poly_chromatic | ♦ ♦ 13th Contract

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darker than black - hei

♦ ♦ 13th Contract

[ The weekend has come and gone. ]

[ Familiar faces have come and gone with it, leaving him feeling like an animal who's been taunted through the bars of a cage. Ugly memories, dormant for so long he expected to be free of them, emerge now as if risen from the dead. Horrors worse than what lurk in a crate of vodka have his head pounding -- tick tick tick like the City Clock. Like a time-bomb. Sometimes he sees Amber, free-floating, whispering riddles in his ears. Sometimes it's Yin, watching him with blank eyes and a sad not-smile. Pai is almost always closeby: never quite visible, calling out to him from behind a spray of blood. ]

[ Barely able to distinguish sleep from wakefulness, he isn't sure which is worse. The City feels twice as surreal after the atmosphere of the weekend, the atmosphere of his mind. ]

[ Fortunately there are ample distractions. ]

[Audio]

~~So this place has taken its 'prison' aspects a step further.~~

...Is this a practical joke?

[ Options For Run-Ins: ]

[ Shed: Pent-up energy and a mind for solitude have him trekking through the woods. He's in no mood for the chatter and music of smoky bars. He can't muster that effort to be On tonight -- to handle human faces and prying questions. Worse, the City's full of pests and spies. He'd rather not be out in public, where he could be recognized. The outdoors are a better bet, particularly so late at night. Holed up in an unheated shed, a flask of something foul in his coat pocket, he can lull himself into imperfect numbness. ]

[ If he doesn't freeze to death, locked and stranded, first. ]

[ Houseguest: The moon is pale in the sky. Masked and armed, Hei slinks through rooftops in the early-night darkness. Passing like a shadow past signboards and sloping tiles -- graceful, nearly weightless. He's alert, keeping track of everything. But his mind is fixed on Pai, on Amber and Yin and all the possibilities wasted. The thought-pattern is irrational. A time-waster. Dropping into an empty flat, he tries to snap out of it. It's chilly in here. He doesn't bother switching on the lights. Changing into civilian clothes in the bathroom, he splashes cold water on his face and resolves to head home. ]

[ Until he realizes he's stuck in. ]

[ What now? ]

[OOC: open to action and network replies. I'm cool with assuming he was stuck with more than one person during this curse. On that note, those he's trapped with are welcome to threadjack any network responses! Hei's in a tetchy mood after 4th Wall, so GIVE HIM HELL<3 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sometimes, Korra and Naga just had to get out of the City. So they're off galloping into the forest.

When they reach a shed Korra dismounts. She didn't think anyone lived this deep in the forest.]

Wait here, girl.

[She opens the door and walks in.]

Hello?

[She doesn't notice the door close behind her.]

[ Granted, with the alcohol in his system, his focus isn't 110%. But it is, always, a good 95%. He hears noises outside. Sees the door open. He's on his feet like a shot, blade unsheathed and glinting in the dimness. He connects the voice even before he spots the intruder. ]

Korra.

[ His expression twitches into what he probably doesn't realize is a scowl. ]

[She freezes. No. Not him.]

Sorry, I was just leaving.

[She tries to open the door, but it won't budge.]

[ He frowns irritably -- an effusive reaction for him. ]

What are you doing here?

[ And what's up with the door? ]

Trying to get out.

[When pulling it harder doesn't work, Korra steps back and tries to kick it down.]

[ Dammit. Yin would be so useful in these situations. Her specter could monitor the terrain. Locate intruders. (Why not admit you just miss her?) He shakes it off. ]

Then try harder.

[ Is the door stuck? With a tch, he crosses the shed. Doesn't apply his boot or shoulder to it. He studies the rusty hinges. Not a rattle or creak -- despite Korra's pounding. Which is ... odd. ]

[ What's going on? ]

[ARGH SHE WANTS TO KILL YOU SO BAD. Except that wouldn't actually help anything (evidence: her) and she doesn't actually want to kill anyone.

But man, Hei, you're up there.

She lets out a frustrated growl as even the kicking does nothing. What she wouldn't give to have her firebending right now.]

You try it.

[ Instinct transmits her frustration, overlapped by his own. This is the last thing he wanted. Confusion, anger and alcohol snag his nerves. Scowling darkly, he pushes past her. She's aware of his ability. Nothing to be lost in using it now. He presses a gloved palm to the hinges. His eyes flash red, electricity sparking in bright-blue flash. ]

[ Nothing happens. ]

[ No scorched wood. No shattering door. Stepping back, he glowers at the realization. ]

It's not the door. [ It might be a curse. ]

[Because it's him, Korra doesn't put up a fight when he stumbles past her. At times like these, he reminds her of Amon. A small part of her is grateful that she's dead, because it dulls the physical sensation of terror.

He's not Amon. He's powerful and twisted and frightening, but he's not Amon.

That doesn't make it any easier being stuck in here with him.]

Maybe there's another way.

[She start attacking what seems to be a weak spot in the wall, but it's not budging.]

[ He's not Amon. He has no interest in politics or power. He doesn't want to steal her abilities. But he's a volatile element that's better left alone. Enemies and allies back home learnt that the hard way. He watches her unleash an attack on the interior. No dice. ]

It's not the shed. It's one of the City's curses.

[ The words are dry enough to dehydrate everything in the vicinity. ]

[It takes a few more minutes of fighting before Korra acknowledges reality.

She's stuck here.

With him.

Naga can't help her. The curse must somehow be blocking out sounds from the shed, because the polar bear dog would be trying ust as hard to get inside if she had heard Korra struggling.]

So what now?

[ The reality is sinking in, encroached by slow-boiling rage. Hands in pockets, he leans heavily against the wall. The flask of whiskey sloshes in his coat pocket. He's already having a rough day. Now he's stuck between Scylla and Charybdis, wherever the fuck either was. ]

[ His answer takes a few seconds too long. ]

We wait here. Until the curse is over.

[ It sounds as horrible as it is. In other circumstances, perhaps he'd be a little friendlier. On the other hand that vitriol is a sign of rare vulnerability. ]

[No way. No no no no way. Korra isn't -- no. She won't accept that.]

There's gotta be something. A trick! They want us to do something embarrassing and then they'll let us out.

[ In a detached part of his mind, he watches the horror on her face. It's almost theatrical. Privately, he's more resigned. There's a golden rule in his profession: Worst case scenario? I die. Anything else, I can handle. ]

Embarrassing? [ A million options zip through his mind. None pleasant, none sanitary. He stares at her until she's ready to drop her gaze. ] What are you talking about?

[ Except he already knows. ]

I don't know. [She's trying to come up with something suitably embarrassing, but the one possibility is too horrifying for her conscious mind to contemplate, so she comes up blank.] Something!

[ Scowling, Hei draws the alcohol from his coat. Unscrews it and begins to drink straight from the neck. Strange, how she's more concerned about embarrassment than her safety. Has she not considered their proximity? From any angle he can attack her, pin her, cause serious injury. He can even kill her if his mood so dictates. Except that's of no rational benefit. Not in the City. ]

[ Part of him doesn't even want to. ]

Dancing. Singing. Charades. Sex.

[ Never one for the tame wound. Hei always goes for a headshot. ]

ERGH.

[If she were alive, she would be blushing so hard right now. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't still have the memories of that one curse. Imagining... that ... with him isn't as difficult as she would like it to be.

She positions herself in a corner as far away from him and the memories of their "pre-married life" as she can get.]

[ Her reaction is telling. He pauses, feeling the space in the room shift, his thoughts take a different turn. In the next moment he feels irritated, as if he's been caught glancing into a teenybopper magazine, absorbed by all the pretty faces within. ]

[ Pointedly, he looks away. ]

Then there's not much to do but wait until midnight.

[He's right. And she's not happy about him being right. She punches the wall to try and relieve some of her frustration, and then settles herself down to wait.

......

..............

This is worse than meditating. She jumps up and starts dancing and singing]

Two lovers, forbidden from one another
A war divides their people, and a mountain divides them apart.
Built a path to be together.

Blah blah blah whatever

SECRET TUNNNEL!
SECRET TUNNEL!
THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN!
SECRET, SECRET, SECRET, SECRET TUNNEL!!!!

[She kicks the door hopefully. Nope. Nothing.] OH COME ON!

[ Loading .... loading .... loading ... ]

[ Etc. ]

What are you doing?

[ Sitting still is a matter of course for him. Jitters and antics do not a successful stakeout make. Is she a claustrophobe? ]

[Yeah, this isn't a stakeout, Hei. They're trapped in a shed. And Korra is glaring at him.]

I'm trying to get us out of here. What's charades?

[ It's the same concept. Patience and stillness to achieve a desired objective. ]

[ Yeah, this'll probably get ugly. Uglier. ]

It's a children's game. Each player silently acts out a phrase for others to guess.

[ He is not in the mood for charades. ]

[Patience and stillness, not her strongest suits.]

Okay.

[She sucks her cheeks in and sways back and forth. She will do anything to get out of here. Even if it means acting like an idiot.]

[ He's not the patient type either. But he's profited from hard lessons. ]

[ Also? ]

[ The face says it all: What are you doing? ]

action; shed

action; shed \^^/

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