Logs:Balance

Balance
Dramatis Personae Desi, Katherine, Lucien
In Absentia	2020-10-29 "Plenty of people go about their days up here as though the chaos never happens if it's never seen."
Location <NYC> Tick-Tock - Greenwich Village
The quiet sound of soft music and softly running water greets the entrants to this tea house, playing from speakers hidden and trickling waterfalls cascading down the rocky fountains by the entryway. The ambiance here is subdued, a quiet escape from the bustle and noise of the city, focused on only one thing: tea. Tea of very good quality. They serve it in over eighty varieties, black and white, green and oolong, rooibos and herbals and mate, flavored and straight up. The seating here comes on cushions or kneeling chairs around low tables, the decorations in earth tones, and the knowledgeable wait staff is always helpful with a recommendation or a snack suggestion to pair with your drink. Behind the long counter along one side is an entire wall of bins of loose-leaf teas, available for purchase by weight. It's a dreary, rainy day in the city, and though the tea house is fairly busy for it the place does not feel bustling, exactly. It's not the sort of day for bustling. Desi is sitting in the comfortable waiting area--someone has already brought her a cup of tea around which she's warming her pale, slender hands. She's dressed in a lilac suede jacket over a lacy pale green blouse, fawn a-line skirt, and knee length brown high-heeled boots. Her hair is neatly--perhaps a bit too tightly--braided in an elaborate dutch braid that wraps from her left temple around to hang over her right shoulder just so, cinched with a green ribbon. She glances out the window beside her periodically, and in at the already seated diners as well, but for the moment at least seems at peace taking her tea in this little corner of this damp and chilly day. Katherine had found herself finishing her graduate classes rather early this particular day which allowed for more free time until she would head back to her apartment to study and wind down. A few thoughts on how to pass the time graced the woman's mind but the only one that seemed to strike her fancy was a nice cup of tea and a moment of introspection and with New York City being so crowded she knew exactly where to go. She took a bus or two and wound up in a familiar place, Greenwich Village, which always made her appreciate the diversity of the city. . . under specific circumstances which made the red-head frown slightly before making her way into the aesthetic tea shop. The moment that she opened the door swung open, Katherine was greeted by a rich aroma of tea that made the trek through the dreary weather worth it. As she stepped inside with the pleasant lighting, Katherine's choice of attire for the day was a long-sleeved black sweater that was neatly tucked into dark blue denim jeans with a slightly fashionable slack that allowed her sweater to hang loosely about her athletic frame and her size 6 feet sat comfortably in a pair of shin-length rainboots. The woman waved at a few employees before making her way up to the wall menu to figure out what she wanted. Desi's vivid green eyes flit to the door as Katherine enters, then away for a moment--not who she was looking--and then back again in sudden recognition. She rises and joins the other woman where she's glancing at menus. "Katherine?" There's only the barely uplift to her tone, less uncertain than cautiously polite. "Goodness, but it has been a while! I'd heard you were also at NYU, but..." Her slender shoulder hitch. "It is such a large school. How are you doing?" She had found herself pondering over whether to try the shop's London Fog or to go for the at-home remedy, green tea. Katherine found herself mindlessly bitting at the interior of her cheek when she heard her name being called out next to her. She found herself initially confused as to who could be calling her but when she saw Desi standing next to her. The mutant wasn't entirely convinced that it was her until Desi spoke with much more certainty and that is when she realized that it was in fact someone that she had went to high school with. Katherine smiled before facing her, her icy blue eyes twinkled in excitement as she didn't really find herself to be rememberable from back then, "Desi, it has been so long!" She'd reply before listening to her asking about NYU which Katherine nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I am in the accelerated psychology program there. As for how I've been. . . I'd say that given our 'dispositions' that everything seems to be going pretty well." The woman would respond quietly before realizing that she shouldn't stress other people over the current events so she quickly changed the topic. "How about you? You look amazing." The door opens again, dispensing one (1) Lucien into the much warmer and cozier environs. He's carefully shaking a black umbrella free of its liberal coating of water just outside the door, letting it swing back closed after he's shed most of the excess Drip. The understated but elegantly tailored grey suit he wears has largely avoided the worst of the damp, only a faint sprinkling of droplets across his shoulders, but his polished monk shoes are Suffering. He holds his umbrella at his side, an apologetic dip to his head as he moves to join Desi. "{My apologies, the Club was particularly insufferable this morning,}" comes to Desi in quiet French, before (in softly Francophone-tinged English): "A friend of yours? Good day." He inclines his head just slightly to Katherine. "Accelerated?" Desi raises her eyebrows. "Impressive! I'm barely stumbling through my dance program at the regular pace, but at least the end is in sight." She bows her head at the compliment. "Thank you. No thanks to the rain, I'm sure, but I didn't have far to come. It has been a busy time, though..." She brightens at her brother's voice. "Pray think nothing of it--they brought me some tea while I waited." She lifts her cup by way of demonstration. "This is Katherine, we went to high school together--and technically university, as well, though we hardly see each other." Her free hand turns palm up. "Katherine, my brother Lucien." Katherine was enjoying her conversation with Desi as they chatted about their respectable NYU programs. She knew that if she had taken Dance as a major instead that she would have failed quite miserably as her only hobby that was close to that was gymnastics and even then she loathed the Floor routines. The woman's eyes had wandered slightly and she noticed a familiar face entering the shop but, she couldn't really formulate where she could know them from. She quickly returned her attention back to Desi but, not to soon after this, the man had approached Desi and began to speak. As the two conversed, Katherine found herself at a loss for words due to the sheer attractiveness of the man which made her pick up a random item which happened to be a packet of organic trail mix. Her face squished up a bit as her eyes had glanced over the undesirable ingredients before Desi introduced her brother as Lucien and it all made sense. Katherine's face turned slightly red as she found herself standing before a celebrity but she realized the more she stared... the more awkward this situation would become. "Oh, It is super nice to meet you Lucien! I've watched a few of your plays. . . you are a very nice actor. . . " The words seemed to fall from the woman's mouth like cement bricks and her anxiety continued to climb but she also realized that too much would send random object flying across the room so she'd look over to the register and back at Lucien and Desi. "I'm going to go order now." She'd say quickly before walking hurriedly over to the register to order her London Fog. "Oh?" One of Lucien's eyebrows hitches, and he looks Katherine over with a new interest. "Lovely to meet you. This," with an upturned hand, a sweep of fingers to indicate the cafe, "is one of my favourite spots for catching up." A smile, small and restrained but warm enough in the faint crinkling of his bright green eyes, settles itself carefully on his face. "I do appreciate that. Have you..." He trails off with another small dip of his head as Katherine hastens to the register. His eyes flick to Desi, the corner of his mouth twitching. "-- I suppose she has made up her mind. Have you? What is the ideal rainy day tea?" Desi's expression remains pleasant and equable. "I didn't know you were a fan, or I'd have introduced you sooner," she allows, with the faintest curl of a smile at the corner of her lips. "Though I suppose the last time we were around each other often his star had yet to rise, not--" She adds aside to her brother, "--that it stopped me bragging about you." She bows her head wit ha murmured, "Of course" as Katherine flees, and only spares a perfunctory glance at the menu at Lucien's question. "I didn't realize there was going to be a quiz, but for this rainy day, I think--something bold and bright yet smooth. Kenyan Milima, perhaps? With a splash of milk." She leads her brother to the counter, her pace more leisurely than Katherine's had been. "{You need a recharge, I'm sure, having suffered the insufferable.}" Once she was up to the counter to order, Katherine could feel her social anxiety subside a bit as she now felt slightly embarrassed in front of Desi and her brother. She pondered on the best way to come back from this was to just calm down and think of the best way to apologize. The Red-head stood off to the side as the brother and sister walked up to the register and made their orders. With her now waiting for them to finish ordering, She could feel her anxiety rising again but in a much smaller intensity. Once they were done, Katherine would offer them a smile before walking over to them again. " I am so sorry, haha, got a little starstruck I suppose." "Mmn," Lucien's brows dip inward, smile fading at the mention of the club into -- perhaps not disgruntlement, but a far cry from gruntlement all the same. "{The theatres may be closed, but I am certainly staying well in practice putting on a good face for our guests.} And that sounds perfectly splendid." He rubs a hand against his cheek, smoothes his expression back into quiet neutrality as they approach the counter. Greets the cashier politely, gives his order together with his card, a slight wave of hand indicating that he'll cover his and Desi's both before he drops a tip -- cash -- into the jar. "Oh, it's quite alright. Have you been here often?" He's turning this question to Katherine, pleasant smile returning. "I feel some days like the more chaotic the world gets, the more I'm grateful for -- even small splashes of serenity. And with everything going on just right now --" A slight upward tip of his hand, the rest of the thought left to hang in the air between them. Desi bobs her head gently. "{Hardly the only face you must put on, but I suppose some are more challenging than others. Thank you.}" This last, presumably, is a response to Lucien buying her tea. To Katherine her smile is brighter, "He's experienced far worse, in the starstruck department." This assurance is smooth, off-handed. "I far prefer this one to the one I work at, for obvious reasons. Plenty of people go about their days up here as though the chaos never happens if it's never seen." " That is delightful to hear." Katherine would start with a relieved and grateful expression cooling and relaxing her once awkward manner from her person. For the life of her she couldn't understand why she was acting so oddly even in the face of Lucien. . . perhaps there was some combined power in impressing both of them at the same time. Nevertheless, Katherine was much more relaxed when Lucien asked her question which made her nod her head gently, " I love this place but, I come here when I really need time to think." Katherine looked over to Desi releasing a soft "mhm" in agreement. "This place is definitely how I picture heaven." She'd reply in the midst of a soft chuckle. "Plenty of people go about their lives as though they need not worry about anyone else's problems," Lucien adds quietly, stepping aside to allow the rest of the line more space as they wait for their tea. "I never know quite where the ideal balance is -- in attending the escalating series of crises without being consumed by them." His eyes dip, tone shifting mildly apologetic. "Perhaps not the most relaxing of conversations. I suppose even in this small corner of heaven the current unrest is never far from mind." "I do apologize if I've derailed your thinking time," Desi says, bowing her head slightly, "or tainted this haven with outside troubles. I certainly think you have hit upon something, though." She sips her own tea. Her eyes dropping. "To set aside time and space to process can, perhaps, but itself a part of that balance. A balance I am still working to find, I think, for all that training in dance." Katherine listened to the pair converse as she naturally tended to be the observant and quiet person in most of her conversations. She was partially relieved that she didn't seem to be only one suffering from the true weight of the world around them. As Lucien described the selfish, the woman couldn't help but think of her own family who had chucked her away and forgot all about her just to avoid the "issues" that having a mutant child would bring on. She couldn't help but nod at Lucien as she decided to speak again. " Those all definitely perfect ways to find that balance. I feel like the warmth and the savory taste of tea really helps you ease that built up tension and soothe the wounds. . . you know?" Katherine realized that she perhaps have gotten too philosophical and feared that she only made herself look like a try hard or a pure nerd. There's a softening to Lucien's smile and his carriage both. "I think you are far from the only one who sometimes struggles with finding that line. It does not help that the world shows no sign of slowing the madness -- it feels sometimes too indulgent to set time aside for --" His eyes flick to the neat bins of tea on their shelves along the wall. "Easing tension. Soothing wounds. Though I do hope the current spate of," the compression of his lips is very thin, "unrest has not left you too injured." "I certainly do agree." Desi inclines her head. "I have my moments of chugging tea thoughtlessly for the caffeine, but it is good to be reminded to slow down and appreciate it, from time to time. To indulge, even." She nods at her brother's words. "Not that it would be wrong of you to need time to indulge, were you not so directly affected." Katherine could see where Lucien could feel that taking the time out to indulge into miscellaneous things, such as tea, was pretty much pointless given the consistent roulette of troubles that seems to occur in the world but he didn't have her fully sold on the idea. She'd hear her name and drink being called before she excused herself and walked up to the counter, grabbed her tea and handed the barista a tip before making her way back over. She allow herself the joy of smelling the freshly brewed beverage and she already could feel herself feeling better. To her, it was these moments of indulgences that serve as reminders and incentive to keep fighting a good fight and pushing on no matter what so that such things become a normalcy. Katherine then proceeded to gently blow the beverage via the lid and took a small sip of the tea and she couldn't help but smile and even chuckle a little. "Yup, that definitely hit the spot. This place never disappoints." She'd say. Lucien's head inclines toward Desi in affirmation. "Indeed. I feel as though the more we need the reminders, the more important it is to listen to them." His and Desi's teas are soon enough to follow; he picks his up with a small nod, a quiet murmured thanks. His fingers close around the handle of the umbrella hung at his wrist. "Excellent to meet you, Katherine. We should leave you to your decompression. I do hope you stay dry -- and safe, as well." Desi smiles, receiving her tea from Lucien with a soft "merci". "It was good to see you again, Katherine," she says, saluting the other woman with her own cup. "I'll look you up in the directory later. In the mean time, be well!" She plucks her own umbrella--far more colorful than Lucien's, a canopy of green leaves--from where it had been drip-drying in the umbrella rack by the door and follows her brother out. She nodded to them both as she found herself just getting comfortable with the both of them and found that she was going to keep an eye for Lucien and Desi as she moved through the city from now on. "Same to you both along with a dry exit to your next destinations." She'd reply as she took another small sip of her drink and made her way over to a comfortable chair in the corner of the room before pulling out her white headphones and placing them in her ear. Katherine spent a few moments choosing the perfect song but once she did; the woman released a soft sigh as she allowed her mind to wander a bit.