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[ The behavior is normal to any predator. Hei is more interested in Naga's speed or aberrations in her technique. The animal is clearly more Polar Bear than Dog, discounting her attachment to Korra. She wouldn't be the easiest to tame. ]

[ He lets Naga tuck into her meal. Finishes polishing his blades, and tucks them away in his knapsack. Rising, he steps closer. Measured enough not to startle Naga while she's on attack-mode. Calmly, he watches the kill. That's another thing the war has left him with. He notices dead things -- animals, people -- with a detachment that borders on unsettling. ]

Does it taste all that good?

[ He's conversing with a Polar-Bear Dog. First Mao, now this. What is his life? ]

[What is your life indeed, Hei. As far as Naga is concerned, you're just making gibberish noises. Korra talks to her out of a human habit, but their real communication is all nonverbal. There are a few words she understands. Stop. Go. Food. Friend. Nothing that he said.

She pauses briefly in her eating to look up at him, then goes back to her snack. She rips the rabbit in half and swallows.]

[ He'll take that as a Yes. Ordinarily he'd watch for a few moments. But there's no risking the chance that Korra might be nearby. He should get going. Maybe next time he sees Naga outdoors, he'll toss her a skinned rabbit as an olive branch. Or three or four. ]

[ Enjoy your snack, Fluffy. ]

[Too late! After finishing up with Arthur, Korra discovered that Naga wasn't home, and decided to go looking for her friend. It's not hard to guess where Naga would go.

So she finds herself in the forest, tracking the marks Naga's left on the ground.

She doesn't expect to find Li there.]

[ Terrible timing, thy name is Korra. He recognizes the tread of her step instantly. Stops in place, his expression calm, and at the same time carefully concealed. ]

[ No word of greeting. He just nods. ]

[Why is this her life? Korra can't muster up more than mild annoyance. She'd pushed herself pretty hard in training, and she's still feeling the warm, languid happiness that accompanies heavy exercise.]

What are you doing here?

[ Why? Because incidents like this are footnotes in the life and times of Korra and BK-201. The City really is too hermetically sealed. He's getting claustrophobic. ]

Is that your business?

I guess not.

[She walks over to Naga, resting her hand on the dog's shoulder. Naga swallows the last of her snack and butts her head against Korra's side comfortingly.

She hasn't wanted to see him. She doesn't want to see him. It's not about the memories, or the regrets. Every day since she moved to Republic City has been a lesson in living with those. It's the questions that eat her up inside whenever she sees him. When he's not around, it's easy to believe that everything had been a lie. He's tricked her before. But when he's there, she can't believe it. She'd seen something real.]

[Her hand tightens in Naga's fur. She's so tired of this. She's tired of questions and doubts and second guesses. Enough running.]

No.

[She turns to glare at him.]

It is my business. Why can't you answer a simple question? How hard can it be?

[ Her anger is practically palpable. Like a heat illusion on a sun-baked highway. But she isn't the Avatar because she's a fucking coward, after all. He can't think of how to respond. Double-speak and deception are fixed facets of his life. Who he is. He's always had to keep his eyes peeled. Always looking for the bigger score, riding the cutting edge. ]

[ Always keeping two steps ahead of his allies so he can gauge the exact moment they become his enemies. ]

What do you want me to say? That I was here to stalk and murder your pet?

[ The sarcasm comes easily. He just goes with it because he doesn't know what to do with his emotional reactions to things. ]

[Her anger is all but a force of nature. The sarcasm hits, stings, but doesn't even slow her down. She advances on him, not giving him any space to run. If he tries, she's just going to chase.]

I want you to tell me the truth.

[ This is getting out of control. Professional training and cold logic warns: Stupid girl, stay away, I could snap off both your arms at the joints and pulp your larynx to ducksauce as soon as answer. He's practiced at appearing unfazed and detached, but this is bringing some cracks in that facade. There is rage just below his surface. ]

I don't have to tell you anything.

[ He doesn't owe her his routines or inner-confidences. She's safer -- better off -- not knowing anything at all. ]

[He may not be as expressive as she is, but anger recognizes anger. Korra isn't afraid of it or the unspoken promise of violence. Instead, there's a fierce satisfaction at breaking through to something human.]

What is your problem?! Why are you so freaking obsessed with lies and secrets?! Do you enjoy making things more complicated than they have to be?!

[ The four-flush front stays in place. But his eyes narrow. This is a line of questioning his training warns him to deflect. He wants to say, We aren't having this discussion. But that's tantamount to admitting how much more he has to hide. He knows he can kill her in a split-second if he chooses. Considers it for one such split-second, knowing perfectly well he can walk away without guilt if he does. ]

[ He's lived with Contractors all his life. He can think and act like one. He is one -- despite this stupid psychological thaumaturgy. ]

[ Instead he chooses a third option -- turning on his heel, prepared to stalk off. ]

Oh no you don't.

[She reaches for his arm, knowing it will result in a fight and not caring. One way or another, this is ending.]

[ Just snap her neck. Human beings learn best those lessons which are taught through pain. There's no other way she'll back off. But a second voice, cool and modulated, almost like Pai's, intrudes: Contractors don't always kill. They sometimes end their mark's lives by leaving them alive: with a pulse but psychologically decimated. Through sweetness. Through manipulations. Through traps. But neither option appeals to him. ]

[ There's always a third route. ]

[ He takes a moment to acknowledge that this has become The Sum Of All Clichés, and makes his choice in a half-second. Shuts his eyes, shuts them tight and pulls her against him, hugging her hard. ]

[ The message is clear. Shut up. ]

[He never does what she expects.

Why does he never do what she expects?!

Korra's too surprised to resist when he pulls her in, or to struggle when he holds her tight. Truth be told, she's a tactile person, and the fastest way to tell her almost anything is through touch.]

What are you trying to hide?

[The question comes out, but she's not expecting an answer. She understands what he's telling her right now. She just doesn't understand why.]

[ He keeps his eyes closed. Something bubbles up inside -- watery and second-hand. But he refuses to pinpoint what the thought or emotion might be. He resents it. All this dancing around is making him sick. In Heaven's War, he'd been a cold and virulent force. He'd once acted only according to self-benefit and survival, with no time for explanations. But all that ruthlessness was to protect Pai. ]

[ And she isn't here. ]

[ The memory of his sister doesn't obscure his view of Korra; he sees her for what she is -- young, alive, hopelessly rash. But he can't imagine her world or his juxtaposed. There's sincerity and honesty and Hei has dealt with the opposite for too long to be even remotely forthcoming. ]

[ Slowly, he peels his hands away, and retreats a step, eyes averted. Doesn't look at her again, before he turns to exit the forest. ]

[In what is either an act of fate or an ill-timed joke, Chekov, off of work and traipsing about the forest, very nearly walks into--well, he certainly thought it was Li, but there's nothing Li-like about the person he all but runs into. And is that Korra and Naga?

Feeling as though he has just stumbled upon something that he shouldn't have, Chekov holds up his hands to show that he's unarmed, as that's the done thing when one is in such a situation.]

Korra? ...Li?

[Once again, she's being left with no answers, only more questions. There's no more anger left to keep her going.

Her heart stops when she sees Chekov. Damn it. How much had he seen?]

Chekov! Hi!

[She looks nervously at Li. How is he going to react?]

W-what are you doing out here?

[ God, Hei is in the wrong business. He should be writing soap opera scripts with the drama his life keeps spewing. He sees Chekov. Hears Korra's nervous babble -- dammit, she's making things worse. Quickly, he suppresses any reaction surfacing. He forces himself to think clinically. Anger isn't something he enjoys succumbing to. He prefers to be absolutely in control of his image as 'Li' and rage tends to wreck that in the worst ways. ]

[ Case in point: This. ]

[ He reshapes his expression -- his very persona. Sweet. Timid. Quietly calculating. ]

Oh -- Hi, Chekov. We weren't expecting you to be here too.

[ As if they've met by serendipitous chance. But the damage is done. Now Hei has to focus on making the problem go away. ]

[He has only seen enough to be very confused, and Hei might recover almost well enough to make Chekov question what he thought he saw, but Korra is not so convincing.]

I was walking and I thought I heard voices...?

[Li--or whoever--gets a frown. There is so much that doesn't add up.]

What are the two of you doing here?

Looking for a bathroom! I mean, Naga was. Looking. For a bathroom.

[The words come out in a panicked rush, and she has to bite her lip to stop herself from talking. She's standing next to an expert liar. She should probably let him handle the lying.

She shoots Li a pleading look. Please don't hurt him.]

[ The bathroom? He represses an eyeroll. Korra needs serious lessons. Hei's learnt early on that being a deep-cover operative isn't just having false documents and a solid cover story. To assume a role, you have to convey with total conviction that you are who you claim to be. That means believing it absolutely yourself. Enveloping someone in an attitude and emotionally drawing them toward you. He ignores Korra's pleading look. Focuses on Chekov. ]

[ This situation requires the delicacy of a neurosurgeon. ]

I was taking a walk. Then I ran into Naga. And Korra. [ Here, he manufactures a blush. As if her discomfort stems from something stupid-cheeky-flirtatious 'Li' said or did before Chekov arrived. ] What about you? You never struck me as the forest-y type.

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