A relaxing cup of tea

[Nash Riley]

In an area towards one of the edges of the garden Nash was doing what looked a lot like tai chi.

A short distance back under a tree, a cloth mat was spread on the ground, on that mat a small kettle was heating up.

(open)

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

A large wolf trotted up to the tea kettle and regarded it curiously, before turning to Nash and watch him.

[Nash Riley]

Nash had noticed Steph out of the corner of his eye but went on preforming his routine. "Does the wolf want a cup of tea?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

She shifted to human form with and smiled at Nash, "No, but the girl does."

"I didn't know you did Tai Chi."

[Nash Riley]

The tea was still in a sealed container but Steph with her keen senses might be able to pick up the scent of tea leaves and jasmine.

"I picked it up over the summer in Tibet, along with the taste for tea."

His routine came to an end. He was headed back towards Steph when the kettle started to whistle.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Makes sense," she smiled. "I bet it's beautiful there."

Steph took the kettle off the heat. "Smells nice. What brought you to Tibet? Just wanted to visit, or something else?"

[Nash Riley]

"I volunteered with X-Corp over the summer, that's where they ended up sending me. There is a little mutant community up there that needed some help to rebuild some paths after an avalanche. The town was fine but it got cut off from the surrounding areas unless you were in to some serious mountain climbing."

Nash opened the tea container and a put some in the basket of the teapot before closing it again.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"X-corp does some amazing things. We're lucky to have them and I'm sure it was a great experience for you. Did you pick up any new languages?"

[Nash Riley]

"I don't think a few words here and there quite counts as a language. Anyway, I spent most of my time not working leaning other things."

Nash poured the heated water into the tea pot.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I dated someone who lived in Hong Kong for most of his life. He tried teaching me some Mandarin. Didn't work out very well," she smirked.

"So were you able to rebuild all of the paths?"

[Nash Riley]

"Yes. First put some temporary paths up to bring in supplies. Next, we searched for and intentionally set off any thing that looked too loose. Finally we helped build the more permanent paths back in. It took awhile."

He set out two cups and saucers.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"It certainly sounds that way," she nodded.

[Nash Riley]

"So, what did you do over summer break?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I indulged my wild side--went into the middle of nowhere Canada and spent a lot of time as a wolf. It's something I try to do every so often. Makes it a bit easier to maintain a sense of control that I want but a wild animal bristles under."

[Nash Riley]

"Hmm, a feral shifter thing I guess." He glanced at the tea pot

Just a little longer.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Hard to imagine if its not happening to you, I know."

[Nash Riley]

"Yes, going out into the wilderness isn't my kind of thing. I prefer the comforts of civilization too much for that."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Learning to deal with the wilderness is one of many things I had to change when I found out I was more or less a werewolf," she smirked. "I hated camping growing up, and, more amusingly, I used to be a vegetarian."

[Nash Riley]

"A vegetarian werewolf would be... unique."

Nash picked up the tea pot and and poured some in her cup first, then his.

"Not sure how you like, I only have sugar with me though." He pointed to some sugar packets that clearly had been taken from the cafeteria.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Plain is fine," she smiled. "So a taste for tea and tai chi. Good things to pick up when living abroad."

[Nash Riley]

Nash mixed a packet worth of sugar in his cup. "The biggest thing I picked up was a new perspective on my abilities."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Oh?" She asked, curious.

[Nash Riley]

“Well, the short explanation is that I was limiting myself due to my own preconceptions of what my powers could do.”

He gently blew on his cup of tea.

"Of course, I figure you want to hear the long one."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Of course," she smiled at Nash, sipping her tea.

[Nash Riley]

“Okay, but it may take awhile.”

He takes a sip of his tea.

“I first learned to use my powers through making things, and I guess that somewhat colored my perception of just how they work and just what exactly I could do with them. On my trip I met someone who questioned my assumptions and made me see past them.”

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph nodded. "You can make some pretty impressive things. Are you saying you can do more than just create things? Modify existing things or something?"

[Nash Riley]

“I can and already have, that's not what I found out.”

He takes another sip of tea.

“The X-corp people there all stayed in spare rooms in different houses. I ended up with an old couple. I ended up talking a lot with the old man there, that's how I gained my taste for tea. Well, we didn't really talk, neither of them knew English. The old man was telepathic and was able to communicate the ideas, how ever that works.”

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Telepathy may as well be magic to me. I don't ask to understand it, but I know it works. But this old man--he gave you some new insight into your abilities?"

[Nash Riley]

“Yes, he did, though I'm not sure if he was the one that realized it. He started by asking me what exactly I could do. So I told him what I thought that was. He would then ask me if I could do various things, and occasionally asked me to prove it.”

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"And in doing so, learned something new?"

[Nash Riley]

“Eventually. It started out just seeing what I already knew I could do. He then got me pushing my boundaries just a little. Not too different then my power training here, but in different ways.”

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"What did you find you could do?"

[Nash Riley]

He took long drink from of his tea.

“Finding pebbles.” he said with a smirk. "And some other stuff I'm still working out."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Finding pebbles? I think anyone can do that," she smirked picking a small stone out of the dirt near a tree root.

[Nash Riley]

"That's not what I meant, but finding pebbles is probably a story in and of itself."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Oh?" she asked, curious.

[Nash Riley]

“Okay, but lets wrap this one up first.”

He took a deep breath.

“It took awhile, but he eventually convinced me my powers didn't work the way I thought they did. Partially because it was they way I first learned to use them, and the way they had always proved the most useful, I thought that my powers were about me making things. Turns out I was wrong.”

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Oh? How so?"

[Nash Riley]

“When I am making things I can see all kinds of things about the materials I'm using, and think of everything I need to do in my head, but the making things is just a possible application of my powers. The powers themselves are actually just the special sensory perception and the ability to process it.”

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"What else do you think you could do?" she asked. "Being able to see things down to...I guess the molecular--or even smaller--level seems like you could do a lot with that."