roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
Airbenders are pretty thoroughly repopulated now, but they're still minorities anywhere but the handful of enclaves that have retaken the open temples or integrated into the populations that have woven into them. Beila doesn't live in one of those enclaves. She lives in Republic City. Benders are a minority, airbenders more so. She's the only one in her class. It could still be a coincidence that she's supposed to do her history project on Avatar Aang, her some-number-of-greats grandfather, and not casual stereotyping. Whatever. Her partner's not a bender at all unless he's very quiet about it, he's just a random cute boy who sits to her left. Dao, that's his name.

"Hey," she says. "When's good for you to meet up and work on this thing?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"I'm not sure," he says, smiling shyly. "Um, the weekend probably, unless you have - I don't know - plans?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Bending lessons are all on weekdays, everything else can move," Beila says, shaking her head. "Day after tomorrow, after lunch? My house or yours? Or I guess we could use the library."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Library!" he says. "Definitely the library. Unless there's some really good reason not to use it that I don't know about. Squirrelbats nesting in the walls?"
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Far as I know the library's uninfested. They're just strict about quiet and I'm not quite automatic enough with anything as complicated as soundbending to let us talk above a whisper anyway."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Oh," he says. "Yeah, there's that. I don't know, I don't think it'll be a big problem, do you?"
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Not if you don't mind whispering. But I think I actually have enough books to do the whole project at home. My mom teaches at an airbending dojo, we live about a block away from it, and they do history lessons there once a week, most particularly about Aang."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Oh!" says Dao. "Well, then I guess we can go to your place!"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Okay! It's not that near here, I usually fly - have you got a shuttle pass or do you want me to pick you up or do you really like walking or what?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I do have a shuttle pass," he says, "although if the other option is riding a roc I'm a little tempted to suddenly and mysteriously lose it."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
Beila snorts. "Goodness gracious, how could you be so careless. Where do I fetch you from?"
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles.

"Number 807 apartment four, Dragon Flats."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
Beila writes this down. "Can do. I'll see you then."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Then!" he says. "Yes. Then. After lunch. The day after tomorrow. At that time."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Beila giggles. He's cute. "Well, I'm off," she says, and she gets up with the gentle breeze that she always has accompanying her. She's tried to walk without doing any airbending at all and it doesn't go well.

Outside the school building, Liqing isn't there yet, so Beila emits a piercing whistle, and a minute later, there's her roc, landing on the courtyard and scaring the little kids. Silly kids don't even know that rocs eat fish. Beila mounts up and directs the bird home.

She's in Dragon Flats, scanning building numbers, at the appointed time. When she finds Dao's, she lands Liqing, then slides from her back and goes up to knock on the correct door.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
The correct door has Dao sitting outside of it.

He hops to his feet and waves.

"Hi!"
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Hi! All set?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yep!" he says.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"All right - now, getting on her's a little tricky without any airbending, will you freak out if I just waft you up?" Beila asks, demonstrating this wafting.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"I think I will probably survive wafting!" he says optimistically.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Waft!
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"I feel very wafted," he declares.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Good. All your waft-detection is working correctly. Hang on!"

She must mean to her, because there's not a whole lot else up here.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
He nevertheless feels compelled to ask: "Um... to what?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Just sorta hug me 'round the waist. You'd pull her feathers out if you held on to those. I'll steady us both as we go but it's good to have an extra layer of caution, you know?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay," he says dubiously, and he hugs her 'round the waist.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila whistles, Liqing takes off, and up they go!

It's not far, if you're a roc. They land on a roof, Beila wafts them off the bird, Liqing gets a treat and goes to do whatever rocs do when they aren't ferrying airbenders, and Beila leads Dao down a staircase into the house.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"That was awesome," says Dao.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Liqing's great! People keep asking me why I don't have a sky bison, like everybody has a sky bison, they have no idea how much those things eat, the ancient nomads could only keep them because they moved around all the time," says Beila. "Liqing, on the other hand, fishes for herself, and the bay fills itself up with fish neat as you please. So. Have you got any thoughts about our topic? 'Cause 'Avatar Aang' is a pretty broad subject."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, everybody knows about all the famous stuff he did after he got out of the iceberg," he says. "But I kind of wonder more what his life was like before that, you know? Do we know much about the time he spent with the original Air Nomads?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Not all that much. He wasn't much of a writer, himself, all the primary sources are people who knew him and most people who knew him then were dead by the time anyone knew he needed to be written about. Basically we know the general biographical details - which temple, what years - and some things about the people he visited while he was traveling. And what he taught his kids and the Air Acolytes about the culture. Much of which, mercifully, has been discarded since, I wouldn't really want to shave half my head. The tattoos would probably look cool, though," she adds thoughtfully.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Think that's enough to make a history project?"
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"It'll depend on how liberally we interpret the assignment, if we count Air Acolyte practices, but you know what, Aang totally founded the Acolytes, they count. And they were really good recordkeepers even if they've basically died out as a separate-from-airbenders thing." She heads for the bookshelf and starts scanning titles. "Good idea."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
"I had a good idea," he says, bouncing happily.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
She almost tells him he's cute out loud.

Instead she finds them books - she hands him one on Air Acolytes and she takes one that's a general Aang biography with a few chapters on his early life. "You got something to take notes with on you? I have some actual paper around, but we don't have a spare screen or anything."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah, I'm covered."

He did in fact bring a screen. It's not a very good screen, but it's a screen.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Beila fetches hers - she breezes it and catches it rather than getting up and crossing the room - and detaches the chordpress into her hand and starts typing up an outline as she scans the book in her other hand. "If you wanna divvy up the books differently, speak now," she adds.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nope, I'm good," he says. Typetypetype!
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Typetypetype indeed! She sets her book down briefly to turn on update protocols so his screen will have a remote copy of her work. "Need your screen number," she says, and she rattles off hers, although she has to consult the spot it's written in the corner.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Oh, uh..."

He comes up with a number.
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
She taps it in.

"Error," she says, "version model not compatible with your FireFerret system. Well, that's annoying, I don't think I even have a cable to do it hardware-style. I guess we can check each other's work the old fashioned way."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sorry," Dao says ruefully.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"No big deal." Typety-typety. "You want to go with the presentation or the essay? Essay's longer but some people don't like public speaking."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"I bet I can handle public speaking!"
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Cool. And the test of whether the teacher is elementalist or not will be whether he confesses that he was hoping I'd do a demo after we go up and we talk about slides."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Typety-typety. "Lemme know if I'm distracting you," she adds.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nope!"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"Awesome, I'm good enough at multitasking that I'd rather also chat intermittently while writing about how Aang always spoke fondly of airball and the thing he most regretted about having only one airbender kid was that he didn't have anybody to play with later in life."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
He giggles again.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"I don't think I've had a class with you before this year. What do you do with your time?" she asks idly, turning a page and adding a bullet point.
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"Um... not... much?" he says cautiously, like he expects this to be the wrong answer.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"No hobbies or electives or anything?"
thinklikethis: (⑭ these ain't my hands)
Author: thinklikethis
"I, um... woodcarving," he admits. "Woodcarving is a hobby."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Totally a hobby!" agrees Beila. "What kinda stuff do you make?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Stuff! Just... stuff. Little stuff. Turtleducks and squirrelbats and stuff."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"As opposed to table legs and wooden whistles," says Beila. "Neat."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I could make table legs, but I don't have a table to stick them to," he laughs.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"So they'd be quite useless," Beila says. "It is wise of you to skip it."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles some more.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"How d'you get into woodcarving? Doesn't seem like the sorta thing they put you in lessons for when you're three."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"...I dunno," he says, "I just kinda... did."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Had a knife and a random brick of wood and a squirrelbat happened?"
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, the first one probably wasn't a very good squirrelbat."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"I would hardly expect it to be, no."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"But I'm all right at it now."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Being good at stuff is more fun," asserts Beila.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"That's true," he says, "it is."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
They carry on pretty uneventfully with their project, occasionally swapping screens to read each other's notes, and knock out a reasonable presentation by dinnertime. Beila gives Dao a ride home, and they are scheduled to speak two days later when school reconvenes. This all goes without incident. The teacher does not confess to having hoped for an airbending demo. (Beila's a walking airbending demo anyway, if you know what to look for.)

Also, the teacher announces that tomorrow, the thirteenth of Breath, is Beila's birthday, which the teacher always does whenever someone is about to have a birthday, in case anyone wants to bake the birthday individual bean-filled pastries or something.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Happy not your birthday yet!" says Dao.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Thanks!" says Beila.

She doesn't mention the fact that she's a female airbender about to turn sixteen. There's not that many people answering to this description, but it's a couple dozen. She's not really expecting any special news.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
He smiles at her.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
She smiles back! He's cute. She should write about that, decide if anything needs doing. "You gonna bake me mooncakes?" she teases.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Man, you don't want any mooncake I'd bake," he laughs. "Maybe I'll carve you a present. A little tiny roc."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"Aww, that would be adorable," says Beila. "I would love a tiny little roc."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay! Then you will have a tiny little roc," says Dao.
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
She grins and waves at him.

Of course, the next day, her birthday turns out to be global news.

She is - mercifully - the first to know. The monks from the nearest temple show up at the crack of dawn on a sky bison and report to her in grave voices about a day she can't remember when she was a year old when she grabbed the right three toys out of a selection of hundreds.

Beila's not that surprised. She didn't expect this, but there wasn't such a huge candidate pool, really, she knows four other airbender girls close in age. She nods, and agrees to find herself a waterbending teacher immediately, and she's supposed to check in with a nun periodically and she carefully reserves judgment about whether that's going to happen.

Then they make the general announcement and the whole world knows.

She doesn't even ride Liqing to school, arriving there on her glider instead, because she fears the crowds will spook the birds.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
When she gets to class, there is a little tiny roc waiting for her on her desk.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Awww! She pockets it. Where's Dao?
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
Two seats away!
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Don't you usually sit here?" she asks him, pointing at the vacant chair right beside hers.
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"Uh - yeah," he says.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"It's not like I'm any more likely to start accidentally firebending than I was yesterday," she points out. "Thanks for the carving, by the way, it's really cute."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"It's. Um. ...You're welcome," he says, with a brief flash of a hunted-looking smile.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"You okay?" Beila asks.
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Y...es?"

No.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"No, seriously, did something happen, is something wrong, I totally have license to go around fixing wrong things now if something is wrong."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
He smiles weakly. "So I've heard."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, it's all over the news, I glidered in, Liqing would freak with all the reporters, I'm just glad they're keeping out of the school building proper," laughs Beila. "What's the matter?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"I guess I just don't think I'm friends-with-the-Avatar material," says Dao.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"I'm still the same person. I've been the Avatar since I was born," Beila says. "They just didn't tell me till this morning."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay," says Dao, "well, I guess I am not really handling it that well."
roc_on: (méiyǒu)
Author: roc_on
Beila sighs. "Well - well, why not?" she asks.
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"Because... of... stuff?" he tries.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao blushes.

"Sorry! Sorry. I'm just... Sorry."
roc_on: (méiyǒu)
Author: roc_on
"I'm not, like, overwhelmed with people who wanted to be my friend before knowing I was the Avatar," Beila points out. "I'm not saying I can never make new friends, but they'll be a little trickier to vet, you know?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"...yeah. I guess," he says.
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
"But okay," she sighs, "if you wanna sit over there, you wanna sit over there."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
He smiles tentatively.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"So is this a - a 'I am concerned in spite of your reassurance that you may unexpectedly firebend' or a 'I want some distance from your incipient fan club' or a 'get away from me, spirit-touched creature, I certainly do not want to go flying with you next weekend' or what?"
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Um... it's not really any of those," he says. "...Did you want me to go flying with you next weekend?"
roc_on: (méiyǒu)
Author: roc_on
"I had considered asking you," Beila says. "You seemed to have fun. It's better when it's not commuting."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Flying with you was... fun," Dao admits.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
Shyly, "Yeah."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"But now I'm the scary Avatar, woooooo?" She waggles her fingers. "I mean, if you don't want to sit next to me in class you probably don't want to sit behind me on a roc."
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"Maybe I just - need some time to get used to it," he says hopefully.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"I guess," sighs Beila, and then class is starting - they have literature first today.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao pays attention to class.
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
Beila does too. Especially to the significant looks the teacher keeps casting in her direction. That could get annoying before it gets useful.

After school, Beila hangs around talking briefly to a handful of reporters. She agrees to be interviewed on video in a couple of places at times in the future and makes generic statements about looking forward to serving the people of Dìqiú. She dismisses everyone politely after half an hour and takes to the air, where mercifully none of the reporters can follow her.

She glides for a long time, and doesn't go straight home, but eventually she gets there, and does her homework, and hugs her parents, and goes to bed, and in the morning she glides to school again. Liqing's going to feel so neglected.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao is sitting two seats away from her again.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
Of course he is. Fine.

School things school things school things, the schoolmaster wants her to give a little speech in front of the entire student body at lunch, she wishes he'd warned her so she could have written something, whatever.

"Hello, everyone!" Beila says to the entire student body at lunch. "I'm Beila Guxiao, and, turns out, I'm also the Avatar! I have my first waterbending lesson this afternoon, and I'm going to be working on developing my spiritual powers, too, so it shouldn't be long before I'm able to help with anything that needs doing in this city, or anywhere else in the world. I've been lucky enough to be born in a time of peace, so, like I told those reporters the other day, I'm on the lookout for other ways to help people than were available the last time an Air Avatar was called. If you have ideas, just put them into my public filebox - the nuns are going to set one of those up for me, the screen number will be advertised during my video interviews." Is that enough things to say? That should be enough things to say. "I look forward to serving you!" Korra's iconic line, one of the first things said by any Avatar to be recorded for posterity, reiterated by the intervening two and now Beila's picking it up again, may as well.

She wafts dramatically off the stage, buys her lunch - the cafeteria worker tries to give it to her for free; she declines - and sits at an empty table which is immediately mobbed.

Beila declines to talk with her mouth full.

She starts learning waterbending. The water moves for her, in case there was any doubt; she picks up the skill quickly, as if there was any doubt. She gives her interviews; they go well, if blandly, and she stirs the interviewer's ice around in his drink with a small smile.

She goes to school again. The nuns have been talking about pulling her out, which would be neat.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
Today, it seems he has gotten up the courage to sit next to her.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Hello again."
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"Hi."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Got used to the idea?" she asks mildly.
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Trying to, anyway."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Can I help?"
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"I'm... really not sure," he admits.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Okay, well, lemme know if I can."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Schoolthings occur. The area around the school is clear enough today that Beila whistles for Liqing and rides her home instead of glidering; the handful of photographers get a few nice shots.

She hasn't even done anything yet and she's already a world-famous celebrity. One of the interviewers wanted to know her favorite dessert. There's no sense in which that's relevant to anything Avatarish, but Beila supposes the title has been deprecated some with the advent of technology.

She'll be more comfortable with fame when it can be about something.

First, though: she's learning waterbending.

She goes through the basics as her teacher instructs, but she wants to be on the healing track, not the combat track - she can learn to combat-waterbend later, but her priority is healing powers, because those sound useful. Especially since she'll be learning firebending later and it will be easy to get hurt.

School again the next day! She gliders in since she has no way of assessing the reporter density in advance. She carries a little bottle of water with her to practice between teacher-rotations.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao sits next to her again. He seems more comfortable today.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
Beila smiles at him.

And flicks a droplet of water precisely onto his forehead. "Hi."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Pff, what was that for?" he says, giggling and rubbing at the droplet.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"'Cause I can!" she says. "Waterbending's fun. Shifu Hayaka says at the rate I'm learning I can get out of basic exercises and into healing inside a month." She caps her water bottle. "Which'll be potentially useful."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay, well, as long as you don't do the same thing when you get to earthbending," he says wryly. "Or fire. Please do not hit me in the face with fire because you can."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"I will not hit you in the face with rocks or fire just because I can," Beila promises, clasping her hands earnestly.

Then she blows a puff of air in his face.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao cracks up.

"You are mean!" he accuses, giggling. "You are a mean Avatar."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"Noooo," denies Beila. "I am a playful fun Avatar! I'm very nice."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay," says Dao. "You're a nice playful fun mean Avatar."
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"I'm not mean," laughs Beila.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Seriously, I'm gonna solve people's spirit problems and avert natural disasters and, I dunno, build a giant bridge across the ocean, and work with scientists to figure out what makes bending work. I'm gonna be awesome and everyone'll love me." She chews her lip. "I'm reasonably popular now, but it's for no reason, which kind of bothers me."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"That would bother me too!" says Dao. "It seems like it would be - really weird."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"It's like how there's still technically an Earth Monarchy," suggests Beila, shrugging. "Like, the politics of the entire world are all folded into the United Republic of Nations and the Earth Queen only ever does anything ceremonial anymore, but you can bet if she gets married it's on the news, if she gets pregnant it's on the news for weeks. Avatars regardless of what we do are a focus point for everyone's gossipy attention. I mean, I get it, it's just - I'm going to do awesome stuff, I feel like everyone could stand to wait a few more months till there's something to talk about besides what color I painted my bedroom and what my favorite subject in school is?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
He nods. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Well, I guess it also means that when you do start doing awesome stuff, you'll have plenty of attention already?" he offers.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, I suppose. On some level I'm concerned that the questions about where I get my hair cut and whether I'm showing too much favoritism to Republic City by not going to the North Pole for my waterbending training will ever be completely replaced with 'so how did you go about designing that awesome bridge, huh?'"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Bridge across the ocean," he muses. "How would you do it?"
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"Spirits, I don't know, that's an earthbending-slash-architectural question," laughs Beila. "I'd get help, that's how, I'd talk to some people who know bridges and by then I would know rocks and we would do bridge-rock-things to figure it out."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, you better make sure you know your stuff by the time you're getting interviewed on it," laughs Dao.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, no kidding, that would be embarrassing - 'So, Avatar Beila, how do you plan to build the proposed bridge?' 'With... rocks?'" she says.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Big rocks," Dao says solemnly.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Super big rocks, probably from the ocean floor," agrees Beila, nodding sagely.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sounds press-ready to me," he says, totally failing to keep a straight face.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Future Avatars -" Beila makes a slight face, that has only just occurred to her - "will say 'super big rocks' the way everyone since Korra announces that they look forward to serving you."
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Is there a problem with future Avatars?"
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"I have to die first," Beila points out. "Not looking forward to that."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, sure, but it happens to everybody," says Dao. "And then you get to, like, hang around in the spirit world and tell them how to handle their rocks, or something. Don't you?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, I do, but, like, then I miss everything except for a handful of special occasions once Random Water Tribe Boy is running the show. I suppose it's comforting that I will still exist, but I don't think the spirits of past Avatars are - fully conscious, or I'd expect them to have more effects on things. They can do some stuff, but, like, Avatar Meixing wrote a lot about the landscape of the spirit world and it didn't look like the previous incarnations were all hanging out someplace having fun. My impression is that they pretty much sleep and lend emergency power and advice and then sleep again. Maybe I'll ask them when I figure out how to talk to them."
thinklikethis: (⑬ what shall we use)
Author: thinklikethis
"Still a better deal than the rest of us," Dao points out.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"I suspect you'll get to persist in some sort of spirit form too, just not with a convenient line of succession so that people can talk to you. But I'll look into it," Beila says. "It sucks for anyone to have to die."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Wait, really? You'll look into how death works?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, and see about putting a stop to it. I'm supposed to be able to do spirity stuff, right, not just move elements around, maybe I can."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis

Dao looks... slightly stunned.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Come to think of it I don't know why it hasn't been tried before. Is it not obvious that dying is bad? Maybe previous Avatars have been more inclined to count reincarnating, but, come on, I'm nothing like any of the previous Avatars I know about, that's not hardly living on."
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Maybe somebody did try," he suggests, "and it didn't work, and now whenever a new Avatar tries it Avatar So-and-So shows up to tell them all about how death is inevitable, but nobody tells people because it sounds depressing and nobody else is thinking about it anyway?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Maybe. Guess I'll find out. I'm sure thinking about it, though."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well... good luck, anyway."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Thanks!"
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
He grins a little.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"So having worked up to sitting next to me in school do you think you'll be in a roc-sharing sort of mindset by the weekend?"
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"One way to find out!"
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"When shall I swing by to conduct the experiment?" snorts Beila.
thinklikethis: (Default)
Author: thinklikethis
"Uhhh, good question. I'm pretty much free all weekend," he says.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Same time as last week, then?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sure!"
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"I'll try not to schedule any interviews for then."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
He giggles.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporters spread. Beila refuses to schedule more than one interview per week, outright blacklists a news company whose photographer was found hiding in a tree outside her bedroom window, and has to get her metalbender-cop father to intimidate some people who are camped out on their street.

The morning before Dao is supposed to go flying with Beila, a reporter who has apparently been more creative about finding info on the Avatar than anyone else knocks sharply on his door.
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao opens the door, looking a little fluffy; he hasn't combed his hair yet, and it shows.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Hello, I'm with the Republic Newscorps! Are you Dao Jukai?" says the reporter. He's wearing one of those eyepieces that will relay what he's looking at and hearing to a computer somewhere on his person and record it.
thinklikethis: (⑭ these ain't my hands)
Author: thinklikethis
"What the hell?" says Dao.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Are you Dao Jukai?" repeats the reporter.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"No, me first," says Dao, "what the hell?"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I'm with the Republic Newscorps," repeats the reporter patiently, "and I'm looking for Dao Jukai."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Is there a reason you're looking for Dao Jukai or were you just really bored this morning?"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"According to some of the students at Northwest Secondary, he's dating the Avatar," explains the reporter. "Are you him?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Wow, you're good," says Dao, "you found out I was dating her before I did, that must be some kind of record."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter smiles winningly. "So tell me about Avatar Beila! What's she like on a personal level?" he says, apparently heedless of the actual content of Dao's statement.
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
"Go away," says Dao.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I won't take but a few minutes of your time," says the reporter.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"You've already taken more of my time than I want you to have," he says, and shuts the door.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter knocks again.
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao ignores him!
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter carries on badgerdoggedly knocking at irregular intervals.
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
The house has a back door.

He leaves through it.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter spots him coming around the corner of the row of houses. "Dao!" he calls, like Dao is his old friend who has inconveniently managed to miss this visit he would surely wish to receive. "Dao, just a few minutes, please." He jogs to catch up.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
He's carrying a smallish bag over one shoulder.

He ignores the reporter some more.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter follows him.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao finds a public park, and sits down on a bench, and gets a knife and a block of wood out of his bag, and starts carving.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter watches him do this for a while, then says, "I'd just like to talk to you for a few minutes about your relationship with the Avatar, Dao."
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
"Go away," says Dao.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Now, there's no need to be so unfriendly," coaxes the reporter.
thinklikethis: (⑬ what shall we use)
Author: thinklikethis
"You spent two hours knocking on my door after I closed it in your face, I think that's actually a really good reason to be unfriendly," Dao points out.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"You could've gotten rid of me in five minutes," the reporter says. "What're you hiding? Did Avatar Beila ask you to keep the relationship a secret? Is she ashamed of you?"
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis




Dao looks up from his carving.

"Okay!" he says. "I have a serious question for you! What is actually wrong with you as a person?"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Just doing my job, Dao," says the reporter. "How long have you known the Avatar? Were you and she together before she was named, or only since?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"I am just gonna stay here and carve this lizard crow," says Dao, returning his attention to his block of wood, "and if you want to stand there and ask me stupid questions while I do it, then I guess I can't stop you."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
The reporter stands there and asks him stupid questions while he does it.

"Why hasn't Avatar Beila mentioned you in any of her interviews?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
...He starts laughing.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Is something funny, Dao?"
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yes. You," he snorts. "You are what's funny."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I'm just an extension of the curiosity of Republic City," says the reporter. "Come on, talk to me, I'll get out of your hair."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nuh-uh," says Dao.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I can be patient. Sources say you gave her a birthday gift. When you picked it out, did you already suspect that she'd also be celebrating being named Avatar?"
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
"Did you know the otterpenguin can hold its breath for up to six hours?" says Dao, going back to his carving.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"...What does that have to do with anything?"
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao just smiles.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Do you feel that otterpenguins are in some way emblematic of your relationship with Beila?" attempts the reporter gamely.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"The panda carp almost died out four times in the last sixty years," he says conversationally, "but last year somebody managed to get a population established in the wild again for the first time since 495."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"..."

The reporter decides to give up. He turns around and walks out of the park.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao snickers to himself.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Beila shows up after lunch at his place on roc-back.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
He's sitting outside the door again, with his half-carved lizard crow.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Hi!" says Beila, wafting off Liqing with a gratuitous midair spin and making a three-point landing. "How're you?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Uh, a reporter showed up at ugly o'clock in the morning and followed me around asking intrusive questions because some people at school told him we're dating," he says. "But I started answering all his questions with totally unrelated trivia and he gave up."
roc_on: (méiyǒu)
Author: roc_on
"That's one way to deal with them. Spirits, I'm sorry, I have no idea who told him that," says Beila, shaking her head. "I haven't been bothered all that much at home but I think it's mostly because my dad is a cop."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah, that'd do it," snorts Dao.
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
"If it happens again tell me and I can ask Dad about getting, like, a patrol around this neighborhood to shoo them if they get annoying?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"I think I'm good for now," he says. "If the next guy doesn't run away when I start talking about panda carp, then your dad can help."
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
"Panda carp?" snorts Beila.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"They almost went extinct a bunch of times, but they're doing pretty good now!"
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"Hooray for panda carp!"
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Are you waft-ready over there or do you want to finish what you're working on?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nah," he says, stuffing the lizard crow and carving tools back into his bag. "I'm good."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
Beila breezes the both of them up onto Liqing at the same time. "Anywhere in particular you want to go or d'you just want a scenic tour of the greater Republic City area?"
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Scenic tour sounds awesome!"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Scenic tour it is!" She waits for the securing waist-hug, then whistles Liqing into a takeoff.

Liqing can fly fast when she clears the city skyline and can freely trade height and speed, but they're high enough in the air that the scenery still crawls by slowly enough to be admired. They soar over the beachtown suburbs, and swing around the bay, and the greenbelt separating the city from the next nearest towns.
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"This is... very scenic," says Dao.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"I know. You haven't seen the city till you've gotten a look at it from the sky."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"I am starting to see that!" he agrees.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Side effects include finding all other forms of transportation dreadfully dull, though."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I think I can live with that."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"I bet!" She grins. "How d'you feel about fancy flying?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Kind of scared I'll fall off!" he admits. "You won't let me fall off, right?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Well, you should hold on, and I'll steady us, and I'd have plenty of opportunity to catch you if you did fall," Beila says.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay," he says. "Then sure."
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila leans a bit forward over Liqing's neck.

She whistles.

Liqing dives. Fast.
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
...Dao maybe squeaks.

Also he hangs on tight.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
Liqing pulls up still well above the ground and they're both pressed into her feathers as she heads steeply upward. Beila's got both hands firmly on the strap around the bird's neck, holding on, and she whistles again, and Liqing banks, ascending in a broad spiral.
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," giggles Dao.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Liqing doesn't actually know that many tricks, but she repeats the ones she has.

"I can do fancier stuff on my glider, just not with as much raw speed," Beila comments. "And I can't take a passenger on the glider. Although supposedly I'll be able to put way more power behind my bending than a regular person, so I should be able to learn to move stuff around any which way I want, glider or no glider."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"I think this is exciting enough for me," he laughs.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
Beila grins and pets her roc. "I love my Liqing," she says happily.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I think I love your Liqing too!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Liqing trills.

"Ooh, that's a hungry noise. Better land her and let her go fishing," laughs Beila. "I can drop you off at your house unless there's someplace else you'd rather be?" She steers the bird towards the city.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nah, my house is fine," he says.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Flying flying flying! House. Beila lands them and detaches her glider from the strap around Liqing's neck and sends the roc off on her fishing expedition.

"Sorry again about the reporter," says Beila.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao shrugs.

And... maybe also blushes.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
Blushing harder: "What?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"You're blushing," Beila says.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"I hadn't noticed," he lies transparently, scrubbing at his cheek with the corresponding wrist. It does nothing to erase the blush.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
"I'm so glad I could enlighten you," giggles Beila.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
He splutters a little.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Why're you blushing?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"No good reason," he groans.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Do you just have no idea?"
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yes. That. Yes."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
Beila's not fully convinced.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"...I could probably figure it out if I put my mind to it but I really don't want to because you're standing right there paying attention to me and my blushing," he mutters.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
"Would it help if I turned around?"
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Not really!"
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"I guess I could just leave and suffer through an itchy mystery till I see you at school again."
thinklikethis: (⑭ these ain't my hands)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao buries his face in his hands and says, "Aaaargh."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Sorry, I'm being pushy," laughs Beila. "I'm a pushy Avatar. I'll leave you be." She flicks her glider open.
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
"Thanks," says Dao, somewhat muffled on account of the hands.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"No problem." She takes a running start, bends wind under the glider wings, and flies away.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
And Dao goes back inside to do his blushing in peace and quiet with no one bothering him.
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
Beila attends school at the start of the next school week. She is practicing maintaining ice; she has a bit of it in her water bottle and she's refreezing it whenever it tries to melt.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao sits beside her again, but eyes her nervously when she shows up.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Hi."
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Hi."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
She feels bad about being pushy, so today she's not even going to start.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
After a few seconds, he smiles tentatively.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Have a good weekend?"
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah. You?"
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Pretty good. Played with ice. Talked to the nun who's supervising me about spirit stuff. She taught Avatar Meixing airbending."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Oh, wow," he says. "Cool."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"It's all right, but she wants me to spend a lot of time meditating, like, a lot, like I'd have to drop out of school, which maybe I should do anyway."
thinklikethis: (⑬ what shall we use)
Author: thinklikethis
"...oh," says Dao.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Hmm?"
thinklikethis: (⑫ you make me nervous)
Author: thinklikethis
"I think I would probably miss you," he says. "If you dropped out of school."

He seems to have some difficulty admitting this.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"...well, if you wanted, we could still hang out sometimes. I'd have some free time, just not enough to do school."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"I'd want!"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"I thought I might've overdone it the other day," she admits.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Um... it was kind of uncomfortable," he says. "But, you know. You stopped."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"I do try to be nice. I'm not perfect. I'm only human. That and an ancient reincarnated spirit-person."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He giggles softly.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
Beila smiles at him, and refreezes her ice.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Are they cool?

They're cool.

So to speak.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
They are.

Beila pays fairly minimal attention in class; she's about half checked out already.
thinklikethis: (Default)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao pays lots of attention.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
And school ends, and Beila's idly reshaping her ice in its bottle: now it's a cube, now it's a sphere, now it's a triangle, now it's a lopsided star. "I think I'll stick out the term," she yawns. "It's only a few more weeks, and that'll put me at a better stopping place."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay," says Dao.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"I feel like going and buying some juice and seeing if I can turn it into a tasty slush," she says, "want to come?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sure!"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"Cool."

They walk; Beila's clothes (she does wear a traditional airbender outfit, if only because otherwise she'd have to pick something) ripple with the occasional steadying breeze. She gets herself some apple juice and concentrates on it, moving her free hand in a wavy waterbender form. She freezes about half of it solid and leaves the rest liquid. "Well, that didn't work," she remarks.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles.

"Well, can you melt it and try again?"
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah." She releases the ice from its crystal structure and it reintegrates with the rest, and retries. This time she manages to form some bits of apple ice spread out a bit more evenly through the juice, but not to the point where it could qualify as a slush. She frowns at it and tries again and gets the texture she had in mind. "Awesome. You want it?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Sure!"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
She hands over the apple slush and buys a lemon juice to repeat the trick with. This one she slushes on the first try and drinks herself, grinning.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Slurrrrrrp.

"Mm, slushy," he says. "Good job."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Slurp. "Thanks!"

Then the person selling the juice recognizes her and wants her autograph, and she sighs and blocks out four characters for him on the napkin he offers and starts down the street.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao follows, enjoying his apple slush.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"I want," Beila says, "to talk about something besides Avatarhood, and bending, and the media, for once this week. I dunno what. Read any good books lately?"
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nope. I did finish that lizard crow, though!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, how'd it turn out?"
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"One wing is kind of obviously bigger than the other," he admits. "I'll try again."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"You can't just - carve down the bigger wing? I don't know how this works."
thinklikethis: (Default)
Author: thinklikethis
He shakes his head. "I could've if I'd caught it earlier, but now that it's finished, no. Because, like... the wood that's where the too-big wing is isn't in the right place, physically, to be part of a wing that's small enough."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Huh. I wouldn't have guessed that. Supposedly waterbending can move plants but I think that's only live plants so I don't think I can fix it for you."

Bending live animals has of course been illegal for more than four centuries.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Most people don't! But think about it," he says, holding out his arm with the elbow bent. "Imagine if I was a statue, and my arm was too big so you had to carve it down." He hunches the arm in a little closer. "See how everything moves? It's even worse with wings because they have all those feathers."
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
Beila peers at his arm. "Yeah," she concludes, "that makes sense. That's a pity. But you can always try again. The roc is perfect - I've been thinking about trying to string it onto a necklace or something but there's no natural place to put the string and it'd be kind of horrible to have it drilled."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Aww," he laughs. "I can try making you another one that fits on a necklace!"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"But it's not going to be my birthday again anytime soon," she replies. "Speaking of which, when's yours?"
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Fourth of Spark! What, I can't make you stuff because I feel like it? I make stuff because I feel like it all the time."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"I guess you can make me stuff because you feel like it if you feel like it," giggles Beila.
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He cracks up.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"And I made you an apple slush," she realizes, nodding, "so there we go."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"You did! And I appreciate that! Because this is one tasty slush!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Beila slurps her lemon one. "Well, I can't take credit for the flavor," she laughs.
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
He shrugs. "You gave it to me, I think you can take credit for all of it."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"All right. I totally invented apples," says Beila, nodding importantly. "Also, I domesticated them, picked the specific specimens involved in that juice, juiced them, invented cups, made that one by hand, and then slushed you a slush."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"You sure are accomplished!"
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"So accomplished! My interviews should all be about apples and plastic from now on."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao laughs.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"But augh, I didn't want to talk about the media. Bleah. Okay, what else do you do besides carving and school? What do you like, in school?"
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"...I want to be a structural engineer when I grow up," he confesses.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Ooh, you can help me with my bridge across the ocean," Beila says, grinning.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I was thinking that, yeah!"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila grins. "Cool. You need tertiary school for that, right?"
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yep. So I'm not gonna join you in dropping out," he laughs.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"I'm a little concerned people are going to think that, like, being Avatar's an excuse to neglect my education, but it's really just going to be concentrating on - and there I go with forbidden topics again, wow, I'm going to turn into a boring one-note conversationalist if I do not curb this habit immediately, let's, I don't know, let's go see a movie and then we can talk about the movie?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
...Dao blushes!
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
Beila sighs. "You're doing it again," she says.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Stop that," he says, attempting not very successfully to address his own face.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Are you telling your face not to blush?"
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
"Y...es..." he admits, and then he starts laughing.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"Why would you do that? It's cute," laughs Beila. "Even if I don't know why it's happening."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Maybeit'sbecauseIwannadateyou," he mutters.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Say again?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
He covers his face with both hands and repeats, "Maybe it's because I wanna date you!"
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"Is why you're blushing?"

Beila takes a moment to process this. She sips her lemon slush.

"Okay, it's a date," she says. "Movie and talking-about-movie."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao blinks.

"...What, really?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah? Why not?"
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"I just - I'm surprised! That is a good surprise," he says. "That is the best surprise. Let's go see a movie!"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
"Sure! I have - absolutely no idea what's playing! We will find out," she says, nodding. Also, she transfers her slush to the hand that is farther away from him so that the nearer hand will be available for holding, if he opts to take a hint.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao - doesn't seem to take the hint.

He does glance at her hand. Several times.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He blushes.

He does not tell his face to stop that.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila decides about halfway to the nearest theater to just hold his hand herself.
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
His blush intensifies, but he doesn't pull away.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"You're adorable, d'you know that?"
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"No," he says, blushing some more. "I had no idea."
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"Well, now you do," Beila says.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"You are pretty cute yourself," he dares to mention.
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"Thanks!"
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao beams.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Here is the movie theater! "What's your genre?" Beila asks. "I'll watch most anything as long as it's decently written and doesn't have Neko Li in it." She scans the listings on the wall critically.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"What's wrong with Neko Li?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"He gets typecast and I hate the type. Strong stupid hero accomplishes victories against villains who are much smarter than him by hitting them with sticks. I want my good guys to win for good reasons."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao laughs. "Okay, no Neko Li. Uh, I dunno, I guess horror's my favourite but - whatever, I'll watch pretty much anything too."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Horror, horror... you wanna watch Return of the Bloodbender? I haven't seen the original but it never matters with this kinda movie."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sure!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Beila buys the tickets (she has seen the neighborhood where he lives, and besides, if she ever wants money now all she has to do is write to some company that makes some thing she likes and tell them they can say she likes it) and in they go to see the next showing of Return of the Bloodbender.

It's quite horrifying. Everyone who gets bloodbent spends the entire process looking like they're in quite a lot of pain and twisting in bizarre puppety ways as they do the bender's bidding. Beila jumps in her seat when startling things happen, but doesn't seem too fazed by anything else.
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao does not jump quite as much.

He fidgets, though, shifting in his seat when gruesome things are happening.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"You itchy or something? Mosquitoticks been at you?" Beila asks when the movie ends and the lights come up.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
He is blushing, is what he is!
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"You're blushing again," Beila says.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Stop that, face."
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
"I don't think it's listening. The part of your face that can hear is not the part that is blushing."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He giggles.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Do I need to just try to stop ever wondering why you blush when you do?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Um... well I don't always know," he says.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"That must be weird," comments Beila.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Do you always know why your face is doing things?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"I would if I got a picture of my face at the time and took a minute to think about it," Beila asserts. "Writing it down helps; thoughts are slippery little snakenewts sometimes."
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Weird," says Dao.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Thoughts being slippery little snakenewts is weird, or me being able to catch 'em is weird?"
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"That mental image is pretty weird!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
Beila snickers. "Well, what can I say, I have a lot of snakenewt-trapping practice. But anyway, that was a decent movie as mediocre horror goes, nicely acted, everybody looked convincingly like they were living through nightmares, well done Extra Number Twelve."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah!" he agrees.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"Of course, the bloodbender's only motive seemed to be that she was, you know, a villain, she didn't seem to have any goals, but that's par for the course," shrugs Beila. "You know there's some suggestion in some histories that Katara of the South dabbled in bloodbending? But no one talks about it because it's Just So Evil and Katara was Good And Virtuous."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"...I did... not know that," Dao admits. "But I mean. Bloodbending is pretty evil, isn't it?"
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Well, yeah, no kidding," says Beila. "I don't think I know how to hate somebody enough to want to bloodbend them. But if I were ever going to be tempted to, I'd have some end in mind, I wouldn't just want to send puppets lurching through a city in a vaguely cinematic fashion. Killing people is evil too and killers have motives."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, do we know why Katara supposedly did it?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"It's all very speculative, but they think she learned it in the Fire Nation around the same time a Water Tribe criminal who escaped prison was found capturing and storing people in a cave with the power. So possibly she bloodbent that lady, and possibly also the guy who killed her mom."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Well, if you're gonna bloodbend somebody, 'killed my mom' is a pretty good excuse."
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
"Mmm - no, I don't think so. It's higher on the list than 'someone with a video recorder was nearby and the lighting was right and the music cued me', but it's not like he was about to kill again, he was retired."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"...Yeah but like," Dao says, "people get mad about stuff."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Yes, but that's not a good reason to do things, it just makes you have to think harder to not do them. Bloodbending isn't time travel. It wasn't going to help her mom."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Okay," he says, "I don't exactly mean it's a good excuse, I just mean - I'd believe that somebody would do that."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Oh, sure. Realistic character motivation. Which," she adds with a gesture, "the movie villain lacked. Unless they set it up in the last installment that I didn't see? Did you catch it?"
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Nope, I didn't. Maybe she just liked watching 'em twitch," he snorts.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"They do twitch a lot, don't they. I wonder why," muses Beila. "For that matter I have no idea if it's accurate, it's not like they could do a lot of fact-finding, is it."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"Guess not," he laughs.
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
"I feel like people might get nervous if I started asking for books on the subject."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao giggles.

And... blushes.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"You're blushing again."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Stop that, face!"
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"You say that, but you won't tell me what's making you blush so I can help you avoid those situations or anything productive like that," observes Beila.
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"I tell my face to stop that when I'm thinking things I don't want anybody to know about," he explains, rubbing his face again. "Telling you what they are so you can avoid them isn't going to help."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"I don't suppose you could tell me what's prompting all these displeasing thoughts."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"It's not all the same things! I have a lot of displeasing thoughts," he says.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"That sounds difficult."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yep."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
She pats his shoulder. "Well, doesn't look like the situation is set up to let me help, so I will just be over here benefiting from how cute it is when you blush," she says.
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
...Dao giggles.

"Sure, okay."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
They were going to talk about the movie, weren't they. "The music was pretty good," Beila says, spotting a trash can and taking his empty slush cup out of his hand so she can waft both of the two into it neatly. "I think the same composer did Moon Spirit's Lament, which is not really similar at all, I guess she's versatile. Have you seen that one?"
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
He shakes his head. "No, I haven't! What was it about?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"It was one of those surreal poems-in-movie-form that was only in the loosest possible sense about anything. Ranyi - that's my mom - took me to see it, she likes that kind of thing. Lots of disjointed visual imagery of the moon and fish and water and North Polar scenery. It was sort of soothing - and the music was good - but it didn't have a sensible plot."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Any panda carp?" he inquires brightly.
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"I don't remember if there were panda carp specifically, this was a couple years ago," Beila laughs.
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He giggles.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Did you like the movie? I keep issuing opinions about it and you're riffing on them but I don't know what you walked out of the theater thinking."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
"I liked the movie!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Yeah, but, what about it? 'I liked that' 'yeah me too' is not that much of a conversation," laughs Beila.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"I don't know," he says. "I guess I don't have interesting detailed opinions like you do."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Oh well." They're still sort of loitering in the theater lobby; she heads for the door. "If you don't know why you like things, how do you ever figure out what other things you'd enjoy?"
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well... it's not that I can't tell what I liked about it," he says, "it's just that I'm not sure how to turn it into a conversation. Things like 'the way that one guy screamed that one time was really well done' and stuff."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"It was, though, the camerawork was good," Beila says, nodding. "Fit very nicely into the movie's visual language."
thinklikethis: (⑤ hit me with your best shot)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sounded good, too."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Good sound quality, good acting," Beila translates.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sure. How come you can make my opinions sound more interesting than I can?"
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I read movie reviews sometimes when I'm trying to decide what to see before actually showing up to the theater," Beila says. "That's the sort of thing they say. Talking about the sound quality."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"A-ha," he says, and laughs.
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Of course, then they go on about things I don't actually generate opinions on, like, historical accuracy - they're movies, not textbooks - but yeah, that's where I picked that up."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Well, it's probably good to know how historically accurate they are," he says. "Because I bet they mostly aren't. But yeah."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"That's the point, they mostly aren't, you shouldn't be drawing conclusions about history based on the movie version anyway; it doesn't matter that much if this is a hundred percent true or only seventy percent true because they had a vocal coach train everybody to speak in genuine Foggy Swamp accents."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"But if you don't know anything else about that period of history you're going to end up drawing conclusions based on the movie version, people's minds are kind of bad at empty spaces, aren't they?"
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"People's minds are bad at that," Beila acknowledges. "I don't put my weight down on conclusions I'm not pretty confident in, but even I don't have much choice but to accept random stuff I heard wherever as possible hypotheses, even if they could have been completely made up."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah! So it's good to pay some attention to historical accuracy just to kind of... clear out the dirt a little."
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"All right, you've convinced me. I shall decline to see Kyoshi Versus the Merpeople. Everyone knows that Kyoshi was actually friendly with the merpeople."
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis
He cracks up.
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Man, in six hundred years I bet people make absolutely terrible movies - or holos or virtual realities or whatever - about me. That's kind of uncomfortable to think about. Yet another reason to live forever, so I can complain if anyone depicts me fighting merpeople."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"I would not really care if people made bad movies about me five hundred years after I died," says Dao.
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"Dao Jukai, Structural Engineer, Versus The Structural-Support-Stealing Gnomes," suggests Beila. "They'll give you a sword and terrible one-liners."
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"See, that would be awesome!"
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
Beila laughs. "Why would that be awesome?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Because somebody'd be making a movie about me?"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"But by stipulation it is a terrible movie!"
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"A historically accurate movie about me would probably be really boring. I bet Dao Versus The Gnomes would be fun."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Aw, you might do movie-worthy things yet," says Beila. "You're only sixteen, like me, right?"
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah. But I don't really want to do anything anybody would make a movie about," he says. "Besides date the Avatar, I guess."
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"There's movies about Katara of the South," Beila points out. "I mean, she accompanied Aang on various noteworthy adventures in addition to marrying him, but there's movies that focus on her."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"So people in the future will make movies about me if I marry you, is that what I'm hearing?"
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
It is Beila's turn to blush now. "Well. I mean. That is probably a strictly true statement."
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"Now you're blushing!" says Dao. "That is cute. You are cute."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
Beila giggles. "Thanks."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
He grins at her.
roc_on: (xiào)
Author: roc_on
Beila thinks for a moment, and then leans forward to peck him on the cheek.
thinklikethis: (① hysteria)
Author: thinklikethis


He beams.

Also blushes a little.
roc_on: (gāoxìng)
Author: roc_on
"You," she says, "are adorable."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"You keep saying that!" he laughs. "It's nice, I like it, say it all you want."
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I will," Beila says, grinning.

There is a camera flash.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao scrunches his eyes shut.
roc_on: (huǒ)
Author: roc_on
It is his old friend, the annoying reporter!

"Hello! I'd like just a few minutes of your -"

Beila turns slowly in his direction, folding her arms across her chest.

"...time. What is -"

"Delete the picture," Beila says.

"Now, Avatar Beila, you're in a public place -"

"You can delete the picture voluntarily now or you can argue about the lawfulness of having taken it with my father, Chief Guxiao of the Republic City Police Department."

The reporter swallows. He fiddles with his camera.

"You'll want to let me see that, now, to make sure you aren't trying to sneak off with a picture I don't want you to have," Beila says.

"Avatar Beila -"

"Or I could just wreck it. I could also do that. And then we could go discuss the lawfulness of my doing that with my father, Chief Guxiao of the -"

The reporter hands over the camera. Beila checks it over, then unscrews the lens. "I'm going to go give this to the ticket taker in the theater," she says pleasantly, "and ask him to let you have it back only after we've left the area. Does that sound fair to you?"

The reporter swallows hard.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
...Dao beams at her.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
Beila returns most of the reporter's camera to him, leaves the lens with the ticket-taker, signs an autograph for the ticket-taker, and comes out of the theater to rejoin Dao. "Goodbye," says Beila to the reporter.

"Avatar Beila, I just -"

"What news organization are you with?" she asks, stopping, folding her arms again, and turning to face him.

"...Uh..."
thinklikethis: (③ no one can tell us we're wrong)
Author: thinklikethis
Beila is the best. Dao is just going to admire her some more now.
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Are you with the Republic Newscorps?" asks Beila.

"I - well -"

"Because I blacklisted them after I found one of your photographers in a tree outside my house looking into my bedroom, and everyone else has been very scrupulous about behaving themselves, since."
thinklikethis: (⑭ these ain't my hands)
Author: thinklikethis
...Dao stares incredulously at the reporter.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"...I'm a freelancer?" offers the reporter.
thinklikethis: (⑪ i am just a new boy)
Author: thinklikethis
"Funny," says Dao, "you said Republic Newscorps the other day."
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
"Of course he did. Ugh. Okay. I'm going home," says Beila, "to talk to my dad - Dao, you wanna be a corroborating witness?"

"Look, please, just one guy independently went and hid in the tree but the whole newscorps is in trouble if everyone else has material on the Avatar and we don't -"

Beila ignores him.
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Sure, I'll come with," says Dao.
roc_on: (méiyǒu)
Author: roc_on
Beila emits her piercing roc-calling whistle. A few moments later Liqing glides to a landing outside the theater and Beila wafts herself and her date onto the bird. They leave the reporter behind.
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao hugs her around the waist.

"You're kind of awesome, you know that?"
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
"I do know that! I wish I didn't have to demonstrate it on obnoxious reporters. That's the same one who was deterred by panda carp?"
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yep."
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
Beila sighs. "Well, we can tell Charlie about him, we'll see what he can do."
thinklikethis: (⑨ nobody loves me)
Author: thinklikethis
"Good plan."
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"I have those," Beila says.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
"I'm getting that!"
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
Here is Beila's house! She hops off Liqing and helps Dao down too and sends the bird on her way. "Chali might not be home yet. Might be -" She opens the front door and looks at the clock. "Ten, fifteen minutes. You okay to wait?"
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah, sure!"
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"Dad?" calls Beila. Nope, no Chali. She dumps her schoolbag on the stairs to take when she wants to go up, and plops onto the cushions lined up under the window. "Ranyi won't be home till dinner, she teaches afternoon-shift introductory school some terms including this one. She likes morning shift better but can't always get it. What do your folks do?"
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Oh, Dad works for Cabbagecorp," he says vaguely.
roc_on: (juéde)
Author: roc_on
"...Just him, then?"
thinklikethis: (⑬ what shall we use)
Author: thinklikethis
"Yeah. Just him."
roc_on: (tǔ)
Author: roc_on
Beila is on her guard about being pushy. She pats the cushions next to her, indicating that Dao can sit there.
thinklikethis: (② the pleasure's all)
Author: thinklikethis
Dao sits there!

Dao smiles.
roc_on: (shuō huà)
Author: roc_on
"Chali might quiz you a little about what you are to me in spite of not being a reporter, fair warning."
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
"Will he get mad if I start talking about panda carp?"
roc_on: (méi)
Author: roc_on
"If his question is not about panda carp? Yeah, probably."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Maybe I better let you do the talking."
roc_on: (kàn)
Author: roc_on
"Chali will probably let me do most of the talking. You'll have to say 'hi' and answer yes-or-no questions, pretty sure. What do you want me to say if he asks me if you're my boyfriend?"
thinklikethis: (⑧ to this wreck)
Author: thinklikethis
"Um... I don't know, am I?"
roc_on: (kě yí)
Author: roc_on
"That's why I'm asking."
thinklikethis: (⑩ how should i)
Author: thinklikethis
"I can be your boyfriend, I guess!"
roc_on: (tiān)
Author: roc_on
"Such enthusiasm," she teases.
thinklikethis: (⑥ guilty parts)
Author: thinklikethis
He blushes.

"I've never been anybody's boyfriend before," he says defensively.
roc_on: (Default)
Author: roc_on
"I've never been anybody's girlfriend before," she says. "So there's that."
thinklikethis: (⑦ who's gonna show)
Author: thinklikethis
"Awesome," he says, "so you won't know if I mess it up."
roc_on: (kuài)
Author: roc_on
"I think I might be able to tell if it's anything egregious," she giggles.
thinklikethis: (④ no promises no demands)
Author: thinklikethis
"I can probably manage to stay away from egregious!"
roc_on: (shuǐ)
Author: roc_on
"That's good. Are you expecting to screw up in small ways particularly?"