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( the kind words about xingchen's first nymph acquaintance earn a smile, and an affirmative hum and nod at mention of her sister. he had heard of miss elsa's sister - in fact, it seems she was the one who came up with the idea to use their capabilities as nymphs to run an apothecary. xingchen would certainly like the pleasure of meeting her one day, whenever it happens to work out.

meanwhile, he's already mid-duck when he's told he doesn't need to, at which point he exhales a light laugh-breath, brows knitting in puzzlement. why is it that obi-wan keeps ducking, if not for something to duck under? the answer comes before he has time to ask, and his expression (what can be seen of it) fades to something closer to intrigue. ) 'Other trees', ( he echoes, caught by the phrasing of it. ) Do you feel like one of them? ( another invasive question, but obi-wan has proven quite amenable to sharing and explaining so far, so he resists the urge to preface it with a pardon or polite caveat. )

[He doesn't mind the questions at all. In fact, someone taking interest is more than welcome as many don't understand what it's like to be a nymph. It was a bit different from some of the other monster species that were around.]

In some ways, yes, I do. I can feel their presence, every one of them looks unique to me. Plus my body functions in similar ways to them. I need sunlight, water, and clean air just as they do.

[It had definitely been quite an adjustment going from an entirely animal being to a half plant being.]

I even turn into a tree when I am sleeping or deep in meditation. ... Ah, here we are.

[It was then that they came upon a shaded clearing where his little hut is located. A table made of a tree stump with a few seats around it was placed outside as the hut itself was too small for entertaining. Obi-Wan would lead Xingchen to one of those seats.]

Edited 2020-09-10 13:53 (UTC)

( it sounds fascinating, to be so connected to the forest around them. he can't even entirely picture it, the concept of feeling the trees' presence as some sort of life form rather than simply a facet of the landscape.

xingchen hardly has time to process the last bit (obi-wan turns into a tree?) before they've arrived, and he allows himself to be guided until the hem of his robe catches on something raised to about knee-height. he bends, fingertips finding what seems to be somewhere flat to sit, and he takes his hand from obi-wan's arm with a grateful flicker of smile, sinking neatly down into the offered seat. )

It sounds lovely out here. ( which isn't just a platitude. xingchen has truly missed the sounds of the forest, even after so short a time in the city. )

[It definitely sounds like a forest. What with the singing of birds, the rustling of leaves in the breeze, even a squirrel fussing above them at these people intruding on his space.

Once Xingchen has seated himself, the nymph moves away to begin making the tea. Obi-Wan having already set everything outside so he wouldn't have to leave his company alone. The sounds of him rummaging around and setting things up are clear as he speaks.]

Yes, I really enjoying living here in the forest. The city is just too loud, busy, and dirty for my tastes. Especially now that I have become a nymph. It is just more comfortable for me here.

( and xingchen thoughtlessly tracks the sounds of rummaging with his 'gaze', a habit he never quite lost despite no longer quite having a reason to do so. the words get an appreciative hum, and - ) I've thought about leaving the city, myself, but it seems foolish to do so when I've only just started to get my bearings there.

( and before the conversation gets much further, xingchen chimes in with, ) Just let me know when you'd like me to help with the fire. ( he definitely hasn't forgotten the request. )

[The rummaging eventually gets closer and there are the sounds of something being set up next to Xingchen. It is in fact a portable gas stove among all the other things needed to heat water and make tea.]

I admit I’m a little uneasy without you being able to see. If it is all right, I will guide your hand so that you won’t hurt yourself either.

[The nymph then opens a box of matches and will put it and the match in the man’s hands.]

Do you know how these work?

( in truth, given a moment to examine the stove's features with his fingertips (with the gas turned off, of course), he could actually light it quite safely - but this is obi-wan's home, and xingchen isn't so quick to overstep a man's level of comfort within his own space, even if such a thing leads to him being coddled for his blindness.

the match and box are placed into his hands, and he does indeed know how such things work, using the outer two fingers of each hand to tug his billowing sleeves back down to his elbows to ensure they're kept clear of any fire. then the match is struck, held aloft with his arm well in obi-wan's reach for guidance. ) At your leisure.

[Obi-Wan watches as Xingchen strikes the match and is actually a bit impressed as he manages to do it so easily. Though he wastes no time in moving Xingchen’s arm toward the stove and pulls it back again once it ignites. His hand then releasing the other man’s arm.]

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me several tries to learn how to light matches.

[This said as he moved away to sit across from Xingchen. A bit sheepishly as he wonders if he has underestimated the man’s ability to maneuver despite his blindness.]

It’s not something we use where I’m from.

[Thus he hadn’t wanted to assume Xingchen would know either.]

( as his wrist is released, xingchen brings the match in to blow it out, then flicks his wrist once for good measure. the confession has him smiling, shaking his head. ) It took me just as long, I assure you. Had I not found need for incense, I might never have learned. ( funerary incense, to be specific. it was quite fortunate that he took the time to acquaint himself with matches before he and jiang wanyin began the rites. it would have been equal parts embarrassing and disrespectful, to flounder with such a thing when paying respects. )

My homeland has something quite similar, but few cultivators have need for it. ( but seeing as it's still held between his fingertips, he asks now - ) Where might I discard this?

Ah, there’s a box right next to the stove. You can place it in there.

[He will then watch Xingchen closely, making sure that he found it and making note to only offer help if the man truly seemed to need it rather than assuming.]

Jiang Wanyin has told me a little about cultivators and your golden cores. Though I’m still not clear on how your abilities worked exactly. Do you mean to say that you were able to make fire yourselves?

Edited (Freakin autocorrect) 2020-09-14 03:41 (UTC)

( he recalls where his hand was moved to light said stove, so finding the table beside it is no trouble - though his thoughtless searching touch does guess the wrong side of the stove at first before finding the box on the other, a misstep that he pays no mind to (such small bits of troubleshooting barely register with him, at this point) as he listens to the question at hand. )

We were, ( he confirms. ) A cultivator's abilities vary quite a bit based on the strength of their golden core and whomever was their foremost teacher - but such things as firestarting and the most basic formless qi attacks are, I think, somewhat universal.

[Obi-Wan grimaces a bit as he watches Xingchen grope around, looking for the box. Resisting the urge to help him. He is able to find it though and thus the nymph is at ease once again.]

That’s impressive. For all our abilities, that is something that Jedi could not do.

[Though there is a word that sticks out in what Xingchen just said.]

If I may ask, what is qi?

( for all that it's worth, xingchen hardly considers such things as the wordless search for the box a struggle of any sort. the things that matter, he does with relative precision. the things that matter less, he relegates to some hind part of his focus, perhaps fumbling lightly but never quite feeling any sort of duress over it. those who spend any real time around him tend to stop paying attention to such things. it only really occurs outside of his own home, anyway - within the space he himself has kept tabs on, he can operate nearly as smoothly as if he isn't blind at all. )

Mm, if you'll forgive the metaphor, qi is as the blood of the spirit. Just as the body is kept alive and moving by way of blood coursing through it, qi shifting through our meridians keeps our spirit alive and healthy as well. I would say the golden core is like the heart, but even those without golden cores - those who aren't cultivators - still have qi within them. But as a young cultivator grows his or her golden core, it becomes the heart through which all qi flows and grows stronger.

( he gave daryl a bit longer an explanation, to be faced with a carefully polite lack of proper comprehension - and so this time, xingchen opts to break the concepts down into parts and offer each part as a question calls for it. it's not as if they don't have plenty of time to converse. )

[Obi-Wan can't say he knows what it's like to be blind, and he hadn't known very many that were. The closest thing he comes to it is being without the Force, which deprived him of a view of the world that he was very used to. It was painful, and difficult, though he was still able to function just fine as any normal human being. It seemed cultivators had some similar abilities too. He couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to lose your abilities and have to deal with blindness. If it were him, Obi-Wan knows he would struggle, and it's that thought that has him feeling overly concerned for Xingchen. Even so, he was trying not to be obnoxious and kept his fretting to himself for the moment. Instead he listened as Xingchen explained.]

That actually does make a lot of sense, and sounds almost familiar to me in some ways. What are meridians?

[His mind couldn't help but try to associate it with the similar sounding midichlorians. Could it be similar? Or was it something entirely different?]

( it's true, perhaps, that obi-wan would struggle - but even after so brief a time knowing each other, xingchen (perhaps naively) has utmost confidence that obi-wan would find his way in the world in such a situation. one would be surprised how quickly a person finds a way to make their world livable and sustainable, especially when that person was resilient to begin with. )

As qi flows through the body, the meridians are the rivers which carry it. ( if he only properly knew of the web of blood vessels beneath the skin, he might compare it as such and keep the parallel intact, but this is the best he can offer with what anatomical knowledge he has. )

[Obi-Wan definitely doesn't really understand, since he's not in the same situation as Xingchen. While the Jedi definitely wants to respect his new friend, he can't help but worry about him either. Xingchen might have to spell it out for him thought at some point.

While Xingchen might not see it though, the nymph is definitely looking at him with interest at the brief explanation. His analogy making perfect sense to the Jedi.]

That is fascinating, really it is, as it sounds not unlike what I know from my galaxy.

[Glancing at the pot that was just starting to steam a little bit, he then decided to elaborate.]

You see, where I'm from, there is an energy called the Force which is in all life. Some of us are born with a rare sensitivity to it. We can feel it flowing through us much like you describe. It is tiny organisms in our body called midichlorians that allow us to feel and use it.

( that first statement certainly piques his interest, and xingchen's head tilts just slightly to listen as he finally thinks to right his pushed-back sleeves to their proper billowing length.

obi-wan discusses the force - an alternative qi, from the sound of it so far. the rare sensitivity to this 'force' of his could arguably be the mere capability of forming a golden core... while common folk are arguably able to form a weak one with diligence, very few of them are privileged with the spare time to spend meditating and training instead of toiling away, especially for such meager results when compared to the golden cores of those with cultivator bloodlines. )

This does sound quite familiar, ( he agrees, lips curling faintly. ) Those born with this rare sensitivity - what becomes of them after that? ( an exceptionally broad question, but such is necessary when he knows very little of obi-wan's world as a whole. are there sects of such people? temples which train in use of the force? does it run in families, or is it sporadic throughout the population? xingchen can't help but wonder how deep the parallel runs. )

[That question brought a moment of pause, because answering meant delving into the not so distant past. Everything that he knew was no longer reality.]

They would be identified at a young age and brought to the Jedi temple for training. Such was the case with me when I was three years old.

[And most were brought even younger than that. A concept that many outside the order thought strange or even cruel, and yet it was just the way of things for them.

The whistling of the water pot then broke the air and Obi-Wan reached to take it. He then poured the boiling water into the serving teapot that already held the herbs for the brew. Allowing it all to steep as he placed the water pot back on the stove and turned down the heat.]

( just the one temple? either it's an obscenely large temple or there are far fewer with force sensitivity than there are cultivators.

they pause briefly to let obi-wan get the tea steeping, which he seems to do well enough on his own despite his sensitivity to heat. xingchen can't help but wonder if he's simply enduring his sensitivity so as not to ask anything further of a blind man - but the deed is done one way or the other, and their conversation is resumed. ) I'm impressed that children so young have the discipline to learn.

[Oh it is definitely an obscenely large temple. About the size of an entire town and then some where Xingchen is from. As for the heat, it's not really so much that, that bothers him. Unless it gets too hot of course. It's more that an open flame can hurt him. He is keeping his hands well away from the stove's burner. Catching fire or getting burned would certainly be more detrimental to him than it would most anyone else.]

Discipline is essential to our ways. So they are taught that from a very early age.

[A smile came to his face as he remembered his own childhood, growing up in the Jedi temple.]

Children are still children of course, but to be a Jedi one had to start learning almost from birth.

( one had to start learning from birth. cultivation must also begin at a fairly young age in order to be as successful as it can be, but it's not the end of the world if such a thing doesn't occur. xingchen himself started a bit later, if only by a couple of years, and made up for the discrepancy by virtue of his dedication.

it begs the question, ) Is your Force difficult to control? ( do they 'have to' learn from birth for reasons of safety? or is that simply how long it takes to lay the groundwork to be a jedi, specifically? )

[With a few minutes having passed, Obi-Wan decides that the tea has had enough time to steep and begins pouring it for the both of them.]

Some things are more difficult to learn than others and each of us had our different talents.

[Some being better at healing for instance while others excelled in lightsaber combat, and still others were particularly gifted with foresight.]

Though without training one would never realize their full potential. At worst they wouldn’t have sufficient control and could accidentally hurt others.

( xingchen hums a quiet 'thank you' hum as the tea is poured, not wishing to interrupt obi-wan's explanation with words of his own. in so many ways, this 'force' sounds much like cultivation, but in other ways they're quite different. a cultivator only loses control of his temper or grief, never his cultivation - short of an outright qi deviation, that which is granted by cultivation is always firmly within a person's grasp. perhaps this is because it is a part of them, while the force seems to be something borrowed from the world around them.

a world xingchen still knows very little about. )

I'm curious to know more of the world which so uniquely parallels our own, ( he says, the fingertips of both hands resting light on the teacup now (a cultural behavior, obi-wan can likely assume - if he has shared tea with jiang wanyin, he would have seen a similar two-handed approach to such a small cup, at least early on).

xingchen recognizes what a broad request that is, so he adds, ) Anything at all which you'd like to share, I'd be interested to hear.

Let me know if you would like any sugar or honey.

[This said as he watches Xingchen to pick it up. The tea itself is definitely an herbal with an earthy taste with some floral notes. Obi-Wan had taken great care in choosing and harvesting the plants he used. As a nymph he was particularly sensitive to that.]

Well there's certainly a lot I could go into.

[As he finished pouring his tea, he added a touch of honey to his cup before lifting it to his lips thoughtfully.]

For starters I suppose, where I'm from is much more technologically advanced. Instead of rolling on the ground, our vehicles fly. In fact, we have ships that travel through the stars.

No, thank you, ( he replies, regarding sugar or honey. he enjoys the simple taste of tea itself, and beyond that, sweet things have lost most of their appeal as of late.

so instead, he listens with tea in hand as obi-wan speaks of advanced technology - a concept which, admittedly, xingchen hasn't the faintest clue how to picture properly aside from that which he has experienced here - and then of vehicles which soar through the stars.

his brow knits under the edge of his bandaging in an amused sort of puzzlement. ) 'Through' the stars? Are they not as a tapestry wrapped around the world?

ic inbox, ryslig.

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it was even capitalized, autocorrect is clearly demanding Nerf gun action

Or it’s a scruffy looking Nerf Herder!

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p.s. re: other tea party, should we do a new starter for post-gosalyn too for efficiency purposes?

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