三十三

[anatural]

[ action - morning through afternoon ]
[Naga knows before Korra does: Mako's gone. While Korra's at work at the Welcome Center, the polar bear dog sniffs around town, just to confirm it. But all his scents are old over a day old, and she doesn't need to see the Hall of the Missing to know that he's nowhere in the City.


[ voice - filtered to Chekov - supremely hackable ]
[For once, Korra remembers how to do a filter, even when upset. It helps that, by this point, the pain is familiar enough to practically be normal. With Mako gone, she's once again alone in the City.

Except the weirdest part is, she's not actually alone. At this point, she's been in the City longer than she had been in Republic City; she's known Chekov and Hei longer than she had known Mako and Bolin. She doesn't feel as stranded as she had the first time all her friends had left.

That doesn't stop her from feeling lonely in the large Beach House, even with three dogs, eight cats, and five sheep to keep her busy. Which is why she dials Chekov.]

Can you come over tonight? Bring some of that vodka stuff.

[Sadness. Happiness. Sadness again. Her emotions are cycling around so quickly, she can hardly see straight. She's not a drinker by any stretch of the imagination, but right now she'd give just about anything for the world to just stop for a minute and let her catch up.]



[ooc: Open action with Naga during the day! Come run into a lonely polar bear dog.]

Comments

action // evening

[candothat]

[Instead of replying, Chekov heads over to the Beach House after work, picking up "some of that vodka stuff" and a dozen vatrushkas--flat, doughtnut-like pastries with sweet filling in the middle--from one of the more authentically Russian eateries in the City. Korra is clearly upset, especially since she's requesting vodka. He's hoping he can get her to focus on the pastries and ignore the vodka, as drinking really isn't the healthiest coping mechanism.

He barely has to tap on the door to the Beach House to set off a chorus of animals.]

[anatural]

QUIET!!!

[It takes a few moments for Korra to make her way to the front door; when she opens it up, Mocha TACKLES Chekov, barking with wild joy. It makes Korra laugh for the first time since finding out about Mako.]

Sorry about that.

[candothat]

Mocha, остановитесь!

[By some miracle, Chekov manages to save the vatrushkas and the vodka. Smiling, he wards the dog off with the hand holding the vodka bottle.]

No, I expect this from your home. No need to apologize. [He offers her the pastries.] Please, take these. Everyone knows that the heart and stomach are connected; feeding the stomach will help the heart.

[anatural]

I'm...not sure that's really how that works. But thanks.

[She peeks curiously at the pastries as she shoos the animals aside so he can come in.]

What's this?

[candothat]

That was not literal. It is true, though.

[He greets all of the animals in turn, even the ones that don't immediately come over to say hello.]

Food. It will make you feel better.

[anatural]

[She closes the door behind him with a too careless shrug.]

I'm fine. [She always is, eventually.]

[candothat]

Not yet, but you will be. [He says with all confidence, because he believes it to be true.] I know that Mako has gone home.

[And he leaves it at that, waiting for Korra to guide the conversation in whatever direction she chooses.]

Forward-dated to the 12th // action

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei's not made for sympathy. ]

[ From his daily surveillance of the Hall of Missing, he's aware of exactly when Mako leaves. Aware, perhaps, as soon as Naga is. But he doesn't drop by. Doesn't pay Korra a 'condolence call.' For one thing, he's hardly in a condoling frame of mind. Years of being a killer have half-dissolved emotions he'd once had no trouble experiencing. They're like things you leave in a box in the garage and then you look for them years later and find the water and mildew has seeped into them. For another, he's uncomfortable at the Beach House -- this strange almost-home that's not a stopover or a stepping-stone like all the residences he collects, but something that's exclusively Korra's and her friends. Even in the bleak City at its bleakest time, all her loved-ones and keepsakes dwindling, the place is warmly sheltering in a way that unnerves him. It's got nothing to do with the pets. Just the vibe the Beach House radiates -- a well lived-in dwelling, like a nest or a burrow. ]

[ Via his cameras in the interior, he watches Korra get on with her moping. Watches her play with the animals, invite Chekov over, sip vodka. As much claim as she has to be lonely, unhappy, disappointed, she at least has a good friend. Neither she nor Chekov are entirely turned away from the other, not really. He lets her become absorbed in the little distractions. Absorbed, apparently, in the charms of liquid cheer. It's only three days later that he stops by, late in the evening. Or, more accurately, he finishes a jogging lap, passes the Beach House -- and feels that click of Oh. Right in his head. ]

[ Wandering up to the stoop, he hesitates, then knocks twice. ]

[anatural]

[She's finally settling into the rhythm of life completely alone. Fewer groceries, more dinners grabbed from restaurants near the Welcome Center. Despite the cold, she's taken to sleeping outside with Naga, since there's nobody left to tell her she's an idiot and get back inside. (With Hamlet and Mocha, it has the added benefit of her not needing to get up in the middle of the night to let them pee.) With Joan and Yin and Penny at the Welcome Center, and Chekov just a call away, she hardly feels lonely. (A part of her wants to reach out to Hei as well, but she doesn't. Mixed in with the loneliness is some relief that Mako is gone -- one less complication in the complicated mess that is her relationship with Hei. She doesn't want to acknowledge that relief.)

She's just feeding the cats (again) when she hears a knock on the door.]

Just a minute!

[She finishes pouring the food and is down a few moments later. She's surprised to find Hei on the other side of the door.]

.....hi.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei isn't sure why, but he hoped Korra wouldn't be at home. Which makes no sense, since he knows her daily patterns as well as Yin's or Pai's. His knocks ring hollow in the empty room on the other side. Then he feels her approach; he can hear her descending the staircase, her footsteps getting louder. Knobs rattle, wood creaks, and then she's in the doorway. ]

[ His first impression of her is slightly rumpled and bleary, but calm. Smelling a bit like cat-food, and very much like domesticated pets in general. He responds to her Hi with a terse nod, not unfriendly so much as automatic, and puts a hand up on the doorframe, as if feeling unobtrusively for bugs. But he's only doing that because he doesn't want to be invited in, yet. (Or maybe because he doesn't want to reach for her?) He's not sure which. There's a dangling, pendulous sensation in the pit of his stomach. ]

[ For a moment, there is a teetering silence. Then: ] I was in the neighbourhood. [ As in I decided to drop by. As in I wanted to check on you. He doesn't say that. Already this feels too much like an absurd social call. ]

[anatural]

[Something is...off about him tonight. Korra immediately notices, but for once it doesn't worry her. It feels very human in a way she can't explain, if it even occurred to her to try. (She analyzes people constantly, but it's almost always subconscious.)]

Late night sea shell collecting, huh? [She smiles, just a little, and moves to the side.]

Would you like to come in?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei raises an eyebrow, but doesn't dignify the seashell collecting with a response. Instead he puts his thumb around the edge of the doorframe, and shakes his head. His tone is almost off-hand, absent, when he says, ]

I'm not staying long.

[ If anything, he looks like he'd prefer to be facing something whose neck he can break. With every breath he feels his chest sticking to his shirt in two faint haloes of sweat, and fading again. Isn't sure if it's the humidity of the sea air, or the sweet confiding look on Korra's face, that's making him antsy. His eyes drift steadily away from Korra, to stare at his own sinewy, pale-knuckled fingers, trying to work out how to navigate this impulsive visit, but there's something warm and heavy settling his chest, just by looking at her. At the same time, a hand grasps his brain, squeezes it tight around the idea of his own fundamental stupidity for coming here, making him incapable of thinking about anything else. ]

[ Except, Hei is never stymied for long. On an exhale, he forces himself to speak. ]

I have something for you.

[anatural]

[I have something for you. Maybe some other girl would be excited to hear those words, but Korra just feels vaguely annoyed amusement.]

What is it? [It better not be more underwear. She really doesn't need more matching bra-and-pantie sets that are great for sex but nothing else; she's not having nearly enough sex to warrant the number of sets he's already given her.]

Naga, PLZ!

[lefthandedgenius]

[On her lunch hour sometimes Lydia likes to sit outside, stopping at one of the cafes for some food and then taking it with her to perch on a park bench and daydream a little bit. Subjects of said daydream may vary; anything from math equations or brainstorms on current projects to the exact definition of instert-a-guy's-name-here abs.

Salad with a lovely blackened salmon is lunch for the day, and while it's not overtly fragrant, it may have enough scent to attract a polar bear dog...]

[anatural]

[There's one good thing about the City and the times that Korra makes Naga go into it, and that's the food. Naga loves the smell of all the different foods: the fried meats, the grilled fish. She may prefer her meals freshly killed and bloody in her maws, but that doesn't mean she can't appreciate finely cooked human food.

Like, say, that tasty blackened salmon being eaten by a pretty girl. Naga trots over and, without Korra around to remind her of her manners, starts sniffing Lydia over.]

[lefthandedgenius]

[Stating the obvious: There is a giant polar bear dog creature sniffing at Lydia, who in turn smells like strawberries, but more pervasive undoubtedly is the smell of her salmon. Let's get back to the important part: Giant. Polar bear. Dog.]

Hey!

[Depending on how close Naga gets, Lydia will gently shove the polar bear dog's nose a little away from her in a chiding motion - Prada in comparison is way, way more tiny, but even if Naga's enormous that's no reason to treat her harshly.]

Rude much? [This city, man. A month ago Lydia would have probably screamed. Now she's just like, polar bear dog? Okay.]

I'll share, but you need to behave. I remember you romping around at Chekov's party. You want to sit? Sit. [Lydia points to the ground next to her bench.] Sit, and then you get the treat.

[anatural]

[Naga vaguely remembers Lydia from the party too -- at least enough to register that she is the friend of a friend. She takes the push in good humor, and obeys the command to sit.

Now she gives Lydia big, sad eyes. She's been a very good polar bear dog -- please can haz treat?]

awwww dem eyes

[lefthandedgenius]

[Yes, Lydia is a sucker for those eyes. She daintily saws the fish filet in half, and then upon thinking about it, adds a third quarter, leaving just a little strip for herself, plucking up the rest of it with two fingers and holding it up.]

Good sit! [She remembers from having to go through Prada's training classes, you're supposed to tell the dog what they're getting the treat for. That should work for err, polar bear dogs, right?

She tosses the filet pieces up toward Naga's mouth.]

they're lady killers

[anatural]

[Naga opens her maw and catches the fish with surprising delicacy, considering just how big her mouth is. Some passersby are giving Lydia strange looks -- Why are you with that animal? SHE COULD FIT YOUR HEAD IN HER MOUTH!!!! -- but Naga pays them no mind. She just wags her tail happily.]

at the Welcome Center;

[her_waterloo]

[ Ever since their conversation last month, Joan has been more friendly with Korra. It wasn't that she was mean before, but now she feels like they have something in common. They could be friends. She likes that. ]

[ So when Korra comes in that day, Joan looks up from the desk and smiles genuinely at the girl. ] Hey, Korra. How's your day going?

[anatural]

Hey Joan. I'm good.

[Much better than it will. Korra hasn't yet found out that Mako is gone. The worst thing about today is how early it is. (Well, and being woken up by Mocha kisses. She loves her dog, but after falling asleep wrapped up in Hei, slobbery dog kisses were not what she'd been expecting.)

Korra settles down at one of the computers, but sits backwards on the chair so she can see Joan instead of the computer.]

How about you?

[her_waterloo]

[ Joan shrugs. ] Not bad. I was a little concerned that October would be especially bad here. Halloween themes. I wouldn't put it past the deities. Or whoever makes the curses now that they're gone.

[anatural]

What is this Halloween thing?

[her_waterloo]

Oh, sorry, I forget sometimes. It's a holiday. Originally to celebrate the harvest season. Now it's mostly about kids who dress up in costumes and go collect candy from their neighbors. It's the season to frighten yourself with ghost stories and bad horror movies.

[anatural]

Sounds like fun.