<XS> Kitchen
The kitchen staff at Xavier's tends well to the needs of its residents. Always cognizant of its students and faculty's dietary needs alike, the menu has a wide variety of choices, and the longtime cook works wonders in the kitchen. The pantry, too, is kept well stocked for those who want to come prepare themselves their own snacks. The shelf, fridge, and freezer space is ample, though if anyone wants to keep their own food there, they'd better make sure it's labeled clearly, and even that is no guarantee it'll last.
With her night tea craving thoroughly foiled last night, Rahne is back in the kitchen this late evening to try again. In a pair of pajama pants with little cartoon wolves all over them--seriously they are kind of ridiculous and she loves these PJs shhh--and another oversized, comfy-looking sweatshirt, she waits patiently for the kettle to whistle, perched on a counter and nose stuck in a book.
Beside her, her mug already sits ready, with tea infuser stuffed with a good pinch of Scottish tea from the tin she keeps in the cabinet she currently sits under. Also, there's a nibbled-on oatcake to go with it.
The figure that slips through the shadowy halls of the school is known as something of a night-owl, although there's been less late-night wanderings as of late. But, here he is again, a slight young Asian teen, dressed in a blue flannel bathrobe over navy pajama pants and a white t-shirt. His feet are socked, which might explain the silence as he walks. Or it could be the way he's carrying himself. Though his hair looks sleep-tousled, his eyes are clear and sharp as he appears in the kitchen entrance.
He regards the redhead at the counter, tilting his head and WATCHING her for a very long moment. Then he's moving smoothly towards the refrigerator, pulling it open with a bit of a cringe as the cool air of the interior wafts over him. "What is a good beverage?" he asks, turning to look at Rahne with a cool expression, His voice is steady, and clear, although there's a tace of an accent about it. "I am unfamiliar with Western drinks, although this one," he gestures to his torso, "does like something called chocolate milk."
When the fine hairs on the back of her neck prickle at being watched, Rahne lowers her book just enough to peek over the top of it. She relaxes a little when the person in question does not appear to be a ghost, or something that might try to eat her, and green eyes track him as he goes to the fridge. They blink at the question, largely due to the phrasing, but she sets aside her book, left open to hold her page, so she's not rude for conversation.
"If'n ya want somethin' bubbly, I think there's Coke an' root beer in there," the wee Scot says, just as the kettle whistles. She slips off of the counter to go hush it and turn off the burner. "I prefer a nice cuppa tea, meself. I could fix ya one, if ya want?"
Kai tilts his head again, watching Rahne intently when she speaks. "Tea," he says, lifting his eyebrows and pushing the refrigerator closed. "That will suffice." He moves to take a seat at the counter, making a long circuitous route that takes him around the table and chairs which he bends to look beneath before reaching his final destination and climbing onto a stool. Through this, he makes no noise, other than the soft rustle of his bathrobe, moving in...well, it's not an /eerie/ silence, but it doesn't quite qualify as thoughtful, either. It's just very quiet.
Once he's settled, he resettles that gaze on Rahne, flicking it over her book once before meeting her eyes. "I have not seen you before."
Though she quirks a thin brow at his response, Rahne does go about getting down another mug, after she pours her cup full to let it steep. "Erm, d'ya like strong tea? Or do ya kinda want it more Americany?" she asks, peering his way a moment, before opening up the cabinet. "There's a lot o' types. English breakfast, Earl Grey, green tea, jasmine, oolong..." she reads off.
The incredibly quiet ways of her new kitchen companion aren't lost on the wee Scot; she has pretty great hearing, and is used to being able to hear, well... more. But she's also encountered stranger here. She pauses in her tea rummaging at the question and looks over her shoulder at him. "Aye, no. I, erm... kinda keep ta meself, I suppose. I'm Rahne."
"Jasmine," Kai replies smoothly, interlacing his fingers and setting his hands on the counter. He sits erect, chin raised a bit. "It will help this one to sleep peacefully." He watches as she looks through the counters, and he nods when she offers her name. "I am..." he blinks once, slowly, before his lips curl in a thin, amused smile. "Kai." He sniffs, leaning forward to inspect Rahne's steeping tea. "I have not been here long, and there are many students. It is quite possible I overlooked you." His eyes narrow, slightly. "This one rarely lifts his eyes."
"Aye, sure," she says, and fishes down the box of jasmine tea. Since it comes in bag form, she gets one out, drops it into the second mug, and then pours that one full, as well, so it can steep. Box put away and cabinet shut, she then busies herself with removing the tea infuser from her own mug, so that she can dump the contents and rinse it off. While she does, a little snippet of humming escapes her. Sometimes, the simple chores in life bring a small measure of calm, at least in Rahne's world.
She pauses, though, to peer at him again, with what he says, and bites her lower lip a little. Because what. "Aye, well, it's good ta meet you, Kai."
Kai watches silently as Rahne works, tilting his head to listen to the humming with a curious expression on his face. It disappears, though, when the redhead comes back to the counter, slipping back into that cool neutrality. "And it is pleasant to meet you, Rahne," he says, inclining his head and closing his eyes briefly as he wraps his hands around the mug. Aaah, blessed warmth. "Have you been in attendance at this place of learning very long?" He leans down to sniff at his tea as it steeps, moving his mug around in a slow circle experimentally. "You do not sound like a native of this land."
With all of the clean-up out of the way, Rahne finally claims her tea so she can settle in with it worry-free. Like Kai, she wraps both hands around her mug to draw the warmth from it. She also takes a sip before doing anything else, relaxing with it, as if tea has the power to lift weight off of shoulders. "Oh, a few months now, I think?" She scrunches her nose while thinking on it, and then gives up on trying to pinpoint exact dates.
"Ach, nae, I'm from Scotland," sounds with a small laugh to it. "Ya dinnae sound quite like yer from around here, either. Are ye?"
"You do not know how long you have been here?" Kai's brow furrows /just/ a touch, before he tilts his head as if listening to something. "Ah. Yes. I see." He doesn't pursue that, focusing on his tea for a moment, and leaning down to inhale the aroma. His eyes close, and that thin smile returns, curling briefly as the steam tickles his nose.
"I do not know this Scotland," Kai says, raising up and straightening his shoulders. "Is it a big country?" Her question gets a sloooow blink. "I am from what you call North Korea," he says. "At least, that is what the Professor calls it. This one never knew its name."
She flushes just faintly at the question. "Aye, well, not that long, then, all right?" Just because she doesn't know down to the day, hmph. Rahne sips more at her tea, choosing to take a moment to enjoy it and the comfort it brings.
This is interupted, however, by what Kai says next. "Ach, ya dinnae ken..." she starts with and trails off, blinking. "...not even a little?" What a troubling idea. The wee Scot has never met anybody who was completely unfamiliar with her homeland, even if their idea of it was kilts and haggis and sheep. "I suppose not, if ya compare it ta the United States. And ach, North Korea. I thought people weren't allowed ta leave there?"
"I have never heard of it before this night," Kai assures Rahne, nodding solemnly as he pulls on the string to extricate his tea bag. He sets it gently on a napkin before he lifts the tea and sniffs at it. Then he's tipping it to his lips, testing the heat against them. Too hot, still, so he lowers the mug again. "This one did not receive any education before coming here." He regards the tea accusingly, as if WILLING it to cool. "Are they not?" he asks, frowning when Rahne asks about not leaving. "I did not know that."
A mild frown of thought threatens on Rahne's features, and she murmurs aloud, more to herself than anything, "Wish I had a map right 'bout now..." But she shoves aside thoughts of educating Kai about Scotland in favor of the other things he says. "Aye? Really?" She sips at her tea again, using it for a good pause to think. "I didnae go to a school meself when I was younger. I was home-schooled. ...if'n ye could call it that."
She moves over to a chair to take a seat, demure but not dainty about it, her tea in tow. "How d'ye like it here so far?"
"It is of no matter," Kai says of the lack of a map. "I will look at it on the computer another time." He lifts his tea, and sips at it. His eyebrows lift in mild surprise at the flavor, and he nods approvingly. "What is home schooling?" he asks, turning to follow Rahne as she moves. "Did your family pay to have someone come and teach you?" He sounds like this might have raised Rahne in his estimation, the way he asks.
The question from the redhead gets a small chuff that might be laughter. "I have not seen much of it," he says. "But what I have witnessed on the television leads me to believe it is a land dedicated to sloth and mind-numbing vanity."
"Ya should sometime. Scotland kin be a wonderful place. So pretty." Though Rahne does not quite reach wistful sigh status, there is quite a dose of missing home in all of that. She combats her homesickness with another sip of strong, hot tea. "Ach, nae," she says after, with the hint of a laugh and a wave of a hand. "I was raised by the Reverend Craig, an' he taught me things himself, instead o' me goin' off ta school. He didnae want me learnin' 'unwholesome, sinful things.'"
Kai's assessment of America, or what she assumes he means as America, causes Rahne to draw her brows together, forehead wrinkling faintly. "Aye, I suppose the TV might lead ya ta thinkin' that way."
"I have seen it in some of the students, as well," Kai notes, tilting his head as if listening. "I do not think it is complete deception on the part of the television. Perhaps it is a window of the world with a sharper view." That thin smile curls again, then fades under the assault of more tea. There's a long, thoughtful silence, then he frowns. "What is a Reverend?"
Rahne isn't quite sure what to make of this. Where a part of her can't help but agree that some of the other students might have had, oh, softer upbringings than others, let's say, the rest of her is pretty sure that Kai is judging people, at least in some fashion. She keeps quiet to think on it, and to keep from voicing her opinion, using the excuse of sipping tea for cover.
The question, though, has her blinking again. "Erm," she sounds, and tries to come up with an adequate description. "A minister. Like a priest? Or a holy man?"
"Ah." Kai nods sagely at the explanation. "A holy man." He sighs, and slips from the stool. "How horrible for you. Holy men are villains, all." He shakes his head. "It is fortunate you have found shelter in a house of learning." He nods solemnly, and begins to slip towards the kitchen door. "Now, if you will excuse me, I find this one is growing sleepy, and I should return to my chambers." He pauses in the arch of the door, looking back at Rahne thoughtfully. "I hope we will speak again some time, Rahne of Scotland."
The wee Scot's mouth pops open and hangs a moment at the statement that holy men are villains. Something might have just short-circuited in her brain there, don't mind her. But after her cheeks redden some, Rahne claps her mouth shut and then says, "Not all of them." Honestly, the Reverend Craig isn't exactly a shining example to argue with in her head, so... but seriously, what.
"Erm," she sounds, maybe more than just a little anxious. "Aye, good night, Kai o' North Korea?" And so she is left with her tea. And befuddling doubts.
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