sirenspull | 002: Video

[It's Saturday morning and Bruce's NV is propped against something to show him seated with a cup of something (tea, considering the string and tag hanging over the cup's lip) in the foreground. People move behind him, some holding cups of coffee before they take seats out of the camera's view. Looks like he's at an outdoor cafe. It also looks like he's found a charity that offers clothes to the poor and/or new arrivals because he's wearing a slightly dingy pale green button-down shirt with the cuffs rolled up over his forearms and a couple of buttons left open at the collar.]

Hiring in Siren's Port doesn't go the way it does most other places, does it? I couldn't give the panel at Siren's Port University my CV and published papers for examples of my work, but a few days of filling white boards with equations seems to have done the trick. It's much faster than hiring back home, too, but I guess there's a lot of turnover around here.

In addition, I'm offering my services as an after hours tutor while the days are long and until I go home, whenever that may be. If you need help with math or science up to the post-graduate level in most disciplines, contact me [he leans forward and swipes his fingers over the display, and a link appears at the bottom of the video screen] and we can make arrangements.

In the meantime, I'm at Cafe Bijan, and there are a few people who have been helpful to me since I arrived that I would happily buy a coffee. [He smiles, and the humor is meant mostly for himself and maybe one other person.] Unless you don't drink... coffee.

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[What's coffee? The question leaves Bruce momentarily nonplussed.]

A beverage brewed from roasted beans. It has a chemical in it that acts as a stimulant for most people.

Does it taste like tea?

[ Literally never encountered these crazy beans before, wut. ]

Not in my experience. I just drink tea these days, but where I'm from coffee is more popular.

[It just drives home how far from home he is.]

[ He gives a nod to the drink in the older man's hands. ]

So, coffee comes in bags you have to put in water and drink from? Why aren't the beans crushed or boiled?

[Bruce looks at the cup and shakes his head] This is just bagged tea; I'm not picky. Coffee is usually prepared by grinding the roasted beans to the consistency of coarse sand and then pouring hot water over the coffee grounds, which is then filtered into a cup or pot to leave the grounds behind. There are other methods and I'm sure coffee purists would say I'm doing it wrong, but it's close enough.

Bagged tea?

[ Gosh, even Zuko didn't know he was this much of a tea snob — or that he even cares? Apparently so, he'll blame ... ]

My uncle would be unhappy with me if I didn't refer you to him for a decent pot. He's mad on the stuff and anything he makes has got to be better than whatever it is they sold you. If that's alright with you —?

Or if you're that bothered, I guess.

[Bruce just smiles at the kid on the screen and resists the temptation to pick up his NV to get a better look at his face]

I don't mind. I'm too new to know anywhere good, so I'll take recommendations.

[ Awkward kid is awkward, albeit polite. ]

General Iroh of the Fire Nation, in that case. He's not easy to miss, especially if you say you've spoken to Zuko.

General...

[Bruce has minor issues with military men.]

[ Welp, have some hasty gesturing. ]

No, no, he's a good man! He's a little obsessed with tea, but my uncle's guided me through some really tough times. Although — I guess, hearing this from another complete stranger isn't exactly reassuring, augh.

Never mind, forget I said anything if you want. I'll understand.

[Bruce knows that Betty's father had meant the best for her too, but he'd learned at his cost to distrust men who made lives of war.]

Does he work for SERO?

I haven't heard him mention it, he'd tell me if he did.

What does he do?

He owns a music store here.

[Bruce visibly relaxes]

I guess anyone can reinvent himself here.

[ He looks mildly uncomfortable about revealing too much of their history to effectively a stranger, but it's kind of needed here. The apprehension Bruce has displayed has no place around his uncle, that much Zuko earnestly hopes to correct. ]

We've done a lot of awful things, not just me and him but the Fire Nation too. He's not like that anymore and helped me realise I could follow my own path, he was always good but — uh, he's been right for years now. On how to make amends.

What I'm trying to say is ... Uncle Iroh never really needed to reinvent himself.

[A lot of what Zuko is saying has no meaning to Bruce without context, but the earnestness comes through loud and clear.]

I don't mean to insult you or your uncle. I've just had some bad experiences with the military where I'm from, but that isn't you or your uncle, so why don't we start over.

Hello, my name is Bruce. Did you say that your uncle knows a lot about tea?

[ Intensely relieved, thank you. ]

Hi, Bruce. Yes, he knows everything there is to about it and would probably give you a ton of recipes to take home to try out.

[And now that "I just kicked an abused puppy" feeling abates.]

Do you think he'll forgive me for drinking bagged tea on the network?

That's up in the air.

Maybe I'll have a chance to find out sometime. A pretty woman told me that I should get out more.

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