[Center][h3][b][color=SteelBlue]KOSROQ[/color][/b][/h3][/center]

By the time the owner came around to take his order, Kosroq had fallen into intense thoughts of some kind, though outwardly he merely seemed deeply fascinated with the surface of his table. He had his head propped up with his left hand, his arm wrappings and the prayers written on them in full display. In Si Wong it was always hot enough to make the spirits sweat, so he never wore his Northern furs (not that the average Earth Kingdom citizen would appreciate their quality anyhow). Kosroq's eyes only flitted up to the owner - a woman named Kyouna - for a half second. 

"Hibiscus tea, and heavy on the honey if you can," he murmured, just loud enough to be heard. He kept his tone polite, even if he was a little dismissive. Almost reflexively he pulled his arms closer to himself, almost as if trying to hide the scriptures written on them, before returning them to their original position.

Truth be told, he didn't dislike her. Sure, the name of the shop was slightly in poor taste, but that wasn't grounds for hate or anything. Her tea was impeccable, as was the service most days. Still, something about her made him irrationally uncomfortable. When his tea arrived, he took it with another small glance and nod of his head.

There were a few possible reasons. For instance, it was entirely possible the Kyouna might have seen him before. Not just at Si Wong, of course, but in Agna Qel'a. Obviously they hadn't known each other, but Kosroq and her seemed roughly the same age, and Kosroq's father was very well known. Even if they simply passed in the streets once, it was possible. 

This didn't necessarily mean much, which led to the second potential reason: Kosroq didn't like being reminded of home. Not for any particularly dramatic reason; he simply didn't like to think about it. Maybe it was being reminded of Hanouk, his brother, who was no doubt being raised as their father's true successor. Kosroq might be the firstborn, but he'd given up most of the benefits he would've gained from it. Though their parents had never been overbearing, they still had to draw a line, and Kosroq had crossed that line when he said that he wanted to leave and adamantly refused to marry. They ended up letting him leave, partly because of Kosroq's flagrant disrespect of tradition, but also because Narrok and Salla knew a warrior when they saw one. Kosroq clearly wanted to fight, and Hanouk was the charismatic one anyway, so they let Kos go into the world. Maybe they'd expected him to come back by now. Maybe they hadn't expected him to become an infamous Earth Kingdom political saboteur. Who knows? 

Kosroq shook his head. [I]Too much thinking about family. Think more about work.[/i] He drained the rest of his tea, then stood to leave, dropping his coin on the table. He left the spirit prayer slip where he'd put it, face up. Maybe the owner would call it good luck. Either way Kos had work to do. Best not to dawdle.