Who am I? Who are you? Are you me? Do you Like Me?[closed]

Lao Tzu was looking off to the side, his fist raised over his mouth like he was coughing into it. His shoulders were shaking and his eyebrow twitched. One can only imagine how hard it is for him to hold that laughter within himself.

"Enjoy it as you like," he finally managed to muster saying, "and afterwards I'll have another two ordered to go for you to take home."

Rory was tempted to burst out into a giant "YES!" but she didn't and her ears flattened against her head sheepishly as she grinned.

"No, trust me, this is totally enough!" Rory said. "You've done so much already...and all.."

She laughed nervously again.

"So, did you just arrive in Vale? You don't seem that familiar with everything yet, but just wanted to ask."

She was slicing her ham eagerly into fast strips before stabbing it on her fork like a kebab and slipping it into her mouth.

"I guess you can say that," Lao Tzu said, gracefully cutting into his steak. "I'm what you may call a wanderer of sorts. I came here around yesterday. I asked a wise looking man where I can find accommodations for the night. He had this long white beard and wore the clothes of a wandering nomad, ragged and old, looking worn and torn."

Lao Tzu may not have realized it but he just described the picture definition of a bum.

"He told me alleyways were the best. Especially if you can get one with a dumpster. Hopefully I can find a nice one like yesterday tonight."

It was Rory's turn to turn to the side and try to push back a laugh. She then looked at Lao Tzu.

"Err..well, there are better ways to accommodate yourself," Rory said. "We have motels and hotels and stuff and you can pay for the night. I'm sure you know of inns, right?"

She had already gone through a fourth of her ham and had sliced more pieces to spike them on her knife and slide them into her mouth again in an ungraceful manner.

"Oh!" Rory said in sudden realization. She tilted her fork a bit to Shen. "I want to make up for things, so if you need a place to stay, you can crash at mine. I have a spare room and all."

"You mean westerners don't all live in dumpsters?" Shen asked curiously.

Rory stopped carving her ham and stared at Lao Tzu blankly.

What...what dimension did this guy come from? she asked herself.

She breathed out and tried not to let out a laugh.

"Of course not," she smiled. "A lot of us have houses while others pay rent and some, unfortunately, cannot afford even that so they live out on the streets with nowhere else to go. But no, we don't all live in dumpsters. In fact, my place is pretty nice."

"Well then, if I may ask, where do you live?" he asks curiously.

"I live a few blocks away from here near the Music District," Rory said as she made her way to half of a ham. "It's ironically lodged in an alleyway, but I made it pretty special so it would fit my style. Are you up to it?"

Lao Tzu paused in thought for a while, his knife slowly cutting into the steak. "Would it be... too much of a bother?"

"What? Of course not!" Rory smiled shaking her head. "After all, you did save my life...and treated me to such a luscious little roll of ham...hmm~"

Her voice trailed off as she looked at her ham, but she then straightened up and laughed.

"I'd be honored if I could do you the favor of not leaving you out in the streets," Rory said. She then extended her hand and made a thumbs-up. "Leave it to little old me to keep you nice and cozy tonight!"

Almost immediately, Lao Tzu had pulled out another novel. The covered stated the title was "Into The Night" and the picture on the book jacket indicated that it was rather mature.

"He looked at her with a deep passion in his eye," Lao Tzu was murmuring out loud, "and said, 'I will make sure you are nice and cozy in my arms tonight.' He leaned in closer and..."

Lao Tzu fingered the edge of the next page and looked like he was going to turn the page.

Rory's eyes widened with alarm and she quickly leaned over to stop Lao Tzu midway of turning the page.

"Oooookay..." Rory said. "You need to stop reading those kind of things as references. I should have Lise supply you woth more...factual material..."

She closed his book, slightly blushing at seeing the cover and put it down on the side of the table with her mouth wrinkled up and her ears flat against her head in embarrassment.

Sitting back down, she smiled sheepishly once again. "Let's enjoy the rest of dinner."

Lao Tzu looked a bit confused but he complied all the same. The two ate dinner quietly. The food was savory and delicious and both ended up with full bellies around the end. Lao Tzu asked for two hams to go along with the bill. He paid for it using a wad of crisp new bank notes he had in his sleeve from their previous visit and the two existed the restaurant with Lao Tzu holding two massive hams in a paper bag.

"Maaaaaaaaaan was that dinner good!" Rory said enthusiastically as she stretched out into a yawn. She looked at Lao Tzu and smiled. "Thank you once again. I haven't eaten good ham in a while with Liseran so busy and stuff. All I have are pre-made deli cut things."

She laughed and scratched her head again childishly.

"Oh yes, that's right!" Rory said as her ears straightened up. "It's getting a bit late, so let's go head back to my place, shall we?"

Cheerily, she took Lao Tzu's hand and closed it in hers and began tugging on him.

"This way! This way!" she said in a sing-song voice.

***

Rory led Lao Tzu from the swanky street of restaurants to the busier, funkier parts of Vale. Here one could see fashion boutiques, CD stores, places to get skateboards and bling, a common urban teenager's heaven. Lights blinked in bright neon colors, everything was in flashy bold text and everyone was wearing the latest things in trend. Rory didn't say much during the walk, but she emitted a lot of energy with the way she would glance back at Lao Tzu once in a while in hopes that nothing looked to confusing to him.

Finally, she came to one of the quieter corners of the district, mostly quiet because they were more of condominiums and apartments. She went between two buildings and into an alleyway.

"Now don't get me wrong, just because I live in an alley doesn't mean I live in a dumpster," Rory said jokingly. She came to what looked like a bright orange cellar door and she dug into her pockets and pulled out a key to unlock a huge padlock.

"My home's down below," Rory explained.

She took Lao Tzu's hand once again and led him down metal steps, the light inside an array of different colors, like a stationery disco ball. From there, she led him through a door curtain made of intricate beads and into a dark room. Rory searched for a light switch and revealed a medium-sized living space with a lush red maglev couch (must have cost a fortune), a glass coffee table, a dinner table for two also made of glass, a few bean bags and a stack of CDs and a music player in one area.

Rory moved to the middle of the room and spread her arms a bit. "Welcome to my little corner of the world!" she said perkily. "Make yourself at home. I should get your room ready."

"What a unique place," Lao Tzu murmured, looking around like a tourist. "It appears so... youthful. Who are your caretakers?"

Rory tilted her head and the shrugged.

"Uh...no one. Just little old me," Rory smiled. "My cousin comes by once in a while to make sure I keep things tidy, but I'll have you know that for fifteen years old, I'm quite competent of taking care of myself."

She smiled.

"Oh! That's right! I should give you a tiny tour!" she said happily. "Well, right now you're in the living/dining/partying room. I don't have that much space, so it serves for multipurpose functions and stuff."

She then led him from there to a tiny kitchenette, the tiles white with splashes of lime green. A mini fridge lodged to the side with a large note: BUY MORE PORK CHOPS!. There was a neat little sink and a stack of dishes that weren't round, but square.

"This is the kitchen," she explained. "If ever you're hungry you can grab a bag of chips, a can of juice or something in the fridge. I also have microwaveable pizzas...not sure if you know what that is, but if ever, I'll teach you later on."

She then showed him her small bathroom, brightly lit with a lime green light and tiled in aquamarine and turquoise. She had a smooth bathtub that was oddly shaped and her toilet was the kind that automatically flushed, which she explained to Lao Tzu. Finally she led him to her guest room, which in all honesty, was the storage room emptied out. A sturdy bed with teal sheets, bean and body pillows on it, and a lava lamp resting on a round night table occupied it.

"And this is where you'll be sleeping," Rory said. "I know it's not much, but I hope you can bear with it. A girl can only have so much as a cosplay maid/cd saleslady/event promoter/dog walker/cookie baker, right?"

Lao Tzu remained silent as Rory gave him the five minute tour. Once she concluded, he turned to her and bowed a perfect ninety degrees, both his arms extended with a thick wad of crisp bank notes lying on his hands.

"I am sorry, I was completely unaware of your economic state," Lao Tzu apologized rapidly, "Please take this and live a healthier lifestyle."

"H-huh?" Rory said confused. "Wh-what do you mean?"

She looked at him for a while, unsure of why he was handing her money, but she immediately caught on to the bit and she felt her cheeks burn indignantly.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rory said putting her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know I'm pretty stable! This loft is actually pretty costy and I have a maglev sofa. I'm not suffering!"

She turned around and crossed her arms, her cheeks still blushing. "I actually like how I live. I just like to live...small...that's all."

"I still insist that you take this money as rent," Lao Tzu said earnestly. "And if not then at least allow me to offer you my services somehow."

Rory merely pushed the money aside and shook her head, smiling.

"Really, it's no bother at all," Rory said. "And like I said, you've already done enough. Here in Vale, we're what you'd call 'even'."

Rory moved over to the closet and pondered a bit.

"Now, let's see...do you have a spare set of clothes? Because I have a bunch of large white pajamas from a giveaway event and you can use them if you want once you're done taking a bath. After the alleyway, I think you're gonna need it."

"My clothes are relatively clean thanks to my cloak," Shen said politely. "I could always sleep in these clothes. But I do thank you for the hospitality."

Loa Tzu pulled out the novel "Soldiers of Love" from his sleeve and flipped to a page. "Let's see... I'm supposed to thank you by..."

This time Rory merely smiled and shook her head. She pushed the book down.

"Here in Vale, if you want to say thank you, you just say 'thank you'," Rory said. "There's not much to it, yes, but even words can go a long way if you really mean it. So..."

Rory took the book from Lao Tzu's hand and raised it in the air.

"That's enough of that nonsense," Rory smiled. "Why not help yourself to the bath now?"

"I... I see..." Lao Tzu murmured stiffly. "In that case... Thank you. I would like to enjoy a bath then..."

Going into Rory's bathroom, the oriental man took off his clothes and the tie that kept his hair in a ponytail and went into the shower. He stood there as the water fell on him. It wasn't for a while before he realized he did have anything to change to once he was done.

Rory was in her own room and was about to go through her own change of clothes when she came to her pink bathrobe. Her ears pricked up in realization.

"I didn't give him a towel or a robe," Rory said. "I better go get him some before he ends up getting a chill."

From her closet, she got the guest bathrobe and a white towel and moved to the glass bathroom door. She knocked.

"Lao Tzu? Are you in there?" she called. "I have a bathrobe and towel for you here. And I have some spare clothes on your bed. Can you open the door a bit so I can give the robe and towel to you?"

Lao Tzu looked at the blurred screen as Rory spoke up.

"Oh, thank you miss Rory," Lau Tzu said. He took the handle of the glass bathroom door and opened it wide. He had a thankful smile to his face as he took the robe and towel from Rory, his body still dripping wet. "Thank you very much miss Rory."

He casually closed the door without once realizing what he had done and went back to the shower. Back in his old life, maids would take things to him in the bath and even wash his back for him constantly and thus he had developed no shame of being exposed to a female in the bath.

"..."


Rory stood still, frozen in shock and horror and embarrassment, her eyes wide and her pupils shrunk so tiny that her eyes almost looked fully white. She was so shocked she couldn't run and she sort of stood there a little paralyzed, blankly staring at Lao Tzu's face and nowhere else because it was too frightening to think about. As Lao Tzu took the bathrobe and towel, Rory's tail straightened and its hairs were on end. She opened her mouth to speak but everything was more of a stuttering, whispery gasp. Finally, she squeaked out.

"Vale Culture lesson number one: men do not let girls see them naked," she said stiffly before mechanically turning about and walking to her room. It closed slowly behind her. From where Lao Tzu was he'd hear Rory screaming an elaborate detail of cuss words that he may or may not have understood.

Lao Tzu had already stepped back into the shower when he started hearing Rory screaming words that he had no knowledge of.

"Rory!?" Shen exclaimed in sudden worry as he heard her screaming. He ran out of the bathroom, grabbing the bathrobe and putting his arms through it and tried to look for the sash while running but all he found was some fuzzy rope thing which he did not know what to do with. When he reached Rory's room he swung the door open in haste. "Rory, are you okay?? I heard you screaming!"