uncle_iroh | Inbox for Sn: Pai Sho

[He gave the address of the inn and his room number.]

"I shall put on tea."

"I'll be there soon!"

And he is, staff in hand and having taken the time to put on his more formal Avatar robes. He had been raised to show respect, not just to elders but those who had earned it through great wisdom or deeds. Iroh had achieved both, long since.

He knocks, suddenly happy he'd left Appa to snooze.

Iroh opened the door to let him in, and bowed respectfully. He straightened and smiled. "You look well. Please, come in. I made some tea for us."

He bowed in return, smiling.

"And you, too. And thank you." He stepped in, with a note of satisfaction.

He closed the door behind Aang. He led him to where the Pai Sho game was set up. "Please, sit. I shall get the tea."

He leaned his staff next to the doorway, taking the seat as indicated. And smiled at the Pai Sho game. He had a feeling it might feature in the course of their day, really.

And it was also a good, familiar piece of home.

He brought the tea over and set Aang's down first before his own. He took a seat across from the table.

"Do you play Pai Sho?" he asked with a smile.

He bowed his head in thanks, taking up his cup but waiting for Iroh.

"Yes!" he replied, with some eagerness. "I'm not the best player the Air Nation ever produced, but I was pretty good a century ago. I take it that it's a favorite of yours?"

"Very much so, and it has been some time since I have played against anyone who favored Air Nation strategies. This will be a very interesting game."

He nodded.

"And even longer since I got to play against someone with Fire Nation strategies, I'd bet."

He sniffed the tea and it was...perfection. His smile reflected that.

"Then this should be an interesting game. Though I suspect that how I play will not be exactly what you would expect, given where I was born." He sipped his tea.

He smiles, nodding.

"I think that's kind of the best way," he replied, sipping his tea.

"How are you settling in?"

"Quite well. Any world with good tea and good company is a welcome one to me," he said with a warm smile. "Do you wish to play first?"

He nodded, eagerly. It was, really, all he needed to say. It'd been simply ages since he'd played pai sho - and he already knew Iroh would be a learning experience.

"Very well then, it is your move..." He said as he sipped is tea, then stopped. "How is it that you would like to be addressed? This is a new world, it seems, with new possibilities. Here you do not have to be the Avatar, if you do not want to be."

He thought about that for a moment.

"You know, I think 'Aang' is best. Either way. Not just a new world, but given everything that happened in our usual one..."

He shrugged. And made a bold opening move.

"Very bold. Both the move and the choice. And yet, I cannot find fault with either." He took his move, one that wasn't quite conservative and not bold. Actually it was rather odd, seemingly.

He watched it very carefully for a long moment, thinking about possibilities and potentials.

"Hmm."

He smiled, leaning down to look at the board from a different angle. It helped, sometimes. Then he made a move on the opposite side.

"A very interesting play!" he said, pleased. "It is as I often tell Zuko, you can see the most interesting things... when looking at a situation from another point of view." He managed not to make a pun on Aang's name there, though it was hard. Still he felt the implied pun would do the job. He made his next move, watching the old/young man carefully.

He laughed, a little bit.

"A good lesson, yeah -" he countered quickly, backing up his first piece. "even when it's hard to remember the entire board."

And he got it, though he didn't say anything about it.

"Even when you cannot see the entire board," he countered. "Retreating so soon? Then let me see if that is the trap I expect it to be." He advanced.

He grinned, shaking his head. Here he thought he'd been subtle enough. Apparently not. And now the trap would spring far too early.

He makes his counter, closing the trap early.

"You really are as good as Zuko said."

"My nephew flatters me," he said with a warm smile and a nod as he worked to turn the early trap to his advantage if he could. "But the game is not yet over."

"Not by a long shot," he agreed, pausing to sip at his tea before moving in a seemingly unconnected way.

"It's nice being all on the same side now," he adds. It's a known thing, an understood thing - but worth saying, nevertheless.

He sipped his tea as well. "I agree. This is how we should be. It is good not just for my nephew, but for us all. And our world, when we return to it."

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