[ What about Korra? The words tumble so smoothly from her it shocks him. Like it's a reminder that Yin isn't completely catatonic, because what ordinary Doll would ask about a third party with no practical relation to them? It makes him realize -- something he only understood peripherally before. That Korra and Yin seem to have formed a friendship that goes on quite apart from him. He has only a bird's eye view into it. He wonders if this glimmer of camaraderie is a universal thing -- girls befriending girls. It certainly seemed the case with Pai and Amber, who could be right up close yet still manage to shut him out. Always seeming to be talking about things he wasn't up on, and Pai would get exasperated whenever he asked questions. Always saying she'd told him already, accusing him of never listening in the first place. ]
[ 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 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?