[O] A Newcomer's Ambush

"Oh! It's been ages since I had a pastry!"

Daji was practically drooling now. The way Ti was talking gave them the impression that he was a good chef.

"I want a meat one!"

Now they were starting to sound a bit like a child. They followed Ti as close as possible, impatient to get to the food.

Ti was an all right chef. Like with his dancing and tattoo artistry, he was good but not excellent at them. He was a jack of many trades.

After moving a large box, Ti smiled.

There was his rétes, wrapped up in a teatowel.

He pulled it out and made his way back out to the kitchen. He unwrapped the bundle and reached for a knife.

"Anya never gave me the recipe and I don't want to pull a recipe off the internet." It would feel wrong to use someone else's recipe. "This one is sweet cheese."

He cut a portion for himself, then another for Daji.

"Ohhh." Daji didn't really mind. Any pastry was welcome to them.

The fox took their portion and then shoved it into their mouth. After all the build-up, it probably would have made more sense to savour it, but they were not that kind of eater.

After a few seconds of chewing, they swallowed and spoke. "Delicious! This really hits the spot." They paused for a while. "Perhaps next time you make these, I can watch." Of course, this was a roundabout way of asking him to teach them.

"Maybe."

Ti pressed a finger to his lips and grinned.

"As long as you don't tell anyone the secret ingredient in it." It wasn't much of a secret ingredient, but it was something that not everyone would think to put in a cheese pastry.

It was something his mother had always had him put in the recipe when they baked it together.

"Secret ingredient? I like secrets."

Daji chewed with a smile, pastry crumbs all around their mouth.

"I wouldn't tell a soul! Although, if you think about it, if you tell everyone what the secret ingredient is then everyone can make yummy pastries, and I can steal them for us."

The fox's eyes sparkled, imagining a mountain of sweet cheese pastries.

"But then it wouldn't be my anya's secret recipe."

It'd be nice to not be the only one that knew how to bake it and have someone else bake it for once, but the recipe was pretty special to him.

Ti licked the corner of his lips, clearing away the flaky bits of pastry there.

He cut another two pieces off the large roll and set them on the counter. He wrapped the rétes up again and leant against the counter.

"That's true. I guess it's like a memory, right? Can't just give memories away to anyone."

Daji looked very thoughtful for a moment, munching on the last morsel of their food.

"So, where you come from, what's it like there? I might have been there, but I never really stayed in any place long enough to take in its culture, or even remember much about it."

"it was a very poor place." Ti had a bitter sweet smile on his face as he recalled his youth. It was only ten years ago, but sometimes it felt like longer. It felt an age ago.

"There was no door on the house. Many days we went hungry. There was very little food, but we made-do with what we had." He bit into his rétes. "It was a voilent place, too. Danerous. Many people were killed by gangs or police." He snorted softly at the thought of the police. Useless people.

"But I was happy. My anya was the most wonderful woman. She always had a smile on her face. Apa was very protective over both of us. We went without uch, but never without the important things."

His tongue lashed over his lips. "It was a sad day for me when we moved here."

Daji frowned a bit. They hadn't expected such a depressing start to his tale, even though they had seen many places struck by poverty before.

They guessed that 'anya' and 'apa' was his language for parents. They thought to ask him where they were now, but that might have been a sensitive topic.

"It sounds like a nasty place. Why were you sad to leave? Surely this place is much better!"

"I loved it there." He much preferred his little village to this city. In fact, this whole country still felt a little strange to him.

"This place had more money. People can get jobs and buy things much easier. I don't live without things that I used to have to live without."

He chewed on his lip. "But I don't have my anya or apa here. I can't go see my anya any more. Somtimes I hate this place."

He was silent for a long minute, just staring off at the blank wall opposite him. Then he gave a sheepish grin, riffling his hair as he turned his attention back to Daji. "But I have my sister and our dogs and my ballet. Anya lives on through my ballet so I guess it's not so bad most of the time."

Daji furrowed their brow. They didn't really understand this reason, since they had lived for most of their life without money. Sure, money was important for some things, but...

"I think you're right that some things are more important than money. Maybe one day you can go back and see your anya. Maybe your anya can come and live here too!"

This seemed like too simple of a solution, and there were probably some other problematic factors. The fox felt sorry for him; if their home in China was still there, they would probably hate being in this place too.

"Someday I'll go back to see anya, yes."

Ti grinned widely. "I might take my sister with me. I think anya would have liked Rai a lot." He was certain his mother would have liked Raisa.

Ti retrieved a mug from the cupboard and filled it with some bottled water.

"I'm sure you'll have a lovely time going back! I'm looking forward to meeting your sister as well." Replace 'meeting' with 'pranking'.

Daji took a mug from the same cupboard and set it on the counter. "Is there tea here? Green tea specifically?"

Everything was a bit nostalgic at the moment, and although it probably wasn't that similar, they always remembered having green tea back in China.

"I'm sure Rai'll like meeting you." Daji was a great person. And anyone that he had become friends with had always been met with a smile form Rai.

"Greeen tea? Uh, I don't know. It'll probably be in the pantry."

Most things were kept in the pantry.

"C'mon, lets go look for it."

Daji smiled brightly. It was uncharacteristic of them to have not made any enemies yet, but they were sure any next encounter would be fun in one way or the other.

The fox hopped into the pantry, always light on their feet.

"I don't suppose we get an allowance so that we can buy things to put in here?" they asked, looking through the shelves.

Ti shook his head.

"We get most food and lodgies provided for us. If we want any other luxuries, we have to get them for ourselves."

If people wanted luxuries, they had to get a job.

Ti began combing the shelves for a box of green tea.

"Ohhhh, I see. I don't have any money, though..." And like hell they wanted to get a job!

A thought then occurred to them. "Ah, how am I going to pay to see you at the theatre? Hm, I haven't thought this through..."

Once they found the green tea, they cried out "AHAH!" and brought it back into the kitchen. Once there they filled the kettle and put it on to boil.

"Where could I get a job? I have no talents I know of. And no way am I going to be a cashier!"

"I get a couple of free tickets when I star in shows. Usually I give them to a-" His lips pressed together. "I'll be giving two to Rai and Liq, so I'll have some left over."

Ti followed Daji out into the kitchen again.

"I can talk to Rai and Liq to see if they know if there are any jobs around." He wasn't certain that they'd give many choices, but at least it was something.

"Oh, that's good then! I won't have to get a job!" Obviously this was also too simple a conclusion.

Daji ripped open a teabag and poured it into the mug. Clearly they hadn't used teabags before. Nonetheless they poured the hot water into it, satisfied with their creation.

"Nah, don't bother them. I'm sure I can find something if I'm really desperate."

A strange little smile curled the corner of Ti's lips as he watched Daji rip open the teabag.

"I'll ask anyway, and if there isn't anything you like, you don't have to take the job." He was looking for a second job himself, nyway. If Daji didn't take any of the jobs, and he took a fancy to one, he would likely go for it himself.

An apprentice tattoo artist and a part-time ballet dancer didn't really have a lot going for it in the monetary department. Ti wanted to save up some money, just in case something happened and his ballet went flat.

"Well that's kind of you." Daji wasn't able to guess Ti's ulterior motives.

The fox sipped their tea, even though it was boiling hot. In their head they were trying to imagine what they could possibly do to earn money, other than pickpocket.

"Why don't we sit down somewhere? My poor feet need a rest." That was ironic, seeing as they had been bouncing all over the place moments ago.

Ti gestured to the large wooden dining table on the other side of the kitchen.

Ti's feet were so deformed now, after so many years of doing ballet, that they hardly functioned like others did. He was so used to being on his feet that a lot of the time he didn't think about how other peoples feet held up to constant standing.

"I'm just going to put this back." While they were moving, he was going to take advantage of it and put the teatowel back in the pantry. "I won't be long."

"Okay," they chirped, sitting down at the wooden table. They rested their cup on the surface, letting their hands be warmed by the ceramic.

The fox was thinking of ways to prank Ti when he got back, but there weren't many resources. And it would just be cruel to throw their hot tea at him, or kick out his chair from under him. Daji was at a loss, and they were bored.

"Can you show me some ballet?" they called towards the pantry. "Like, right now?"

"U-uhm," came the hesitant reply from the pantry.

Ti appeared in the archway, his cheeks flushed.

"I-I don't know. I'm not dressed right and I don't have my slippers, and-" He cut himself off befor ehe could spew any more excuses. His cheeks flushed a deep red.

He wasn't used to random, sudden requests.

Daji's lips skewed into a wonky frown. "What are you so embarrassed for?"

If they could dance, they would be doing it all the time. Dancing was an impressive skill.

Then they had a flash of realisation. "Oh, you have to wear the slipper things otherwise you can hurt your feet, right? Sorry I asked, I'm just bored. Do something else. Like disco dancing."