[Nexus] Temperance Teahouse

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"I could probably use another glass too." However, Grace doesn't seem inclined to get up on her own.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara waits a moment, and when Grace's laziness become apparent, she smiles. "Shall I bring you one, then?"

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"Somehow, I think I'll manage to get up." Comes Grace's dry response. The eudai reluctantly gets to her feet, and offers Takara a hand up.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara takes the hand and gets to her feet. "I'll pay for this round, if you don't mind."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"If you want to." The eudai allows graciously as she gathers up her jacket and tie. "...I should probably purchase a new outfit."

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

"Oh? But I like your attire." Takara frowns as she leads the way. "I've never been able to select an contemporary outfit from this place, but I always feel a little out of place in the attire from my homeland."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"Well, the suit is a bit... professional. I'm not really sure it presents the right image anymore." Grace explains with a sigh. "We could go shopping together, if you'd like- though I warn you, I tend to be a pretty ruthless shopper. I don't dote over things."

Grace will lead the way back into the main building of the teahouse.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

"I think I would like that." Takara smiles lightly at Grace. "And I will brave your tendencies if it means some better clothes."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"Then that's what we'll do!" Grace declares, with much more cheer in her voice. "After we get the wine." She adds, as they arrive inside.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara goes to order the wine and returns with a pair of glasses. "Shall we make a toast?"

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

Grace accepts her glass and raises it a little. "To friendship." She suggests.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

"To friendship." There is the clink of glass and on glass, and then Takara takes her first drink of the wine.

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

Grace does likewise... but perhaps drinks a bit more than Takara. Hopefully, she does not get drunk. Grace tends to do stupid things when she's drunk.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara raises an eyebrow at Grace's drinking habits, but makes no other comment. "Hmmm, perhaps a bit too sweet for me. Oh well." She still finishes her drink quickly.

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"I've never understood that. How could you possibly make something too sweet?" Questions Grace. "Seems to me, the more sweet the better."

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara shrugs. "I simply do not like the taste when it is too sweet. I cannot offer any explanation for it."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"Well if you don't want it..." Grace begins to say, a smirk crossing onto her face.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara offers her the still mostly full glass. "Certainly; I'd hate for it to go to waste."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

Hadn't Grace finished off a bottle earlier? Sure, it was a pretty small bottle, but...
Well, a bottle and two glasses now. Maybe that's why she seems a little flushed, and why she still seems to be smiling vaguely for no apparent reason.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara observes Grace for a moment and then realizes her error. "I'm afraid you don't look up to shopping right now, Grace."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"What? No, I'll be fine." Grace says, still smiling, though now her attention is focused on Takara. "Really." She carefully sets down both glasses and then offers her hand to Takara. "Please, don't worry about me."

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara takes the offered hand. "Are you certain?" Takara remains pretty skeptical.

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"...not entirely." Grace admits, sheepishly. "I did have more than usual. But I feel good."

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Well, that's not quite reassuring. "Grace, I think you need to sit down for a moment. Just to relax a bit, and make sure everything is alright." Takara tries to lead grace by than to a table to sit. She doesn't want Grace to embarrass herself. Not only would that be kind of mortifying to Takara, but she imagines that Grace wouldn't like it much either.

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

This is obviously advice that Grace finds a bit disappointing, but she follows Takara to the table anyway and takes a seat next to her. "Sorry." She manages to say quietly, though she's still grinning just a little. "I don't drink often, I can kind of get a bit um, carried away."

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara pats the hand she is still holding. "It is alright. Just rest for a moment; clarity will come with time."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

"Things seem pretty clear now." Comes Grace's objection. She's still pretty quiet though, and doesn't seem inclined to rush off. "I remember when I first came to Nexus, I overdid it. It was a bad day. I didn't want to think about it. I definitely felt it then."

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara nods as she listens, but also remembers when she first met Grace, and how the woman had pulled away from her once in suspicion. Did this have something to do with that action? But, Grace had said she did not wish to think about it. "Then do not think about it, and do not speak. Hush. Think of something else. The soft sky on a summer day. The lap of the waves against the tides, and the feeling of warm sand under your feet. The soft playing of music, or the crackle of the fire on a harsh winter's night. Lose yourself in something else. I just want you to relax, if even for a moment. When I stopped to share time with you, I wanted to help you regain equilibrium. It seems that I've only managed to knock you further off balance. So calm yourself, and be quiet a moment with me."

[AmberVael]

[Garden]

It was... kind of hard for Grace to stop and really think. But that realization helped her take the first step back to being a bit more calm, because part of her started going through her practiced motions, reciting that small mantra of caution and control, comparing who she was to how she was acting, and trying to reclaim some understanding of the situation.

But that didn't make her calm. It made her nervous, especially thinking about the last time she went through these motions and said her little mantra. She didn't want to think about that, particularly with Takara nearby. Lose yourself, Takara suggested, but that was honestly hard enough for Grace to do when sober. She was always thinking.

Grace gives a sigh and leans against Takara. She could be silent, at least, and the warm comfort of another next to her was a welcome change, particularly when it came from a friend.

[Neon Knight]

[Garden]

Takara just lets Grace lean against her, not saying anything, just being there. Her own mind slips into the quiet inner meditation that seems to come naturally to her.