"Of all the lousy luck..." Mai hissed under her breath. The Palace Jamboree rarely had any new customers, and this one had to go and choke. He didn't even get to order any of the food yet, he was choking on one of the free mints her dad decided to put by the door.
On the other hand, this provided a perfect opportunity for him to witness the impeccable Mai Nangong! Yes! She'd swoop in and rescue his fragile normal person body from death, although 'normal' was a stretch for this guy considering he was absolutely jacked and seemed to be wearing some kind of bird helmet. And practically nothing else. Her parents would probably kick him out if they weren't so desperate already.
He continued hacking, and Mai realized she needed to hurry with the heroism or else this bird would croak.
She got behind him, and plunged her fists into his chest. It didn't work the first time. Neither did the second time. This was all as planned though, a rescue like this had to be a show! Her hands shook from the excitement, that's all.
Just as she predicted, though, the third time was the charm! The mint pelted into the ground and she swooped it up with all the style and grace expected from Mai Nangong.
"Don't worry, you're in good hands here at The Palace Jamboree." Applause from the other patrons stroked her ego. "Would you like a table? Although, you should probably remove that bird helmet. Wouldn't want another choking incident, y'know?"
At this, the bird man got indignant. He stormed out of the restaurant with not even a thank you. How dare he ignore Mai Nangong?
She marched back into the restaurant and threw the mint into the garbage, knowing that her parents would be quick to blame her for losing a new customer.
---
A heavy blizzard hit Jiyukoku Junction while Mai took home groceries for the restaurant. The grocer warned her not to go home until it blew over. Maybe some lesser person would have to worry about getting hurt by a little snow and wind, but she was anything but 'lesser.' Besides, even if the entire city froze over, her parents would be at her throat if she didn't bring the cabbages home on time.
It... was a little cold, though. Nothing Mai couldn't stand, but she didn't have any clothes suited for extreme weather. They were too short to even cover her that well. Far away objects were always a little blurry for her, but this time she could barely make out the next building. Her eyes weren't trying hard enough. Snow clung to her clothes and hair, as more quickly piling up on the ground. This didn't slow her down though, she only slowed down from laziness. She tried to kick her body into gear, but slipped and fell. The snow looked so soft anyway, part of her probably wanted to take a nap. Apparently, her body didn't want to move from the ground, because no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't do much more than shiver. Then her eyelids grew heavy.
A short nap didn't sound so bad...
--
(Blaise is so sweet! Poor him, having to deal with Mai. She can be quite a handful!)