poly_chromatic

[It's not been an easy few days for Korra. Having sex with Li would have been enough to deal with, but then Mako had to go and make a trade to get her life back. It was like he knew she was trying to get over him and didn't want her to.

People told her she should be grateful and thank him, and she knew he had made no easy sacrifice for her. That's why she's so angry with him, because it made her love him more when she just wants to move on. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her time here being cut up inside by Mako and Asami's happiness.

She's spent a lot of time hiding from her friends and crying. She wishes her mother were here, or Master Katara. The older waterbender had always understood Korra's troubles, and never judged her for her mistakes.

But neither Katara nor her mother are here, and Korra has had to work through everything alone. Today, she's finished crying. It's time to start dealing with things.]

[filtered from Li and her friends (but Li and Chekov could likely hack)]

[The goal had been to make a discrete voice post, filtered from her friends and him, calmly asking for advice.

That had been the goal. It's not the reality. The reality is, remembering how to do the filters had sufficiently flustered the already upset Korra that she accidentally turned on the video. You're treated to the sight of a young woman who is alive but clearly has not been sleeping.]

Uh, just out of curiosity... What happens if you do something that could get you sick while you're City dead, and then somebody makes a deal and you're not dead anymore? Can you still get sick from the thing before?

[It's been a few days since it happened, but this idea is only now occurring to her. She clearly wishes the Earth would eat her alive. Also no idea how sex works. She is in desperate need of an adult. Or a hug.]

[action]
[She's struggled with this for days now, but she can't put it off anymore. She and Mako need to have a talk.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Naga curls a protective tail around Korra, and continues to watch Hei with a snarl on her face. Korra strokes the polar bear dog reassuringly. Naga doesn't understand what's going on, only that she's upset. Korra wishes the answer were as simple as "Naga, get him."]

I don't know. [She had dreamt this morning about all the illnesses her White Lotus teachers had told her could result from intercourse and woken up terrified. In the cold light of day, without the haze of lust and inexplicable trust to cloud her thoughts, she couldn't believe that a thin sheath of rubber would be enough to keep her safe. It seemed ridiculous.]

If you're worried about -- [She almost says "your cover," but stops herself just in time] -- me, don't. It's safe.

[ Definite misgivings. He shakes his head. Sex -- the physical aspect -- is so easy. Insert tab A in slot B. Yet humans act like it's a miracle or tragedy up their skirts or pants, just waiting to unveil itself. Not so with Contractors. Factuality and brute calculation is their forte. ]

[ But the look on her face -- almost lost -- makes him want to touch her. Even if it's just a pat on her shoulder. He slips his hands into his pockets instead. ]

You're sure?

[ Not about his cover. He's asking, What about you? ]

I'm sure.

[Why is he still here? Why are they having this conversation? He's threatened her friends. His secret couldn't be safer.]

You can stop pretending you care.

[She's spent days trying to figure out why he slept with her, and she hasn't found an answer that makes sense.

She doesn't want him to care. At all. Her life is muddled up enough as it is.]

[ There's no reaction on Hei's face. But his eyes narrow. God -- why did he have sex with her? Fine. He'd be honest. It was to assuage a brute, specific desire to just have her. To ring up the changes on that fresh young body until he was in a clearer state of mind. Selfish, true. But straightforward. Then why am I here as I'm responsible for her? ]

You're right. [ His voice is cold. ] I can.

[ He's a killer, he's a liar, he's toxic. And if he can make her hate him, if he can erase that light he'd seen in eyes that night in the shed, then all the better. For her and everyone she knows. ]

[She flinches at how cold his voice is. He sounds more like the man who had broken into her home and threatened her than the man she had played charades & slept with. They were the same person, she had to keep reminding herself. So it was good.

But he's still standing there, looking at her, and Korra feels ready to scream. She's tired of guys playing games with her -- Mako, keeping no boundaries between them even though he was dating Asami, and Li, pretending to be an idiot then threatening her then touching her. All she wants to do is send some boulders hurtling through the air and then set them on fire, but Amon took that from her. Another man with another game.

Her own voice is as cold as the South Pole.]

You should go.

[Naga growls audibly, making sure to bare every single one of her teeth. She's been trussed up and still managed to face down and defeat a group of Equalists in order to protect Korra; she wouldn't hesitate to do so again.]

[ Hei could hide a straight royal flush behind the apathy of his gaze. The anger is a good sign. It makes things less complicated. Angry Korra is Easy To Deal With Korra. Sometimes he thinks he shouldn't be quite so callous in how he looks at these things. But then he remembers how mentally exhausting it is to find reason in such grey situations. ]

[ And he just doesn't care anymore. It's better this way. ]

I was never even here.

[ She can make of that what she will. Turning on his heel, he exits. ]

[When Hei is safely out of sight, Naga curls up around Korra as though to shield her from the entire world. Korra buries herself in the polar bear dog's fur. She's so incredibly tired of crying, but it seems that she's not done yet.

Young Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko are together somewhere. Dancing?

No, not dancing. It's some kind of ritual. There are two dragons with them, the vision of which nearly makes Korra gasp. The ritual ends in a burst of fire.

Aang. What is he trying to tell her?]

十

Action!

Action!

Re: Action!

Action!

Action!

Action!

Re: Action!