Le Iroh fluffy goodness.
General Iroh groans lowly as he starts to roll over in his sleep, feeling a sharp pain stab through his arm from the point of the burn. He lies still on his back and grips his forearm, gritting his teeth as the pain slowly fades to a dull roar. Ever since that ambush on his fleet, he hadn't been able to get much sleep. Not that Korra hadn't done a spectacular job in healing the worst of his injury; it just simply… hurts. And ranking right up there with the lack of sleep worry is the troubling notion that the message had been intercepted. He'd have to being working out a new encryption code and train every analyst in his fleet after giving it to Commander Bumi…
The male sighs as he rises, dark hair falling haphazardly into his face from the styling courtesy of his pillow; between the liquid topaz of his eyes and the current bed-head, he looks not unlike his grandfather Zuko's when he was a much younger man. There's no way he's getting to sleep any time soon between the pain in his arm and stress in his mind. Hoping a little walk might clear his mind and allow him to sleep, he exits his little tented area and comes out in the main cavern of their hideaway.
The hidden population of Republic City had been kind enough to welcome his group with open arms. Somehow, these people had the right idea: they lived together in harmony, benders and nonbenders alike. The thought of the utter success of this place brings a small smile to his lips. Ultimately, the goal is still to bring this notion of harmony back to the surface of the entire city… but this little haven is a nice start.
Upon turning down another row of tents, Iroh finds himself wincing and stumbling backward after running into something about chest-high. He rubs at his shoulder and looks around, blinking as he spies a dark shape on the ground, then kneels and reaches out curiously…
… only to have a foot kick out. "Don't touch me! I'm warning you!"
"Ow! Hey, now! You ran into me!" Iroh jerks his hand back, realizing the barrier is a girl, and a feisty one at that.
"I did no such thing!" She gets herself to her feet and neatly dusts off her derrière, and Iroh sees she's a rather dinky thing. "I was watching where I was going, thank you!"
"Fine, I'm sorry, okay? I don't know the 'halls' here very well… and didn't expect to run into anyone. Figuratively or literally," he mutters.
"Well, that's fine then!" He's rather shocked by the sudden change in her voice from pure sass to sugar-sweetness. "Wandering about to anywhere in particular?"
"Actually, now that you mention it," he smiles sheepishly, "I wouldn't mind knowing where the kitchen area is. I can't remember how to get there, and I'm desperate for a cup of tea."
"Ahh!" The quirky girl sounds as if she has a knowing smile upon her lips, but of course, Iroh can't tell in the dark. "Follow me, then!"
The general is left to follow the girl as she bustles off, barely managing to stay on her tail as she walks through the winding alleys between the tents on a path she's obviously very familiar with. He almost loses her at one point and finds himself wondering… no, not even letting that thought cross his mind. Of course a cup of tea is worth all this trouble, even from a young girl.
Eventually she leads him into a more open area he recognizes vaguely as the dining quarters. He pauses in the dark, hearing her fumble around and curse. "Gah! Stupid flint! Come on, light already."
Iroh smiles and moves forward. "That, I can help with. Where's the lantern?"
She grabs his hand and gives him the lantern, confused when he declines the flint. It only takes a small spark from his finger to light the wick, a cheery flame soon dancing about and casting a glow over both of their faces. He realizes she isn't a young girl, just a short young woman with eyes that look more golden than brown in the firelight.
She gasps, "Oh General! I didn't know it was you!"
"Don't worry about it. You were right," he gives her a half grin. "I wasn't paying any mind to my surroundings."
"Now you just sit yourself down, and I'll make the tea!" She smiles then pauses before asking rather sheepishly. "Erm… after you maybe… light the fire for me?"
Iroh just chuckles softly and takes his seat, easily lighting the big fire in the middle from his position on the log. Satisfied with the now roaring fire, the girl happily bustles about and soon has a boiling kettle of water. Upon returning with mugs, she asks, "How's the arm? Keeping you awake, I assume?"
"That it is," he sighs. "I haven't had a good night's sleep since that ambush. Not only do I have to rework our encryption system, but if they've got technology like that in the works, I don't know how we'll be able to counter it all."
"Well now, you can't expect to solve all your problems overnight!" The girl's tone is lightly scolding. "And the more you think about it, the worse you're going to feel, you stress-head!"
Iroh stares at her in shock.
"Now I'm going to give you a cup of tea, and you're going to sit here and like it. You're going to let it take away all your stress and worries and aches." She smiles. "Tea has the power to do that, you know."
He nods a little and takes a sip from the cup she hands him, finding it to be utterly delectable. "This is incredible…. Have you ever considered running a tea shop?"
"Oh, aye, I have!" She laughs. "In fact, I had a little one here in the city. But those utterly stupid people in that awful revolution wrecked my shop. And why? Ha! Because I served benders as well as nonbenders!"
Iroh watches her huff in anger, obviously miffed over the entire situation. "You know… perhaps we could come to an arrangement."
"… What sort of 'arrangement' do you mean?" She eyes him from across the fire.
"I'm sure you're very aware of the Jasmine Dragon franchise." He watches her eyes light up. "And as far as I'm aware, there isn't one here in Republic City yet… which is utterly absurd, as it's supposed to be the center of harmony! So why not a tea shop to bring everyone together? I would just need to find a suitable owner to give it to…. Do you know anyone interested, miss?"
"… Don't you tease me." Her eyes narrow. "You know very well I'm interested, General."
Iroh can't help chuckling. "Yes, I know you are, but I can't very well give away an entire tea shop plus start up money without knowing the name of the owner, can I?"
The girl opens her mouth to respond then shuts it, a faint flush crossing her cheeks. "Reina Hitori."
"Reina, huh? A lovely name… for a tea shop owner." He smiles at her, watching her face light up.
She asks suddenly, "Why are you giving this to me?"
"You've managed to help me forget my own troubles," he smiles at her. "Even for just a moment. And I'm very grateful. Besides… now I know exactly who to call for the best cup of ginseng tea in the city."