Jemmu would be the first one to admit that sometimes he doesn’t make the best decisions. He’s always been the kind of kid that lives much more in the moment than worrying about potential fallout or consequences due to his actions. After all, consequences only matter when you get caught, right? Well, Jemmu got caught, so the consequences were actually a real thing this time around. Of course, his parents were very disappointed with him, but when you have a son like Jemmu, that was more of a constant state of affairs than anything else. When you had prominent parents like Jemmu did, eyes were on you from day one, though he never minded being the center of attention. However, he really screwed up big this time. There was a statue of Avatar Si Wong in the center of the city; the statue itself was rather stern and serious, so Jemmu came up with the bright idea to liven it up. It would look so much better in a dress, wig, and with some brighter paint, wouldn’t it? So he gathered the usual troublemakers that he considered as friends, and he got right into it. As he was clambering up on the statue, Jemmu slipped and… now Avatar Si Wong was missing an arm. And last Jemmu had checked, Si Wong had two arms. Oops.

As expected, his parents were completely merciless once they found out what he had done. Before they could completely destroy him with any punishment, he put his silvertongue to work, getting his friends off mostly scot-free. At least his friends wouldn’t treat him like he had the plague once he finally became a free man in the distant future. It went without saying that his parents (especially his mother) were at their wit’s end in regards to his troublemaking, and so they decided to come down hard on their son. He was placed under what amounted to house arrest, entirely shattering any prospect of having a social life for the foreseeable future. If it had only been this as the punishment, then he would have been able to cope. Sure, he would have become bored and gone stir crazy, but he would have been able to survive. This was where his father truly put his foot down, placing a stipulation where Jemmu was not allowed to Firebend at all. This included training and doing it on his own, or else his punishment would only be extended. Jemmu lived and breathed Firebending, quite literally. On top of this, his parents arranged for him to work at Tea & La, so that he could learn some humility by serving the community. He wasn’t sure if he could survive this.

It was his first day working at the tea shop, and he already hated it. He was wearing the shop’s uniform, which had way too much blue for his liking. Oh, and the apron that he had to wear was so uncool that he desperately hoped that no one that he knew would ever walk in to see him in such a sorry state. Even worse was that Kyouna snatched away his headband - his forehead had never felt so naked and cold. To top it all off, he had to immediately go home at the end of the shift. Everything about having to do this was seriously awful. For now, he’d just have to swallow his pride, put on a fake smile, and get on with it. He saw a customer beckoning him over so he picked up a teapot and went over to serve the man. As he got closer to the table, he instantly recognized the customer. Everything about this individual was nondescript, even the gray streaks running through his dark hair, and the closely cropped beard. However, there was an eternal slyness about him like a fox. Old Man Lu.

“Hey old man! How’d ya know that I’d be here? You don’t want to play some Pai Sho, do you?” Jemmu set down the pot of tea as he began to speak, completely oblivious to the plethora of other patrons still waiting to be served. If it had been anyone else that he knew, he would have been mortified, but Lu was a good person as far he was concerned. Still, he knew he couldn’t spend that much time at Lu’s table before Kyouna started to crack the whip.

“Word gets around. And you have no subtlety at all.” Old Man Lu said this with the faintest smile on his face. He gestured for Jemmu to fill his cup with tea. “Oh, and no Pai Sho for me. You seem to be busy.” The grumbling was beginning to grow around them. Jemmu proceeded to fill Lu’s cup, but he did so with no finesse at all. Plenty of tea found its way outside of the cup and onto the table.

Old Man Lu visibly grimaced as he wiped the excess tea with an embroidered cloth. “How do you expect me to drink this?” He motioned towards the cup that was sitting in front of him. “You poured it with nothing but negative energy!” Jemmu practically did a double take as he set the teapot back onto the table.

“Negative energy!? Are you going senile? Tea is tea. What difference does it make how I pour it?” Jemmu was entirely dumbfounded.

Lu lightly chuckled. “It seems as if your father neglected to teach you one of most important skills that any man should know - the timeless art of tea pouring.” Lu picked up the cup of tea that Jemmu just poured and offered it to the boy. “Go ahead. Drink. Tell me how it tastes.” 

Having known Kyouna for only a short time, he had a sneaking suspicion that she would wring his neck for drinking tea that was meant for a customer. However, he knew Lu well enough that he would only continue to insist until Jemmu drank the tea. Jemmu took a sip and… it was awful. It was so bitter that it actually sent a chill running up his spine. “Blegh…”

“Negative energy will ruin even the finest cup of tea.” Old Man Lu said it as if it was a fact that everyone should know. Lu took the cup from Jemmu and tossed the rest of the tea out of the nearest window. “To put it in terms that you can understand… pouring tea is a lot like bending.” Lu only smiled as Jemmu openly scoffed at him.

He picked up the steaming teapot and began his demonstration. “Firebending is all about breathing. If you calm yourself, no matter what your day might have been like, your positive energy will flow into your tea.”

“Airbending is all about freedom. Just like the introspective Air Nomads, sometimes it’s better to not overthink it and go with the flow. Don’t worry about the details and you’ll be sure to have a better cup of tea for it.”

“Waterbending is about being graceful. You ruined the last cup of tea by being sloppy and spilling most of it. The last thing we want is to have tea outside of the cup.”

“Finally we have Earthbending, which is all about waiting for the right moment to pour. Perhaps it may seem insignificant, but when there is no thought put into it, you have tea that has no character or emotion. The point is to pour the tea exactly at the moment that the positive energy wants to be poured.”

“I kinda get the feeling that you’re just making this up as you go along.” Jemmu was clearly still skeptical. On the other hand, Old Man Lu got a hearty laugh out of it.

“You know what? I just might be.” With that, he poured a new cup of tea, and something seemed to be different. It was a similar feeling to whenever he was sparring with his father, and they were Firebending to the best of their abilities. As far as he was aware, Old Man Lu wasn’t a bender of any sort. Jemmu continued to watch silently as Lu poured the tea. No movement was wasted, and it was entirely enthralling. “There,” Lu said as he finished. “I’ll let you determine if there’s any difference.”

Jemmu decided to oblige the old man and his ramblings, fully expected to taste the same bitterness from before. Surprisingly, the cup of tea was quite seriously the best he had ever tasted. It wasn’t long before he finished the entire cup, and was entirely flabbergasted at the same time. He peered closely into the contents of the empty cup, trying to see any remnants of whatever Old Man Lu had snuck into it.

Lu held up his hands. “There’s nothing up my sleeves, my young friend. How about you give it a try?” Jemmu poured Lu another cup of tea and did his best to follow the old man’s advice as closely as he could. As he finished, Lu took a sip and nodded approvingly. “Yes, you’re getting the hang of it. Just like bending, it takes practice to pour the perfect cup of tea. I’ll be looking forward to your progress in the art of tea pouring.”

“Although it pains me to say this, tea isn’t the only reason that I’ve come here.” Lu had reverted to his old sly self as he continued. “This is quickly becoming the most popular tea shop in Si Wong City. As a tea server, you’re bound to overhear an endless assortment of interesting things.” He flashed Jemmu a gold coin. “If you happen to hear anything that is out of the ordinary, I’m willing to pay for that information. And I’ll even leave it entirely to your discretion. Interested?”

It was true enough that Jemmu’s allowance had entirely dried up since the regrettable incident with Avatar Si Wong’s statue. Besides, if it was anything that people didn’t want others to know about, then they wouldn’t talk about it in a tea shop. “Sure! Sounds super easy.”

Old Man Lu only offered Jemmu a smile upon the good news. “Good. You’ve always been a reliable kid.” Lu proceeded to finish the rest of his tea, before placing plenty of copper coins on the table. “For that delicious cup of tea… and all the wasted tea.” Jemmu thought he spotted Lu tearing up a little. “Oh, and give the owner my best. She’s been looking quite stunning lately.”

“Pervy old man…” Jemmu muttered under his breath as he watched Lu take his leave of the establishment. That was when he got back to work, serving all the customers that he had neglected so far. He got nothing but compliments for his new tea pouring abilities until he had to return to the back of the shop with an empty teapot. That was where he found Kyouna furiously making more tea and other foodstuffs. After depositing the coins in the appropriate place, he remembered that he wanted to speak with her.

“Hey, big sis!” Jemmu greeted Kyouna with the boundless enthusiasm that he was well-known for. “I wanted to talk to you earlier but…” Jemmu began to scratch the back of his neck. “If you ever see me doing something I’m not supposed to, it’s a trick of the light. Believe me!”

“And please let my mom know that I’m doing a good job. I don’t know how much longer I can go serving tea. I think I already have blisters…” He looked at his hands concerned, though after years of Firebending there was no chance of him being worn out by pouring tea.

“Ooh! One last thing!” Jemmu had nearly forgotten the most important thing that he wanted to ask Kyouna about. “Any chance that you can let me out early? My parents don’t even have to know…”