[Mai's flat is larger than Tim's. She has a nicely equiped kitchen and you can see part of her bedroom through the half open door. The bathroom is presumably off the bedroom.] (Seeing as how Tim's place is basicaly a dorm room with an attached bathroom, being bigger and better than it isn't hard. ;P) [The living room is nicely furnished with traditional Chinese woodwork and color schemes.] [There's also a dining table in the liing room. She does have an entertainment center set up, but it has been modded to fit well with the decor.] * Tim looks around. "Niice, I didn't realize they had places like this down here. After I get the higher ups happy with me again, I'm definatly going to ask for something this size." [Strangely, the room and bedroom as well has windows on two sides. They overlook misty mountain forests. There's a slight breeze coming in from outside that's quite warm and comfortable.] * Grysar smiles. "When I started out it wasn't quite so cosy." (Mai) * Tim then blinks at the windows and walks over to the ones in the living room. "And maybe one of these too. That the real mountain or just an illusion of it?" They're a portal of some sort. Victor has offered to tell me the details, but I prefer not to know. * Tim looks at the window frames for a bit and then turns around. "I'll talk to him when I move then, but, right now, you said something about tea." * Mai nods and walks over to her kitchen and gets out pots and cups and such. "It's a good skill to learn. I'll walk you through it." She's got a nice traditional looking set. * Tim rubs the bridge of nose when Mai's back is turned, but by the time she returns with the tea set he's grining again. "I'm not sure who I'll impress with it, but it'll undoubtably come in handy some day." Well, many people, including some you may be interested in, tend to appreciate culture. And these days most any culture will do. So, Chinese or British method? ::She pauses for a moment and adds as an afterthought:: Or Japanese if you prefer. * Tim shakes his head. "I was going to say British because that's where were are, but..." He gestures at the windows. "We arn't exactly where we are, so we'll go Chinese and match the setting." * Mai sounds amused. "A reasonable way of deciding." There's definately a pleased note in her voice though. * Mai then talks Tim through the pot and type of green tea they'll be using. She keeps to functional details rather than any long histories or such. * Jin meanwhile glances about the room from his perch on Tim's shoulder. He's got a vague look of recognition. * Tim doesn't seem to be paying full attention to what Mai is telling him, but does manage to follow along with only a few gaffs in the direction of Japanese tea ceremonies. * Mai stays fairly patient. Although her expression slips a bit more for the Japanese tea ceremony additions than any other sort of mistakes. * Mai gets a slight grin as he finishes. "Not bad. Now comes the hard part. The first infusion should be for two minutes. I'll let you keep track of when it should be done." She gestures over to * Mai gets a slight grin as he finishes. "Not bad. Now comes the * Tim holds his hand a few feet over the floor after yet another. "Sorry, every now and then since I was about this old Mom's tried to drill things like this into my head... I guess she'd be prou* Tim holds his hand a few feet over the fl (I would if I had dice) (Switch order and add a "Ah, well that's alright.") [There's some clutter on the desk, but Tim doesn't really get a good look at it.] (failed by four, well, I did say that Tim seemed distracted.) (So we can actually play out the timing. I'll let you handle whether he actually checks the clock and such.) (I just figure he wouldn't necessarily take note of items around the room without a roll.) (Ah, okay.) * Tim looks at the clock and then Jin. "You know... you never did answer my very first question." * Jin starts at Tim's voice. [First question?] * Mai just watches this interchange. * Tim looks back at Mai. "Yeah, where does he get his information from? All books? Just the ones here in the SAB library? Or is it an even more limited selection?" Would you like me to answer that, or would you prefer he did? He's quite capable of answering the question. * Tim grins. "Would you both give me the same answer?" * Mai smiles. "If two sources give you the exact same answer to a non-technical question then they are either coordinating or plagarizing." But this should be a technical question, unless I'm compleatly wrong about how I think he works. * Mai shakes her head. "Not entirely. I trained him, I didn't program him. He doubtless perceived it differently than I did.' * Tim blinks and looks at the clock. Then he takes Jin off his shoulder and hold him in his hand. "Now how does that work?" [She taught me to jump into books and let me play in a lot of places. I can travel back to them when I want, but it sometimes takes a while. And sometimes I hit walls; well, wards is the proper term.] (books and papers) * Tim blinks. "You can travel through books you've been in before? Does the distance matter? And you just read them and remember?" [Distance matters, but there are shortcuts. And I don't remember most details, just what I think you'll find interesting. I don't even remember all the books. But I remember the paths and how to find what I need.] * Tim leans back a bit. "Huh, I can sorta see how that would work. You're more complicated than I thought you were." [Thank you.] (missed by one) * Mai seems pleased by this interchange, but she also seems to have something else on her mind. Tim can't automatically pin down what it is. * Tim looks at the clock again. "Hmm." [And the tea is just about done steeping.] I think it's about done. Back you go Jin, I might need both hands for this. * Tim puts Jin back on his shoulde. (+r) * Jin settles happily on Tim's shoulder. * Mai smiles at that. (Swapping my laundry. Go ahead and reply, brb) * Tim follows Mai's instructions and pours tea into cups. Then he drinks. "Not bad at all." * Mai takes a drink herself and mms approvingly. * Tim hmms again and sets down his cup of tea. "I was wondering if you could help me with something else as well." * Mai nods and takes another sip. See, after I found out about Yvonne, and some things about how your windows and even Jin works now... well I hate to admit my ignorance here, but I can't exactly pretend it doesn't exist. I See, after I found out about Yvonne, and some things about how your windows and even Jin works now..* Mai sets down her tea and examines Tim. "I am willing to do both. But you may not like my methods." * Tim raises his hands in a sign of helplessness. "I don't even know what they would be. That's how bad off I am right now, and I'd like the people who don't know that to stay that way, and the p* Tim raises his hands in a sign of helplessness. "* Mai smiles slightly. "There are two conditions. Well three, but I suspect Jenny won't be attending these lessons either way." (either way-> in any case) (Wait, has Jenny's named been mentioned by Tim?) (named->name) (Yes, he called her Jenny-bird when he sent her off.) (Right, Jenny it is) * Tim snorts. "Not a chance. I don't care what she says, my aunts going to be sniffing around and if it seems like I'm not up to _something_ she's going to look even harder and personaly I'd rath* Tim snorts. "Not a chance. I don't care what she says, my aunts going to be sn What are the other two? I assume you do not have time to spare, but with extra speed come extra precautions. First, you show the same level of dedication and focus you devote to practing your powers. Well, if this is going to be the same level of dangerious as people shooting at me right after I joined SAB, yeah, I'll put a lot of effort into not getting hurt by it. * Mai nods. "Second, there will be parts of the lessons where you must follow my instructions to the letter and without question. We can stop one of these lessons midway if you feel something mus * Mai nods. "Second, there will be parts of the lessons w* Tim picks up his tea and takes a sip. "Now that one's going to be a pain. Only one of the lessions can be stopped, or if I interupt any of them I'll have to start from the begining? And which b * Tim picks up his tea and takes a sip. "Now that one's going to be a pain. Only o You may stop as many times as you like. Knowing when to stop is vital as well and should not be restricted arbitrarily. But you may be set back a few hours or we may have to start again * Tim thinks for a moment. "If it works, that's great, and if it doesn't, well, we'll be a few hours older and a bit wiser and a lot frustrated. Not a great loss in my opinion." * Mai nods and takes a sip of her tea. * Tim looks at the clock again. "I've got a few things I need to take care of this afternoon. So starting now is out... and of course with you being the teacher deciding when lessions will start I have a dinner appointment tonight, so come by the library after finished your errands and eaten dinner. * Tim grins and takes a sip of tea. "I'll see you there." [End.]