二十五

[anatural]

[ video ]
[Korra doesn't understand the Network. She doesn't get how she's supposed to use it, why people keep posting on it, why they post such stupid stuff.

So of course her new job at the Welcome Center involves just sitting around and watching the Network in case any newbies show up who need greeting.

She's already done all the chores she can think to do, and she can't run through her bending forms and monitor the network at the same time. She's trapped in front of the little computer, a prisoner of its headache-inducing glowing screen.

It's only because she has literally NOTHING ELSE TO DO that she decides to try her hand at posting something. Maybe if she does, she'll get what all the fuss is about.]

This is seriously the most boring job ever.

[long, awkward silence, then she clicks the feed off.

Nope. Still doesn't get the appeal.]



[ action - Monday night ]
[She's released from the Welcome Center around 11 PM. It's a long walk back to the Beach House, but she doesn't want to make Naga hang around the Welcome Center and be bored and stressed out like she is.

Korra sighs, stretches, and looks up at the moon. On a whim, she decides to head to the park and practice her meditation. It's not like she hasn't been sitting still for FIVE HOURS, but...well, it just feels right. Maybe she'll have an easier time meditating in the quiet of the park while the moon is out.

It's worth a shot, at least.]

Comments

Video

[trenchknives]

The most borin' job ever? That's pretty borin'.

[A pause.]

What's your job?

Video

[anatural]

I sit in the Welcome Center. For hoooooooooours. And wait for a new person to show up on the network so I can explain what this place is.

I don't even know what the point is! They'll get the story from someone eventually!

Re: Video

[trenchknives]

[He's only laughing a little. A little.]

Okay, yeah, that sounds pretty borin'. I do some work for the Welcome Center sometimes, but it's mostly fixin' broken stuff. Don't think I could explain the same old City story over 'n over again.

Monday night / video

[bookbending]

[Jinora doesn't like using the network much more than Korra does, but this is important.]

Why aren't you home yet, Korra? Do you have any idea how worried I get when you're late?

Monday night / video

[anatural]

[Korra groans when her device beeps at her. She already knows who it is -- Jinora's been extra obnoxious these past few days, and it's been a struggle not to freak out at the younger girl.]

I decided to practice my meditation in the park after work. [grumbled and sullen. Meditating is hard, and being yelled at by someone half her age isn't fun]

Monday night / video

[bookbending]

[She can't help it! Jinora did promise Lin that she'd stop trying to be a parent, but it's impossible to stop when Korra's so good at getting in trouble!]

That's all? You're not planning on seeing any of your friends, are you? Nothing good ever happens when you're out with your friends.

voice;

[lawbender]

And yet you've been gone for quite a while.

[ Lin is not going to mother. Nope. Resisting. Really hard. ]

voice;

[anatural]

[IRRITABLE HUFF]

Like I told Jinora, I'm meditating in the park!

voice;

[lawbender]

I thought you disliked meditating.

[had_not_lived]

Then why are you doing it?

[anatural]

[long suffering sigh] Because I need the work.

[She's got a large polar bear dog to feed and an entire bar to rebuild. Money is a thing she needs.]

[had_not_lived]

Well sure, but there're other jobs.

Action! :3

[mortemscintilla]

[ In the park, beneath the trees, Korra may find a Hei-shaped figure draped on the bench. Ostensibly he seems asleep. But by now she should know better. He may be dozing, but it'll stop the moment he hears footsteps. If they tread too close, his hand will be half a second away from the knives at his waist. But for now, he stays sprawled, as if struck down while at full gallop. An arm and a leg dangle from the bench's edge. There's a book tented on his face. But he can't focus on it, and finds the words swimming on the pages lately. Sleep, when it comes, is abrupt and overwhelming. Dreams are hideous red patterns whose afterimages stay with him even upon waking. He's always tetchy, always frustrated; the activity Underground should ease his energies, but like everything else -- feeding, fucking, sparring, stargazing -- it's just a stopgap. ]

[ Dimly, he knows the restlessness is just fed by a lack of real purpose. One that's more pronounced with Yin's absence. But he needs to shake himself out of it. It's a phase, like similar ones he's had in the past, and he's secure in the certainty that it'll be brief. ]

[ He just needs to stay sane in the interim. ]

Action! <3

[anatural]

[The footsteps he hears are actually Korra getting ready to leave the park. The constant messages from Jinora and the Chief have made meditation even more impossible than it usually is. (She really hopes this is a curse -- she knows she's been getting into a lot of trouble, but COME ON! How do they expect her to live like this?)

She stops when she sees a familiar figure sprawled on a bench.]

Hei...Li. [This name business is so stupid.] What are you doing out here?

[Is he seriously asleep? Has he developed an aversion to sleeping in his own bed?]

Action! <3

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei awakens, not with a jerk but in increments, like a computer powering up. It takes a moment before he places the surroundings and connects the voice to the speaker. A dream still skitters past the edges of his consciousness -- colors, shapes, sounds. Something to do with Pai. Starlight and pools of blood. But the disorientation lasts barely a heartbeat. ]

[ Without opening his eyes, he says, dryly, ] I had a fight with 'Imugi'. [ Because of course he won't admit he can't sleep indoors lately. Not without dreams of the walls closing in on him, the sheets thickening into shrouds that suffocate him. His eyes open, as clear and trusting as a saint's. Sitting up, he rubs them with a hand before focusing upside-down on Korra. A brand-new angle, seen at a brand-new time. He isn't used to meeting her at this hour of the night unless it's in the Underground. ]

video;

[subecho]

I know one duller.

video;

[anatural]

Oh really?

[lupusalpha]

What job?

[anatural]

At the Welcome Center. I'm supposed to help greet new people.

[vengefully]

Get a different job then if you find it boring.

[anatural]

[UGH HOW MANY TIMES DOES SHE HAVE TO GO OVER THIS WITH PEOPLE?!??!?!]

Not. An. Option.

action;

[monochrome_mirror]

[Shikieiki rarely sleeps, and Korra will likely have seen her coming in and out of the area at all hours depending on when she's there. Much of the City has gone to sleep now, except for those who enjoy the night, especially out here in the park.

The Yama waits until Korra has fidgeted or otherwise broken meditation before speaking. Her voice is calm but with a certain strength that is not altogether common.]

I have seen you around Penny's center before, but I don't recall your name.

action;

[anatural]

[Korra blinks, surprised. She's seen this girl around, but she didn't expect her to talk.]

Korra. What's yours?

video

[makingastatement]

Make it any more obvious and they might give you more to do, kid.

video

[anatural]

[Grr she's not a kid.]

My name is Korra.