poly_chromatic | 三十三

[ 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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, hundreds, depending on the company. I have relatives who make a ritual of drinking vodka.

Hundreds? [You're kidding, right?]

Not hundreds, perhaps, but there are more than I care to remember.

[He pours two shots of vodka--only a couple of fingers high, they don't need to get smashed--and puts one in front of Korra in a businesslike manner. The vatrushkas are set in the middle of the table and Chekov sits.]

Now, we should talk.

About what?

[Korra picks up the shotglass and throws it back -- that's what you're supposed to do, right? -- and WOW, OKAY, BAD IDEA. She starts coughing and her eyes start watering and how do people drink that?!

[Chekov follows suit, but with considerably more grace.]

When you are done enjoying the vodka, I would like to hear you say everything that is upsetting you.

[Korra makes a face and takes one of the pastries to get the taste of vodka out of her mouth.]

I'm fine. It's just...really quiet here with Mako gone.

[Quiet. Yeah. The caterwauling of the animals upstairs indicates just how quiet the Beach House is.]

[Yeah, uh... vodka's an acquired taste. It also tends to taste better as the bottle gets emptier.]

I'm sorry. [He nudges the vodka away. Korra probably shouldn't have anymore, and, stereotypes aside, Chekov is typically a light drinker.] You are allowed to say that you're lonely, Korra.

[Yeeeeeah. She's already a little light-headed from that shot. (Oh the joys of being a lush.)]

Okay, fine, it's kind of lonely. [She shoves the rest of the pastry in her mouth (but swallows before continuing).] A part of me can't even believe they're really gone. Their rooms are all still the way they left them. [She hasn't had the heart -- or really seen the point -- in changing that. It's not like anybody else is competing for the space.]

[He reaches over to pat her hand. Since, y'know, he's incapable of having casual conversations without touching.] I know what this is like. Sophie and Howl--their room is still the same, and Nyota's was until she returned and took her things and moved.

Would you like to live with me? I only have Everett as a flatmate, and he doesn't mind sheep so much.

[She actually does consider it. It'd be nice, not living alone, and he's closer to the City while still be remote enough for Naga to be comfortable.

But eventually, she shakes her head.]

Thanks, but I like it here. [Chekov is the best friend she has here, but she's not sure their friendship would survive constant contact. He's too nosy, too hyperactive, too determined to fix things, and too damn smart. He'd drive her insane. And by this point, Korra knows herself well enough to know that her temper is too short to handle him constantly, and she needs more solitude than he would probably want to give her. Besides, there are certain parts of her life that she doesn't really want him involved in that would be much harder to deal with if they moved in.]

I just need some time to get used to the quiet.

[He's disheartened by the answer, but smiles anyway. There're a whole host of reasons why she might not want to move into the cottage with her small zoo, a number of them related to the likelihood that he would drive her crazy. Chekov knows that he can be difficult to live with (he had a one-person dorm room--converted from a storage closet, no less--at the Academy for a reason, and he's sure that it's not a coincidence that he's one of very few ensigns on the Enterprise who gets a private suite). Still, it's lonely. Lonelier, somehow, now that most of the rest of the bridge crew has arrived.

But now is a time to focus on Korra.]

There won't be much quiet. [He nods to the nearest pet.] You are still in good company.

[It goes unspoken, but there's also the possibility that someone from her world will come back. They have a habit of coming and going with fair regularity.]

Yeah. [One of the cats jumps into her lap and she smiles, cuddling her close.] Hard to be lonely here.

You better keep stopping by, though.

You know that you won't get rid of me so easily.

Good.

[After a moment's hesitation, she tugs his arm to pull him into a hug.]

[He hugs her back as tightly as possible.]

Does this mean that you are feeling better?

Not really. [Better enough to at least admit she's not feeling great, at least.] But I will.

三十三

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