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WHO: Yin & Hei
WHAT: Yet more awkwardz.
[ Hei doesn't do well with stagnation. But it's something he's been able to sideline during his time here. ]
[ Too much else to focus on: settling in, acclimating himself to the environment, learning the languages, absorbing the culture. In the beginning, he and Yin might as well be living in different cities. With the segregated domiciles at Air Temple Island, glimpses of her are few and far in between. Even then, their timings are so off that they might as well have dropped into different orbits. During the days he does chores at the island. During the nights, he works late shifts at the factories -- one of the many 'lightning-benders' trying to earn quick cash by supplying energy to the city. Commuting to there from his narrow dwellings at the island, it's possible to go for weeks without meeting Yin anywhere. Most of the times he sees her is between errands: when he's stretching out the sheets with raw-knuckled hands after a wash, bustling gleaming-faced in the steam and clamor of the kitchen, swabbing floors, doing scut work. (Perhaps if he washes and dries a million sheets and dirty dishes, whips up a million meals, he will finally make amends to Tenzin for his original crime -- sleeping with the Avatar). ]
[ Even so, at odd moments, something simmers through him -- a low-level restlessness. It's that feeling of not waiting but being on the precipice of something. (It's not nerves, it's not anxiety; it's aimlessness. He supposes everybody feels unprepared when they don't know where they're going.) He wants to see Yin. To have more than a desultory chat with her -- preferably when not peeling fruits to feed to the flying lemurs as part of his evening duties. This was not quite what he'd intended, when he'd chosen Korra over her. But that seems -- in Yin's silence, her coolness -- to be how she took it. ]
[ A fortnight remains before he departs from Air Temple Island -- to explore the territories beyond Republic City, and gain a better understanding of this new world. For that, it's necessary to see Yin. Whatever the rift between them, they're still teammates. And her safety is still one of his main priorities. ]
[ The evening sky darkens from pink to a pale purple as he approaches her spot -- a pool fringed with weeping willows. His shadow stretches in a long black slash, and his footsteps are cat-quiet. Even so, he's sure Yin will know he's there. ]
WHAT: Yet more awkwardz.
[ Hei doesn't do well with stagnation. But it's something he's been able to sideline during his time here. ]
[ Too much else to focus on: settling in, acclimating himself to the environment, learning the languages, absorbing the culture. In the beginning, he and Yin might as well be living in different cities. With the segregated domiciles at Air Temple Island, glimpses of her are few and far in between. Even then, their timings are so off that they might as well have dropped into different orbits. During the days he does chores at the island. During the nights, he works late shifts at the factories -- one of the many 'lightning-benders' trying to earn quick cash by supplying energy to the city. Commuting to there from his narrow dwellings at the island, it's possible to go for weeks without meeting Yin anywhere. Most of the times he sees her is between errands: when he's stretching out the sheets with raw-knuckled hands after a wash, bustling gleaming-faced in the steam and clamor of the kitchen, swabbing floors, doing scut work. (Perhaps if he washes and dries a million sheets and dirty dishes, whips up a million meals, he will finally make amends to Tenzin for his original crime -- sleeping with the Avatar). ]
[ Even so, at odd moments, something simmers through him -- a low-level restlessness. It's that feeling of not waiting but being on the precipice of something. (It's not nerves, it's not anxiety; it's aimlessness. He supposes everybody feels unprepared when they don't know where they're going.) He wants to see Yin. To have more than a desultory chat with her -- preferably when not peeling fruits to feed to the flying lemurs as part of his evening duties. This was not quite what he'd intended, when he'd chosen Korra over her. But that seems -- in Yin's silence, her coolness -- to be how she took it. ]
[ A fortnight remains before he departs from Air Temple Island -- to explore the territories beyond Republic City, and gain a better understanding of this new world. For that, it's necessary to see Yin. Whatever the rift between them, they're still teammates. And her safety is still one of his main priorities. ]
[ The evening sky darkens from pink to a pale purple as he approaches her spot -- a pool fringed with weeping willows. His shadow stretches in a long black slash, and his footsteps are cat-quiet. Even so, he's sure Yin will know he's there. ]
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Date: 2014-05-01 10:57 pm (UTC)[It's one of the more peaceful areas, avoided by most of the island's inhabitants, and separates Yin from everyone else with it's lush green curtain. No matter what has occurred, she has kept watch, though she's careful when spying on Hei. If Korra enters the scene she cuts out at once and searches for something else to observe. Nothing and no one approaches the island she isn't aware of.]
[She's attempted to keep herself busy, filling her mind with the language, the culture, the people around her, but Yin finds herself incapable of going for long before a spark of color glimmers on the muted landscape of her mind. Memories of Hei will flicker in, disrupting the peace she's built.]
[This time it takes her a moment to realize it wasn't a thought - he's behind her.]
[She doesn't turn, doesn't speak, but yes, she's aware he's there. She tries to diminish her widened eyes quickly.]
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Date: 2014-05-01 11:16 pm (UTC)[ He also remembers the last time he was this breath-stoppingly hesitant. He was a lot younger then. ]
[ Dreamy lavender light hangs between the silky fronds of the willow tree. He shoulders through the gap as if crossing a curtain into an alternate void -- all tranquility and haunting, imperfect stillness. But he supposes that owes largely to Yin. When he speaks, his tone is a heavy sort of calm. ]
I need to talk to you.
[ In Tokyo, or here, Hei stays the same. Never mincing words. ]
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Date: 2014-05-02 12:13 am (UTC)[Her feet stay in the still water, but she at least turns in his direction, expression vacant, ready to be filled with purpose.]
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Date: 2014-05-02 12:45 am (UTC)[ Even so, something shutters and falls closed in his expression. On anyone else, it might look like sadness, but Hei doesn't do emotionally compromised, he doesn't do blatant disappointment. Not in Yin, especially when she owes him nothing. Not in this. ]
[ He slips his hands into his pockets, regarding, not Yin, but the shimmering glow of the pool, pink sunlight falling along the ghostly wavering contours of the fish. ]
I'm leaving Air Temple Island in two weeks. There's too much of this place we don't know about. It's high time for a reconnaissance-run.
[ Terse and matter-of-fact, because that priority hasn't changed either. Hei hates being in the dark about anything. Hates feeling flat-footed. He needs to immerse himself in the intricacies of Korra's world, to let its history and present politics steep into him, if he's going to make the successful transition from newcomer to native. ]
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Date: 2014-05-03 06:57 pm (UTC)[She merely nods to his words. It's an indisputable fact, and she can keep an eye on Air Temple Island while he's gone. Although she anticipates he might have objectives for her in his absence. She waits patiently and silently for him to continue. That Yin anticipates at all, thinks of it at all, is thinking of Hei at all, proves she will never be able to revert completely to what she once was, immobile and empty.]
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Date: 2014-05-04 12:20 am (UTC)[ Except the thought that he's hurt her with the rejection, that she hates him or will always be indifferent to him, is nearly unbearable. It twists inside him like a poisonous snake. ]
[ Fighting it off, he focuses on the matters at hand. ]
I'm heading to the Hu Xin territories. Beyond the United Republic. It could be as long as ten months before I return. [ A beat, before his gaze slants directly to Yin. ] Send your observation specter out every two weeks. Just to let me know you're doing okay here. If I'm out of contact for longer than eight months, it means something's wrong. Start a surveillance scan if that happens.
[ The latter instruction is for emergencies only. Hei doesn't think he'll be in mortal danger. But he's too well-trained not to have a contingency plan. ]
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Date: 2014-05-04 01:37 am (UTC)[When he says the length he's expected to be gone her eyes noticeably widen, and Yin looks up.]
[She's almost surprised he doesn't have any extra plans, but it's no shock of how little interaction she is to have with him. She's a Doll. She shouldn't care. It's not her business. But eventually the words form, her voice back to flat monotone without a hint of cadence:]
What about Korra? [Except, she's a Doll, she shouldn't be asking a question in the first place, let alone about someone as of yet not mentioned.]
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Date: 2014-05-04 01:59 am (UTC)[ He tries to put a strange sense of ... not skewed equilibrium but gnawing curiosity ... out of his mind. To Yin's question: ]
She'll be fine. She can take care of herself.
[ The tone is dismissive. It gives the impression he's largely indifferent to Korra. He's not. If anything, the fact that he's so certain of her transmits the level of faith he has in her. Korra is young, reckless, naive -- but one thing she isn't is helpless. Hei wouldn't be able to stomach her otherwise; he's attracted to competence, to someone who can go toe-to-toe with him. Not baggage that's little more than leverage against him. (Is that one more reason he'd been reluctant to take up with Yin? Because she's, to a large extent, dependant on him? Because he'd been afraid to be handed the heavy lynchpin of so much trust -- knowing he'd somehow screw it up? He tries not to think about it.) ]
[ When he speaks, it's quiet, something softening at the fringes of his cadence. ]
You should focus on yourself, Yin. Have you been off the island since we got here?
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Date: 2014-05-04 02:26 am (UTC)[As for the island question, she nods her head.]
With Korra.
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Date: 2014-05-04 02:47 am (UTC)[ Instead, he concentrates on Yin's reply. With Korra. It makes sense, all things considered. Maybe Korra feels responsible for the other girl. Maybe she's determined to play the good host. Either way, it's convenient, because it means Yin will have someone watching out for her. However, that's not enough for Hei. He doesn't want Yin to end up sequestered -- isolated. This isn't their homeworld; the usual rules don't apply. Without the threat of daily curses like in the City, or conflict from enemy organizations like at home, the risk quotient here is reassuringly low. Yin is free to explore the better parts of Republic City by herself. ]
What places did she show you?
[ It's a blanket curiosity. Knowing Korra, she concentrated on the tourist-y spots, instead of the markets, the shortcuts on the streets, the business-hubs, all of which are Hei's points of interest. ]
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Date: 2014-05-04 02:55 am (UTC)[When asked where she went, Yin lists much of what Hei expected, categorically. Yin pretty much has partial map of Republic City in her mind by now. Some blanks she filled in with her observer spirit, and isn't sure what those areas are referred as, but there are still areas yet unexplored, due to either time, or distance restraints.]
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Date: 2014-05-04 03:26 am (UTC)[ It's why he wants Yin to step beyond Air Temple Island's tranquil sphere. If he could afford it, he'd drape her in bubble-wrap and keep her untouched, sheltered, from the harsher elements of this world. But life doesn't work that way. She needs to immerse herself in the atmosphere, slip out of that brittle shell she's woven the past few weeks, something china-fine and knitted on silence and remoteness. He refuses to believe her recent passivity is the modus operandi of a Doll. Especially not after he's seen her act in ways that are shockingly, heartbreakingly human. ]
[ He doesn't mean to be curt, but there's a certain way in which he speaks, a way of looking at her that's flat and disapproving. ]
That's not good enough. You should be familiar with the city without a guide. Or your observation specter. [ A beat, then, gentler, ] I can take you for a visit right now. There's something I want to show you.
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Date: 2014-05-04 04:35 am (UTC)[If nothing else, she has something to occupy her time for the next ten months.]
[She gives no words at all, but Yin does finally remove her hand from the water and stands to accompany him. Her movements are slow, but obvious that she's heard him and agreed.]
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Date: 2014-05-04 04:47 am (UTC)[ He gestures Yin to follow him, down to the powdery white shores at the fringes of the island, where the ferry is moored at the salt-crisped dock. Gentle waves splash along the shore; he slips into one of the boats, before helping Yin in. ]
[ Ahead of them, a web of rainbow lights shape up into the outline of a city so different from the the one they've left behind -- yet not different at all. While the boat slices a path through the water, Hei breathes in the sea-scented air. Here, with Yin settled closeby, and an idle evening ahead, nowhere to go but out, it's easy to let a particular contentment seep into him. To feel, for a few deluded moments, as if he's where he's meant to be. ]
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Date: 2014-05-18 09:04 pm (UTC)[ She ignores every tingle his touch gives any portion of her body he has to touch to help her in. It's a necessity, nothing more. As Hei watches the approaching city, Yin sits, her head turned away. There is no point in delusions for her. Every second spent with him is just another reminder things have completely changed. To Yin, this might as well be business. ]
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Date: 2014-05-19 12:07 am (UTC)[ The near the city docks, the dying sunlight panting a honey-gold inlay on the slack water between the waves. The staggering aroma of diesel, sewage, fried food and rotted vegetation presages the clamor of the streets -- blurs of rickshaws, streaking shapes of satomobiles, shouts from vendors pushing laden carts, skirls of distant music from restaurants and clubs. ]
[ He hands Yin out of the boat, and they step onto the crowded street. Under an awning, by a pyramid of mangoes, he slants a look her way. When he speaks, his expression is both watchful and self-conscious, ]
I know you're upset with me. [ He doesn't need to elaborate what for. They both know. Quieter, he adds, ] I also hope you'll keep in mind, whatever happens here ... I'm still your partner. I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe.
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Date: 2014-05-19 12:28 am (UTC)[ Her head is turned to the din of the city, until Hei speaks to her. Yin's eyes widen a fraction and she, firmly, shakes head. ]
I'm not upset with you. [ Everything else he says is just a fact to her. A necessity for a Contractor to keep the Doll alive. But their partnership had evolved beyond that anlong time ago, transcending the cold-hard logic of simple need. ]
I'm still your partner as well. [ Why else would she spend so much time with her body immersed in water since arriving? None of that changed, no matter how far she's withdrawn, and Yin refuses to let it. ]
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Date: 2014-05-19 12:45 am (UTC)[ After a beat, he reaches out. Touches her shoulder, just a light skim of fingertips. But his expression shutters into something honest, almost an intangible olive branch. ]
We're also friends.
[ As if that needs clarifying. (Perhaps it does. Neither of them are the type, after all. Or a better descriptor would be -- neither of them were the type. These days ... it's all too easy to wrench free from the formulaic prisons that once outlined their lives. Dolls don't feel. Contractors are always rational.) ]
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Date: 2014-05-19 01:38 am (UTC)[ It's something precious and rare, but the word gives Yin an unintentional pang. She turns away, eyes burning. What Hei mistook as upset with him was simple hurt. ]
[ Yin musters a nod of her head, not wanting to throw away his attempt. She has to reach back, because while it might cause pain, she wants to remain friends. It's what she wanted from the beginning, but was too inexperienced, too repressed to understand the outcome. ]
Friends. [ She repeats it in a small voice, but at least looks back at him when her eyes are dry. But she has to pull back again. Everything has to shut down again. It's the only way her mind can keep functioning in the way she feels is expected of her. ]
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Date: 2014-05-19 02:08 am (UTC)[ His palm rests a moment longer on her shoulder, fingers warm and light against the delicate slope. It's both steadying and comforting -- an implicit Yes. Friends. I promise -- without his having to say anything at all. He glances away then, and the glowing streetlights and multicolored blurs of traffic play geometric patterns across his profile. ]
[ When he speaks, the tone is businesslike again, but there's still a warmth at the fringes, ]
There's a flat not far from here. I'm planning to rent two rooms there. You not under obligation to move there if you're comfortable on Air Temple Island. But when you're in Republic City, think of it as a safehouse.
[ Granted, this new world is less dangerous than their own. But that's no reason to abandon precautions and contingencies. ]
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Date: 2014-07-08 03:36 pm (UTC)[Yin takes in everything he says without comment, but even she understands this means Hei still intends to keep her in his life. She's still a part of it. For now, she's content to stay on Air Temple Island, but maybe later she will find a use for this flat, other than just a safe house.]