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Tweak says, "REDRUM! REDRUM!"

Jadzia Dax (old__man) wrote in entrywaythreads,
@ 2021-02-11 03:44:00

Entry tags:

jadzia dax, wei wuxian

Who: Wei Wuxian and Jadzia Dax.
Where: Clement's Cup.
What: Meeting for Caramel Frappuccino's.
When: Sometime after this.
Rating: TBD.
Open: No.
Status: Ongoing.

It was going to take some getting used to. Of course, she was used to the lack of sunlight, living on a space station and spending time aboard starships, but this was very different. And then there was not knowing if she should reveal anything about herself. Sure, they hadn't gone back in time but there was always that fear of messing up timelines. Somehow. She worried about a lot of things, even more since she had arrived in Gehenna and yet she had put on the air of someone who was merely fascinated and curious about her new home. New home... It was far more like a prison. And she was determined to get to the bottom of it all. Eventually.

For the time being, she prepared herself to meet a friendly young man by the name of Wei Wuxian. Dax knew a little of her Earth history at least but not as much as she would have liked. Knowing Benjamin over two lifetimes had helped her understand humans a little more but Wei Wuxian was quite different. She was going to have to adapt to that change but she knew she could do it. She tried her best to blend in, even if her spots made her really stand out in a crowd.

She had tied her hair back and put on a a long purple dress, along with a pair of knee high boots. The dress didn't have sleeves so more of her spots could be seen winding down her neck and over her shoulders. She applied a small amount of make up and collected her bag, along with the coupons she has received when she had arrived. At least the coffee place wasn't too far away. The walk gave her time to prepare her thoughts. Think about what answers she could give.

Jadzia walked into the coffee shop, taking a deep breath as she crossed over the threshold of the doorway, and as she lifted her head, she smiled confidently. It's funny how much of a nervous young woman she was. A determined one at that but the Dax symbiont had helped bring out a confidence she didn't really have before. She couldn't really imagine her life without the Dax symbiont, and all of the wealth of knowledge and experiences it gave her. All those feelings, all of those moments, all leading to her being the woman she had grown to be.

She walked over to the counter and placed the coupon down. "Two Caramel Frappuccino's please" she said, that same smile in place.

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old__man
2021-02-13 01:34 pm UTC (link)

Jadzia turned when she heard her name, and smiled when she saw Wei Wuxian. She was already interested in how he looked. The way he dressed. It was like she was meeting someone from one of the holo suite programmes so she had played around with. However, this young man was very much real. And like her, they were both trapped in a similar situation. It was always best to find ways to support and help others when possible, and with any luck they would all get out eventually.

"Wei Wuxian!" she said with a big bright smile. "It's nice to meet you" she added, copying the way he bowed in front of her, hoping that a bit of cultural familiarity would help make him feel more comfortable. She hoped she was supposed to bow back... Well, she'd find out soon enough.

"Our drinks are on the way. It's very sweet but with a bitter note to it too. Coffee gives it the bitter element and the caramel adds the sweetness. I'd offer you something to eat too but I'm not really sure about what we could get that would be nice..." she said, turning to look at the menu again, biting her bottom lip. Her arms shifted so that her hands were resting behind her back. A habit she had picked up from a former host.

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yiling_laozu
2021-02-15 09:46 am UTC (link)

Wei Wuxian's smile widened at the returned bow and he dipped his head minutely in acknowledgement before straightening and dropping his arms. He had not been expecting the gesture from one who had not had the intricate etiquette instilled in them early in life. Bowing was a thing he would have thought unlikely to be missed when he comported himself so irreverently, but he found himself floundering for driftwood from familiar land in a fathomless sea. The small gesture was much appreciated.

Jadzia's considerate explanations were met eagerly. Wei Wuxian was accustomed to asking too many questions and reeling information from others with charm and guileless smiles--- and did not mind it--- but having it offered predisposed him to like her more. This place gave him a feeling of great ignorance.
"Bitter and sweet. An interesting combination.", the young cultivator observed thoughtfully. "I've never had a drink that is mixed this way before."
His tone was curious and cheerful. Apprehension toward trying new things was diametrically opposed to his inventive personality. And, like an echoing pit, he was always hungry and thirsty.
"Choosing something random might be dangerous. Unless you like adventure!"

As his companion turned to the menu his smile retracted slightly. With a keen gaze he regarded her profile, tracing the lines and shadows of her form with an artist's eye. Wei Wuxian paused on the hands behind her back. It was a pose he sometimes held, a variation on the dignified stance of the gentry. He wondered if she had either an upper class or martial background. Mentally he added it to a list of things he'd have to learn as soon as he got her settled on a seat. So as not to be caught assessing he also turned to the menu and its mostly incomprehensible offerings. What on earth was a 'sandwich'?

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old__man
2021-02-15 01:08 pm UTC (link)

Jadzia turned to look at him and smiled. "Oh, I love adventure" she replied confidently. Given the sort of things she enjoyed eating, most from outside of her timeline would have considered her extremely adventurous. She loved trying new things, learning about different cultures, and over several lifetimes, Dax had experienced a great deal. If anything, Gehenna offered a chance to experience more than they would have got the chance to experience in their own timeline. And that was exciting. But the prospect of not having the right medical care or possible next host for the Dax symbiont was terrifying.

"So does anything catch your eye? I'll pick something, you can pick something and maybe we can share?" she suggested with a light shrug. "I'm personally interested in..." she said as her eyes scanned over what was listed. "They have Hasperat?!" she said, her eyes widening almost immediately. "Okay if you like spicy food, we need to get some... " she said with enthusiasm to her current companion. "Can we have an order of Hasperat too?" she called over to the person making up their drinks. They nodded, putting the straws into their drinks and bringing them over.

The drinks were iced, served in clear plastic cups, each with a brightly coloured straw embedded in layers of whipped cream, ice, creamy coloured coffee and decorative lines of caramel sauce.

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yiling_laozu
2021-02-17 07:59 am UTC (link)

Wei Wuxian huffed out a pleased laugh at the exclamation regarding adventure. They were surely going to get along, gastronomically and otherwise. Both of them were given to smiling and an eagerness to learn. He had himself always enjoyed sampling the distinctive cuisines of each city. In youth he was restless as the wind fluttering banners one moment and gusting through canyons the next. Yet his world had always been relatively small. He was aware only through literature of distant places and had never encountered an entirely different culture until now. It was both interesting and jarring. A bruised place in the center of his chest would always ache for home but he could never return there. Accepting this, he was trying to focus on soaking information into the swollen sponge of his brain. Exploration was a good remedy for longing.

“I don’t know what Hasperat is but if it is spicy it must be good!” Wei Wuxian agreed with a nod.
Some of these words felt so odd in his mouth, really, like an unfamiliar taste. He tried to picture this food and succeeded only in envisioning a thick red soup with chilis bobbing in it. Most likely not. There were so many smells in this establishment he could not discern any of them. With a grin he leaned one elbow on the counter and swept his eyes over first Jadzia’s smiling face and then selections of pre-made foods collected in displays nearby. He identified something called a peanut butter cookie, which was a combination he had never thought of but sounded intriguing. He pointed at the jar.
"Maybe we should get one of those as well?"

The arrival of their drinks sufficiently distracted Wei Wuxian from his investigation of the baked goods. It was an artfully created beverage the likes of which he had never seen. Almost pretty. But his brows bowed with skeptical humour as he puzzled out the function of the vivid pink straw that stood upright in the center of his cup. After a moment of examination he perched his lips on the edge of the straw, thinking it was meant to work like a xiāo, and attempted to suck up some of the liquid. It didn’t work at first so he sucked harder and it splattered a little, startling him. Licking his messy lips he got just enough to enjoy the flavor. He decided immediately that he liked it.
“Mm! That’s different. But delicious.” He ran his tongue over his lips again but the trace was already gone. “I don’t think I used this correctly...”
Taking a different tack, he tried placing the whole thing in his mouth and made a second attempt at drinking. Liquid shot up the straw and so much went in his mouth that his cheeks puffed up. Wei Wuxian's eyes glittered with victory as he swished the sweet drink in his mouth and then swallowed.

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old__man
2021-02-20 09:14 pm UTC (link)

Jadzia turned to look where he had pointed. A cookie? It would be a good palette cleanser. She only hoped it didn't turn out he was allergic to peanuts. She smiled and nodded, turning to wait for their server to come back.
"And one peanut butter cookie, please" she added. Along with the coupon she had, she placed one coin on the table to pay for the other items. Their server came back and rang them up, putting the coin in the cash register.

The Trill woman almost got lost in her thoughts, waiting for their food. That was until Wei Wuxian grabbed her attention, the poor dear almost choking on his drink. Of course, he would never have seen a straw before! She knew it should have occurred to her but it hadn't, at least not right away. She did her best not to laugh but she couldn't help it. She instantly covered her mouth with one of her hands, and watched as he figured out how to use the straw.

Once he had figured it out, she lowered her hand. "You'll get the hang of it. You're doing good so far" she said, hoping to encourage him. Still smiling, she turned to see their server bring their food over. She placed her drink on the tray and picked it up.
"Well, I'm glad you like it" she said warmly. "Where would you like to sit?" she asked.

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yiling_laozu
2021-02-22 11:33 pm UTC (link)

Belatedly Wei Wuxian realized he should be contributing and he reached for the small bag concealed in the folds of his outer robes. It was a contradition that he was somewhat terrible and remiss with money, considering he had in childhood subsisted on rotting leftovers and charity on the streets. In the proceeding time even during his adult years of poverty in the Burial Mounds he was accustomed to having someone's money. While not born into wealth he had become the same brand of spoiled that all gentry were. In accordance with his haphazard handling of currency he had little concept of what things cost so hopefully a coin would do.

As with most things the young cultivator would master the straw in short order, he was certain. It was not so different from breath control in other parts of his skillset. And he was not about to perform badly in front of a lady. Though, it delighted him to make someone he liked laugh; he had never been prideful about invoking emotion in one such person, be it laughter or annoyance. Jadzia's giggle wasn't the mean sort of mirth people he disliked were given to uttering. He flashed a luminous grin at her for the praise and pressed the cup to his chest as if to cherish it. The cold was barely discernable through the three layers of his clothing.

Wei Wuxian surveyed the tables at Jadzia's request for the best place to sit. It seemed he was destined to plant himself in the chairs he didn't trust the look of with their uncomfortably tall backs and high spindly legs. Well, it would have to be taken as an adventure like everything else. Acclimation was key.
"That looks like a good place." He decided, indicating a table near the back with a good vantage point for observing the width of the room.
With his free arm he swept his hand out in a silent expression of 'after you'.

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old__man
2021-02-28 09:08 pm UTC (link)

Jadzia nodded with approval and made her way over to the table her new companion had pointed out. She looked to Wei Wuxian and smiled at his gesture, bowing her head and gently dipping down as much as she really could while holding a tray, before walking over to the table.

First, she placed the tray down, and then she pulled back both chairs before sitting down in one. She had pulled out one of the chairs opposite to her so she could face Wei Wuxian when she spoke to him. Next she picked up her own cup to take a sip. It was perhaps a touch sweeter than she had been expecting but it was nice at least. And it was free. Although Jadzia was accustomed to living in a society that didn't require paying for things. She already found herself missing replicators and all the other joys of living in a more advanced age.

She waited until he managed to get comfortable before speaking again, knowing that things would be a bit strange to the other man. Things were strange to her too but probably more so for him. She was accustomed to human beings and technology, even if it was outdated to her. For her new friends, things were very different. That would take time to adapt to. Got both of them.

"Try the Hasperat. If it's made well enough, it should be very spicy" she said, picking up a piece of it. It looked a little bit like a tortilla wrap, rolled up with what looked a bit like kimchi inside it, along with some other brightly coloured vegetables. It was light and crunchy with a fermented spice to it that was numbing and intense all at once.

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yiling_laozu
2021-03-13 07:02 am UTC (link)

The polite gesture of pulling his chair out was new but easily translated as respectful. Wei Wuxian filed it away in that special box in his chaotically organized laboratory of a brain where information about friends and current investigations could be preserved. He initially sat down a little closer to the edge of his seat than people generally did, with a perfectly straight back that did not touch the chair. But he quickly found this not ideal for drinking. Like the indelicate youth he had always been he propped his forearms on the table and slumped forward with a posture that would have greatly offended Lan Qiren. From what he knew of her thus far he ascertained that Jadzia would not mind his impropriety. He settled into a picture of insouciant pleasantness.

The invitation to eat was well received. He was circling the unsettling sensation of hunger and had never in his life been restrained about partaking. Picking a piece of the roll up Wei Wuxian took a fearlessly large bite of the Hasperat. The flavour flooded his senses immediately, fierce as the delicious heat no one he had previously known enjoyed as much as he did. His head felt cleansed by the spice and he chewed with a slightly blissful expression on his features. His brother had always admonished him for making everything intolerably spicy. This was not as hot as some of his attempts at cooking, perhaps, but quite sufficient. And despite their difference the textures were in harmony. He approved of this dish. Infinitely more satisfying than the yield of his struggles with the electric stove in his apartment.

When he had finished chewing Wei Wuxian sighed happily, breathe gusting hot over his numbed lips, and then grinned. When he spoke he brandished the Hasperat unwisely, though somehow avoided scattering the contents of the wrap over their table.
"It's wonderful! It's been so long since I had something like this... I would like to learn how to make it! Do you eat this often where you come from? Is it local to where you lived?"
If this was indicative of her cuisine he would surely like it. Strangers their lives might be but they could find commonalities even in such unlikely circumstances. He took a second bite while awaiting the answer, gazing at the ever more intriguing woman across the table with interest.

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old__man
2021-03-21 07:57 pm UTC (link)

Jadzia waited and watched, studying the young man sat in front of her. She wanted to see how he handled the spice. In fact, she wanted to know how spicy it was too. Just how authentic was it? She picked up a piece and joined him in eating, taking a bite and chewing it, allowing the flavours to tumble around on her tongue. It was good. It wasn't as spicy as she preferred it but it was still good. Definitely the kind you could get in a local food court, not quite spicy enough for street food or a proper Bajoran restaurant.

"I'm glad you like it" she replied, putting down her piece of Hasperat. "It's not something I ate all that often but it's something I grew to love over time" she explained. "And yes, it was local to where I was living at the time. Well, local enough" she added. She wasn't sure he was quite ready to hear about space stations and things like that. Better to give him information over time and not overwhelm him.

"The locals like it spicier though" she added with a little smirk, picking up her drink to take a sip through the straw. "It's good to experience new things, isn't it? Every lifetime should be full of new experiences" she smiled sweetly. She had several lifetimes worth of experiences within her, thanks to the Symbiont.

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