fiery_delights: (⑧ lock me up)
Author: fiery_delights
A minor celebrity has just arrived in Republic City.

He styles himself Delightful Jun, and if he has a last name, no one's ever managed to find it. Reports of his age vary, but you'll usually find it quoted between thirty-five and forty in recent years. His press interviews are rare, unscripted, occasionally contradictory, and inevitably surprising.

As for what he's famous for: he is a firebender, the producer and performer of a multimedia stage show that defies description. Delightful Jun's Palace of Fiery Delights combines music, lights, dancing, sleight of hand, a certain amount of acrobatics, flamboyant costumes, and of course, creatively applied and exquisitely controlled firebending. The show is never the same twice. Audience members are permitted and even encouraged to bring recording devices, but cautioned that if they do, they might be so busy getting it all on tape that they miss half the fun.

He has been known to remove all his clothes onstage; he has been known to take audience volunteers for various occasionally hazardous tricks; unsubstantiated rumours claim that he might have combined those two things, but no one's ever coughed up a video, so the rumours are generally discredited. He has been known to set off small explosives. He has been known to breathe rolling tongues of flame over the heads of the audience. When he booked an outdoor venue for six weeks in Chin Village, he concluded his final show by setting off a row of fireworks that wrote 'Delightful Jun' in the sky stroke by stroke. The headlines the next morning read, 'Delightful Jun Autographs Sky', and he cheerfully stole the turn of phrase for use in his own posters and advertisements.

One of his best-known signature moves is an elaborate, graceful bow ending in a sweep of his arms that gives him momentary wings of fire. It appears in countless photos, and it's how he ends his show every night for his first week in Republic City.
listenandwait: (mountain)
Author: listenandwait
There is a woman about a decade his junior, with assorted semiprecious stones tied in her hair and wrapped around her wrists, in the front row. She is attentive, but more thoughtful than awed.

She sticks around after the bit with the wings.
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
A lot of people do. He's not quite so famous yet that the number of fans who want to talk to him after a show is insupportable, and he makes time to give each one a few words and a smile before he leaves.
listenandwait: (sand)
Author: listenandwait
This one wants to know:

"Do you take students?"
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
"I might," he says, flashing a grin. "Depends entirely on the student."
listenandwait: (Default)
Author: listenandwait
"Because," says the audience member, and her hair rearranges itself with the aid of its weights, "my student is going to be done with me sooner than anyone but me expects."
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
"Hm." He smiles. "Then if I'm still here, send her to me, and we'll see what we think of each other."
listenandwait: (wait)
Author: listenandwait
"What if you're not still here?"
fiery_delights: (⑪ i've been ready)
Author: fiery_delights
He shrugs. "Then you can still send her to me, if she wants to go. I'm not that hard to find."
listenandwait: (neatly)
Author: listenandwait
"All right then."
fiery_delights: (④ if you don't like it)
Author: fiery_delights
"Any particular reason why you're asking me, out of all the firebenders in Republic City?"
listenandwait: (faultline)
Author: listenandwait
"All the firebenders in Republic City teach an archaic combat style. It won't suit her, not as a focus," shrugs the earthbender. "She uses air to move, water to heal, earth to build - if all her next teacher thinks fire is good for is destroying she'll set herself against it. You can make it look," she shrugs again, "pretty."
fiery_delights: (⑥ i've been waiting so long)
Author: fiery_delights
"Fire is pretty," he says. "And dangerous. But that's part of its charm."
listenandwait: (centered)
Author: listenandwait
"If she finds it charming, she'll do your job for you. The nuns taking 'charge' of her education think she'll need a year or two with my tutelage because she's an 'air Avatar' and mine is the opposed element, but they're wrong. She learns - things that are useful to her, anyway - like she's remembering from yesterday and not decades ago."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Good to know," says Jun. "I'm starting to like her already."
listenandwait: (watch)
Author: listenandwait
"You should. Of course, if she doesn't find you charming, she'll drop you like a ratscorpion and find her own teacher. I almost lost her after two days before I figured her out."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"I am," says Jun, "extremely charming."
listenandwait: (neatly)
Author: listenandwait
"And delightful. I saw the posters. I think she'll like you."
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He laughs.
listenandwait: (Default)
Author: listenandwait
"I'll bring her by one of your shows when she's getting antsy with my lessons and send her along to you after. It's possible that if I wish to surprise her about the purpose of the outing I will have to buy a ticket for her boyfriend too."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"I'm not about to argue with that," laughs Jun.
listenandwait: (watch)
Author: listenandwait
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
She was the last person to approach him; they're alone in front of the stage.

"Then I look forward to seeing them," he says, and bows prettily, and twirls away.
listenandwait: (centered)
Author: listenandwait
Off the earthbender skates.

She is back six weeks later with company, to "celebrate Beila's progress".
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
Her company is suitably enthralled!
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
That they most definitely are.
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
This show is even more spectacular than the one Shifu Riko saw during his first week in the city.

He dances with such lightness, he almost seems to fly; he trails curling smoke across the stage; he ignites his feathery red costume and spins out of its cinders, leaving himself in nothing but a pair of tight blue shorts (to vocal audience approval); and when he takes his final bow, instead of the signature flaming wings, a bolt of lightning from his right hand strikes the wall and the curtain drops like a guillotine.

That one is new. The audience erupts in applause. The lights come up slowly, and people start filing out; Jun usually waits a few minutes before he appears in front of the stage to greet his fans.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila starts to get up, when the curtain drops.
listenandwait: (watch)
Author: listenandwait
"Stick around," suggests Lee.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"...Okay." Beila is used to occasional cryptic instructions from Shifu Riko. "That was really something," she says to Dao.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"It seriously was," he agrees. "Wow."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"I'm gonna learn to do that," Beila decides.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Which part?"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"The bending part. I don't know if I can learn to dance that well, airbending or no airbending, and I don't think I'll be setting perfectly nice costumes on fire or doing any of this on stage, but I will learn the pretty bending."
listenandwait: (neatly)
Author: listenandwait
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"That costume has to have been made for that, though, did you see how fast it went up?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Made for it or treated with some kind of fuel, yeah," agrees Beila. "He must have spectacular control to walk away from that kind of trick without burns. Or his hair on fire."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Looks like he got it the hard way," says Dao, shaking his head in amazement. "Did you see those scars?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah. Yeah I did." She lets out a breath. "I'm going to have water on hand, when I get to firebending, in case there are accidents."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
He shivers. "Good idea."
fiery_delights: (⑥ i've been waiting so long)
Author: fiery_delights
At this point, Jun comes out in front of the stage - wearing a loose black-and-red embroidered robe, over or instead of the blue shorts - to say hello to the small crowd of fans that have gathered for that purpose.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Did you want to talk to him or something?" Beila asks Shifu Riko.
listenandwait: (centered)
Author: listenandwait
"Just sit," laughs Lee.
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
One by one, he exchanges a few words with each of them, and they all go home happy.

As the last one walks away, he looks at Shifu Riko and winks.
listenandwait: (Default)
Author: listenandwait
Lee waves him over.

"You both know who each other are," she says archly.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"...Yes?"
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
Jun glances between the three of them and laughs.
listenandwait: (neatly)
Author: listenandwait
"You're about to get bored with me," Lee asserts. "Long before anyone expected the air Avatar to be, you're done formally studying earth. Fire's next. I decided to get in with a suggestion before the nuns did."
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
Beila splutters. "Okay..."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Why don't you come backstage and we can have a chat?" he suggests. "I'm always thirsty after a show; I need my cup of tea."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Sure. Why not." Beila wafts to her feet, kisses Dao on the forehead, and follows Jun.
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
He leads her up a few steps, through a door beside the stage, and down a short hallway into a cozy little room containing a table, two folding chairs, and a rack of costumes. The table also holds a little tray with a teapot and several empty cups.

Jun sprawls into a chair with careless grace, pours himself a cup of tea, and blows on it. Steam begins to rise gently from its surface.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Beila tilts her head.

"Neat trick. I could freeze it, but not heat it up."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"It's a lot harder than it looks," he says. "Freezing is one of the first things you learn with waterbending, but I couldn't warm a cup of tea until I'd been studying for ten years."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"What're the subcomponents?"
fiery_delights: (⑪ i've been ready)
Author: fiery_delights
"Subcomponents, meaning...?"
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Are there subskills? Separate things, all of which you have to know to learn to do that? Or does it just require a refinement of control you didn't have for the first decade or something?"
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
"A little of one, a little of the other," he says. "It helps if you know how to breathe fire first, and breathing fire itself takes some pretty refined control, and then you have to figure out how to put out a tiny, tiny fraction of that kind of heat and aim it precisely enough that it warms your tea instead of your fingers."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Where'd you start?"
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Believe it or not," he says, "almost ten years of pure classical combat firebending. Which I think is a pretty good foundation no matter what you plan to do afterward, but I don't think everybody needs a decade of it."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Good, that is way more of my life than I wish to turn over to classical combat firebending."
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He laughs.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Why did Shifu Riko pick you out, did she tell you?"
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
"Because I'm pretty," he says innocently.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
Jun laughs.

"All right, all right. She just thought you'd be bored with the usual fare, and I am anything but usual."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"I don't know about bored, but I've wandered through one or two firebending dojos and they seem to set straw dummies on fire more than they do anything else. I'm not, like, allergic to straw."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Right," he says. "Whereas with me, well, I understand that firebending is so much more than that. And now so do you."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Shifu Riko's smart."
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
"I can tell."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Where would you start me?" inquires Beila lightly.
fiery_delights: (⑥ i've been waiting so long)
Author: fiery_delights
"Classical combat firebending until you've picked up the theory," he says. "Then, who knows. Depends what you want to learn."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Before Shifu Riko brought me here I was leaning towards trying an industrial school, actually. Industry does productive things with the fire."
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
"I know industrial," he shrugs. "But if you ever want to do anything but industrial, I wouldn't start you there."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Well, yeah, now I want to do arty stuff."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"I can teach you arty stuff," he says. "All the arty stuff your heart desires."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Excellent."
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He grins. "It's a deal. When do you want to start?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Does tomorrow sound good? It sounds like Shifu Riko's done with me, at least unless I come up with some kind of specific question for her."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Tomorrow sounds fine," he says. "If you come by sometime in the afternoon, I'll show you my practice room."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"It's by the stage?"
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"Under it, actually," he laughs. "In the basement."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Cool. I'll be here after lunch, then."
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
"I'll see you then."
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila wafts to her feet again, waves, and sees herself out.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao is waiting for her.

"So how'd it go?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Well, I'm going to start with classical combat firebending, but after that I can learn arty stuff."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Hooray for arty stuff!" he says.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Yep!" Kiss.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Kiss.



"...So uh," he says, "also, I think I kind of have a crush on him."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"On Jun? He has to be at least twenty years older than us."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"So?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
She laughs. "Okay then. For somebody pushing forty I guess he's crushable. You just telling me for my information?"
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, I mean, I'm not planning to dash backstage and ask if he wants to make out with me," he laughs.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Yes, that would be very weird."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Whiiiiich isn't to say I haven't thought about it."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"You may think about anything you like. As always."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He giggles.

"Then I am going to think about making out with Jun," he says.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"You have fun," laughs Beila, and she whistles for her bird.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I will."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
She drops Dao off at home; she flies Liqing home.

The next day, after she lunches, she flies Liqing back to the venue and goes looking for Jun. Shifu Jun, she supposes.
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
He's waiting for her just inside.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Hello, Shifu Jun," says Beila.
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He laughs.

"Hello to you too. This way."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
She follows where he leads.
fiery_delights: (⑧ lock me up)
Author: fiery_delights
His practice room in the basement is very spacious, with concrete walls and a high, sloped ceiling. There are scorch marks here and there on the walls, but the ceiling seems to have escaped such treatment. In one corner, close by the door, there's a short counter with a sink at one end and a couple of stools at the other. The stools, and the exercise mats covering the concrete floor, are the only flammable items in the room.

"It's not the comfiest," he says, "but it does the job. Have a seat."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Down she sits on one of the stools, hands folded on her knees.
fiery_delights: (⑪ i've been ready)
Author: fiery_delights
With a shrug, Jun takes the other one.

"Something tells me," he says, "that you're the type who'd rather know the point of something before you do it. Am I right?"
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Yes. Not that I was, say, annoyed with Shifu Riko for taking me to your show as a 'celebration' without explaining the ulterior motive, but if it's going to be something I spend lots of effort on, absolutely."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"I figured," he says. "So I'll explain. Have you ever thought about why the four kinds of bending developed the way they did? Why there are such specific styles of movement associated with the original combat disciplines, and why they all stayed more or less constant for thousands of years?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"I think it must have something to do with how the elements themselves move. If I want to bend sand, I can use a lot of loosely adapted waterbending forms -" She uncaps her sand bottle, pulls out half the sand and conducts it in a loop around herself and back into the bottle. "Even though that's earthbending, and a waterbender besides me couldn't do it. And metalbending's different still, although it's not so much like anything else I'm familiar with."
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
He nods.

"As far as I can tell, and obviously I can't speak directly for the other elements, that's just it. The classical forms are the easiest, most efficient, most effective interface to their elements, because they each use the kind of movement that their associated element understands the best. I didn't know that about sandbending, actually, but it fits my theory pretty well. Which brings me to why you're going to learn classical combat firebending. What I want to teach you with it is the kind of deep understanding of the element that lets me play pretty tricks with it all night long. But you're not going to get that any other way than with practice, and the best way to practice firebending is with the classical style, because it's the most direct contact with the element you're going to get short of setting yourself on fire." He flashes a smile. "Which I don't recommend."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"I noticed you have a sink down here. I hope it won't come in handy, but." She shrugs.
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He laughs.

"Well, if you want to set yourself on fire, I'm not stopping you. I just don't think it'll help."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"How many firebending students never do it even once?"
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
"Depends what you mean by 'set yourself on fire'," he says. "A blister or two is pretty much unavoidable, and I've seen some accidents with loose clothing, but I don't remember seeing anyone's actual body parts going up in actual flames. At least not that they did to themselves. Sparring accidents are another matter."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
Beila peers down at her bog-standard airbending outfit.

"So... I should get some other clothes?"
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
"It'd be a good idea," he agrees. "Something that flaps around less. At least you don't have long flappy sleeves, though, those are the worst. Long flappy pants are almost as bad, but they're not as common."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Okay, I'll go on a shopping trip tonight then."
fiery_delights: (⑥ i've been waiting so long)
Author: fiery_delights
"But you can probably survive one lesson without lighting up your shirt," he says. "Might want to ditch the cape just to be safe."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, sure." Beila shucks the top layer.
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Much better," he says, and gets up and heads for the middle of the room, beckoning her along. "C'mere and let's get started on the basics."

The basics, it turns out, don't involve anyone producing any fire. First, he teaches her the movements themselves, at half speed so there is no danger of accidental flames. When he's satisfied that she has those down, he steps back and shows her the simple punch they have been working on at full speed, sending a narrow bolt of flame all the way across the room to just barely touch the opposite wall.

"Your turn," he says. "Don't expect that kind of distance on your first try, but try for it anyway."
roc_on: (bù hǎo)
Author: roc_on
Beila uncaps her water bottle and sets it aside, so she can get at its contents if she needs them, and she focuses, and she throws the punch.

She gets fire, all right, and it starts out just like he showed her - and then it arcs backward, flickering, and touches her sleeve, and she's glad she had that water ready because she needs to pull it out and douse the flame with hasty motions. "Eep!"
fiery_delights: (⑪ i've been ready)
Author: fiery_delights




"Were you just airbending?" he asks incredulously.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"I'm - always airbending," says Beila. "I can barely walk without airbending. As in I go two steps and then I fall over."
fiery_delights: (⑬ right off of the floor)
Author: fiery_delights
Jun takes a deep breath, holds it for a second, and lets it out.

"Okay," he says. "Clearly, I'm gonna have to change my curriculum. Fire and air interact, as I'm sure you just noticed. Which means that if you need to airbend in order to move, you'll have to make them work together."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, guess so. It never came up with water or earth - they're heavier, I guess, not so easily perturbed by a little wind to stabilize me."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"Yeah. But fire, well - fire moves. So," he says, "try that again - you can step back a little closer to the sink first if you want, I won't laugh - and this time, pay attention to both elements, and try not to let them conspire against your shirt. It's a perfectly nice shirt and doesn't deserve to catch fire."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Beila steps closer to the sink, refills her bottle, throws the punch a few times at full speed without fire to get a closer look at what she's doing with the air, and then - tries again. A modest little tongue of flame, which does not deviate from its path, is produced.
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
Jun applauds.

"There we go," he says. "Do it again, but put more force into it. Try to really feel the fire."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I was keeping it underpowered in case I was wrong about how the air interacted," says Beila. And she does it again. With more force.
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Good idea," he says, "bad habit. There, that's much better."

He corrects her form a tiny bit, then has her repeat the move.

"Are you getting a sense of the element yet?"
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"In the sense that I know the difference between how I punch fire and how I punch air, now. But that's not much. Why is it a bad habit?"
fiery_delights: (⑫ sweating in the lights)
Author: fiery_delights
"Underpowering your strikes to get less fire seems logical, and it works just fine as a beginner, but if you rely on it now it'll come back to bite you later when you're learning control. Watch."

He does the same punch three times. One releases the same narrow bolt from earlier, and this time it splashes against the far wall, leaving behind a pretty star-shaped scorch mark; the next produces a teardrop-shaped plume of flame that reaches six feet in length before finally dissipating; and the last barely coughs out a candle's worth. The motion of his body is almost exactly identical all three times, crisp and forceful in the classical firebender style.

"You'll learn how to do that eventually," he says. "And before you do, if you have to control it another way so you don't light yourself on fire, that's fine. But keep in mind that it's a bad shortcut, and don't do it any more than you have to."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Okay. Maybe I should just do this wading in the ocean or something when I'm practicing on my own."
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He laughs. "That's one option."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Man, if I had started anywhere in the Cycle that had me doing fire before water, I would be so scared to work with this," laughs Beila, shaking her head. "Without a healer on hand, anyway."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Good thing you didn't, then, isn't it?"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Yes. Especially since I need air to do anything else." She tries the punch again, full power, carefully confining her helpful winds as close to her arm as can be so they don't disturb the flame.
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"Very nice," Jun approves. "That was almost three feet. Try it again."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Again, and again.
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
"You're spreading out," he observes. "See how the flame gets much wider by the end? Try to narrow it down."
roc_on: (huǒ)
Author: roc_on
Beila bites her lip, and nods, and stares at the point she wants to aim her flame at, and allocates some of her brainpower to the control of her half-conscious air -

Punch.
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
If the flame is any narrower this time, it's not noticeably so.

"Try again," says Jun, undeterred.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Beila tries three times in quick succession.
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
By the third, the flame is starting to narrow a little.

"Good!" says Jun.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Well, I am supposed to be a prodigy," laughs Beila, and she does it again, and again, switching hands each time.
fiery_delights: (⑧ lock me up)
Author: fiery_delights
"Considering that you've been working with an extra element this whole time, I am very impressed," he says. "Pay attention, now. Can you feel the difference between a strike that goes narrow and one that goes wide?"
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Something I'm doing with my arm or something I'm doing with my brain?"
fiery_delights: (⑪ i've been ready)
Author: fiery_delights
"More your brain than your arm, but more the element than either," he says. "It'll be something you're doing with your brain when you learn how to control it. Right now it's doing its own thing, and your job is to figure out what that is."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"...Rephrase that?"
fiery_delights: (⑩ coming here to dream)
Author: fiery_delights
"You're producing fire, and right now, the behaviour of that fire is not completely up to you," he says. "There's some chance involved. But you should be able to feel the difference, even though it's not strictly speaking something that you're doing - it's something the fire is doing, and you're influencing it. That's a pretty important difference, and it's one a lot of firebenders miss. But once you understand it well enough, you should be able to control it much better than you are now. Does that make more sense?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"I think so. Is this like how Shifu Riko always talked about listening to the earth, or more like being generally aware of air pressure and movement before I do significant airbending... or is that question useless because I'm the only one who does more than one thing on this list?"
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
He laughs.

"It's pretty useless to ask me. Might not be completely useless to ask yourself. If comparisons to other bending practices help you get a handle on this one, then you go right ahead and compare."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"All right..." She repeats the punch a few times, then adjust stance, punches some air, pulls a little sand from her sandbottle and moves it around and puts it back - "Not like either thing, anyway, it's its own thing."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"Fire usually is."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, like - in both the case of air and the case of earth, if I don't do anything to them, they continue existing - the fire is taking advantage of existing but if it has nothing to catch on it will just dissipate -" She fire-punches again, paying close attention to that dissipation-tendency.
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
"Yeah," nods Jun. "And you don't create air or earth. Or water. You're just moving around what's already there. If you consider firebending just in terms of the obvious, visible flame, it's very different from any of the other three that way."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, they all have their unique properties -" She tries again. "Although all the master practitioners argue for theirs having the most or the most important unique properties."
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
"And I am no exception," Jun says cheerfully. "Are you feeling the fire yet?"
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah. I can tell when it's peaked and starting to fall apart."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"That's a good start," he says. "Keep going."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Punch punch punch - "What else am I supposed to be picking up on?"
fiery_delights: (⑧ lock me up)
Author: fiery_delights
"I usually leave this one until later," he says, "because it's the point at which my students tend to call me a crackpot and run away, but I think you can handle it. See if you can tell how the fire is going to spread before it leaves your body."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Beila frowns, muses, sets up a punch, controls her winds - throws the punch, forms a prediction the instant before the fire goes at near-random -
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
It turns out to be wrong.

"There is a way to tell," he says. "I do it every time I bend. You just have to pay attention. But it's hard to pick up at first, because the flow of energy is so much subtler beforehand."
roc_on: (huǒ)
Author: roc_on
Beila repeats herself, noting successes and failures and partial cases of each, and what she predicated each guess on, trying both arms.
fiery_delights: (⑩ coming here to dream)
Author: fiery_delights
It gradually becomes apparent that Jun is right - there is an extremely subtle sensation of energy in motion before the flame itself appears, and the character of that original flow predicts the character of the result. But just knowing it's there doesn't make it easy to read, or even easy to pick up on in the first place.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"I can tell it's there," agrees Beila. "It's incredibly faint, though."
fiery_delights: (③ i want it to roar)
Author: fiery_delights
"Yeah. Well, now you know. And you're going to have to get comfy with it if you want to learn how to bend lightning, at least from me. But you don't need to be reading it perfectly anytime soon."
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"I'd like to learn lightning, yeah. All the niche stuff - Shifu Riko couldn't teach me much about metal but my dad says when I've learned fire he'll put me in a police course on it."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"In my utterly non-humble opinion, the industrials are way too casual about lightning," says Jun. "If I teach it to you, I'm going to do it properly."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Properly meaning?"
fiery_delights: (⑦ whip's gonna crack)
Author: fiery_delights
"Meaning, you don't throw lightning around until you understand how it works."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Do I get meteorology textbooks or do you mean something else?"
fiery_delights: (① it's gonna be loud)
Author: fiery_delights
"Something else," he laughs. "I mean understand it the way I do, the way a firebender does - from the inside. Ideally, I don't even teach you how to throw your first bolt. I explain how it works, when you're at the point where you'd understand the explanation, and then you figure out how to adapt what you already know to create lightning instead of fire. It's much, much safer that way, because you're controlling it from the beginning, with full knowledge of what you're doing."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Interesting," says Beila. "You realize in my case there's some risk I will be remembering things - I have to learn most stuff from scratch, but there is a very real sense in which I've learned to toss lightning a few dozen times before, and I've made leaps that surprised past teachers a couple times. I'm not sure you can count on that setup to render me able to do it only when I have all the preliminaries - I don't plan to be irresponsible, but there's not as much built-in constraint on the order in which I learn things as there is with plain firebenders."
fiery_delights: (⑪ i've been ready)
Author: fiery_delights
He shrugs.

"And if you remember how to toss lightning before I'm ready to teach it to you, then it's up to you whether or not to try it early. But my advice is don't."
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
"I just mean that I can't be like, 'Oh, I could do it now, therefore I must know what I'm doing with it', I'll have to actually talk it over with you first."
fiery_delights: (⑩ coming here to dream)
Author: fiery_delights
"Yes," he says dryly. "That would be the plan. I don't want to teach you lightning until I'm sure you understand the element well enough to come up with it by yourself and I'm sure your control is good enough to handle it well from the start. That applies regardless of whether or not you come up with the technique independently while we're working on the foundations."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Okay, then we're on the same page there."
fiery_delights: (② never know what hit you)
Author: fiery_delights
"Good!"
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Beila throws another punch, watching for the discreet twist of energy down her arm.
fiery_delights: (⑤ let the show begin)
Author: fiery_delights
Jun nods approvingly.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Eventually, Jun has to prepare for his show, and Beila goes home to change into a non-scorched shirt, then calls Dao to ask if he has any opinions on clothes at all because she needs to get some snugger-fitting ones for firebending.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"...I am probably not the person to ask," he says. "But I could try! I guess! Why don't you ask Jun? He makes all his own costumes, did you know that?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"I didn't know that. Anyway, I want to have at least one suitable outfit when I go in tomorrow, and he ended the lesson because he had to get ready for his show. I don't necessarily need help, just, my opinions on clothes are pretty negligible, so if you had any I could just use yours. I can also just use a shopkeeper's."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Probably more convenient to use the shopkeeper's," says Dao. "Unless you want your firebending practice clothes to be stuff I think you look hot in. Which, I don't know, maybe you do."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"It wouldn't hurt. It's not like the new clothes will be inappropriate for applications that aren't firebending, so I'll probably wind up wearing them a lot once I have them."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Then I will totally go clothes shopping with you," he says magnanimously.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Awesome. I can come pick you up, we can grab dinner, we can look for something suitably practical, maybe I can wear colors other than red and yellow and orange for a while."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sounds like a plan!"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Off Beila goes. She's at his apartment a few minutes later.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
He greets her with a hug and a kiss.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
That is the correct way for him to greet her!

Dinner is tasty yet nondescript, and then there is a mall with clothes shops in it.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Clothes shops! They sell clothes. Of this he is aware.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Beila enlists a salesperson, who steers her to a section, and she picks out some okay things and tries them on for Dao's inspection.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao has opinions! He shares these opinions with her.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
She narrows down the selection based on fit and Dao's opinion, and walks out of the store with two new outfits in a bag. "Maybe I'll even get recognized less for a while," she says optimistically. "I don't mind it all the time, but just going about my business it can get weird."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah, maybe," says Dao. He squeezes her hand.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Squeeze! "So apparently the fact that I'm sort of perpetually airbending interacts kinda badly with fire in a way it didn't with water or earth."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Wow," he says, "yeah, I can imagine. Are you okay? You didn't—?" He checks visible areas for damage.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I'm fine," she says, pecking his temple, because it's sweet that he's worried even though they've just been through an entire shopping trip and this is the first she's mentioned it. "Scorched my sleeve, put it out right away, didn't even need to heal myself. I have to split my attention not to get the wind near the fire, but I can do it and there were no further accidents."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Oh good."

Hug!
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"And it'll be a while before I have enough comfort with it to play with that sort of thing on purpose," she murmurs.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
...Dao grins.

And then he kisses her.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
Mmm kisses. They should get all the way to somebody's house before there are too many more of those, probably.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Yes. Probably.

Beila might have to be the one to suggest it.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"Let's go back to mine?" she murmurs.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yes. Great idea," says Dao.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Liqing is summoned, ridden, treated, and sent off to do inscrutable birdy things.

Dao is invited into Beila's room, where she drops her shopping bags.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
And he kisses her again.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
Good. There should be kissing going on here and now.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
There really should.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Lots of it!
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Lots and lots and lots. And various related activities. Including, if Beila is so inclined, pulling her hair.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Yes. There should be hair-pulling. Also maybe biting.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Biting is also available!
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Good. He is her favorite.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
He aims to please!
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
He's very, very good at it.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Awesome. He is so pleased about that.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Good, 'cause she also aims to please.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
She is also pretty damn good at it!
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Excellent.

Kisses and bites and hairpulling and snuggles and possibly one or two slightly stray hands.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
Ooh, stray hands. Dao approves of those.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Good, 'cause if he didn't it would have to stop!
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
There will be no stopping on his account. At least not anytime soon.
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
Beila's mouth may be temporarily diverted from nibbling and kissing, especially if at least one of the stray hands is his, because mouths are also useful for making sounds. Appreciative soft breathy sounds.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Oh, sounds. He is so very, very fond of her sounds. He should let his hands stray more often if the result is going to involve sounds.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
She can produce more sounds! Lots more. She has not nearly exhausted her repertoire.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao is the most appreciative of audiences.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Whimper.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Whimpers are one of Dao's very favourite things.

He whimpers right back.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Whimpers and squirms and also whines, way in the back of her throat, that would probably embarrass her in any other state of mind.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
Well, now Dao is squirming too. Just a little.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
Just a little?
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
Maaaybe more than a little.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Nibble nibble whine.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Squirm squirm whimper squirm.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
The squirming affects the tension he's maintaining on her hair.

He gets a gasp. (An approving sort of gasp.)
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
Beila makes all the best sounds. That is just a fact.