Whoa, slow down.

[alphatar]

Characters: Bart, Jim, Korra, Zatanna, Zuko, Closed;
Dates: Late January
Locations: Various
Situations: Various
Warnings/Rating: N/A

((Kind of a mini-catch all for the end of January.))

Comments

Bart; 22nd

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The function many of the restaurants and food vendors had organized in the Earth Sector was something Korra caught wind of while she was grocery shopping earlier that day. Wasting no time in returning, she was met with one of the squares being cordoned off just for the miniature event.

Paying the small fee to get in, was handed a tray and she was planning on going to each stall set up to try the samples of their trademarked dish. For a much cheaper fee than their menu price, she bought a few bowls to add on to her tray.

It wasn’t long before she had to stop to eat and look around, deciding on which one to go to next. Though the way it was going, she would more likely smell her way there. Making her way through the crowd to one particular stall that had mini-burgers, or at least the kedan equivalent, she had to squeeze in to be practically elbow to elbow with a boy his age with red hair.

"Sorry. I’ve never had these before."

Let me know if this works

[backinakidflash]

Balancing all of the samples on one tray was an art. It really took a delicate touch - and concentration - to stand two of the tiny burgers on their sides, leaning against a bowl of noodles. Bart, understandably, hadn't noticed the girl trying to make her way to the food until he was jostled to the side.

His tray tipped over and spilled - or did it? The food had suddenly stopped toppling, as if the tray was made out of food magnets. In reality, Bart had caught the falling food, but it looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Pizza? Cheese-a?) had suddenly made up its mind to right itself.

With an audible sigh of relief, Bart looked up to find out who had bumped into him. It's just a girl. Whew. He'd been worried that it was one of the merchants, flagging him on getting too much food. This was a light snack. "Hey. Sorry about that. I didn't realize I was blocking the whole spread."

Operating on his standard looks human enough/is a foreigner equation, he assumed that she must be new to the city. She seemed familiar-ish, but everyone looked familiar-ish when someone did as many circuits of the city as he did. He can't free more than a pinkie to wave at her. "Dunno if we've met yet. Bart Allen."

He was pleasant enough in the intro. After all, he couldn't blame her for wanting to get to the front. Everything smelled fantastic.

Oh yes~ o/

[alphatar]

Not often did food portions make Korra do a double take, but she had to when she saw just how much food he had on his. Hers was even half as full, and that was saying something since she had more than most. Having all of it not fall over was pretty impressive.

No, wait. There it went-

No. Maybe not.

Korra blinked and looked over to him. All the food she ate she worked off every day, enjoying the burn, and she could only imagine what his exercise regimen must have been.

Giving a grin, she managed a return waggle with her thumb.

"Korra. I don’t think we have, I’d remember an appetite like that." Teasingly said as she paid to get some of the tiny burgers onto her tray. Well, on to the food on her tray. They seemed fit nicely on top of her breaded fish.

"So Bart, did you just arrive?" It’s a question she had come to ask about foreigners she hadn’t met. Usually she was right on the money with it, much like she had been when she met Pike. Everyone in a while, there was the new arrival that didn’t post to the network and kept to themselves.

Not that he seemed that way, but it didn’t hurt to ask. Did it?

fail tagger. I'm sorry

[backinakidflash]

"Nice to meetya, Korra." He only chuckled at the comment about his appetite. Bart will have no trouble finishing off his plate, and he might even have room for seconds. He could do without, if need be, and supplement the calories with speed-force energy, but he's worried about living off that. The Turtle powered that. The food - well, he tried to eat fish a lot, so long as it looked and tasted like fish sticks.

The merchant was looking at him expectantly. Oh, right. Payment. He should do something about that. The tray was so full and delicately balanced that he was afraid to take either hand away. He could ask the merchant to take his w- no. Maybe Korra w- no. What if he sat his tray on hers and - ugh, no. It would smush her food. Nobody liked flat burgers. Finally, Bart settled for wedging half the tray onto the counter, jostling several dishes and earning him a disgusted look from the kedan, and balancing it out with his thigh. After digging the money out of his pocket and paying, he picked up the tray once more.

Bart looked around for a good place to sit. If he had to pay for something again, there was a strong chance that he'd be feeding the floor in the process. Time to eat. "Hm? No, I'm not new. I've been here like... nine months almost."

He made a face at the mental calculation of his time here. "That just keeps getting worse to say, doesn't it?"

Don't even sweat it~

[alphatar]

Seeing him finagle his wallet out was quite the spectacle and Korra watched with growing amusement, though she was fully prepared to just offer to pay if this ended badly. She fought the temptation to give some small applause once he managed it.

"I sure hope not. That’s about how long I’ve been here." The coincidence made her raise her eyebrows as she worked her way around a large kedan to secure seats at one of the tables. As soon as she had her tray, Korra had a mini-burger in her mouth and another waiting in one of her hands.

"I can’t even tell you how happy I am to tell someone how awesome this is compared to the rationing we had to go through without having to explain it. And it looks like you could appreciate that too." How she could even speak somewhat clearly while her mouth was full was probably a family secret; or she could just be food monster.

[backinakidflash]

"Huh. I must've missed it when you showed up. I was a little distracted with the whole welcome-to-another-planet-kidnappee routine," Bart said as he followed her to the table and sat across from her, because why not? She hadn't said he couldn't join her for lunch. "Or maybe it was the other way around, in which case you're totally forgiven. Getting here was a shock. Rationing made me miserable - I eat a metric ton. Figuratively. Then there was the depowered thing so. Yeah. I think you can get how we missed each other."

It's impressive how well she enunciated with an entire burger in her mouth. Hopefully, Korra had a strong stomach when it comes to other people's eating habits, because Bart started into his food with a speed that appeared to make choking not only a concern, but an eminent one. He tore through the burgers on his plate and was halfway through some sort of meat on a stick before he came up for air. He had the grace to swallow, though. Mrs. Garrick was very keen on things like that, and he picked up a good habit - well. Maybe he was dusting a forgotten good habit off because: girls.

Bart eyed the meat stick suspiciously. "I think. I just ate squid."

[alphatar]

Of course she didn’t mind him sitting with her, not when they were in the middle of a conversation. Food and company went hand in hand as far as Korra was concerned. Wincing only slightly at the mention of the depowering, she nodded as she bit into a honey buttered bun. That had been an ordeal, one she hated to dwell on too much.

Watching Bart eat actually made her slow down. Not because she was disgusted, but because she found it hard to look away from. Suddenly her shrimp eating contest with Bolin seemed, tame.

"Really?" She looked at the meat stick and made a mental note to keep an eye for it when she went to go buy seconds, as if seconds would even be in question. Then something clicked as she finished her second burger and bread bun. "The depowered thing got you too?" Losing her bending had cost her quite a bit back then, and now she was wondering if it ended up hurting Bart somehow too.

Zatanna; 19th

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With two days of work under her belt after moving in to her new suite and sliding back into the groove of her old schedule, Korra usually had a night free to herself and this week it just so happened to be Sunday. But she wasn’t feeling like being home by herself, and there was a perfectly good excuse not to in Zatanna’s offer to watch a movie with some ice cream.

Grabbing a few snacks of her own, Korra took Naga out to the Wood Sector and knocked on Zatanna’s door. It didn’t even hit her to check to see if she was there before leaving her suite, but too late now. She’d find out one way or the other.

[backwordscompatible]

By some stroke of luck, Zatanna was...not in right then.

But she did come walking up to her door about seven or eight minutes later, shopping bag in hand and look of faint surprise upon finding a certain Avatar standing on her doorstep.

"...Korra?"

[alphatar]

Not wanting to go home, Korra knocked and waited a few minutes before knocking again. It wouldn’t make her suddenly open the door, obviously she wasn’t in or she was asleep. On her last knock, she thunked her head against the door.

Then she heard her name and turned around.

"Hey." She held up her own bag of snacks to compliment the ice cream. "You mind doing a late showing?"

[backwordscompatible]

Caught off guard, yet pleasantly surprised, Zatanna took a moment to absorb what was happening. Then she grinned.

"Not at all. I've got just the movies." The door was locked magically, so it took a quick spell and a wave of her hand for it to open. The Wards protecting her Keelai home shimmered upon close examination. Korra had a pass, though, so it wouldn't affect her. "Come on in. You can put that stuff down on the table. Just give me a few to get settled, alright?"

[alphatar]

That shimmer caught Korra’s eye, but she could only look at it for a moment before following in after Zatanna. Staying outside, Naga rested her head on her front paws and closed her eyes.

"Sure, take your time." Happy to be somewhere else, Korra set her bag on the table and fwumped right onto the couch. The Wood Sector suites were one of Korra’s favorites and were it not for her being so home at Metal and living next door to Asami, she’d probably move.

Then that thought stopped, purposely, and she began to take the snacks from her bag. Crisps, chocolates, cookies, and drinks of the carbonated variety.

[backwordscompatible]

"I'm glad you're feeling better."

A casual comment, called out over her shoulder, as she headed into the kitchen. Disappearing from view, but still within range, should Korra find the need to respond back. Even then, only for a few minutes before she was back. Eyeing the snacks with approval.

"I'm guessing there's no point in asking if you wanted to order something for dinner tonight." With a haul like that, they'd both be fully spoiling their appetites.

Zuko; 24th

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After talking with Zuko about just what to do about Aang learning firebending, Korra went up to her second floor to put the stray boxes that were in the practice area into the meditation room. The home gym in her other room had everything unpacked as well, but still needed to be sorted.

The practice area was her main concern. Unlike her previous suite in ME-2B, there weren't any burn marks on the floor and that was going to change today. Standing over the trigrams painted in the center, Korra briefly wondered if she should just take Naga to see if he got lost.

That's when she heard the knock downstairs, and the ensuing loud bark of her polar bear dog.

"Hush, Naga. Zuko's a friend." She paused and looked slightly confused at her animal companion. Even meeting Toph and Aang didn't shake how odd that kind of thing sounded.

"Glad you didn't have any problems." How long it takes to get from Fire to Metal is something Korra's pretty aware of, but she doesn't rib him any more than that. Actually, she was kind of impressed. Most people have a hard time navigating the city for the first month.

"I got everything good to go upstairs." Going from the coffee table with a couple of books topped with a scribbled notebook, couch, plush chair, console desk with its own spinny chair, and a huge happy mass of white fur that was sniffing in their direction; the living area of her first floor was fairly basic.

She motioned her head for him to come in. "Need some water? I know it can be a walk."

[sizzle]

It hadn't been the easiest journey in the world, but after spending so much of his life traveling around the world by sea, making his way through a city wasn't that difficult either. Admittedly, he'd had to stop and ask for directions more than once on his way over, and it had definitely taken him a good deal more time than it would have taken Korra riding over here on Naga, but he'd done it.

It was the little things in life that proved you weren't a total failure of a person.

He was trying not to look too ruffled after trekking all the way across turtleback either, and was glad Korra hadn't pulled his stunt of waiting right at the door, because it meant he had some time between when Naga started barking and when Korra actually opened the door to stop looking somewhat startled by the polar bear dog's less than friendly greeting.

Without any sign that the barking had actually bothered him, Zuko followed Korra inside, taking a quick look around to see how the new Avatar happened to have settled into her life here.

"I'll be fine. I've walked further than this without any."

Or ridden an animal further than this anyway. Not needing water was a stupid thing to try to sound tough about, but it was true... he'd done some fairly extensive stints of time between drinks in the past, and more or less came out of those situations okay.

[alphatar]

After being told Zuko was a friend, a word Naga knew very well, she only sniffed in his general direction without getting up from laying next to the stairs; where Korra was headed. On the second step she turned her back to look at him.

"Then you've only got a a few more steps to go. Come on."

When she got to the top she grabbed one of the two water bottles she had brought up, half frozen to keep the cold. "There if you want it." said right before she took off the cap and drank from hers. Her boots clapped on the stone flooring as she made her way to the center over the trigrams.

The open space of the practice area was enough to throw someone, hard, without them hitting a wall. If there was one thing Korra took seriously, it was her bending training.

"Want me to skip the basics?" She didn't see a need for that since they were talking about teaching Aang.

[sizzle]

She might be ignoring him, but as he followed Korra to her training room Zuko kept stealing glances at the polar bear dog. This didn't seem like the right climate for an animal like Naga, so did the Avatar bring Naga over from their world?

Questions for later, for now he had to concentrate on the task at hand. Zuko gave a short nod of acknowledgement at the water bottle and a quick, "Thanks." before following her further into the room.

"And no. If you're going to be teaching the Avatar before you, I need to know that you understand all the basics." She might not see the need for them, but as far as Zuko was concerned they were the most crucial element here. He knew she understood firebending, he saw that on his first day here, but considering she was going to have to start with the basics for Aang? He wanted to make sure she had this down.

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Looking slightly put out, Korra took a moment sigh and nodded.

"Yeah, all right. Basics." Said dully as she began with a small flame in her hand, and moving it to the other. It grew in size, illuminating the room with an orange glow before she brought it back down to its original size and then doing the same with her other hand. From there she continued with small flames around her arms and bending them away from making taking with the floor as she brought them upwards and downwards fluidly, though fast.

Gradually the fires grew larger as she went through the basic katas, expertly performed and without any hesitation in between executions. Stopping right before going into an advanced form, Korra placed her hand in her fist on the last one and bowed.

Only with the basics is fire not to touch anything or anyone, so her floor was spared from being marked black by her flames like her last suite had been.

"Maybe I can show you the pro-bending fighting style later. You might like it. So what do you think, Prince Zuko?" He made her go through the basics, so she was set to dig back just a little.

[sizzle]

It was a hassle to have to go back to the basics when you were capable of so much more, but as far as Zuko was concerned this wasn't about Korra showing off her abilities to prove what sort of advanced techniques she might know. This was all about making sure she was a competent enough firebender to be able to show Aang what he needed to know in order to become a firebender himself until he could learn to accept Zuko as a teacher.

The entire time Korra performed her demonstration Zuko stood back with his arms crossed and face scrunched up in that vaguely moody way that seemed to have become his default expression over the past few years. She was definitely good enough at this, and while he didn't know how she would be as an actual teacher he was she'd at least be able to show Aang what he needed to do.

There was a small twitch in his good eye at the way she stressed the word Prince. It might be the right title for him at his point in the timeline, but he wasn't dumb enough to think that's why she was calling him that. His tone of voice was just a little more aggressive than necessary when he responded.

"Good enough, but save your pro-bending for later."

He still didn't fully comprehend that whole thing, but it seemed to be something everyone from the future was really into (if Mako and Korra were anything to go off of). He shifted into a defensive stance, arms raised and ready to fight Korra. It might not have been the way she meant to show off her moves, but it'd give him a better idea of what moves Korra favored and was more confident with.

"Right now, I want to see what sort of real combat you can show the Avatar."

Jim; 27th

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Having Jim come to pick her up to go have some actual fun for once was a good idea now that she was back into the swing of things. Korra sat on the hood of her satomobile outside of her new suite, which wasn’t that far from her old one, and selected the next song on her music player. It had taken her a while to get used to her Christmas gift, but Korra usually had her earbuds in now that she got it down.

Heels bouncing off the tire in tune with the beat of the song, which was by Mamie Smith according to the little back lit screen. When she saw the red Stingray turn the corner, Korra hopped off her satmobile and tucked the player in her pocket and waved at Jim. Smiling, happy, buoyant; all the things Korra wasn’t when they last spent time together.

[jirk]

It was a good change to see, honestly, and Jim grinned to see it as he pulled up beside her, leaning across the car's interior to push open the passenger side door. "Look at you," he said with due affection. "Having a good day?"

[alphatar]

Beaming at the affection, Korra got into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. "Yeah, but I'm ready to have a great one instead." Yanking the earbuds out, she tucked them away with the music player. She's had her music all morning, and she wanted to hear one of the songs Jim's car played; maybe it would come on during their drive.

"I'm totally ready for this since I think I lost some things when I moved suites."

[jirk]

"How do you have enough stuff to lose?" It was something of a novel thought. Jim didn't really do the weird accumulation of stuff that people from other times or cultures seemed to. He had... things in his suite, but the only items he really considered himself to own was his car, his clothes, and Kyle's artwork. Well, maybe they shared custody of that.

Also? It was good to see her using the music player. Just like he wasn't big on stuff, he'd also never been very good at gifts. This one, at least, seemed to have hit its mark.

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"I have stuff!" said as straight faced as she could with her cheeks turning slightly pink. Some of that stuff she had to rescue from almost being opened by Asami when she was helping the Avatar unpack. "I have some clothes I like to wear around the suite when it’s just me. Well, had."

When that song did come on, Korra turned it up a little. "What’s this one?" Even though it was a little harsh on the ears, she was fond of the chorus.

[jirk]

That earned an upwards quirk of his eyebrow. "'Stuff' is code for 'sex toy' these days?" Sorry Korra, he has prior teasing rights on this subject. The blush just made it all the more obvious.

To the query about the song, he flips her a small data case with a holographic tracklist. It's an old AC/DC album. Because of course Thor George Kirk listened to Thunderstruck.