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legend of korra: korra

十七

[Have another memory, City.

It starts with Korra hiding under a table.

A masked man walks into the room, and she does her best not to breathe. It almost seems like it works...

And then suddenly she's yanked out of the table and dangled in the air by some invisible force.

"LET HER GO!" Mako unleashes fireballs on the masked figure, but then he too is lifted into the air.

Korra is dropped to the ground, but her body still isn't her own. The masked figure circles behind her -- grabs her neck -- puts a thumb on her forehead.

Her eyes roll into her head, and Korra passes out on the floor. The masked figure stares down at her.

"I told you I would destroy you."]

[ action ]

[This post goes up in the morning, but Korra's not going to be looking at her network device until the late afternoon.

If you're out and about today, you might run into her.

晨 Morning: Training in the park with Jinora

下午 Afternoon: Taking Naga for a stroll

黃昏 Evening: Working as a bouncer in a seedy bar in the Underground.

Be careful. She's had a stressful week, and once she knows about this video, her mood's going to be foul indeed.]

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Korra.... [She pauses, her expression downcast. But what should she say? Is it best, in times like this, to offer just a comforting thing. But is there such a thing? Tohru herself prefers a different route - happy things, not focusing on the bad memory.

[But she has nothing that bad in her past. What if it's the wrong thing-]

I made tea, if you would like some. [Start there.]

[Korra had been getting ready for work, but after checking the network..........yeah. She's curled up in the corner of her bed, her arms wrapped tight around her knees, just staring at the device on her bed.

She doesn't see the video, but she hears Tohru. Get up. She can't worry her friends. Get up. It's not like this is new. She's lived with this memory for five months now. Get up. It shouldn't still hurt.

She forces herself to her feet. Pulls her work top on over her head and heads out to the kitchen.]

Tea sounds great. Thanks.

I wasn't sure what kind you might like. But I tried this green tea raspberry one and liked it.

[She has two cups sitting out to greet Korra with, and gives her a weak smile, which quickly fades into concern.]

I like just about anything.

[She picks up the tea and takes a small sip. It's good, but she's too unsettled to really drink it. Instead, she just cradles it in her hands.]

It's good.

[It's okay. Tohru wouldn't expect tea to be at the top of her priority list right then.]

It seems the world you and Jinora come from is very different from mine.

[Korra can't hold back a little wince. So Tohru saw it too.]

Yeah, I guess so.

[She sits down, but doesn't offer any more. She retreats into herself when hurting.]

[Uh-oh. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?! Maybe a topic change from that. There's only so much Tohru can really say, after all. Her mother never gave her advice for a situation like THAT.]

Yes. Jinora mentioned airbending? I've never heard of anything like that.

Not a lot of people have. It's just from my world. Has she shown you any of her moves?

She showed me some that looked like dancing back when there was the dancing curse. It looked very fluid, and pretty.

It is. [She likes to just watch Jinora sometimes. Even though she's only 10 years old, she's amazing.] She's one of the only people in our world who knows how to do it.

[Jinora peers in. She thought she heard her name...]

Is everything okay?

Hey Jinora. We were just talking about airbending.

R-really? But...where did she learn it from? [So impressed.]

[ In the Underground, the hangouts of local players are cyclical. In the week of Hei's absence, things have moved around. Usual meet-ups have been abandoned. Others have been burned down altogether. Old clubs are populated by fresh faces. Already inking a fresh mental-map, Hei's descended to the side of the Underground where the rides are decked in chrome, the uniforms are babydoll skirts, spike heels, skullies and leather; where ganja and alcohol perfume the air and pimpology is the religion. ]

[ If 'Li' walked into a place like this, he'd be eaten alive. Hei blends into the scenery like he was born to be here. ]

[ The outside of the bar is crowded; self-proclaimed street-samurai and girls in push-up bras with more makeup than drag queens dotting the periphery. Casually, he weaves between the peacocking and jibber-jabber, to the entrance; eyes going from point to point, calm and focused. When they settle on the 'bouncer,' he quirks a dubious eyebrow. ] Guess the times are tough on everyone. [ It's a joke, Korra. Don't hate. ]

[She'll hate all she wants, thank you very much. Though it's not you she hates, Hei. It's this job, standing around for hours, just glaring at people. It's being ogled at endlessly, no matter how practically she dresses. It's the certainty that she was actually hired to draw the scumbags in rather than keep them out.

It's being forced to relive her worst memory, and having it splashed across the network for everyone to see. For Jinora to see.

The necklace she'd gotten from Chekov is pretty much her only comfort today; it dangles around her neck, an unfamiliar weight. She reaches up periodically to play with it, but when Hei speaks, she crosses her arms and scowls not at him so much as in his direction.]

What?

[ He'd seen the memory -- Amon, Mako, the theft of her bending -- earlier that morning. On trained instinct, he'd filed all the details away. In witnessing that scrap of trauma, his understanding of Korra's behavior around him had switched to a new pattern. Pieces connected; masks, battles, threats, palms on foreheads, a face twisted in fear of something worse than physical violation. But he hadn't pressed with questions on the Network. He's got his secrets and others have theirs. He doesn't suffer under the illusion that he needs to know everything about everyone. ]

[ Even if there is a blanket curiosity. ]

[ His eyes skip from the necklace (new, koi-fish pattern, likely a gift since she doesn't seem into jewelry) -- to her expression (grumpy, more at the ugly reminder on the Network than the drudgework, perhaps). He offers her his blandest look, maneuvering so he's not blocking the entrance. So he looks like just another guy macking on the fresh new face. ]

Did you exhaust all your references before landing work here?

[ He manages to make it sound more like idle chitchat than mockery. ]

Edited 2012-12-30 01:00 (UTC)

[She sighs, her shoulders sinking.]

Chekov said I should try the Underground. [She never did yell at him for that last night.] This is the first place that didn't assume I was a stripper.

[The owner had seen her fight off that monster, and said he was impressed with her skill. (He'd actually been thinking how much business the hot girl who'd wielded the giant dildo would bring in.)]

[ Hei's only reaction is to raise an eyebrow. He's relaxed his surveillance at her flat by degrees (he's sure Mao won't be pleased with that factoid). He's aware she has employment of some sort in the Underground. However he'd been too preoccupied the past week to investigate further. ]

[ She doesn't look like she belongs here. Everything about her telegraphs Fresh Meat. But don't they all, until they're either devoured or they go stale and hard with experience? ]

They'd pay you more if you were a stripper. [ Just saying. ] Unless the owner plans to stage a weekly catfight to draw customers.

[There's a choked sound and her face burns. She's seen the way strippers dance, and the idea of doing that, getting naked in front of a group of people -- the kind of people that ogle her now -- it's disgusting.]

Do you want something?

[ Telling reaction. There's something like amusement in the set of Hei's mouth. She's not cut out for this place. If you plan to make money, reason should checkmate disgust. But Korra's face, so transparent, broadcasts every emotion in full HD Vision. He'd give it a week before she quits. It'd be for the best. ]

Same thing as everyone else.

[ Not drinks. Pipelines of information. At the corner of the lot, he sees a few girls stagger out of a low-rider, tottering in highheels. One throws up on the pavement. Her girlfriends slip past her, faces wrinkled, tossing remarks on how she can't hold her drink. A few men with camera phones all up in the girl's face, recording everything. He knows one of them. There's a moment of eye-contact; the man offers that universal head movement. ]

[ Hei returns the look, unfazed. But his not-smile is gone. ] I saw the recording. On the Network. [ His voice pitched low, the inflection mild. Just a reminder that if he saw it, the local bullies here did too. She can expect hassling. ]

[That would be a foolish bet. Korra doesn't quit, even when she should. She'll stick with this job until the bitter end. (It won't be pretty.)

Same thing as everyone else. After the ~~night~~ week she's had, she doesn't think of drinks or "pipelines of information." It stings a little, but at the same time, she doesn't care. Everything hurts tonight. Who cares about a papercut when you have a broken arm?

He mentions the recording, and she has to grit her teeth against the pain.]

So. What.

[ It won't be pretty, no. But it will be a learning experience. An environment like this offers no shortage of them. Still, the smart thing would be to quit. If your job doesn't suit, if the pay is peanuts, if it's just not you, you can walk away if there's a choice. Hei had none. She does. There's little to prove to the dregs here. Faces come and go all the time. No one notices. No one cares. ]

[ He meets her fierce eyes with his calmest gaze. There's a chance she misinterpreted his first remark. Then again, it's just as likely she understood it for what it was. Everyone wants the same things, it's true. Especially in a place like this. Hauled ashes. Stress kills. But that's a topic for another time. ]

Just a heads-up. If I saw, others here did too. [ It isn't meant to be a cruel. He's just tugging that frayed thread of her that's so obvious. Anyway, Learn to take a friendly warning the way you take a dick wouldn't have the same impact. Quieter, he says, ] Stop glaring. I'm not your enemy. [ Not in this case, anyway. ]

I'm not -- [She looks away. She's not angry at him. Anger is just easier for her to deal with than grief.

When she speaks again, her voice is softer.]

What does it matter? Nobody cares here. [Nobody knows what being the Avatar means, or what it means to her, except for Jinora.]

[ He knows that feeling. Also knows that some emotions are the kind you're never completely familiar with. But they're more empowering than self-pity, so you take them. It's just an excess that steals your focus, takes away your periphery. ]

They don't. That makes it easier for them to poke fingers where they don't belong. To wind you up. [ So watch yourself is left unsaid, because it's unnecessary. She can handle it. Young, naive, still-stumbling -- but she's that type. In the interior of the bar, he sees a few bikers getting their gear, putting on jackets, stubbing cigarettes, gathering helmets and gloves. As they clump out, a solid trail of stale smoke and billingsgate, there are nods, looks exchanged. He's found the faces he was after. ]

[ Hands slipped into his pockets, he tracks the gang's route to their rides. Glances back at Korra. Logistics trump this moment of almost-kindness, or whatever it was. ] I'll see you around. [ Although there's something gentle in the way his cadence falls. ]

Edited 2012-12-30 05:33 (UTC)

[She notices the way he's glancing around, who he makes eye contact with. She almost asks him about it, but she doesn't. She's overwhelmed as it is. Almost asks him what he's doing later tonight, but the Underground has left a dirty taste in her mouth.

Lot of almosts tonight.]

Yeah. Hey! [She grabs a boy -- about Korra's age, though he seems much younger -- by the back of his shirt and yanks him away from the door.] You don't belong here. Get going.

[She shoves him away. Adds an extra kick when he tries to cop a feel. Back to work.]

[ A night for almosts. An almost-smile when she boots the boy away. An almost-shake of the head that's equal parts Such a temper and No rest for the stupid. But just like lying, he knows the value of space, knows he wouldn't exactly be the ideal chaser after a night spent knee-deep in scumbags. You don't scrub off moral filth with more filth. (Although, just as hangouts are cyclical in the Underground, desires are too. She can expect a call by next week, asking if she wants to drop by. Maybe -- probably -- that's how he rinses out bitter tastes in his mouth.) ]

[ Absentmindedly, Hei points to her necklace, ] Make sure no one yanks that off. [ It's That looks good on you in any other language. Then he's turned on his heel, and faded back into the fabric of the crowd. ]

[Hello, hello, have someone who has no idea that this is a thing that already happened!]

What an awful sight!

Y-yeah. It was pretty terrible.

[Trying to talk like it hadn't been real for her.]

O-oh, you're the girl in the video, aren't you?! Are you alright?

What happened?

[She doesn't want to talk about this with a stranger.]

I'm fine. It was a long time ago. [Not long enough.]

Is that right...? Before you came here, then?

I'm sorry. [She ought to drop the subject, then!]

It's fine. Like I said, it was a long time ago.

Have you been here long?

[She'll drop the subject, then! And proceed to curtsey.]

No, not very long at all!

My name is Kunitachi, it's very nice to meet you...?

Korra. Nice to meet you too.

The pleasure's all mine, Korra-sama!

[She hums thoughtfully for a moment, then smiles as if she's hit on an idea!] Are there eateries or restaurants around here, Korra-sama? What's your favourite place to eat at?

It's Korra. Just Korra. [What is "sama"?]

There's a noodle place by the Fountain that's pretty good.

I'm showing respect! But if you insist, Korra.

Really?! I'd love to go there.

You should go for it it then.

[She sounds confused. Are you making conversation, or asking her out?]

[She's making conversation, her way of speaking is just differently nuanced! The source of confusion is completely beyond her.]

You know what, I think I will!

I haven't eaten out in years.

[Bobby is out playing in her new snowsuit when she sees Korra go buy with Naga. And then stops. And stares. Because WOW.]

[Korra notices the little girl staring and wonders for a moment if she's terrified. But no, it looks more like awe. So she stops Naga and waves at the girl.]

Hey there.

Hi!

[STILL IN AWE]

This is my friend Naga.

[She taps Naga on the shoulder, and the polar bear dog leans her head down to sniff the little girl.]

What's your name?

[Naga's breath is tickly and it makes her laugh.]

Bobby.

Nice to meet you, Bobby. Do you like animals?

Yes. What kind of animal is she?

She's a polar bear dog. You ever heard of them?

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十七

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