Uncle Iroh needs more tea (tea_bender) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-07-05 22:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, clarice ferguson (blink), iroh |
Long ago, I came across the love of my life.
Who: Iroh, Clarice
What: Random meetings in walmart, part deux
When: This morning!
Where: At a Walmart
Ratings/Warnings: PG, no warnings unless old guys rambling on is a trigger I am not aware of.
Status: Complete!
Clarice was walking through the store a little aimlessly. Her monthly shopping had already been completed last week. But tonight she hadn't been able to sleep, a sense of forboding falling on her, though she wasn't sure why, or what it meant. The Mcdonalds had coffee and she'd migrated to the crafts section to get things to improve some of her costume's with, but she'd migrated back to a table and a blank notebook that taunted her.
"Often times, blank paper has a great deal to say," came an old and wisened voice, from somewhere nearby. The owner of the voice rustled something in a basket he was carrying, probably to make her aware of his location so that he didn't startle her.
It still startled her, and she jumped a little in her seat. She looked up and smiled wanly, studying the old man a little bit, "I wish it would write my play for me."
"I think all creative people have said that, at one point or another," Iroh smiled at her. He was still standing nearby, with his basket of items. It wasn't very polite to just sit himself down without her say so.
"You are a playwrite? What kind of play are you trying to get the book to write for you today?"
Clarice smiled at him, relaxing at his tone and how grandfatherly he seemed, "I'm an actress pretending to be a playwrite. I couldn't find someone who'll...really do justice to my idea. It's a sort of experimental play. The idea is to explore the loss of humanity in the modern world. Our naked vulnurability." Chuckling, she tapped the paper with her pen, "It centers around a corpse. She's supposed to be the only person clothed in the entire play."
"Hah! That is a very interesting idea for a play!" Iroh laughed. It was like the part about everyone in it being naked hadn't registered, until he added, with a bit of a smirk, "And somewhat scandelous as well. I am unsure if you would get away with something like that. It is very brave of you to try it."
"Everyone likes the idea, and with sufficient warning we can get away with it." She waved her pen, "It's art. You can get away with a lot in the name of art, and if we make the audience uncomfortable we prove our point."
"Ah, so not only an actress and a playwrite, but also smart enough to know when to run things by authority, and when to simply wait and beg forgiveness." Iroh sounded amused, and his eyes were dancing a bit, "So few of our youth are this intelligent. If my nephew was not already dating a woman, I would introduce you."
"I'd take you up on that. If he's anything like you she must be a very lucky woman." Clarice leaned forward, smiling flirtily, "It's not like I have much luck in the dating department, these days. The last person I spent any romantic time with I forgot to give her my number."
"That is a shame. I am sure that you simply enjoyed your time with her so greatly that the demands of the real world slipped your mind. I have had a similar circumstance, though it was so long ago that I fear you would find it boring." He took a seat at a nearby table, at that point, and set his basket down. Mai wasn't dying, and he could take a few more minutes to socialize before bringing her the necessities she needed.
"I fully believe, however, that if you and this nice young lady were meant to be, then you will find eachother again."
He didn't seem at all perturbed that Clarice was also female.
"I..well yes." Clarice ducked her head, face turning a bit pink, "She was an inspiration in a way." Even if someone else had inadvertantly put a nugget of an idea in her head. After her talk with McCoy, and the talk in bed with that woman...
God why didn't she even get her name?! Clarice rubbed her face with a hand, "I don't think I'd find it boring."
Iroh thought the shade of pink on her cheeks was charming. He'd even say it was pretty, though he was far too old to have more than a passing interest of the fairer sex any longer.
"My niece and nephew delight in telling me how boring my anecdotes are. It is always somewhat surprising when I come across younger people who actually want to hear them," he chuckled, "But I had a similar problem. Long ago, I came across the love of my life. And I knew it was her! There could be no one else."
He sat back in the booth a bit and smiled, "I watched her for a long time. The way she poured tea, especially. So very delicate were her fingers on the cup... like she was caressing it. No matter how heavy the teapot was, that hand never trembled. And in my youth, I swore that it was made of the finest porcelain instead of flesh. One time, I got up the courage to approach her. We drank tea together and laughed for an entire afternoon. It was not until I had headed home that I realised... I had not given her my name, and she had not given me hers."
He shook his head at himself, "I felt like such a fool, and she was kind enough not to mention it at family gatherings that often, for the sake of my honor."Tea and hand fetishes!
Clarice smiled, thinking it was a sweet story, "So did she never let you live it down in private?"
It sounded like the old man had found her again, and that gave Clarice hope, even if she wasn't the love of her life or whatever. She hadn't thought that hard ahead.
But she did want to see her again. And get her name and phone number, "How did you find her again?"
"She never did, no. And that was completely fine with me. Zilan was always something of a spitfire underneath all of that porcelain," Iroh was so very happy to share his story that the smiling was almost making the wrinkles in his face push his eyelids closed.
After a bit of getting lost in nostalgia, he chuckled, "It was easier than I thought it would be. I simply had to wait in the spot that she had seen me last. You see, she was looking for me, as well."
"Zilan is a very pretty name. I think you both had an advantage, I can't even remember the street corner we met on." Clarice wrote something down in her notepad. Her face looked distant. She hadn't met many people in her life that she had felt so drawn to, even if she didn't know why.
"How long did it take for you to figure that out?"
Iroh waved a hand, like it was so long ago he couldn't really remember, "A few days, I think. I was caught up in what a fool I'd been for some time before I realised that I needed to act. "
Clarice worked her jaw, "She's really beautiful. Not porceline doll, perhaps, but..." She searched for words, "Like a rose. Delicate, with thorns. But that's not what makes her so beautiful. Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind."
"'When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.'," Iroh quoted. It seemed like a good time to say something like that, for the woman that she seemed to be describing sounded like one that was hard to love in some ways, but easy to love, in others.
Maybe he just wanted to say something wise, too. He chuckled after he said it, like even he had a hard time believing the things that came out of his mouth sometimes, "Your thorny woman is still a woman worthy of you, I think. You will find her someday. But nothing worth having is something we do not work for, every day. I had to work past my own fears and doubts to return to Zilan. You will have to expend some effort, too."
"It might be much too soon to talk about love," Clarice replied, smiling softly. "Or talk about it at all. I can't predict the future, only that of the people I've been with she was the most...." She waved a hand, "She fit the most. At least Physically. She's really blunt, and I liked that."
She lowered her head, sounding ashamed, "I actually asked an investigator to help me find her but he's had no luck."
Iroh regarded her for a minute with the sort of knowing expression on his face that older people reserved for younger ones, "You are sitting in a McDonald's in Wal-mart, staring at a blank page, and probably seeing her face instead of the play you are trying so desperately to write."
He smiled, and shook his head, "And you asked an investigator to find this woman? And you are comparing her to flowers. I think perhaps this talk about love has come right on time."
"Shit. Crap. I mean, I'm sorry." Clarice planted her hand over her face and shook her head, "No, no. Lust maybe. Interest. I wouldn't say no if there was more. Maybe I should just eat the embarrassment and ask the net."
"There is no shame in this, young one. Especially on the internet, I think. But... These old bones have sat here long enough. I have a future daughter-in-law waiting for me to return with a few things. She is injured and somewhat cranky about it, so I am hoping these sweets and games will cheer her up."
Iroh rose from his seat and picked his basket back up, "I am Iroh, by the way. I have a tea house, you should stop by sometime. We can talk again, about how your play is going."
He handed her a business card.
"I'm Clarice. Maybe if I find her I can bring her down. She'd probably appreciate some good tea." And maybe she'll get him tickets!
"It is an honor to meet you," Iroh bowed, then waved his hand and headed off before Mai sent him grouchy text messages. Which she should not be doing at all with that shoulder, but probably would, anyway.