning into walking pneumonia, not that he'd taken the time to look into it — and the cold weather was not helping. The petite young man was forbidden to go to work that day, and had been asked to stay out of the clinic. Since he lived in the back, that proved... rather difficult, and he'd found himself wandering about in the cold weather for far too long. After some hours, he was chilled to the bone and had snow down his shirt. A cup of tea sounded lovely just then. In a bit of a chilled daze, the young man stepped out into the street, only to hear an angry shout and a very loud honking noise. Shtiya backpedaled quickly, ending up in a snowdrift on the side of the road. Icy cold water soaked into his trousers as he sat for a moment, realizing what had happened.

He swore — but only in his mind, of course! — and scrambled up, brushing the snow off. There was a cafe across the street, the Lotus, and the young man carefully looked both ways before darting across and stepping inside. He tried to knock the snow off his boots at the door, coughing a bit as he did so. What type of tea should he ask for? Something with ginger, probably.

Making his way to the counter where a smiling woman stood, Shtiya smiled a little in return. "H-hello," he said. "I — I'd like a small pot of ginger tea, please." He knew he ought to ask if they had food, also, but he didn't want to stretch his money too much. Typically he'd just make himself something at home, but he had to wait until business hours were over to even go home! Stupid cold. The young man waited for her to quote a total before digging out his yuans, carefully counting.

The young Waterbender opened his mouth to say that he didn't need a towel, but his blue eyes widened as he remembered Amon's recent attack on the arena. It wasn't wise to go around showing off as a bender just then, was it? As a matter of fact, he couldn't be sure the shop owner wasn't an Equalist herself. Shtiya bit his lip and looked at the floor. "Y-yes p-please," he said quietly, voice dropping in volume as the fear of what could be possible welled up. "And d-do you m-—--ind if I use your t-toilets?" He waited for directions and the towel before scampering off, hiding in the bathroom to bend the water out of his boots and trousers.

Depositing the water carefully in the sink, Shtiya made sure to leave the outer layers like his jacket wet and used the towel on his thick black hair. When he emerged from the bathroom he looked a little drier, but not obviously so — just in case, he thought. It was safer to wait to get home and dry off completely, possibly after a hot bath. The cold, wet hair and sodden jacket would likely only make him sicker, but he figured it was better to get worse than lynched.

The young man slid into a chair at a table just in time for the tea to come out, piping hot. Digging into a pocket, he produced a packet of powdered medicine which he daintily emptied into a teacup. As he did so, he coughed again, a nonproductive a deep cough. He felt a bit chilled. Was he getting a fever again? Sighing, Shtiya leaned on a bandaged arm and poured tea into his cup, dissolving the bitter herb powder. As he glanced up, he noticed that the young woman was hovering. Did she suspect him? He snapped his eyes back to his cup of tea, feeling nervous.

The first sip of tea was hot and bitter, full of medicine. The Waterbender made a face and blew on it, hoping to cool it off enough to gulp it down quickly. The herbal mixture he was using ought to be effective, but it tasted just awful. He noted with concern that he'd tracked water all into the shop, and rubbed at his hair a bit more with the towel. He should clean it up, really. Normally he'd just bend it away, but — well, it was too concerning and risky. The Northern Tribesman was a healer and nothing else. He couldn't fight to save his life, not that he'd even bother to try.

Shtiya was startled from his thoughts by the rattle of the plate on the table as the young woman set a pretty piece of cake in front of him. "B-but I d-—-idn't —"
The woman claimed it was on the house and noted that he looked a bit worse for the wear. Shtiya smiled a little, knowing it to be true. Under his natural brown skin tone, he was a bit pale and possibly flushed. "I r-r-r-really app---reciate it, but I c-can't possibly take s-——-omething for free." But her smile was so warm and friendly he felt a bit cheered by it, and ventured to look closer at the cake. It was such a delicate and pretty little thing, lovely with its rosebud decoration and appealing soft texture.

Usually Shtiya ate at home to conserve money. He didn't think he'd ever had a cake like this before. "W-what is it?" he asked, turning the plate a little with one finger. He imagined it to be light and sweet. Being from the North Pole, the young man most often made traditional Water Tribe foods for himself. He liked to eat the comforting food he'd grown up with, which was fine since he didn't even know any other non-medicinal recipes anyway... as he coughed again, he pressed a hand to the right side of his chest. Sharp pains were certainly questionable. Realizing how rude it was to come into a shop obviously ill, let alone cough on the workers or owner, he immediately felt the need to apologize.

"I'm — I'm s-s-s-so sorry — I don't th-think I'm cont-—-agious or anything m-m-ma'am," Shtiya said quickly, looking back up at her with a concerned expression, icy eyes bright and worried. "I'd n-normally n-n-n-never come into an establishment sick but I c-can't go home until b-business hours are over and it's, it's cold out. I'll c-clean up that w-—--ater. I'm so sorry." He fished around in his pocket for a little cloth mask to wear across his face. He'd made it out of a sunny sky blue material with dark blue dots all over, hoping the cheery fabric would be a mood-lifter when he had to use it. It was meant to help keep his cough to himself or to protect him from others at work, even though the healer knew that he himself wouldn't be infecting anyone. It was just a cold that had taken a little turn into something worse, but it would be fine. Really. He set the mask down next to his cup. Pressing his palms together, he bowed a little. "I p-promise I won't get everyone sick."

Since Shtiya didn't really remember his mother at all, he didn't link Hoshi's tone to her. She'd died in childbirth when he was not even two, and it was something that had shaped his decision to become a healer but had not shaped him to recognize the attitude. When she said he shouldn't be walking around and working, he waved his hands. "Oh n-n-n-no, I — I'm n-not working," he protested. "That's why I'm h-——-ere!" He was very specifically not working, just as she was saying.

Sitting there and having someone make him rice porridge sounded pretty... amazing. The young man felt guilty for accepting, but even as he thought it, he heard himself confirming that he did eat meat. At least he had the forethought to ask about how much he could pay her. He picked up the cup of tea, now cool, and downed it in one gulp, shuddering after he swallowed. The herbs would do him good. He reminded his patients of that all the time!

Thankful that he'd ensconced himself in a corner of the cafe, Shtiya applied his mask after pouring a second cup of tea and waited for it to cool. He kicked his booted feet, noticing with chagrin that he was a bit too short for the chair. As his cup of tea steamed merrily away, the healer tasted a corner of the cake. It was soft and delicious, not too sweet, and he seemed surprised while eating it. It was delicious. Shtiya wound of a piece of wet hair around his finger and sighed, relaxing a little. It was hard to remember to be worried about whether or not the lady was an Equalist when she was being so kind.

Looking a little forlorn as he tried to drink his tea without taking off his mask, Shtiya sat quietly and watched the other people in the cafe. He looked up when Hoshi came back, bringing porridge with her. It smelled incredible, which was saying something — he hadn't had a good appetite in a few days!

OOC: I'm going to draw the layout of the cafe sometime, remind me! =P



It was a good thing she had had porridge for breakfast herself; it didn't take long to warm it up on the stove in the back and add some freshly cut green onions and a bit of breadcrumb to the top. She brought it out with her, noting happily that the young man had started in on the cake and had another cup of tea.

She set the large-ish bowl down in front of him, along with another small plate; the plate had some shredded meat on it, warmed and lightly crisped. "If you want to add it to the porridge," she said. "If not, don't worry about it — I can always save it for leftovers." She ambled behind the counter for a moment and returned with a couple of lemon wedges. "I like to spritz a bit of lemon juice on the top," she said. "It gives it a little extra taste."

The café only had a handful of customers now, and someone clamoured for Hoshi to turn on the radio to listen to the news. "No sir," she told him sternly with a wag of her finger. "You can listen to the radio when you get home. The news will keep until then." She picked up someone's pot to refill it with hot water, muttering under her breath. The last thing she needed right now was to be reminded of Jin Ho, working so hard to keep the City safe. She returned the refilled pot to the table from whence it came, and surveyed the scene, turning her eyes to the young man in the corner table, sitting so quietly and unobtrusively.

She pulled out a chair and sat down across from him, leaning in just a little, her brow creased with concern. Hoshi looked him over again. He looked young, maybe in his late teens or early twenties. Definitely under-nourished, in her humble opinion. She pursed her lips again, and some customers smiled at the resemblance between mother and daughter. Clearly, Hoshi thought, he hasn't been eating well in some time. Well. She would definitely fix that, if he'd let her.

First things first though. She folded her hands in her lap and gave him a brilliant smile. "My name is Jeon Hoshi; my mother and I run the café." She paused for a moment, then continued. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked. "You don't have to answer out loud if you don't want to, just nod or shake your head." It hadn't escaped Hoshi's attention that the young man had stumbled over a few of his words. Maybe talking made him uncomfortable, though that was a problem that she — obviously — was not accustomed to. She wasn't quite sure how to handle such a thing, but she didn't want a customer to feel uncomfortable in her shop.

Shtiya added the meat to this porridge along with the proffered lemon. She was right — it really added something! The tang of the citrus was perfect with the warm porridge, very comforting. The food was simple and nourishing, just what he needed. The food combined with the herbal medicine and the hot ginger tea was starting to work: he was beginning to feel just a little better.

"My name is Jeon Hoshi; my mother and I run the café. Are you feeling any better? You don't have to answer out loud if you don't want to, just nod or shake your head."

Shtiya raised an eyebrow, slightly offended. He knew he had a stammer. He'd always had it. It didn't keep him from talking and he certainly didn't need to resort to nodding. "I'm Shtiya," he said, "I'm a healer." He stirred the porridge slowly. "I, um. I th-—-ink I have pneumonia but I've b-b-b-been busy so I d-didn't bother checking." The slender young man shrugged. "Th-thanks for w-—--orrying about me but I'll be okay." He smiled.

The cafe was a charming place. He thought about how nice it must be to run such a place. It was probably in her family, since she and her mother ran it. A family business, perhaps? Leaning his chin in his hand, he eyed the young woman. Earth Kingdom blood, most likely. "You own this place?" he asked.

The cafe was cozy and warm, and the healer found himself to be quite glad he'd stopped in. Since he'd bent the water out of his trousers, boots, and socks, he was much warmer than he had been when he arrived. Only his damp hair gave him much of a chill — the inner layer of his anorak was still quite dry, as were the cozy warm navy blue layers beneath. The heat of the ginger tea soothed a sore throat and Shtiya began to look about at other patrons with interest. He enjoyed people-watching, and so he sat quietly by himself and watched as the cafe slowly emptied out until he was the only one left.

Hoshi was soon hovering over him, and he hoped suddenly that his staying wasn't an inconvenience. Her following offer was quite a surprise to the young man, who had half expected to be told she was shutting the cafe early on account of weather.

"Would you like to get out of those wet clothes? I have some clothes my... a friend of mine keeps here sometimes. I'm not sure they'll fit just right, but at least they'll be dry and I can hang up your clothes on the indoor line..."

The diminutive Waterbender laughed. "Oh n-no," he said, "thank you, b-b-b-but I'm s-————--ure your boyfriend's clothes c-couldn't possibly f-f-fit me." He was even shorter than the woman herself, and quite slender. Even Shtiya's wrists were small-boned and delicate! He brushed a waving tendril of black hair back, tucking it behind an ear and smiling behind the cheerful blue mask. "I'm all right. M-my clothes are mostly dry now, anyway." It was sweet of her to worry, but given the political climate and the recent happenings in the Arena, Shtiya didn't want to tell her he'd gone and bent all the water out of his clothes himself. Maybe she'd believe he'd been in long enough for them to dry...?

That seemed unlikely. His shoulders tensed a little, but he realized that it was unlikely she'd attack him in the middle of the day in the middle of her cafe. What a mess to clean up after! The young man cupped slim brown hands around his cup of tea, one thumb idly rubbing against the white bandages around the opposite wrist. He turned his head to look out the window just as a handsome man walked by, catching his eye. Shtiya watched the man walk until he couldn't see him any more and then turned his attention back to Hoshi. "I'll really be okay," he insisted. "The herbs I took will do the trick." He smiled again, behind the mask. Shtiya was a very good herbalist, making most of the remedies sold at the Apothecary. He'd even designed the easy-to-open envelopes they sold them in, with cute and brightly coloured packaging that detailed what they were for.

He seemed to have hit a nerve. Shtiya watched as the young woman waved her hands and blushed and denied that whoever they were talking about was her boyfriend.

"No, no, he's —- he's not my boyfriend. Exactly. I..."

"I'm s-s-so sorry," said the slender young man quickly. "Please, don't worry. You d-don't have to exp-p-p-plain anything to me." He could see that the man, whoever he was, clearly meant something to Hoshi and it wasn't that they were just friends. It seemed complicated and Shtiya knew better than to mess with complicated.

"Feel free to eat more, and if you're still hungry I've got more porridge in the back. Just let me know, I have to get the other ta-—"

She'd figured it out. Shtiya cursed himself for just having to have a dry shirt. It was just so cold out! "I don't need to eat more," he said. "I'm s-——-mall." He motioned to himself, petite and dainty. "See?" The bowl of porridge he'd eaten was huge. He'd be full for hours from that!

"Don't worry, I'm a bender too."

Shtiya smiled, eyes crinkling above the mask. "I'm s-sorry I didn't s-s-say anything b-before," he said quickly, "I j-j--just, it's..." she probably knew why, but still. "The Equalists." Shtiya knew his voice was a little shaky. Those people were terrifying, though! He couldn't imagine hating someone just for being who they were. It was so sad and senseless. Of course, he did see the injustice in the city caused by selfishness. The cure for that wasn't hurting people, though. He settled for drinking the last of the tea in his cup, setting his mask aside since no other patrons were in the cafe.

Rubbing at the back of his head to fluff wet hair and allow air in to dry it, Shtiya stretched. "I'm sorry to take up space," he said to the bustling young woman. "I just n-need to stay out of the c-c-c-clinic until it closes." He didn't want to spread germs, cough in front of patients, or get a lecture. "I live in the back."

Shtiya stared at her for a moment in surprise. She wanted to... be his friend? 'I —" he was so shocked he didn't know what to say! Shtiya was never very good at making friends due to the stutter and being quite shy, so the offer was entirely unexpected. It sounded so much better than braving the cold again, though. He smiled as she insisted that he didn't have to stay if he didn't feel like it. When she said she didn't socialize much, it sealed the deal. Of course he'd stay! She could probably use a friend.

As a healer, Shtiya was good at picking up on needs when they weren't blatantly spoken. This young woman clearly needed a friend, and likely needed someone to talk about her not-my-boyfriend. It was likely she worked too much to spend time making lots of friends. She was also quite sweet, or so it seemed, and Shtiya felt that she would make an excellent friend for anyone.

"I'll stay," he said. "R-records and tea sound gr-—-" his eyes shut for a moment involuntarily as he tried to force the rest of the word out "—--great." She had no reason to be embarrassed at all as far as he was concerned. As the Wwaterbender watched her close up the shop, he hopped up from his seat in an effort to help. He could clean table tops and everything for her. It was no trouble! In fact, he liked very much to be useful.

"Are you f-f-f-from the city then?" The 's' sound on the beginning of the word 'city' hissed a bit when he spoke it. He assumed she was since her family owned the cafe. Shtiya thought growing up in the city would be nice. Perhaps his family wouldn't have such prejudices if they'd spent more time in a city like this one.... while the North Pole was quite large, it wasn't the cultural melting pot that Republic City was.