十七

[anatural]

[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.]

Comments

Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]

Evening~

[anatural]

[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?

Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]

Evening~

[anatural]

[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.)]

Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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.

Evening~

[anatural]

[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?

Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]

Evening~

[anatural]

[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.

Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]

Evening~

[anatural]

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.]

Re: Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]

Evening~

[anatural]

[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.]

Evening~

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]