[ Hei's breath feels stuck in his chest. Korra's answer is what he'd expected. But that doesn't make the disappointment and guilt any less crushing. While Hei was here, he'd kept an unwavering focus on his network, his allies, his affairs. The closest to an omniscient Argus that any normal person could achieve. He'd made it his priority to be keenly aware of all things that concerned him -- and Yin most assuredly concerned him. ]
[ Where could she be? The idea of her slipping into the gaps of the city, seeping like water between the dirty cracks, makes him feel as though the eggshell of his self-restraint will at any moment smash to pieces, allowing the offensive stink of human depravity to invade his nostrils. Except it's a luxury -- like grieving -- to allow himself to conjure ugly scenarios, to be sick with fear. Right now he's just exhausted, light-headed, distant from everything. ]
[ Everything except Korra. ]
[ He doesn't meet her eyes. Instead he studies his hands, splayed out across the polished countertop. They're paler than they used to be; all of him is, from his year spent in the perpetual dark of space. For a moment, planted in this sunlit kitchen, it's difficult to recognize himself: too many timelines converging and melding together, disorienting him. ]
[ In the next breath, he shakes it off. ]
I'll have to find her.
[ Coded ads placed in newspapers and the radio. Messages secreted in that empty office where the missive had led him. Jinora's assistance in determining spiritual signatures. Whatever it takes, until he's sure she's safe. ]
no subject
[ Where could she be? The idea of her slipping into the gaps of the city, seeping like water between the dirty cracks, makes him feel as though the eggshell of his self-restraint will at any moment smash to pieces, allowing the offensive stink of human depravity to invade his nostrils. Except it's a luxury -- like grieving -- to allow himself to conjure ugly scenarios, to be sick with fear. Right now he's just exhausted, light-headed, distant from everything. ]
[ Everything except Korra. ]
[ He doesn't meet her eyes. Instead he studies his hands, splayed out across the polished countertop. They're paler than they used to be; all of him is, from his year spent in the perpetual dark of space. For a moment, planted in this sunlit kitchen, it's difficult to recognize himself: too many timelines converging and melding together, disorienting him. ]
[ In the next breath, he shakes it off. ]
I'll have to find her.
[ Coded ads placed in newspapers and the radio. Messages secreted in that empty office where the missive had led him. Jinora's assistance in determining spiritual signatures. Whatever it takes, until he's sure she's safe. ]