Log; Ongoing

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

When; Early Evening Oct 21
Rating; PG
Characters; Inara Serra only_fell and Brennan Mulwray theshockvalue
Summary; Brennan stops by to have tea with Inara so that they can meet face to face.
Log;

When Brennan said that he would be over in a little while, Inara prepped one of the tea rooms. She was wearing a simple kimono and she'd pulled her hair up in a pair of chopsticks. She had a dish of small sandwiches and scones to one side in case Brennan wanted something to snack on with his tea.

She informed the hostess she was having a guest and went back to the tea room to wait on Brennan. The tea was brewing and she had incense lit. Everything was ready.

Comments

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

When Inara said she served tea, this hadn't been what he was expecting. Far from it, really. Okay, he'd be honest, he'd been expecting a coffee shop atmosphere, but was that really realistic? This was Culture at its finest and he wondered if he even belonged here.

He was lead to the tea room Inara had prepared, and he looked around almost self-consciously. Which part didn't fit here?

"Inara?"

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

Inara smiled softly and rose to greet Brennan. It wasn't hard to see that he was a little bit out of his element. She didn't mind; putting people at ease was one of her specialties, or at least she liked to think so.

"Yes and you must be Brennan," she said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm so glad you made the suggestion."

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He returned her smile for no other reason than it seemed so warm and welcoming.

"It's nice to meet you too, Inara." He gave another look around. "This place is something else."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

Inara glanced around the room and nodded. "I adore it here. It's always very calming and so lovely. Please, have a seat."

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "There's definitely something Zen about this place." He let her lead him to a chair, taking a seat as she'd requested. "Okay, so I've never done all this before," he gestured around the room, "So you'll have to fill me in."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"I assure you, it's just tea," Inara promised him with a gentle smile. She sat in the seat opposite him and poured some tea. "I've brewed black tea, Earl Grey but I've also got several varieties of green tea and herbal tea if you'd rather."

He sold coffee so her guess was he liked strong tea. Earl Grey was always a good choice with black tea she'd found but she wasn't opposed to brewing another pot of something else if he'd prefer.

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He watched her pour the tea. It smelled pretty good, but he really wasn't all that familiar with tea. He'd had Earl Grey before, but he couldn't just think of what it tasted like or anything.

"Um, this'll be fine," he said with a smile.

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

Inara nodded and indicated the bowls of sugar, lemon and the pitcher of cream. "There's a bit of everything if you take it with your tea," she said. She picked up the sugar, ladled a fair amount of it into her cup and then added a bit of cream.

"You say you sell coffee. I'm assuming you do so at the coffee shop in town?"

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He added a bit of sugar to his own but nothing else. Bitter was definitely better in his book.

He nodded at her question. "Yeah. It's a relatively new development." He chuckled. "But then again, all of this is."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"So you haven't been here long?" Inara questioned. "I've only been here a few weeks."

She takes a sip of her tea, hands wrapping around her cup.

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He shook his head. "A week." He sipped at his own tea.

"So, what's it like, where you're from?"

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"Oh my, you are new to the City," Inara responded a bit surprised.

"It's very beautiful. The architecture reminds me a bit of this place which is probably why I love it so much. Outside of that, everything here is very different. Where are you from? And what is it like?"

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

"Let's just say it's been an interesting week." He sat back some, relaxing. He exhausted, but he was trying not to let it show.

"I'm used to typical urban architecture myself. I'm a city boy."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I spent a good deal of my first week indoors in an attempt to stay calm," Inara nodded. She was pleased he was relaxing a little bit.

"A big city?" she asked. "I don't mind the urban architecture but I prefer some landscape with my buildings."

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He smiled again. "I prefer to stay active. Helps me think."

He nodded. "Yeah. I loved my town, but I've moved since then. Landscape isn't so bad."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"What do you like to do?" she asked curiously. "And did you move for a job or for a person?"

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

"Well," He said, looking thoughtful. "I like hanging out with people, messing around with my bike, basketball, shooting pool, reading." He shrugged. "What about you? Oh, and I moved for work."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

Inara nodded as she listened to Brennan. "I enjoy socializing, dancing, painting--although I'm only moderately good at it, meditation, calligraphy. I read a great deal as well. What do you like to read?"

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He blinked. "Calligraphy? Wow. Uh...read, right. Are you familiar with Walt Whitman?"

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"It's an art form that is encouraged in my world," Inara answered. She nodded in response to his question. "The poet. Yes. He's a favorite of yours?"

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

"Wow, really?" he chuckled. "I can't say there's any specific art that's encouraged in my world."

He smiled at her knowledge. That was awesome. "Yeah. I read Blades of Grass to relax."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

"My culture is very Asian influenced. Particularly Chinese," Inara responded. She took a sip of her tea and offered him the plate of sandwiches and scones she'd put together. A smile ghosted over her lips and she nodded. "He is very relaxing and that's one of his better ones. Whitman isn't my favorite but for that purpose he probably is the best."

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

"Wow, and you can color me All-American." He chuckled and accepted a small sandwich.

"Yeah, relaxing is the Whitman. He's not my favorite either, but then again, it's hard to choose, you know? They all did different moods."

[only-fell.livejournal.com]

Inara smiled at his comment and nodded.

"Then you're fond of a great deal of poetry and not just a couple of poets. Most people tend to pick one poet or a few poems they enjoy. Do you write any poetry yourself?"

[theshockvalue.livejournal.com]

He chuckled and looked down. "Uh, no. I wouldn't wish me writing poetry on anyone."