tampered | baby ballbuster

[ Nighttime, check. Recurring insomnia, check. By now he's given up on fighting it, dressed, and headed out. Middle of the night is his happy-hour, after all. Maybe he'd find something to fight. Or maybe he'd visit that afterhours club one of the exotic dancers Underground had told him about before Hei had disappointed her so by saying Thanks and heading home alone. Without leaving a tip. Or maybe, just take a stroll, enjoy sidewalks that aren't clogged with humanity but dotted with monsters and grifters like him. ]

[ He doesn't have a set agenda. But it doesn't matter. He's well-versed with the Underground's routes and rhythms by now. Tonight the place feels like a notorious stage, a backdrop for drama and possibility. He looks calmly into the faces of people he passes by. Stops in the glare of red light from a sex store, ostensibly to check out the wares, but really to study his surroundings in the glass. The night is cool and crisp, like it's gathering a filigree of frost on his skin. Mist seems to lace the sidewalk, radiate off the brick buildings. ]

[ Unsavory atmosphere, check. ]

[ Hearing the clamor of shouts -- catching a whiff of smoke -- Hei glances around. It seems to be coming from the bar where Korra bounces. He shakes his head. Routine barfight, doublecheck. After a moment's pause, he drifts toward the entrance. Normally he wouldn't bother. But by now he's fallen into the habit of keeping tabs on Korra. (Strange, isn't it, how making room for another person, like Yin, like Pai, is easier than it seems?). No harm in determining what's going on. ]

[What's going on is an angry, miserable, terrified little girl is being passed around the crowd. Nobody plans on really hurting her (they all know that curses end and none of them want to deal with an angry grown up Korra) but none of them can resist a little light-hearted torment.

Except it's not so light-hearted for Korra. She's never been helpless like this before. Her demands don't stop them. Her bending doesn't stop them. She's even tried biting them and all they do is laugh.

She doesn't know where she is. She doesn't know where her parents are. She's completely at the mercy of these big, scary looking strangers.

In the end, all she can do is cry -- great, big, choking sobs.]

[ In a split-second's cognitive dissonance, Hei doesn't recognize Korra. His first assumption is that a brat's wandered into the bar, and the crowd is indulging in a bit of free fun. Puerile, but ultimately not his concern. He's ready to quit the scene -- except there's something familiar in the pitch of the child's sobs. He regards her closer through the haze of cigarette smoke and dim lighting. Recognition prickles down his spine. ]

[ Korra. Of course. Who else would it be? ]

[ She always seems superimposed in the bar's grungy ambience. But now it's so insanely pronounced. Just a child. ]

[ Hei watches for a second more, mutters a quiet curse, then reaches a decision. He reaches out, his palm splayed against the closest wall. On an abrupt powersurge, the bar's lights flicker on a dull zzzt before the room shutters into perfect darkness. Except Hei already has a snapshot of its periphery, of the positions of its patrons. In the ensuing commotion -- "Heyyyy - What the fuck?!" -- "Who turned the lights off?!?" -- it's easy to dodge and weave between the crowd. Korra may feel herself encircled into a stranger's grasp, then lifted and carried out the back. She's light as a featherduster, and Hei shakes his head as he bears her swiftly through the alley and out to the pitted road a few blocks away from the bar. ]

Good thing possession is 9/10s of the law.

[Korra shrieks as the lights suddenly go off and she's grabbed by yet another person who starts running. She's too tired for words, or to do anything more than cry louder. Her parents have to be here somewhere. Her mommy has to come rescue her soon. She has to.

She doesn't look up until the man carrying her speaks. His voice sounds familiar. Her tears dissolve into occasional choked gasps as she stares at him.]

[ Achilles heel, thy name is Pai. The thought surfaces without humor. It's the only reason he keeps helping Korra, isn't it? Or is it -- the idea sinks its claws into his mind and won't be torn loose -- is it that his hideous career has so warped him against humanity -- against the deceptions and pantomimes so typical of adult relationships -- that he gravitates only to sympathizing with children and innocent fools? In a world where actual innocence is rare as a black diamond, maybe he's fetishized and pedestalized it. Everyone wants what they'll never have, after all. ]

[ He doesn't want to think about it. ]

[ Under the circle of a streetlamp, he sets Korra on the bench. At least she's stopped crying, but anguish still oozes from her wide wet eyes. He crouches before her, hands set lightly on her shoulders. ] Hey. [ Firm, but edged with patience. ] You all right?

[She doesn't feel safe exactly, but the situation has become less overwhelming. One person on a quiet street is easier to handle than a noisy crowd of strangers.

She sniffles and coughs and wipes her eyes. She's a big girl now, and big girls don't cry.]

I want my mommy.

[She remembers him now. He was the one Mommy asked to look after her last time, the guy who fed her and took her to the zoo. He'll know where her parents are.]

[ In the beats between which Korra settles down, Hei scrubs a tired hand through his hair. While he doesn't feel particularly sweet or benign, he knows it's important to project a semblance of it for Korra. He's done it enough times for Pai. And, once upon a time, he'd tasted fear just as sharp as this little girl has. Kids remember a lot of shit. ]

[ I want my mommy. He exhales and bites the inside of his cheek. Someone else might say it's unfair to lie to a child with perfect impunity. But Hei lies to everyone with impunity. If it worked once, it'll work the second time. ] She had to go for the weekend. But she left me -- and a few nice people [ Her roommates. He has to return her to her roommates. ] to look after you.

[ A moment's hesitation, then: ] You remember me, don't you?

[An older child might have questioned the lie. Why would her mother leave her in a place full of dangerous people? Why wouldn't she tell Korra where she was going? Hand Korra to Li directly? How did they even get to this place that is so very different from home?

But Korra's young enough that these questions don't occur to her. She takes his words at face value, and nods in response to his question.]

Ostrich horses.

[She means "unicorn," but she's forgotten their name, as well as his.]

Saturday - closed to Hei

Saturday - closed to Hei \^^/

Saturday - closed to Hei <3

Saturday - closed to Hei <333

Saturday - closed to Hei <333

Saturday - closed to Hei <333

Saturday - closed to Hei <333

Saturday - closed to Hei <333

Saturday - closed to Hei <333

sunday - back with housemates

open

open

open

open

open

open

threadjack?

always!

sunday - back with housemates

sunday - back with housemates

sunday - back with housemates

sunday - back with housemates

sunday - back with housemates

sunday - back with housemates

sunday - back with housemates