o1, video & action (mako & asami sato)—

[flammiferous]

[Mako really thinks, for a while here, that test driving a used Satomobile is going to be the best way to segue from a month of occasionally exchanging pleasantries to something more substantial. He's in the process of earning his license, so driving is important; and if there's one thing he knows about his ex-girlfriend, it's that she knows cars.

In other words, this is perfectly impersonal.

But things never work out perfectly, do they? Mako notices that the sky is transforming from sunny to overcast in a matter of odd minutes, and then the Satomobile begins to act strangely. It's like his hands are irrelevant to the steering wheel. In fact, he tests it by lifting up his palms just an inch. It's moving on its own.]

Hey, Asami. I think something's wrong with the— [BLAM!!]



(video, showing just the inside of his pocket but the voices are clear as day.)

[A harsh jerk and a crunch of the metal frame cause him to bite the word out of his tongue. The seatbelt just barely saves him from knocking his head against the wheel. He tastes a tinge of something metallic as he opens his eyes to puffs of white powder settling on the distorted dashboard. The wind is knocked out of him but he doesn't waste time catching his breath.]

Are you alright?

[His passenger's first reply is a low moan as she slowly lifts her head, neck made tender by the sudden whiplash caused from impact. Asami opens her eyes a few moments later, using that time to gather her bearings and get a quick assessment of her body. Apart from an ache that's beginning to settle in where the seatbelt had bruised her shoulder and stomach, and a small cut from broken glass at her temple, she feels fine. ]

Fine... [Rather than ask the same of him, she opts to see it with her own eyes, looking him over critically. Once satisfied, she decides to glance around—

only to immediately jerk back in her seat, a large horse head jutting in from the broken window at her side. She sits stock still for a moment, but gradually begins to relax once she realizes it isn’t actually real... She knocks her hand against its snout curiously. Plastic.] What happened? Where are we?

[Mako's attention turns to the intrusive plastic horse head, then he slowly glances ahead to see where it came from. He could make a good guess towards a carnival, maybe, but he doesn’t want to answer her that. That’s crazy.]

You've got to be kidding me... [He murmurs it under his breath. Scrunches his face and wipes thin blood off his lip. After taking a moment to melt the jammed car door just enough to loosen it for a good kick open, he climbs out of his seat to assess the damage. Whatever clunky thing that aggravates his thigh is haphazardly discarded from his pocket and onto the driver's side car seat, mistaken for some piece of car.

For a good moment, he just stands there staring at the hood that scrunches up to the shattered windshield, the pieces of broken carousel, the door he just wrecked even further for their own survival, and forget about the gaping bystanders. He jabs a thumb at the destruction.]

How did I not see this coming? [And, more importantly, how is he going to pay for this!?]

[There’s a faint murmur from Asami as Mako worries himself over the damages.] I think it’s safe to say there was nothing wrong with the car before... [The driver on the other hand...

With a sigh, Asami wrangles herself free from her seatbelt, but there’s nothing to be done about the seat itself. Whatever damages had happened to the front of the car had apparently jammed the mechanism that allowed her to adjust the seat. With no way out on her side, she turns to the driver’s side and attempts to crawl into the seat, hoping to escape the way Mako had. That’s when she notices the contraption that had fallen out, and for the moment their predicament is forgotten in favor of curiosity.]

Hey, what’s this...? [She picks it up, allowing the network a clear view of her face (and the plastic horse just behind her), which looks immediately bewildered upon seeing her reflection staring back at her. Wait — is that even her reflection? It looks too crisp, almost like a picture—]

I don’t remember this being standard issue at the Police Force.

(ooc: BASICALLY they drove out of nowhere into a chunk of the carousel. Feel free to approach them or get in touch via video/voice/text!)

Comments

[anatural]

[What is it with her and bossy men? There's a brief flash of irritation, quickly dwarfed by the relief at seeing them both again. She whistles for Naga to come over.]

Naga, get the horse.

[The polar bear dog grabs the plastic horse in her strong jaw and pulls hard, giving Mako the room he needs to help Asami out while Korra hovers, wishing she could do more to help.]

[flammiferous]

[The carousel horse has some pretttty freaky deaky eyes, so Mako tries to get it out as quickly as possible, minding Asami's foot. As Naga pulls, he uses short, precisely timed bursts of strength to position it where it needs to be to get it, until it's mostly back out through the window.]

Watch the glass. [He murmurs instruction while hooking an arm beneath Asami's. He only gives her that advice because his arms and knees are feeling the burns now, cut from loose shards that were aggravated in the process of moving out the horse.

He hooks an arm beneath hers and tries to ease her out, although gives her the liberty of control on where to go.]

Korra, are you able to heal her wounds..? [His voice hesitates to ask at the end. Why hadn't she healed her own?]

[vavavroom]

[ it hadn't truly occurred to asami how much of a damsel in distress she was being until mako made mention of her wounds, and almost instantly she feels a flutter of indignation in the pit of her stomach. ]

I'm fine, [ she insists, half out of embarrassment and half out of frustration. mako is just as injured as she is, she's sure — possibly even worse, since he'd started to move around way before she had. she just had the misfortune of getting too up close and personal with a plastic horse.

as if to prove herself, she uses most of her own strength to wriggle out of the car, now that her foot is free. there's a slight ache there from where the door had bent over it, forcing a weird angle for a while, but a quick test on the ground already tells her it's nothing more than that.

once her feet touch the ground, she disengages from mako, not even waiting till she's steady on her own feet. a step is taken back, putting a respectable amount of distance between them, and almost hastily her attention is flung back towards the other girl. ]

Are you okay? [ she'll just give that cane a pointed stare. ]

[anatural]

[Are you able to heal her wounds? Korra stares at him, unbelieving. How can he even ask her that?! Rub in the fact that she doesn't have her waterbending anymore. She's lost her powers, her ability to even move without help...how pathetic can she get.

She turns to Asami, focusing on the other girl in an effort to keep from snapping.]

There was an incident, but I'll be okay. Honestly.


Sorry I don't carry band-aids around. [with a significant, angry look at Mako. (who should totally remember what bandaids are from the last time he was here. totally.)]

[flammiferous]

[...wait what. He raises an eyebrow.]

O..kay?

[Clearly he missed something. He clears his throat to ease the tension and brings up a new topic, hands in his pockets.]

I've no doubt the guy who owns this kiddie ride has been notified about the mess. He and an officer are probably on their way, and usually they bring at least one waterbender to the scene of an accident. Right, Asami?

[Since, you know, she has experience with car accidents.]

[vavavroom]

Right, but...

[ asami tapers off after that, giving korra a fairly critical look. the clothing, those odd shoes, even the cane...

and what had that word been? band-aids?

not to mention that Look korra had thrown mako's way...

she finally takes the time to give the area around them one long, panning glance. ]

I'm not really sure we should be expecting anything like that right now. [ or at all. ]

[anatural]

[Korra frowns.]

There aren't any waterbenders here. How badly did you hit your head in that thing?

[Don't worry, she'll catch on eventually.]

[flammiferous]

[He can see the wheels turning in Asami's head, and his expression falls grim as his thoughts begin to align.

Korra's clothes are just clothes; maybe he doesn't get them, but a shirt is a shirt and trousers are trousers and... well, the "boots" are the weirdest part about her getup but he's so oblivious about fashion that he can assume it's just not something he'd know about.

But he does know Republic City like the back of his hand. Not even the most complex carnival design can disguise the street patterns from him. He has no clue where he is.

The Satomobile acting out on its own, the carousel cropping up out of nowhere, the devices that appeared in his and Asami's pockets on coincidence...

The looks Korra keeps giving him and the way she keeps talking to him.

Maybe even among the most concrete evidence, this is what disturbs him the most. He frowns right back at her, confused and a little pissed and hurt.]

Hopefully harder than I thought. [He brushes dry blood away from his mouth and shakes his head, then draws a reluctant look to his new device.]

...I need to get in touch with Bolin.

[vavavroom]

[ in the face of all this confusion, asami defaults to doing the math. between the three of them, only one of them right now is looking like the other two should be on the same page as her. it's that expectant look from korra (like she's waiting for the two of them to catch on to some joke that's been told before) that nags at asami's mind. ]

Korra... What's going on?

[anatural]

Did Bolin come with you?

[Sorry, Asami, she'd answer your question, but the mention of Bolin's name has taken all of Korra's attention. If Bolin's here too, she'll have all of her friends together. She doesn't dare to hope, yet she can't help it either. It's been a rough few weeks and she wants the comfort of her friends.]

[flammiferous]

Bolin's holding tryouts for the Fire Ferrets today. But you wouldn't know about that at all, would you?

[He looks sternly at Korra. It isn't a quip against her, but he is confirming his own suspicion.]

Tell us what's going on, Korra.

[anatural]

[This is the moment everything comes crashing together. Her face falls, hope crushed beneath the weight of realization.]

You guys don't remember being here before.

[flammiferous]

[Er. Hold the phone.]

No? [He looks at Asami as if trying to confirm his own memory.] When was that?

[anatural]

Like, seven months ago. We all lived in a place in the heart of the City. You [the both of them], me, and Bolin.

Then Bolin disappeared, then you, then Asami, and it was just me.

[vavavroom]

Korra... None of us even knew each other, seven months ago.

[anatural]

Yes we did! [She did, at least. But she's coming to the sick realization that they are a year behind her.]

[flammiferous]

Korra.

[He places a hand on her arm in attempt to comfort her.

Something here is weird, and they have no control over it. That much is obvious. But two of these girls are injured and Mako can't leave the scene of an accident, so all they can do is work on what they can fix.

Everything else, as much as he wants answers now (Bolin left? what does that even mean?), have to come later.]

Don't worry, we'll figure out this mess. Let's just focus on taking care of the task at hand. Asami, how's your head? Does it hurt at all?

[othersdie]

[The Police Force arrives!

Unfortunately, it arrives in the form of a single nonplussed twenty-something year-old who isn't even in uniform. With the rebellion in full swing, the Force is spread thinner than usual; something as mundane as a car crash doesn't warrant much attention.

The unimpressed (and unimpressive) plainclothes officer stops short of the vehicle and the two battered newcomers, doing his level best to avoid making anything remotely resembling eye contact with Korra.]

What happened here?

[vavavroom]

[ to asami, justin looks like nothing more than a passer-by. a rather nosy passer-by, though by the look on his face, he doesn't even seem to want to be there. a reluctant busybody? seems a little counter-productive.

but his presence does well enough to capture asami's attention for the most part, even when things were just about to be ironed out (or at least laid out to be ironed out), and seriously she can't even be bothered to think about that measly cut on her head right now. ]

Just an accident. Can we help you?

[anatural]

[CRAP. NO. NOT HIM. NOT HIM. Justin may look like a scrawny twerp but he kind of intimidates Korra. Why does he always have to be the one to show up when she's near trouble?

hissing at Asami] He's the police!

These people just got here.

[vavavroom]

[ asami catches that hasty hiss, and can't help but arch a rather dubious brow at the young man. seriously? she says nothing, of course, sensible enough not to tempt fate, but the look on her face probably says it all... ]

[othersdie]

[OMG, Korra, it's not like he wants to deal with your shenanigans why do you hate him.

He addresses Asami. She looks annoyed; Justin can handle annoyed.]

Would you like directions to the hospital?

[flammiferous]

[Mako glances at the girls. Their apprehension is beyond him, considering the police are supposed to show up at the scene of an accident, but whatever.]

Guys, it's just protocol. Relax.

[Then he addresses Justin. He actually wishes the guy had come sooner, just to get everything over with, but at least now he's prepared.]

Directions would be great. Naga and Korra can take Asami to the hospital, and I'll handle the report.

[othersdie]

A formal report isn't strictly necessary if you two were the only people involved.

[He glances at Korra warily, half expecting her to admit to doing something that would require a night or two behind bars.]

You should both go to the hospital. I'll have your... vehicle [is that a car? the horses take away from the car-ness] relocated.

[flammiferous]

[Mako looks at the carousel. If there aren't any questions at all, he isn't going to push his luck about it.]

Thanks. Where can we find it later?