[Open]

[alphatar]

Characters: Korra, Finnick, Po, Bean, Dinah, Tony Stark (616), Amon, Sabriel, Jim Kirk, Damian, Toph, Lin, Jack Frost, Raimei, Enjolras, Kyle Rayner, Bruce Banner, Asbel, Aisha, Katniss, Iskierka, Richard, and OPEN (That means YOU.)
Date: Various dates throughout July when not conflicting with Korra’s time during the clueventure.
Location: Korra’s suite, Various locations
Situation: Fish, Training, Flying, and whatever else happens!
Warnings/Rating: Physical violence, PTSD, NPC death, blood, FEELS, maybe even some swearing.

(If you want a thread starter, let me know. If you want to jump in and post your own, go ahead! Actionspam and prose welcome and interchangeable~)






(Seriously. Let me know if you want a thread starter.)

Comments

[kungfood]

[At least he's starting to be thought of as something other than weird or impossible. Adorable? Well...he'll take it, as long as adorable doesn't lead down a path of no one taking him seriously at all. That wouldn't be good for anyone, not that Po would do anything to shout, "Hey! I'm more than cute!" but that's some inner turmoil he really doesn't need.

The less inner turmoil in his life, the better.]

A dish I like? Uh, well. Soup. And noodles. Noodle soup, it's one of my favorite things. Even though I, like, grew up on it and stuff, I still like it. Dumplings and bean buns, too. But soup and stews, they're so versatile, you know? You can make one that's nothing like another but it's still soup.

[His paws fidget over each other, tugging to make sure he's not going to shed any time soon. No? Good.]

I can help if you want.

[alphatar]

Dumplings! Ooooh, I haven’t dumplings since back in Republic City. Do you know how to make them? Because I have no idea, I’ve only ever bought them.

[Soups, Korra knew soups. But that’s all she’s had lately and she was very willing to go for something else. Not only that, she wouldn’t be alone making food. For once, something she hadn’t have happen since living on Air Temple Island.]

You can totally help! Let’s do a soup you like, dumplings, bean buns, and some steamed rice.

[Normally Korra would have preferred to go straight to the demonstration of techniques, but actual food during the rationing was just something she could pass up. And Po was making it all the better with his kind enthusiasm.]

[kungfood]

Of course I can make dumplings!

[When it comes to Chinese food, Po can make anything. He's actually cooked an entire feast before, though he doesn't speak of that much. It didn't go like it was supposed to, but it worked out in the end...by having dinner with commoners and basic noodle soup.

Food, as far as Po is concerned, is a great way to life a mood. Or change it, depending on what needs to be spoken of. But sometimes, not even food can lift Po's spirits. That's when he's having a Really Bad Time.

But now? Food is great. It helps people bond and connect in ways few other things can, and he is more than excited to help her cook. The idea of teaching her something new? That's just as exciting.]

Noodle soup is basically...that's really fine with me. Spices, whatever you like. When it comes to seasoning, you should do it for what you like, you know? Even if it means making the soup plain and then fixing it in the bowl itself.

[He won't shed, he knows. There will be no stray bits of fur in their food. That's never wanted.]

You do the soup, I'll do the dumplings and bean buns. Sound good?

[alphatar]

Now that I can do. I have all I need to make five flavor soup. [She's had it, just not often because getting everything together to make it was difficult thanks to the rationing.]

Okay, let's do this! I can make the soup in about three minutes, how long would it take for the dumplings and bean buns?

[She's dead serious on the time frame she gave him. Now that her bending was back, boiling water wasn't even an issue, it was all just making sure the taste balanced out. Now if she only explained bending to him sooner.]

[kungfood]

[I can make the soup in about three minutes—what? How? Maybe the water here heats faster on its miraculous "stove" thing, but Po didn't realize he could do it that quickly. Maybe he's been doing it wrong. If he has, what other things has he not been using to their fullest potential?]

Three minutes? Wow. Uh. It'll take me longer. Twenty at the most, considering how many you want me to make. Preparation doesn't take long, it's the...cooking that takes the longest. Like fifteen minutes, maybe, but you have to be careful how you put it all together.

[Po could make dumplings as fast as he needed to, sure. But if she hadn't had them in a while, he wanted to do them extra right, and there was no room for rushing to do so.]

[alphatar]

All right, I can be an extra pair of hands!

[Waterbending water from the sink faucet was easier than getting the pot to put it in. A motion of her arm, as if brushing air towards herself, filled the pot and she placed it on the island. She started getting together the ingredients for the soup so it was all ready to be put together when the other food was done.]

[kungfood]

[Po would have been fine, really. He totally would have been fine.

And then he saw that.

It's a good thing he wasn't holding anything breakable, because it would have been in pieces on the floor. He wouldn't even hear it break, or know it had broken. What he'd seen was unlike anything else he had ever, ever seen before, and he just stared, jaw slack, suddenly reassessing everything he thought he knew about humans.

That didn't happen. Not where Po was from. That just didn't happen. Unsure of what he saw, he waited a moment before asking, because it hardly seemed like it was out of the place for her.]

Uh. [Eloquent, really.] What did you just...do? What was, what was that? That was amazing!

[alphatar]

[Korra had been steadily losing track of who she had demonstrated bending to, who had already seen it before meeting her, and who had been able to deduce what it was. But Po’s reaction made her quite happy.]

I know right!? [Bending was the coolest thing ever to Korra and the fact that Po didn’t recoil in the slightest forced her to beam at him.] Waterbending!

With the right movements it can make water do pretty much anything.

[Excited that he was excited made her feel a better demonstration was necessary. A slow, peaceful movement of both her arms caused the water in the pot to float into the air. A line of water over head and it formed the word ‘Water’ in Chinese before turning into ice. Then with another motion, it became liquid once more and went back into the pot.]

Comes in pretty handy.

[kungfood]

[He's transfixed, truly. Humans might not have ever thought pandas could be so expressive, but there's no better word for it. He watches her every movement, watches the water's motions, and when it falls back into the post? He's moved from transfixed to looking at her with total awe, because that is one of the coolest things he has ever seen. Ever.

And Po has seen quite a lot.]

Th—that's— that is. [Enough to render Po unable to speak well, apparently. He knows his master doesn't appreciate the blathering at important moments, but this is simply cooking with a stranger he'd like to know better. It's hardly finding out about his final teaching, so he thinks it's not so unorthodox.] Freaking awesome! How does that, how can you, I mean—is that some sort of magic? How do you do that? I saw you do some thing with your— [And that would be Po mimicking her arm movements to an almost perfect degree] —just...with your arms, and that can happen?

[alphatar]

[Freaking awesome is the best description Korra has ever heard for it. And when she sees Po do repeat the performance to a tee Korra actually starts jumping, their shared excitement is almost too much for her to handle.]

YES! You have to be born with bending to do it, but you know- [She snaps her fingers crazily trying to remember what Dinah called it.] T’ai chi ch’uan? That’s the form!

There’s also Fire, Earth, and Air and their forms too. So your master Shifu taught you how to do that? That’s great!

[Two of Korra’s most favorite things have merged and was named Po, this is absolutely amazing to her and she can’t, she just can’t.]

I know someone named Dinah, she knows it too. But you know it! [Containing her energy was becoming very difficult, too many fun fight things coming together at once.]

[kungfood]

[Korra's excited, Po's excited, and it's not just about cooking. Watching her excitement has his ears swiveling, even if he doesn't realize it. Because not only have they agreed to cook, they are talking about some super form of kung fu, and apparently there aren't very many here who know it. At least, that's the way Po's taking it, because why would she be so excited if the turtle was populated with a good portion of people who could do martial arts?]

The form? Oh, well...I don't know all the forms, but I can, I can mimic them. Uhm. Pick them up easily. [He finally settles a bit, getting his composure enough so he can properly talk.] There's, we have forms. But I don't...I kind of pull from all of them, I just have to watch and then I can do it, pretty much. I still have to train plenty. I just kind of pick it up from everywhere and use it on my own.

[alphatar]

That's kind of what I have to do! Everyone just has their one style, but I have to learn all the forms. [Perfect sense, yes.] How do you have time to learn how to cook so much? [Even she just knew the usual Water Tribe dishes, nothing too far beyond that.]

[kungfood]

[Oh dear.

Po can already tell (or so he thinks) that Korra? Has been doing this her whole life. She might have even been born into it. Maybe those who are born capable of bending are immediately put into training to use it. But Po? Not so much. How does he...]

I haven't always done kung fu. I've only done it for a few years. I've loved it all my life, though. But until a few years ago, it was just me and my dad and his noodle shop. I've cooked longer than I've known kung fu. I, uh, I kind of got into late, compared to most everyone else. It [he fidgets again, fingers tapping against each other as his ears almost droop] was kind of an accident, but I got into and I'm glad for it, so everything worked out, right?

[alphatar]

Whoa, you accidentally got into it? [She’s not buying it.] You did those moves perfectly! There’s no way you could have-

[She blinks.] Unless you’re a natural.

[That made sense then when she thought about it.] So you made noodles there and just kind of got into kung fu?

[by that thinking, Korra pictured herself working a normal job at an older age before discovering she was the Avatar.] Huh.

[kungfood]

[Po enjoys being the Dragon Warrior. He enjoys kung fu. He enjoys being held in high regard for once in his life. But while he does awesome things with awesome folks, he likes to stay humble. Bragging about himself? Not exactly something he's good at. And he doesn't know how to tell the story without sounding like he's bragging.

But he'll try anyway. A little bit of it, at least.]

Uh. Well. [Well] I wasn't, uhm. I carved action figures and went and watched and really liked kung fu, but I never had anything to do with it, really. [It's easier to talk and cook. It's easier to talk and cook, he keeps telling himself, so he turns to start fixing everything needed for dumplings.] But then there was this thing called the Dragon Scroll, right? And there was this guy, this really dangerous, great kung fu master coming to the Valley to ruin it. So someone had to get the scroll, because then they'd be the Dragon Warrior, and they could stop him. There was a showing of the masters of the Valley, everyone could watch and then Master Oogway would pick which one was the Dragon Warrior and everything would work out and no one would have to be fear the wrath of Tai Lung.

[Now, how does he work himself into it without sounding either dumb or boastful?]

I got in the way. On accident. I kind of fell. And Master Oogway pointed at me and said it was me, and that made no sense. I didn't know kung fu. No one was really happy with it. But eventually I figured some stuff out because of Master Shifu and my dad, and it worked, and Tai Lung was stopped and...here I am.

[alphatar]

[Watching Po prepare the dumplings, Korra followed as best she could. The Dragon Scroll and Tai Lung were important bits to her that she held on to, she was sure there was something there that she wanted to ask about. Just the question hadn't formed in her mind yet.]

I don't think anyone's ever happy with people who get picked. [It's not said bitterly, just with a sad kind of 'What can you do.' tone.] But they were wrong, right? I mean like you said, here you are.

[Giving a supportive smile, Korra looked at what would be dumplings soon.]

You stopped someone who was causing fear and threatening people, including the ones close to you. I think this Master Oogway knew what he was doing.

[kungfood]

[Po doesn't require an awful lot of validation, but encouragement is always welcomed. This seems like a mix of the two, and he has to duck his head to the side to hide the overwhelmingly huge smile her words make it impossible to repress. It's easy to hide it, though, considering he's reaching for another ingredient at the same time.]

Me too. We just didn't realize it at first. [Not Shifu, not Po, not anyone other than Oogway himself realized as much. Putting his faith in the ascended master had seemed a little impossible, but after talking to his dad...well, he realized his belief had been there all along, hidden beneath his lack of confidence.] What about you? You've been bending for a long time or just recently?

[alphatar]

I guess sometimes we just have to trust our masters. [Which could be difficult given that Korra and Tenzin had a rocky start up. Status quo for Korra and her teachers.A lot of trouble with.]

My airbending master there told me it was because Air is opposite the element of my personality. [She shrugs looking at Po’s delicious smelling progress.]

[kungfood]

[Maybe it's a thing with most masters and students, having difficulty; Po might say as much if he ever found out, considering his was definitely not easy going for quite some time.]

So the elements, they're like tied into you? Are you only supposed to really learn the one you're born with or something?

[Delicious smelling will be "simply delicious" by the time he's done with it, which shouldn't be too long if the efficiency he's using is anything to go by.]

And if you're, like, doing all of them anyway, wouldn't one of them always be difficult because one of them is always going to be the opposite?

[alphatar]

Actually, we’re tied to the elements. Well, benders are anyway. If someone’s born with the gift to bend, they can only bend the element that’s the same as the nation one of their parents are from. So my boyfriend, Mako, can firebend because one of his parents were descended from the Fire Nation and his brother, Bolin, can earthbend because the other was descended from the Earth Kingdom. As the Avatar, I can bend all four elements. It might sound complicated, but just a day in my world and you’d get it in no time flat.

[That question actually gives Korra pause. It was the first time anyone had ever even thought of it from that perspective.]

Well the previous Avatar, Aang, had difficulty learning Earth because it was opposite his personality and his element. But once you learn them, even the ones opposite to each other, they can actually work together quite well.

[Korra looked back to the soup ingredients she had laid out.]

Should I start on that?