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legend of korra: korra

十三

[accidental video]

[Welcome to Korra and Asami's bedroom, network. On one side, you have a plush bed and lots of stuff. It looks cozy and comfortable and very luxurious.

On the other, you have Korra. She's sitting on her bed, which has little more than a soft blanket and a pillow, clutching a letter in one hand and Mako's red scarf in the other.

I believe in you, the letter says. Have fun!

How is she supposed to have fun when she's all alone? Her life, her family, her friends, they're all at home. All out of her reach. She doesn't have anything here.

She wraps Mako's scarf around her neck and curls up in a little ball.

Worst month ever.]

[ooc: Asami left. ;.;]

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[ Curious. Did her pet die? Did she lose another one of her powers? Did one of her friends flit away? An inner-voice wants to ask. It's a distant voice, and it resembles Huang's. He ignores it. You know. Much like he ignores Huang. But it gets louder and louder. ]

[ What the hell. Screw it. ]

Break a nail?

[ Compassion. Clearly Hei's metier. ]

[Korra is curious when she sees a message from Li. Nervous, too. She never knows what to expect from him.

She certainly wasn't expecting that.]

What?!

[ Sigh. Let's try again. People don't make sense. Emotions don't make sense. ]

Your device was on.

[ He throws this remark like an olive branch ahead of him. It's not apathy but interest -- not that anyone can tell the difference with Hei. ]

[You're the one who doesn't make sense, Li.

She just nods, too tired and sad to put up any kind of defense. She's glad to see him, in a weird way. Even stupid, confusing, frightening, maddening Li is better than being alone with her thoughts and her battered heart and the endless ticking of the clock.]

[ No explosion? She must be at the end of her tether to tolerate a bastard like him. He must be insane to start this conversation at all. He's so accustomed to being (pretending to be) a Contractor that being human feels unnatural. But the City is situational. Nothing is set in stone. Why focus on the psychological legerdemain? ]

[ Just go with it. ]

Did someone die?

[ It's more dry than cruel. ]

[Is it sick to say that would be better? She hates herself for even thinking that for a second, but it's true. At least then they'd be there. She wouldn't be alone.]

A friend of mine went home.

[Her last connection to home, except for Naga.]

[ Not sick. Expected. Death is final. Disappearance is not. He knows that because he's been wondering for five years whether Pai is alive or not. ]

Asami.

[ It's not a question. ]

[How did he -- Whatever.]

Yeah. It's just me now.

[No one left for him to use against her ~~except Chekov~~.]

[ He won't offer frou-frou commiserations. Please. The less liabilities to his cover, the better. Her friends were at the top of that list. They may return. They may not. At least that's not his problem now. ]

Find a way to stay busy.

[ To combat the ticking. To assuage the grief. She can take that either way. ]

...is this you being comforting?

[Not to impugn your comforting skills, sir. Mostly she's just confused that they're even having this conversation.]

[ Comforting? It takes a moment for the word to even register to Hei. He pauses, considering the range of options. Liar response. Jerk response. Honest response. He isn't sure what to say or even if he should say it. Is he trying to get rid of this girl or watch out for her? ]

[ And is this the way to do either of those things? ]

Is that what you want it to be?

[ If he aimed at comfort, he'd have expressed it with just a grunt. ]

I don't know.

[She doesn't know what she wants from him right now, or how she feels about him. He's not her friend. He's not her enemy. He's not nobody. He exists in a category all his own, impossible to define.]

[ An enemy can be as useful as a friend. It's all a matter of context. In Hei's line of work, the lines are hopelessly blurred anyway. That ambiguity she feels is something he deals with every day. ]

You're not sure of much, are you?

[ Very tactful, Hei. ]

Whose fault do you think that is?

[ Allow him to lob the blame back on your side of the net. ]

You're old enough to make up your own mind, Korra.

[ He'd endeavored from Day One to keep her at an arm's length from his business. But she's in knee-deep, now. She can either wade out, or sink in. Her call. ]

[She turns on the video to protest, and you can see that moment when she stops. He's right. She's old enough to make her own decisions. And until now, she always has. She can't blame him just because it'd be easier.

She still doesn't know what to think. She closes the device, not realizing this video would post.]

[ He's observed her well enough to form a private catalogue of her expressions. That'd be Look#23. The I Need To Think Face. ]

[ He resolves to let her do just that. The girl needs to take charge of her own life. ]

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十三

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