generalflirt | ~♥THIRTY-SIX♥~

~♥THIRTY-SIX♥~

[Voice // Filtered to Katara (mid-morning)]
I think now's enough time, don't you think?

[Action]
[And during the bulk of the day...! Masaomi's forgone most of his training for today other than some things on his wrists. On his left wrist (the one that until very recently was in a cast) has a weighted bracelet on, one kilo. That way, he can work it without switching himself up too much. On his right wrist is still Katara's bracelet. He's also still rocking the Bradstache. BuT more importantly!

...He's here to flirt with girls. He hasn't done it in a while, he's in just the sort of mood where he wants to do it again. So if you're in town and a pretty girl, he's liable to go and flirt with you. If you're a dude, well then you can witness him doing it. React to him, stand there to be reacted to? There's a lot of ways you can roll this]

[Voice // Filtered to Gold and Silver (evening)]
Hey guys, let's go play some Mario Party. [Assumption being he told Shikamaru already]

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[He leans back, thinking. He puts the pokedex in his pocket, glances at Linda, and then tugs at the weight on his left wrist. Buuut]

...If you're just going to the plaza to shop, I should come with you, by the way. Ikki-chan's orders.

[...]

What are you talking about?

Ikki-chan said I should take you out in some dates.

[He's prepated to whip out his journal and show you. Eyebrow arch!!]

She worries you don't have enough fun.

What?!

It's true! 100% true!

What have you been telling her!?

Noooothing, just how much I appreciate our friendship~

[He now bounces from one leg to the other, reaching into his jacket pocket for his journal. Just. In face]

And that made her decide you need to take me on dates?

[She's properly aggravated now.]

[Calmly... opening his journal. And flipping to that entry. Now to find where Ikki's reply was. And only... that reply...]

Eeeeh, I can't make her do anything, Katara? You're selling Ikki-chan a bit short!

[--selling Ikki-chan a bit short

Oh bring it.]

I didn't say you put a sword to her throat or tried to manipulate her - I questioned whether or not your talking about how much you "appreciated our friendship" was all that made her decide that you needed to ask me out on a date! What do you think I'm accusing you of!?

[You jerk, you horrible, horrible jerk, why does she put herself through these things for you if you won't accept the simple fact that she's not accusing you of being a terrible person! Why would she waste her time on and open her heart to someone she thought was completely unworthy? Why should she have to deal with these issues, your issues, issues she thought they'd settled on a stairway on top of everything else?

She scrambles to her feet, whether to properly yell at him some more or turn to go she's not yet decided.]

[Flip flip the pa---ge. Wait. Wait?]

Edited 2012-07-15 02:17 (UTC)

...Are you seriously mad that I'm making myself sound too bad?!

[blink. Blink blink blink.

Page turn. He's close now. Scrolling down the page]

[And also at the implication she'd underestimate her own granddaughter, but essentially--]

Yes!

[With a stomped foot, even.

And you know what? She's not dealing with this right now. Chew on that, she's turning on her heel and walking off.]

Edited 2012-07-15 02:20 (UTC)

[...

Oh fine. Here's the reply. He starts to follow behind Katara, holding up the book so it plays back this reply]:

I know a bit about his world, but not lots yet. It's too bad he didn't get to go, though. Does Katara still have the clothes you got her? Where'd you get money? Or did you keep it when you got here to begin with?

[...Shit he didn't want to play that part back. Oh well, too late now.]

Katara's my family, but she's not GranGran yet, 'cept I keep calling her that, 'cause she kinda is. I dunno - no one says how long she's been here, 'cept Smoker's been here two years and thinks she's been here longer than him, 'cause when I asked she just said "a long time", 'cause sometimes grown ups don't tell me things, but then some other grown ups do so I can usually figure it out anyway.

But y'know, GranGran is old and taught the Avatar and lives in the South Pole, and she's got a voice that's warm and old and she's patient and whenever we see her she'll give us hugs that are home even if they're not.

Katara hugs me like that, but she doesn't remember me being born or my sister or my brothers, and she remembers stuff GranGran wouldn't, and she says I can't have soda and candy 'cept sometimes like mommy would, and makes sure we always have enough veggies, and I help set the table and cook when I can, and she sleeps in all the time and I never knew GranGran did that, and she worries 'bout me 'cause she mentions things and talks 'round things that other people talk about.

Katara is Katara and GranGran is GranGran and they're the same but they're different, too. I really, really love them both.

[ Ikki trails off, humming, for a moment ] Oh! But, y'know, Katara should probably go on more all day dates. 'Cause she does almost all the shopping and stuff, and I'm gonna try to do more of it when I can, and I try to clean the vegetables and stuff, and I always clean up my room, but I think she should go do fun things more, too. 'Cause I do fun things, even though I do airbending training for a few hours a day, y'know?

Edited 2012-07-15 02:27 (UTC)

[Katara stopped walking when he started following her playing his journal. Ikki's voice deserves her attention and whatever point he's proving isn't one where she wants him to be advertising this while following her around.

She can't help but wonder what brought on this long analysis of the distinctions between herself and Ikki's "GranGran," but her heart is warmed when she hears that she hugs them in the same way, however small and humble and lost the rest of it makes her feel. Humbled, lost, and also loved.

...but when she hears the ending paragraph, Katara's jaw sets. She did work hard to provide a happy, healthy, clean and comfortable home for her family. She didn't work alone. She roped them all in on Cleaning Day and made sure to have help for the big things. Everyone contributed. That was the way a community worked. Play more? Be more fun?

It breaks her heart and it grieves her, because she works so that Ikki can see this as an option. Some people have been taken care of their entire life. Others move into caregiver positions far too early. And for Katara, the choice had already been made. It was a loss that she grieved, that she couldn't be fun, that they all thought her too serious and practical, the wet blanket.

But she was who she was. She couldn't take it back. And she chokes on a sob and she's irrationally angry at Ikki, who is speaking into things she has no knowledge and no concept of, whose vision of the world was so childlike that airbending training was the extent of her perceived personal responsibilities - and she was furious at Masaomi for seeking to use this against her.

So she waits. Until the message is done. And without looking back at him starts to walk away. She's tempted to break into a run, because she doesn't think she's going to be able to keep herself from crying further.]

[...Not quite the result he expected, but he rationalizes that Katara needed to hear that. It was necessary for her to understand Ikki's commentary so that she could move past it. So that she could grab her own happiness. He's tempted to say the line that he's been waiting to say this whole time... but now isn't he time. He'll say it later. Or he'll say it if she stops when she hears what he has to say next.]

Edited 2012-07-15 03:33 (UTC)

For the record, I admire your dedication! But I also love when we do fun things together, and it is for that selfish reason that I'm going to be seeking to do more of them with you from now on!

[That and he promised Ikki. He doesn't follow her more, he just calls this at her retreating form]

But in the realm of less selfish whims, when you want help, never hesitate to ask for me, because I will help!

[And he might help her even if she doesn't ask]

[No. Just no. The words are on her tongue to turn around and yell at him, but she won't do it. Not enough fun, huh? Seeking to do more of it?

No. She's not going to show him how much this hurts, and she won't bother putting down a blanket refusal right now because that would mean talking to him.

And she really doesn't want to do that. He thinks he can just - tear her down whenever he pleases, destroy the value of her life, call it perverse - and then offer to come in and fix it as if accepting help was all that she needed?

A sob does escape - and she stops walking for a moment, stands stock-still with both hands clenched into fists. She's trembling.

Her voice is very low:]

Walk away.

Edited 2012-07-15 03:45 (UTC)

[...If he walks away now, is it cowardice?

If he walks away now, are they friends?

He doesn't know the distinction, and that terrifies him. He knew going into this he was going to rip her to her core to force her to face some very necessary truths about her own happiness. He doesn't know if he succeeded. He doesn't know if he planted the seeds for him to see her smile. He wants to hope he did the right thing. When she's there, sobbing and trembling with something he knows is probably fury at him, he can't help but want to go up to her and hug her from behind. He really wants to do that.

I'm sick of being the bad guy all the time.

But no, he resolved that this role was necessary. Had he done anything else, she would have ignored him. Had he done anything else, the status quo would persist. And frankly speaking, the status quo will kill her. The status quo will swallow her alive. But it hurts to see her talking to him like this. It hurts to feel like he has to poke areas he didn't even know were there just to make any progress.

He didn't advance towards her. He doesn't bother to try to get in a last word. He just takes a sharp inhale of breath and then crouches down to sit there. None threatening, devoured by his own...

Shame?

It can't be shame, because he did the right thing here. He holds on to that: ultimately, what he has done, he has done for her, and it was the right thing.

Still, he's barely comforted as Linda races up to leap onto his back. He keeps looking at her back, but hopes she takes it as the sign he's not going to pursue her more. He... doesn't even know where he could walk now.

This sucks. Are they still even friends? He hates risking that.]

[He doesn't walk away. Which is unfortunate. Because neither does she.

It's not in her to take these kind of hits and not strike back. It's not her nature to allow someone to devalue her and her choices.

She doesn't want to rip in to him.

But yes, she does. He hurt her, deeply, in areas of her heart already broken.

She gave him a chance to walk away.

Slowly exhaling, her pride won't allow him to see the evidence of her pain so clearly on her face, so she bends away the tear trails before she turns around and walks back over to him.]

[He is, frankly speaking, only dimly aware of the fact she turned around. He's only dimly aware of the fact she's walking back over. He's still curled up in a ball on the ground, Linda now on his back. But.

Ah, Linda.

Mostly to occupy himself as he waits for what he probably deserves, he pulls out his pokeball to call Linda back into it. Better that she not be involved. She makes a noise of protest, but can't resist vanishing in a flash of red either]

[She stops a few feet away from him.

There are any number of ways to go about this.

How old were you when your parents split up?

When was the last time you had to worry about what you were going to eat?

Have you ever had to sit there and watch while the only other person your age in a village got to go off and play soldier while you were stuck doing laundry?

You have no right to judge me.

You've trampled over my preferences, attacked my friends, deliberately torn into my heart, attempted to shake my faith in the person I trust most in all the world, used my granddaughter against me, completely disrespected me, and in general proven that for all your stated intentions, the practical application of our relationship is one which will only bring both of us pain. And I'm tired of being hurt.]

I was eight when my mother died. She was killed in a Fire Nation raid.

[...Ah.

His eyes widen in his crouch. Did he know that? No, I didn't know. He knew that her mother meant a lot to her. He had guessed, by implication, that her mother was the one who supplied her with that necklace (her or her father, one of them, but this confirms which) but he had never-

The conversation they had on the bridge takes on a new dimension. He didn't know he had more tears left, but it turns out he does, because with his eyes wide more of them start to flow out on his hung head. Because he also comes to a realization. A realization opposite of the one he has had for the whole time he has known her, a realization which suddenly puts so many of their disagreements into context. He doesn't want to interrupt her with it though. He knows now though:

Wow, your world is awful too.]

[She doesn't want to dwell on her mother's death. She doesn't want to talk about how her mom gave up her life for hers - it's too painful and raw - and right now, too precious to trust him with. She doesn't want to dishonor her mom in order to make a point. She's just setting the scene. But she can't help one more comment-]

This is her necklace. She always wore it.

My GranGran was already old. My father was grief-stricken, and responsible for helping to rebuild the village. It was just me and Sokka. Dad made time for us when he could, and those were the best days. The other women of the village helped for a time, but they had their own concerns. I had to find a way to help them so that they could help us.

Do you want to know what a typical day was like?

[This is a pause, but this isn't an option. You're going to have to hear it.]

We'd get up at sunrise, stir up the fire, maybe there would be some leftover fish from the night before, or maybe we'd be working off the fat - it was my job to help cut it. Sokka and Dad would go out to hunt or fish, and I would stay home to clean. The making and mending of clothes is extremely important in the South Pole - too much exposure can quickly kill you. So I had to learn skinning and tanning and sewing, and find a way to do the same share that my mother would have done. At noon, in the warm part of the day, the men would come back and do work around the village. They would be hungry. We'd feed them.

Sometime after that Sokka and I might have a lesson with GranGran, or I'd be put in charge of babysitting while the women did more complex work and Sokka and Dad went out again. It was how I paid them back for doing the work that was too complex for me and GranGran.

[She pauses for a breath.]

Edited 2012-07-15 05:02 (UTC)

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