tibetanmethod | (no subject)

(no subject)

Seven forty-five in the morning, when Moiraine Sedai comes to Twin Peaks, and the very first thing Dale Cooper does is drive her to the Bookhouse, funny sound in his engine be damned. Once she's safely asleep in the back room, under the guard of one of the boys, Cooper calls the sheriff's station and tells Lucy that they'll need to get somebody else to make the donut run, and he needs to see Harry, immediately.

Hours pass. Cooper conferences, explains what he knows, tells Harry and Hawk what they'll need.

The small bed is behind a wall dividing the back room into two sections. Cooper sits on the other side of that wall with a book and a cup of coffee to hand. He's begun to get his concentration back; he hasn't had to restart a chapter in several hours.

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"Are you hungry?" Cooper slides a hand in his pocket; the other rests idly on the back of the chair. "Norma sent over enough food for a small army."

"I have not met Norma," she observes. "It is kind of her to do so."

Moiraine gives Cooper a very small, rueful smile.

"To be honest -- I am not, but I realize that I very likely should be."

"Then I can bring you something light to start with." A brief, crooked smile. "And see if I can get the setup for tea to produce something you'll find acceptable."

"Thank you."

She glides the few steps remaining to the nearby table, and sinks into one of the chairs there.

Soup, first -- in a thermos, and still hot, accompanied by fresh bread. Cooper rustles up a bowl and spoon, and fetches a napkin; he places them all in front of Moiraine before going to see about the tea.

Bit by bit, she breaks small pieces of bread and eats them, occasionally interspersing a spoonful of soup.

Idly, as he turns on the hot plate in the corner: "Did you sleep well, Moiraine?"

"I suppose," she replies. "I was not disturbed, that much I can tell you."

A quick, brief glance up -- and a smile. "Good. That's very good to hear."

She returns his smile with a small one of her own, and is quiet for a few seconds, watching him.

After a few moments,

"Where did you learn to make tea, Dale?"

"I watched my mother do it every now and then." Mild, as he keeps working. "I didn't start doing it myself until I spent some time at a temple on the island of Hokkaido. That's the northernmost island of Japan. And as you can probably infer, I don't do it very often these days."

"Hokkaido," she repeats. "In Japan."

Another pause.

"That is near China, as I recall from the maps."

"Yes." Cooper doesn't look up as he sifts tea into a strainer. "Off the eastern coast. The two countries have a long history, and in recent decades relations have been strained. They still share a great deal of mutual cultural influence, however."

"I see." Moiraine idly traces a line along the tabletop with the tip of one finger.

"Were you there for any particular reason?"

"To learn."

He sounds like he's smiling. "They didn't have coffee. I understand why, but I still think it's a shame."

"Somehow, it does not surprise me that you would," she says, with a hint of something that might be dry amusement.

"To learn," she muses. "Reason enough, I should think."

Cooper turns to lean back against the counter, facing Moiraine, palms resting on the edge. "This was between high school and college. I didn't know what to do with myself -- I'd left school two years early. So I went to go look for some answers. Japan was one of several places I wound up before I finally went home."

The Aes Sedai nods once, then tilts her head to one side as she considers him.

"Did you find the answers which you sought?"

"Some of them. The important ones." Another slight, brief smile. "It was a beginning."

"I am glad of it, then."

She glances down at the rest of the bread and soup, and pushes it slightly to one side.

"Is there anything that has happened in the last few months of which I should be aware?"

Cooper doesn't miss any of this.

He doesn't press her. Not yet. "I'm commuting forty miles down the road a few days a week to help out with an ongoing federal drug investigation. Harry is going a little farther to provide some stability for another town's law enforcement agency while they transition to a more ethical approach to their job. Beyond that..." He shakes his head. "Here, at least, it's been very quiet."

"Quiet."

Moiraine looks back up at him.

"Peaceful?"

Cooper returns her gaze.

Moiraine looks terrible.

Moiraine doesn't miss much, either.

Let her read into it if she wants. "Quiet."

She nods.

"It is good to know."

Is it? he thinks.

Rather than let it go on --

Cooper nods at the bowl. Mild: "You didn't eat much."