braavado | IC CONTACT (FOR HAVEN)

[SHE CALLED HIM BACK! HOW EXCITING! HIS MESSAGE ACTUALLY GOT TO HER!

He held his excitement in check long enough for her to speak and let the words actually settle in his brain. His voice was calm as he spoke into the phone and he was glad she couldn't see his face. It wasn't that he wasn't proud to be the Bridge, to be trusted with that self-imposed position by the Spirits... it was that he wasn't proud of why it happened. And that was tied so closely to his role that he couldn't easily separate the two in his mind.]

Thank you. I am proud of what I've accomplished. But I'm more proud of what I will accomplish. What I'll become in the lives after mine. Aang. And you. I've known you both a week and already you've both made me feel so much better about my choices. About whatever it is I go on to do.

[He paused, feeling self-conscious because it was basically him standing there complimenting himself. Sort of.]

Ah, there's going to be a party tonight in blocks 35 and 36. You should come. I'll be making the tea.

I...feel the same way about you and Aang. Before you guys got here, I felt so lost and confused, but after...I didn't feel as bad about the things that happened back home.

[And now she's perking up.]

Oh yeah, I heard Hinata and Morgan talking about it. I'm definitely gonna be there. Somebody's gotta make sure my friends aren't sitting around being mopey, right?

[There was a light laugh.]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I won't be. I haven't been to a party since I left the Spirit Oasis. I'm really curious how different it will be.

It sounds like they saved up a lot of food to share with everybody. Parties can be pretty fun.

[And then she'll grumble a little.]

As long as there aren't any reporters.

...what's a reporter?

[~~You should probably warn Clark you don't want him there.~~]

Someone who writes about the news, whatever's happening in one place. Republic City has a lot of them.

They don't always stick to the truth, though. Some of them just like kicking up a fuss to make the story more interesting.

Then they shouldn't be called reporters. They should be called storytellers.

People believe them, that's the problem.

[This is one of the things she's never been able to understand.]

It's also really common.

So...

[Wan gave that some thought before slowly replying.]

They use the trust people have in them to tell the truth, to spread lies instead? That's not right. Can't you stop them?

I think it's...more that people just want to gossip. They want to hear something interesting.

Not everyone cares if what the reporters are saying is true, so they mostly get away with it. I just avoid them when I can now.

Then they should make sure it's clear what the truth is and what it isn't. Interesting doesn't have to be a lie.

Tell that to the people in Republic City.

[There's an audible sigh.]

I don't think they trust me, either, because I've been out of the picture for so long.

Oh.

[That was not exactly the best thing to hear.]

I guess you'll be doing a lot of work to show them you can be trusted. That can be difficult, but you can do it.

[A pause as she searches for what to say. She doesn't really want to talk about the Equalists just yet.]

I'll try my best.

[Time for a change of subject, she thinks.]

Anyway...even if there are reporters, I think everyone here's too focused on Yao to pay attention to gossip like that.

I hope so. They didn't seem that focused on the day I arrived, but maybe that's changed. And we won't be holding hands there, so they probably won't have a reason to think we're attracted to each other like that again.

[Bright side. Bright side.]

Oh...yeah. [Suddenly remembering that this is a thing.]

People saw that, didn't they?

Yeah. I still find it odd. I mean, I don't hold hands with people a lot, but it's not like that means someone is attracted to someone else. Kids hold hands with their parents all the time.

Parents and their kids don't look like they're around the same age, either.

People probably just jumped to conclusions because of that.

But people who are attracted to each other, they don't really... do that. They walk close to each other, sure, but they don't touch like that. Not in public.

[Different era. Different sense of appropriate public touching.]

[Oh no, this conversation just took an awkward turn.]

Uh. Maybe it was like that...thousands of years ago. It's pretty normal for couples to hold hands like that, actually.

[Yeah. Very awkward.]

...what other kinds of touching do they do in public?

[Because holding hands was family or friends thing. Not a lovers thing. So if that had changed, what other touches had changed?]

Don't ask me. I'm pretty new to the...relationship thing, and to Republic City.

Hugging and sometimes kissing seems to be okay, though.

Do only lovers hug? Do family and friends still hug?

[Because they had hugged, too.]

Well, yeah! Friends and family still hug, too.

I guess it’s just more…normal for couples to show their affection now--why are we even talking about this?

Because people thought we were attracted to each other when they saw us hug the day I arrived.

[Clueless answer before he realized she was asking to change the subject.]

But we can talk about it later if you don't want to now.

Edited 2014-06-05 19:49 (UTC)

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