it goes in one ear and right out the other

[assiduous]

Characters: mako (assiduous) and korra (isnttheleaf)
Open? closed.
Where: the castle, avoiding the party.
When: the 3rd day rebirth's decline, evening.
What: while the rest of the travelers revel, avatar korra and team avatar's token firebender have... some things to deal with.
Warnings: none. language, maybe.

[ lina what are we doing i don't know what we're doing

so. you know what sucks? finding your brother, only to be taken yourself, and taken somewhere REALLY FAR AND REALLY DIFFERENT and okay being electrocuted really hurts, so. it's safe to say that his reaction to waking up in the castle is uh. LESS THAN POSITIVE. (he almost lit the old man's hair on fire, before he was uh. settled.)



THIS IS BULLSHIT

THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA and mako is not happy with it WHAT THE FUCK IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH A SWORD you guys are assholes, just kidnapping him and giving him a sword and

whoa what's that commotion next door... ]

Comments

[assiduous]

Scamming us. [ mako's |: face turns >: ]

We should find the old guy again. Or at least someone with answers.

[streamlines]

[... s i g h ]

Yeah, I guess. Better than sitting around and not knowing anything, anyway.

[assiduous]

[ jerks his head towards the door ]

C'mon.

[ ok is mako taking the lead it sounds like it um

whoa! HELLO OLD DUDE WERE YOU JUST CREEPING OUTSIDE OF THE DOOR

"sir korra! i see sir mako has explained why you have been summoned here." (if mako's expression is something close to 'are you mocking me bro' that's because that is what he is thinking ok) "as a mage knight, you have this sword and elemental token to assist you on your quest."

LOOK KORRA its yo stuff ]

[streamlines]

[korra only looks amused by the "sir korra" and "sir mako," though she's still somewhat suspicious of the old man. well, whatever.

...the stuff he holds out to her, though, gets a less amused look.]

Uh...

[she looks at mako, who still has his own sword (she didn't pay much attention to it what with everything else), and then back to what's offered, taking them as though they're going to explode on her.]

..."Mage knight"?

[the sword, fine, she supposes she gets that. but]

How's a rock supposed to help me with anything?

[assiduous]

[ mako questioned these dudes for like half an hour okay eventually you're gonna get nowhere. the look mako gives korra in return is very "i told you so," quickly returning to an expression of tightly controlled anxiety, brows are half knitted together, jaw tight.

"your token is symbolic of the element that you, as a mage, control. we are thankful that the summoning has brought talent such as you and your companion's to save our Kingdom."

mako doesn't have one, korra. heads up. also COMPANION? BITCH, PLEASE. ]

[streamlines]

[...........old man you've got to be whacked in the head. seriously. it's a shiny rock, how's that indicative of the four elements

and what the hell is a mage]

..."Talent," huh?

[yes stroke her ego good]

Well, we'll do our best to help people while we can, but we have to get home as soon as we can. [looking back at mako] There are people who need us.

[he's probably going to think she means bolin, but asami's still a fresh topic on the mind, too]

[assiduous]

[ HE DOESN'T KNOW, WHAT THE HELL IS A KNIGHT okay?

mako nods in affirmation with korra's statement, thinking of just bolin, and...

the old guy doesnt seem to hear anything past 'we'll do our best to help people'

"excellent. if you will follow me, your mounts are housed in the stables, and ready for you." bitch they got naga

why am i the one writing npc dude ]

[streamlines]

[korra's moment of WTFery at the horses] ("What kind of ostrich-horses are these?") [is cut short by a certain excited polar bear dog, and the old guy slips off during their happy reunion.

after a few moments of silence, korra turns away from naga—keeping her arm slung around her mount's neck—to look rather more seriously at mako]

I guess there's going to be a lot we need to talk about until we can figure all this out, huh.

[assiduous]

[ mako's horse is a sweet, sturdy gelding named drum, who is very determined at the moment to see what mako's scarf tastes like. STOP THAT, YOU WEIRD HORSE THING, PLEASE STOP THAT.

for a moment, mako is at a loss for-- for a lot of things really. his gaze slips to the dirt of the stable floor, short of casting about for something, a wall would be nice, to have at his back, so he doesn't feel so out in the open. but that won't work here, it's too open. he's tired. he slips his sword down off his shoulder, rests it point down in its sheath in the dirt; the end of the handle reaches his sternum, it's that long. (he's kind of glad it's as plain as it is; korra's is blue and ornate and ridiculous.) it's a start, though, a sort of anchoring point for him, and he lets the weight of his arms hang from it, wrapping his fingers around the cool-warm metal of the handle. his ribs ache, and so do his shoulders, and he just wants to sleep, but there are things to be done, so it'll have to wait some more.

(he looks up at korra for a moment, serious, and then — off to the side again.)

they lost the tournament? (he takes her words for what the are, naturally. why would korra lie, she knows how important it is to them—) really? all that hard work, for nothing. wouldn't he remember that? something that important? and the... equalists blowing up the arena. oh, spirits, the idea of going back on the streets with bolin again.

he hates this, this not knowing what's going on. shit situations, he can deal with, to the best of his abilities, provided he knows what's going on. but this? this new, big blank stretch he apparently has, but doesn't feel like he does. shouldn't he feel like he's missing something? mako trusts korra to be honest with him; if there's one thing she does particularly well, it's be upfront. but nothing else is foggy. he remember's the day's events with a startling, worried, bolin-less clarity, the feel of electrocution painfully so, an ache that's sticking with him even now.

he doesn't know what's going on with himself, and it's upsetting. more than the abduction, almost.

(mako shuts his eyes, exhales softly, irritatedly, and finally looks back to korra.) ]

Sounds like it, yeah.

[streamlines]

[korra's spent a lot of time watching mako—unconsciously (mostly), but enough to pick up on when he thinks he's hiding stress. she has a hand out for his arm almost as soon as he looks away from her again. part of the habit she's developed with the gesture arose from excuses she didn't even realise she was seeking to touch him even when asami was around—touches that couldn't be misconstrued—but she does mean it, too, to be an offer of support when she doesn't know what else to do.

and she realises she's probably even less confused than he is. not that it isn't all jarring, but not only has he had the same experiences, but he's also heard things he doesn't even remember happening. and as tactless as korra can be sometimes, she's not stupid in understanding how scared she, at least, would feel.

korra notices the stress, but she's forgotten about physical exhaustion; so she doesn't think about finding food or where they're supposed to go for shelter when she responds]

Anything you want to know first, or should I just—start from the beginning?

[AND SPIRITS KNOW SHE'LL BE LEAVING SOME CERTAIN PARTS OF IT OUT.]

[assiduous]

[ oh no korra that will bite you in the ass, eventually

but this is mako, and while she might know him well enough to see him worrying, keeping going even well after he shouldn't is just something he does. the exhausted look that hounded him those middle nights of the tournament is back, when he was running practice-work-matches, mixed in with all the other anxiety of not having a full handle on his situation. but he just nods, mouth pulled in a thin line. ]

Start from the beginning.

[ A BETTER QUESTION WOULD BE, "did i get electrocuted recently because ow it feels like i did" ]

[streamlines]

[MOST LIKELY

her hand tightens just a little around his arm, she doesn't let go.]

Well, what's the very last thing you remember? You said the Equalist rally?

[assiduous]

[ he nods stiffly, again. (why are you touching him, korra, he's not a delicate thing, likely to be broken if you let go...) ]

An hour or two after. Bo and I just got home.

[ he made dinner, was domestic, gave bolin his portion... mako you should eat soon... ]

[streamlines]

[lies, mako is a pretty princess]

Then I guess the best place to start would be with Tarrlok's task force.

[she brushes over it, omitting to speak about how utterly terrified she felt until she broke down to tenzin after her failed duel challenge and ambush—there are some things korra needs some urging to admit, and she's not yet going to freely admit her negative emotions, even though she's been working on it after tenzin's advice. it's just gala, task force, challenge, ambush, release. a brief rundown.

she doesn't even think to mention asami despite meeting her at the gala until she returns to probending (which the mako standing before her probably cares a lot more about, anyway) because, obviously, she has to mention how they found the money for the championship pot. she's developed somewhat-conflicting feelings on the situation: on one hand, she's learned to like asami well enough and to let the couple be. there are bigger things at stake. but on the other—she's still a seventeen year old girl who really likes him despite everything, and she's selfish enough to seriously consider taking her chance while she can.

eventually the more responsible side wins out (it's been doing that a lot more often lately and it's pretty weird), and she moves on after a moment of pause]

So once I returned to daily practises, you'd already found a sponsor. That was, uh—you sort of started dating Hiroshi Sato's daughter, Asami, and she got him to agree to sponsor us.

[....and in retrospect, that 30,000 yuan grant was pretty damn weird from an equalist.]

[assiduous]

[ ... wat

wat

oh spirits falksejfdal was he really desperate enough to end up prostituting himself for their entry fee WHY ELSE WOULD HIROSHI SATO'S DAUGHTER DATE HIM ]

... But you said Sato was in with the Equalists? [ NOPE NOPE NOPE NOT LIKING THE IDEA OF THIS NO THANK YOU NOPE NOPE ]

[streamlines]

Hiroshi was. Not Asami. She even electrocuted her own father to save us.

[oh god she needs to make sure he knows how good a person asami is SHE NEEDS TO SHIP THEM



fuck you for forgetting this and making her explain it mako]

[assiduous]

[ its a short series of signals; his mouth turns down at the sides, brows furrowed, suspicious. the idea of a rich girl, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the city, turning down that, and when she has good reason not to? NOPE.JPG not buying it. slkdfjlwefs spirits, he was played? so they could blow up the arena or something, wasn't he. flksadjfklasjfd dammit ]

But how do you know? The Agni Kais— [ a brutal, split second pause because LMAO FUCKING FIREBENDERS ] —you know they killed her mom, right?

[ FUCKING GOSSIP IN REPUBLIC yo ]

[streamlines]

Mako, she electrocuted her father when he asked her to join him. We were all outnumbered—we'd all been defeated—and she helped us. She went against family to do what she thought was right.

I had her pegged wrong at first, too. But Asami's amazing. She knows better than to think all benders are the same just because they bend. And she—[swallow. fuck. why does she have to explain this. all of it's true, and she means it, but fuck]—really likes you.

[assiduous]

[ mako's expression remains flat, guarded, but he pushes his questions down, and away ("with what, that guy's kali sticks?" and "did they get me too? cause my ribs kind of hurt like a bitch" and of course the "OH COME ON, those things only put you down for about thirty seconds" complaint that nobody is ever going to hear.). trust issues, man! okay, he'll trust korra, to be honest, and to be a good person, she's the avatar, she's his teammate, and she should be, but. the sato girl, he wants to reserve judgment on, until he remembers her.

and by reserve judgement i mean continue not entirely trusting

but! korra said so. maybe she's a fangirl or something, that's the only thing that'd explain why she'd like him. ]

... And the tournament?

[ maybe if he weren't tired and sore and stressed, he'd be making less bad decisions about people's character and stuff. but. UH. he is all three of those things. so. ]

[streamlines]

[she hesitates when mako moves on so quickly from the subject, but she answers. they can address the topic later if necessary..... but korra's selfishly glad he moved on.]

We made it to the finals. Somebody must have paid off the ref, the Wolfbats were stinking cheaters. [she still dislikes him, but it's hard to exactly hate tahno as much when she remembers his pathetic state] We were tied after two rounds, but it's probably better we lost in the end. Amon and the Equalists crashed in after they won and took their bending away as examples for the whole city. They electrocuted us and all the metalbending police—Chief Bei Fong and I tried to stop them, but we didn't quite make it.

[assiduous]

[ he's just... going to mentally try and forget about that part, or put it away, for later, when he needs it, when he has time to process it, when he's not worried sick about bolin, and stuck in spirits know where with the weirdest looking ostrich horse ever

but. oh man. losing the tournament. the jackpot. he had so much riding on that. fat lot of good his job at the power plant'll do him if they haven't got somewhere to sleep, again. felskajrfd. ]

And then they trashed the arena.

[ felksjfklesafl HE'S REALLY WORRIED ABOUT BOLIN, okay ]

[streamlines]

Not too badly. Just the arena itself, but the police shut the whole place down for repairs.

[....whoops they have to visit it again anyway]

Asami let you and Bolin stay at her mansion until we found Mr. Sato's underground Equalist factory yesterday.

[assiduous]

[ ................ living in the house. of. someone. who probably wants his soul ripped. out.


korra afeslkjfd why would he even

why would he agree to that ]

... And now...

[streamlines]

And now we're here.

[assiduous]

Bolin?

[ bolin is okay, right? bolin is safe? oh, god, if they're back on the streets... ]