[OPEN] Catch his last thoughts...

[denyamenti]

Characters: Bakura & open~
Date: April catch-all log
Location: Various around Keeliai.
Situation: Mostly fallout from Bianca revealing his identity and dealing with that.

A. KEELIAI - DAYTIME;
After weighing the options in light of Bianca's announcement, Bakura had decided that for the time being, the best and most pragmatic route for him to take was to maintain Ryou's persona as long as there were people who seemed inclined to believe his facade. So he purposely didn't delineate from his routine, leaving his suite at the same time as he normally did, visiting the same shops during his errands. There were only two differences, neither of them immediately visible: first, concealed in his belt was a switchblade and second, he'd purposely left his deck in its case hidden in his suite. On the not-unlikely chance that someone might come after him out in the open, he would not risk the fragile cards being stolen or damaged in a place where replacing them seemed impossible. The Ring was tucked against skin beneath his shirt, the Bakura also stuck to high-traffic areas in which to make his daily routines, though frankly he was doubtful that would have as much impact around here as it might in a regular setting.

B. FIRE SECTOR - LATER IN THE WEEK;
Eventually however, the persona of his host simply becomes impractical to maintain because it isn't believed and so the thief, pragmatic as always, sheds it as a snake frees itself from old skin. So for those who might be used to seeing "Ryou" around the city, he appears as a far cry from the soft-eyed teen who speaks over the network. It's an entire shift of posture, now confident and even aggressive, the very way he carries himself while strolling around the Fire Sector. When he speaks, it's almost as though it's a different voice entirely; the vocal cords are the same but the accent, the phrasing, the inflection... all changed.

C. KEELIAI - FISH MARKET, WATER SECTOR;
As sea life provided the main source of food for the citizens of Tu Vishan, there was a never ending stream of kirin-drawn carts that trekked out to the shell's edge and back again, carrying barrels of fish and other marine creatures to be processed and sold across the city. This had led to a fairly sizable outdoor fish market in the southern part of the Water Sector, under tents and awnings for shade with many merchants and workers bustling about. The air was filled with rapid-fire numbers called as buyers bargained and haggled for what they wanted and the scent of salt and smoke where the meat was cured. It's a tight packed bustle that's ideal for going unnoticed and that in part was what drew Bakura there, in addition to not being so different from markets he remembered.

What he hadn't expected was to have gotten a job while he was there. It had been an offhand but dryly scathing comment as he'd passed by a stall owner trying to mend a net and doing it all wrong-- which Bakura hadn't hesitated to tell him. The result was an indignant well, you do it then if you're so clever followed by a begrudging concession when the offending hole was fixed in under a minute. The thief had done it more because he liked showing people up but the kedan had then followed it with an offer: he had crates and crates of stored nets, mostly in disrepair and if Bakura would work on them, he'd be paid per net. Given that he was most assuredly unemployed from Korra's dojo, it had been worth consideration. The offered wage quoted was quite low: only one juulan for every three nets, especially in comparison to the lavish wage of five juulan an hour that Korra had bestowed him for cleaning the dojo. But the pace was one he could set for himself and the kedan didn't seem to care that he was currently something of a pariah among the Foreigners, so he accepted.

So a few afternoons a week he finds himself sitting atop the dozens of crates stacked beside the main stall, tying and knotting fresh cord through the holes in the nets, seemingly content to be left alone by the shopkeeper and watch the busy crowds streaming back and forth through the tightly packed market.

Comments

FOR KORRA;

[denyamenti]

Part of maintaining his cover as Ryou until it was undeniably useless to him was to arrive on time for work at the dojo, beginning his usual cleanup of towels and other items to be laundered before moving on to sweeping and carrying the mats outside to be beaten free of dust. He fully expected the Avatar to confront him before too long and he'd choose what followed based on that.

[alphatar]

Arriving at the dojo, Korra stood outside the gate and tried to place everything Bianca had said on the network the previous day. Summoning some kind of horror monster, making death threats,

…making people forget things.

None of it fit Ryou at all, and yet Bianca had always been level headed; keeping the clinic and hospital running. A strength and warming quality that Korra only ever really got from her own mother.

The power ring in her pocket glinted green as she idly rolled it between her thumb and index finger. Korra wanted to believe Ryou, she’s been making sure he got paid well enough to take care of himself. Something she felt the need to when she saw his first post on the network. She sighed and opened the gate, looking inside the dojo when she got inside. Clean as it was every day. He wasn’t ducking out or hiding.

When she got to the office and set her bag with her workout clothes down, Korra went to lean on the door frame.

"You got a minute?" She called out to the empty dojo. They had time before they were open to everyone, and she wanted to talk to him before the usual students and teachers came in. Before anyone had the chance to try to do anything against Ryou. It was her dojo and she wouldn't let anyone get into a real fight if she could help it. Not unless she condoned it, or was a part of it.

[denyamenti]

Bakura emerged from the opposite doorway, holding the broom he'd been using. "Of course," he replied, affecting an unsure and nervous posture and soft tone habitual to his host.

[alphatar]

Seeing him made Bianca’s accusation seem ridiculous, but she had seen her uncle’s betrayal; his lie of believing in her. When she was sure no one else actually placed their trust in her.

"Bianca’s pretty sure that she encountered you in an alleyway with some kind of monster. Is any of it true?" Korra’s normal form of interrogation’s a lot more physical, but she doesn’t know exactly where she stood and whose story made more sense.

Yet.

[denyamenti]

"I know she is," he agreed unhappily, spreading his hands as though to show that he had nothing to hide. Bakura had always been a keen observer of body language and communicating that was as much part of the deception as words and tone. "And I don't think she'd lie so there must be some other explanation. But summoning monsters? I saw that wolf creature that attacked people... I was with Willow."

He allowed himself a grimace at the supposed recollection. "I saw what it-- what it did to one of its victims. I'm, ah... afraid I didn't have the strongest stomach at the sight."

[alphatar]

If he could barely stand the thought of actually hurting someone in self-defense, Korra couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like for him.

But she raised her eyebrows; he had a witness that it wasn’t him. "Willow? Any way you can get her to talk to Bianca?" Then maybe everything could get hammered out.

[denyamenti]

Bakura lowered his eyes at the question, gripping the broom handle. "I'm sorry," he said lowly. "She was sent back home some time ago. Is there... something else I can do?" he added anxiously.

[alphatar]

Isn’t that always the way. Korra shouldn’t have been surprised, foreigners come and go more often than she’d like. She folded her arms, shoulder still leaning on the doorway. Were Toph still here, she would have asked the earthbender to determine who was telling the truth.

Korra sighed and shook her head. "Not that I can think of, but without any evidence, it’s really up in the air. Keep those self-defense techniques ready, some of the foreigners don’t need much of a reason to get into a fight."

Like her, but she knows she’s not the only one.

[denyamenti]

Bakura gave her an optimistic smile. "Ah, well... I'm certain it's just a misunderstanding. I shouldn't have anything to fear since I haven't done anything wrong, right? But Mrs Reyes said the person tried to remove her memories... what if they gave her other memories instead? To make her think I had done something?"

[alphatar]

Playing with someone's memories was not a subject Korra even wanted to think about. Not after losing her own. But she considers it, scratching the back of her head underneath her ponytail.

"Yeah, maybe. That means whoever it was knows who you are, so you should be careful anyway. If we can catch them, then we can clear the whole thing." She was worried about him getting assaulted, only to have everyone find out he's innocent.

"If you want me to walk with you anywhere, I can do that."

[denyamenti]

Oh, Bakura thought, internally cackling. That's just too perfect.

But aloud all he said was, "You'd do that for me?"

[alphatar]

Korra let out a short laugh and regarded him with an amuse smile. "Of course I would. You've been a good friend and employee, so yeah, I'd look out for you." She went to grab her bag so she could go change to start her daily workout.

"You know I almost believed Bianca, but now I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this and show her the truth."

[denyamenti]

As soon as Korra turned away, Bakura let the mask drop. His posture shifted from the nervous hunch to one of confidence and surety, the uneasy expression changing to one of mocking. He dropped Ryou's soft accent when he spoke, so that the voice that rang out behind the Avatar was his own.

"You really are a gullible fool, aren't you? What a waste, to put such power at the hands of someone so easily blinded."

[alphatar]

Just when she got the bag by the handle, lifted slightly off the table, but it fell back down after she heard someone else. Korra's back muscles tightened at the feeling, a strong spiritual shift in the room.

"It really was you?" Korra turned and what she saw wasn't Ryou, not in the slightest. Everything she was sure of, all of it's a lie. Something that seemed impossible after seeing him almost every day.

[denyamenti]

"Of course it was," he answered, taking a sauntering step toward her. "I merely wanted to see if I could wring the last drop of naivete out of you just now... and I did. Do you have any idea how difficult it was not to laugh at you when you talked about trusting my instincts when it came to defending myself?"

[alphatar]

Each word dug that betrayal further into her and Korra's felt her cheeks twitch, expression hardening. That aura of his was unmistakeably evil and she walked right into believing him.


"Deceiving someone's just a game to you?" Her fingers tensed, but she didn't move when he did.

[denyamenti]

"Close enough, as it's a test of skill. You like competitive things, don't you Miss Korra?" he said slyly, using the address he'd first began with her.

"I hope you didn't want to be relied on for sound judgment from here out," he added. Because she was still between him and the door, he continued to close the distance between them. He had no intention to attack -- his words were more cutting, in this instance -- but he was ready to defend himself if she did.

"Everyone will think twice now, about your intentions. Just when everything was settling back into place for you, too."

[alphatar]

Use of the formality was a mockery of Ryou, or who she thought was him, and the tone only made her fingers curl inwards. Of course he knew how things had been off for her until recently, her absence in January and her lessened focus in the short time after Kithika.

"Well things aren't going to get any easier for you either." She wanted to strike him, and she almost gave in to doing so. Korra took a deep breath, and she stood aside.

"Get out of my dojo." She half snarled. Were it not for all the effort she made to control her anger, she wouldn't have moved.

[denyamenti]

Seeing that the dig prompted a reaction, he sketched a quick bow in 'deference' to her furious command, one final defamation on the polite gesture his host so often employed.

"As you say." He kept pace until he was even with her, then passed without slowing, heading for the front entrance of the dojo without looking back.

[alphatar]

The bow was the most tempting moment to just bring her heel up and down on his head, but Korra steeled herself instead in case he tried to attack her when he passed.

Her eyes never left him and stayed on the open doorway for a few moments before she finally struck the wall with her fist. Then she smacked her forehead on it too.

She'd have to call Bianca and apologize for doubting her.