( 002 | video | action by the carousel )

[vavavroom]

[ well. this is embarrassing. asami can't say for sure how long it's been since she's last seen your ugly mug, polychromatic, but she definitely recognizes it upon sight... though it had taken her a few moments to remember that she was supposed to remember you at all.

seems almost poetic that she'd turn up at the exact same place she had the first time around. heck, she'll even give the fixed-up carousel a wistful pat along one of its weird plastic animals' snouts... though don't mistake the oddly sentimental gesture for happiness or relief, or anything silly like that. she still isn't all that happy to be here oops.

after a while, she'll fish out that strange phone gadget she'd been taking the time to acquaint herself with the last time, and quickly scan through the contacts. there's an odd twist to her lips when she sees a few familiar faces... and notices a few missing.

eventually, she turns on the video option. ]

So! Long time no see. [ a pause. ] I think.

[ and because she still hadn't been able to figure out that tricky filtering thing: ] Korra, I hope you still have a room available... I don't think this place is ready to let go of me yet.

Comments

[mortemscintilla]

[ He's been trained since childhood to read people, to exploit their weak-points to get the goods or info he needs. It's no effort to note the shift in her mood when he mentions the plague. Or to align his own features into a semblance of polite seriousness. ]

I'll make sure there's enough for everyone at the Beach House.

[ Then, ever-solicitous, ] Speaking of ... Do you need any help getting there? Directions, or a map? Or is someone coming to pick you up?

[vavavroom]

I'm pretty sure Mako is, if his abrupt hang up is of any indication. [ rly mako, how rude. ] But — hey, feel free to join us. Maybe you can finally meet each other then.

[ yes asami... best idea... ]

[mortemscintilla]

Oh. That... probably means he's glad to see you. [ It's a guy thing. ...We think. ]

[ At the mention of a face-to-face meeting, he segues his grimace into a friendly smile. ] That sounds like a great idea. [ Or like being boiled alive in oil. But there are few problems Hei solves by avoidance. Distasteful as the möbius strip of hormones at Korra's house is, it isn't his purview. Separating his assets from his liabilities is. He needs to know where Mako and Asami fall in either category. ] Um. As long as Korra doesn't mind, anyway.

[vavavroom]

[ ... wait what

no

don't put ideas in her head, li!!! ]

I... think it was more just Mako being Mako. He's not really one for words if something needs to be done. [ y-yeah. that's it! ]

And I'm sure she wouldn't! Why would she?

[mortemscintilla]

[ But that's his job!!! :T ]

[ Also generally being a scheming two-faced scumbag. ]

Well. It's always a good thing to have someone like that around. Especially in an emergency. [ He blinks and recomposes his smile into a sheepish moue. ] We-ell, she might want to spend time with people from her world. Without, um, City-pests butting in. [ A beat, before his tone goes thoughtful. ] She seems a little homesick. Everyone adjusts to the city in their own way. But it's better to have someone from your home nearby.

[ Except in Hei's case. The danger and political instability in his world are hardly worth missing. And there, as here, he has more enemies than allies -- even if the two often skate a precariously-thin line. ]

[vavavroom]

Mako's around. She's always have him. [ there is no strange tinge of bitterness in her tone, or even sadness. it is pure and simple fact that she states, as easily as if saying the sky were blue, and there's just really no other way about it. ]

But now I'm back, too. And if she needs me, she knows where to find me.

[ she pauses a little to give li a wink. ] Now I just have to go there.

[mortemscintilla]

[ You sure handle rejection and betrayal better than him, Asami. In your place, he'd be composing hit-lists 8| ]

Yeah. I guess you're right about that. [ If there's any distaste manifesting, he keeps it firmly off his face. Instead he smiles sweetly, a faint flush on the rise of his cheeks, ] Good to have you back in any case. [ His own machinations and agendas aside, he does think Korra would benefit from having someone her own age around. Cheering up teenage girls is not his ... thing. ]

[vavavroom]

[ there's a time and place for those kind of feelings, and 99.9% of the time, she realizes that that time and place is by herself, alone in her room. ]

Thanks. I hope I can do more good this time around.