i'm the avatar and you gotta deal with it!

[anatural]

When; Saturday, October 6
Rating; PG
Characters; Korra (anatural) & Li (mortemscintilla)
Summary; Korra is suddenly a baby for the day. She sneaks out the apartment and is found by Li.
Log; She woke up that morning in a strange room, with a strange girl. She covered her mouth to stifle a scream. Where was she? Where were her parents?

Carefully...very, very carefully...she slid out of the bed. It was like sneaking out to steal some jerky after bedtime. If her White Lotus teachers could see her now, they wouldn't say she was brash & reckless.

She made it out of the apartment and onto the street. This. This wasn't the South Pole.

She'd been focused before on her goal -- getting out of the apartment & finding her parents (or Master Katara) -- but the shock of these unfamiliar surroundings was too much for her. A few blocks away from the apartment, she curled up in a corner and burst into huge, ugly sobs.

Comments

[anatural]

[Korra just hollers her approval. WHEEEEEEEEEE!

She takes a deep breath and tries to airbend, but nothing happens. She pouts.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He tips his head back, focusing on her little face upside-down. ]

Something wrong?

[anatural]

[melting]

I can't do it.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Perfect innocence. ]

Can't do what? Use one of your powers?

[anatural]

Airbending. I can do water and fire and earth but I can't do air.

[This vexes her. Greatly.]

[mortemscintilla]

Is that so? [ All he's seen her do is air-bend. Yet she'd admitted that, back home, Amon stole her powers. Was it, then, a mental block she suffered from? Or was it the loss of her other powers that had propelled her mastery of the final one? He can only speculate. ] Well, give it time. If you can make fire-storms and ice-showers, it can't be long before you air-bend too. [ Privately, he suspects Korra -- child and adult -- needs teachers. These seem like the type of powers that blossom to their fullest with careful cultivation and focus. ]

[anatural]

Master Katara says that too.

[She doesn't sound convinced. Her firebending master says airbending is all about spirituality and she's no good at that.]

[mortemscintilla]

Is 'Master Katara' usually right about these things?

[ Interesting, this window he's getting into Korra's world. All the names and terms she's tossing around as if they're common knowledge. He tucks them all away for future leverage. ]

[anatural]

Master Katara knows everything! [said with blithe confidence, as though she hadn't just doubted the older woman's wisdom a moment ago]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Child-logic. A curious thing, despite its frequent forays into the irrational. ]

Then I'm sure she's right about this too. You just need to be patient. [ One-handed, he opens the swinging doors of a bistro. The lady at the counter smiles at them. To passersby, they probably look like siblings. A perfect cliche of siblings. Better than parent and child, he decides. At the display, he directs Korra's attention to the dessert tray. ] Interested in anything?

[ Cake for breakfast? Why the hell not. It all probably seems new to her. ]

[anatural]

Ooooooooooooooooh.

[She presses her face against the glasses and stares at the weird looking foods.]

What is that ?

[mortemscintilla]

Cakes. [ He pauses. Adds, for the sake of clarification, ] They're sweet. [ An easy smile and some choice words, and he's convinced the server to scoop out a sample for Korra. Her older self expressed an aversion for desserts. If the child was similar, he'd stick to getting her bacon-&-eggs with a serving of lychee juice. ]

Here. [ Proffering a thin cake-slice cradled in a napkin. ] Have a bite.

[anatural]

[She takes a bite and immediately spits out out on Hei's shirt.]

BLECH!

[mortemscintilla]

[ Ugh. Outwardly his face betrays nothing. But his smile is a touch too fixed. Don't punish children. Not in public. ] Don't like it, huh? [ The servers are giving Korra simpering, how-cute smiles. Ignoring them, he places Korra's order with a tall glass of lychee juice. And a jumbo-special for himself. He's going to need all the fodder he can get. ]

[ And all the patience. ]

[anatural]

[Korra kicks her legs impatiently while they wait for their food to arrive]

Where'd Mommy go?

[mortemscintilla]

[ He glances up from dabbing the cake spit-up on his shirt. ]

I told you. She had some errands to run. But she'll be back soon. [ Proffering distractions with a gentle smile. ] In the meantime, we can check out the unicorns in the Zoo. And let you practice your bending in the City Limits. How's that sound?

[anatural]

[Distract Korra: success!]

What's a unicorn?

[mortemscintilla]

It's [ of all the inane conversations 'Li's had ] a horse with wings. And a long horn on its forehead. It glows and has magic powers. [ and only virgins can see it, but that's besides the point. ]

[anatural]

[She laughs.]

Ostrich horses don't have horns!

[He's so silly!]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Ostrich horses? He'll never get used to the words she throws around. Are all animals hybrids in her world? Not that he's one to judge. By all rights, he had a talking cat for a colleague. ( He can almost hear Mao's indignant snarl: Not a talking cat. A Contractor stuck in a cat's body. ) ]

[ Mao would've been useful right now. He was always a people-person. ]

These ones do. You'll see. You can even pet them and take them on rides. [ Hei isn't privy to petting or seeing. Tragic. ]

[anatural]

You're lying.

[There's a laughing disbelief in her voice]

[mortemscintilla]

Uh-uh.[ He shakes his head, summoning the perfect Mysterious Gaze. ] Just you wait. There's all sorts of funny things here.

[ One of which includes the breakfast-trays sliding on their table. Benignly, he hands Korra a spork. Eat up, kiddo. Or, y'know. Just use your hands. He's not judging. If anything, he's already feeding himself with two. ]

[anatural]

[Korra stares at the spork, and then at Hei. She watches him eat and then imitates him.

Being one very hungry little Avatar, she finishes the whole plate in short order.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Done already? Impressive. Especially considering Hei eats like a stoner with a case of perpetual munchies. His own plates are neatly polished and piled to one side, the orange juice downed in two gulps. ]

Up for seconds? [ He always is. Don't ask. ] Or should we head to the Zoo now?

[ The more played-out she is by midnight, the better. ]

[anatural]

ZOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!