[ Action, Voice ] .056

[markofthebrave]

[Okay, so waking up today was weird. She thought it was Saturday, but by the state of the house and where things were... it was actually Monday. Sokka was back - woke up in his own bed, and all, but when Katara went to check on Toph to see if she remembered what happened...

Her room was bare. There was nothing left. Toph was gone.

After stumbling to the wall and leaning on it a long moment to get herself together - is it going to hurt like this every time? - it was time to tell the household.

That accomplished, one of them had to let the town know... and Katara volunteered. She opened up her journal to find a mission summons from the Malnosso. She stared at it a long moment - now? When her housemates need her most they're calling for her now? She shut the journal. She needed a moment to process.

Eventually, she'll open up the journal again. Her voice is a little strained, but steady.]

I'm sorry I don't know any other way to say this but... Manliness Classes are going to have to be canceled again. Toph's gone home.

And... [hhhng, announcing this to the village is so weird, but...] Sokka's back. [There, that's better. Starting with him gives her someplace to stand on.] But I'll be leaving on a mission tomorrow, so... I'll see you all in a week or so.

[So after making this post mid-morning, Katara sets about doing what she needs to do. Sirry Crags, huh? She knows how to handle high altitudes and fighting in snow. She'll just... pop into the Item Shop to double check for a few things, and then hopefully bump into someone willing to help her carry groceries home. It looks like she's going to need to do a week's worth of cooking today.]

Comments

[generalflirt]

Ah... No. [He looks up now, it's a more neutral expression] I've seen it during the day and I've seen water at night, but not snow.

[markofthebrave]

[She slides off her stool.]

Come on. I want to show you something.

[generalflirt]

[He slides off as well, but he smiles, a little, to himself once he does]

If this has to do with power, I already know you're far more scary with bending than I could imagine.

1/2

[markofthebrave]

[She looks a little shocked at that. Scary? Really?]

[markofthebrave]

[...and then a little sheepish at being caught out, at her plan for hoping to make him feel better being something he'd... already taken into account.]

Well, maybe it has a little to do with power. But it has to do with something else too.

[generalflirt]

Aaah? In that case, I'd be glad to see it.

[markofthebrave]

Okay.

[So she leads him to the door and - scary, huh?]

You can wait here, if you want.

[But she'll continue on outside, briefly, her hair unbound and catching in the moonlight, slippered feet padding softly on the cold ground.]

[generalflirt]

[He follows her, and at the door he even kicks on his shoes once more. But at the door, he shakes his head] And miss seeing you in action up close? No chance.

[markofthebrave]

Ah - all right. [And when she walks a few feet away from the house on the neatly bended path she stops and looks up to the moon for a moment. And then she looks at him.]

I think I told you once, how much I loved being surrounded by snow. That it reminded me of home. But there's another reason.

[generalflirt]

[He nods. He doesn't want to interrupt her, so he's just following behind her, a sort of serious sort of not expression on his face.]

1/2

[markofthebrave]

[She stops walking and turns to look at him.]

I won't run out. Every other bender has ready access to their elements - firebenders make their fire, airbenders are surrounded by air, and you rarely fight far from the earth. But waterbenders... I just have what I can carry, or what I can find.

[It's one of the reasons why their style is so adaptable - they have to rely on turning the opponent's force against them since their own force could end up being substantially less, not by power or skill, but by necessity.]

[markofthebrave]

But I'll be surrounded by snow in the mountains. And I can call on all of it.

[And, very simply, she raises her hands while at the same time broadening her stance. The snow from either side of the walkway rises at her command and then as her arms rotate above her head it slowly turns around them once in a broad circle.]

I can use it to fight or I can use it to hide... there's no safer place for me to fight.

[And then she slowly starts to lower her arms and return the snow where it belongs, gauging his reaction.]

[generalflirt]

[Bending... will never cease to amaze him. Awe him, really. She speaks so casually about it all - firebending, airbending, earthbending - but she (and Toph and he supposes om other people she knows) can perform these monstrously superhuman feats as natural as breathing... and she raises a point. Surrounded by her element, she's in the best possible position for her to be in. It... does make him feel better. His face is relaxed, focused on her with a complicated sort of expression]

Ah... I have no doubt.

[markofthebrave]

[...she can't read him. She can't decide if it helped or hurt or... what.

But that was all the reassurance she had to offer, so... she wraps her arms around herself in sudden awareness of the cold.]

So try not to worry too much, okay?

[generalflirt]

You're making me sound like a delicate maiden waiting for her prince to return, Kataraa!

[With mock indignation. He even throws on a smile for it]

1/2

[markofthebrave]

[Pff.] Now there's a horrifying thought.

[She starts walking back towards the house. Follow? It's freezing out here.]

[markofthebrave]

[...and she glances back.]

But I know how you get when you're worried about a friend.

[Do not MAKE her come back to broken hands, ribs, or other things. She will be highly annoyed.]

[generalflirt]

Eeeeh, how's that, Katara?

[He's following behind her, forcing a spring into his step and deciding, fruitlessly, to pretend to be coy]

[markofthebrave]

[Stupid. Careless. Violent. Blank.]

...scary.

[If he can use that word, so can she.]

1/2

[generalflirt]

[Briefly. Very briefly but very distinctly, he looks taken back. Genuinely surprised. It's more pronounced because he all but trips over himself as he gets close to the door]

[generalflirt]

Ah... I see.

[And he adopts a more neutral expression now]

[markofthebrave]

[Do you?

Katara pauses on the threshold of the door, half-in, half-out and waits for him to join her.]

So make sure you're okay when I get back.

[generalflirt]

You make it sound like I'm in danger.

[He forces a chortle at this, but okay, back in the house. He even kicks off his shoes again, to be at ~home~ or something]

[markofthebrave]

[Oh, so he is coming inside again. She thought that might be it. She shuts the door behind him and shivers a bit. She hadn't felt it while she was bending, but really was cold outside.

Plus. He's evading.]

Right, you think I'm being silly. [That's said with some wry sarcasm.] But I'm not hearing anything that sounds like 'Of course I'll be fine, Katara. You don't need to worry.'

[generalflirt]

[He takes a step ahead of her... and than glances back. This might be unfair, but now he's curious]

Ah, will your worry give you pause out there? About me?