二十一

[anatural]

[Coming out today in an Underground comic store near you -- a self-published comic by a local artist. Posters advertising the comic say: "INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS".]




[It's a good thing Korra's not working tonight, otherwise heads might roll. As it is, she's going to be pretty darn pissed when she finds out about this.

Who wants to break the news to her?]


[ooc: Art courtesy of the ever-amazing candothat]

Comments

[intheblanks]

[It's on top of the stack of new arrivals with Chase has picked up and is flicking through to look for the sci-fi titles, okay? He doesn't even know what's displayed on the cover of the comic he's standing in the window, clutching to his chest.]

[maoser]

[Suuuuuuuuuuuure he doesn't.

Mao is just strolling through the Underground when the poster catches his eye. He hops up on the window ledge near Chase to get a better look. Isn't that...?

Nobody would blame Chase for wondering why a cat started laughing hysterically.]

[pinkeffinprofessional]

[He's picking up a copy for Mr. Orange. This is right up his alley, right?]

[anatural]

[Better put that shit in a bag, bro. If Korra catches sight of you above ground with it, she's going to be PISSED.]

Action

[mortemscintilla]

[ A little after 10 PM, she'll get an address to a dinette. The place is tiny and narrow, a hole in the wall that's either trying for the retro look, or caught in a 1960s timewarp. Plate glass windows, mirrored booths, a counter with red vinyl stools repaired in duct-tape. Above the black-and-white tiles, a ceiling fan lazily twirls. ]

[ Hei waits at the rear booth, right by the neoned window. Apart from him, the place seems empty. He's already on his third tray of deluxe bacon-and-eggs. There's a pile of dogeared books resting on his table -- Asimov's I, Robot and the Ballbuster comic. ]

[ Perfect combo for the intellectual reader. ]

Action; 1/2

[anatural]

[So either some stranger is calling her out for a fight, or Li is being pathologically secretive jerkface. Either way, the address means trouble. But hey, trouble is what Korra does.

She shows up about 10:45, wearing clothes from her homeworld. She's comfortable enough in jeans and t-shirts, but between the Ballbuster nonsense and Li's anger at the previous curse, she's feeling vulnerable. Her outfit is both a comfort and a shield (even the heavy jacket she had abandoned and Li returned).

She catches sight of Li in the corner (too bad, she had been kind of hoping for a good brawl) and heads over to him. It's impossible to judge his mood, and she's not sure how to behave. If he had just ignored the card, she could have pretended the whole thing never happened (not pushing, right?). But he didn't ignore the card. Should she pretend their conversation from the other night never happened?]

Action

[anatural]

[Seeing the comic on the table makes the decision a lot easier.]

What are you doing with that?!?

Action

[mortemscintilla]

[ He glances up when she enters, eyes going from point-to-point, taking in her posture and get-up. He's stone-cold sober, but when she nears him, she may notice his clothes and hair smell punchdrunk, and everything about him denotes the heavy languor of hang-over. But his expression is flat and faintly bored as always (that's his comfort and shield, the same way her homeworld's clothes are hers). ]

[ He didn't call this meeting because of the card. But it'd certainly contributed a large chunk to his decision. He just knows that being confronted with it was like watching a time-bomb slip into the final digits. Slow-mo end-it-all explosion. He'd felt that kind of dread before. But not lately, and that was what made it so terrible now. The realization that some stopped clock inside him -- stopped so long he'd forgotten its existence -- restarting on a shrill Eeeeeeee of agony. ]

[ He is wide awake now. Wide awake, and wondering why he let this mess with Korra carry on so far. ]

[ At her question, he frowns a little, ] It was a free copy. The store-owner heard you and I knew each other [ Or that she and 'Li' did, anyway. ] He asked if I could get your autograph. [ Without meeting her eyes, he nudges the comic forward, ] You can burn it, if you want.

Action

[anatural]

[You can burn it, if you want. Intentional or not, the words are a knife in her gut. She's made her peace with the loss of her bending, she really has -- she's learned to live with that gaping hole inside. But right now, all she wants to do is set every single copy of that awful thing on fire, and she can't. Not without a match. She feels pathetic and helpless, unable to do something that had once come so easily to her.

She snatches the comic and rips it once, twice, three times. But the pieces are still recognizable -- an eye, a deformed nipple, that hideous penis thing.

She doesn't sit down.]

So what do you want?

[If that's all he called her here for, she's leaving. Except of course that wouldn't be the only reason he called her, and she might leave anyway. Her head is throbbing, foreshadowing tears, and she refuses to break down in public. In front of him. She's not that pathetic.]

Action

[mortemscintilla]

[ It wasn't intentional. Nor is it until the words, so wry and insouciant, slip out that he realizes he's dealing with this whole matter wrong. It might be another of the many mistakes he's made, one after the next all his adult life. Like someone who can't take a step without crashing facedown. Fine -- it is a mistake. He doesn't seem to know how to do anything else anymore. ]

[ In terms of relationships, his psyche is one big bruise. ]

[ He watches her rip the comic to shreds -- the picture is such a caricature of Korra, or, really, of a normal woman. But this little back-and-forth between them is such a caricature too. Tearing it up seems almost symbolic, although he tries not to think in those terms. ]

Sit down, first.

[ A polite request, not an order. From the kitchen, the waitress appears and sets a grilled cheese sandwich and coffee cup in front of him. He watches it steam, the black surface shimmering like it's going to reveal something to him. Or as if it's easier if he can pretend Korra's not really there, that he's rehearsing this to some figment of his imagination. ]

Re: Action

[anatural]

[She hesitates for a moment, then cautiously sits on the very edge of the booth. A wolf debating between fight or flight.]

[worldofourown]

[ He's stretched out in the grass at the park. Enjoying the mild sunshine and the fresh air; getting a bit of light reading done. ]

[ Or perhaps the correct term is smirking and staring? (A comic about a hot badass with a dildo. Not really his usual menu of literary fodder -- but hey. Sometimes he likes to get in touch with his inner teenage boy.) ]

Truly a glorious work of art.

[anatural]

[Don't mind Korra, she's just walking by. She stil likes to practice her bending forms in the park, even though it's pretty far from her new home. Sometimes you just have to train outside, you know? And sand makes things a challenge (which, admittedly, can be fun).

Right now, she is blissfully ignorant of the comic, and paying no attention to Karl. Congrats, dude. Looks like you get to be the one to ruin her day.]

[worldofourown]

[ A privilege, to be sure. He watches Korra flit by. Tracks her movements with his eyes, before they resettle on the comic. Back and forth, first in surprise, then conformation. A grin splits his face, ]

Well, what have we here. A celebrity.

[anatural]

[She hears him and his voice is a cold, slimy hand down her spine. Is he talking to her?

Just ignore him. There's nothing to gain by acknowledging his sleazy existence.]

[worldofourown]

[ Too late. Karl has already unfolded from his spot and trapised over to her. Cheerfully, he waves the comic before her face, ]

That's you, isn't it?

[nobrakes]

[Somebody went nosing down into the Underground. Someone came out with this Ballbuster comic. Somebody is sitting on a park bench reading it because he doesn't give a fuck and it's just awful porn that if anybody complains, he'll actually show it to them so they can suffer too.]

[anatural]

[Korra storms away from her unpleasant encounter with Karl, steam practically pouring out of her ears.

She sees the comic in Wilee's hands. Snarling, she reaches out to grab it and rip it up. IS IT GOING TO BE EVERYWHERE?!]

[nobrakes]

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<small[He's just getting to the good but still awful parts when the comic is suddenly snatched away and he's staring at a blank space, hands still held up.]</small>

Hey, what the fu--</small>[Looking up at the perpetrator, her face seems familiar. <i>Really</i> familiar.]</small> Ohhhh.

[anatural]

Ooooh what?

[She rips the comic to shreds and throws the pieces in his face. If he gives her any kind of lip, that's what she's going to do to him.]

text;

[candothat]

[This text actually does reach Korra on the fifteenth. Chekov sees the comic, connects the dots, and decides, initially, that he's too fond of being alive to check in with his friend until she has had an opportunity to both discover the abomination for herself and cool down.

But he can only wait so long.]

Korra? Are you ok?

text;

[anatural]

No.

text;

[candothat]

I am not bisy. Woud you like to talk?

text;

[anatural]

[It takes her a long, long time to respond. She's not inclined to talk out her problems. But...maybe it'd be helpful.]

Okay.

[It's not like she could talk to anyone else about Li.]

action;

[candothat]

[After a short and poorly-spelled text conversation, Chekov meets Korra with a bag of chocolates in hand (chocolate tastes better when it's on sale, after all). They're not for her, although she's more than welcome to help herself.

He pushes aside his feelings regarding Howl's recent departure, his recent loss of his virginity, and the ensuing congratulatory message Lucy sent this morning to better focus on Korra.]