markofthebrave | [Voice, Action... of a sort] .010

Aang didn't come out for breakfast today. When I went in his room to check on him, all his stuff was gone. ...I guess this means he went home, right?

And all the stuff in the kitchen is different - does anyone know how they're supposed to work? ~~Or how they got in here without waking us up, because -- seriously, creepy.~~

[Filtered to Longshot 60%]
Hey - haven't seen you around in a while. How are you doing?

[Filtered to Erza 62%, OPEN to Gaang members]
Hi, Erza! I've got a few questions about magic, and you're the only one I know here who does it. Do you mind?

[Filtered to the Green Lantern 62%]
John Stewart, the Green Lantern. I spoke about it with my brother, and we decided that we were more comfortable if you didn't bring us up.

[As for action? Katara is not going very far today. In fact, she is stuck inside, doing healing sessions with the invalid and making sure he stays in bed, and trying to figure out how all this crazy new stuff works. If you think she'd open the door for you and let you in, feel free to stop by and give the girl ~~something else do~~ a helping hand!]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Your healing water works on colds?

...[She doesn't laugh. She won't laugh. But her lips quirk up enough so that he can tell she's swallowing the laughter back by a force of will.]

Sokka. Be serious! This isn't normal!

Oh yes. Because flying bisons, moving water with your hands, traveling to the spirit world, getting wings on your back, talking animals, and giant invisible barriers are perfectly normal.

[Sigh... He can imagine that it's a pretty big adjustment, especially from...being attacked by it. Still...]

Guess it's not a need so much as a convenience. Plus some people might be more used to this set-up than others.

[And Katara freezes once again, midway to grabbing her own cup after pouring Ginko his. Come on, Ginko, you're destroying the sacred rite of 'no disturbing topics over tea.' It doesn't last long, quick as a blink she's moving back again, staring into her tea.]

I guess. That's what everyone says happens.

[Hmm. She seems to recall using this particular argument on him a few times. Oh well. She still won't give in!]

Which just goes to show how strange it is!

[She shrugs.] I don't know. I've never tried it.

[Oh well. He figures she'll come around on her own and she's not emotional about it or anything. It's no longer his problem.]

Well. The whole last year has been one series of strange events for me. I'm going to embrace it and see what else this stuff does. I think I saw these other big suspicious boxes in that storage closet next to my room.

[He defies social convention that way, honey.]

It's a pretty sure thing-- enough people have come back from it to verify the signs. So...[he watches her face carefully] he's home now, doing his job with all of you-- just as it should be.

Fine. Don't try to stick your head in anything.

[She's going to stalk over to the front door and pause. Because she can't leave. And now even her house feels less safe than before - there's lighting in the walls. Her hands tighten into fists at her sides as she glares at the door, hard.

Fine. It wants to be like this? Fine. She is not going to let get to her. She won't be afraid of her own house. Katara stalks right back into the kitchen and plugs the toaster back in. It's about time she forced herself to eat something anyway. Might as well find out how this works.]

...you mean worlds exist with this kind of thing as normal?

Heh. Well, I'm willing to be a guinea pig for that kind of thing. If it doesn't work, company is always nice.

Yeah. Like I said, back home just about everyone's got electricity.

[...was that supposed to be comforting, Ginko? Her hands tighten on the mug.]

How can he be off doing that if we're still here?

[That last word is ripped out of her very gut, rough and raw and full of pain. What if Aang is back, but he has no one to be with him? What if he's just -- frozen somewhere, waiting for them to get back, to come and free him again? She stands up abruptly.] How can he be gone if we're still here!?

[He watches her reaction, expressionless-- then he leans forward, tone imperturbably calm.]

Time is a tricky thing, Katara.

I've spent an hour on a boat before-- only to return to shore and find that three months had passed since I set foot there. And this world is nothing if not strange.

Everyone I've ever spoken to who has returned home before being caught here again has said the same thing: they returned as if no time has passed. [a pause, and then, bluntly] Aang isn't alone. The one who has to do the waiting is you.

...what do you... do with it?

Depends. It's used for lights, machines... basically a source of power.

I know that! [She sits down abruptly.] Don't you think I know that? I know I have to wait.

[Her hand is tightening very dangerously around that teacup now... she doesn't even notice that a little more pressure might make it crack. He's right, Aang probably won't even notice. He's not alone - there's just something funny with time. He's safe.

...and she already misses him so much it hurts.]

To be able to bend an element to your will must be a comforting thing. It must make you feel like you have control over some corner of the world, no matter how small.
[He puts a hand gently over that glass before it does crack.]

It's a hard thing, not having control. Not being able to just stop feeling something.

Don't expect so much of your own emotions.

Don't talk to me like you know me! [She might have been able to hear the rest but bringing her bending into it was unacceptable. She recoils from him... but leaves her hand there on that cup.] You don't know what I've been through or what my bending means to me -- you can't tell me what I can or can't feel.

I was doing just fine. [Please ignore that she's crying when she speaks. And also possibly trembling, just a little.]

Edited 2010-03-23 05:36 (UTC)

A source of power, huh? [Wryly.] Yeah... it is that.

[The single green eye that has seen bodies wrenched out of their natural forms, ten years of suffering and death and irreparable loss, takes on a strange gleam.] No, Katara-- I don't suppose I do.

[His voice doesn't lose a fraction of it's steadiness or calm. He gave her fair warning-- now she's going to have to deal with it until she asks him to leave.]

If that's the truth, then I'm sorry I've upset you so much. [But today, he doesn't rise to leave.]

[She nods, and still trembling reaches up with her free hand to wipe away her tears. It's not enough to calm her down, so she'll tug at the hand that's holding the tea cup. She wants a sip of tea.]

[He just smiles a little wryly, and pulls his hand back to lean on it-- saying nothing.]

[She manages to raise it up to her lips without spilling it and almost burns herself with how quickly she sips it down. Her trembling slows and only a few more tears leak out. Quietly, Katara lowers the tea cup again and stares straight ahead.

She's not dishonest enough to start making small talk or attempt to laugh this off... but she's too stubborn to just start talking again either. She can feel that's what he's waiting for.]

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