markofthebrave | [Action, Voice] .006

Entry tags:

[Action, Voice] .006

[After a good cry, some good advice, and throwing down with the whole of Luceti against Aku the other day, Katara is feeling much more like herself. And she is on a mission. She can be found mid-afternoon heading towards whatever store in Luceti sells paint.

Fire Nation Red in her living room? Not anymore!]

Let's see... I guess I could go blue with green accents... or maybe something even more neutral? Maybe find a cream... No, no orange, it's too close to red...

[Katara has never had a chance to play with paints and colors before! She's a little lost with all the options. She just knows that she wants to make their shared space an open, welcoming one, one that represents all of them ~~and even the one that they're missing~~ and one which won't remind her of that stupid experiment's 'misplaced decimal.' But she has come far enough that she doesn't want it to just chase out Zuko either, although she is perfectly happy never seeing him again. Clearly, the girl is expecting too much out of paint. Someone help?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sure, if you don't mind the weather!

[And so, Katara will start out towards the fountain in the wonderfully new and restored square where every trace of the the battle she'd fought the day before had been completely erased. If she gets there before Caesar, he'll see her looking around at the various spots where the action took place - the restored ground, the new grocery store - with a considering expression on her face.]

[Caesar will certainly arrive there a short while after Katara does. (He'll never get a hang of this "being on time" thing, I swear.) When he sees her, he'll walk over and greet her.]

Yo. Haven't picked out your paints yet?

There are so many colors! You'd think eliminating four of them would make it easier, but it just leaves me with... ugly colors.

Heh. That's what happens when you have too many options, I guess. I'm not very good with this stuff myself, though.

I never had a chance to do it before. [She shrugs] I heard [Have a pained look that may or may not be solely related to the topic at hand] that they were planning on splitting the living room down the middle. Fire Nation Red on one side and Swampbender Green on the other. I'm sure I'll figure out something better than that.

[She's going to reach out one hand and poke at the grocery store, fully restored after being decimated the day before.] This place is so strange...

[He takes a look at the store and nods at her statement. He had only heard about what happened, but he knew exactly what it was that she found strange. Caesar remembered Albert telling him about "his" old room having caught fire and repairing itself shortly after. He also remembered Hugo's uncomfortable feelings toward the idea that dead people don't stay dead here. While these stories were relevant, he didn't feel like he really had to reinforce the point.]

It is, isn't it? Luceti is the land of impermanence.

The land of impermanence, huh? [Her brow furrows as she thinks that over and when she speaks it's mostly to herself.] Even with things like love and death which are supposed to be permanent...

[She shakes herself out of it and offers Caesar a smile.] I guess we can hope that our being here is impermanent too. And I'm glad the grocery store grew back. It makes cooking a lot easier if your food's waiting for you, and [her smile turns wicked] it serves Aku right. All that work and everything's back to normal in a day.

[Which is... really disturbing, when she thinks about it. But she's just going to shove that in the back of her mind.]

No kidding. [Not that he's very good at cooking anyway, but that's another story.] The fact that things always return to "normal" is usually pretty off-putting for guys like him. It's certainly an advantage to us, but I guess it still takes an experience like this for most of them to really feel that dissatisfaction.

It's a little weird to not have to worry about rebuilding after something has been destroyed. I can't decide if it's nice or... creepy. It feels like you're not given time to really heal -- one minute it's something crazy, and the next, everything's back to normal. Are you supposed to go back to normal too? Just pretend like nothing ever happened?

[Which is exactly what she WANTS to do when it comes to the latest experiment, but matching that up with how easy everything else returns to 'normal' gives her a bad feeling.]

It's rather unsettling. Rebuilding can be a lot of work, but it can be a good thing for the people involved, too. [At least, he hoped so. Setting the Grasslands aflame and flooding the Duck lands were necessary tactics at the time, but it would take a while for things to return to normal.] It might take time, and it might be painful, but... that's the way things are supposed to be. As strange as it may sound, I'd take that over being forced to act like nothing happened any day.

I know what you mean. There's something really satisfying about knowing that what you're doing makes a difference, that you're restoring something and making it safe again. When my village was attacked by the Fire Nation... we had to rebuild. And every day I'd see things get taller and stronger, day by day feel a little bit safer.

...but I guess that would be a lie here, anyway.

[He shakes his head.]

Things may work differently here, but I think that makes what you have done all the more important. Rebuilding your home, and everything that it meant to you, the fact that it made a difference... It's something you can come to appreciate a little more, isn't it?

[What Katara had meant was that the feeling of safety here would be a lie -- because no matter how many times they built up they still wouldn't be safe. But she can't quite bring herself to out and out say something so hopeless, so she's going to go with what he said.]

Yeah, it is. Heh. I never thought I'd be missing days of cleaning out fish. [She smiles a little and moves away from the store.]

You want to go sit down by the fountain? It's not pink today so it should be OK. Or do you want to go somewhere inside?

[That was exactly why he avoided it. There are times when it seems like nothing they do is going to be enough, but thanks to him, he knows he shouldn't give up so easily. Must... remain... positive. To an extent.

A pause as he considers her question. Hmmm.]

We can sit down by the fountain, I guess. If you're sure it's safe now, that is.

[A wry smile.] It wasn't so bad even when it was pink. As long as you didn't drink it. And the willow trees were kind of nice.

[And so she will start walking towards the fountain.]

[He waves dismissively.] I wouldn't know. I only heard strange things about it. [Which is a lie, because he was totally there, if only briefly. But that's not the point. He follows after her.]

Oh. It was... [Have a light blush.] well. It could have been worse.

It was amazing how many people thought it was OK to drink that stuff, though. I'll admit I got pretty curious.

[And she sits down by the fountain.] But someone had to be around in case Sokka got all loopy again.

Seems like a lot of people couldn't help their curiosity. I don't think anyone could have gotten me to drink that stuff, though.

[He sits down next to her.] Keeping an eye on your brother, then?

Something like that. [It's weird talking about Sokka to someone who doesn't know him. If it was someone in her group, she'd feel free to go off on what an idiot he could be and how this one time they were in a desert he drank some cactus juice and was absolutely useless after that. But Caesar doesn't know him that well, and that makes her hesitate.]

He can be great sometimes... and sometimes he can act like a real idiot. But I guess we all were that day. I didn't pay too much attention to anyone once Zu-- the guy the experiment made me fall for showed up.

Edited 2010-03-07 07:44 (UTC)

I think I was pretty distracted, too. I hope my brother didn't do anything too stupid during the week. But then, it's a brother's job to be an idiot. Sometimes.

I guess that's true. [She casts him a considering glance. If he was distracted too, does that mean he was also effected by the experiment? Is that sort of thing even... OK to ask?]

...they got you too, huh?

Yeah. [He nods. Caesar doesn't seem too bothered by the whole thing in general, but...] It was, uh... an experience.

[Since he doesn't seem too bothered by it, Katara's not going to feel any shame in asking further.] Was it... someone you knew? From your world, I mean?

[The only thing she won't get is a name—Caesar doesn't care what anyone thinks of him, but it could be bad for Senel since, you know. Married and all.]

Not from my world, but I've met them before. They probably know me better than I know them, though. [He tilts his head.] They knew me from the last time I was apparently here.

Huh. [At this point she's only curious. She's not going to push to find out who it is.] Did it feel like... you'd always been in love with them?

[Sadly for Caesar's sake, Katara hasn't actually had a chance to talk to anyone else about this.]

[Action, Voice] .006

[voice -> Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]