Ostentatious | Closed RP
firelxrdsdaughter:
petalblessed:
firelxrdsdaughter:
petalblessed:
firelxrdsdaughter:
petalblessed:
Certainly she was right about this. There were nobles even who behaved quite differently when they did not believe her to be in the room. She and Ty Liu switched places enough to experience some of that difference.
“I would imagine so…” She started to raise her tea cup to her lips only to set it back down. “On the topic of danger,” The crown princess hesitated, uncertain of how to proceed, “or something along those lines… I have heard that my cousin Lady Manami takes her tea here now and then.”
Ty Lee had managed to miss her each time she came, but it was not necessarily danger to herself that worried her in this particular instance. It was a public enough place and her cousins had not been foolish enough to cause her direct harm since they were children.
Peasants on the other hand… there were things Lilling had alluded to that Ty Lee was inclined to believe.
Manami. Zuko’s favourite customer.
Azula knew that there was something wrong aout her. She gave her that feeling like someone’s jagged nails being dragged along one’s spine. Ty Lee’s sudden broach of the subject in conjunction with the topic of danger only made that funny feeling in the pit of Azula’s stomach all the more obvious.
“Yes,” she said after a pause, “Lady Manami is indeed an occasional client, though I had no idea she was so well connected.”
She did take a sip of her tea, trying to remain nonplussed.
“Should we be troubled over her?”
She took a sip from her teacup, buying herself a little extra time to consider her few next words.
If she said too much, rumors might spread and if they spread too much her family would be put in a difficult situation. Her uncle, Lord Matsuo, ran a good portion of their navy and as such had his hands full with the Earth Kingdom’s forces. An investigation upon the heir of Shipwright’s Cove would be a distraction from the war efforts. Or at least this was the reason Lilling gave for why her cousins would likely get away with their more destructive hobbies as long as they did not go too far with them.
How far was too far? If she was interpreting what Lilling was hinting at correctly it sounded pretty far already.
“…That would depend on whether her interest in any of you has gone beyond what would be expected.”
The words that Ty Lee refused to say were the ones that Azula heard loud and clear. She was dangerous, more dangerous than the Crown Princess wanted to admit aloud. Perhaps because it would be detrimental to her family in some way.
“And if it did?” Azula prompted, “what would we have to fear from her?”
That was not what Ty Lee wanted to hear. Not at all. The other woman could be simply asking, but the crown princess would hate to find out that this was not the case and she had done nothing to warn her. “She has… a certain penchant for cruelty that the war has served as an outlet for. -The way one treats war prisoners does not necessarily translate to how one would treat others, but I wouldn’t take tea with every torturer to find out if it did.” Especially someone who chose to do it when there were perfectly capable professionals fit for the task. And now that her uncle had sent the both of them to the capital, who was to say that focus would not turn elsewhere? Certainly not Ty Lee. She would not say anything directly of that sort- especially since it was only a rumor. Surely something like that would be noticed if it was in the capital. Her cousins would have been contained better, watched more. Not allowed to roam about unchecked. “It is just better to be careful. Nothing has happened, if it had she would be in prison.” Ty Lee said.
A new worry sprouted in the back of Azula’s mind with the new information imparted to her by the Crown Princess.
A torturer. An inquisitor. Had the Fire Lord sent her to them? Did he already know who they were? Was he merely biding his time, waiting for the right moment to set Ty Lee’s cousin on them to pry their identites from them and then their livlihoods and their lives?
She would have to speak with her uncle about it. She might not inheret the shop after all.
Those were all things to concern herself with at a later time. For now she tucked them away and tried not to worry about it.
Azula took a breath to steady herself.
“But you find her worrisome enough to think to warn me about her,” she pointed out, “so there must be more there…” Azula leaned against the table top with her forearm, tapping her nails on its surface.
“What do you fear she could do?” she tried.
“Become bored.” Ty Lee stated plainly before pulling back again. “-That is if there is anything to be genuinely worried about. One of my sisters had a bad experience with her as a child so I am probably biased.” Downplaying the situation did not seem to be convincing Azula of what she hoped it would, otherwise she would not be asking further questions. What did she hope she’d believe? That Manami wasn’t dangerous? That she was? She wanted her to be worried, but not too much so. What exactly was ‘too much’ when it came to her cousins?
“I’m rarely bored,” Azula said, sitting back a little. She waved a hand almost absently, dismissively, at the notion. “But I suppose I often go looking for trouble…Or I play pai sho. Sometimes those two things meld into one.”
Azula felt the corner of her mouth tug upward.
She remembered the last time that pai sho and trouble had mixed. It had resulted in an impromptu Agni Kai, and her uncle’s disappointment. But it had been great fun and Azula had enjoyed herself regardless of the consequences.
“Do you play pai sho, your highness?”
Trouble and pai sho together. That was something hard to imagine. However the idea that Azula went looking for trouble fit what she knew of her thus far.
“I do on occaision. Few people play against me properly, which is rather boring.” She had thought herself to be good at it for a time until Ty Lat made her aware of the fact that everyone else had been letting her win.
“I doubt anyone throws a game to you.” She didn’t imagine she was anything less than an obnoxious victor.
“They rarely do so intentionally, no,” she answered, feeling smug. But it was an indulgence that she couldn’t afford. Not right now. Showing any of her real self to Ty Lee was inadvisable at best.
“If it’s a real game of pai sho you want, I would be happy to oblige…” Azula ventured.
If there was anyone who wouldn't allow her to win it would be her. Ty Lee got the impression that she was not someone who liked to lose at anything.
"I would like that."
